#yeah that pov is basically the plot

[winterlilyarts]

Pov you get trapped in a magical forest and smth is up with ur bff

Fancy-ish lighting ver under the cut

I still have a lot to figure out with lighting in digital drawings

[pipskippy]

theres something abt suzaku and lelouch that makes for really nice atmospheric dreams for me i think it’s a big part of why cg has stuck with me lolll. very fitting actually bc i originally watched it because i kept having dreams about it and got curious…

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

so like what if I showed y’all this note I wrote for a scene in moth work that never happened and it like hurt sm:

From September 23, 2019.

Transcript under the cut!

After dinner, when Suz and Eliza are talking over wine, Harrison and lonan find each other on the balcony. They naturally do this but remain silent even when they’re standing just a few feet apart. Harrison leans against the far end of the railing and looks out over Vegas. The lights shimmer and make his eyes ache. He’s hugging himself. The wind has picked up and his teeth have begun to chatter. He wants to touch lonan but he’s also very hurt. He’s not even sure how he’s ended up in this moment. By now Jeremiah knows he’s gone. He could’ve had a life with him. They could’ve gotten married. Driven a buggy across the country, lounged on the coast. The images are flashy but they feel only cosmetic. He can’t bear to look at lonan but also looks at lonan.

[shima-draws]

I'm a couple days late but. Lusanlu Week Day 3 is done 😤 @lusanluweek

Favorite Arc | AU of Choice

Remember that Sanlu fairy AU I mentioned and then never spoke of again. Yeah this is it lmao.

Tfw you sneak into the secret garden of the Germa Kingdom even tho you were explicitly told NOT to do so and find a very pretty boy trapped inside of a birdcage

Bonus doodle of their designs under the cut ;)

Actually kind of disappointed I didn't go all out and draw more than just a bust for Sanji's POV bc that butterfly wing coat is 👌

Spicy ass design tbh. Not sure about the top but everything else is MWAH chef's kiss (Also yes he has thigh highs. I'm repeating the pattern here I know. I would say I'm sorry except I'm not)

And Luffy looks hot af in one of those classic pirate shirts. Open collar puffy sleeves sash at the waist......SLUT BEHAVIOR!! GOOD FOR HIM!!!!

I actually did take these designs from my initial goofy World Tree comic. (Or at least I took Luffy's, I didn't like Sanji's so I redid it lmao) This AU takes some basic stuff from World Tree but the plot is completely different I prommy <3

[aroaceleovaldez]

how Nico functions narratively as a character is always extremely funny to me because he has like, exactly 3 modes: exposition, damsel, and dues ex machina.

Exposition Mode is usually whenever Annabeth (#1 designated exposition character. #2 is Grover or insert mythological figure of the hour here. #3 is Nico) or someone else isn't around to exposition for the present cast. He has an excuse to somehow randomly know everything and everyone, no matter what, especially if it's relevant to the plot. He'll randomly develop new skills or personal arcs purely as an excuse to put him in situations where he can exposition, such as him being able to gain insight into the future/prophecies via ghosts (which is a thing in Greek mythology, but still). This is actually why it's extremely difficult for him to function as a POV character in a stand-alone story or first book of a series, because the way Riordanverse functions, the POV almost always only has as much information as the audience going into things and a secondary character explains information to them as they go along, unless it's later on into a series and it makes sense for the characters and/or audience to know that already. That's why Nico doesn't function well as a POV for TSATS but Will would work fine, because Nico's designated narrative role is Knowing Everything/Everyone, Somehow (particularly relating to the Underworld).

Damsel: he just gets kidnapped a ridiculous amount of times. Also that plus his penchant for passing out means there is ample opportunity for scenarios where Nico, despite being extremely powerful, needs to be rescued. Pairing this with how he's always off doing absolutely anything, absolutely anywhere, and somehow knows everybody, he's a perfect means to push the plot forward with an easy "oh no we need to rescue/protect Nico for the millionth time" side-quest or addition to stakes at hand. Or, similarly, if you need to take Nico out of the equation for a bit because he's too powerful and would fix it immediately: oops he passed out/needs to be protected/is kidnapped/etc.

And then as mentioned before - Deus ex machina, kinda literally. Nico is extremely overpowered for a reason; Because he's the catch-all solution to every problem. Just throw Nico at it. We can BS a new epic power for him that vaguely makes sense and yeah he's just that powerful and will pass out because of it probably. Yeah sure he can rip people's souls out and instakill things. Yeah he can teleport anything anywhere under essentially any circumstances. He'll just be a little sleepy. A lil eepy. He needs to take a lil nap. It's fine.

Basically. Solution to literally every situation in the Riordanverse: Throw Nico at it. Just throw Nico at it. It'll make sense. It'll work. Unless he's the primary POV in a stand-alone novel, short story, or first book in a series. Then it won't make any sense because you suddenly have to backtrack like 2/3 of Nico's entire narrative functions and suddenly he is Only A Damsel.

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Bernard Dowd and the Art of Recontextualization

I'm what you might call a "fake Batman fan" - that is, I've only watched most of the Batman animated series', all of the live action movies, most of the animated ones, played some of the video games... so, you know, probably thousands of hours of my life in Batman related media. But not the comics! Fake fan!

Frankly, I find the comics medium the way DC and Marvel do it to be really hard to follow. There's the fact that you can't really follow an individual solo character without them getting caught up in massive crossover events that ruin their arc and pacing, there's the soap-opera-iness that encourages cheap and revolving conflicts inherent to the longform monthly release schedule, the writer roulette, and there's also just that going back to try and thread a particular continuity or character is an exercise in frustration. Oh and the retcons. Everyone hates those. They've (basically) never been good. Don't remember this part it will never come up aga

But, you know, despite this - or maybe because of this - comics is a breeding ground for ideas. Because of the quick turnaround and the demand for novel conflicts, comics just churn out idea after idea. Good ideas, bad ideas, doesn't matter. Get it to print. Retcon it later if we write ourselves into a corner. Comics are often soooooo first draft coded. This is why I personally prefer adaptations - they often reimagine ideas and retcon them into new narratives where they can serve a more coherent plot. But what happens when a character is picked up for a second draft ... without actually contradicting the earlier material? While enriching the earlier material, even?

(SPOILERS for Tim Drake: Robin and uh... 20 year old comics under the cut!)

So, uh, quick disclaimer - because I have very little overall knowledge of DC's Comics continuity, there may be more interesting examples of times that what I'm going to point out was done. But I love Bernard and from a writer's POV I'm impressed with the way they did it so we're talking about Bernard lmao

The Beginning (Robin 1993) - Reading comics from the 2000s hurts in a way I can't describe

Okay so I heard Tim Drake is dating a guy now? (Penny Sonic voice) Whoa he's bisexual I didn't know that! I'm sure people on the internet are being very normal about this. Cool let's find out more about his new bf. I like starting from the beginning... so like yeah hold on while I crack open the Robin comic and take down what this guy's deal is.

😬

So basically the TL;DR of Bernard in his original appearances is that he seems to be an attempt to introduce some normal stakes teen drama into Tim's life. He has all the Funny Guy Friend Classics - he's got an inflated sense of his proficiency at pulling girls, he's inexplicably drawn towards the protagonist (who is cooler than him), he wants to date the most popular girl in school, and he wants to get down with older women!

This might just be me but while I was going through this I thought like, he almost reads a little uncanny, like he's been filtered through a Disney Teen Special. In practice he mostly serves to introduce Tim to the Real Plot, Darla Aquista, and be one of his ties to civilian life, which is, like, fine. He's ultimately just a background character and he's so unimportant that he only has one appearance after their school gets shot up(!!!), which is, again, to be more of an accessory to the Darla plot.

After this display of "wow this guy's kind of lowkey insane for offering to his resurrected bestie supervillainess to be her manager actually", he's dropped forever. Comics! We're not gonna unpack that.

The Sequel (Batman: Urban Legends) - We're Gonna Unpack That

Until almost two decades later when he calls Tim up for a date. And while I'm trying to skim over a lot to get to the point here and I don't really know the FULL context, it is notable that Tim is in the middle of an identity crisis / the cusp of adulthood when this happens (I think he just lost a spleen or something. That sucks dude). It's pretty implicit that part of the reason he's going to see Bernard is because he's someone familiar in a time when he's facing a lot of new and scary stuff.

And at first blush, he really does seem like the same dude. The familiar arm over the shoulder, the banter, it's all very casual and similar to the ribbing from high school -

- and I guess nothing has happened to Bernard in the interim haha he's just the funny friend guy right?

I really like the way they did this. I'm just unambiguously going to praise how good this is if you just came off the 2000s stuff. Comics have kind of breakneck pacing by nature but they really manage to condense down and then pull off a neat sleight of hand over the course of like four pages here. They re-establish Bernard as a silly guy and then wham you with the fact that yeah actually we ARE gonna unpack that. Fuck you Tim Drake life is ever changing and nothing stays the same

So the TL;DR on the rest of the Urban Legends storyline is that stuff like, HAPPENED to this guy while our focus was elsewhere. He learned martial arts, presumably so that he wouldn't be so helpless in the next school shooting level event, he got into a pain cult, he's just Not Doing Well. We find out, reading between the lines, that calling Tim on a date was probably one of his last attempts to reach out to someone when the cult stuff was getting really bad.

I've heard people complain that Bernard is uninteresting or not a character or entirely focused on his relationship with Tim, and I think that criticism is really weird considering that his entire re-debut focuses on the point that he's been having his own life and making his own (often wild) decisions - ones that really changed the course of his life - while Tim was gone. And it's also notable that this story is about how the fact that he's his own person and has changed and has made the nerve-wracking decision to take action and call Tim inspires Tim himself to take a leap and fling himself into the uncertain waters of young adulthood.

Me when I have my bi awakening and call to get out of a rut simultaneously because Cute Insane Guy Inspired Me. iconic

So that's how Bernard has changed. But that's not recontextualization, that's just the writers taking a guy and making him do another, cooler thing. Well hold the fuck on because we're not goddamn done.

What did he mean by th-

The Recontextualizerrrrr (Tim Drake: Robin) - Bernard is the funniest person in Gotham City. I'll not be taking constructive criticism on this

Tim Drake: Robin is the followup to the Urban Legends story and Tim is the main character fr. Obviously. but Bernard is also a major character. Later, he even gets to be a POV character. But they don't do that for several issues, instead treating us to his shenanigans from Tim's point of view as he solves a bizarre serial murder case and like, they're cute! And neither of them are normal in the slightest. I love that for them.

