#they are too adorable looking to be called 'ai ex'

[meadow-art]

If you pronounce IX the nihility's name as 'Iks' i'm gonna instantly fall in love with you ngl

[bb-eilish]

𝒜𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒻𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝐿𝓊𝓈𝓉

pairing: AI!Soobin x f!reader

warnings; swearing, pet names, dirty talk, multiple smut scenes, pining, nipple play, rough sex, phone call, praise, robo soobin, no condom use, creampie, jealousy/delusion, stalking, kissing, blonde soobin. (if i missed something pls lemme know!!)

summary; Your close friend’s new riches makes christmas forever memorable.

A/N: I read @writerpetals “artificial heart” and couldn’t help but picture soobin, please read their work it’s great!

𝓐 gasp is heard through the entire restaurant, you would care about the dozen eyes suddenly on you, but you can’t. Your closest friend, Yoon, has struck gold, she’s been working as a higher up at your guys’ office job for the longest time and has been very buddy buddy with the CEO. So when the former CEO retired she left the company to Yoon, who now has inherited a million dollar company!

“You’re kidding.” Your mouth is glued to the ground as she beams at you, “Isn’t this amazing? Just in time for Christmas too. I worked for so long and it finally really payed off. Now I just need to find you a present.” She thoughtfully looks at her food, the flame of the candle between you two lighting up her features warmly. “Heh, if only you could buy me a boyfriend.” You joke as you poke at the salad in your dish.

“Boyfriend hm? I see…” She smiles as you both carry on, dinner is filled with disbelief as she tells you just how much she has now and the gossip the old CEO told her.

///////////

“Merry Christmas, Y/n. Bring him in over here!” Yoon greets and then shouts behind her, the smile on your face twists into confusion. “What?” You’re confused even further when two men heave a box up the steps to your porch and slide in through the door. They drop it off by the tree and you gape. A box that’s at least 6’0 sits next to your tree now, the presents under it look much smaller in comparison.

Yoon’s smile almost hurts your eyes as she beams at you, “I think you’re gonna love it!” She goes in for a hug that squeezes the air from your lungs, “Yea, I bet I will. I hope you like your presents.” Your nerves flare at the idea of her not liking what you got her because of this unbelievably tall present.

“You seriously didn’t have to get me anything so big, I’d be happy with a card honestly.” She shakes her head at your modesty and smiles, “You deserve the world Y/n, don’t worry about it.”

“Coffee? We can open presents after I make some?”

“Sounds lovely, be quick or I might open your gift myself.” You giggle at her and go to put a K-cup into the machine. While waiting you can’t help but to admire your kitchen, it’s your favorite style and just the right size. It’s perfect and even better with the adorable christmas decorations everywhere. But sort of….empty. The decorations are nice and all, but ever since your ex left awhile ago it’s missing something.

The sound of the coffee squirting into your cup takes you out of your thoughts as you wait till it’s done and put a new one in. “Here, coconut french roast, just how you like it.” Bending over slightly, you pass her the hot christmas mug and go back to the machine. It’s just finishing up your cup.

“Alright, open this first.” You grab a small wrapped box and pass it to her, the snowflake paper contrasting to her red and back flannel pajamas. She pushes a stray piece of hair behind her ear before digging into the bright paper. “Oh my god, this is so pretty. Is this the one we saw in the window of that one store?” She asks in awe, “Hehe, yeah it is. Do you like it?” Watching her squeal makes you feel warm, she means so much to you and you can only hope she knows it.

“I love it, thank you so much. Here open this!”

You both go back and forth opening the presents until the last one is inevitably the tall one. It intimidates you as you step closer and dig a nail under the tape that’s stuck at the sides. You jump when she changes her mind about you opening it, “Actually, y/n. Turn around, I’ll let you know when to look.”

You arch a brow at her but turn around nonetheless, there’s the sound of paper, cardboard, and then a button. She squeals happily as she tells you to turn around. Your heart beats wildly in your chest as you fidget with your fingers and swing around.

First you blink, and then again, and once more. A man stands there, a gentle smile on his face as he greets you. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. L/n. I’m Soobin, I hope I can be of service.” You hesitantly meet his hand. “Um, I’m sorry, I’m confused.” You eye both of them until he responds.

“I am your assistant, I was customized for you.” That honestly made your confusion worse as you look towards Yoon, she laughs as she begins to explain. “This is Soobin, your AI assistant. He cost a pretty penny but it was so worth it, once I saw how customizable he was, I knew he could be the one for you.”

“He’s a robot?” You ask dumbfounded, he smiles again. A very human-sounding chuckle leaves him as he nods. You eye him up and down not so subtly, his hair is almost a platinum blonde, it sits neatly styled over his forehead. He wears a tidy looking black knit sweater matched with jeans and sneakers.

"Looks real doesn't he? He can do whatever you like, he can cook,clean, grocery shop, even drive a car." She stops to take a step closer to you, leaning into your ear. "And he's made for you in other ways as well." She laughs before getting a loud notification. You stare at her wide eyed as she apologizes and leaves to go manage the company or whatever she said.

"Merry Christmas Ms. L/n. Would you like me to clean up?"

You peer around your living room, the ground is covered in hundreds of pieces of wrapping paper. "Uh, sure. Thank you..." You can’t help but eye him curiously as he gathers the paper and random boxes around you. You have to admit, he does look incredibly real. Especially when he bends over so fluently to grab at the garbage. He even breaths out a little while he does it as well.

“Where should I put these?” He questions when he’s done, it honestly scares you a bit as you were spacing out — thinking about him of course, he’s an entire robot.

“Oh uh, the trash cans are in the garage. That way.” You point to the correct door, he nods with a smile and is on his way.

The coffee in your hands grows colder as you watch him, you’d be worried about being creepy with how much you’re staring, but something tells you it probably doesn’t matter.

“All done. Do you need anything else Ms. L/n?” He stands before you with his hands crossed in front of him. “No, thank you for cleaning. You can…s-sit down if you’d like? We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other anyways.” He smiles again and you try not to pay attention to how you gulp in response. Soobin swings himself around and sits on the other end of your couch, looking at his hands as he outstretched them curiously.

“So, Soobin. I know you can do house chores, what else can you do?” This is the best small talk you’re able to conjure up at the moment, you’re acutely aware that he’s metal and wires. “Besides house hold chores, I can answer questions — as I’m connected to the internet — I know every language and am fully trained in multiple martial arts. I was programmed to protect you, as well as be a companion. I hope we are able to get along.”

He smiles at you once more, the dimples in his cheeks apparent as he does so. He’s so human it’s uncanny.

“Wow, that’s amazing. I’ve actually been a bit worried about living on my own. Is there anything else you can do?”

“Yes, I’ve also been programmed to know exactly what you are into sexually.” Your eyes basically pop out of your head in response, warmth settles over your skin as you let your imagination run a little too wild in the moment.

“O-oh. Well, uh, I’m going to take a shower, make yourself…at home.”

You scurry off to your bedroom, thoughts absolutely taken over by his words. You were very open with Yoon about what you were into, you’ve been friends for years so it was only natural that the subject was brought up multiple times. And now you have a robot assistant who looks like he was modeled after…well.. a model, and knows how to please you.

You’re going through your clean hamper, as you haven’t put them away yet, when a knock sounds from your door.

“Ms. L/n, since it’s 9:27 in the morning, shall I make breakfast?” His muffled voice still has heat settling over your cheeks as you respond.

“Oh, sure. You can make whatever you want, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.” To be honest, you couldn’t think of a single breakfast food at that moment. Too much has happened in such a short time, you’re still a little stunned. Soobin hums and agrees and you go back to searching for clothes to wear.

////////////////////

You’re shower was 15 minutes longer than usual, Soobin was on the front of your mind and because of that you were in space for most of it.

The bathrooms warm and foggy atmosphere contrasted the rest of your house, it was cold but not annoyingly stuffy when you creaked the door open. “Ms. L/n breakfast is ready, I have made pancakes and french toast.”

“I don’t remember having frozen pancakes and french toast?” You mumble as you step into the kitchen to ogle the delicious food on your table.

“I made them from scratch, I hope you enjoy them.” He bows before turning around to handle the small mess he created. He made them….from scratch? He even topped it off with a few blueberries on the butter that sat on top of the stack of pancakes. The food looked like it was stolen right from a commercial.

“They look delicious, thank you, Soobin.” You say as you slip into your seat and pluck your fork from the table. “Of course.”

Cutting the pancakes was almost mesmerizing, as they were unbelievably pillowy and soft. The taste was so much better than you imagined as well.

“Soobin, oh my god. These are amazing.”

“Thank you, Ms. L/n. I’m glad you like them.” He smiles, it’s so human like it catches you off guard.

He leaves you to eat and only comes back to take your dirty dishes. Wow, he’s treating you better than all of your ex’s combined, it has your eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

That’s how the remainder of Christmas went, with you being surprised at how nice he was, even if he was AI and programmed that way.

“What do you do at night? Do I need to…uh…plug..you in? Or..?” He didn’t come with any plugs or anything so you’re a little confused if he has to recharge or something. “Oh, no. I sleep as well, it’s obviously not the same as human sleep, but same idea.” You open your mouth in an O shape as you nod.

“Well, goodnight, Soobin.”

“Goodnight, Ms. L/n. Merry Christmas!”

//////////

Sleeping was difficult the first night, knowing he was “sleeping” in your guest bedroom. You tossed and turned for hours before barely being able to slip fully away. Too bad that lasted an hour and now your alarm is blaring. The sigh you let out is almost pathetic as you groggily rise to your feet.

Your apartment is eerily quiet and you momentarily forget what’s missing. That is until the door opens and he walks in, putting down the groceries he bought on the counter.

Rubbing at your eyes you ask, “What are those?”

“I bought ingredients for dinner tonight, as I know what food you look. So, we’re having your favorite italian dish.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you, Soobin. Heh, do you know my social security number too?” You chuckle, “Yes, it is 892-“

“Okay! So glad you know that.” You nervously chuckle.

///////////////

3 Months have passed since you were given Soobin, he’s been unbelievably helpful so you’re grateful Yoon spent the money on him, because you did NOT have that much. Soobin and you have grown closer as well and you can’t remember what it was like without him.

“And I told him to fuck off because he literally tried to get with my sister.” Yoon grumpily exclaims as she tips her back to down another shot. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was, she was also like 17 at the time.” Your mouth falls open in shock as she nods her head drunkly. You yawn and go to rub your eyes, stopping because it took you so long to do your eyeliner earlier. “Hey, I’m gonna call Soobin to get me, do you want a ride home?”

She shakes her head with a smile before saying, “Don’t worry, I have a chauffeur now. Isn’t that so weird?” She giggles. You dig out your phone from your purse that sits on your lap, the dim lights of the club making the screen much brighter than you remembered. Squinting, you try your best to find your home phone number, turning down the brightness is useless because apparently it’s already all the way down. Finally you find the number and press it, it only takes a couple rings before he greets you with the voice you’ve grown very fond of.

“Hello, Ms. L/n. Are you enjoying your night out?” He’s as kind as ever, it brings a sappy smile to your face as you answer. “Yea, thank you. Could you pick me up by any chance? I took Yoon’s car so my car is still at home.” You yell into the phone, it’s so loud you wonder if yelling is even working.

“Yes, of course. I’m leaving right now.”

“Don’t you need the address?” Your eyebrows furrow.

“I always know your location thanks to your phone. I’ll be there in approximately 16 minutes.”

“Thank you.” You hang up and try your best to stay awake, you haven’t gone to a club in a little while and it’s becoming obvious. Even though the bass from the DJ is basically making you vibrate, you still try and fight off sleep.

“Hey, uh, Yoon. I’m gonna wait outside for Soobin.” You lean on your arm as your eyes droop.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at the office okay?” She’s even smiley and go lucky when drunk, you seriously envy her.

“Alright, be safe. See ya tomorrow.”

The warmth of having to navigate through grinding bodies has nausea forming in your stomach, it only subsides once you swing open the door. The air feels refreshing as you stumble out. It was like a sauna inside, the cool air against your flushed skin has you shuttering out a breath of relief.

Glancing around you spot a bench to your left and oh does it look inviting. Sitting down, you pluck your phone from your purse to check the time, 13 more minutes. The bouncer on the other side of the door is busy talking, as well as the people in line but it all blurs into each other. God, tomorrow is gonna be a bitch.

Your head hangs low as a breeze flows up your dress, good thing your purse is settled on your lap or else the line of people would have a great view of your underwear. Time is warped in your head and you swear it’s been only a minute before someone is calling your name. Your head raises, higher and higher, until you make eye contact with Soobin. He’s so tall, you love how tall he is. He’s so attractive.

“Ms. L/n. Are you ready to leave?” He holds out a hand for you to take, which you obviously do because walking through the parking lot in this state in these heels would be impossible. “Yes, thank you, Soobin.” Your body can’t help but lean against his figure as you both make your way to your car.

While getting in you giggle to yourself drunkly, slouching over the center console. “Here, Ms. L/n. Let me buckle you in.”

“Y/n.” You smile.

“Excuse me?”

“Call me Y/n. Ms. L/n sounds like my mother.” You giggle once more, more heat spreading over your face if possible. Even more when the hand clicking your seatbelt drifts across your thighs. It confuses you, isn’t he AI? Isn’t he free from making human mistakes? Did he do that on purpose then? Your drunken mind has your memories a little fuzzy but he treats you like a girlfriend, now even down to the teasing touches. You’ll have to ask Yoon about that when you see her next.

“Soobin, can you help the hangover I’m gonna have tomorrow? I have work.” The car purrs to life as he presses the button and puts it in drive. “Of course, Y/n. I’m happy to help.”

The way home was strange, you honestly blame it all on the alcohol. Whenever you peaked over at him you couldn’t help but ogle, even if he was AI, he was unbelievably attractive. How did Yoon know your exact type, sure you talk about your sex and love life with her but she really hit the nail on the head. The way his blonde hair falls almost angelic like over his skin has completely stolen your attention.

The thoughts have your skin warming again and a slight heat being lit in your gut.

“We’re here, do you need me to unbuckle you?” He catches you off guard, you were still mid swoon when he started talking.

“Oh, no I got it. Thank you, Soobin.” He nods before stepping out of your car and circling around to open yours as well. Your legs are a bit wobbly, so when you take a tumble he’s quick to wrap an arm around your waist. You need to sleep, the heat inside you seems to be hotter and it’s really starting to affect you. You seriously just want him to take you right then and there.

“Here, you should eat. I’ll make you something.” He proposes when you’re inside, slumped over a chair. “No, it’s okay. I changed my mind, I just want to go to bed. You should too, goodnight, Soobin.”

“Oh, goodnight, Y/n.”

///////////

Regret. You truly regret dismissing Soobin’s attempts of helping your inevitable hang over. As you sit up in bed your head pounds annoyingly. It’s 6:09 AM, you work at 7:30, hopefully it’s enough time to reduce the pulsing in your skull.

“Good morning, Y/n. Are you feeling okay?” He asks you once you stumble out of bed and into your living quarters. “No, do you know if we have any pain killers?” You question, rubbing your face with your hands soothingly. A hand comes to rub your back as he answers, “I’ll get those right away, are you hungry?” You don’t know how he does it, but you can only concentrate on his hand as it rubs against your clothed back. Even the pounding in your head is an after thought compared to him. You manage to nod your head ‘yes’.

His touch is fleeting and leaves a subtle want in you as he opens up a random cabinet and searches for the medicine.

“Here, let me get you some water.” It’s really not your fault for how you feel, he was made to be specifically your type. The man of your dreams basically. He slides a cup of water your way, “Thank you, Soobin.” Your head tips back as you cram the pills into your mouth and take a swig of the water.

“How about we do something tonight? Just you and me? I really appreciate what you do around here.”

Even for a robot, he pauses, his eyes are wide as he processes your words before nodding. “Of course, I look forward to it.”

/////////////

You’re showered and fed by the time you get to your car, waving to Soobin as if he’s your house wife. You really hate leaving him, his presence has made your home so warm and comfy. Being single isn’t the most fun and he’s really made you miss being in a relationship. That is until you make it to your office and hear his voice. His makes Soobin’s somehow even nicer.

“Morning, Y/n. I heard you and the boss had a fun time last night. Wish you would’ve invited me.”

Sigh.

“Morning to you too, Hyun. Sorry, I didn’t know you would’ve wanted to go.” You swing around to face him, he leans against your door frame with his hands in his pockets.

“Maybe you could make it up to me? Whaddya say? You, me. Dinner tonight?” You were expecting this honestly, Hyun is constantly trying to advance this “relationship” as he calls it. He’s honestly like a mosquito. “Sorry, I can’t. I have plans with my friend.”

He only smiles and nods, “Do I know her?” His question catches you off guard, “Uh no, you don’t…” Sitting down, you turn on your pc and see what pages you have to edit today. But of course, it’s never that easy. “What’s her name?” You hold back the urge to smash your head into your keyboard.

Well, this is gonna be interesting.

“Soobin.”

A beat passes before his annoying laugh is heard, “That’s funny…that..that sounds like a guy’s name..” His laugh stops when you say “It is.”

“Oh, are you dating…?”

Your fists clench at that, “No, now I really need to get started.”

You wish it ended there, but it didn’t, not in your office, not at the printer, not even when you were walking to the bathroom.

Finally it’s time to go home, 5:26 and you’re so ready to do something with Soobin, without Hyun especially. You thankfully didn’t see him on your way out either, which was weird to be honest. He always makes a move on you in the parking lot. Maybe your constant rejection finally got through?

////////////

Driving home was not fun, you swear this one car was following you. They were far enough away that you couldn’t see who was driving, but you know they were following you. Instead of going straight to your house you took a small detour to get them off your ass. Which thankfully worked. The car comes to a halt as you wait for your garage door to open, as soon as you’re inside you close it immediately. Hopefully that creep didn’t spot you.

“Soobin, I’m home.” A beat passes and still no response.

You cock an eyebrow at the silence. Hanging up your jacket on your coat hanger, you find a note on the counter.

Be back soon, getting dinner.

-Soobin

A breath of relief leaves you as you read it. That gives you enough time to change out of your work clothes. The pencil skirt you’re currently wearing might look great but it does not feel like it. Your legs are chafing and you’re pleased Soobin isn’t here to witness you shuffle awkwardly to your bedroom.

Unzipping the skirt snd unhooking your bra had you melting on the spot, even more so when you put on your favorite pair of fuzzy pajama pants and a nice tank top. Taking off your makeup was the cherry on top, you could seriously just throw yourself on your bed and pass out. But you’re way too excited to hang out with Soobin.

Knock Knock

Your head snaps towards the echoing knocking. Soobin has a spare key so it’s not him. Nevertheless, you go to open the door.

“Can I help yo-“ Color drains from your face, why is he here? At your door step? With a bouquet of flowers no less?

“Y/n, I’m glad I found the right house. I wanted to talk to you.” He smiles at you like he didn’t show up on your door step like an abandoned child. “How did you get my address?” Honestly you regret asking, you didn’t want to know.

He laughs before answering, “The only way I could without asking and sounding creepy, I followed you home!”

Your jaw drops, “You..followed me..home..?” You’re sure you’re on an episode of punked or something, this can’t be real.

He nods his head, hand sticking out to pass you the bouquet of tulips and daisies. A moment passes before you hesitantly take them, awkwardly holding them up. “I know you said you had plans tonight, but I really think you shouldn’t hang out with this Soobin guy. After all, you have me and he sounds like a total creep.”

You’ve seriously had enough, you draw the line at him questioning Soobin’s motives and yknow, him following you home.The grip on the frail stems tightens and the stinging pain of thorns is second in line to the steam coming out of your ears.

“Okay, I’ve had enough. We are not friends, you are a major creep. You followed me home yet have the audacity to point fingers at Soobin. You’ll never even be half the man he is, now get off of my porch and don’t even think of even looking in my direction again.” Your teeth are sore after your word vomit from being clenched so tightly.

He’s expressionless until his eyebrows furrow, an almost confused look settles on his face. “I’m not sure you understand, you and me are meant to be. Soobin brainwashed you or something to think of me like this, I didn’t think it was this bad. Come here.” He goes to grip your free hand, his sweaty palm has a shiver of disgust ring through you.

“No, don’t touch me. Fuck off.” The flowers fall to the ground as you try to pry his greasy fingers from your skin. The sound of something closing is lost on your ears as blood rushes by them from the sudden adrenaline.

“I’m trying to help you , Y/n. I know you love me.”

Tears prick your eyes , you’re totally overwhelmed and starting to panic.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” That voice didn’t come from the man desperately trying to kidnap you, it was from him.

“Soobin, please help. He won’t let go.” Relief floods your system and your knees almost give out when he steps forward. “Let go of her.” His voice shocks you, it’s stern and low, you try to not think about how hot he sounds.

“Oh, you’re Soobin? You’re the one corrupting my love.” Hyun let’s go to turn around fully, trying his best to look intimidating. It’s not working, Soobin is a solid foot taller than him. Hyun doesn’t seem to be aware of it though as he goes to poke a crude finger into the hard chest of your friend.

Soobin remains calm and it shocks you, AI or not, Hyun is unbelievably annoying.

“Do I need to help you leave? Or can you do it by yourself?” Soobin steps closer, a gulp sounds from Hyun and you have to stifle a giggle.

“This isn’t over, Y/n is mine.” He says before scurrying off to his car.

“Soobin, oh my god. Thank you.” You breath out a shuddered sigh as you basically fall into his embrace. “Hey, it’s okay. He’s gone, let’s go inside and eat while dinner is hot, Angel.”

You nod your head before pausing, what did he just call you? Better question, should you change your underwear? Because oh my god, that was hot. Angel is a special name for you, almost all of your ex’s called you that in bed. Hearing it leave Soobin’s mouth has something stirring inside.

“Uh, okay…” You swallow.

The house feels so much nicer when Soobin is home, so much more lively.

“What movie should we watch?” He asks, removing the takeout from the plastic bags. While thinking, your eyes drift down to his hands and notice how his veins protrude every time he grabs something, you follow one until it disappears under his skin.

“Y/n, are you okay? Did he hurt you at all?” Your friend asks concerned.

“Huh? Sorry, I’m fine, thank you. Do you wanna watch the first Harry Potter movie?”

“Absolutely, I love that movie. Here, take this. This is your fried rice, this is your egg drop soup, these are your crab rangoons, and this is your chow mein.” The food is hot in your arms, almost too hot, as you both walk towards your couch. You happily set the food on your coffee table.

////////////////////

Harry Potter was captivating for the first 30 minutes, then Soobin became a little more interesting.

“Are you serious? I had no idea.” Your stunned face has him throwing back his head in laughter.

“Yea, it’s true. Maybe try using google?” He teases.

“Oh shut up…” You push his shoulder, something catches your attention as you do so. His eyes. You’ve never been so close to really study his eyes before. To test out your theory you put a hand on his shoulder, his eyes change into a darker brown with a tinge of red. Like a chocolate covered strawberry almost.

“I didn’t know your eyes changed color?”

“They’re mood changing, do you like them?” He smiles at you.

“I really do, they’re kind of red right now, what does that mean?” You lean in and pull down his lower eyelid to get a better look.

“Heh, it happens when you touch me” Your eyes go wide, hearing that makes you aware of how close you are and how your hand is still on his face. Harry Potter is only a sound in the background as Soobin grabs the hand touching face, and holds it.

The feelings you’ve been holding in feels like water boiling over the sides of a pot. The way he holds your hand, his gaze of red that’s becoming more apparent the more you look at one another. “Soobin…” Your voice is breathy and you’re not exactly sure why you said his name, it just felt right.

