#wee bit of angsty stuff but it's a nice sweet ending i swear

[the-rarest-sexiest-coinkydink]

Overreaction (Josh Dun x reader)

Summary: Arguments over the littlest of things happen to everyone. It’s how you handle them that matters. In the early days of twenty one pilots, when their future isn’t guaranteed, Josh finds that he isn’t particularly good at handling stress... 

Word count: 1794

Warnings: Josh is kind of an ass here, but definitely more in an ‘I’m stressed and don’t know how to cope’ way than an ‘I’m an actual prick’ way. You get me? 

The house was quiet when he woke up. The sort of quiet that sat coldly in his bones and left a weight in his stomach, filling the air in every room and leaving everything feeling grey and still. His heart sank further as he stuck his head into the guest bedroom and saw the bed neatly made, the top of the dresser empty. 

They hadn’t come back. 

His mind was filled with images of the evening before as guilt washed over him. 

“Josh, please, can you just lay off the drumming for half an hour? I just wanna get this last section done.” (y/n) dug their fingers into their temples, frowning over the essay they were trying to finish. When he’d suggested that they spend the afternoon at his flat so they could both finish the work they needed to do and then spend the weekend hanging out, they’d jumped to say yes. But while it had been a good idea at the time, things hadn’t gone quite to plan. 

Josh had been working on some ideas for the music video he and Tyler were meant to be shooting in a week’s time while (y/n) was working on finishing an assignment that was due on the Monday. It was frustratingly difficult work, and at first their boyfriend’s presence was a relaxing one. 

The two of them were sat on opposite sides of the breakfast bar, laptops and papers spread out in an inelegant tangle as they worked. The kitchen smelled of fresh coffee and a soft instrumental playlist was on in the background. For a couple of hours, the atmosphere was incredibly peaceful. But then, Josh finished his work. And he got bored. He tidied up his laptop and notebooks to kill a little time, but soon found that he needed more to do. 

Thinking back to the discussion he’d had with Tyler over some new ideas for songs, he decided to sit down at his practice pad for a little while and get some rhythms out of his head, see if any of them fit the beautiful words that his bandmate had put together. He slipped his headphones on and plugged them in, relaxing as he wrapped his hands around the drum sticks and got ready to play. 

Engrossed in reading the resources they’d found, (y/n) jumped as he started tapping away, their concentration shattered. At first they tried to just ignore it and carry on, but the repetitive beats that only got louder and more complex made it impossible to keep their mind on the words they needed to write. 

And so, they had politely asked him to stop. 

Josh had barely glanced back at them, tapping his feet in time with the thoughts running through his brain. “I’m just tryna get this idea down so it matches the stuff from Tyler.” 

“Yeah, but can it wait? Is there some other way you can think about it that isn’t so... loud? I’m still working.” 

He sighed. “Babe, this is part of my work. So I’m still working too.” 

“I get that, I do. It just doesn’t make it very easy to think about the history of genetics, you know?” They’d laughed slightly, trying to lighten the mood a little. But a dark cloud had descended over the room, and Josh’s continued frown made their smile fade. 

“Look, this is important.” 

“I never said it wasn’t.” Now they were frowning too. “I just asked-”

“I’m trying to make this whole band thing work, okay? And maybe you don’t think that takes as much effort as a fancy college degree, but it’s damn hard.” 

(y/n) felt like a deer in the headlights, taken aback by the sharpness of his response. “Hey, I know how hard you guys are working on this, and I know how much it matters to you. All I’m asking for is half an hour of quiet so I can get this done. And then I’ll sit and listen, okay? Maybe I can try and help you go through some of the ideas you’ve got.” 

He sniffed, shaking his head. “Yeah, like you actually care. All you can think about is yourself.” 

Their jaw dropped as he turned back to the kit, hitting the pads even harder now that he had some anger to get out of his system. “Josh, I-”

“No, it’s fine! It’s fine that you’re more worried about one stupid essay - one essay that won’t even affect your perfect GPA anyway - than you are about me being happy with my career. Nice to know. Really.” 