Again, TL;DR, there are a lot of interactions where Bernard talks to Tim both in and out of costume, but we don't get to see his POV until they go out to a restaurant and meet Bernard's parents there by accident and Tim has to run off to do Robin stuff. And like... a lot of stuff happens in this one bois. Whammy after whammy

We're suddenly introduced explicitly to a lot that was only implied or just completely unavailable before. Bernard's parents are ragingly homophobic. Probably were never great even before that. He suffers from depression. All that is a lot to. wait. hold on a second

he knows?????

HE KNOWS????

Okay so if you stop at this point and reread the entire run so far you find out that Bernard is in fact the biggest troll in the entire universe. This is the moment that cemented him as my favourite, by the way. Like I had a feeling that he knew and I was just laughing my ass off when my suspicions were confirmed.

But this is really interesting on top of that because Bernard has been revealed to be, at this point, a guy who you should look deeper than the surface to understand. Someone who masks his true self and whose true motivations you can only uncover if you're really looking past the facade. Even with Tim, he sort of offers Tim and Robin half the story each, taking advantage of Robin's "distance" to give out information he wants Tim to think about but that he's reluctant to talk about frankly while at the same time almost daring Tim to open up about his identity.

Absolutely most normal way to tell your bf about your cult trauma. You'll always be famous to me Bernard Dowd

This is a really neat trick by the writers. It makes Bernard a multifaceted character who got to quietly develop while we were mostly focused on Tim, and there's some clever clever foreshadowing they set up in this run to achieve this. If it were just this, I would call it good writing.

But it actually goes one level deeper than that and becomes something really really special. because as we all know, Bernard was not conceived to be this way, he was a one-off guy who was kind of annoying and he was essentially retconned to be, like. Gay? Have depth? Be funny? All of those things?

The Seamless Retcon (Robin 1993 Again) - We took your guy and we gave him gay subtext and it worked astoundingly well

This is not a new observation btw, I've seen a ton of posts to this effect. But oh my god. Some of these panels really hit different with the new Bernard lore. Like holy fuck just read this back to back

There are tons of moments like this. There's SO MUCH that the revelation that Bernard is queer adds to his initially extremely underwhelming tenure in the Robin comics. A reread almost begs the question of what Bernard must have been thinking at any given moment! BRO YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO FUCK HIS STEPMOM. That's completely believable as a next-level closeting move and goes from kind of annoying to turbofunny.

Like yeah of course he's acting like a douche. His father is a status-chasing asshole and he's five racks deep in the closet. Of course he gravitates towards Tim - his gaydar is pinging and he thinks Tim is cute. And it's also pinging that Tim is like. You know

None of this would hit as hard if the writers had not set up Bernard as someone who masks so much. They worked it in that character trait to mean that you could always glean information deeper than the surface from his top level interactions.

Because of this, Bernard is really fucking interesting and he's a good character and he's one that gets better on reread. Like I said, that's a set of observations that are not new to me. But something that really gets to me is how seamless and intentional it is. It really feels like the writer sat down and took their time devising a guy that is believable as that other guy, but only if you read back with certain context.

The conclusion - Comics. Man.

So is this just about how Bernard is really fucking interesting and he's a good character and he's one that gets better on reread and that he can exist independent of Tim and all the haters are wrong. Yeah of course. 💖

But also like, I have thoroughly proven to myself that I was kinda wrong to just reject the published comics medium out of hand. I see now that there's room for the writer's roulette to hit the jackpot and that something I mistook as an outright flaw, the winding and unfocused and often improvised nature of it, can be ridden like a wave if you're skilled enough to do it. Meghan Fitzmarten is a goddamned genius.

I guess I have to read comics now. Fuck

[saintsanddevils]

Never Alone - pt 3

Aaric Graycastle x Fem!Reader

Summary: Since Aaric tried to make you leave Basgiath, you’re not speaking to him. So, you decide to take out your frustration on the mat.

Warnings: Iron Flame spoilers, violence, swearing, Mr. Darcy’s School of Yearning, ANGST

Author’s Note: I’m basically ignoring the entirety of the canon plot-line of Iron Flame so…

Word Count: 4K

Part Two | Part Four

————

-Assessment Day-

(Reader POV)

Anxiety and anticipation run rampant amongst the cadets as we stand around the edge of the large mat in the quadrant’s gym.

Professor Emetterio stands on the sidelines of the mat, parchment in hand as he reads out the rules and pairings for each session.

As he lists names, I feel a heavy, pleading gaze on the side of my face. Like I’ve done all morning, I ignore it. I never look, never meet those green eyes, and continue on with my day. Thank the gods I had chores this morning and I didn’t have to be anywhere near him. It’s hard enough knowing he thinks I can’t survive here. That I’m fragile.

“I can’t watch you die.”

His words from last night slam into me, stealing my breath. Burning fills my eyes and I quickly close them, counting each rise and fall of my chest to keep any tears at bay.

I’m not going to cry in class. I’m not.

I pinch my nails into my palm, ignoring the sudden awareness to the scar on my skin that matches his. The memory of our pricked skin, our promises, makes the burning in my eyes so much worse. Fuck.

Stop it, I chastise myself. Don’t waste your tears on him. Get a grip already. Focus.

I allow that festering anger from earlier to rise again. I quickly latch onto it, opening my eyes and holding firm to that anger to keep me from meeting Aaric’s stare.

“Sloane Mairi and Aaric Graycastle,” Emetterio suddenly calls out, dragging me away from my thoughts.

I ignore the burning need to look at Aaric as he approaches the middle of the mat. I catch him rolling his shoulders in my peripheral and I try not to snort at the absurdity. He’s had private tutors all of his life. Lessons on combat were one of his favorites and he insisted on extra lessons. He’s going to wipe the floor with every single person here.

I smirk. Except for me.

The blonde girl who slept in the cot next to mine in the dorms strides across the mat. This is an awful pairing; it’s obvious already. She’s shorter than Aaric and lacks awareness of her limbs as she begins to pace around him. Her movements are jerky and unsure. Aaric’s are swift and calculated. I can’t help but allow myself to finally look at him, watching for his tells. From the way his eyes snap to hers, I can see he’s already found her weaknesses. If you blink, one would miss how he quickly sweeps her legs out from under her, holding her legs down with his as he wraps an arm around her neck, squeezing till she immediately taps out. It’s over in under a minute, and everyone stands in bewilderment.

I roll my eyes. Fucking show-off.

“Again!” Emetterio yells from the sidelines.

I feel someone slide up next to me.

“Hey,” Violet greets quietly, as to not draw attention to us. “Still ignoring him?”

I try to ignore the distant sound of Aaric slamming Sloane into the mat, her groans echoing in the gym.

“Again!”

This is just unfair to Sloane.

I turn to Violet, sighing. “The prick deserves it. So does Dain, that nosey son of a bitch,” I glare in Dain’s direction, where he catches my eye and shrinks back a bit from my lethal stare. Good.

Violet huffs a laugh. “Yeah, Dain deserves that. He’s not on my good side right now either, if that keeps me in your good graces,” she winks.

I bite my lip to keep from smiling as I shove her playfully, ignoring the open stares from Violet’s friends across the mat. Gods, I’ve missed her. And Dain, when he’s not being so self-righteous. When we were little, we all used to play tag in the palace gardens. As young teens, we mock-played being riders and flying dragons before accidentally crashing into some precious heirloom and running away, making Cam’s twin older brothers, Halden and Alic, take the fall for it.

A bitterness fills me as I remember Alic. It’s been three years since he was killed, and the memory of Cam’s fury upon receiving the news is enough to make me want to look at him right now. Remembering how he tried not to cry when receiving the devastating news, even when Alic was a complete asshole as an adult. It didn’t matter. He was still his brother, his blood.

My thoughts force me to chance a glance at Aaric. He has Sloane on her knees, gasping for air as she quickly taps out. Emetterio’s mouth is in a permanent frown as he assesses them. At this rate, Sloane’s going to end up black and blue if that swollen eye is anything to go by.

When she heaves for air, standing to face Aaric again, I can’t stand it anymore.

“I’ll take him!” I shout, louder than I should since every single person whips around to look at me. I make the mistake of catching Aaric’s gaze. His eyes widen as I step forward.

“No,” Aaric refutes, but it’s not loud enough for Emetterio to hear.

“Fine by me,” the professor nods to Sloane. “Take a breather. Hopefully, you’ll learn something from this.”

I wince watching Sloane limp her way to the sidelines.

“You sure about this?” Violet asks.

I nod before saying under my breath, “I’ve fought him before.”

“Enough to beat him?”

I smile at her.

Violet whistles, low enough for only me to hear. “Good luck. Kick his ass.”

Striding across the room, I can feel the frustration rising in Aaric. His stare is intense when I finally face him. His green eyes smoldering with annoyance as I take a fighting stance. With the cold fury I felt last night from being controlled by him, I let it consume me, bolstering me as I raise my fists in preparation.

At Emetterio’s order, we begin.

Aaric’s taller and broader than me, muscles defining his arms and legs from years of severe training, but I know I’m his match. I’m smaller and lithe, able to maneuver around him like a snake in tall grass.

We begin our dance like we’ve done many times before. Only this time, everyone in the room fades away. It’s just us, our bitterness, and unresolved issues. What could go wrong?

Knowing Aaric, he won’t make the first move, not with me. He’ll wait, like a patient predator. I give in, attacking him head-on with a punch that he slides through, catching my wrist and twisting me so my back slams into his chest. His arms cage me as he holds me against him, locking my limbs in place with his iron grip.

“You can’t keep avoiding me,” he whispers in my ear.

I knock my head back, but he knew it was coming, his head swerving out of the way as he wraps his arm around my neck, immobilizing me. He doesn’t squeeze or press into me like he did with Sloane. He’s going easy on me, the bastard.

I pull a cheap move and stomp on his foot with my heel, pushing backwards to make him stumble. He catches himself before locking me to him again, this time I’m facing him.

Green eyes with flecks of gold fill with concern as he stares at me. It must look as if we’re glaring with the way our arms are locked, pushing for dominance, but I’m entirely caught in his gaze. My heart begins to soften at his obvious concern, longing filling me to talk to my best friend, but the raging bitch inside me, the one who helped me cross the parapet, yells at me not to give in. Even if he’s pretty.