“Angel..” He replies, leaning closer. The name once again does something to you. Your heart might beat out of your chest if you’re not careful. You peak at his lips once more, the natural pout he has is calling you and you can’t take it anymore. Meeting him halfway, your lips shyly meet. It feels amazing though, you’ve been wondering what it’d be like to kiss him for so long now.

The kiss deepens as you both gain confidence, his free hand comes to settle on your waist.

The need for air stings eventually, it pains you more to pull away but you must. It only lasts for a second as you briefly make heated eye contact again, your lips slam together in a lust filled kiss. It’s messy and has the hand on your waist tightening it’s hold and pulling you even closer into him. Your own free hand makes it to his cheek.

His tongue makes its way into your mouth, this is so unlike the first kiss you shared. He was hesitant but now it’s completely different. The heat in the air is getting to you as you let out a whine.

“Soobin, I need you, please.” Your voice is pathetic as you beg for him to do something.

“I didn’t know you’d be so needy so fast…Angel.” The name has your heart skipping a beat and your thighs itching to rub together, Soobin smirks at your reaction. The hand holding your own gently lets go in favor of pushing you back against the couch. Your shirt has ridden a bit at the bottom, the cold-ish polyester against your exposed lower back has you jolting a little.

“You think I didn’t notice how you reacted to that name? Angel, you’re so cute, y’know that?” He hovers over you, leaning down to messily kiss down your neck, a hand moves from next to you to up the sides of your shirt.

The want you’ve been hiding has you already clenching around nothing as he rests his weight on you, now you’re able to feel how mouthwateringly hard he is. Which honestly confuses you, but he was also made for this so you don’t question it too much. You’re not sure you’re even able to right now, the way his hands feel on your skin, as well as how he’s working your collarbone like it owes him money.

Times like this you’re glad you don’t live in an apartment, the desperate noises he’s already pulling out of you would be tricky with such close neighbors.

“Can I take off your shirt?” He sweetly questions, tearing away from your skin to look you in the eyes. His eyes are a deeper wine colored red you take note as you nod your head. Soobin dips back in to kiss you again before removing the offending clothing.

In pure desperation, you raise his own shirt enough to feel his skin on yours. It’s addicting and you don’t stop raising his shirt until he gets the memo and grabs the back of it, pulling it over his head. The sight has you practically drooling. He’s toned, not too muscly, but just enough that it catches your attention.

“This is so cute on you.” He breathes out, tugging lightly on your bra before continuing, “But I really need to take it off.” You nod and clench when his hands warmly drift up your back to the clasp.

Your nipples instantly harden at the cool air and especially how he’s looking at you. His gaze lowers to your chest and eyes your nipples stiffening, without a second thought he latches on to one and sucks. His tongue occasionally flicks over it and it has your back arching, breathy whines leave your mouth as one of your hands ends up gripping the strands of hair at the back of his head.

“Soobin, please.”

“You sound so pretty for me. What do you need Angel?” He asks, an inch above your wet chest.

“I need to feel you, I’ve been waiting so long for this.”

That causes him to smirk, “You’ve been thinking about me? About us?”

You nod, heated cheeks on display. “How could I deny you, Angel.” He says before unbuttoning your jeans, he slips the zipper down and shuffles them off your legs. Now it’s time for him to undo his belt and nothing could break your attention away. The outline of him is obvious as he works his belt and pants.

“Ready?” He questions as he grips himself.

You nod as a finger slips up and down your slit, it has your hips bucking into his hand. He adds another and is thoroughly enjoying how wet you are for him. His fingers settle on your ever-growing clit and wow, your imagination does not compare to the actual thing.

He scoops some of your slick up and spreads it along his shaft, a couple veins shine because of it and it almost has you coming already. “Soobin.” You whine impatiently, a light chuckle leaves him as he guides himself to your entrance. One last glance is shared between you two before he pushes in, the initial sting has your fingers gripping the fabric under you, while a gasp leaves you both.

It’s a delicious feeling really, the fullness of him mixed with the pure intimacy of it all. He bottoms out and waits for you to adjust to him, “Y-you can move.” You’re already out of breath, the wind being knocked out of you when he simply pushed in.

For the first few thrusts Soobin is relatively quiet, it isn’t until he sets a good pace that the sounds rip out of him. “Fuck, you’re so good for me, Y/n. I knew you’d be.” His hands grip your hips to stop you from scooting upward every time he thrusts, the grip tightens every time you clench around him as well.

“From the second I saw you, I wanted to have you like this. God, you feel amazing. So tight and wet for me, you’re perfect.” The praise hurtles you closer and closer to finishing around him.

He breaths out and pushes himself to sit on his knees, your legs are thrown over his shoulders messily as he picks up his pace. The sound of skin hitting skin and your own whiney moans mixed with his gruff and gravely ones fills the room. Soobin takes it a step further and grinds hotly into you a few times. Pleasure fizzles in your abdomen and you know you don’t have long.

The way his hair sticks to his forehead, and how his skin is damp is a sight you’ve been waiting for. How gone he looks as he plunges himself inside you, deeper and deeper. You probably look pretty fucked out yourself, knowing you. His sneaky fingers trail down to your clit and his thumb doesn’t let up, even when you start spasming a bit.

“Soobin I’m so close.” Your face nuzzles into your arm as the growing feeling is close to exploding.

“Look at me.” You can’t hear him very well thanks to the blood rushing behind your ears so he takes it upon himself. His pointer finger and thumb grip your chin to move your head accordingly, his eyes meet yours again and the band snaps within you. Hips buck into his and your back arches, your eyes clamp shut as the euphoric feeling spreads from your pelvis to your limbs and abdomen.

He keeps going until he can’t anymore and stills. Loud groans are heard as he finishes in you and you hope you never forget how he sounds.

“Don’t worry, you can’t get pregnant from me.” He huffs out, which causes a laugh to leave you at the timing of his words.

/////////////////////

“Hey, Soob. My work is having a ‘bring your partner to work’ day today. I keep forgetting to ask you about it, do you wanna go? I’d like having you there.” You grip his arm in a hug as you ask.

“Sounds fun, I’d love being there with you. I’ll get dressed.” He smiles, giving you a sweet kiss before he departs.

The ride there was nice, Soobin just naturally relaxes you. Usually going to work sucks but he makes it better.

“Ok, here we are. I’m on the 6th floor.” You shut your door as does he.

“Wow and here I thought you were the CEO.” He jokes , taking your free hand in his. You side eye him with a joking glare. “Keep it up and I’ll make you take the stairs.”

Walking onto your floor was interesting, couples littered the desks and it was odd to see. Usually your floor is quiet and honestly…boring. The atmosphere was less gray and you liked it.

“Wow is this your office?” Soobin eyes the room with wide eyes.

“Yeah, do you like it? I think it represents me pretty well.” You grip a seat and drag it over to your chair before patting it. He obliges and sits down, peering at your computer screen as you turn it on and already get to clicking stuff.

“I will be right back, I have to get what I printed. I don’t like constantly staring at a screen so I print out my work, so wait here, k?” He nods and leans on your desk. You take a moment to admire his outfit , mainly his hair. It sits dreamily infront of his eyes, sometimes you honestly wonder how he’s able to see.

The printer soon comes into view and you can spot your paper on it as well. The second it’s in your hands you spin your heels and book it, not fast enough apparently.

“Y/n, wait up, let me walk with you.”

There’s no way. You’re hearing things. Turning your head around, you peak over your shoulder to incredulously gaze at Hyun, a soft slimy smile on his face.

“Can I help you?” You don’t stop walking, he unfortunately catches up to you though.

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to dinner tonight. Couples day has me in the mood for some…company. Ever since my girlfriend left me 5 years ago, y’know? And I think we’re the only ones here without a partner, so it’s a match made in hea-“ You finally enter your office and see Soobin wiggling a pencil in the air, that paired with Hyun’s reaction to Soobin even being there has a fierce giggle threatening to spill out.

“What’s he doing here? This is partners day.”

You sit down next to Soobin and he possessively reaches out for your hand, never breaking his glare towards the intruder.

“Well, Hyun, if you must know, he’s my boyfriend.” Your unimpressed stare doesn’t falter as he processes this information.

“You can leave now.” Soobin deadpans, getting up to shut the door. Hyun doesn’t get a word in before your boyfriend shuts the door in his face. You both share a look before he comes to sit down, patting your back soothingly.

You really thought it ended there because he didn’t bother you for the rest of the day.

That night when you’re perched on Soobin’s lap, lustful kisses being pressed onto the skin of your neck, is when you unexpectedly get a phone call. You’re literally humping his bulge when it happens. “Who is it?” He asks, feeling you up regardless.

Peering over his shoulder, “Mm, just a random number. Should I answer it?” You smile flirtatiously at him. He catches on and leans back to grab the phone, giving you a wink before you press accept.

“Hello?” It takes your boyfriend a millisecond to get back to his antics, but this time his hands are on your ass, guiding your movements over him. His eyes tinge pink before settling for the usual red they usually are during certain escapades.

“Is this Y/n? It’s me Hyun.” Soobin halts, you both stare at each other in shock. His eyebrows furrow, he goes back to what he was doing, now, with a purpose and you can definitely feel the difference. The wine red of his eyes change once more, this time a deep purple.

He nips at your neck and it’s starting to become difficult to speak coherently.

“H-how did you get my number?” His hands knead your ass and the button of his jeans hits your clit, you try to cough away the gasp that escapes you but you’re sure it didn’t help.

“I got it from the office’s-“ You don’t hear the rest because Soobin has decided to turn around and drop you on your bed. You giggle at the way you bounce before remembering you’re on the phone, you laugh out a “sorry, what?” before remembering who you’re talking to.

“Are you okay, Y/n?” The more Hyun presses the more clothes you lose. Your boyfriend pops open your pant’s button and fly before tearing down the pants from your legs, your shirt next.

“Y-yea I’m fine. Is there something you need, Hyun?”

You thankfully weren’t wearing a bra, Soobin seems very grateful. His bites and sucks has your underwear dampening even more and an insatiable need falling over you. Hyun says something but you can’t make it out. The man on top of you takes the hand holding your phone and sets it on your comforter, plucking the device from your grip and throwing it into your pillows.

“Got you all to myself now. God, you’re so wet.” He slips off your ruined underwear and slides a few fingers up and down your wetness, getting them ready for you.

The first breach of his middle finger is satisfying, but not as much as his cock. You’ll get that eventually though.

It doesn’t take long for him to have added another and to slam them into you. His fingers are long and slender, they have your thighs clamping together. Which Soobin is having none of, his free hand forces your legs apart and your clit throbs from the feeling.

“Soobin, please fuck me. Need you so bad.” Your hands settle on his lower abdomen, slightly scratching the skin. “I love when you beg for me, love when you beg for me to fuck this tiny little cunt.” Your lower lip trembles at his words and you mentally prepare yourself. Soobin isn’t usually this dirty, but you’re not complaining.

The man teases your slit, sticking in his tip and hissing when your walls beg him to keep going. But he pulls out in favor of swirling his head around your, now, wet clit. “You love this don’t you, baby?” He huffs out. Before you’re able to answer, he pushes in, you throw your head back and enjoy the feeling of his veins and ridges gliding along your gummy walls so perfectly.

“There you go, baby, you like it when I fill this cute cunt up with my cock?” Nodding and whining wasn’t cutting it this time.

“Use your words.”

“Y-yes, I love it.” Your hands reach for his shoulders, trying to stay coherent for a little longer.

“I know, baby, I know.”

His thrusts pick up momentum and soon his hips are smacking into you. “You’re mine, aren’t you, baby? All mine, no on else’s.” His pelvic bone grazes your clit and you’re finding it hard to speak. All that comes out is babbling and needy whines and moans, “That good? Am I fucking you that good?” You nod furiously, hoping he’ll take that as an answer.

Just like the first time you had sex, he takes your legs into his hands. But this time he presses them to your chest and groans at the sight of you so exposed for him. The way your cunt takes him so effortlessly does things to him.

Soon, he notices the way you clench, and how your breathing becomes quicker. Suddenly, a moan that does not belong to either of you echos. His eyebrows furrow but when he makes eye contact with your pillows he understands. He tries not to stop his pace too much as he leans forward to rummage for your phone.

His lips curl in a devious smirk when he sees the call is still going.

“You enjoying this, Hyun? How I fuck my girl? Do you wish you were here instead of me? Getting to see and feel how fucking wet she is, how tight her little cunt is? What it looks like when she’s full of cum? Call her one more time and I promise you it’s not going to end well.” The only thing that’s heard is a gasp and a choked moan before Soobin hangs up. He exhales before he grips your thighs and jackhammers his hips into you.

“Coming, fuck, I’m coming.” You practically yell, legs shaking as you release all over his cock. The added wetness and the way there’s a white ring forming around his base pushes him over the edge, he spills inside you, hips stuttering to an end.

“Hopefully that helps get him off your back, but I’m happy to do this again if it doesn’t.” He smiles, leaning in to capture your lips.

“You okay?” He questions, pulling out, wiping his forehead with his forearm as well.

“Yea, I am. I love you, Soob.”

The sentiment and the nickname has his dark brown eyes swirl with light pink. “I love you too.”

———————————————————

TAGLIST : @tyunlovie @kyrkitten @rencarnationofangel @jimin2014 @starstruckluminarytale @soobsfairy444 @fathersoneric @ethie @rlvslouis @gyulz @woniebae @rjsmochii @wtfjongseong @boba-beom @mybabywearschanel @chiefturtlebonkghost @bergandysam @qluvrv @genshinsoobs @bucketofhiros @dilfjohhny @meikoo

if i didn’t tag you it’s bc tumblr couldn’t find your blog!!

[totheblood]

true blue. (three)

pairing: modern!ellie williams x reader

summary: ellie buys a scone and you drink a shirley temple

warnings: suggestive themes, drug/alcohol usage, cursing, descriptions of abusive behavior (neither ellie or reader engages in these behaviors)

a/n: i love writing as ellie writing in her journal... also the ai audios were a bitch to make this time... hope u like them THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD - I apologize.

here is the masterlist where you can read part one and two!

Ellie wanted nothing more than to pretend the last two days of her life didn’t exist.

But that wasn’t possible. This was real life and Ellie had received a booty call from her most recent heartbreak merely hours after she had her fingers tucked inside of her ex. Ellie wasn’t even completely sure why she was entertaining it, but she knew that whatever choice she made she would curse herself forever. 

The truth was that Ellie had missed Cat almost as much as she hated her. There’s a certain kind of comfort that only your first love can bring, and a certain kind of addiction Ellie had for her. But at the end of the day, it always came down to one thing: Ellie wanted to be known by someone.

And she was known by Cat, albeit for only for a few months, but still she was known. Cat saw all the worst parts of her and still held her like glass every night. She saw the things that Ellie couldn’t even imagine liking about herself and turned them into something beautiful. Ellie’s heart had been harbored in the chest of Cat’s for almost a year and that was something you couldn’t just forget.

Then there was you. Ellie had known you all for a few weeks and was already entranced by you. She liked the little things you did, like buy her tea after realizing she didn’t like coffee or how you always printed an extra sheet of notes knowing she would forget to bring hers to class. What astonished Ellie even more was that you did most of this while she was giving you the cold shoulder.

What plagued Ellie about this was that she knew for a fact that if she got to know you, she would fall in love with you. She had already written down a list of things about you in her journal and she was starting to feel like she was going insane.

Likes a lot of sugar in her coffee… too much sugar almost, made a comment about it and she told me ‘that’s why she was so sweet’.. It was corny as fuck. She’s fucking adorable.

This little freak told me how she communicates with squirrels, she waves her arm or some shit, i told her she was clinically insane… AND THEN SHE DID IT??? She moved her arm and a fucking squirrel ran up to us… what the fuck, is this girl magic?

She smiles everytime she sees me, even after I’ve been a jerk.. Dina told me I should drop it but I can’t, when I see her stupid beautiful face I remember Cat, am i the crazy one?

She looked so sad today. I wanted to ask her what was wrong but I didn’t… I’m such an asshole sometimes. I don’t know why I do this to myself. If I was her I’d run the other way but she just sticks around… who does that?

I swear she’s playing mind games with me, her shirt was so tight today that i just

 She smells like cherry and vanilla… almost want to take a bite

She didn’t text me about the project today… is she forgetting about me?

Ellie never thought she would be in this predicament. She never imagined having a sense of loyalty to you, but a part of her felt that if she went over to Cat’s she would be betraying you. 

So she didn’t.

That Saturday morning Ellie went to Bean and picked up the strawberry scone you love so much and your coffee with extra sugar and headed over to your dorm. As she approached your building her palms got increasingly more sweaty. She was quickly losing the confidence she had when she was with you yesterday, but she was determined to start fresh with you. 

She even imagined the two of you bonding over shitty exes, kissing all the places they refused to. She imagined crying in your lap instead of Dina’s and kissing the inside of your thigh when she finally felt better. She imagined taking a bath with you, you rubbing whatever sickly sweet cherry scent you were obsessed with over her body. She was imagining a lot of things, but she was getting ahead of herself. 

Ellie knocked about five times before deciding that you were asleep. Just as she turned to leave she heard a groan from the other side of the door.

“Ugh, hello?” Your voice came out raspy, evidence of last night in your voice. 

“Um, hi… it’s me.” Ellie spoke, her throat getting a little bit dry. “It’s Ellie.”

“Oh shit, Ellie.” You opened the door quickly ushering her in. She stepped in and watched as you put a hand on your forehead, the hangover written all over your face. It was evident that you had slept in your make-up, as she could see the mascara smudged across your face. You looked like a fucking mess, but Ellie thought you looked beautiful.

Suddenly, she was shy again. “Fun night, huh?” She joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, it was fucking fantastic.” You replied sarcastically, climbing back onto your bed and patting the spot next to you, ushering Ellie to join you. “What’cha got there?” You questioned, eyes glancing at the bag and cup she had resting in her hands. 

“Oh it’s, uh, it’s that scone you like… and your sugar coffee.” She walked over to where you were, handing you the bag and cup as she sat down next to you. She smiled as she watched your features soften as you blinked up at her, a small genuine smile on your face. 

“For me?” You beamed. Ellie noticed two things right away: you had tears in your eyes, and no one had ever done something like this for you before. It was so small in terms of gestures, but Ellie’s heart swelled with pride as you thanked her.

She watched you take a bite, before you closed your eyes and gave her a fake moan. “This is so fucking good. I needed this.” 

“I’m glad.” She gently nudged your shoulder with hers. 

“Ellie… I don’t mean this to be rude, but why are you here?” You asked reluctantly. She could tell you weren’t trying to be rude so she didn’t take any real offense to it. If Ellie was being honest with herself she couldn’t exactly place why she was here either. All she knew was that she didn’t want to be at Cat’s. She also knew that she wanted to hang out with you, but the more she sat here the more she realized she should’ve asked you. 

“Oh I, I just wanted to talk about yesterday…” She came up with the lie quickly knowing it may be the only thing that made sense. “And what that means for us… not that there is an us but… you know.”

All you did was nod and take another bite of your scone. “What does it mean for us?” 

She took a deep breath as she eyed you. You truly were the eighth wonder of the world to her. It was like there was something that was always pulling her towards you. At first she thought that something was Cat, but there was no way that whatever attraction she had to you was based on Cat alone. 

You were completely different. When she spoke, it was obvious you were listening. It was like you wanted to hear what she had to say. You laughed at her lame joke and never made her feel like an idiot for making them. When she got quiet you would try to bring her out of her shell by telling her stupid puns. She was mad at you at the time, but her heart still appreciated it. You never let her look stupid in class or in public. One time you even got down on your knee and tied her shoe for her. You were heaven incarnate, and you made her feel like she was deserving of that.

“I just… I think when I met you it scared me how much I liked you. I had just gotten broken up with and I couldn’t get into another thing… you know? But there you were with your sweet fucking voice and pens and I just.. I shut down and I pulled away from you and I know yesterday felt so sudden but I had been thinking about doing that for a while now. I think I want to know you more, but in order to do that I think we should start over. Clean slate. Act like my fingers were never inside you and all that. Maybe even let me take you out on a date.” Ellie rambled out, carefully watching your face for any reaction that would give you away. 

“Oh Ellie,” You whispered, your voice soft and tender. You brought a hand up to push her hair behind her ears, ignoring how her face flushed and grew hot. “I would love that. But I refuse to forget those fingers.”

“They’re good fingers, right?” She was beaming up at you, freckled and starry eyed. “How about tomorrow for that date?” 

“Works for me.” You smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. This had felt more like a first kiss to Ellie than anything she had done prior. It was gentle and sweet and left her pulse racing. It was the kind of kiss that she closed her eyes for, hoping it would last longer. It was the kind of kiss you held your breath for.

-

It had been almost three weeks since you and Ellie started going out, and she was on the verge of asking you to be her girlfriend. That title was still sore in her chest but she was fighting through it for you. 

You were someone who had ‘girlfriend’ written all over them. You were the type of person people would want to call their girlfriend. You always kissed Ellie goodbye, held her hand as much as possible, and best of all you gave really good head. Ellie was trying to be less vulgar and more romantic but the minute you started working her with your tongue, she became 16 again. 

Ellie had made it a habit to add more about you in her journal after every date you had, the scribbles getting more frantic as the time went on. She felt like a fucking child.

She ordered a Shirley Temple at dinner today… At first I was like??? What the fuck? But then she took the cherry stem and tied it with her tongue. THEN she told me that she was going to show me again later… and in my head I’m like??? But then later came and… well so did I.

We saw a stray cat on our walk today and it approached us… a cat has never fucking approached me in my life? Maybe I have shit vibes or something.. But not my girl, she’s like a fucking rainbow. She pet it and made a comment about getting pussy. I’m crushing on the girl I’m going out with.

This little weirdo made me a mug in her pottery class, carved her name into a heart and everything. Even said the heart was mine.. It was so fucking cute… her… not the mug. The mug was ugly as fuck. She did her best.

Joel came for family day today and met her. He told me she was cute but a little fucking weird, just like me. What an asshole. I counted the amount of times she made him laugh. It was 24. 24 times in 2 hours. Joel Miller has never laughed that much in his entire life. But the fact that he likes her so much makes my heart warm. I don’t even mind that he might like her more than me.

She had been begging to hang out with my friends so Dina and Jesse and us went on a double date. Her and Dina act like they know each other. They were all giggly. It was gross. Jesse even seems to like her. He gave her the last bread in the basket. JESSE! Jesse did that. It seems small but that’s like something he never does. I’m starting to believe this girl is a witch… I’m starting to believe I’m in love with her.

I’ve been writing her a song on the guitar. She saw the guitar in my room one time and called me “her little rockstar”... what a fucking nerd. She asked me to play for her but I got nervous… that has never happened before… What are you doing to me????

Ellie was smitten. Ellie was so smitten that she almost forgot about Cat. Almost. Because at this very moment Cat was charging towards her as she sat on the grass with her journal in her hands.

“Hey.” Cat sighed, sitting down next to Ellie.

“What do you want, Cat?” Ellie grunted out, moving over so she wasn’t sat so close to her. 

“You never came by.” She sounded genuinely sad, so much so that it threw Ellie off. 

“I got busy.” Ellie wanted this to be over so badly.

“With my ex? If you two are playing the long game it isn’t going to work. I don’t care.” Cat replied, anger almost evident in your voice. 

“How is my relationship about you?” This time Ellie turned towards Cat, closing the journal in your hands.