He’d never snapped at them before. Tears prickled hotly at the corners of their eyes. Silently, they gathered their things and packed them into their bag, dipping into the guest room briefly to get what little else they’d brought. Then two doors slammed, one shortly after another. 

It took almost an hour for Josh to notice what had happened in the aftermath of the argument. Finally satisfied, he put his sticks down - and turned to face an empty room. That’s when he realised that (y/n) had grabbed what little they had brought round to his place and left. 

Groaning at his own idiocy, Josh found himself getting anxious. Last night he’d assumed they’d just gone home, but what if something had happened to them while they were out? What if they were in a hospital, or being held hostage by someone, or... no, he couldn’t think like that. He sighed, chewed at his lip, and made the decision to phone them. It was obviously better to apologise in person, but somehow he doubted that showing up at their apartment unannounced would be welcomed. Besides, just hearing their voice for the moment would be enough to assuage his growing intrusive thoughts. The phone rang through a couple of times before abruptly cutting off. Nothing. But with the short ring period, he knew it wasn’t because their phone was broken or switched off. They’d declined the call. 

Pacing back and forth across his living room, Josh rang Tyler instead. Thankfully, his best friend answered straight away. 

“Yeah?” 

“Ty, I screwed up.” 

“Oh, I know.” 

He stopped walking for a moment, frowning. “Wait, what?” 

He could hear Tyler close a door before answering. “(y/n) came here last night. And dude I’ve gotta tell you, I haven’t seen them that upset in a long time.” 

Josh felt his heart sink. “What did they say?” 

“That you made them feel like you didn’t want them there. That you told them they didn’t care about you, which a blind man could see is total rubbish.” His friend sounded angry, and he was definitely starting to feel that it was justified. “They said that it was you who didn’t seem to care about them. That you didn’t think about the fact this essay is due Monday and they’ve got a midterm on Wednesday, even though they’d told you all about how worried they were when they got to yours. Dude. You were a real jerk.” 

He let his head drop against the wall with a soft thud, feeling well and truly like an idiot. “I don’t even know why I said all that stuff. I feel terrible.” 

“Yeah, you should. I had to come and pick them up because it was getting dark and they were crying too much to keep walking home.” 

He felt his heart sink painfully. “I... I made them cry?”

Hearing the crack in Josh’s voice, Tyler sighed. “Look man, just get over here. You’re both a bit calmer now, and you can talk things over. You can apologise.”

“I- Yeah, okay, that’s a good idea. I’ll be there soon. Thanks man.” 

Burying their hands in the hoodie’s sleeves, (y/n) chewed at the dry skin on their lips until Tyler nudged them in the side. 

“Hey, knock that off. You’ll make them sore.” 

“Are you sure he’s not still mad at me?” 

Tyler pulled them in for a hug, rubbing their back soothingly. “Hey, I know he isn’t. You know, I don’t think he was ever really mad at you in the first place. Just real stressed. And that’s not me trying to excuse what he said to you, because it was totally out of line. I just don’t think he’s capable of being mad at you.” 

A knock on the door interrupted them, and he let them go so he could go and answer it. When Josh set eyes on them, red around the eyes and pale with lack of sleep, he burst towards them and took their hands in his, babbling almost frantically. 

“Shit, (y/n) I- I’m so, so sorry. I have no idea why I said the things I did - I shouldn’t have, no way. None of those things were true. I think I - everything lately has been so hard, so uncertain - I just want us to do well, and... your degree is so stable and nothing I do is guaranteed and that... I don’t know, maybe it - I don’t even know!” 

He was practically tearing his hair out at this point, and (y/n) stopped him with a hand on his cheek. “Hey, slow down. One thing at a time. Were you really mad at me yesterday?” 