I want to scratch his eyes out, remembering how he stared at me last night. So full of desperation to get me to leave. His look bordered on pity when I fought for my right to be here, and it bothered me to no end. If I wasn’t so attracted to him and worried about his stupid face scarring, scratching him to death wouldn’t be a fucking issue.

I shove my elbow into the curve of his arm, disarming his hold on me. Dancing away from him, I use the distraction to throw a solid punch at his solar plexus. The impact makes him stagger, but he comes back at me swinging. I easily dodge the punches.

“Stop fucking around and fight me,” I growl.

Aaric subtly shakes his head, his jaw clenching.

“You’re a coward,” I hiss at him, low enough so no one around us can hear. “And a hypocrite.”

His face shutters, as if the words slashed through his defenses. Good. I hope they do. I throw a punch that he easily blocks, but use it to distract him from my leg rising to kick the back of his leg. He folds, trying to catch himself, but I use my momentum to tackle him to the ground. We’re a mess of limbs as I try to pin him, but he uses his weight and strength against me.

He slams me to the ground, knocking the breath from my lungs momentarily. I let out a gasping wheeze, and Aaric suddenly falters. His hands loosen.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry—“

I slam my head into his, bone crunching from the impact. Blood streams from his broken nose as my head throbs, leaving me momentarily disoriented. On instinct, his hand comes up to his nose to stop the bleeding, and I take my shot. I elbow his stomach and knee him in the groin at the same time.

Aaric groans, but I’m not finished. I leap upwards at him, throwing him to the mat. Using my weight, I pin his legs with mine and hold my elbow over his throat, digging to stop his airway. He chokes and gags. I press harder, uncaring, unfeeling. All I am is rage.

When his eyes meet mine, the anger that’s coursing through me suddenly dies like a flame in the wind. I’m left shaking and gasping, staring down at him in shock over what I’ve just done.

His eyes catch it. That momentary slip on my face. With anyone else, they’d use it to their advantage. Throw me over and take me down. But not Aaric. Not Cam.

“I yield,” he gasps from under my hold, but his voice is strong, sure. And Emetterio hears him, stopping the fight.

Gasps from our onlookers bring me back to the present. I shove myself off of Aaric, stepping out of his reach as he’s slow to stand.

I try to ignore the pang of guilt that stings me from seeing the blood still gushing down his chin, staining his skin. The slight pain in my arms and legs is nothing compared to the ache in my gut.

I miss my best friend. Every cell in my body yearns to confide in him like I always do. To seek his comfort. He knows everything about me, having seen almost every tear I’ve shed. Can’t he understand why I’m here? Why I followed him, to become a rider? Maybe I did come here to try and save him, but maybe I can prove to him that I’m more than just the girl who hung on his every word, following him around the palace like a dog. I crossed the parapet. I beat his ass on the mat. I can fight my way through this place and live.

Even if he doesn’t believe I can.

I shake my head, moving away from the mats and towards the exit. I hear a shout of my name far behind me, but I don’t look back.

————

(Aaric POV)

The spoon in his hand begins to bend as Aaric grips it tighter and tighter.

“Uh, you okay, Graycastle?”

She won’t look at me, let alone talk to me. It’s been weeks. I can’t sleep. This is starting to get fucking ridiculous.

A glance at the cadet who’s speaking to him has him grinding his teeth.

“Yeah, I’m just… not very hungry.”

Aaric ignores him once more and continues glaring across the room at Y/N. Weeks have gone by, and she’s completely blocked him from her life. Acting as if they’re strangers. The only time he has any claim on her attention is on the mat. Emetterio has been rotating everyone to test their strengths and learn from their weaknesses, but every time Aaric faces Y/N, she’s cold and lethal, like the glaciers of the north. At least she’ll meet his eye when they fight.

Training with her brings back too many fond memories. It was only a couple of months ago that their training diverted to private sessions. For the last year, they were partners, taking turns beating the other up. They’d discuss weak points and show one another different moves. Laugh when the other took a misstep and landed in the mud. Joke and tease when accidentally knocking the other off their feet. It was fun when he was able to train with her.

This time? Not so much.

For the last few weeks, when he trained with her on the mat, he met her calculated rage. This was far different from the Y/N he knew back home. The one who gave him carefree smiles and stole slices of cake from the kitchen to bring him out of his gloomy mood. The way she would endear herself to him when she talked non-stop about the newest edition of a book series she adored, just to distract from how much his father pissed him off that day.

Y/N laughs at her table, stopping Aaric’s heart and his train of thought as he watches her talk with Sloane. He wishes he were sitting next to her, hearing whatever it is she’s laughing about. It’s been a while since he’s seen her resemble her old self. He’s caught her reading in the quadrant’s library, curled up in a chair, a few times. Or even basking in the sun with her eyes closed as the cadets wait outside for their chance to practice the gauntlet. Those few moments have reminded him so much of his best friend, he would momentarily forget she wasn’t speaking to him. He’d almost try to talk to her if her glares didn’t solidify where they stand now.

But he plans to fix that.

When she gets up from her table, so does he. Following behind as she makes her way to Battle Brief. Just as she turns a corner, he grabs her by the elbow and shoves her through the first door he opens.

Y/N stumbles into the empty classroom as Aaric locks the door behind him.

“Kidnapping attempt number three,” she shakes her head, leaning against a desk. “I’m more shocked this didn’t happen sooner.” Her eyes skate around the room, never meeting his. Still avoiding him. “Going to put me on Dain’s dragon, kicking and screaming? Strap me down and throw me out this time?”

Aaric’s gut clenches. “Of course not.”

She rolls her eyes before examining a chart on the wall to the left of him.

Look at me, he begs. His fists clench to keep himself from walking over and grabbing her chin to force her to look him in the eye. He can’t stand this distance between them. It’s eating him alive.

He misses his best friend.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry,” the words strike out with desperation, sounding like a plea. He notices her eye twitch, but she doesn’t look at him. “It wasn’t my right to force you to leave. But,” he softens his tone. “Please understand why I tried to find a way out of here for you. This place is a death trap. I only want to protect you.”

She closes her eyes for a second, breathing deeply. He can tell by her stiff shoulders she’s holding back from yelling at him again. He wants her to yell at him if it means she’ll talk to him, stay near him, maybe forgive him.

“I can’t watch you die.”

“Then don’t look.”

The memory of their last conversation comes unbidden, leaving a sharp sting in his ribs. That night, after she left him alone in the dark hall, she never saw how he stumbled back against the wall, staring in pleading horror at the girl’s dormitory door. His eyes had burned, and the burning didn’t stop as he stormed away, disappearing into the night.

Since then, fear has been choking him, consuming him as days turned into weeks. Every night, he wakes with gasping, heaving breaths as nightmares plague him. Lingering dreams of someone snapping her neck on the mat, or being pushed off the parapet, or even finding her dead body in the hallway haunt him.

Aaric now knows what true fear is. It’s driving him insane.

“It’s not your decision to decide what’s best for me,” her voice cuts through the room, silencing his raging thoughts. “I’m capable of knowing what I can and cannot handle.”

“I know—“

“Do you?” She finally, finally, meets his eyes, coldness solidifying in her gaze. It takes everything in him not to shrink back. “It’s been almost a month since parapet, and all I’ve done is survive. You can pity me all you want, think me weak and fragile, but I chose to be here, same as you. Unlike yourself, I don’t have a death wish or a hero complex. I’m not trying to save the world, I’m trying to save you.”

Silence falls heavily upon the room as something cracks inside his chest. Something undeniably broken that almost sends him to his knees.

Tears fill her eyes, and the sight sends him jerking forward, desperate to hold her. But he stops, unsure. It’s that uncertainty that kills him.

Before coming to Basgiath, back at home, he wouldn’t have hesitated. Not with her. Never when she needed him. He’d have wrapped her fully in his arms, breathing her in, as she cried into his chest. That same instinct courses through his veins even now. Even when she despises him.

Yep. He’s severely fucked things up between them.

Y/N gives an exasperated breath, closing her eyes. A single tear falls down her cheek. “I’m so tired of this, Cam.”

Aaric softens and takes two daring steps forward to stand inches away from her. “I’m truly sorry,” he ensures his voice is gentle, calming. “I’ve never wanted you to believe that I think you’re weak or fragile. I’ve known you for so long that I know that’s not true in the slightest. You tore across the country just to kick my ass and tell me how much of an idiot I am. I’d say that’s a level of bravery I’ll never be able to reach,” he smiles softly, catching the slight blush that rises to her cheeks at the compliment.

“Not only are you brave, you’re also incredibly selfless and stubborn,” he ignores the slight narrowing of her eyes. “I truly wish you weren’t so you’d be far from here, reading by the fire as you wait to hear from me.”

She scoffs. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d just sit by—“

Aaric shakes his head. “You wouldn’t. You’re too good, too strong, and way too loyal of a friend to leave me. I should’ve known better.” He tilts his head to meet her glistening eyes, fingers burning to hold the skin of her cheek. “I know better now.”

Her shoulders drop at the confession, another tear falling from her eyes. The sight wounds him deeply.

“What can I do?” Aaric’s green eyes bounce between hers, desperately clinging to the fact that she’s still here, she hasn’t attempted to leave the room. He has to think that’s a good sign. “Please, tell me what I can do to fix this. I—“ he swallows, muscle jumping in his jaw as he clenches his fists to keep from reaching out and pulling her to him. “I miss you so much.”

His eyes suddenly drop to her lips. “So, so much.”

A heavy stillness coats the space between them. The moment feels suspended in time before she gives a small intake of air, a gasp, before she surges forward. She crashes into him, practically throwing him off his feet before he catches himself and finds she’s hugging him. Relief courses through him as he immediately wraps his arms around her frame. Breathing in her scent of lilac and citrus, a sense of rightness settles in his bones.

“I’ve missed you too,” she whispers against him.

They cling to one another, uncaring how long they’ve been hiding in an empty classroom as voices come and go in the hall. The feel of each other is so familiar, it echoes with memories they can never forget. Instead of being in Basgiath, they’re transported home.

If Aaric closes his eyes, he can practically imagine holding her in the palace library, as he’s done before. But the far-distant roar of a dragon brings him back to the present. Reality crashing through the quiet.