“It’s obvious what you guys are doing. This little act to make me upset, yeah, it’s not working. You’re both my exes for a reason” She spat.

“Not everything is about you. She doesn’t even know I’m your ex, you have never come up in our conversations.” Ellie was getting annoyed, but instead Cat just laughed, something sinister filling her eyes.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Cat snorted.

“Know what?” Ellie questioned, trying to keep the anger in her voice to a minimum. 

“She hated you, Ellie. Thought you were the one I left her for. Technically she was right, but she called me to curse me out about it. Showed me the birthday post I made you with literal tears in her eyes.” 

And if Ellie’s heart was broken by Cat, it was absolutely shattered by you.

ai audios:

i've reached my daily limit for audios (tumblr hates happy people) so i have attached them as links this time.. cause i did not work so hard on them for them not to be posted.

oh i just wanted to talk about yesterday

i just i think when i met you it scared me

they're good fingers, right?

[rapz-rites]

Demon Spawns Part 2

Damian x Alien!Reader (established relationship)

Part 2 of Demon Spawns

You can’t stop thinking about Mar’i calling you sis. You decide to do something about it

A/N: Sorry this took so long but I hope you enjoy this. Now I’m working on Version 2 and some other stuff. After having to write a part 2 V2 is only gonna be 1 part cuz I’m not doing this again

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings:Making out, angst

-sis?

-Sis?

-SIS??

- That’s all that’s been on your mind since your future kids incident

-In the shower

-Grocery shopping

-Work

-School

-Did Mar’I know something about your biological family that you didn’t?

-Maybe she just saw you as a older sister figure

-It made you really think about your bio family

-You absolutely adored you adopted family but you had that unexplainable need to find out about your roots, where you came from

-What better way that with a 23andMe DNA kit

-You bought the family tree version

-You didn’t really care what ethnicities you were probably mixed with

-You waited about a month for the results

-Checking your email on the hour after the sent an email saying they received your saliva

-Now you were at the manor, chilling in the common living room (they have like 7)

-It was you, Damian, Tim, Steph, Duke, and Cass

-Damian laid his head on your lap, while you playing with his hair, staring at the flat screen TV that played some action movie Duke and Steph picked

-That's when your phone vibrated

-It was an email from 23andMe

-You couldn’t believe it

-0 familial matched

-Not even a 6th cousin twice removed

-Nothing

-“I need to go to the bathroom.”

-You walked out of the living room quickly, making your way to Damian’s Room, locking yourself in his bathroom

-You walking to the sink, hands on the edge, looking at yourself through the mirror

-How?

-Was it an error?

-Were YOU an error?

-OMG

-WHAT IF YOU’RE AN AI OR ROBOT?

-WHAT IF…

-Knock knock

-“Beloved, are you ok?”

-It was your boyfriend

-“You’ve been gone for a long time”

-No you haven’t

-Once you and Damian really got comfortable with each other, he started clinging to you

-You couldn’t complain though

-You loved the attention and affection

-It took longer for Damian to open up to you, than you with him

-“I'm fine Dami.”

-You went to unlock the door

-As your hand went towards the door knob, Damian whipped the door open

-Honestly, you weren’t be surprised

-What else would you expect from a clingy ex assassin

-He takes a step closer to you, engulfing you into a hug

-You hug him back, face flushed against his chest

-“What's wrong? Did something happen?”

-He says, stroking your back gently

-You look up at him with teary eyes

-“I might have no family. Like at all.”

-Damian looked slightly confused

-“I took the 23andMe DNA kit for the family tree and I have zero results”

-“Oh habibti. You could’ve just asked me to help you.”

-Face still flushed against his chest, you respond

-“I know… I just thought maybe it was something I had to do on my own, you know.”

-Damian doesn’t respond

-He just continues stroking your back and places a kiss on the top of your head

-“Do you want to try the DNA sequence on the ‘BatComputer’ as you like to call it”

-“Yes please” You mumble in his chest

-You both just stand there, Damian’s arms wrapped around you

-“Can we do it at night when no one’s around. I don’t want them to know”

-“Of course Beloved”

-That night Damian was off from patrol

-Damian was already in the BatCave training

-You descended the stairs, but stopped when you noticed someone

-“Oh. Hey Dick. I thought you all left for patrol”

-“Hey Y/N. No, I took tonight off. Mar’i is having a sleepover with Lian so Kori and I are having a night in.”

-“Oh ok. Good night”

-“Good night”

-With that he walks up the stairs and leaves

-Damian was now sitting in the BatChair waiting for you

-You quickly walked to him, standing close to the chai

-“I already started the sequence on the ‘BatTablet’. It won’t be too long until we get the results”

-“So it runs my DNA against…?”

-“Every DNA system in the world. Police, hospitals and online DNA testing databases. I even included the Leagues.”

-You go to hug him

-Placing yourself on his lap, his hand immediately goes to your waist securing you on him lap

-You reach for his face, placing a hand gently on each cheek

-“You’re amazing and I love you”

-Damian leans closer to you, nose brushing against yours

-“Show me how much”

-You grin, close the gap between the two of you

-Damian slides the chair back as you move to straddle him, your arms wrapping around his neck

-Damian’s hand goes to the small of your back and the other at the top of your neck, bringing you as close as possible

-You open your mouth to try and take a breath

-Damian takes this as an opportunity to deepen the kiss with his tongue

- You moaned into the kiss, feeling Damian underneath you

-You both continue making out until you hear a ding

-You immediately tried to hop off Damian

-Key word tried

-He groaned as you broke the kiss

-‘Damn I should’ve turned off the notification ringer’ he thought

-“Damian I need to see the results”

-You twisted your body, still straddling Damian, trying to reach the BatTablet next the the keyboard, but Damian hugged you tightly

-You turned to face him and places a hand on each of his cheeks

-“Dami, I really need to see those results. I promise we can continue this later”

-He looked at and raised his eyebrows, holding out his pinkie finger to you

-“Pinkie promise”

-You taught Damian the concept of pinkie promises just before you starting dating

-Naturally, he thought that they were silly and childish

-But now, to him, they’re blood oaths

-“Pinkie promise”

-As soon as he let go of you you rushed to the BatTablet

-When you opened the results your face contorted into one of confusion and shock

-Damian just watched you from the BatChair, eyebrows now furrowed

-You kept scrolling

-Then you stopped

-Your mouth fell into a frown and tears welled in your eyes

-Damian took this as his sign to come up to you

-You handed him the BatTablet and ascended the stairs to the manor

-Damian quickly scummed the results as he tried to follow you

-Once he reached the foyer he saw you putting of you jacket and grabbing your keys

-“Where are you going?”

-“To get answers”

-Damian didn’t hesitate as he put on his jacket and grabbed your keys from your hands

-“I’m driving”

-The car ride was quiet

-Once Damian parked the car you both just sat there in silence

-Damian really wished he could read your mind at that moment

-To know what you were thing, what you were feeling

-He hated see you like this

-“What are you go-”

-Before we could finish you get out the car, strutting into the apartment complex

-Damian rushed out of the car to follow you

-Damian finally caught up to you

-You were standing in front of the apartment door

-You didn’t know how to feel

-You started banging on door with both fists

-You wanted to make sure that they heard you

-Suddenly the door was whipped open

-“Oh my gosh! What are you do-”

-Ignoring him, you push past him to see her come into the living room

-Looking confused, he turns to Damian

-Damian hands him the BatTablet

-She walks in from one of the bed room

-“Hey? What’s going on?”

-She clutched her robe, attempting to cover herself up more

-“How long have you known?”

-“What? What are you talking about?”

-She knew exactly what you were talking about

-She didn’t want to admit it, she couldn’t

-You turned and grabber the BatTablet from him, and force her to look at it

-She slowly takes it from your hand looking down at it

-“I didn’t want you to find out this way. I swear”

-“Oh really? Or did you not want me to find out at all?”

-She stayed silent

-You turned to him

-“Did you know too Dick?”

-He was silent too, guilty look in his eyes

-That’s all you needed to know

-You finally started to let the tears fall

-“I trusted you. I opened up to you. I told you how I felt abandoned by my birth parents and how I thought I wasn’t good enough for them. How if I was better maybe they wouldn’t have given me away. But all this time, you were right here. In the same state.”

-“N/N it’s not like that.”

-You couldn’t take it anymore

-She kept this huge secret from me

-“Don’t call me that. You’re my mother Kori.”

-You weren’t even mad, just sad

-Sad that she’s known for 3 years and didn’t say anything

-Sad that she never told you

-Sad that even when she knew, she never wanted to be your mother

-You didn’t understand one thing though

-“Why didn’t you tell me”

-You said in a hushed tone

-“I was. When I was able to confirm that you were really my daughter I was going to tell you. But then I saw you with your adoptive parents, and you looked so happy. I didn’t want to ruin that”

-She wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t enough for you

-“What kind of excuse is that? You thought I would be better off not knowing who my biological mother is. I even told you that I wanted to know, that I’ve tried doing research to find her”

-She was still silent

-“You sent your daughter away just to have another one”

-That broken Kor’i’s heart even more

-At this point both you and Kor’i were in tears

-You wiped your eyes trying to pull yourself together

-“I can’t do this. Let’s go Damian”

-Damian follows you as you storm out, leaving Kor’i broken and Dick to try and pick up the pieces

-After that night, you a would avoid Dick and Kor’i as much as possible

-It got so bad that you didn’t go to the manor for 3 weeks

-Much to your dismay, you were forced to see her, be in the same room as her

-Everyone sensed the tension between the two of you

-Mostly… ALL coming from you

-You were so furious with her

-Everyone was silent, waiting for the meeting to start

-That silence lasted until not other than Wally West spoke up

-”So I did the math…”

-You already knew what was coming

-You did the math too

-”Star, you had a baby at 15?”

-Sigh

-Of course

-”Tamaranean customs and way of life are different on earth than there. And time is different in space, Wallace.”

-You tuned everyone out as you looked out the window of the WatchTower

-You were situated far enough to hear everything,but far enough to be alone with your thoughts

-You were thinking about everything and nothing

-After you found out about Kor’i you felt so numb

-Could you do the same thing she did?

-Even though you knew your future kids for less than 12 hours, part of you broke when you had to see them go

-Did she feel the same way when she has to let you go?

-It must’ve

-It had to

-She had to

-You were started by a hand on your shoulder

-“You should talk to her”

-You knew he knew what you were thinking about

-“You don't want to?”

-It’s not that you didn’t want to, you couldn’t

-“Exactly”

-He turned you to look at him

-He just looked at you

-Giving you the look you can so easily recognize

-‘You know what you have to do’

-Damn him

-You sighed, dropping your shoulders

-You dropped your head into his chest, wrapping your arms around his waist

-He just hugged you back

-After a few moments you released him

-“I have to talk to Kent about something”

-You nodded at he walked away, making his way towards Jon

-You turned your head to look out the WatchTower, crossing your arms

-You just had to ask her if it hurt and that’s it

-Right?

-Walked toward Kori, grabbing her wrist, pulling her into an empty room

-“Did it hurt?”

-“I’m sorry what?”

-“Did it hurt, when you have to send me away?”

-Kor’i sighed

-“Of course it did. It hurt more than being experimented on”

-You were satisfied with that answer, but it you didn’t let it show

-“Well then… ”

-You shifted your weight on your heels

-“I’m willing to possibly have a relationship with you”

-She smiled and hugged you tightly

-She released you after a few seconds hands on your arms

-“This makes me the most happy”

-You nod with a small smile

-“Let’s return to the others”

-Once to two of you joined the others, the meeting was just starting

-Bat man spoke first

-“We are about to face a possible new threat”

-A cryptic message appears on the board

-“We’ve ran it through every language on our database and zero result”

-Studying to message further you realized it’s not alien language

-“It’s code”

-Batman turned to you as you spoke

-“It’s a code I made when I was like 10. But I haven’t used it since I was like 15/16”

-Wally sped to you, wrapping his arms around your shoulder

-“You’re an alien princess with your own secret language”

-He chuckles

-“What else don’t we know about you, N/N. What-”

-Before he could finish Damian pulls him off you by his collar

-“Get your leprechaun in check Grayson before I do it myself”

-Oh when he threatens people for you 😍

-Wally releases himself from Damian’s hold

-“Who are you calling leprechaun, midget”

-“I’m taller than you West”

-You and Artemis shared of look

-If y’all didn’t stop this disagreement now, someone, Wally, would get hurt

-A bright orange light flashed in the center of the conference room

-Everyone immediately prepared to attack

-You didn’t

-The light felt warm, familiar

-“WAIT! Don’t do anything” you yelled

-Once the light disappeared, a guy was there

-He looked about 18 or 19

-His skin matched yours and his hair was like Damian’s

-He had the most beautiful shade of green eyes like Damian’s but the warmth of yours

-You go to hug him

-“Hi Sunny”

-He smiles as he hugs you back

-“Hi Mom. Did you get my message”

-OOOHHH

-Of course

-“Yes. You almost gave your grandfather a heart attack”

-Clark giggled

-Sunny turned to look at his father

-“Hi Dad”

-Damian just nodded, not knowing what to say

-Sunny smiled

-He knew his father might’ve acted like this

-Your son from the future just appeared

-How is Damian the one internally freaking out while you’re so calm?

-“What’s going on? Why are you here?”

-Sunny turned to look at you

-“We need your help mom”

-Sunny looked serious

-Oh no

OMG THIS TOOK FOREVER. But that's my fault hehe Plz let me know how you feel about this. I appreciate ANY type of criticism. I NEED IT TO GET BETTER.

I lowkey forgot about this lolz but I got it done

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - October Is Looking Chunky

Sept 2022 Wk 5

Happy fall everyone! 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Eclipse (Fri YT) Ep 8 of 15 - The pacing is starting to feel off and I am getting frustrated with the plot. That said, K is such a killer actor. And Aye is so damn pushy but with emotions as well a physical affection, he exposes his own vulnerability as a kind of benevolent attack on Akk to instill trust and worth and value and safety. Akk is just so scared and closeted. This whole narrative is less about love than it is about courage. Whether that is courage to live or courage to love. 

Vice Versa (Sat on YT) Ep 12fin - They are very cute and domestic boyfriends, and I realize GMMTV often does domesticity with their couples in the final episode. I’m thinking about the fantastic final ep of Dark Blue Kiss. “Celebrity coming out for love” is very Love Stage!!  Interesting that they advertised Not Me at the end, does that mean we have no new BL in this time slot from GMMTV next week? Curious choice they still have 4 more from their 2022 lineup.* I half expected the high school one. 

So what do I have to say about Vice Versa? 

It’s a solid BL with a weak plot but a strong concept. It’s very well acted and Jimmy remains the most charismatic talent that GMMTV currently fields. I hope we get more of this pair, either together or separated. That said, this is never going to be one of my top rewatch rotations, so I’m calling it for an 8/10. RECOMMENDED 

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) Ep 8 of 15 - Oh goody more pain. Look I like the noona romance thread. It’s obvious she had to break his heart, it’s what I would’ve done, it’s what Minato should have done. But it was still sad to watch. This is a well cast show. Sniffling at the end of this ep. Looking forward to seeing Siew come into his own and Cake crumble while they are apart. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) Ep 1 of 10 - Words cannot adequately describe how much I dislike the credit sequence and music on this show. I nearly DNFed before a single line was spoken. The subs are also not good, but my Thai is getting better so I don’t mind as much as I once did. The show leads us out with: Slow motion + instalove + tons of familiar faces + some very terrible sound effects. Pretty much standard pulp territory. Despite all this, I actually kinda like it and they are so pretty. A rare sunshine/sunshine pairing! Nhai is an adorable idiot and Ai is confident king and I’m chortling away. Also GAY DADS played by IRL husbands Arm & Porsch! We’re good here, I’m happy. 

Work from Heart (Thurs YouTube) Ep 2 of 7 - Cute ex boyfriends. Thank god for uniforms. But now evil ex is overly aggressive. I’m getting Check Out vibes and that’s not a good thing. I love the tattooed actor who plays Guy, I wish he’d get more roles. I loved him in Ingredients too. 

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) Ep 7 of 13 - It was a fine ending to the first couple and a good (if audio dubious) start to the second. I made more puns in the DUMPSTER FIRE TRASH WATCH ALONG HERE.

Fahlanruk (Sun GaGa) 3 of 12 - And now identical twins? SERIOUSLY?  The show sucks so bad. The story of 2 players never runs deep. Absolutely nothing happened this episode. I might drop this one. 

* GMMTV’s remaining 2022 BL line up is:

My School President - which I expected to be in VV’s time slot.

Moonlight Chicken - EarthMix’s next one, probably what they are working on next

Be My Favorite - recasting 

Never Let Me Go - filming now (assuming this will take on Eclipse’s time slot) 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Thurs GaGa & Viki) 6 of 8 - This is my favorite BL currently airing BY A LANDSLIDE. 24 minutes of pure agony and joy. It just makes me so happy but it’s also so high school angst and traumatic to live through. This is the best of Japanese BL, I keep getting a feel of Seven Days off it and I don’t mention that comparison lightly. Takara is SO CORNEY. Also. THAT ENDING. Yes. Exposed! No more secrets! Squee! I can’t wait to see what happens next week. 

Once Again (Korea Fri GaGa) 5-6 of 8 - This show. I swear it’s so in the throat creepy and tense (in a Kassandra the mad prophet way) but also weirdly sweet. Poor Ji Hoon, he’s such a nice guy in a world just has a in for him one way or another. I’m glad both actors are so good since it’s the whole reason to watch this. I’ve no idea how they are going to manage to resolve it, but it looks like we get a cute date next ep!  

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y - too hard on my soul. Will I watch it eventually? Maybe? Probably not. I think we have an ITSAY situation going on here. Also BL Express was not best pleased, and I while we rarely share taste, in this instance I trust their reporting.

My Tempo - a Thai BL movie about the Thai music industry. Yeah, no thank you.

Oh My Sunshine Night - I’m scared it’s gonna be sad, so I’m waiting for spies to tell me it’s safe

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - ditto above

In Case You Missed It 

More Than Words (Japan indie subbed by furritsubs) - TIP ‘EM if you like em!)  All the eps have dropped, so I binged it. Basically the definition of moody arthouse smackdoodle. Makki is an outgoing but mysterious boy with secret pain. Eiji is the an older gay boy struggling with identity. Mieko is a broken angry girl who both makes them work as a couple and aches to belong with them. This is a story about all 3 and their complicated interweaving relationship. It’s about love and intimacy in all its many faceted forms. This is not, and I'm being very clear here, a romance. In fact this is not a romantic show in any way. It’s poetic, sad, and wistful. Is it beautiful and a little lovely? Yes. Did I like it? No. For BL stans like me? NOT RECOMMENDED. For the ITSAY and YNEH folks... have at. BL Express likes this kind of thing and did a great review. 

Zero Supporter featuring EarthMix in their KornWin roles dropped. Look these two are just so cute together. They aren’t as good at this premise as OffGun were in Our Skyy, tho. Still, ultimately, I like this special better than the original Cupid’s Last Wish. 

NetJames (forthcoming BL Bed Friend) portray a BL side couple in Thai drama Catch Me Baby starting Oct 6 on WeTV. 

Semantic Error won Best Couple at the APAN Star Awards 2022. And Jaechan won the Popularity Award. 

Gossip

Thai casting call went out for the world’s first omegaverse BL Midnight Fortune. Twitter went as pearl-clutchingly hysterical over it as we might expect. It's not my thing personally and I doubt I will like it (frankly I doubt it'll be very good, either, the plot looks like it was written by MAME & Jittirain) but you better believe I will dumpster fire trash watch this SO HARD if it airs. It's about time Thai BL started to get seriously experimental in its cinemagraphic life cycle. It will be gloriously whackdoodle. I did have it down for Japan first, Thailand is so plucky! 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting: Mon: To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai - Thai (10 eps 40 min ea) on One31HD & possibly WeTV. Kabe Koji - Japan (10 eps 20 min ea) on Viki.  Weds: Ghost Host, Ghost House - Thai (5 eps 30 min? ea) YouTube for reruns. Sat: Big Dragon - Thai (8 ep 40 min ea) reruns on Star Hunter’s YT. Sun: Remember Me - Thai (8 ep 40 min ea) Gaga. 

FULL October 2022 line up is here. 

This week’s best moments?

Fucking awesome Takara. 

This year’s Namgoong Award for BEST WINGMAN goes to Katori in Takara & Amagi. He’s glorious. 

Ai Long Nhai calling itself out. 

And again. 

Eclipse being a tease. 

My Only 12% pulling our heart strings.

Vice Versa, beat that drum honey! 

I LOVE a back hug. 

(last week)

Current earworm? JJ Project (fetal GOT7) Coming Home 

[magnus-sm-writes]

May 2024 Monthly Wrap-Up

Didya miss me? I’ve posted several 10k word updates this month, so this monthly wrap-up will be a little different. I don’t get a lot of attention on my 10k updates or my monthly wrap-ups, so this is mostly for myself and my favorite coworker/friend who reads my blog. Hi!

May has been… mm. Fun. Writing-wise, it’s been a month of editing short stories, making introductions, and continuing Greenest. I adore writing Greenest and my short stories, so I’ve been having a pretty good time with it all!

That is, until I got a little burnt out at the end. 

My day job is decently intense, let’s just say. We’re constantly making and breaking our records this year trying to hit the record demand this year. It’s been… a lot. All hands on deck, really. Following the conclusion of my Big Work Project, I’ve just been a little out of it. Exhausted, irritable, bored with it all. I’ve been doing some intense self-care to try getting out of it, but I do genuinely think it’s all just a result of working so hard for so long. It’s going to be like this until July, so I’m trying to maximize my relaxation time out of work.

Y’know, because it’s always super important to try to squeeze the most relaxation out of your self-care time. A super healthy way to look at self-care.

It’s hard for me not to throw myself into my work and get way too involved, whether it’s my day job or my writing. Everything is personal to me. And I’m a perfectionist, which makes it worse. I easily exhaust myself.

I’m going to attempt not to burn out next month. Fingers crossed. 

WHAT HAVE I WRITTEN?

I’m not sure what I should call my editing, since it’s part rewrite, part editing. So I think I’m going to separate things pretty loosely based on what I rewrote or what I edited. If I did the first couple rounds of edits (rewrites), they’ll be there. If I did the second round of edits (line edits), they’ll be in the “editing” section. A distinction no one but me cares about, but it’s important to me.

I wrote the ending for “The Boy & the Hag Stone”, which I hand-wrote months back and had yet to digitize. I much prefer this ending to the original. Then I quickly did my first round of edits (rewrites), because I was excited that I’d finished it and super motivated to write more of it. As I mentioned in my first May 10k post, Banshee is a pretty fun character to write for, and I love him with all my heart.

The next short story I edited was my AI story “Certain Boundaries”, which got named this month! Good for it. I’ve been struggling to find a good name for this bad boy for some time, and when it comes to it, I think “Certain Boundaries” suits the content quite well. There are boundaries that are crossed.

(I’m pretty sure that I ripped that title from a lecture in college. A lot of my titles in my Title Inspo document are quotes from conversations I’ve had. Like my story “One Screen to Another”, which I borrowed from my lovely professor Jennifer.)

“Certain Boundaries” had a rewrite. I’d never been fully happy with it before, despite the numerous rewrites it’s received since its inception. The last time I watched Ex Machina was in… 2022, I think, which is when this idea came about. I’ve been working on it since. Not the longest I’ve spent on a work (that award goes to Lessons in Humanity from a Future Physicist, with a whopping ten years and going), but a large piece of time to be unsatisfied with a work with a word count under 5k.