“No, of course not. I think I... I was just worried about a lot of things and you happened to say something at the wrong time.” 

“So you... you don’t really think that I don’t care about you?” 

He could see them welling up again, and opened his arms for a hug the same way he always did - never pulling them in first, always checking that they were okay with the contact before doing so. They leant into him, tucking their chin on his shoulder as he held them as tightly as he dared. 

“No. I think that’s the worst thing I said to you, and I don’t even know where it came from. I just - I am so sorry, babe. I hate that I treated you like that.” 

“Thank you for apologising. And, I forgive you.” They pressed a soft kiss to his lips, hands resting against his chest as his moved to their waist. 

When they pulled back he barely gave them a second to breathe before kissing them again with a little more force, his tongue dancing at the seam of their mouth. 

“Oh, gross. I leave you two alone for five minutes and this is what happens.” 

They pulled apart, both giggling a little at the look of mock disgust on Tyler’s face. Beneath it, the relief was clearly visible. 

“Sorry man.” 

“Yeah, whatever, I’m just glad you two are okay now. Next time, get a room that isn’t my kitchen, deal?” 

“Deal.” 

[vivithefolle]

What are your favourite fanfic tropes/aus for romione?

(I’m gonna try to make my way through old asks I received AGES ago and never answered because I’m a procrastinating lump. Here’s betting I’m going to give up and play videogames all day instead.)

Oh my god, so many.

Okay so as a rule of thumb as long as it’s nice to Ron I’ll read it. I’ll read anything. I have been known to read Ron/Draco and even sacrificed my dignity and everything I stand for as a human being by reading some Ron/Snape stuff. Yes. I was THAT desperate. This is how low I’m willing to go because of sheer love for Ron.

Which means that when a fic will go “oh poor Hermione, poor Hermione who is waiting for Ron to grow up because She can see one day he could be worth it but for now he’s all dumb-dumb and inferior and doesn’t deserve Her perfection :(”, I will be judging. Judging very hard. I may not leave a comment but rest assured, my thoughts are loud enough for me. This is 2010s mentality. This is “haha I’m so like Hermione, not like other girls who throw themselves at boys, I’m so special and girl powery :)” Horribly Bad Feminism. Fuck that. We’re doing better now.

Speaking of doing better. Recently I read something about how Ron is, paraphrased, “the brute of the Trio”, spun in a positive way since he uses his strength to protect them but, but, still... please no? Just no! Just eff no with these takes about how Ron is a hypermasculine dudebro M For Manly™! No, no, fucking no! Just because he’s the Sulfur to Hermione’s Mercury and Sulfur represents the masculine component to Mercury’s feminine one, DOESN’T MEAN Ron is “the brute”! (”the” brute... seriously... who’s the more brutish one, the one who punches a racist in the face or the one who uses a torture curse as retribution for spitting on his fave teacher?)

The way I see him, Ron is a balance, a blend of feminine and masculine qualities intertwined close together. I LOVE that he can swear like a sailor but can only say “scarlet woman” or “cow” when it comes to insulting a woman. Some will probably see it as “hurr durr he sexist he doesnt think women can take it!!!!!!! >8C” but given that those are probably also the peeps who say “HE CALLE D HERMOANI A NIGHTMURRR!!!!!!! DDDDD8″ I’m gonna venture the idea that we don’t care about those folks’ biased, sexist opinions.

Where was I going with this... oh yes! Ok, so Ron can swear like a sailor yet couldn’t insult a girl to save his life. He’s strong physically but most of all he’s strong mentally (to put up with the way his friends treat him for years speaks a lot of his mental fortitude... and to top it off he comes back for more to boot! I’m not sure if that’s more mental fortitude or straight-up masochism though.) When he succeeds at things he gets a bit attention-whoreish but at the same time, you can see that when he’s being complimented he’s all unsure of himself and blushy and shy and you just, dude you can’t handle positive attention because you don’t know how to react to it I don’t know whether that’s adorable or the saddest thing I’ve seen in my life? He’s insecure but he’s always the first to cheer on Harry and Hermione when they’re doing something great, which speaks VOLUMES of Ron’s selflessness and of his actual character: to quote @peetamaellark​, Ron doesn’t think “Harry is great, therefore he sucks and I hate him”, he thinks “Harry is great, therefore I suck and I hate me”. THIS is Ron. THIS is why Ron will lash out, not because he hates Harry, but because internally he hates himself and you can’t keep that sort of feeling bottled up for too long before... you got it, you explode.