Using his fingers to find and tilt her chin up to meet his eye, he smiles at her. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

He reluctantly lets go of her, stepping back to extend a calloused hand between them. “Hi, I’m Aaric Graycastle, and I have a severe case of suicidal hero complex.”

The laugh that bursts from her lips has his heart soaring.

She smiles as she slides her hand into his. A tingle shoots up his arm from her touch. He tries to resist pulling her back into him to hold her again.

“I’m Y/N Thorne, and I’m far too stubborn to let my best friend get himself killed.”

His eyes sparkle as he purses his lips. “He sounds like a total prick.”

She laughs again. “He is.”

“You should beat his ass,” he winks.

She shakes her head. “I already have.”

Aaric holds his ribs as a laugh escapes him. Gods, he missed her.

“C’mon, let’s get to class, or we’ll be late,” she sidesteps him and raises a brow in obvious mockery. “Graycastle.”

He smirks. “Haven’t you heard? A prince is never late, Thorne.”

She raises a brow in mockery. “Oh? Do you see one? All I see is a pompous ass.”

Aaric rolls his eyes before nudging her as he opens the door for her. “After you, my stubborn wench.”

“Say that again and we’ll see how long our friendship lasts,” she glares.

He chuckles, stepping close to her. “I thought you were friends with me cause of my charming personality.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t make me break your nose again.”

“If that means you’ll touch me, I’m all for it,” he winks.

His focus is entirely on the way her cheeks flush, making her hide her face beneath a sheet of her hair. Pride swells in him at the sight.

“Idiot,” she murmurs under her breath.

Once in the hall, his grin is stupidly wide as he slips her book bag from her shoulder. She tries to fight him for it, but gives up as he races ahead of her. She chases him, before clinging to his side as they make their way to Battle Brief.

There’s a spring in his step as they walk, a lightness he hasn’t felt in weeks that makes him giddy. He looks down at his best friend, who gives him the carefree smile he’s missed, and everything feels so incredibly good, he hopes that together, they can survive this place and accomplish what he came here to do.

With her by his side, he knows he can do anything.

[st4r-struckz]

i've been lurking around the rosekiller tag for a long while and i see a lot of people asking for rosekiller-centric fic recs, so if anyone cares here's my hand-picked list of rosekiller fic recs. this includes a lot of the popular ones but also some less-popular and very underrated ones (i think). anyways hopefully i'm doing this right cuz i've never posted on here before soo pls be kind if i make a mistake abt something idk.

this includes both long/multi-chapter fics and one shots btw.

also be warned; this is pretty long even though i tried to keep things short-ish (but i can't help it these are all such good fics i have to talk about them!!!). if you want the rough-ish approximation of this list in the form of a spreadsheet with more details (me ranting about how much i love these fics), click here.

LONG FICS (or basically just more than 1 chapter fics)

why do stars fall down from the sky, every time that you walk by by ricecake_13 (E, 117k, 17/?) this is actually my favorite ongoing rosekiller fic ever oh my god, it's a modern high school au with lots of povs and ships though rosekiller is the main one. beautifully written, gorgeous plot/pacing, amazing characterization, incredibly underrated, please read this it's a masterpiece.

The Blood of Hyacinthus by writingamarie (M, 175k, 14/20) another one of my fav ongoing fics, it's a canon compliant rosekiller fic (ravenclaw barty my beloved!!!) starting from first year all throughout the war. this is probably the best portrayal of canon compliant rosekiller i've seen, they aren't portrayed as poor kids who got roped into the war, they made their own decisions, and i love it so much.

Just Deserts by paletragedycat (M, 700k, 43/?) i'm at around like chapter 10 of this absolute beast of a fic and i am begging you guys to give this fic more attention. it's absolutely incredibly written with a fantastic plot, gorgeous characterization, this fic is absolutely insane like. this deserves to be like the crimson rivers of rosekiller. the plot is lowkey kinda hard to explain but umm. some of them are detectives, some of them are bodyguards, some of them are criminals. super cool. this fic is actually just so so impressive and so incredibly underrated it hurts.

sun tea in the summer by cademygod (NR, 44k, 10/12) this is THE rosekiller coming of age story i swear, modern au that starts when they're kids and each chapter they age 1 year, super cute and fluffy, i am such a sucker for childhood friends to lovers tropes omg.

Evan Rosier and the Unbearable Weight of his Own Decisions by Mywifeisaworm (E, 145k, 35/?) another great portrayal of canon compliant rosekiller, i really love how this one features all the slytherins we typically don't like (snape, mulciber, wilkes, etc.) bc it makes this fic feel even more realistic. this is a super awesome take on canon rosekiller and i love it.

Head Over Feet by sanguinerose (E, 136k, 27/27) i'm sure you guys have heard of this one but it's a modern au, super great, it's everything i've ever wanted from a rosekiller high school au. and evan is french btw god i love french evan rosier so much.

PRETTY BOY by IvyCore (E, 96k, 10/10) this is part of a series, the first part is SUGAR HIGH which is a jegulus fic but honestly this can probably?? be read without reading that one first (even though i still super recommend it). barty is a sex worker and a pianist and evan is a restaurant owner and this is just so so good omg.

intermission by bizarrestars (M, 43k, 4/4) very sure you all have heard of this fic (and for good reason too, it's fantastic) but in case you haven't it's a no voldemort au but still at hogwarts and in the same universe as just lovers (jegulus, also amazing, like the second marauders fic i read i think). this is so sweet and fluffy and cute and this fic is what got me into rosekiller i think soo yeah.

Tug by pressedink (E, 70k, 12/?) rosekiller dating app au where they pair two strangers together in an apartment and they can do whatever except they can't kiss or else they can never seen each other again. except barty and evan are not strangers. i loove this fic, and it's super smutty if that's up your alley. (did i use that phrase right? i feel like i didn't but whatever.)

Beneath the Mask by orphan_account (T, 105k, 44/44) okay this one is a really interesting concept, it's broken up into two timelines: one following them during their hogwarts years and the other following evan while he navigates life after the wizarding war. idk it's a bit hard to explain but. you'll see. so yeah all the war stuff does happen but they both survive afterwards. i really enjoyed this, it was a really interesting take on the whole war situation.

A Truthful Joke by justreadandwritex (T, 30k, 9/9) best friends to lovers au set at hogwarts but idk if voldemort exists (if he does he's not mentioned). just rosekiller being incredibly stupid and cute and oblivious.

Straight A's by stargirly161 (T, 32k, 14/14) academic rivals to lovers rosekiller oh my god i need to see more of them. another pretty popular one and understandably so because it's amazing in every aspect, i've reread this one like 3 times.

Ant Pile by sommerregenjuniluft (E, 21k, 2/2) super super amazing rosekiller coming of age fic and childhood best friends to lovers, god i love this fic. the story starts when they're little kids and it is the most adorable thing ever and ends when they're like 18 and it's just. so good. please read it.

having a ghost in my bed by v7lgar (E, 42k, 3/3) modern au and okayyy wow this is legit just smut all the way through and WOW is it something, this is like some of the best rosekiller smut i've read. if you're just looking for some smut this is the place to look.

I'm Not Gonna Teach Him How to Dance with You by greensenne (M, 122k, 18/18) you've probably heard of this one but i'm still including it, this is set post-hogwarts (so there's still magic i think) but it's a no voldemort au. basically barty's getting married and evan is his best man except Feelings get in the way. very very cute, quite slow burn but it's very worth it.

Tender Curiosities, Baby! by otrtbs (M, 79k, 6/6) ahh another popular one, it's in the same universe as art heist, baby! which you have probably definitely heard of (it's a fantastic jegulus art heist fic). anywayss yeah this fic focuses on rosekiller and it is so so good, idk if it can be read as a standalone though...cause there are a lot of references to ahb!

Rock Bottom by floretissogay (T, 7.9k, 10/10) super super cute and fluffy rosekiller texting fic, there's like zero angst it's literally just fluff and silliness.

Off the Edge of the Earth, and Farther Still by typhoid_fluu (M, 17k, 11/?) this one hasn't been updated in a while buut it's a canon compliant rosekiller au following them throughout hogwarts starting from first year. super cute, at least so far (cuz they're still in first year).

annoying by facestraightoutamagazine (M, 101k, 31/31) another great texting fic, it's a wrong number au and goddd i'm a sucker for those. this one has like minimal angst, it's all just vibes and silliness, it's super cute and funny and i've reread this one like 3 times.

Say Something by writingamarie (E, 43k, 12/12) PLEASE give this fic more attention i am begging. it's incredible in every aspect - the writing, the characterization, the pacing (especially the pacing omg you'll see what i mean when you read this fic), everything. rosekiller friends with benefits will always be my favorite. please guys just please this fic is so underrated it hurts.

bad idea, right? by sparklejumpropequeen79 (NR, 30k, 13/?) this fic got discontinued but i really liked it while i was reading it so i'm still mentioning it in case you don't mind reading fics that won't be finished? idk. no voldemort au where barty and evan are really stupid about their feelings. typical rosekiller stuff.

kiss him you fool. by everlovelymoony (M, 8k, 4/4) this fic is so goddamn cute i actually can't. barty is a kindergarten teacher and luna is in his class and evan is luna's uncle. can we please please have more rosekiller teacher AUs please.

Obsessed by andromeden (E, 40k, 2/2) barty stalks his boyfriend's ex and uhh yeah. this is 40k words of barty and evan being incredibly fucked up and also made for each other. rosekiller at their finest, you know. probably mind the tags though.

Ashes to Ashes by lupinist (M, 13k, 3/3) rosekiller friends to lovers never gets old. very well written, amazing dynamic and characterization, super underrated!

a rose will be for a rose (timelessness for your love) by iWrite (T, 6.8k, 2/2) rosekiller spin the bottle and being dumbasses about their feelings. only a light bit of angst, super cute, love it.

show me those pretty white jaws by 214lilacsky (E, 144k, 15/15) recently started reading this one and i do not know what took me so long because holy shit the writing is beautiful, the characterization is beautiful, just like. this whole fic. beautiful. wow. this is a fairly popular one i think and i absolutely see why.

Pickup or Delivery by lifeisabitch (E, 41k, 15/15) this is so so good, i am absolutely obsessed with their characterization and dynamic here. they are absolute freaks and i am living for it.

i would say i love you (but it's so hard, i won't say it at all) by avesgraveyard (M, 74k, 9/?) road trip au with a bunch of other marauders characters, this is super super cute and evan and barty are incredibly bad at feelings (as they always are) and i just. love this so much. i've reread this one many times before.

with a taste of your lips im on a run by siriusstardust (G, 6.9k, 2/?) wrong number rosekiller au that i am really really enjoying so far, it's super cute and funny and silly.