I’ve been working on my goal of writing more for Greenest. Greenest is one of my oldest fantasy novels because it is around three years old. Maybe I should eat a cupcake in its honor? I’m sipping a glass of pineapple chili wine (my personal favorite wine, semi-sweet and spicy, something I think Mavuto would adore), so I’ll take a couple mouthfuls for Greenest and Sigma, my beloved son.

I did write a character intro for Sigma. He’s one of my favorite and longest-running fantasy characters, being optimistic, sweet, excited to learn, full of love, and green. Sigma is a pretty unique character in my line-up because he is optimistic and full of joy because he grew up in a blood cult and never lost his childlike innocence. My son is just like me.

Mostly, I worked on one of my favorite scenes: the one where Valor and Sigma meet Experiment #24. Yes, I’ve written it about three times. Yes, I’m going to continue writing it as I continue to develop them all as characters. As Sigma has grown as a character, his perspective has become more and more unique. Instead of being a self-absorbed, vain bastard looking to have a cosmetic procedure done, he is a naïve young man trying to understand himself. I guess they’re for similar reasons—the procedure is cosmetic in nature—, but the core behind them is different. This Sigma is ten years younger. He isn’t the same person I wrote about when I first wrote the meeting between him, Valor, and Experiment #24.

To put it shortly, I’ve been rewriting pivotal scenes as my characters change. As the plot of the Greenest series has changed and I’ve come up with more plot points, I have to go back and fix things. Especially pivotal scenes in the first book of the series!

So, yes, this is one of my favorite scenes for the series. It’s… fun. Neat. Sigma’s full of excitement about seeing the curiosity cabinets in Dr. Von Stromm’s surgery the same way I would be. I got to come up with all sort of fun, gothic medical trinkets that I could describe. That’s my paradise! I have a whole Etsy page dedicated to gothic shit I want to put in a curio cabinet! It’s my interest!

10/10, I have been having the best time with writing this scene. I could describe everything through Sigma’s eyes and have the time of my life.

Shockingly, I also wrote something for Lessons in Humanity from a Future Physicist. This book, if you’ve been around for a while, is my everything. I’ve been working on Lessons in Humanity for ten long, long years, and still, every time I write for it, I get giddy like it’s the first time I’ve ever written anything for it.

It’s a super simple scene about change and hating your friend’s taste in romantic partners. That universal bitchy conversation I think we’ve all had. (If you have a friend with bad taste in partners, you know what that’s like.)

It was just… fun. Really fun, actually. I’d been in a writing slump until I wrote that scene, and it helped me crest that.

EDITS

Yeehaw, editing section!

This month has been very edit-heavy. I don’t love editing, per se, but I do know it’s important to the process of being published and improving my work. Call me Sister Mary Loquacious (from Good Omens), because I never shut the fuck up. Editing is vital to keeping my works readable.

And dammit, I need to get published to get my name out there. Literary magazines are the only time when exposure is actually an acceptable form of payment.

(FYI to anyone who doesn’t know: most literary magazines are unpaid because all the money that they possibly make goes into producing the magazine. They are a labor of love from the volunteer staff. Please remember that. I worked on a literary magazine and didn’t see a cent because everything went into printing.)

So I did a lot of editing this month. Much more than I typically do. So much so that I made an edit to my goal of hitting daily word count for next month. I’m deciding that I’m going to consider myself successful if I either hit my word count or edit for an hour. A little treat, if you will.

The editing I did ranged from complete rewrites (addressed previously) to line edits, the most tedious type of editing. Have you ever wanted to read your work so much that even looking at it pisses you off? You, my friend, need to line edit.

But it’s useful. I cut down a good amount of superfluous words. Which is what I’m certain people would love me to do with my writing updates. But my blog has no word limit, so I get to be as Extra as I want! Ha!

WHAT HAVE I READ?

Reading was pretty sparse this month in favor of writing. In fact, I didn't finish a single book, which is kinda sad for me. It's just been a long long for me.

SUBMISSIONS

I met my submission goal this month! For putting myself out there, I am quite pleased. None of these submissions were through Submittable, which meant I had to either fill out one of the magazine’s forms or send an email. And I had to use manuscript format. Luckily, my Publishing class (and the professor for that, who is a saint) prepared me for this sort of situation.

If you’ve never done manuscript format, it’s a little bit like giving yourself a headache trying to figure out if the title is the correct amount of spaces down the page and how much of the title you should include in your header. A nightmare! And you use Courier New, which is the same font used in screenplays. As someone who likes a nice, bold font, it’s… different. Definitely different.

I refuse to let this ruin my excitement at having met my goal. A little headache is nothing compared to the high of reaching one of my (absolutely-obtainable) goals for this month.

I was hoping to maybe get a couple more submissions squeezed out before the end of the month, but we did inventory yesterday, and spending so much time walking around the factory left me in so much pain I didn't do much once I got home. It kinda sucked. But that's okay. I need rest to heal from my pulled foot muscle.

GOALS!!!!!

This month has been alright with my goals. I started off ambitious and charging full speed ahead with a library and cafe visit in one weekend, then met 20k words before half the month was over. 

Then the burnout happened, and I wasn’t really feeling audiobooks, and so on and so forth.

What I’m trying to say is, I did okay at hitting my goals for the month. That’s why I set them to be achievable, if slightly ambitious. I’m hoping to hit my goals, even when I’m feeling pretty meh for half the month. That’s part of setting myself up to succeed. 

When it came to goals I did achieve, I’m decently satisfied with them.

Submit to 3 literary magazines

Go to library 2 times

Finish 4 poems

Write in cafe 3 times

Maintain submission & word count journals

Make monthly wrap-up

Continue Greenest

Edit Q1 short stories

Here are the goals I did not meet:

Finish 2 audiobooks

Read 10 pages/listen to 10 minutes of audiobooks every day

Post to Instagram 4 times a week

Write 500 words a day

Finish reading 4 books

Finish 1 short story

A lot of these are “number” goals, or “every day” goals. I can be pretty bad at consistency. I often “break the chain”. The way I work isn’t exactly the most sustainable for every day. Sometimes I write 3k in one day, and I don’t write anything original the next. (Fanfiction isn’t counted, though if it were, I would consistently be hitting my word goals.) I wasn’t particularly feeling very interested in reading books either. It was a bit of a “blah” month in some aspects.

However, the goals I completed were the most important to me. So I didn’t technically meet my word goal every single day, and I didn’t finish my two audiobooks or finish four books, and I didn’t write a brand-new short story. What I did do (especially submitting to all of the literary magazines and editing my short stories) was more important. It’s what I need to do in order to meet my publication goals. I’ve got an okay-ish backlog of short stories that need edited and published for the moment. So though I didn’t meet all my “super achievable goals!!!!”, I’m alright with that. I like documenting when I technically “fail” so I can track what works for me and what doesn’t.

NEXT MONTH’S GOALS!!!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot about intentionality lately. Finding what works for me and doing it on purpose. A little riff of that Dolly Parton quote. What is sustainable for me? What goals do I consistently meet? What goals do I consistently fail? How can I set myself up for success?

I have high hopes for June. I have high hopes for every month, of course, but Pride Month is… special to me. As I feel it is for most queer people. (Not all; my husband doesn’t particularly care about Pride Month, but he’s… a little weirdo [affectionate].)

At the very least, I hope the fruits of my labor begin to crop up, so to say. I’ve had a couple submissions cooking for a while that I’ve got high hopes will find a home somewhere in the month of June. Maybe it’s silly to rely on gut feelings when I have so many digestive issues. But I stay silly.

I’m keeping my goals mostly in-line with what I’ve been doing the past couple of months, with some adjustments. Mostly numbers.

My goals for June are:

Submit to 4 literary magazines

Go to library 2 times

Finish 1 audiobook

Finish 5 poems

Read 10 pages/listen to an audiobook for 10 minutes

Post to Instagram 4 times a week

Write in a cafe 3 times

Submission & word count journals

Write monthly wrap-up

Continue romance novels

Write 500 words a day/edit for 1 hour

Finish reading 2 books

Finish 1 short story

Edit Q1 short stories

Write 10k updates

ABOUT THE ROMANCE NOVELS

So, I mentioned romance novels in my goals for June. This is because I’ve actually been cooking up a couple romance novels in the background for a little while. Nothing super super serious, but I’ve had a secret Pinterest board for them for about half a year, and playing all the HuniePop and Baldur’s Gate 3 that I do definitely gives a guy ideas. Partner that with the delicious rumor about me dating my favorite coworker, you have the perfect recipe for some romance novels.

Mostly, they fall into my same favorite tropes: friends to lovers, fake dating, reunions, only one bed. That sort of thing. My old tried and trues. Thinking about trying to do an office romance, but workplace romances squick me out most of the time. They’re kinda HR nightmares. And since my mother is an HR manager, I don’t really need more of those.

My current favorite one is (title likely to change) Home for the Holidays, a friends to lovers fake dating at Christmas thing that has so much fluff and nostalgia in it that it makes my damn teeth hurt. I’m a sucker for queer people with messy flirtationships with their friends (as a queer person who has had a lot of messy flirtationships with my friends), so of course I have to write that sort of thing to please the Muse (me).

So, Home for the Holidays features Oscar Moody and Viko Volkova. Mama Moody invites Oscar and his “sweet boyfriend from those Instagram posts” to the Moodys for Christmas, and Viko seizes the opportunity to have a family Christmas after not having one for years (homophobic family back in Serbia). Oscar and Viko have a lovely Christmas in Cincinnati that features all of Ohio’s Biggest Winter Hits, a good time with the Moody family, and yes, some steamy holiday romance. I can’t help myself. As much as I hate Hallmark movies (on in my parents’ house year-round), I am a sucker for a good “my mom invited us to the holidays but we’re not actually dating but I can’t tell her that” story. Anyone else?

There’s another that’s less of a romance romance novel and more of a “dealing with trauma with a side of romance” novel. I don’t have a name for it. I’ve been calling it “I am Mac’s Hangover”, because I love referencing Fight Club, and Mac is always hungover.

Mackenzie “Mac” Lone Bear and Flynn Von Brandt II did not exactly break up on good terms. In fact, Flynn dumped him so as to not lose the favor of his homophobic father in their freshman year of college. In the summer of their senior year, after identifying his mother’s corpse, Mac returns to his job at a coffee shop to find that a certain Von Brandt has been added to the roster. Between those two things, he is not coping particularly well.

I did a lot of research about living as a Native American in the United States, including watching several documentaries, and it’s honestly heartbreaking to see the intergenerational trauma that is passed down as a result of colonialism. It was a major interest of mine last autumn, and I’m still very much interested in it. 

It’s not a typical enemies to lovers experience, since I’m not a typical enemies to lovers guy. I much rather prefer bitter exes to lovers instead. This was definitely brought on by my love of Doctor/Master from Doctor Who, because I choose to read the Master as The Gallifrey Wife, and reading them as bitter exes just adds more drama.

I just like writing characters that have a lot of (justified) anger at the world. It’s nice to give them a happy ending. Cathartic. I’m all for catharsis.

CONCLUSION

This post is pretty long, even for one of my monthly wrap-ups. I’ve included a lot of auxiliary information that probably didn’t even need to be addressed. But I write these mostly for myself, and I’m a man of many words. I want to know exactly what I did for the entire month of May, and dammit, I’m gonna post it for the world to see.

[maylorscardigan]

Ong that old interview about dealbreakers is truly ick ick ick. And if he talks that way in public you can imagine what locker room talk looks like w him.

Again - his sexist statements and behaviour does not mean he is the devil. I don't want people to do what they've done with Matty because that's not right. But I wish they would look at TK the same way they looked at Matty. Or at least I need them to be called out by the rest if the fandom (however small it may be).

Matty is truly beautiful imo. He's such a kind, albeit flawed, human who never tries to appear untouchable. We've witnessed him be so very genuine and soft and emotional... and tbh TK to me comes off very very performative. Reminds me of my ex who loved to play into the "alpha male adored by men and females equally" thing.

But yes - he isn't the classic handsome meathead. Add to that the g*ylors who started the whole pitchforks and torches crowd... and the need for people to prove their moral value by adhering to popular belief online. Perfect storm.

It's nice to talk about this though - prev anon signing as 🎶

At the end of the day, we are all human. If someone says they’ve never done anything problematic, questionable etc are lying or too young. We all go do it now and then.

In my experience, those with ADHD are more prone to foot in mouth disease, as we have seen with Matty. Matty is not a bad person. He’s done or said things that deserve a raised eyebrow. He’s made questionable choices and should probably be called out on it - just like we should raise an eyebrow at Travis’ comments. Do they deserve to be torn apart with death threats and horrible AI images around the internet that suggest things, or have campaigns telling a musician not to date them etc? NO. Matty has also done things to make steps towards amends. But some people will hate for the sake of hating.

Do I have colourful opinions about some things Matty has done / said? Yes. Do I agree with everything? No. For instance - I HATE the comment about GG. However, he shouldn’t be flayed alive for it. Nor does it make him a horrible person. Do I like Travis’ comments about oral and breeding? No. Will I flay him alive? No.

Hate culture is disgusting. It truly is. And it’s so immensely damaging. People do this to other people in our daily lives. Teenagers are a perfect example of it. Then when a class mate ends up 6 feet under at their own hands… classmates are often wondering WHY they did that to themselves. There’s enough hate in the world.

[earnestly-endlessly]

hey!! Your fic recommendations are always elite–I was wondering if you had any kid fics, thank you <3

Hi anon. I have plenty of kid fics for you. Since you didn't quite specify what kind of kid fic you wanted I decided to divide it into fics where Charles and Erik are kids or get deaged and fics that involve kids. This is kind of a long list so I hope that there are plenty of new fics for you to read.

Cherik Kid Fic

--They are kids or get deaged--

Conspiracy of Kisses - Alaceron

Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.

Chasing After You - Alaceron

Summary: Charles isn't very good at tag. Erik helps

We’ll be the sum - afrocurl, ninemoons42

Summary: In between bouts of blanket burrito-ing and vegging out on movies, Charles and Erik figure out how they currently feel about each other.

Of course, they're schoolboys and they're on a sleepover and also Edie dotes on them both excessively, so things work out just fine.

Growing pains - ikeracity

Summary: Twelve-year-old Erik Lehnsherr is an angry, closed-off foster kid with trust issues and a bad temper. Ten-year-old Charles Xavier is a lonely kid in boarding school who just wants a friend.

Logan pretends he doesn't think they're both fucking adorable.

Valentine’s day – ikeracity

Summary: Kid fic! Erik waits impatiently all day at school to give Charles a card for Valentine's Day. Maybe Charles has something for him too...?

Now You Know You Know it Now – luninosity

Summary: Erik’s not sure why he keeps glancing at the other boy. Not as if Erik likes other kids, or other people in general, for that matter. But still—he finds himself looking. Again.

This Family Comes with Batteries - Fishwrites, lynneh

Summary: An orphaned Charles Xavier goes to live with his Godfather: Tony Stark. This story is a tale of what would have happened to the events of MCU, if Tony was raising a six year old telepath in Stark Tower. There is also the matter of Charles' robot AI manny/bodyguard/tutor/only-friend, David.

You’re Not Doing This Alone – flightinflame, Lynds

Summary: What's meant to be a simple recruitment mission leads to both Erik and Charles being de-aged back to thirteen years old. Terrified and out of their depth, the boys try to hide their situation and help each other until they can work out what is going on.

Charles Xavier, A Retelling – Extra_fried_noodles

Summary: An attempt to reverse his paralysis goes wrong, and Charles is de-aged into a 2 year old toddler. While Hank scrambles to fix the situation, the whole gang is here to help. Through a mix of selective memory, they watch Charles relive his childhood, revealing some deeply hidden and painful truths.

Protective Instinct – Groovyhornbill

Summary: Charles and Erik were testing Cerebro’s new prototype when things went very wrong.

Divergence – Lynds

Summary: Universes and timelines collide, dropping two younger versions of Charles Xavier into the midst of the hunt for Sebastian Shaw. Now the newly formed X-men have to deal with a strangely quiet and self-reliant six year old, and a sixteen year old covered in bruises.

Erik, in particular, has to accept that the man he loves hasn't had the kind, happy upbringing he wished for him. But these children are here now, and Erik's not going to let anyone hurt them this time.

--Where they have kids--

Sink or Swim – endingthemes

Summary: Erik is a struggling single dad of three kids with a burning hatred for Sebastian Shaw, the man who wronged him years ago. He’s tried to move on with his life, but a run-in with Shaw’s rude, spoiled omega, Charles, drags up old anger. When Charles ends up in the hospital after an accident, Erik goes to confront him only to find that Charles has amnesia. In the confusion, Charles mistakenly assumes that Erik is his mate.

Erik knows he should clear up the misunderstanding, but how can he pass up this perfect chance for a little revenge?

(An Overboard AU)

Rumor Has It - blueink3

Summary: "Did I hear the doorbell earlier?"

"Yeah, but I'd steer clear if I were you. It seemed a little tense. I don't know what's going on, but there's a kid out there who looks freakily like the prof."

Nearly six months after Cuba, Charles' life is turned upside down for the second time. Though he's slowly learning to adapt to the first, he's not sure he can handle the second. Luckily for him, there are a few people out there more than willing to help.

Words and Pictures – pocky_slash

Summary: When Lorna's powers manifest early, Charles Xavier's mutant picture books are the perfect teaching tool. Erik just hadn't expected the author to be so young. Or attractive. Or available.

Write this number down (you can call it anytime) – pocky_slash

Summary: When Erik upsets his children, they have a habit of running away from home--and straight to Charles' school for cookies and consolation. Charles doesn't mind the visitors, but as they appear more and more frequently, he realizes that sooner or later, he and Erik are going to have to talk about what happened on the beach and what it means for their future and the future of Erik's children.

Dress Your Family in Plaid and Skinny Jeans – cygnaut

Summary: Erik and Charles meet at the mutant playgroup/parenting support circle and they instantly hit it off. And so do their kids, Lorna and David.

Not What I was Expecting (So Much Better) – lazulisong

Summary: Erik, the single father, hires Charles, the grad student with the slightly shady past, to be his manny.

Heli Cases – Black_Betty

Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.

It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.

(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)

Doing Something for Yourself – Pookaseraph

Summary: Erik is a hard working engineer and single dad, Charles runs a local Community Center where Wanda and Pietro spend their time after school. Erik accidentally makes Charles' acquaintance one Wednesday evening when he's running late from work. Erik has no idea if he stands a chance with his new acquaintance, but that isn't going to keep him from falling for the guy.

A Good Dad – listerinezero

Summary: Ten years later, Magneto has left the Brotherhood and Raven asks Charles to help her find him. Charles discovers that Erik is the single father of five year old twins Wanda and Pietro, and he is doing everything he can to keep them safe from his former enemies.

Take a Chance (On Me) – Ook

Summary: In which Charles, terrorised by his abusive ex, takes his young son to a small town in America, where they both settle down and make friends with their neighbours. Particularly the town mechanic, Erik, and his foster son, Alex. Requester stated they wanted to "drown in H/C. "

Can’t Buy Me Love – niniblack

Summary: Erik's a single dad struggling to make it work and nab the promotion he's been waiting for. The last thing he needs is to get involved with politician and notorious playboy Charles Xavier.

(The Maid in Manhattan pastiche that no one asked for.)

Ohana – royal_chandler

Summary: Erik's children are absolute hellions. If by hellions, one means children who are incredibly protective of their new family unit and won't let a few household mishaps get in the way of keeping it together.

One Second and a Million Miles – magneto

Summary: Between being a parent to the best baby in the history of man-kind and co-running a Mutant Center in Hell's Kitchen, Erik Lehnsherr has his hands pretty full. Too full, certainly for romance; something that has never really been on his radar to begin with.

All that changes, however, when he meets Dr. Charles Xavier. Handsome, intelligent, capable, kind, an Omega level telepath, and one of the best pediatricians in the state, he's everything Erik didn't know he was looking for. But he's also Lorna's pediatrician which means, of course, he's off-limits. Except how is Erik supposed to try and forget his crush when he and Charles keep running into each other as if fate is trying to tell them something? When, as Charles says, they seem to want the same thing?

Her Only Mutations Were Her Blue Eyes and Her Auburn Hair – Pookaseraph

Summary: While sneaking back out of Russia, Erik and Charles stumble across Anya, Erik's presumed dead daughter, and it changes quite a few little things along the way. Fluffy, self-indulgent, fix-it.

Despicably Yours – Cesare, veryorangecat

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, is a supervillain without equal... except maybe one: Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, AKA Erik's next door neighbor. When their competition heats up, Erik decides the only way to get ahead is to adopt four mutant orphans to infiltrate Charles's mansion.

Things don't go as planned.

The Wrong Impression – Rosawyn

Summary: Charles is trying to balance the responsibilities of his career with his responsibilities as a single father to a tiny baby. It's not something he ever thought he'd have to do, and it's not as easy as those women on the internet make it look! He does't have much of a social life (unless talking to his sister on the phone and attending a parents' class where he's the only guy count), and he doesn't even have time to think of dating. He's just trying to keep his job - and keep his son fed and healthy.

Marrying a Mob – Ook

Summary: Charles is a teacher at a very exclusive school. When armed men burst in on the trail of two children, of course he stands up to them and gets hurt. The children are Erik Lehnsherr's children (of course); a "prominent businessman" or, less politely, "mobster".

Erik is grateful to Charles for saving his children's lives at the cost of his kneecap. So very grateful.

Naturally he tries to reward Charles for his actions. Equally naturally, Charles will be having none of that.

Azazel finds the whole thing unspeakably hilarious. Naturally.

[kukalakas]

Hello fellow space queers. Ive found a kickstarted for a game that might interest you. Its called A Long Journey to an Uncertain End and well Im shit at words so this is from their kickstsrter page:

"A Long Journey to an Uncertain End is a narrative-focused space opera that’ll have you flying around the universe, assembling an unruly crew from an eclectic cast of characters, and taking any job you can to keep one step ahead of your abusive Ex. The twist: you’re not just piloting a ship…you are the ship."

So yeah your abusive Ex made you, the ships AI, sentient and now you are trying to get away from them! Also found family vibes!! Also you can choose your and your ex's pronouns! He/him, She/her and They/them are the default choices but you can customize your own pronouns! How cool is that?! And you also can customize the look of your MC!

Also to show you the crew cuz like thats what we are really here for

+ this doggo

THEY ALL LOOK SUPER COOL! In order from left to right: Matias (he/him), Truly (they/them), Aylah (she/her), Zeke (she/her), Denny (he/him) and the adorable C.O.R.G.I (ze/zir).

I dont want this post to be too long so all of them have short descriptions about them on the game's kickstarter page! (but just putting it out there Matias is a drag queen and Denny uses hoverchair to move around)

The gameplay is basically that you travel to different planets and send your crew on jobs which is in text form and you make choices which have an influence on the out come of the job so if thats your thing 👀 check out their kickstarter and the demo of the game.