I. Want. More. Fics where Hermione isn’t this ~oh dear~ Victorian damsel in distress who cries and Ron is the Big Strong Man who holds her with one arm and is stony-faced and goes “I’ll protect you”, please no that was old before it existed, let us have nice, realistic depictions of Ron and Hermione please.

Like, Hermione is more than capable of kicking butt herself. She IS absolutely nervous and scared and cries easily and that’s a vulnerability we NEED, but the fact that she can be super scared and crying but still hex her opponent into oblivion? THAT’s good, THAT’s excellent. It’s a very important message for girls, I think. “You can cry, you can be sensitive, you can be emotional, AND you can still kick butt”. And as important as that message is for girls, it’s also a very important message to give boys, because boys are socialized to “never cry” and that’s super unhealthy. I love Ron’s admiration of Hermione. I love the way Ron hesitates, the way he can be cautious when he needs to as much as he can be reckless and impulsive. I love how he shows himself to be a big softie and a sweet soul. I don’t think that makes him an “emasculated doormat” (to quote a guest I once saw on FFN), on the contrary it makes him an even better man in my eyes. You know why I love the locket scene so much? Because Ron’s tears aren’t ridiculed. Ron gets to cry about the terrible ordeal he’s been put through, and while Harry “pretends he can’t see Ron cry” because it’s more comfortable for him personally, he doesn’t try to tell Ron to “man up” or anything. His reassurance is pretty lousy but he lets Ron cry, he lets his friend be upset, and he doesn’t try to invalidate Ron’s pain. (ok, the “I thought you knew” is kiiiiinda on the way there, but it stops at that and I’m grateful for it).

I like. Seeing Ron distressed. I like seeing Ron upset and be allowed to be upset. I like to see Ron’s pain treated with respect. So when Ron is having a shit day I like to see him get a cuddle. I like seeing Ron go through horrible ordeals and break down and for his breakdown to be properly acknowledged and not turned into insensitive comic relief (ISN’T THAT RIGHT, LATTER HALF OF THE SILVER DOE????). I mean seriously, just imagine GOF, Harry sitting in the hospital wing after Cedric’s death, Molly Weasley gives him a hug and it’s all very sad and angsty. And now picture Ginny running into the room screaming “HARRY JAMES POTTER” and punching him over and over and saying “PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER” then after two pages of Harry “explaining” himself to Ginny she goes away saying “aight but if you do that shit again you’ll have to answer to me” then Harry’s friends are like “damn she’s spunky huh?” and Harry laughs and everyone laughs and this is how the book ends? How would it be funny? How would it be appropriate? How would it feel like “romance”? When Ron returns in The Silver Doe, he’s been psychologically tortured (”tortured” is the actual word JKR uses, please), we don’t need him to be hurting outside as well.

I want more accountability for Hermione. More “uh hey Hermione maybe don’t do that”. More “hey Hermione you know you think of yourself as a good person buuuut yeah actually if all good persons were like you I’d be very afraid”. More “Hermione please for the love of God educate yourself”. More “Hermione sweetie I love you, but you can’t actually learn everything from books”. CHARACTER. DEVELOPMENT. PLEASE. Don’t be afraid to punch Hermione down and tear her apart the way the best Ron fics maim and torture our poor boy. Just because Rowling treated Hermione with kiddy princess gloves doesn’t mean you have to mimic her.