ONE-SHOTS

no one’s gonna say anything against a dude kissing his homie good luck by sommerregenjuniluft (M, 3k) literally the title, they're skateboarding, uhhh yeah. i really like the vibes of this fic, evan and barty are dumbass teenagers who are toootally just platonic, which is honestly my favorite version of rosekiller.

loving you (is the antidote) by serendipitysirius (M, 13k) amortentia fic, sue me i'm a sucker for those. it is canon compliant but voldemort and the war aren't really mentioned.

don’t want none of this (good times, all the time) by cheeryknots (M, 3.9k) one of my fav rosekiller one shots, i swear i reread this like once every two months lol. it's set at hogwarts and they're at a party and they play spin the bottle and they get Jealous and it's just! so good.

Holding My Heart Out In Shaking Hands by twoclosetothestars (NR, 9k) modern au, i read this one a while ago but i remember really enjoying it. this one has it all; smut, angst, and fluff (in that order).

most fun i ever had (i did something bad) by cheeryknots (E, 5k) this is an incredible work of art holy shit. there's also a second part to this series (the series is appropriately named rosekiller murder husbands) that i also adore so check that one out too. this is legit just smut and rosekiller being absolutely insane and very much in love and i love it so much they are freaks your honor.

ghosting by dracure (E, 5.3k) evan and james are together in this one (not for long after the events in this fic though lmao).

my way or the highway by heartnipnops (E, 6.1k) car sex!!! yay. yeah idk what else to say this is great smut uhh yeah.

Shotgun by DayDreamingQueen (E, 3.1k) more rosekiller car sex (more specifically blowjob). except they aren't even together in this one. how do you literally suck your friend off in a car and just. go on with your life. they are actually so stupid it's astounding. great fic though.

16 missed calls by katakosmos (E, 1.9k) i think i'm actually a little insane for age gap rosekiller idk. been stalking the rosekiller tag on here for long enough to know you all are too. so if you haven't seen this..

the best of you, honey, belongs to me by vianexa (E, 7.7k) rosekiller murder husbands with a whole lot of sexual tension except no actual smut happens (it's crazy), god i do love insane batshit crazy rosekiller.

sharpshooter by heartnipnops (E, 4.7k) A+ rosekiller smut, college/university au.

everybody plays the beautiful game while out in brazil by bloodytreason (T, 3.4k) au where evan is an olympic tennis player. this au is something i did not know i needed, like this is gold (wait that pun was not intended oops wait does that even count as a pun), i need more olympics AUs now.

The Way He Loves by wiggentree (T, 4k) i have reread this one countless times over and over, this is one of the first rosekiller fics i read and i will never stop coming back to it. so so good. i think it captures their dynamic really well and i am just. obsessed.

a rose will i bloom in my soul by iWrite (E, 5.5k) holy hell this is actually so good i might actually combust 100/10 rosekiller smut.

limbs by dracure, virginprayer (E, 2.2k) beautiful beautiful smut

sick, twisted, and selfish by jamespottermixtape (fushigayro) (E, 3k) rosekiller murder husbands my beloved they are insane i love them.

You are in love by rachel_elizabeth_truth (NR, 4.4k) this is so beautiful and lovely, it's based off of you are in love by taylor swift which is such a rosekiller coded song tbh.

aces up your sleeve by dracure (T, 1.6k) evan with a tongue piercing. i, like barty, would probably also go feral for that.

Call It What You Want by lxcuxex (T, 23k) clueless, oblivious, idiots in love rosekiller my beloved. incredibly long oneshot about rosekiller trying to get their shit together. love to see it.

my lost lover (i was made for you) by jamespottermixtape (fushigayro) (E, 9.2k) oh my fucking god this is so great, i don't typically read a lot of vampire/supernatural fics but this one. absolutely wonderful.

Midnight Rain by blackmojito (T, 10k) christmas fic (though it's not the main focus), this is so sweet and cute and just so beautifully written oh my gosh.

second guessing by dracure (E, 8k) gorgeous amazing beautiful fantastic everything about this fic. just wonderful.

such a lovely place to die with you by cheeryknots (E, 4.3k) apocalyptic au where they meet at the end of the world, this is so so beautiful.

Eyeliner by aithusarosekiller (NR, 1.9k) evan helps barty get ready for a party by helping him apply eyeliner. honestly i do not blame evan at all i would have the same reaction seeing barty with eyeliner.

remember that night by orphan_account (G, 5.1k) some hurt/comfort about barty not remembering a drunken kiss. really really good omg.

Pretty Cool by trinavera (G, 4k) very very cute high school au where they meet in detention (evan is the detention monitor).

Me and You by polyjuicedpadfoot (E, 8.8k) oh my goshhh i really really like this one, it deals a bit with the war and them becoming death eaters and stuff. super great.

Something of Mine by stoned_regulus (M, 5.3k) rosekiller post breakup, it deals with Feelings and some drug abuse stuff. it's pretty angsty but really good.

speak now (or forever hold your peace) by rweoutofthewoods (T, 3.7k) this is like equal parts rosekiller and jegulus but anyways. yeah james and evan crash regulus and barty's wedding.

like smoke behind glass by 214lilacsky (E, 4.6k) i am definitely super normal about this fic (no i am not i love this oneshot with my whole being it's one of my favorites).

when the heart would cease (ours never knew peace) by boundinchaos (T, 12.5k) au where evan doesn't actually die, but barty still goes to azkaban. also after reading this fic i desperately need more fics about barty and sirius interacting in azkaban.

AND LASTLY...SOME STUFF ON MY TBR LIST

i haven't gotten around to reading these ones yet but i really want to soo yeah. check these out if you want!

we can take it out back by roadsidehorror (E, 78k, 9/9)

Run, Baby, Run by saltywench (E, 16k, 10/10)

Nothing On You by the_brightest_star_in_leo (T, 1k, 1/1)

i desire violently- and wait by archivistrose (cursedstar) (M, 53k, 16/?)

He's Not Mine (but he could be) by the_brightest_star_in_leo (E, 18k, 6/6)

Silencing the Monster by Written_Willis (E, 7.7k, 1/1)

stoned off you (now i'm stone cold sober) by 214lilacsky (E, 30k, 1/1)

Persistence by stellar_jay (E, 11k, 1/1)

sacrosanct by vanity_scribblings (M, 6.3k, 1/1)

okay yeah this is all, i probably will never post on tumblr again and will go back to lurking after this lmao. if you're still reading this i hope?? you enjoyed?? yeah that's it byee feel free to drop some more recs (in the replies? idk how tumblr works lowkey😭) cause i'm always on the lookout for more of these two🙏

[4ngels0uls]

Kiss cam - Chris sturniolo

Don’t like? Don’t read.

Summary: you go to Chris’s hockey game, you watch him go around, plus you’re sitting beside two random people. The kiss cam comes on while your sitting beside some random guy and Chris doesn’t like that..

Paring: fem!reader + angry!chris

Warnings: SMUT, use of y/n, cursing / swearing, shouting, yelling, p in v, oral, fingering, handjob, rough sex, stimulation mentioned, basically porn with a small ass plot💀

A/N: HELP I JUST HAD TO REDO THIS ALL

————————————————————

Y/ns pov

“Hey ml.” Chris says while walking up to me. I turn around and see him. “Hey Chris.” I say. “You coming to my game tonight?” He asks me. “Yeah sure!” I reply. He smiles widely. “Alright I gtg to get ready for my game” he smiles as he walks away. That stupid fucking grin on his face makes me want to ride his face like crazy.

I start putting clothes on other than Chris’s shirt and my short ass shorts. I get on baggy jeans along with a tight “y2k” shirt I don’t match Chris’s style whatsoever. (Basically this)

he tells me he loves me either way, and I love him for him. His outfits drive me insane, I feel like I’m tingly inside when he wears this one outfit, he knows he does too. That’s exactly why he decided to wear it to his game.

End of y/ns pov

————————————————————

Chris’s pov

I’ve decided to wear the outfit that makes y/ns excited, she knows I’m wearing it too. This is all fun in games till she wants me to pound into her. I know she’s already thinking it. You’ll barely see the outfit when I’m playing but who gives a shit. I’m getting ready since my game starts in 30 minutes.

End of Chris’s pov

————————————————————

Y/ns pov

I’m watching Chris skate around the rink playing his game. I need him. he knows right after his game because of his slutty outfit. I stare up at the kiss cam as it goes all around beside brother and sisters, couples, friends, etc. till it comes to me and this random guy. I shake my head no. “Come on! Don’t be shy!” The random guy tells me. He leans in and Chris sees and skates towards me and this guy.

He slid to where you were and banged on the plastic protector window, “Don’t fucking touch what’s mine.” Chris yells with dominance. the guy backs away from me and looks away from me looking a total different way. I stare at Chris with shock and he winks and skates away.

a hour later

Matt drives us all home. me, Chris, nick, and Matt himself. The only noise that’s happening is the low music from the radio. “Soo uh Chris…” nick speaks up from the back. “what.” He says with anger in his voice. “never mind..” nick says. Chris grunts. We get back to the house and I get out of the car along with everybody else.

Me and Chris go back to Chris’s room. He closes the door behind him and locks it, now staring at me like he’s going to ruin my insides. He grabs my waist and pulls me towards him, smashing his lips into mine. I kiss back almost immediately. He rips my shirt off. “Chris!” I yell and pull back from the kiss “whattt?” He acts clueless. “This was a good shirt” “I’ll buy you more.” He smash’s our lips back together. He takes his shirt off and pulls his sweatpants down.

He pulls my jeans down. He pulls back, staring at my black lace set. “Cute.” He says softly. He kisses me again, unclipping my bra as he does.

The bra slides off me. He goes down and kisses my nipples. He picks me up and brings me over to his bed.He slides my underwear down and slowly rubs my clit in a circular motion. I moan softly as he does. He slides his two fingers in me as he rubs my clit with his thumb. “F-fuck..” I groan.

He pushes his fingers in and out of me as fast as possible, he hooks his mouth up to my clit and sucks along with flicking his tongue against my clit. I grab his locks and wrap them around my fingers. “Fuck Chris…” I moan. He groans at the sound of me moaning his name sending waves of pleasure through out my body.