Links:

Kickstarter page

Steam page

Reddit AMA on r/Games

Twitch

Youtube

Twitter

Instagram

Official Discord

Facebook 

+ the kickstarter tiers under the cut

[victoriareyloficlists]

There Was Only One Bed

Updated 7 November 2021

Rest of the Masterlist.

as luck would have it by prncesselene (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 16 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When a case of violent food poisoning ruins Rose and Hux’s honeymoon plans, who better to take their place at a pre-paid Hawaiian beach resort than the Maid of Honor and Best Man? Sure, it’ll take some maneuvering, but a free vacation is a free vacation. They just have to pretend to be devoted newlyweds for a bit to enjoy it. There’s only one glaring issue, really: they can’t stand each other.) Crisis: Girlfriend by perperuna (AO3 2018  Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben had been in love with Rey for over a year when he asked her to go with him to his ex’s wedding as his date and ‘girlfriend’.) Deceit, Delusion, and Desire by AttackoftheDarkCurses, thebuildingsnotonfire (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, 16 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey realizes her student visa is about to expire, she struggles to find a way to stay in the country legally. Her roommate has a terrible idea, and it's just risky enough to work.) Fireproof by SpaceWaffleHouseTM (AO3 2020  Rated M Complete, 7 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey's home is overrun by a wildfire, she has to evacuate with little time and no warning. Then she saves the life of Ben Solo, the neighbor she barely knows, on the road and he offers her a place to stay in the aftermath.) Gimme Shelter by JaneNightwork (AO3 2018  Rated T Complete, 14 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo meets Rey Niima when his mother asks him to drop off a few boxes of old sheets and towels at the animal shelter. He is immediately charmed by her and decides to volunteer at the shelter to get to know her better. In the process of building his relationship with Rey and learning to take care of the animals, Ben learns new ways to heal old hurts.) Happy to Help by SuchaPrettyPoison (AO3 2020  Rated E Incomplete, 13 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Sometimes you just need your neighbor to pretend to be in a relationship with you. Repeatedly.) Home for the Holidays by LarirenShadow (AO3 2016  Rated T Complete, 5 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Kylo Ren, in a moment of weakness, tells his mother he'll be home for Christmas and will bring his girlfriend. Problem is he doesn't have one. Enter Rey, his grad assistant. He makes a deal with her so she'll be his girlfriend for the trip home.) In the Woods Somewhere by Verdantsolstice (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, 5 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Hikers Ben & Rey meet on the trail when they’re both lost. Hours of walking lead them to a convent in the woods. The sisters are very friendly, but refuse to let them both stay unless they’re married. TW: Mentions of ICE and immigration.) Laid Between Words by jeeno2 (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 15 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey is nearing the end of her temporary work Visa. Her friend Ben offers to marry her so she can stay in the U.S. She says yes.) Let me Dream, Let me Stay by Melusine11 (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, 12 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey has kept up a charade of a non-existant boyfriend for two years and now that Rose and Finn are getting married, she needs someone to pretend to be said boyfriend, enter her coworker Ben.) Look No Further by thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily) (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, 9 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey is spending Thanksgiving alone but a late-night Craigslist ad ends up with her agreeing to crash some asshole's family dinner. At the very least, she's curious what kind of people name their son "Kylo Ren" anyway.) Lucky Number Seven by Pearl Gatsby (DrPearlGatsby) (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, 3 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Number seven on First and Order orders pizza again. Rey groans when she sees the address, remembering how they didn't bother to tip; but that's nothing compared to how she feels when she's been standing outside the door for two solid minutes, knocking and calling the cell number she has. Nobody answers. :: pizza delivery/college AU) Merry Christmas, I'm Yours by captain_staryeyed (AO3 2018  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: After finding out that Rey has nowhere to go for Christmas, Ben invites her to spend Christmas at his parents’ house. During the time spent together, they are forced to confront their growing feelings toward each other.) miles from where you are by Mooncactus (AO3 2018  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: After an argument over Star Wars fandom with a "gatekeeping, entitled monster" with the cryptic username of KyloRen, Rey finds herself stuck in a series of unavoidable video calls.) Miss Johnson & the Professor by ElegyGoldsmith (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Professor Ben has his TA Rey accompany him to a conference in Japan but she accidentally booked a single room.) mountain at my gates by KyloTrashForever (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 7 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Hard Outside/Soft Inside Lumberjack Alpha Ben Solo and Horny Engineer Omega Rey Johnson featuring Explicit Hand Holding, ABO, and Mutual Masturbation. (Ft. Snowed In and Bed Sharing for funnies.)) My Whole Life by AttackoftheDarkCurses, thebuildingsnotonfire (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, 13 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: The "Without a Hitch" high school sweethearts, fake-dating rom-com AU.) Needing A Teacher by Twisted_Mirror (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey tells her roommate, Ben, that she has only had sex in missionary position, he offers to let her use him to see what she likes. He vows to himself it's all for her pleasure, he has no idea that Rey is trying to drive him crazy.) Nominis by Oh_Snapcrackle (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 8 Chapters, Harry Potter AU, Quick Synopsis: When Professor Skywalker partners Rey with the notorious Ben Solo for occulmency lessons, something goes wrong (or very right) and now their minds are bridged. Between sharing thoughts, inconvenient astral projections, and bedsharing Rey starts to learn that while Ben Solo deserves the reputation he has built, he also deserves the opportunity to change.) Off the cuff by Blueyedgurl (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Poe gets Ben a stripper for closing a business deal. Ben reluctantly takes part to not waste Poe's money. The stripper hand cuffs him and robs him of clothes and money. Rey heads back to the office late night and finds her hot boss cuffed to the office chair in nothing but his tie.) Only Make-Believe by Hartmannclan (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey is in a car accident, so best friend Ben races to the hospital to be with her. What happens when she wakes up with amnesia and believes they are married?) Peacock by AttackoftheDarkCurses (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 22 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Thanks to a series of misunderstandings, failed attempts at flirting, and loud Katy Perry music, Ben grows to hate his new neighbor. Proposing to her wasn't the best solution to his problems.) Plus Won by AmberDread, DarkMage13, Erulisse17, Trish47, venetum (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, 5 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: After a drunken night of complaining at a bar, Rey and Ben agree to be each other's plus-ones for a variety of events. As friends and family continue to invite them to things, they discover that they really enjoy spending time together. And holding hands. And... kissing. What happens when their relationship starts to feel a lot more real than fake?) Saving What We Love by naboojakku (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 18 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: In which Ben and Rey are voluntarily quarantined together for two weeks. Includes: copious amounts of fluff, discussion of mental illness, and way too many hours of Animal Crossing. Feel-good read during these batshit crazy times.) Say it With Sugar by fettuccine_alfreylo (AO3 2016  Rated E Complete, 20 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo is the owner of his family’s small chocolate shop. Rey Kenobi is a talented chocolate maker he hires. They both share the same passion for chocolate. Unfortunately, they share the same kind of anxiety, too.) Snow Sparkles Like Stars by raptorginger (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, 9 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: A blizzard forces Professor (of mythology and cosmology) Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, off the road while on his way to his parents’ house in Seattle for the holidays. Luckily, the woman who owns the house he’s stranded at is well prepared for a snow-in and (as a bonus) is adorable. Unluckily, she’s the owner of eight mischievous Alaskan Malamutes, who may or may not be the physical manifestations of the old gods of Norse myth.) Someone to Watch Over Me by AttackoftheDarkCurses (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 6 chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey is gifted a state-of-the-art all-house AI to beta-test, she never expected "Kylo" to become her best friend, and she never expected him do anything within his power to give her the winter holiday she's always wanted.) Someone You Love(d) by AttackoftheDarkCurses (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 7 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: A misunderstanding leads to a lot of hate sex between roommates Ben and Rey. But when Rey ends up joining him on his trip to visit his family, the truth comes out.) Stone Hollow by violethoure666 (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben and Rey have been tasked with convincing a very grumpy old man to let them use his private road for a bus route. They’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and there’s only one room at the inn *smirk emoji*) Sugar and Spice by Rebel_Scum1221 (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 6 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey bakes when she's stressed, but unfortunately never has enough room to finish all of her baked goods. Thus leading her to give her neighbor- who she may or may not have the hots for- her leftovers. Shenanigans ensue.) Sweet Home by Violetwilson (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Honestly, she only came to Waffle House at two AM to pick up Finn and Poe and maybe order some pancakes. Maybe. But what was she supposed to do when she found a hot businessman with a broken car in the parking lot? Not invite him to sleep over at her place until the town's only mechanic sobered up?) the man, the stallion, and the wind by voicedimplosives (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Weary and alone, Rey barrels west on the Trans-Canada Hwy in her old pickup truck. Weary and in need of a lift, Ben Solo stands by the side of the road with his thumb out, in the hopes of hitching a ride. One hell of a winter storm’s about to roll in, leaving them stranded. What ever shall they do?) The Trial of Naboo: Fall of a Duke by Twin_Kitten (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 2 Chapters, Historical AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben and Rey are engaged to be married, but after several attempts on her life, he takes personal responsibility for her safety, including keeping her in his bed at night. Problem? Ben is extremely attracted to his bride but the MUST wait until marriage. ) Trapped by spacey_gracie (AO3 2019  Rated E Complete, 5 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey and Ben have been sworn enemies since they were eight years old. When their best friends Rose and Hux start dating, they decide they're sick of the fighting, and force the pair together to work out their issues once and for all.) under thy own life's key by galvanator (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 7 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben and Rey share a bed on a trip and everything is totally normal and nothing is weird.) variations on a theme of you by diasterisms (AO3 2017  Rated E Complete, 7 Chapters, Canon AU, Quick Synopsis: "Who knows?" Luke darted a faint smile at Ben and Rey as they stewed in silence and disbelief. "The two of you might even learn to get along. Right, Leia?" "Like a house on fire," the General deadpanned. "Complete with screams, flames, and people running for safety." "Indeed." Luke's blue eyes twinkled. "There may be no survivors.") What if I want to kiss you tomorrow? by Hellyjellybean (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben needs to share Rey's bed for the night, but does he want to share more than a bed with her? ) what you take with you by irridesca (AO3 2021  Rated E Complete, 16 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey's former boss, heartless defense attorney Kylo Ren, is shot in the head, she's asked to return to her position as his assistant to oversee his recovery. The only problem? When he wakes up two days later, he has no idea who Kylo Ren is. According to him, his name is Ben Solo.) When the party ends by Blueyedgurl (AO3 2021  Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey gets wasted at a frat party. Ben finds her, puts her in his room, where she's safe. Rey wakes in the morning after Ben comes out of the shower and nakedness ensues.) would you be so kind? by youcarrymeaway (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 3 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: An au where Ben accidentally hits Rey with his car, and also falls in love with her a little.)

[katjakun]

Rusame Completed Fanfictions List

Dear rusame pals, are you desperate to find a new fanfiction? Worry not, I made a list of my favorite fanfictions so you don’t have to look.

Yea, since I had a rusame fever I was looking through every completed fanfictions I could find. Here you have full stories and one shots (separately) from my favorites to good ones. Just so we’re clear, it’s jUsT mY oPiNiOn. Yeah, here we go:

FULL STORIES 

1. You and I will Fall in Love by Shatterdoll.

Summary and Rating:

Much to America's horror, Russia decides that the two of them are going to fall in love. And the more he fights it the stronger Russia's determination is to woo him, even if it means taking drastic measures...

M-Rated

2.  Trick or Treat by NekoKaiya 

Summary and Rating:

Alfred is a serial killer, Ivan is the head detective in charge of finding him. So what happens when they meet without knowing that and start getting very friendly?

M-Rated

3.  Oblivious��by Locked Up

Summary and Rating: 

Alfred Jones isn't popular. Instead of sports and friends he gets comics and the daily abuse of Ivan Braginski, his unofficial nemesis. But when he receives a note from a secret admirer, he learns something rather interesting about this "enemy"...slash.

T-Rated

4.  Ivan Braginsky's Guide To Taking Care Of An Alien by Zero_Gravity

Summary and Rating:

Ivan has never been the best with people, often ending up alone. Perhaps that's why he became a writer, why he agreed to move, why his life took the direction it did. He never saw anything remarkable about it, accepting it simply as the way things were. Even if it left him incredibly lonely.

And then he meets Alfred, who claims to be an alien hiding from the government.

Ivan has a lot of decisions to make that will affect both of their lives.

Rated: Teen and Up

5.  No Choice by DaughterOfTheRevolution

Summary and Rating:

Russian mob boss Ivan Braginsky isn't denied anything; if he wants the American boy to join him for a candlelit evening then he will, if he wants the American boy to share his bed then he will. College student Alfred F. Jones has no choice in the matter whatsoever.

Rated: Explicit

6.  Not an American by DaughterOfTheRevolution 

Summary and Rating:

"You really must not be an American as you claim to be," Ivan then spoke up after a short silence. Alfred never turned to him however, he remained standing with his back toward him, too afraid to turn and face the decision he made. "You adore that man too much." Alfred grit his teeth, shut his eyes and balled his fists. "He saved me from you. Of course I care for him," Alfred bit out. What he said could have been met with a harsh response, but Ivan seemed more amused than anything else, judging by the sound of his laughter. "And yet it is because of him that you are forced into my arms. How funny, da?"

Rated: Explicit

7.  A Storm of Sunflowers by CreamPuffBunny

Summary and Rating:

With war taxes rising and living becoming harder, Alfred will do anything to save their farm even if it means giving himself to Lord Ivan.

M-Rated

8.  A Time To Love by Mizuni_no_Neko

Summary and Rating: 

Detective Alfred Jones and Detective Ivan Braginsky have been partners for years, and for years their constant fighting has been a bane on their department. But when the gang crime unit requests them for a special undercover assignment, they'll have to put aside their differences and act like the perfect, happy couple to get close to Kiku Honda, the leader of the Rising Sun, and take down his operation. But between their own fighting, enemies that seem to know too much, and something brewing in the city's underworld, can they learn to get along...or even something more?

M-Rated

9. Dear Diary by ai-08

Summary and Rating: 

Alfred F. Jones isn't gay. Just read his diary; you'll see.

T-Rated

10.  American Standards by Emerald-Leaves

Summary and Rating: 

What started out as an embarrassing situation for Russia leads him into an exciting competition involving his once greatest rival.

T-Rated

11.  With You by Galactic_Ink

Summary and Rating:

Alfred and Ivan have been inseparable friends all though high school, but that reputation was ruined just a day before school ended. This sudden end leads to four years of silence until Alfred calls Ivan out of the blue for a wedding.

M-Rated

12. Undying Urge by NekoKaiya

Summary and Rating: 

England gets drunk one faithful night and casts a spell on Russia that reverts Russia back to his teenage years. Everybody finds this younger Ivan hot as hell. Alfred makes it his goal to save Russia from others, what will happen?

M-Rated

13. When Night Falls by rexlover180

Summary and Rating:

They're called demons, the creatures that cause so much pain and suffering in the world. Born from the dark wishes of humanity, they only seek to destroy. As a half-demon, Alfred wants nothing more than to right the wrongs of his past. As a human, Ivan won't let anything get in the way as he seeks revenge. Their common goal; kill them all.

T-Rated

14.  Playing With Fire by rexlover180

Summary and Rating:

Many years ago, a man known now as The Dictator attempted to rule the world with Dark Magic. Due to his immortality, the public was forced to freeze him in time. A thousand years later, a university student, Ivan Braginsky, has shown his prowess and abilities to the point of being hired at the largest Detainment Center in the world. His job? To help guard The Dictator.

M-Rated

15.  Nymphetamine Addiction by DestineyTot

Summary and Rating:

All Ivan wanted was one taste, one little drop of that sweet blood on his tongue. What he got instead was a smiling, beautiful blonde and an unexpected relationship out of the whole mess.

M-Rated

16. The Trickster by rexlover180

Summary and Rating: 

The wall has been up for centuries. Ivan knows it must be protected, but not why. Alfred knows that he needs to get out, explore the world. The level of magic he possesses, however, attracts Ivan's attention, as well as the attention of Ivan's...advisor. The two clash immediately and neither are going to back down, on any issue that may arise. No matter the magnitude.

T-Rated

Honorable Mention:

yeah i know xd i just wanted to point that the next fanfiction is still in progress, but i need to put this here.

i love it

Drawing Dead by Drewyth

Summary and Rating: 

Alfred needs money. He works in an obscure Russian restaurant, lives in a shitty apartment with his ex, and rent is on the rise. He thinks he’s found the perfect gig—Until his side job draws the attention of some of Manhattan’s less savory characters. He grows close to one, a mob boss referred to as the “Old Bear.” Ivan Braginsky may offer protection, and even a way to make quick cash. Then again, he could also prove the least savory of them all. "Drawing Dead is when a player has absolutely no chance to win a hand, no matter what card is dealt next."

M-Rated

ONE-SHOTS

1.  why do they call this war cold, baby, when this line is so hot? 

Made by anonymous author, doesn’t have a rating or summary.

2.  Game Night for The Lonely Hearts Club by Shatterdoll

Summary and Rating:

Russia visits the empty houses of other nations when he's feeling particularly lonely. On one particular visit to one of America's homes the occupant unexpectedly shows up.

M-Rated

3.  This is Not a Love Song by Shaterdoll

Summary and Rating:

What was so wrong with hooking up with an old enemy every now and then to lick each other's wounds? Especially when they are so good at the licking part...

M-Rated

4.  It's really more of a hate-hate thing by Niki-the-awesome

Summary and Rating: 

Alfred and Ivan watch as their two presidents meet one another on live television. All is calm, before Ivan kicks Alfred underneath the table. The epic battle of footsies has begun... 

K-Rated

5. Asymmetrical by TheRocknRollBeauty

Summary and Rating:

Russia likes things symmetrical. He likes America very much because of this: but he would like him much more if he didn't have that annoying, off-putting little cowlick.

T-Rated

6.  An Unorthodox Approach by blommabelle

Summary and Rating:

Russia decides to take France's friendship advice and is beyond surprised with the unexpected results that come from it.

T-Rated

7.  Fire and Ice by eloquentelegance

Summary and Rating:

These are the facts. 1. You are nursing a flask of vodka. 2. America and Japan are roaring drunk. 3. Japan is a very affectionate drunk. 4. You need more vodka.

K-Rated

8.  Chewier Stops the Chatter by DaughterOfTheRevolution

Summary and Rating:

Alaska's big mouth calls for daddy to order a large shipment of Chewy Graham Slams.

T-Rated

***

ok guys, that’s it! i hope you’ll enjoy the fics, don’t forget to give kudos to the authors! 

[vaguely-concerned]

Mass Effect: Annihilation thoughts

TL;DR I fucking LOVED IT, a balm to my heart after struggling through Nexus Uprising! Also canonical lesbians! The sweetest quarian & his badass grandma! Elcor Hamlet except this time it’ll make you cry!!! 

- Aaaaaah the audiobook reader is Tom Taylorson (so male Ryder)!! Fryda Wolf (female Ryder) read the two others and did a nice job, but man I’m soft for his voice in a way only rivaled by (...outside-of-Overwatch!)Jennifer Hale and Nicholas Boulton haha. He also has a much better handle on the pronunciations and voices for the different alien species -- delightful, I’m still cackling over his pitch perfect elcor impersonation. (Bioware please give him more Scott Ryder to voice I miss my son)

- I’m only about half an hour in and this is already SO much better than Nexus Uprising, it really does feel like a brave new galaxy haha. Very funny, very warm and smart and engaging in how it does its characterization and Valente clearly has affection for the setting and the universe, she and Jemisin both do incredible jobs with these. 

- I’m fucking crying laughing at this cross-species near-brawl over a flower arrangement, god I love Mass Effect SO MUCH (what a neat idea though. something blooming quietly even when no one can see it. impractical as hell and hilariously including a high-nutrition celery now, but still neat)

Taylorson continues to wonderful things with the voices, that volus suit sound is so good. (he’s just generally really good at comedy) also a volus bellowing insults ‘moments before punching an anti-bouquet batarian in the groin’ sdafhjklsahfsjadkhfklajshdfkjlsadhf

- a high as a kite elcor... what a time to be alive, to get to read this book

I have already reached the ‘I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR’ stage with these characters, hard boiled drell detective lady and sweet sweet quarian first officer and manically enthusiastic elcor doctor TOT I would die for any one of you!!!

- The quarian/multispecies ark was built for long-term habitation, potentially over multiple generations. So what you’re telling me is that the quarians are the only ones who fucking thought this through and the rest of the Initiative probably should have listened to the people who’ve essentially been living on arks for ages. Who’d’ve thunk huh lol. (I guess the in-universe explanation is that people like the mysterious benefactor just wanted those arks yeeted to Andromeda ASAP, no time to get fancy in case the Reapers changed up their schedule. Fair enough)

- ;n; petition to let senna have a SAM pls (also uh. how happy do you think the stringently anti-AI quarian pathfinder will be when he finds out about everyone else’s SAMs lol lol lol he’s going to PASS OUT FROM RAGE upon meeting ryder. well he sounds like an asshole, I hope he dies so senna gets a chance)  

- I can’t BELIEVE yorrik is an anti-stratfordianist, i am betRAYED! disgraceful, how can I still love you knowing this (and yet I do he is extremely funny and sweet)!!! (at least his theory is that this so-called ‘shakespeare’ was actually an elcor, which makes it better somehow lol. anything so long as he’s not an oxfordian tbh)

senna and yorrik’s friendship is so good and wholesome 

- I really love the consistent alien POVs in this book, mass effect should indulge in this more -- everyone loves this universe so much, bioware, stop making us squint through a human lense to look at it!!  

- oh of course quarian ‘pirates’ exist, the people who’re thrown out of the fleet must be doing something huh. 

- haven’t written that many notes in a while just because I’m enjoying myself so much, I keep forgetting 

- lfsdkhfsajkldhfskadjhfsjakdfhsdkjfh communist volus!!!! this is not a drill, communist volus! I am completely and utterly charmed by this entire book

- the quarian ancestor VI is so interesting and weirdly touching. senna is adorable (and relatably neurotic lol)

grandma AI smoking T___________T I love everything about this, she’s so cool. the worldbuilding being done around pre-geth revolution rannoch here... exquisite 

- way to make me cry about batarians cat valente ;_______;

- the voice acting is SO FUCKING GOOD! I keep forgetting it’s one dude reading all these characters haha, I caught myself wanting to look up who voiced this dying batarian. (special shoutout that he does so many wonderfully distinct and specific female voices!) 

- haHA I KNEW the quarian VI was a full AI (or near enough that it makes little difference tbh)!!! this fabulous grandma was self aware the entire time b i t c h e s !!!!

- the running joke of borbala’s ‘you need ______? I can make _______ happen’ is SO satisfying hahaha

ooooooh serious femslash vibes!!!! initially I thought batarian ex-crime matriarch was too old for drell PI, but this is undeniable. (I don’t think we actually ever get to know how old annex is, anyway, come to think of it) I guess if asari get to be five times older than everyone else and still fuck freely this isn’t really that weird lol

- “don’t look! it’s not so bad if you don’t look!” ofhsdalfhskldlsfjas oh senna baby boy 

hey qetsi? qetsi both senna and I love grandma liat more than you. stand the fuck down 

- NOOOO GRANDMA LIAT ;______________________________________;

- do you think SAM could meet liat (either ship!liat or just grandma!liat).... and have... a friend ;_________; (a cool laidback friend who isn’t a murderous angaran ai who might very well go the murder suicide sort of friendship route lol) 

anyway I miss SAM a lot and love him??

- yorrik noooooooooooo this is awful everything is bad and terrible I love all of them so much why must senna be sad and watch everything he loves fade away 😭😭😭

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?” He realized he’d forgotten to preface the words with an emotion. Now they wouldn’t understand what he meant.