So when Hermione does a genuinely shitty thing let her own up to it. When Ron is a victim let him be upset and angry, even if Hermione is the one treating him badly. Just because he loves her doesn’t mean he’s not allowed to be disappointed in her or that she’s entitled to his immediate forgiveness. Give Ron and Hermione equal consideration. If you’re brushing off Hermione’s actions but condemning Ron for the slightest mistake, I am sure to hate it.

Okay, uh, so, those aren’t really tropes. Those are more just, guidelines I presume.

Oh, yeah, a trope that annoys me! Ron saying “you’re mine”, “my Hermione” and stuff, and Hermione just swoons and says “yours” and shiz. Ok, once in a while, why not. Once in a while. BUTT. I WANT HERMIONE TO SAY IT TOO. “Mine”, “my Ron!” and Ron swoons and says “yours, absolutely yours”. DO IT YOU COWARDS. FUCKING TAKE THOSE GENDER ROLES AND PUNCH’EM IN THE FACE.

Oh, right, while we’re on the subject of gender roles! Dad!Ron is everything. SingleParent!Ron is mwaaah. Stay-at-home-Dad!Ron is ALKZLDSJDLQSKLFJ <3. AnimalLover!Ron is HHHHNNNGG. Remember, the small gestures, the tiniest, softest acts Ron does (helping Harry get dressed when his arm is deboned, giving Dobby his brand-new sweater, praising Ginny, Luna and Neville when they escaped Umbridge), those are often those unremarkable, unmistakeably kind and sweet actions that tell us who Ron really is at his core: not a guy who’d want power at all costs, not a guy who’d give it all for ambition, not a guy who sees people as possessions, but someone kind who wants to make others happy.

Ok, I was also asked for AUs, so, uh, pretty much every AU is game as long as Ron gets treated with respect? I mean I don’t really care for Mafia!AUs or such but if you can find a way to fit good Romione then go for it I guess. Royalty AU, yeah why not but I often see Ron being made a prince while Hermione is a poor wee servant girl and like. Uuum, we’re talking about the same characters here? Hermione the highly educated girl who keeps on walking over everyone’s toes and loudly talking about how things should be done and is definitely Nouveau Riche, Ron who is a country boy who lives on a farm and is lost in the constant shuffle of his brothers, you think she should be the peasant and he should be the royal? Whaddafack? Oh, and all the “Hermione is a Muggle, Ron is a wizard” AUs that start this way BUTT! Suddenly... Hermione... turns out... to be (wait for it!)... A WITCH! And a super powerful super talented very good one too!!!... yeah ok, yawn. It’s quite scary, actually, how often I’ve seen that plotline, but in the rare cases when it’s Muggle!Ron and Witch!Hermione, Ron never ever EVER (I mean, seriously, NEVER EVER) turns out to have been a wizard, not even a mediocre one, all along. No, when Ron is made a Muggle for the sake of AU he stays a Muggle. But when Hermione is made a Muggle she has to turn out TO HAVE BEEN A WITCH ALL ALONG OMYGAH. I can count on one hand the number of Mugglemione/Wizardron fics that actually stick to their Mugglemione premise till the end - and usually they’re one-shots. (Also I don’t mean “Ron mistakes Hermione for a Muggle because he meets her in the Muggle world and assumes he must hide his magic from her, oh wait she was actually a witch!” fics, I mean genuinely “Hermione has been raised a Muggle her whole life, never had weird things happen to her her whole life ever, then Ron comes in and is a wizard and he does magic and Hermione wonders what it’d be like to be a witch and oh surprise! Don’t worry Hermione, you won’t have to feel not-special or mundane for long, here comes the plot contrivance to tell you you really were in fact the specialest of them all!!” fics.) Fairytale!AU is cool. Very good. But honestly I like to see them swapped around. Ron cursed by a nasty fae to be a Beast and Hermione stumbling upon him? Neat, especially if you don’t go the boring route of “oh let’s just rehash the Disney/the original book with different names and call it a day”. But Hermione cursed by an asshole fae for, let’s say, not sharing books, turning into a Beast, and Ron stumbling upon her as she’s trying to survive in the woods (and not doing a very good job of it)? Yes, brava, chief’s kiss. Rapunzel AU where Hermione’s bushy hair turns into the most impractical, most suffocating improvised ladder ever for Ron? Hilarious. Rapunzel AU where Ron has A GIANT EFFING PONYTAIL OF THE GODS and is screaming “ow ow ow” as Hermione makes her way up to his window cringing and saying “sorry! sorry! sorry! (damn his hair smells good)” on every step? Equally hilarious. Go! Be creative! Please I beg of you