He pumps his fingers in and out of me, feeling my spongey walls around his fingers. I grind my hips into his face. “Chris!” I scream a bit as I release all on his face. He pulls his fingers out of me and licks them. “You taste so good y/n.” He smiles softly as he licks his fingers clean. He stands up and I get on my knees infront of him. I pull his boxers down as dick springs out slapping his stomach.

I look up at him and smile. I stroke his dick a couple times then I put him in my mouth.My bob my head on his length. He pushes my head more down making my nose touch his pelvis along with making me gag. He grabs a fist full of my hair making a homemade elastic. He throws his head back a groans “y/n..” he whimpers.

I bob my head a few more times making him whimper and groan. He’s a total whimpering mess at this point. “Cumming!” He yells out. I feel his dick twitch in my mouth and his load fills my throat in white.

I swallow the load he just shot in the back of my throat. I get up off my knees making me a bit wobbly. He bends me over on the bed and teases my core by sliding his pre cum around on my clit. “P-please don’t tease” i whimper. He slides himself in slowly.

I let a long moan out. He starts thrusting slowly to let me adjust. “F-faster” I stutter. He starts filling me up more and more, pounding into me. He finds my g spot “fuck! Chris!” I moan but scream. He chuckles “D-definitely found I-it.” His brothers definitely can hear us now.“Sh-shitt!” I scream.

He groans and throws his head up again “fuck y/n you’re so tight.” He groans. I clench my walls around his dick, milking him at this point. “Fuck!” He yells. “Fuckkk Chris!” I moan. I start to feel myself get more and more sensitive. I’m practically getting overstimulated by now.

He burys his cock deep inside me making me moan as he hits me g spot like crazy, practically abusing my pussy. “Fuck.. “ he groans. I moan from his balls hitting my clit each time he thrusts. I bite my lip trying to keep quiet so his brothers don’t hear everything little thing we’re doing.

His hips slap against mine making a slapping noise. His thrusts grow slower and slower imitating he’s close. He smashes into me as I feel him twitch inside me and paint my walls white. “Fuck!” I moan as I release all over his warm cock. He chuckles “dirty slut.” He whispers. “Are you okay?” He asks to make sure. “Mhm.” I hum tiredly.I try to stand up but all I do is wobble. He chuckles at me again. “Need help?” He teases. “Very.” I say back.

He grabs my waist and picks me up and sets me down on the toilet “take a piss.” He says as he fills the bath tub with warm water. I start peeing and I wipe and he helps me up and places me in the bath.

After a bit of bathing Chris helps me out and helps me get dressed and he gives me a piggyback and we walk out of his room and see his brothers on the couch. Nick and Matt shoot us a disgusted look. “Fucking gross!” Nick yells. Chris just chuckles at him and I stare with embarrassment.

“Nasty.” Matt says in a normal tone. He only says it with a normal tone because he wants to be in Chris’s position.

…..

Ooo😻

I have no idea if I’m a Chris or Matt girl😭

[eeboor]

jayvik ficrecs 🤺🤺🤺

it’s long so. continues utc (also i tried to mention which ones had smut but i definitely forgot to mention some so idk proceed w caution)

The Pulse of The Machine by BringTheKaos (92k)

SOOOOOO INCREDIBLY GOOD!!! sorta a mixture of league and arcane lore which i LOVE, explicit sexual content and some (imo) mild body horror bc well, viktor, and the typical lovers to enemies to lovers arc that league jayvik generally embarks on

look out bellow by weatheredlaw (11k)

SO GOOD. very sad at the end lowk 😟😟 but love it. again a mixture of league and arcane lore, just how i like it smirk emoji. one sex scene (bottom jayce supremacy tbh)

A shared detestation by oooohscar (2k)

the type of fic you wish was longer and never stop thinking about. league lore compliant, essentially meant to be viktor and jayce’s meet-cute at one of those piltie parties they both despise

Your Needs, My Needs by inoxske (23k)

post canon for arcane lore. Wow i’m still reeling actually. real tears were shed after i finished this but it hurt so good. basically jayvik learns to heal after season 2, posing as fake husbands until they become hmmm maybe not so fake husbands. one sex scene but vague af

Bookstreet by Elf_Writes (10k)

SO CUTE AND FUN. pure fluff and some second hand embarrassment because jayce + vi = flop duo. basically jayce takes vi’s advice on how to woo viktor and things get worse from there. i’m obsessed

If This Is How It Feels to Be Broken by marttyyriroskis (21k)

a much lighter take on the usual hatred between machine herald viktor and defender of tomorrow jayce!! again, a mixture of league and arcane canons (my favorite shii fr 😍😍). basically, jayce is at rock bottom and viktor meets him there despite the grievances of the past. love the characterization, one sex scene but very brief and vague

love, letting go by theroyalsavage (13k)

once again the mixture of league and arcane canon, SOOOOO GOOD. hurts so good fr. miscommunication trope but in a way that doesn’t make you want to kill all the characters. love the take on the hexcore. fic essentially operates under the assumption that season 2 of arcane did not occur 💯. also jayce thinking viktor replaced his face and not knowing the mask is a MASK will always be my FAV. “i never thought i’d see your eyes again” yeah so that’s the gayest thing i’ve ever fucking read

to swim through the fires — to stay in this world by theroyalsavage (20k)

just got finished reading this. wow i hope i die! so good. very little angst, lovely plot. AU where viktor never leaves the undercity and raises ekko and powder after that Awful Night ™️. i love you jayce talis i want to kiss your lovely forehead. what a baddie. anyway uhhh read it or i’ll kill you

all this longing - ships left to rush by theroyalsavage (22k)

i love you jayvik divorce era maybe you could save me. Ok basically pirate au yet still vaguely canon compliant with arcane season 1. jayce gets captured by pirates oh no and who’s that mysterious guy who vouches for him?? surely not his long lost ex (they never dated)…. oh em gee how will it end

growing sideways by inkingbrushes (27k)

wow okay so this one is beautiful. modern au where jayvik are roommates, best friends, and a secret third thing (lovers in denial). the getting together takes a little while but is so so worth it. viktor pov, and you can tell the person who wrote jayce is a little in love with him too

Evergreen Out The Window by inkingbrushes (51k)

wow same author so crazy. Mage au? i guess?? idk just read it, it’s amazing and so beautiful and heart wrenching and UGH i love a good immortality magic fic. READ ITTTT!!!! also i love the rio representation here.

The Firelight Tree by Tempeste (58k)

amazing showstopping incredible. post canon arcane fic, i love the healing that happens between jayvik and ekko’s inclusion is just top tier. also the lust jayvik shares is just 😳. two sex scenes i believe, serving my vers jayvik agenda fr.

You Look Fur-miliar by eeboor (18k)

Wowww this couldnt possibly be my own fic could it. ok well tbh it’s jayvik if they were cats. viktor has three legs. jayce is a Maine coon. enemies to lovers but like cats. love at first sight but only for jayce and also like they’re cats. Hurt comfort. Just read it I actually love how it turned out

Happy Endings by eeboor (2k)

Ur kidding this just can’t be by me. Ok maybe it is u got me. canon compliant, mage viktor’s various trials w figuring out how to make Jayce succeed and stop him from dooming the entire world. Yippee!

butterflies and hurricanes by ironcy (39k)

wow ok i might take my life! if you like jayce centric and jayce whump then THIS is the jayvik fic for you. wow ok the pain is endless i’m sorry i just got done reading this as i’m writing this. absolutely brutal, but incredibly well done and a satisfying ending. rip my girl ximena tho

Red Chrysanthemums by Finnicus_Gayicus (124k)

so good. SO GOOD. really gives satisfaction in a way i can’t describe—you get mad as fuck at the fic for a few chapters and then satisfied again, and again and again until the beautiful perfect ending. basically jayce is thrust into an alternate reality which takes place in the modern day instead of the hellscape he was sent to in arcane. 2-3 sex scenes. VERY well written and so incredibly beautiful honestly the bottle flew into my hand

you’re so handsome when i’m all over your mouth by HypnosTheory (39k)

ok ummm porn every chapter lmfao. REALLY well written, pretty intense bc it’s also a vampire/werewolf au. some abo elements too bc viktor is like my mate my mate for a while there. i pray every day that the author will finish the series bc i can’t live with that ending. also a murder scene occurs 🙏

ok that’s all for now but i will probably post another one of these at some point because i’m mentally ill

[vinelark]

what r some fics that shaped your psyche? you have so many good recs im currently rereading the to an athlete dying young series

hello! you sent me this ask ages ago and i've been meaning to get to it ever since. (it took me so long to answer that i'm sure you've reread to an athlete dying young by @sonosvegliato many times over by now but hell yeah, what a good one.)

these are a few fics--dc and beyond--that have been in my "in case of emergency" epub folder (aka fics i want to have on hand immediately to reread on bad days, or good days, or even average days) for a few years now. so here is an extremely incomplete list of fics that have shaped my psyche!

for dc specifically--if i tried to list all of them i would just end up repeating my whole fic rec tag, so these are just a few of the ones i read when i was getting into this fandom that stayed with me/made me want to seek out more for these characters:

📸 surveillance series by @smilebackwards

this series located the tim drake center of my brain and lit it up like the vegas strip.

🎒 like a hinge, like a wing by @bonesbuckleup

one of my go-to rereads for pangs; chapter one is a masterclass in tension. also, one of my favorite pre-robin tim pov fics of all time.

💻 nominal by @unpretty

"you don't get it, batman is a comedy" --conversation i've had with multiple people using this fic as my thesis statement.

🌃 the jingle jangle morning by @audreycritter

the moment somebody in my vicinity says "i love dick grayson" i'm on their doorstep with this fic url.

🚉 a meditation on railroading by @eggmacguffin

there's a moment in this fic known among my friends as "baby wipes jason" and it has successfully converted no less than three people to the fandom.

and then for non-dc fic:

🌌 atlas by @megafaunatic (mdzs & tgcf)

did i read this before i had a single clue who the characters were? yes. did i return to it once i did and lose my mind a little? yes. lore etymologyplayground writes that “so so so in love and pining so hard the lines between us are blurring and we haven’t made a move yet but it’s inevitable” flavor with such a deft hand; it is in fact called the lorezone. if any friends-to-lovers pining i write can achieve even 50% of a lorezone i will have done my job.