Oh. Oh what a way to drive home the sadness and loneliness of this moment f u c k  (and again the emotion taylorson brings to it jesus cHRIST) 

I’m destroyed over how much senna and yorrik love each other, cross species found family out here wrecking my heart in true mass effect style 

- yorrik is such a great character though. he’d be so easy to make a one-note joke character (like most elcor have been in canon lbr), but there’s nuance and depth and just enough satsifyingly believable alienness there. (I love the staunch elcor ‘you can’t call anything love that hasn’t lasted at least two centuries’ perspective haha) his memories of his childhood and disappointment with his profession and everything... goodnight sweet prince indeed :(

- they went and made elcor hamlet heartbreaking how dare they 

(to be real for a second I think some of the human culture references are a little bit clunky, but the elcor hamlet stuff is perfect. contextualizing a throwaway joke from the original trilogy and giving it emotional depth, helping us see it from the elcor perspective and how frustrating and lonely it is to be so fundamentally not emotionally understood or seen on a level most of the other races are, despite their other differences, even though you have all these feelings and want to communicate... its very good.)   

fun additional fact: both mordin and yorrik have played/wanted to play polonius in a production of hamlet! though I guess mordin is the slightly problematic fave in that duo and yorrik is a sweet melancholic angel who has never done anything wrong in his life, I would say protect him but I guess it’s too late for that D:  

- qetsi giving off some real ophelia vibes here, I wish yorrik was here to see it, he’s the only one who’d properly appreciate it despite it all

- I. am. SO FUCKING HUNGRY for more mass effect after this (well even more so than usual) I’m so hyped!! I love this universe so much! I want a new andromeda game with senna as quarian pathfinder and grandma liat as the ship’s AI and see how they interact with ryder and SAM! (honestly though I feel like senna might be the one who’d translate the most cleanly into a game, I think there’s a lot of potential in him that’s barely being realized towards the end there with his deep righteous rage cutting through his uncertainty. also I just want nice things for him. is that so much to ask. he is a good boy, yorrik was so right.)

- aaaah not just femslash vibes, canonical lesbians, this is not a drill! I can’t wait until they propose... ‘we get shit done together, want to be in good cop/bad cop with me until the day we die y/n?’  

- the ME universe doesn’t feel quite itself without all these ‘background’ species hanging around, I suddenly realize. I dream of an Andromeda sequel with all of them on the board and in play again Y-------Y 

- potential Liat and SAM dynamics are so fucking interesting though! if she becomes/is confirmed as a full AI (all I hope and dream of), you’ll have two artificial intelligences with such different starting points but not that dissimilar goals? Liat was an organic person once who’s looking out for her family even now, and SAM is completely artificial but also intimately tied to and protecting His People. (and pulling a whole lot of symbolic weight re: the strength of familial/interpersonal relationships to boot; he’s the best way alec ryder managed to connect with his children. even though he was dead. because as established alec ryder was a disaster of a person)  

- I enjoyed the loose murder mystery structure of this quite a lot, but that might also be because nexus uprising is so shapeless and meandering by comparison that I’d be relieved by anything else (sorry I’ll stop ragging on NU soon it just. took some hours of my life I can’t get back)  

- jemisin did great stuff for characters already in andromeda (cora, SAM, alec ryder) and valente made me remember just why I love this universe so much and desperately want these aspects brought to andromeda too... and now I’ve exhausted all the fresh mass effect content I had available to me and will sit here consumed with lust for the rest of the time it takes for a new game to be announced thank you and goodbye  

[the--sad--hatter]

Frozen Heart (2)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU, DEADPOOL & X-MEN

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION -  

When Nick Fury finally catches the Ex-Shield Agent knowns Black Ice, The Thief with a Frozen Heart he puts her where she belongs. With The Avengers.

You’re not happy about that decision but you’re the only one who’s kicking up a fuss.

Natasha and Clint are happy to have you back in their lives, Sam Wilson is a big fan, Tony Stark just wants you to keep your hands off his stuff and Steve finds out that not only do you have a connection but you were there for him when nobody else was.

Bucky Barnes is one of the few people who doesn’t have a connection with you but he’d really really like one.

** Everything in Italics is being signed, not said out loud.**

Chapter Two - Batman and Supergirl

You couldn’t move, your arms were packed close to your sides and there was no room. Your heart beat erratically in your chest as you swallowed your whimpers, trying desperately not to make a noise. Something dripped onto your face and ran down it, something warm and thick and metallic smelling. Another drop splashed down on you and you realised it was blood.

You were trapped and scared and nobody was coming to help you. You tried to scream but no noise came out, you couldn’t get the noise out. You heard someone yelling your name and tried to call for help but you couldn’t. The person calling you got louder and you were shaking uncontrollably. Your eyes snapped open and you gasped. You weren’t shaking, someone was shaking you.

As soon as you realised that, you realised you weren’t trapped it was just a dream. You sprang to your feet, pushing whoever woke you away. Your bare feet slapped across the wooden floor as you rushed to the window, pushing it open and letting the cool air wash over you as you tried to control your breathing.

You leant your forehead against the cold window pane and looked out at the view, drinking it in, letting it pull you out of the nightmare and back into reality.

“You good?” Clint’s gruff voice asked you.

You turned your head to look at him and your eyes answered for you. Clint felt like he’d been punched in the chest when he saw that haunted look in your eyes.

“You having that nightmare again? I thought it stopped?” He asked.

You shook your head and pushed your palms into your eyes, trying to push the tears back in.

“Ice, how long has this been going on?”

You shrugged and sluggishly dragged yourself across the room to sit on the bed.

“Since you left?” He pushed.

You looked up at him he tugged the his ear to make sure you understood.

“It doesn’t happen every night.” You told him.

“But it happens a lot? What about the rest of it?” He pressed.

“Yeah, a lot. Most days I’m ok but some days I can’t go use an elevator.”

Clint sighed heavily and rubbed his head as he thought it over. He had thought you were past this.

“He tied me to the chair and I couldn’t move. I just lost it.”

The Scorpion had tied you up and it was triggering old memories, making old phobias resurface. Clint groaned and threw himself backwards onto you bed, making you bounce.

“I’ll stay. Come on, get some sleep. Don’t argue. Tired. Sleep.”

He hadn’t had to do this since you were a teenager but if it meant you felt safe there honestly wasn’t a lot he wouldn’t do and this was easy.. You curled into a ball at the end of the bed and drifted back to sleep. It never occurred to you to wonder how he had known you were having a nightmare if he didn’t have his hearing aids in.

You woke up ever so slightly a few minutes later as Natasha crept into the room and climbed onto the bed as well, kicking Clint out of the way so she could lie with her head next to yours. Her hair tickled your face but you didn’t brush it away, it was a happy reminder that you weren’t alone.

You slept deep and dreamless and when you woke up in the morning it was to be reminded of something.

Clint Barton was a fucking octopus. It was ridiculously adorable but not what you needed right now, what with the claustrophobia being a bit of a dick. You prised his arms off of your calf with some difficulty.

“I know you’re awake.” You hissed at Natasha.

Other than a minute upturn at the corner of her mouth she didn’t respond. You got Clint off of you and he rolled over in his sleep and quickly attached himself to Tasha instead. You snorted at the unintentional vengeance.

“Bring back coffee.” She ordered as you left the room.

You would, but you had another stop to make first.

Ten minutes later you gave the butterflies in your stomach a stern talking to as you knocked on Bucky’s door. There was some shuffling for a moment before he answered.

“I was unconscious for nine days and when I woke up I was made an Avenger against my will and then Natasha kicked me in the face really hard and I just kept meeting new people and I think my brain short circuited and that’s why I was so rude but I’m very sorry and I brought you coffee please don’t hate me.” You blurted out, only realising your lack of punctuation too late as you practically thrust the coffee cup towards Bucky.

Bucky had only just managed to convince himself that he wasn’t even that attracted to you anyway and now here you were, standing at his door with big pleading eyes and rumpled bed hair while you bit your bottom lip nervously.

He tried really hard to think of something to say. Anything. Just words in general.

“Thanks for defrosting Steve, he came in quite handy.” He finally said.

He wondered if he could program his arm to repeatedly punch him in the face but you laughed and he suddenly didn’t regret saying it any more.

He reached out and took the coffee cup from you and definitely didn’t sigh in disappointment when your fingers didn’t brush against his.

“Thank you.” He said, so softly you probably didn’t hear it as you smiled and waved goodbye as you walked backwards away from his door.

When Bucky shut his door you breathed a sigh of relied and did a fist pump in mid air before you remembered Stark had his AI watching you.

Straightening up you clasped your hands behind your back and casually walked back to your room.

“Where’s the coffee?” Natasha asked you with a death glare.

“Uhhh, I thought I would come and ask what you would like for breakfast.” You said, covering up the fact you had forgotten her coffee.

She narrowed her eyes at you and you knew she wasn’t buying it but you also knew she would pretend she was if it meant you made her breakfast.

“French Toast, the cinnamon one you make with the chocolate and berries.” She decided.

Something told you she had missed your cooking.

Halfway through making the breakfast you started to get irritated. This was the sixth time Tony Stark had casually walked past the kitchen door. You put the mixing bowl down ans tiptoed to the door.

Right on schedule he walked past and you made him jump.

“Morning.” You said cheerfully.

“Ice Queen.” He said, eyes narrowing at you.

“I’m making breakfast, if you’re hungry?” You asked him nicely.

“What’s your game? Why are you here?” He asked, crossing his arms and trying to intimidate you.

You sighed heavily and rolled your neck to loosen it up. You had tried to be nice, as far as you were concerned whatever happened next was on his head.

“Listen to me you over-hyped, flying Coca-Cola can. If I were here for nefarious purposes you’d never have seen me coming. I’m here because I woke up here and was told I had to join the Power Rangers.”

Stark didn’t look convinced at all.

“How come nobody knew about you then? Out of the blue Clint announces he has a sister, an adopted one but he won’t tell anyone where you came from. The only people who know you are the two spy’s and the person who dumped you on my doorstep was Fury. Who are you really?” He demanded.  

“Fine. You want to know who I am?”

“Kinda why I asked.”

You dropped to bowl of egg batter on the counter with a clatter and took a deep breath. Stark perked up as you steeled yourself to tell him.”

“When I was a child, my planet, Krypton, was dying. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off-course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. And so, I hid my powers, until recently when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world.” You told him seriously.  

He went from intrigued to annoyed and scoffed as he glared at you, walking away.

“To most people, I am an assistant at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adoptive sister for the D.E.O. to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I AM SUPERGIRL!” You yelled after his retreating figure.

“Morning Supergirl.”

You jumped at the voice and turned round to see Steve Rogers casually leaning against the fridge with a semi-amused semi-guilty expression.

“Jesus Cap, how did you even get in here without me noticing you?” You asked him, hand on your chest as you tried to stop you heart exploding out of it.

“I’m Batman.” He said simply and you snorted a laugh at his clever response.

“Well played.” You told him, going to retrieve your eggs and whisking them.

“Can I help?” He asked, looking around at all your ingredients with an air of curiosity.  

“You can put those biceps to work and whisk this because I can’t feel my arm anymore.” You told him sheepishly.

Steve laughed and prised the bowl away from you.

“I was hoping to catch you this morning actually, I want to talk to you.” He said as he effortlessly whisked.

You almost didn’t hear him, you were mesmerized by his arms.

“I brought him coffee and apologised!” You quickly blurted out.

“What?”He asked, perplexed.

“What?”You were now also perplexed.

“You brought who coffee and apologised for what?”He followed up.

So presumably he didn’t want to talk about Barnes then.

“Nobody. What did you want to talk about?” You weren’t sure why you lied.

Alright it was because you were embarrassed. Apparently so was he as his cheeks went a little pink.

“I wanted to thank you. For being there for me when they pulled my from the Ice. If I had known I would have never left it this long before thanking you. I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful.” He said, passing the bowl back to you.

“It was an honour, no really it was. I practically grew up on stories of you, especially whenever Coulson was babysitting. When Shield found you they didn’t even have to ask. Even if you weren’t a hero though, I wouldn’t have left you like that.” You informed him.

You were telling the truth. You knew who Steve Rogers was but when you saw him frozen he wasn’t Captain America to you anymore, he was just somebody you needed to help. Knowing he was alive in that Ice had broken your heart and you spent days without sleep to make sure he was alright as you melted the Ice around him.

“I still owe you a thank you.” He said seriously.

“Consider me thoroughly thanked.”You told him with a grin.

You noticed that wherever you moved around the kitchen as you cooked up a storm, he moved with you. He was making sure he was in your eyeline. It was kind of the same way you moved around Clint and your heart melted as you realised that the Captain was trying to make sure you could read his lips. It must be left over behaviour from when he was around Clint.

You passed the first plate of toast to him with a warm smile.

“Here, hope you enjoy it.” You told him.

He looked mildly surprised at how edible the Cinnamon French Toast with Strawberries, Raspberries and Warm Chocolate Sauce looked.

“So you can cook?” He said, sitting down with the plate and tucking in.

You didn't answer, you’d let his taste buds do that for him. As soon as he put the fork in his mouth he let a very sinful moan and you stifled a laugh. You may have also blushed because well... Steve Rogers, pornographic moans... Who wouldn’t blush at that?

“It’s good, really really good.” He praised you as he dove straight in for another bite.

“Between Clint and Tasha I had to learn how to cook or I’d have grown up on cereal and Pizza.” You told him as you pottered about, making Natasha’s breakfast.

“About that..” He started and you smirked.

“You want to know why you’ve never heard of me?”

“If you want to tell me?” He offered.

“Clint, Natasha and Fury faked my death. Clint never told you because what would be the point? As far as the world knew, Black Ice was dead. Plus they are spies. Keeping secrets is kind of their thing.” You scoffed.

“Why did they fake your death, why did you?”

“I wanted out. Out of Shield. I just couldn’t take it any more. I... lost someone.” You told him.

He put down his cutlery and gave you his full attention.

“I’m sorry.” He told you softly.

When people for apologised for your loss it never meant much. They weren’t sorry, they felt sorry for you. Steve was sincere though and you weren’t feeling the usual irritation you felt at those words.

“It was a long time ago. I guess I’m back in the game now, whether I want to be or not.” You said, covering the pain with a smile.

“Who did you lose?”

You weren’t going to tell him, you didn't like to talk about it at all but memories of stories about Peggy Carter flashed in your mind. Steve would understand.

“My fiancée. He was a Shield agent, like me. He died during a mission gone wrong.”

A love story that was ended before it had a chance to really begin. Steve knew how that felt. He knew that there wasn’t anything he could say that you would want to hear.

“I’m going to take Natasha’s her breakfast before she comes looking for me, probably with knives in hand.” You told him.

“Good idea. Hey, thanks for this. It’s delicious.” He said, shovelling more toast into his mouth.

“Anytime Captain.”

An hour later you’d finally managed to chase a well fed Tasha and Clint from your room so you could shower and get dressed. Clint had told you he wanted you to meet someone you’d missed meeting at diner last night after you fled so as soon as you were ready you went searching for him.

He was in the common room, talking to a young woman. You recognised her straight away from the News. Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch.

“Hello.” You greeted, poking your head into the room and waving.

“Ice, come here. I want you to meet Wanda.” Clint said, standing up and pulling you into the room.

He seemed flustered and nervous as he hovered beside the two of you. He must really want you to get along.

“So you’re the one who can read minds huh? Can you read mine?” You asked her, arching your brow.

She looked taken aback for a second before a smirk graced her features.

“It’s not difficult to do, especially with smaller less developed minds. Yours is very easy to see into.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed.

“Are you calling me stupid? Did she just call me stupid?” You demanded, hands flying about angrily.

“Not stupid, just less developed.” She clarified.

“I’ll develop you into a damn ice statue in a second witch.” You hissed.

Clint looked stricken at the turn of events.

“What? No! Ice calm down. Wanda this is my sister, she’s very nice. Please be nice to her.” He pleaded quickly.

You couldn’t keep up the charade and neither could Wanda and you both dissolved into fits of giggles at the terrified and worried look on his face.

“Pleasure to meet you Wanda. I think you and I are going to get along just fine.” You sniggered.

“I think so too.” She said with a pleased grin.

“What just happened?” Clint demanded, confused and a little worried still.

“Ice hinted I should try to read her mind and when I did she told me to help her play a little trick on you.” Wanda told him with a laugh.

“Oh no.” Clint groaned.

“Oh yes.” You rebutted.

“No, the two of you combined are going to be the death of me.” He groaned.

“Care to join me outside? I’d love to see your powers in action.” You told Wanda, ignoring Clint’s semi breakdown and offering her your arm.

She linked her arm through your with an adorable giggle as she shot Clint an apologetic look and left the room with you.

“Yes, I’ll help you.” She told you before you even asked.

You had been about to tell her you were out of practice with your own abilities and ask her if she would mind helping you get them back under control but apparently there was no need.

“I will not peek on purpose, it happens from time to time. Especially when you are so nervous. I will not share anything I hear, I swear. I can’t help it.” She informed you.

You didn’t need to be a mind reader to know she was nervous herself. She was worried she’d scare you off.

“Read my mind whenever you want. Really. Just know I don’t like to talk about most of what's up there and for the love of all that’s holy don’t tell Clint.” You sniggered.

Her face lit up at your easy acceptance and invitation and she squeezed your arm affectionately. You preened at having put that look on her face.

Your new friendship with Wanda quickly turned out to be a life saver as her quick thinking and red misty shield was the only reason you hadn’t accidentally blasted a hole in the side of the compound with an ice rock. You’d only been trying to make a snowflake.

“You are out of practice.” She frowned as she trudged over the shattered shards of ice.

“At least the grass will get watered?” You offered.

“My powers are tied into my emotions. Maybe yours are as well? I think until you find a way to deal with your emotions, trying to control your abilities may be futile.” You told you sadly.

“Yeah. Yeah, you might be right.” You begrudgingly admitted.

Anyone else and you’ve have told them to fuck off but she was literally in your head. It was actually kind of a relief to have someone in your brain like this, you didn’t have to hide anything or have to talk about it either.

“You have already started to open up to The Captain, perhaps you can speak to him. Or Sam, Sam is kind and he’s a therapist.”

“I’ll think about it.” You told her.

She raised an eyebrow at you and you rolled your eyes.

“Alright, I won’t. But I’ll try to consider opening up.” You offered.

“It’s a start.”

Despite the Icy mishap you were in a great mood. Initially you’d been pissed about having to join the team but you’d already made friends, Natasha was talking to you again and you had really really missed your brother. Spending time with Clint was already making you feel better. So you practically skipped to the lab to see Dr Banner, excited to have a Science buddy.

It went horribly wrong almost straight away.

Stark was there, glaring at you as Banner tried to show you something under a microscope and explain it and as he stormed over to kick you out of his lab and as you turned round to get into an argument with him you knocked something over.

You didn’t know what it was but as you watched it sail across the room in slow motion you had the sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be good, because it was headed straight for Stark.

The glass beaker smashed across Stark’s arm and straight away he was hissing and swearing in pain. An alarm started blaring and you panicked.

“Don’t hulk out!” You yelled at Banner as you tried to pull Tony’s shirt off.

Sam could hear the alarm and yelling from the lab as he approached it and hurried his pace, rushing into the room ready to spring into action but the sight that met him was so perplexing he wasn’t sure what to do.

Banner was stood in the corner reciting the periodic table at the top of his voice, Stark was rolling on the floor and you were stood in the middle of the chaos with a fire extinguisher as you sprayed Tony.

“Louder Dr Banner!” You instructed as you gently kicked Stark to see if he was still conscious.

Sam backed out of the room slowly as you started spraying Tony with the extinguisher again. No way he was getting involved in that.  

“It was an accident!”

“You threatened to knock Bruce out if he didn't recite the periodic table! Why?” Clint demanded, trying to look stern and not laugh.

“I didn’t want him to Hulk out! I was trying to help!”

“Accidents happen in the lab all the time, he wasn’t going to Hulk out.”

“I didn't know that!”

“Why’d you spray Tony with a fire extinguisher?”

“He said it was burning! I thought I was helping!” You insisted.

“You’re a walking disaster.”

“You’re a hypocrite, Remember Birmingham?”You said with a smug look.

“We agreed never to speak of that again.”

“Well I think we should add today to the list of taboo subjects.”

“What the hell are they doing?” Tony asked Natasha as he watched you and Clint wave your hands at each other through the glass.

She glanced over and smirked.

“Arguing about who’s the bigger dumbass between the two of them.”

“Why aren’t they talking? Why are they doing it in secret?”

“They’re just used to using ASL to talk. It’s habit.”

“Why? Some sort of spy thing?” Tony snapped.

“Stark, you do know that Clint is deaf don’t you?”

“What? No he’s not. I speak to him all the time.” Tony said.

“He has hearing aids in.” Banner supplied, like it was obvious.

Which it was. To everyone except Tony apparently.

“Why did you think I was signing to Clint whenever I speak to him?” Natasha asked.

“I didn’t know you were, I thought you were just really animated when you talked. Like angry Italians.” He insisted.

Natasha smacked him across the back of the head.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“For being an idiot.” She told him and stormed off.

“Everyone else knew Tony.” Bruce sighed.

Tony sulked.

“Friday?”

“Yes Boss, I knew.” Friday told him.

“That’s not what I was going to say. You know what forget it. Change the alarm protocols, make sure there are visual cues. Flashing lights, maybe some sort of vibrations?”

He didn't notice you and Clint had stopped arguing to watch him through the glass with twin looks of amusement.

“Well that settles it. Stark is the biggest idiot.”

“Agreed.”

“Are you alright?” Bucky demanded as he burst into the room.

He rushed over to you and started looking you over frantically.

“Uh, I’m fine.” You stammered.

“I heard there was an accident in the lab you were involved in.” He said.

“Oh for fuck sake. Perfect.” You snapped, storming away.

Everybody knew, brilliant. Second day here and you were already getting a reputation. You were so annoyed you didn’t see the hurt look on Bucky’s face as you stormed off.

He sighed as he realised he’d messed up again. He was just worried you might have been hurt, he didn’t mean to offend you somehow. Would he ever get this right?

“Wait!” He shouted at you, running after you.

Clint stifled a laugh as the super soldier rushed away.

“What?” You whined, turning to look at him with a pout.

You bottom lip was protruding and it was so distracting that he nearly tripped over his own feet. Stumbling to a stop in front of you he realised he didn’t actually have anything to say, he just hadn't wanted you to leave.

“Don’t do it again. Be so stupid I mean. Just... be careful.” He instructed you.

“Got it, I’m an idiot. Everyone knows it and they would like me to stop. Message received.” You snapped at him and walked off again.

He was going to throw himself off the roof, he really was.

“It’s just dangerous around here, you could get hurt if you aren’t careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You looked back at him and saw nothing but sincerity in his eyes. You wrapped your arms around yourself nervously and nodded to show you’d understood before picking up your pace and quite literally running away from him.

Bucky threw his head back and groaned. Great, you weren’t offended now, you were just sad. He turned and walked in the opposite direction, berating himself with every step.

“Hey Buck, where are you headed?” Steve asked as he passed him in the corridor.

“The roof probably.” Bucky grunted.

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

Again, thank you to my Beansy for helping me out with how to handle writing a deaf character.

I'm floored by the response to this so far. Writing my second fic is actually more nerve-wracking than writing my first.

I'm trying to make these chapters longer and smoother. I'm editing like a bitch and just really trying to improve the quality and I really really hope it shows!

I'd love to know what you think of Ice so far and the relationship and personalities of the other characters.

  @shirukitsune @thelostallycat @jsmith509 @buckitybarnes @aw-shit-nuggets @pleasefollowmeuwu @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @boxofteenageideas @jaynnanadrews @psychoredpanda @marbleowl @l0kisbitch @brownlee-22 @fluffeh-kitty @mywinterwolf @poppunkassbitch @angieptt 

[grellsuke]

do you have any good lgbt manga recs? i just finished shimanami tasogare and loved it

yes!!!