Creature!fics! Oh my god there’s not enough of those, at least that aren’t focused on a bullshit pairing! Soulmate AUs! Give me everything! I’ll even take A/B/O if you insist on making it Romione! That’s how far I’ve fallen from human decency I’ll take anything just give me some good Ron content please I beg of you (Ah and to those that are going to say “Alpha Ron Omega Hermione :)))” well yes, but actually no. “Beta Ron Beta Hermione”? “Beta Ron Alpha Hermione”? “Omega Ron Alpha Hermione”??? HELL YEAH NOW WE’RE TALKIN)

Oh dear god I’m still not finished and I haven’t gone through everything someone stop me.

AND NOW BE CAREFUL CHILDREN, BELOW WILL BE SMUT.

Okay I don’t know if it qualifies as a trope, but. But. A more realistic depiction of Ron is usually what I’m after. All those fanfics that have Ron be “the sexy experienced one ;)))” ravishing “naive virginal Hermione ;))” is just UGH. We spent all the 2000-2010 period having fics like this, mind adding a bit of EQUALITY to the mix???

It’s just... I hate it okay? So many fics read like they’re just projection, writers who are essentially making Ron their big strong sex toy stud who's so attentive and sweet and cherishing, and so it does indirectly ends up as "servant Ron is so devoted to his goddess Hermione, providing pleasure to her while she doesn’t have to lift a finger”. The Dom!SexGod!Ron thing honestly depresses me... Since it's Ron taking care of Hermione, AGAIN. Like, he spends his WHOLE LIFE doing that already. Can we give him a break for once?

In the endI feel that it's less "Romione smut" and more "self-inserting into Hermione smut". In "real" Romione smut I think Ron and Hermione would switch roles according to what they feel like. And honestly I ALWAYS picture Ron being super nervous during Dom stuff, like he spanks her once then immediately he goes "oh my god are you okay?? did that hurt, do you want to stop?", things like that. I cannot imagine it happening any other way. XD Ron is just... too caring, too sensitive to do stuff like hard BDSM and that kind of thing in my opinion. He’s too much of a caretaker. I understand if it’s your kink and you’re perfectly free to project and write the fic you want, I’m not the fun police, but it’s just... I don’t think that’s really what Ron would be like. I just want MORE realistic Ron.

Also I’m trying really really hard to not point fingers here but WHY is it that it’s always “Ron growled” while it’s always “Hermione whimpered” or “Hermione moaned”? Like... you know it’s okay for a man to moan or whimper in pleasure too, right?  You know Ron isn’t 110% muscles and testosterone? You know Hermione is allowed to be fierce too? Hermione can 100% “growl” and be dominant and pin Ron to the wall and reduce him to a puddle of goo if you’re brave enough?

(Honestly how sexy would Ron think that is? The woman he loves is half his size yet can pin him down and ravish him. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG RON HAS WANTED TO BE RAVISHED AND CHERISHED DO YOU KNOW HE’S BEEN WANTING THIS ALL HIS LIFE)

Oooo-kay, so that’s... mostly it, I reckon. Oh also Ron has a gigantic penisraise kink (and a great penis too, but mostly a praise kink). That’s canon and that’s all.