🪿 If they caught you by @feyburner (tgcf)

i go back to this when i think about setup and payoff, when i think about subtle misdirects, when i think about the monumental task of creating whole compelling new characters in 6k words.

🧪 away childish things by lettered (hp)

one of the best de-aging trope stories i've ever read; i think of this when i want to take a trope to its maximum potential and then go: no wait, there's even more.

(another fav de-aging fic is grow by @cafecliche; shorter plot but no less pangs 🌱)

🏡 in defiance of all geometry by @idiopath-fic-smile (les mis)

a fic that's a perfect reread when i need something cozy and full of character, and a perfect touchstone when i'm pondering something where the world may not hang in the balance but the stakes still matter.

📔 The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (cql/mdzs)

paragon of metahumor, basically. i think of this when i want to write something that's funny in both text and form.

🍚 and his wanting grows teeth by @yuebings (cql/mdzs)

masterclass in pangy backstory reveal; the way the first scene loops back around to punch you in the gut long after you've forgotten it will forever be seared into my brain.

also, most answers on this list fit the bill!

(apologies again that this answer is so belated; it took me ages to write up partially because i kept stopping to reread these fics every time i tried.)

[sendothetaurus]

How to write good dialogue

Almost every story needs dialogue - obvious right? Well, this post is about the not-so-obvious sides of conversations. I've struggled a LOT with snappy and realistic speech, so I've made it my mission to collect some handy directives. Here is what I found:

Contents

Information Dumps

Setup And Payoff

Characterization Through Dialogue

Three Simple Questions

Four-Sides Model

Depth

About Answers

Sources And Credits

⮮ Let's go! (^▽^) ⮯

Information Dumps

Everybody knows them, everybody hates reading them. But how do we avoid them? Something really clicked for me when I understood context. If your character talks about something that happened in the past, they don't need to explain what happened. They were there. Here's an example:

"It would be nice if we at least got a B for that paper. Since I will go to college next year, I feel that this is important to me."

The speaker and the listener should be aware of the exposition (regarding their last year at high school). During dialogue, these conditions go without saying.

Setup And Payoff

Instead of dumping everything at once, let the reader guess what's happening. This is done by mentioning something that is not answered right away. Also dropping hints can increase tension.

Scene 1 "Why do you always carry that with you?" she asked and pointed at the box cutter. Her friend eyed her with suspicion. "For cutting." "Yeah, but why?" "Might come in handy sometime." Scene 2 An ice cold shiver ran down her spine as her fingers felt around the bag, searching for the familiar shape. There was nothing. The other tossed the thing onto the floor between them. "Care to elaborate?" She couldn't have known. "How could you!"

Someone definitely has a secret here that they don't want uncovered. It makes the reader speculate: Does she carry the knife to defend herself or does she plan on hurting someone with it?

Characterization Through Dialogue

The general rule of thumb is: Show not tell. If a character is shy, self-absorbed or chaotic, make them act like it. Also, readers take part in the characterization of your protagonists. Make them guess why a character acts a certain way.

"C- can I have your pen?" She twirled her thumbs and looked at the ground. "What the hell, no!" Disgusted, he brushed off his hands on the front of his jeans. "I'mma better disinfect that."

Notice how the girl is stuttering and the boy has a loose tongue. Mannerisms help identifying traits in a character. Everyone has a distinct way to speak (e.g. relaxed, polite, malignly) which makes it easier to tell them apart. Sometimes there is a difference between speech and behavior. This can be quite useful to highlight conflict inside a character.

Three Simple Questions

Who wants what from who?

Why now?

What happens if they don't get it?

These questions ensure plot consistency. For question 3 the only other outcome is conflict. Conversations thrive off of conflict and it is of benefit to have a supplicant and potential provider for a solution. It's basically intention versus obstacle.

1. She wants to be his wife. He doesn't want a marriage. 2. She is pregnant. 3. She needs to provide for a baby all on her own.

Tadaa, a conflict ensues.

Four-Sides Model

The four-sides model is a theory on communication. It assumes that a message has four distinct ways of being conveyed:

Facts -> data, facts, truth and relevance

Self-Disclosure -> explicit and implicit information about the own mindset; likes, dislikes, opinions

Relationship -> information about whether the person is liked or detested; approval and disapproval; "I assume you have [this] opinion of me"; body language

Want -> a direct attempt to influence the behavior of another person; advice, desire or instruction

Since this is highly technical stuff, I'll provide you with an example:

Customer: "I always drink my coffee black." 1. Fact: The coffee I drink is black. 2. Self-Disclosure: I like black coffee. 3. Relationship (POV of the waiter): Did I do something wrong? OR It's their fault! They ordered the wrong thing! 4. Want: Bring me black coffee.

Controlling the message through sender and receiver gives a new level of influence to an author. The relationship-level is the bottleneck in a conversation that holds the most potential for misunderstandings. I'm trying to be aware of it when I write subtext (see below).

Depth

On the nose dialogue is what we want to avoid at all costs. For this reason subtext is created in stories. Read this:

Scene 1 A: "I like you." B: "Nah, I don't like you back. You're so annoying." A: "Ouch, that hurts. I'm not sure if I heard that right." B: "We were never friends. Go away."

This is not how conversations work. Thankfully, dialogue like this is not entirely useless. It conveys what the characters really want to say. The challenge is to think of a way to not say the thing but keep a similar meaning.

The true meaning behind the dialogue is called subtext (scene 1). If I don't know how to continue after a certain line, I write down the subtext first before I decide on how to paraphrase it.

Finally, I add a fitting description of expression and body language if needed. I try to keep it short and simple.

Check this out:

Scene 2 She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I need a ride home later. Are you free?" -> I like you. "Sorry, all seats' re taken," he said without looking at her. -> Nah, I don't like you back. You're so annoying. "Uhm, okay. But I'm small. You could fit me in the footwell, honestly." -> Ouch, that hurts. I'm not sure if I heard that right. He leaned forward as if he had the urge to stand. "Ha, funny. But no, I'm not planning on doing something illegal tonight." -> We were never friends. Go away.

A character's action depends on their own intention and the other's response. I feel it is easier to keep track of what's happening behind the curtains when it's written alongside the dialogue.

Simultaneously, you can keep habits and traits in check. Does the the character apply all criticism to themselves? Are they disregarding or constantly marginalizing others? Do they worry only for themselves or solely for others? Subtext truly is the most powerful tool in conversation-writing.

About Answers

Did you know that you don't have to answer every single question? In fact, there are two other ways to show an emotion without telling it.

The first one is called sidestepping. The character ignores the posed question and carries on with an entirely different topic.

A: "Do you still love me?" B: "We should get going."

It's very obvious, right? By sidestepping the question, we can assume that the character is uncomfortable or angry with the other person.

The other way to answer is actually a bit paradoxical. Through silence, a great variety of emotions can be displayed. It is recommended to refrain from actually describing silence with words like "he remained silent", "he refused to say anything", "he never responded".

- The laptop hummed. - The birds chirped in the trees. - She felt her legs going numb from sitting in an uncomfortable position. - His eyes wandered around, searching the parking lot for a familiar face.

It feels more natural to explain the things that grab our attention when we sit in silence.

This is it, folks. That's all I could find on the topic - for now. If there's anything missing, I'd love to hear it.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope this helped ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

My sources are this and this video as well as this article.

Also a big thank you to @zoropookie for helping me with the colors ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[slytherin-princess-x]

First day of slytherinmas:

Pretty girl -- Lorenzo x reader

Tw: mention of sex, Enzo kissing readers neck

Summary: sometimes enzo can be quite hot and cold…. (Fluff)

YOUR POV:

I love Enzo, I really do but this boy sure knows how to drive me up the wall whether it’s on purpose or not. He’s either all over me, too close still isn’t close enough; or, he’s the most quiet person ever who would rather sit in silence. Today was that kind of day. Pansy had taken me out earlier this Saturday to Hogsmead for new clothes because we can never have enough outfits, or whatever she said, but, when I got back something was up with enz. I mean he just appeared in my dorm and was lounging on my bed reading a book. Paying no attention to me. At. All. I remember the conversation I had with pansy earlier:

EARLIER:

“Well if he isn’t paying attention to you, just make him”

“And how do you suppose I do that, pansy” I said while shimmying into a sleek, black dress which had a cut up the side to my thigh.

“Make him compliment you, or make him jealous, tell him you’re going out with……Cedric or something, I dunno” she stepped into my changing room “that dress would make me stop ignoring you, damn girl” I laugh at her.

“Thank you but I can’t do that to enzo I’d feel so bad” taking Pansy’s hand she spun me around with a small laugh

“Look, y/n you’re hot. Use that to your advantage” she stands behind me in the mirror fixing my hair and zips up the back of my dress

“What do you mean, pans?”

“Your innocence kills me. Slowly. And painfully. I mean, you could always force his attention away, that’s what I’d do to blaise”

“I really don’t need to hear about yours and blaise’s sexual…..activities” I say scrunching my nose up in fake disgust which she laughed off

“All im saying is mess around with him. Tease him, suck him off, edge him till he’s begging, literally whatever you want but don’t just wait for him to notice how damn good you look in that dress….or out of it”

BACK TO NOW:

Maybe she’s right. I look at the dress hung over the back of my chair, quickly taking it in my arms I walk into the bathroom slipping it on.

LORENZO’S POV:

Damn, I hate it when she’s right, i mean she basically always is right but still. Ugh, this book is good, I mean I can’t believe Jo just like denied Laurie and didn’t marry him and then he married Amy instead like wow….plot…fucking…..twist. I look up from my book to tell y/n that the book is bad because she can’t know I like it and she’s gone, odd.

YOUR POV:

I walk out the bathroom to stand infront of my bedroom mirror once again and see Lorenzo now lying on his back holding the book up. I sigh slightly thinking I’m going to have to resort to one of Pansy’s plans

“I look so ugly, why did I buy this dress” I huff at myself lacing my voice with some lever of sadness

“What?! Who told you that? Did someone say that to you?” His voice came out panicked and full of concern, that I felt bad for doing this.

“No one did, I just look bad” he scrambled off the bed and stood behind me, his hands on my hips rubbing small circles with his thumbs. I try and stress the smirk that’s forcing its way onto my face before he could catch on.