Authors:

yuhki kamatani - the author of shimanami tasogare! kamatani is x-gender (and ace!) and thoroughly incorporates lgbt characters into their works. the others aren’t like focused on the lgbt experience like how shimanami is, but they’re all wonderful and beautiful and have lgbt characters and i highly, highly rec them.

akiko morishima - a lesbian mangaka who i really like! she’s really good abt tackling the traditional stereotypes in yuri manga as well as writing stuff about older characters and frankly discussing sexuality and shit. she also has works that are not yuri manga-centric but iirc a good chunk if not all of them still have lgbt characters, so they’re worth checking out as well! (she does have a few works with some fuckshit in them tho, fair warning)

takako shimura - i don’t personally know what her sexuality is (tho shes a woman, i know this), but shimura is pretty well-known for her lgbt works. wandering son and aoi hana are probably her most famous, at least over here in the west! she also tends to incorporate lgbt themes into her works that don’t center on lgbt characters as well.

ebine yamaji - another lesbian mangaka! yamaji’s works are very... realistic, usually about lesbian working through things. there’s a lot of trauma and a lot of sadness in her works, as well as sexual content, and i really love her art. i haven’t read ALL of her works, but what i have, i’m enamored with. they’re sad but rarely TRAGIC.

hiyori otsu - i don’t actually know otsu’s sexuality, but she’s a shoujo ai/yuri mangaka who writes a lot of genuinely sweet stuff. her works tend to very much be on the softer side of things, even if they can be bittersweet, and i’ve really enjoyed all i’ve read by her. it’s nice to just, be able to read a simple and nice lesbian manga without any major angst or tragedy or even sexual content sometimes, you know?

Autobiographies:

honey x honey by sachiko takeuchi - a slice of life little manga about the author and her girlfriend! it is abt a decade old, which you can see some of, but it’s a really cute peek into their lives and japanese lgbt culture. there ARE sequel(s?), but i unfortunately haven’t managed to find any english translations for them. if you do, let me know!

my lesbian experience with loneliness by kabi nagata - i own this manga! i keep it squirreled away in the bottom of my desk and pull it out every few weeks or so because it’s deeply, deeply relatable to me. the first time i read this manga i sat down and cried because i felt it deep in my soul. absolutely rec!!! there’s also a sequel, my solo exchange diary.

the bride was a boy by chii - a cute little manga about a trans woman named chii, recounting her early years up to her current life, her transition and how she met her husband (+ abt their relationship). it’s super cute and sweet, and very informative!! an absolute rec!!

i was born the wrong sex! by mayufu konishi - i haven’t quite finished this one yet, but this is a highly informative manga about a trans woman heading to thailand for her surgery! it’s extremely extremely informative about every single step of the process, and the author is an absolute delight, so it’s one i’d absolutely rec.

our journey to lesbian motherhood by emiko sugiyama/koyuki higashi/hiroko masuhara - have you heard of the lesbians that got married in disneyland tokyo? this is them!!! this is their autobiographical story of, well, their journey to lesbian motherhood! it’s very good, i definitely enjoyed it - it IS a sequel to another manga by them, but i sadly couldn’t find an english translation anywhere… it’s completely understandable without having read it, though!!

fictional manga:

my brother’s husband by gengoroh tagame - this is one i haven’t read myself, but is pretty damn high up on my ‘next to read’ list. the author is a prominent gay bara author - this is his first dabbling into more family-friendly series. he’s also recently started another family-friendly one called our colors that may be worth looking into as well!

whispered words by takashi ikeda - it’s been a good long while since i’ve read this, but i really enjoyed this when i was younger! (has it already been almost 8 years since it ended?? i feel old) it’s about two lesbians who are best friends - one of which is secretly in love with the other. unfortunately, she’s very much not her friend’s type. :( i vaguely remember some kind of weird crossdressing shenanigans with one character, tho, so tread lightly with that.

koimonogatari by tohru tagura - if you liked shimanami, this is also probably right up your alley! it’s a very realistic manga about a boy finding out that one of his classmates is closeted and gay - and he promptly decides to tell no one because he’s not an asshole, which leads to him being one of this boy’s main confidants. it realistically deals with the homophobia that gay people face, as well as the main character’s slow realization that he’s not necessarily straight, either (or at least, that’s my hypothesis - it’s still ongoing!!). i really enjoyed it.

lonely wolf, lonely sheep by fuka mizutani - two women with the same name, same birth month, and same injury end up meeting by complete coincidence at the hospital. i genuinely adore this manga and all it is. despite it only being one volume long, it deals with heavier topics such as depression, self harm, homophobia, and iirc even suicide. it’s really, really good though and i wish all the best for them.

kono koi ni mirai wa nai by morihashi bingo - i recommend this one tentatively, as the last two chapters are not yet translated (as of 1/11/19), but i enjoyed what was there. despite the label as BL on many sites, this story is actually about a trans woman (tho there is also a gay man in the manga!). the note left off on the most recent chapter, chapter 10, was a very uplifting note that she is not alone and that how she feels is completely, utterly normal, and i have hope for the last two chapters! the art’s really pretty, too, and the metaphors. but again - who knows what could go down in the last two chaps. fingers crossed!

i hear the sunspot by yuki fumino - PLEASE read this one. this manga is about two college-aged young men who end up meeting when one LITERALLY stumbles across the other. kouhei, one of the boys, is hard of hearing - and the other boy, taichi, starts taking notes for him in class in exchange for lunch, and thus begins a friendship that will blossom into romance! it absolutely gets in depth on the hoh/Deaf community in Japan, and is definitely informative - and the guys are just genuinely so sweet (as well as the other characters!!!) and I wish them all the happiness. it’s STILL ONGOING so like, warning on that, but i’m really enjoying it so far. i think there’s also a movie based off it!

cirque arachne by nika saida - this one has some sexual elements to it, so fair warning on that, but i really enjoyed it! it’s a single volume manga about two acrobats that fall in love. the art was cute and i genuinely liked the characters, quite a lot. would definitely rec.

yuureitou by tarou nogizaka - i have not actually read this manga, but it’s another that’s amazingly high up on my to read list. it’s a supernatural horror manga, and the main couple is a trans man and a cis man! i’ve heard good things about it - from people i know personally, as well as just in general - and it’s one i can’t wait to check out.

ohana holoholo by shino tarino - i FEEL like this one is completed, but if it is, the translation isn’t done. either way, i did love what i read from this! ohana holoholo is about a bi woman raising her son along with her ex-girlfriend and their neighbor, nico. it’s really good, one that i HIGHLY recommend, and one of the woman is implied to be trans, too! (fingers crossed they explicitly state it please please please-) overall, i absolutely rec it, please check this out!

no. 6 by atsuko asano/hinoki kino - who HASN’T heard of no. 6? no. 6 is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the government is, well, the government. it involves two young men working to take it down alongside others and they fall in love. and one of the other characters is non-binary! ...honestly that’s probably the best i can describe no. 6 because WOW is it a wild trip. it’s a wild trip that i highly, highly recommend though! you want gays taking down the government alongside killer bees and a magical bug goddess? this is the manga for you. please read it.

asagao to kase san by hiromi takashima & bloom into you by nio nakatani - two shoujo ai manga centering around high schoolers that i haven’t actually read yet, both of which recently got animated adaptations!!! i have heard genuinely fantastic things about both of them (ESPECIALLY) the latter, and bloom into you is actually next on my reading list. they absolutely sound fantastic and i can’t wait to read them!!

seven days by rihito takarai/venio tachibana - a two-volume manga about two high school boys. every week, a boy named seryou goes out with a different girl - he treats them very well, showers them in attention, and then promptly breaks up with them at the end of the week because he didn’t fall in love with them. out of curiosity, his upperclassman, shino, asks him out one week - and thus begins their seven day romance. i really loved this, i really really did.

tamen de gushi by tan jiu - it’s an on-going webcomic about how two girls, qui tong and sun jing, meet and fall in love. the characters are all absurdly fantastic, from the two girls to all of the supporting characters around them, and it’s an absolute TREAT to read. i would highly rec it, there’s some lovely shenanigans in there.

last but not least, i highly rec manga written by the year 24 group. this group was a non-formal group of female mangaka in the 1970s that really revolutionized and influenced the shoujo manga genre. many of their works are considered classics today, with works such as kaze to ki no uta, claudine...!, the heart of thomas, and shiroi heya no futari among them. a lot of their works really dug in and examined sexuality and gender, and you can find some of the original shounen ai, shoujo ai, and trans manga among them. i’m a sucker for the classics, and i highly recommend them. i honestly could have listed every single of one these mangaka in my recommend authors list, but decided it was just easier to promote the group as a whole. the best for last, you know?

hope this helps, anon!

[yellowcanna]

Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

To this day and age, no one knows what lies within the city of Yokohama—or that was what the public was made to believe. In reality, Yokohama has long fallen into the control of the world’s largest criminal organization known as the Port Mafia.

Follow Class 1-A as their principal organized a field trip to Yokohama! In their short trip there, they must change their perspectives and learn exactly what it means to be justice and what it means to be villains.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi)

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Available on AO3!!

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

CHAPTER 5

ARMED DETECTIVE AGENCY (DAY 1: SUNDAY)

Disappointment didn’t even begin to describe the students’ feelings when they stood within the Armed Detective Agency office.

It wasn’t like they got a problem with the office. It was a lovely office with emerald floor tiles and overall it gave off a nice, relaxed feeling.

It’s just that they had expected a bit…more. As in something that didn’t look like any other regular offices.

“Ah, Kunikida-san!” A boy perked up at the sight of all the people that came in. He jumped out of his seat by a desk and quickly came over to Kunikida.

The boy was young, maybe just two or three years younger than the U.A Students—which meant he must be in middle school. The boy has sun-kissed hair and was dressed in blue overalls with a straw hat tied around his neck and sandals on his feet. His clothing made him looked like a farmer that just came from the countryside. But is there a countryside place in Yokohama?

And more importantly…

The boy was cute!

The soft features on his face that still got some baby fat, those freckles and that pure smile instantly won over all the girls in the group.

“This is Miyazawa Kenji.” Kunikida introduced the boy to their guests. "He is one of our staff at the agency.”

Staff?

“Hello~!” The boy sang energetically with such sweet smile that it practically melted all the students’ hearts—even the guys! Well, most of the guys. They didn’t know if they were seeing things, but they could have sworn there were pink bubbles floating around the boy beaming at them.

“Nice to meet you all!”

“Nice to meet you!” The class chorused—the tension and disappointment from before were all cured by that gentle smile. The boy was just so adorable that they didn’t even bother thinking over exactly what Kunikida’s introduction actually meant.  

“What the heck are you morons doing?” Bakugou muttered to the sideline. With him were Todoroki and Tokoyami.

Crouched on the ground not too far away was Mineta who was biting his thumb and muttering a string of inaudible words. However, if listened closely, one could make out that most of his words were among the lines of “pretty boys should all die”.

“Kunikida-san, I got a call from Ranpo-san so I’ll be going!” Kenji informed the older blond. Kunikida nodded as he wrote something down onto his notebook.  

"Bye-bye!” The boy waved to the U.A guests, skipping around them as he bounced away like a ball of happy energy.

“Bye-bye~” The students waved back union as they watched the delightful boy go. Really, he was such a precious boy!

“Hm…” Kunikida stared at his notebook, then around the empty office. “Yosano-sensei!” He suddenly called, gaining the students’ attention. “Yosano-sensei!”

They waited for a while, but there was no response.

“Um, could this person have left the office?” Toshinori supplied helpfully when it looked like Kunikida was about to call again.

“No, she’s here," Kunikida said, holding up his notebook proudly. “I have everyone’s schedule written down, there’s no mistake.”

“Okay…?” Toshinori stepped back as he watched the blond opened his mouth, ready to call out again when the sound of the door slamming open echoed from the other side of the room.

“Stopped yelling, Kunikida. I heard you." The tired voice of a woman came, followed by a long yawn.

Everyone turned to see a slender, black-haired woman stepping out of a room. Her red heels clattered against the emerald tiles as she strolled towards them, her black dress swaying to her movement.

“This is Yosano Akiko-sensei.” Kunikida gestured to the woman. Mineta instantly got hearts in his eyes while the other students greeted the older woman politely. "She is our agency's physician. If you have any injuries, you can come to her and she will have you treated.”

“So you’re the ones from U.A High School?” Yosano hummed, hands on her hips as she regarded the crowd.

“Aizawa Shouta.” Aizawa greeted as he held out his hand politely. “Thank you very much for having us.”

“Oh? The one on the news?”

Aizawa was a bit stunned by her response. News? What news?

The Underground Hero didn’t have to think too hard before an answer came to his head. As an underground Hero, he tends to avoid media, so there couldn’t be much news about him. His expression darkened as he remembered that interview he had to do when Bakugou was taken by the League of Villains.

She couldn’t have meant that one, could she?

He heard from Toshinori that these people got access to the outside media…so it was true? It wasn’t that he doubted the former No.1 Hero. If anything he knew that his information was right, but it was just hard to believe until he could confirm it himself.

“If you have any injuries, come see me at any time." The woman said, taking his hand in a firm shake.

“Yes. I appreciate it.” Aizawa thanked, then stepped aside to let Toshinori go next.

“I am Yagi Toshinori, thank you for having us.” Toshinori offered his hand to the woman. Yosano took his hand in a firm grip—but she didn’t shake it. She just held the skeletal man’s hand, showing no sign of releasing as she stared into the ex-Hero's almost hollowed-out eye sockets.

A soft smile lifted her lips, one that was much different than the confident smile she wore when she made her appearance.

“Good to see you doing well.”

Toshinori froze as he regarded the young lady before him.

“…Have we met somewhere before?” Toshinori’s face was filled with uncertainty as he stared at the woman. He didn’t recall ever meeting someone like her, but the way the woman had spoken sounded like they should know each other.

“No.” Yosano let go of his hand and moved towards the students, not giving Toshinori the chance to question anymore. “So you are the Heroes-in-training?”

“Yes! We are!” Iida replied for the class, as it was his duty as the representative.

Yosano looked over each one of them, her gazes lingering longer on some more than the others. Specifically on those with more unique features.

“You there.” Yosano nodded to a certain invisible girl.

“Eh? Me?” Hagakure pointed at herself. Or at least, she appeared to be pointing at herself. Without any gloves, it was hard to tell.

“Is your blood and organs also invisible?”

“W-what?”

“I’m asking if your body from inside out is invisible, or is it only the outer layer of your body that has camouflaging capability that makes you invisible.”

“Uh…I’m invisible inside out?” Hagakure answered unsurely. She has no idea why the lady would ask her such a weird question.  

Yosano eyed the invisible girl with mild interest sparkling in her eyes.

“Will her invisibility be an issue?” Kunikida asked as he too eyed the floating clothing that’s a person.

Hagakure was practically sweating under the two adults’ intense gazes. Although no one could tell, her eyes were darting around, seeking her classmates for help.

“No,” After what felt like forever, Yosano finally drew her gaze back. “It won’t be a problem. If anything happens I will just have to get a bit more physical.”

The lady smirked as a weird glint flashed across her eyes. She then looked over to Tokoyami who stiffened under her sharp eyes.

“Well, like Kunikida said, come to me if any of you are injured. I will give you kids a special treatment~”

“Special treatment?!” Mineta was instantly panting out hot breathes at the explosive news.

“Seriously, that’s enough.” Kirishima who was standing behind Mineta frowned in disapproval.

“Since I’m not needed, I’ll be going out shopping," Yosano announced as she looked over to her co-worker.

“We’re low on Ranpo-san’s snacks and tea. If you could get some that would be much appreciated.” The blond man swiftly informed her, as if he knew she would say that.

The woman waved her hand as an indication that she will before walking straight through the students who immediately parted ways for her. Flashing the children a smile, she disappeared behind the door.

The kids stood there, listening until the sharp clattering of her scarlet heels faded into the distance. It was then that they all finally let out breaths of relief.

“Haa…she's finally gone," Hagakure muttered, sounding completely exhausted. 

“Right? I’m sweating just from her looking at me!” Asido whispered.

“Gero, it feels a bit unpleasant...” Asui felt like she should know what that weird look in that woman’s eyes was when she stared at them…but she can’t think of anything.

“What do you mean?” Uraraka blinked in confusion, unable to understand what her classmates were talking about.

“I didn’t feel anything?” Sato looked around, confused as well.

“What was it like?” Midoriya was immediately interviewing Ojirou, trying to get an understanding of what exactly did they experienced.

“She looked at your particularly long, didn’t she?” Shouji looked down at Tokoyami.

Tokoyami didn’t say anything. He just stood there with his arms crossed and brows furrowed, seeming to be thinking over that as well.

“It must be a pain to be so popular!” Sero joked as he nudged his bird-headed classmate with an elbow.

While some were confused and some were concerned…there were two individuals with a completely different reaction than the rest of the class.

“Think she’ll treat me if I get a little cut?” Kaminari wondered hopefully.

Mineta, on the other hand, was already fumbling with a piece of paper, about to slide the sharp edge over his finger when Iida snatched it out of his hand.

“Ahem!”

The sound of throat-clearing quickly reminded the students where they are. They quieted down, glancing at their homeroom teacher to find the man glaring at them warningly. Remembering how Kunikida was still standing there, they realized how rude they must be just now and hastily gave the blond man their full attention. 

Fortunately, Kunikida didn’t seem to notice their little chatters as he was checking something on his phone.

“It seems like the President is running a little late from his meeting.” Kunikida informed them, closing his phone and slipping it back into his pocket. “For the time being, you can look around the office and make yourselves comfortable. If you have any questions, now's the time to ask."

Jirou wasted no time raising her hand.

“Yes?” Kunikida nodded for her to speak.

“You mentioned before that there’s police here…does that mean you have your own government within Yokohama?”

Of all things Kunikida had expected them to ask, he did not expect them to still be hungover such trivial matter. 

“Of course,” was the simple answer he gave the girl.

“Then why the heck are these criminals running everything?!” Bakugou snapped.

“Because they’re criminals, you can’t expect them to maintain proper laws.”

“…HAH?!” The boy exploded. Obviously, this was not the answer he was looking for. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!" 

Kunikida arched a brow at the boy’s rudeness, but it was thanks to this that he finally took a closer look at the other children’s faces. He finally understood their problems now. In their eyes, these kids can only see the good and the bad. They are blind to everything in-between.

No, rather than saying they were blind, perhaps it was due to the environment they grew up in…

“Listen carefully as I will only repeat this once.” Kunikida began. “In Yokohama, there are two main forces that oversee the city. The Port Mafia, and the Government. In your world, those with Quirks are the norm, but in our world, ordinary people are the majorities. The Government governs over those ordinary people while the Port Mafia oversees Ability users. Of course, over time the Government also developed their own Special Ability department to oversee that as well.”

“Gero? But if there is government, why is Yokohama controlled by Port Mafia?” Asui asked in confusion.

“Because Port Mafia is stronger than the government, simple as that.” Kunikida replied. “They were the ones who secured Yokohama and created the barrier that exists to this day, so they gained initial control of this city. But!" The man adjusted his glasses. "Those are just matters of histories! One day they’ll lose their standings!”

“So…why is the government still around again?” Kirishima asked, not feeling as though the man had answered their questions. “If Port Mafia got control over everything, why are they keeping the government?!”

“Were you not listening to what I just said?” Kunikida was beginning to wonder if these kids got memory issues. “They’re criminals, they don’t run laws.”

“Then why didn’t they destroy the government?” Iida pressed on, and that’s when a small vein budged out from beneath the thin layer of skin on Kunikida’s forehead.

“That is what I kept telling you!” Kunikida gritted his teeth with a vein-popping onto his head. “They are Mafias, why would they bother with governing law and ordinary people?!”

“AND THAT’S WHY WE KEEP ASKING YOU!” Bakugou roared, finally having enough of going around in circles and not getting any answers. “WHY THE FUCK DO YOU STILL GOT GOVERNMENT HERE WHEN YOU’RE CONTROLED BY VILLAINS?!”

“THAT’S WHY I SAID—” Kunikida shot back at the kid.

“This is getting nowhere," Tokoyami grumbled as he stared at the screaming match between the grown adult and kid.

“There’s clearly a miscommunication somewhere…” Ojiro laughed weakly as he stated the obvious. As for where that miscommunication is…that's what they wanted to know.

“That’s enough!” Aizawa who had been watching by the sideline with Toshinori finally cut in. His intense glare made the students all withered under his gaze.

Kunikida quickly gathered himself and cleared his throat. He couldn't believe how he had just lost his temper to a brat who—in his opinion—was too old to be acting like one.

These kids were already sixteen! Seriously, how were they even taught in the outside world?!

“I am very sorry about that.” Toshinori hurriedly stepped up to apologize.

“No, I’m at fault too for raising my voice.” Kunikida sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Anyways,” the blond looked back to the kids, “during your stay at our agency, you will accompany some of us to learn how we operate. Since you are Heroes in training, I sure it will provide valuable experiences that you can use in your field of work. Other than that, you’re free to go around Yokohama. There are a few sightseeing locations in Yokohama you can go take a look at.”

“We’re free to go around? Just like that?” Uraraka was bewildered by the fact.

“Of course not.” Kunikida rebuked. The blond adjusted his glasses as his eyes narrowed over the students.

“As you know, Yokohama does not have Quirks. The citizens here retained the same genes as our ancestors before the rise of Quirks. When you go out, be sure to make yourself as normal as possible! Fortunately, it is autumn so no one would find it weird if you wear a bit more clothes.”

“Normal he says…he makes us sound like we’re not normal…” Ashido muttered.

“Like you for example!” Kunikida pointed a finger at the mumbling pinkie, causing her to jump in surprise. "When you leave the office, put on a pair of sunglasses and a hat to hide those horns and eyes! Your skin as well! If you can’t cover them up then put on foundations!”

“Eeeeh?!”

Kunihiga then turned to Tokoyami. “You there! Wear a hat and scarf to hide your beak!”

“What?!”

“And you!” Kunikida turned to Hagakure who staggered back.

“Me again?!”

“When you leave the office, cover yourself up from head to toe! Put on foundations on any part of your body that might be exposed! You’ll need sunglasses, face mask, and wig!"

And then, the blond began pointing out all the students that didn’t fit into his human criteria.

“Don’t hunch your shoulders! Straighten up! Don’t stick out your tongue either!” That was to Asui.

“We don’t have engines for legs, keep them covered at all times!” That was to Iida.

“Hide those extra limps!” To Shouji.

“Wear a hat!” Koda.

“Get either earmuffs or headphones to cover up your ears!” Jizo.

“Conceal your arms!” Sero.

“Wear a coat to hide your tail!” Ojiro.

“And you!” Finally, Kunikida turned to Mineta.

“Me too?!” Mineta shouted.

“Cover your head!” Kunikida demanded, jabbing his index finger down at the tiny boy. “We don’t have balls growing out of our heads!”

Mineta was petrified by the remark. A woman saying that may be appealing…but hearing that from a man turned into great insult…

Kunikida adjust his glasses as he regarded the students. Half of them looked as if their souls had gotten sucked out of their bodies. Midoriya briefly wondered if this could be considered discrimination.

"B-but…I didn't bring that much stuff.” Hagakure could finally voice out her opinion now that Kunikida stopped. Never did she think she would one day have to cover herself from head to toes like some wanted Villain.

“Same here.” Ojiro agreed. He never wore any long coat or got any clothing big enough to let him tuck in his tail. Why would he need that in the first place?