“Your gorgeous y/n, breathtaking” his hand runs up my body to my neck tilting my head up. Sparks fly up and down my spine when he moves my hair away from my neck. I loose track of what he’s saying as my body relaxes against his and his warm breath tickles my neck. “What are you smirking about huh?” He places a kiss to my neck. “Did you just want some attention pretty girl?” He turns me to face him while I mumble a “maybe” while heat rushes up my neck to my face. He wraps a hand around my neck making me look up at him

“You jealous of a book sweetheart? Just want me to yourself, baby?” I hum a yes, closing my eyes slightly feeling the vibrations between my neck and his hand. “How bout I show you how pretty you are? I’ll give you all my attention, yeah?” he took his hand from my neck grabbing the back of my thighs, lifting me up wrapping my legs round his waist. He kneads the skin under my hiked up dress walking me over to me bed and laying me down, hovering over me.

“My pretty girl”

[electricalhuzzah]

You know who the relationship reveal is gonna be objectively insane for? Soos.

Like yeah Dipper’s gonna be furious but also he knows Bill and Ford have a history so it’s not necessarily the biggest shock. Soos doesn’t know they have any more of a backstory than Bill and the rest of the family so from his POV he brought this messed up triangle home and Ford immediately started fucking him with no preamble. If you don’t already know they’re exes who never got over each other that must be *nuts*

my good man you keep hitting the nail on the head with this shit.

to be fair, with or without the history, ford basically started fucking bill with no preamble within what? five(ish) hours of making eye contact? granted the pines don’t necessarily know that they hatefucked on bill’s first day of being human.

i didn’t mention this in the story, but in the fic, the book of bill never made it out past theraprism security measures. so the pines never got it, and they don’t know about the missing pages unless they were told. thus, the degrees of awareness amongst the pines are as follows. NOBODY CONSIDER THIS CANON TO THE FIC yet BC im still plot mappin and shit and i dont want to accidentally commit an incontinuity. ok here we go.

while dipper knew about the history between bill and ford (from the last mabelcorn i think? whichever one they done the brain scanner), i’m operating under the impression that he believed them to be advanced colleagues. somewhere between a professor-student relationship and a deity-worshipper relationship. he knew it was fucked up, but he thought it was like,,, normal fucked up.

mabel is still under the impression that bill is just hung up on his deity ex “bjorn.” ford never really got around to telling her about their history, and frankly he never really wanted to. so she also has no preamble, AND she thinks bill is just rebounding with her grunkle.

stan probably has the most context out of all them, and even that’s not a whole lot. during their sea ventures pre-fic, ford probably said something to the effect of “my relationship with bill was, in a few instances… less than professional and more than platonic. now, please, stanley, can we leave it at that?” then they got drunk and emotional and ford said a bit more than he likely should’ve. by the next morning, they were deeply hungover. ford didn’t remember saying anything; stan thinks he remembered something about someone loving a triangle and torture and eye stealing, but then again, he also seems to remember playing strip poker with a mermaid, so he’s not entirely sure how much was real.

soos. dear soos. we love soos. he’s got no context. he thought they HATED each other. and he’s begun to see bill as his employee/mentee/child who’s tryna do better. soos is reading those contracts with the theraprism to make sure he won’t get his probation officer/parental rights revoked on the grounds that his paternal figure’s brother is fuckin the convict/patient.

im keepin my mouth shut about melody for now.

OK PEACE AND LOVE AND CORNDOGS

[thedelusionalfiles]

Streeter’s Girl PART 1

A Dominique Luca X Y/N fic

Plot - Based on the Rick Springfield song ‘Jessie’s Girl’ but with a twist. Y/N is part of the LAPD working at SWAT HQ and is great friends with all of the 20 David Squad.

Luca has a crush on Y/N but always sees her giggling with Street and making him blush, he doesn’t want to ruin his friendships with either of them but just can’t help pining and feeling a little jealous……but maybe Luca has got the wrong end of the stick 👀

Authors note - This is my first time posting a fanfic, I had this idea one evening at like 4am and decided to write it out. Idk how long this is gonna end up being 💀

Warnings - tiny bit of swearing, might go crazy and write some smut one of these days 🤷🏻‍♀️

Luca cant help but glare over at them both. They are sat way too close for his liking and Y/N said something obviously hilarious because Street is blushing and giggling with her. He can’t help the eye roll and the huff that escapes his lips, he tries cleaning his gun as a form of distraction, unfortunately it doesn’t last long as his mind wanders.

I don’t understand why they are hiding it from everyone? It’s obvious right?

He thinks to himself

They are 100% dating, the way she looks at him with those eyes….. those goddamn beautiful sparkling eyes….

Luca has to snap himself out of the his daydream as he sees those gorgeous eyes along with the rest of her moving towards him.

“Oh h-hey kid” Luca stutters as he tries to regain his usual calm demeanour.

“Hey Luca, you still alright driving me home from Annie and Deac’s party tomorrow evening?” Y/N asks with her usual kind smile. She never wants to put anyone out of their way so she wanted to double check that Luca was still okay with what he had originally offered to do.

“Of course Y/N, I told you I would and I’m a man of my word” Luca winks with a cheeky grin.

“Well thank you again” Y/N embraces him with a warm hug, this was a usual occurrence for the two of them, both being very affectionate towards they’re friends and as such, each other.

Luca gently sighs as he watches the woman he’s secretly fell in love with walk away, once again being none the wiser of his affections.

————————————————————

Y/N POV

I don’t know why I’m so anxious, this is just a little party with all of my friends…… including the one man I’ve had the biggest crush on ever since I met him. Dominique fucking Luca….

Chris and I get out of her car, tonight was the night I promised myself I’d finally get her and Street to confess their feelings. I knew how Chris felt about him for a long time but it’s only been recently Jim confessed to me how he felt about her, which in turn made me want to tease him constantly and make him blush. We have formed a brother/sister like relationship where it’s basically constantly annoying and embarrassing one another. It’s great honestly!

“C’mon Y/N let’s get in there!” I hear Chris call me from standing on the front porch.

As we join the party, greeting everyone with hugs and smiles, I immediately notice him. He’s wearing a dress shirt and some very nice fitting jeans and he’s walking straight towards me oh shit oh shit keep cool stay calm!!!!

“Hey Chris, hey Y/N” Luca smiles and waves at us both. I feel like he glances down at what I’m wearing and I instantly feel shy under his gaze but I’m probably overreacting, he doesn’t see me as anything more than a friend, right?

As the night progresses I mentally cheer as I notice Street and Alonso getting extra friendly over in the corner, I’m so pleased that they have finally told each other how they feel!

I decide my job here is done and make my way to find my ride home.

“Ready to head off now?” Luca says as I approach him.

“Yeah that’d be great, thanks again for the ride” I say.

We walk out to his truck and I climb in the passenger seat. Classic rock is quietly playing through the speakers and we sit in comfortable silence.

“You alright there kid?” Luca breaks the stillness. I’m not really sure where this has come from but as I’m feeling calm and absolutely okay I reply as such.

“It’s just…. I saw you watching Street and Chris kissing…that must have been hard for you to see” He cautiously replies as to not upset me.

“….wait, what?” I’m completely lost now.

“Well, you and Street, were kinda becoming a thing….right?” He murmurs as he focuses back on the road.

I can’t help the giggle that erupts from my chest “oh Luca” I huff out between breaths “Street is basically like a brother to me!”

I notice Luca’s brows furrow in confusion “but what about all the whispering and the giggles and the blushing?” He rambles.

It’s like a lightbulb went off in my head “Oh you idiot!” I slap his arm affectionately, “I’ve been teasing Streeter because he told me about his crush on Chris the other week, I was the one who encouraged him to finally ask her out.”

“Oh.” He says whilst scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “I had definitely got the wrong end of the stick” Luca chuckles.

“Yes, you did” I giggle out. “Why have you been watching me and Street so closely huh? Were you jealous?” I jokingly say whilst I nudge my shoulder against his.

I’ve never seen Luca go this red before!

“You were!” I gasp pointing at him then the realisation hits “…… wait…. You were?” I question sincerely.

He pulls his truck onto my driveway and sighs as he turns the engine off.

“Yeah, Y.N, I was a little jealous….. I know, it was stupid.”

“Why were you jealous Luca?” I gently push the subject.

“Because I like you, a lot actually.” He looks over just as I lean over the to gently touch my lips to his.

It feels like time just stops.

[altocat]

A perfectly valid list of actual Angeal criticisms (from someone who likes Angeal):

Angeal is kind of boring, at least compared to G and S. He's just sorta....nice. In a strict way. He's not as layered as Cloud or Sephiroth or Aerith. He's serviceably simple.

OG purists will probably find him off-putting because he upsets the established lore.

Angeal is basically just there to die so he could easily be brushed off as a plot device for Zack's character arc. My friends and I used to call him Diet Mufasa.

He gets some of the corniest lines in the game.

He flip flops allegiances a lot. To the point where it sometimes feels like the writers didn't really know what to do with him.

He occasionally brings up shit that has nothing to do with the situation at hand.

He grossly misinterprets how his absence will impact Sephiroth and they never get the closure they need. Confirmed in Opera Omnia that Angeal didn't know that Seph would get upset btw.

His relationships with G and S are not very developed, either because of Zack POV or because there just wasn't the time or space. You have to make a lot of assumptions about their dynamic. Which is easy if you do some digging. But the game needed to be clearer.

He needed more scenes to strengthen his bond with Zack to make his death more impactful.

His relationships with Gillian and Hollander are kind of muted.

Lots of his motives are hard to figure out because the game doesn't bother to tell you. Did Genesis tell him to desert with him? What made him change his mind later? Etc.

And sure, you could answer all of these with "It's because Angeal is a bad person because I say so" but that's not the narrative the game is presenting. None of the characters acknowledge it. None of the Ultimanias back it up. None of the interviews on his character state it. Like yeah you could easily assume Angeal is a very flawed person but the simple and likeliest answer is simply that Crisis Core is a fundamentally flawed game with wonky writing which is NOT exclusive to just Angeal. I love Crisis Core. For me the wonkiness adds to its charm. I love making more complex headcanons on these characters. But they're just headcanons. They are fragments of my personal bias. They are not real.

I really like Angeal. I'm not going to tell you he's perfect or that some of the shit he does in CC is 100% rational. But there's a difference between taking a nuanced approach with limited equipment from the story and outright saying "Angeal blinks funny in this scene he must be literally Satan".