“Oh, with my Quirk I can—” Yaoyorozu was about to offer a solution when Kunikida held out a hand to stop her.

“I already have everything prepared.” The man told them. “There are boxes of clothing at the dorm you’ll be staying at. Be sure to pick out suitable ones before going outside.”

Then, the man looked over to Yaoyorozu.

“I’m sure that you are already informed, but it looks like I will need to remind you all that you are not allowed to use any of your Quirks inside Yokohama. That is the rule Port Mafia has set for you during your time here. As long as you’re within this city, you are under Port Mafia's watch. Do keep that in mind.”

“But—” Yaoyorozu was about to question why when the door behind the kids suddenly opened.

“Apologies for our lateness.” A female’s voice came as everyone turned to see a woman walking through the door. She has long brown hair and red glasses, dressed in office lady uniform. She stepped aside, revealing a shadow of a person standing behind her. 

“The President has arrived.”

A tall man with silver hair and dressed in traditional Japanese clothing walked through the door. The sight of the man instantly made everyone in the room tensed up. There was a pressuring aura rolling off this man and the scowl on his face only made him that much more intimidating.

“I am Fukuzawa Yukichi.” The man’s voice was deep and stern, just like his appearance. From these short, simple words, the kids could already feel authority coming off the man. “The President of Armed Detective Agency.”

Like what they’ve done with the other agents, Toshinori and Aizawa stepped up to greet the President.

“I am Yagi Toshinori, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Toshinori extended a hand towards the man. “We are really thankful for you taking us in during our stay here.”

“I am simply returning a favour to the Port Mafia boss by letting you stay with us. You have no need to thank me.” The man said stoically, making no move to accept his guest’s outstretched hand. He glanced at the students—his sharp eyes made the kids felt like they were being stared at by a predator.

“For the rest of the week, you will follow my subordinates and learn of how we operate within Yokohama. As future Heroes, I believe this will be a valuable experience for all of you. While you observe, you must listen to my subordinates and follow their instructions at all times. Those who cannot follow the rules will be sent out of the agency immediately, is that clear?”

“Y-YES!" The students all shouted in unison, unable to help but feel a bit excited as they learned that they will be having the opportunity to follow these people to work. This was just like an internship!

“My secretary will brief you in on the rest and show you to the dormitory where you’ll be staying.” With his speech done, Fukuzawa walked away, leaving behind his secretary to do the rest.

“I am Haruno Kirako.” The secretary lady said, drawing everyone's attention to her. "First, let’s go to the dorm and get you all settle down!”

And that was how the Heroes and Heroes-in-training got back onto the bus and drove about fifteen minutes down the street. Much like the Armed Detective Agency, the dorm they will be staying was very…ordinary—and a little bit run down as well.

They gathered at the open space in front of the building where the secretary pulled out the keys to the dorms.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough rooms for everyone. There are only ten available rooms, so I’m afraid you’ll have to find a roommate to share. Two of the rooms will need to be a three-person room.” Haruno turned to the two teachers. "I will let the teachers decide on the students’ rooming.”

“…You guys decide on your own.” Aizawa quickly brushed off that responsibility. He didn't care how the kids decided to pair themselves up and neither does Toshinori.

The students looked at one another. It didn’t take them too long to sort themselves out.

For girls, it was:

Asui and Uraraka.

Yaoyorozu and Jirou.

Hagakure and Ashido.

For guys:

Kirishima and Bakugou.

Midoriya and Todoroki.

Tokoyami and Shouji.

Sato and Koda.

Iida, Sero and Aoyama

Kaminari, Mineta and Ojiro.

Naturally, the two teachers also had to share one room. It was in their room that they found the boxes of clothing Kunikida had mentioned.

As they move into their new living place and began to unpack their belongings, a problem soon erupted as horrified screams resonated into the air.

“My phone’s gone!”

“My camera! I’m sure I put it in here!”

“I swear mine was in my pocket!”

“I had mine in my luggage!”

“My watch! Was it dropped on the bus?!”

“Has anyone seen my phone?! It got a pink case!”

“This is…!” Toshinori stared his empty pockets before turning to Aizawa who was glaring at his bag.

It wasn’t just phones and cameras. All of their electronics were gone, including digital watches some students had brought with them...

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

“Your electronics?” Kunikida looked at the group that has gathered back in the field after somewhat getting over with the initial panics. “They were confiscated by the Port Mafia the moment you entered Yokohama.”

“WHAT?!” Ashido was the first to react to the bomb dropped over their heads. “I just bought that phone! I got a lot of things in there!”

“Same here!” Uraraka joined in, almost breaking into tears at the news. “My parents bought that for me on my birthday!”

“You can’t just take them away without asking!” Kaminari complained.

“Don’t worry!” The secretary hurriedly reassured the kids who looked as if the world had just ended. “I’m sure you’ll get them back once you leave. They didn’t want to risk you taking pictures of Yokohama and bringing it outside.”

“I wish we were informed of that before bringing us in.” Aizawa was seething. Although he could understand the logic, he didn’t approve of the method. Who knew what those criminals might do to their personal devices! This was clearly a violation of their privacy!

“Then you can take it up to the Port Mafia.” Kunikida huffed as if it wasn’t his problem.

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed.

For a second, Toshinori feared the raven-haired man might start an argument with Kunikida, but fortunately, Aizawa held himself back. Toshinori knew how Aizawa felt. He didn’t like this either. If they were told of this beforehand, then they wouldn’t even bring any phones or electronics, to begin with.

As Heroes, their personal information was very sensitive. In this modern age, all these private information can be found in their smartphones. Their contact list, their browser history, their apps...there was no telling what the Mafias might be doing to their devices while holding onto them.

“Please don’t worry.” The young secretary continued to work hard to resolve the tension. “I’m sure all of your devices are safe! The Port Mafia has no reason to tamper any of your belongings. Now that everyone’s here, how about I go through the arrangements for everyone during your stay here?”

While none of them were happy, there was nothing they could do about it. So they just listened as the girl began to go over a list of things for them.

“There is a cafe called Uzumaki on the first floor of the agency’s building. All of your meals will be provided by them. Their opening hours are 8:00 am to 9:00 pm every day. When you go, just tell them that you’re from U.A and they will understand.

As you can see, there are no baths or showers in the dorm, but there is a bathhouse just across the street. We have spoken with the bathhouse owners and they are aware you are students from the outside. Between 6:00 pm to 11:30 pm, the bathhouse will close and only open to you guys. So for those with special body structures, there will be no need to worry about exposing your identities. When you go to the bathhouse, just show them this tag and they will let you in."

And then, each student and teacher received a small wooden tag with the bath house’s mark on it.

“Lastly, if you need of Yokohama’s money, you can exchange them with anyone in the agency or any banks in general.”

“Currency?” Midoriya’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yokohama’s currency different than ours?” The moment Sero asked that question, he already knew how stupid he must have sounded. Yokohama has been isolated for centuries. It would be weird if their money were the same as the rest of Japan’s!

“Yes. The exchange rate between Yokohama’s currency and Japan’s are 1:1.” The secretary replied. She pulled out Yokohama’s paper bills and coins, presenting it to the kids. Since Yokohama’s currency was also yen, it wasn't all that different than Japan's except appearance.

“Um, Haruno-san?” The green-haired boy hesitantly called out the woman’s name, unsure if he had got it right.

“Yes?” The secretary smiled at him. Okay, he got it right.

“Isn’t Yokohama is closed off? Why does the bank offer currency exchange?” Midoriya asked.

“Yokohama is only closed off from the outside.” The secretary explained. “The citizens living within Yokohama can leave and come anytime they want as long as their passport gets approved. Many large companies and even Port Mafias themselves have foreign business dealings with the outside world under the guise of a company in the outside world. That’s why our banks have currency exchange.”

The students were all stunned by the news. Never would they have thought that the people of Yokohama can leave the city. They had assumed it was a completely sealed off city where no one can come in or out.

But…that didn’t make any sense!

With a criminal organization controlling this place, why would they allow people to come and go as they pleased?

The secretary, oblivious to the confusion on their faces, reached into her bag and pulled out a phone. It was one of those extremely old flip phones that they don’t see anywhere else in the world nowadays. There wasn’t even a camera on that plain old device!

“These are rental phones for you during your stay. These will only work within Yokohama, so you won’t be able to make any calls to the outside world. It only has texting and calling systems. I have taped your phone’s number and the agency’s address at the back. My phone number has been set as your very first contact. If you have any questions or if anything happens, call me immediately.” The secretary instructed them seriously. “Even if you are lost, call me and I will immediately find help for you. If you got into any troubles and requires the police or ambulance, all emergency numbers in Yokohama are the exact same as Japan. Although do call us first as we might be able to assist you faster. Now then, please line up and I will hand out your phone. Unfortunately, we have limited phones, so I will give out one phone per dorm.”

Very quickly, the students lined up and soon received the phone which will be their only communication device during their stay in Yokohama.

“I didn’t think I’ll ever see one let alone use it," Jirou said as she examined the simplistic device with mild interest.

“I feel like we just went back to the Stone Age.” Sero heaved out a heavy sigh. Who in the world still use these things?! But then again, judging by how old this entire city seemed, they probably should have seen it coming.

“Here are your phones, Aizawa-san, Toshinori-san.” The secretary handed over two phones to the teachers. “Both of your phones’ contact lists got the complete contact numbers of all our employees, including the President’s. Please call anytime you need assistance."

“Thank you.” Toshinori examined the phone in his hand. Aizawa was doing very much the same.

The students may not know, but the two adults fully understood that Yokohama's technologies were way ahead of theirs. So why in the world do these things still exist here? Was there some sort of trick?

“Now then,” Kunikida who had been silent the entire time spoke. He glanced down at his watch. It was 3:00 pm already. This took more time than he liked, but fortunately, he had predicted this when making his schedule.

“I need to talk to the teachers back in the agency. There is nothing planned for today so you kids can go take a look around the city. Just remember to meet up in the office at 9:00 am sharp tomorrow. And remember,” he pointed towards some specific students, “cover yourself properly before you leave!”

The kids sweatdropped at the reminder of how some of them don't exactly fit the normal criteria. But they soon threw that behind them and started talking about where to begin their exploration of this mysterious city.

“Wait.” Aizawa quickly cut in as the class's chatter died down. The students all looked to their teacher with pleading looks on their faces. Aizawa ignored the stares directed at him and focused on Kunikida. “Is it safe for them to be wandering outside?”

“There is no need to worry. Arrangements have already been made.” Kunikida replied. Aizawa and Toshinori immediately understood what arrangement the man meant. “So long as these kids don’t use their Quirks, nothing will happen.”

Aizawa stared at the blond for a long time.

The raven-haired man weighted the danger…only to quickly toss that out of his head.

Who was he kidding? They were in the danger zone the moment they all took this field trip and thrown right under the eyes of the world’s largest criminal organization. There was no way he could keep the children lock up for an entire week. They will have to go out and see Yokohama at some point whether he like it or not.

On top of that, Nezu had given him a long talk of not restricting the students before setting off...

“I won’t stop you kids from going outside,” Aizawa turned to the kids with an intimidating look on his face. That instantly made all of them shut up and give their homeroom teacher their undivided attention. “But you must all go together, or not at all. And I don’t care what your reasons are, no one is allowed to leave the group. If one person needs to use the bathroom, three others have to follow, understand?”

“YES!" They cheered.

“Aizawa-san, Toshinori-san, this way please.” The secretary called.

Giving the kids one last look, Aizawa and Toshinori followed the two agency members back to the bus. Toshinori spared a glance back as they left. He looked over the excitement on those children’s faces as they ran for their rooms to get ready.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

Arriving back at the Armed Detective Agency, the two teachers were showed to a meeting room.

“Please, have a seat.” Kunikida said as the secretary set down a pile of documents in front of the blond before leaving to let them talk in privacy. “Most of our jobs come from client requests and cases that may pop up from the police. As the President had said, your students will accompany us to observe our work. But before that, I need to get an understanding of them so that should anything happen, we can act accordingly.”

“And what do you expect to happen?” Aizawa questioned suspiciously. Something just wasn’t sitting right with him. His instinct was telling him there was more going on in this city than what it seemed on the surface.

“It is just precaution.” Kunikida replied, but the raven-haired man wasn’t convinced. “I have your students’ reports, but I would like to hear your input as their teachers.”

Aizawa and Toshinori looked over the papers in front of them. They were all detailed documents with the students’ photos attached to each one. There were descriptions of their strengths, weaknesses, Quirks, and personalities. 

“Where did you get these?” Toshinori’s brows furrowed as he looked through them, feeling uneasy that this agency got such sensitive information of their students.

“Relax, these were given to us by your principal.” Kunikida replied. “I need to make sure that these kids of yours won’t cause us any additional trouble. Especially these two.”

Kunikida gestured to two specific files with Bakugou’s and Mineta’s pictures stapled on top.

Aizawa was already feeling a headache coming. He wasn’t surprised by the man's concern about Bakugou. A lot of people were. Mineta, on the other hand, was one he didn’t expect yet probably should have.

“From what I gathered, this boy is very dangerous.” Kunikida said as he tapped his finger over Bakugou’s picture. “Just from our short interactions, I don’t need to read these reports to know that he has short temper and acts impulsively. As for the other one…”

His finger hovered over Mineta. There was a long pause before the blond man continued.

“…I frankly don’t understand the meaning behind his existence.”

The two teachers were unable to say anything back to that.

“If this Bakugou was a citizen of Yokohama, he would be put under heavy surveillance just for his personality alone never mind his powers.”

“I understand your concern.” Aizawa couldn’t remember how many times he had to repeat this line. “I can assure you that Bakugou has a high sense of justice—”

“That is not the issue.” Kunikida cut the Hero off. “Before you came, I looked over that interview you had after he,” he tapped at Bakugou, “was kidnapped by your world’s Villains.”

So they did saw that interview…

“Even those Villains believed he is better suited with them than as a Hero. Why do you think that is? This is not about whether or not they have a sense of justice; this is a matter of self-control. This is Yokohama, not your world. Your values of justices mean little here. This boy’s behaviour may not present an issue in your world, but here nothing will go his way. His rashness will only put the other kids at risk.”

“We understand. We’ll keep an eye on him to make sure he stays out of trouble.” Toshinori promised.

“I do hope so.” The way Kunikida looked at them clearly stated that he didn’t believe a word. “From what I can see, he doesn’t seem to be the type to listen to teachers either.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Aizawa gritted. Although he was a bit irritated by this interrogation—or that’s what it felt like—he nonetheless dipped his head politely.

“And give that other boy a stern talking about basic respect towards women.” Kunikida sighed, as if tired by just talking about this kind of subject. “I don’t want to get a call to go bail him out of jail for sexual harassment. Yokohama is very strict on that.”

“We’ll do that.” Toshinori sighed as well.

Mineta’s behavior was troubling indeed.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

 “…Mineta-kun?”

The group of students stared at the empty spot that Mineta was just at.

What happened?

What just happened?

One moment, Mineta was there and the next, he disappeared…

“Hey, bitch! What did you do?!” Bakugou demanded, glaring daggers at the girl standing right next to where Mineta was a split second ago.

“Ah?!” The girl snarled, turquoise eyes fearlessly meeting the explosive boy’s. She patted her dress as if there was some sort of germ on there and flicked one of her thick, auburn braids over her shoulder. “That disgusting pervert was looking up my dress and you got the nerve to question me?!”

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

◅ PREV                 MAIN                 NEXT ▻

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Please visit AO3 link for Author’s note!

[badanimereviews]

summer 2019 anime sum-up

lmao i realized i never did this and posted the fall season b4 this.... oops

kimetsu no yaiba: tbh started out kinda meh. and now it’s turned into one of the new big shounens. i was not expecting that. nearing the end got rly good and i was rly looking forward to more episodes! tanjiro gets cooler and cooler! animation is rly nice (thanks ufotable) and the way tanjiro’s water is animated. like. aesthetic asf. it’s so good. i love black-haired emo dude and zenitsu (my spirit animal) and ofc nezuko she is adorable im c r y. side note: the hashira? i think they’re called? some of the ugliest fkn characters i’ve seen in ages like flame boy? stone boy? i HATE them. and the gem dude too like man get a new tattoo artist on god.... he needs it.,,,,,,and inosuke is so pretty it’s unfair

dr stone: ok man dr stone rly went off. tbh. i’ve always been a whore for chemistry since reading the flavia de luce series (btw, i want more books of) and watching this just tickles my noodle brain in a good way... who needs prozac when i get a shitton of serotonin from watching senku dick around....  (btw what is going on with what’s his face and the girl. yuzuriha????? i can’t remember. i love senku don’t get me wrong but i need their perspective too... bc i hate lion dude... so much.... dick....) again i will repeat that i am a whore for chemistry so i get oFF on this. backgrounds are amazing/ animation so nice n clean (most o the time lmao). i thought i would hate the black n white haired trickster boi and ms yellow ponytail and suika but no! dr stone is such a good show that they are now great, loveable characters. also i am senku and chrome’s whore so jfc. man, i love the explanations of all the chemistry shabang, but some things i think would be better if explained! like senku doing physical labour at the beginning- ex. making all those pots and building that shit by hisself. i know he weak af. yes he smart but like. construction? difficult. pottery? even for me the artist . difficult. and that shed of his was filled to the brim. HOW. anyways, i love this so much i am crying constantly

just realized i didnt need to write about dr stone. oh well. 

danmachi 2: wtf yo. haruhime is so pretty but not a fan of her personality! bell still cute af and still don’t rly like aiz! animation good as always, and my god i shit myself whenever the argonaut theme starts up bc that is ? one of the best pieces of non-sawano hiroyuki pieces i’ve ever heard? addicted to it. and the opening! love the dynamics, the brief ‘rain’ scenes like when mikoto slashes the raindrops and just her motion basically? as an animator that is what i aspire to accomplish because i just love that. tiny little scene. 

arifureta: this would have been so much better had they dragged out mc’s op-ifying process! made him suffer more! i explained this briefly in my ‘first thoughts’ post for this season, but story-wise and pacing-wise his power-up could have been so much more deserved and gratifying. think shield hero- loser suffers, gets angry, slowly builds up power in an epic payoff! would have been so epic too. and also if they’d made his gained powers less.... crazy nerfed. again: HE SHOULD HAVE SUFFERED MORE AND THIS WOULD HAVE MADE A BETTER SHOW. harem thoughts: yue- meh. sucky char honestly. shea- my fav girl, she is a great character don’t judge- sexy and love her personality and love her character design and love how much fanservice she gets lol. panty flash ftw. dragon girl- discount darkness honestly , tho nice design. and mermaid girl- yuck, annoying,  DO NOT like the ‘papa’ trope! (ahem sao.) it’s gross. also just fuck mc’s classmates honestly- paladin dude sucks ass, healer girl OOF that last episode ruined her, samurai girl is ok i guess. hate ai-sensei too like shut UPP annoying ass HOEEEEE (postscript: opening=very epic too)

kanata no astra: plot twist? check. trillion well-done plot twists? check. this was done very well. i am so happy. all those plot twists and turns would usually suck in any regular anime- but this was written with GODLIKE ability. thank you, lerche. legit, this was such an enjoyable ride, i eagerly awaited each new ep! typically i hate space-related stuff but like! survival stuff gets my goat.... like this was good- (tho maybe more technical-stuff in the survival theme would make it so cooler) what shocked me the most: (spoilers alert) didn’t end up hating quitterie or funi. (tho the puppet made me want to strangle smth) luca’s gender had rly confused me but i’d decided on him being a boy- so basically that reveal left me like WHOA. i died. did luca rly have to show emo boy their tity tho... kanata losing his arm gave me the yeeeks, charce being the traitor was made sO WELL into a surprise even tho i’d kinda already suspected him<- like that was just fucking amazing writing there. gj. and ares the princess! ok man! shocked! AND also the whole clone thing, just fucked me right up. up the ass. like there are probably more plot twist layers in this than a fkn ogre has.... anyway shrek aside, yun?’s character arc was very pleasing, i think that was done very well! and the ending made me UwU like BRO? goals tbh. yeah this is a hidden gem and is just so good, so well-written overall. 

cop craft: didn’t have high expectations. i am now,,, quite,,, shocked &,,, blown away. sweetheart this is a good fucking show. so why @ livechart.me DOES IT HAVE 7.40 STARS WHEN FKN ARIFURETA HAS 7.72. can someone explain this to me? i’m outraged. LIVID.  matoba and tilarna were amazing characters btw! loved their dynamic! briefly i thought it might get romantic! nope, it didn’t, so it’s all good. actions scenes were epic, tilarna’s design and outfits were so much nicer than i thought they’d be like. she is so cute. and the op- man, if that is not such a bopper vibe then idk what is. i could watch it forever. it deserves so much more than what it’s got rn.

naka no hito genome: (serious question: is this considered some sort of isekai?) genome gave me btooom vibes honestly but like- this is SO much better than btooom and most game/trap/ kinda shows. fkn BOP of an op, especially the sequence at the end with short clips of each character in action (nutt). paka-san was a good boy and he deserves irl merch. i fell in LOve with all the characters (bubble boy= hot, akatsuki= ok meh actually kinda boring, karin= hot and i want her to punch me, ruromori= beautiful 12/10 would let her stalk me, sleepy eyes boy= baby + dazai vibes and hot af, twin boy= also hot, onigasaki= hot and love him so much, and loli girl= her light grenades got annoying but nice char design) anyways yeah more of this would be epic. i wanna see sakura and her twin reunite, and how they get out basically! also animation quality was very good which is surprising considering it’s a silver link anime.

kono yo no hate de koi wo utau shoujo yu-no: i include the whole title bc this is a good anime. (also livechart.me why 7.27 stars i will fuck you up) only meh part of this is the return to earth from dela granto bc that was like a culture shock and honestly at that point i’d forgotten a lot about what had happened on earth and didn’t care as much. btw, f ayumi and f the other brown-haired oneesan. mio and kanna ftw. obvs i didn’t understand the sayless x takuya thing like dumbass horny teenager . why u gotta creampie the worst girl. u have mio. bruh. (tho mio x ‘oyabi!’ boy is a great ship) also, takuya’s mom? keiko-san? idk if you’ve noticed but that’s literally my name so yeah just glad to finally have some keiko representation. altogether goodass anime. the time travel/ rezero esque reset thing almost got me but this was done well. so no problems. both ops very good. first song was bae, second also bae (just realized it’s by konomi suzuki, one of my waifu idols, so yea nice) and ed2 also so pretty! also yu-no’s design was rly pretty, the outfit colours, and her pigtails rly suited her :)

granbelm: sorry this is the last one lol this was a long ass post! other than the fact i dont rly like mecha this was good.... action, CHARACTER designs aesthetic asf, honestly rly pretty ok. i liked the cast, very diverse and more depth than most shows of this ilk. op was nicely choreographed- especially the part where the girls’ faces are contorted by their gems, showing their magical girl side. nicely done. mangetsu didn’t end up being that bad a char, and honestly? suigetsu is best girl and deserved better. and the ending too- like, bro, that made me kinda sad. some off points: anna’s mom was a little unrealistic as a mom like woman- please learn to control your child, and, white-haired girl’s sister should have played a bigger part, based on how her parts in the opening were emphasized! (quick note- blue girl, love her, great bad guy, when she dumped anna made me so happy honestly, she is beautiful, and i couldn’t actually decide who i wanted to win between her and suigetsu....)

hope u enjoyed this bad review. pls share ur opinions w/ me on some of of these more controversial shows. thank.