#yes i realized i accidentally skipped day 11

[miniewa]

STUDIOINVESTOBER

Day 12: Heartbroken

[princesscolumbia]

Pride Month 2024 - Day 11

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the single most controversial thing I've ever written:

🄳🄴🄰🄳 🄳🄾🅅🄴, 🄳🄾 🄽🄾🅃 🄴🄰🅃!

🪦🕊️🔞"BAMF" or "Ranma is Fucked"🔞🕊️🪦

(Looking for a link? Keep reading)

This is a "dead dove" fic. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's based on the GIF of the guy finding a bag in the fridge labelled "Dead Dove, Do Not Eat!" He opens it and finds...a dead dove, and upon the discovery of the very thing the bag was labelled for, he says, "I don't know what I was expecting."

Yeah, that one.

A 'dead dove' fic is one where the author has chosen to dip into some pretty problematic stuff. Maybe it's something specific to the fandom, the genre, the age group of the target demographic...whatever the problem, they've properly identified it as a dead dove fic at the outset, usually be either putting something in the title, the tags, using a warning system if one is available, sometimes all of those and more.

Basically, it's the author putting a big-ol "DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT!" on their fic, so at that point if someone opens the bag and discovers that there is, in fact, a dead dove, that person has nobody but themselves to blame.

Getting it yet? This is a dead dove fic. Last chance to keep scrolling before getting into problematic stuff that might trigger you. Still with me? The rest of this post is below the cut:

"BAMF" or "Ranma is Fucked"

Summary:

The day after Ranma (pretending to be 'cousin Ranko') is seduced by/accidentally seduces her mother, she gets to face the world with the knowledge that she is, indeed, a mother fucker.

First off, yes, this is based on another fic, a oneshot from an author who admitted they don't do well writing long-form, so it was a concept they thought of and dropped the (very, very good) short story and moved on. You can find that fic here if you're so inclined, but even BeehiveCitizen has acknowledged that I've built on their work so much reading their story may not be necessary. In fact, my most recent glowing comment on "BAMF" confirms this:

I shouldn't like this fic. It's main theme is a major personal squick. I don't usually read Dead Dove fics. I'm squicked by most incest play and the terms Daddy or Mommy or Babygirl in sexual settings are quick turn offs. There are lots of good reasons why I shouldn't like this fic. I'm not even sure why I chose to read it. I've spent the last week reading or rereading every single trans Ranma story on this site, but normally I'd still skip a Mother/Daughter fic. But some whim made me decide to give it a shot. I shouldn't like this fic. But I fucking loved it. I loved every fucking scene Nabiki showed up in. I loved watching Ranma discover and then embrace her own sexual nature, while still struggling with gender identity and her relationship with Nodoka. I loved seeing Ukyou embrace gender fluidity. Akane's lesbian realization. All of the characters in this story felt like realized characters, albeit ones that keep making incredibly poor choices and can't keep their hands off each other. Which, granted most of the characters are teenagers so that follows. The humor was amazingly hilarious. So much of the fic left me actually giggling out loud, from the first scene on. I am giggling right now just remembering parts of it. The drama was heart wrenching. Watching Ranma struggling with her gender, her fears and self loathing over lying to her mother about her identity. The end of chapter 5 where Ranma has her moment of anguish followed by how hard she spirals at Nodoka's flinch was so heartbreaking to read, yet so well done. And the part at the end where Ranma falls into depression... That hit me hard. I've had my own struggles with depression, and your depiction was viscerally familiar without being triggering. I absolutely loved Ranma's drunken breakdown to Konatsu. Konatsu was always my favorite Ranma side character, and I would be so interested in seeing her POV in that scene. The sex scenes are damn good. I'll admit I didn't really get anything out of the Ranma/Nadoka scenes. Major squick and all. But they were done so well I never thought about skipping or just skimming them. And the rest of them... Fucking hell that's good smut. My favorite must have been the Ryoga scene. The whiplash from Ranma's gender breakdown to drowning her issues with sex was perfect. And I also love me some well done Ranma/Ryoga. I love this fic. I came home at almost midnight from an extra long shift at work and discovered it while lying in bed looking for something to read before sleeping. I didn't sleep. I could not put this fic down. I spent all day today at work with it buzzing in my head. I'm considering making it my next ficbinding project so I can have a nice hardback copy of it. I read your extended notes on Tumblr about it. I'm at work now waiting for my relief to get in while writing this essay of a comment. I am eagerly awaiting that promised sequel. I'm an old school Ranma fan. I've been reading Ranma fanfic since I was a teenager in the 90s. I love Ranma fanfic. It was Ranma fanfic that first cracked my egg, even if I spent 20 years after that trying to glue it back together. So I've read the works of the old masters. And let me say this, hearing this story described as the Dark Mirror Universe version of Kenko's Girl Days hit me in the head like a lead pipe and left me dazed and seeing stars.

When I started "BAMF" I was in the middle of reviving Fission, grinding on LLW, and chunking out "Return to Sender" and "Afraid to Ask." I didn't anticipate actually spending that much time on this; a chapter or five, probably short form to keep from straying off into the weeds, then done.

I shall now quote my girlfriend's reaction to the end result:

"You wrote a 110-THOUSAND word incest smutfic!!!!"

Which is, strictly speaking, true. One cannot deny that there's a lot of smut in it, a good chunk of it is incest smut, and there are, indeed, over 110,000 words in the thing.

But what I didn't expect was to wind up crafting one of the damned finest transfemme Ranma pieces I could even imagine.

Of course, it came with baggage. I'm pretty firmly no longer welcome in parts of the fandom. Like, at all. Certain authors and community members have proactively blocked me on the socials and there's a handful of fics I can't leave comments on because some people have conflated, "You wrote this" with "You endorse this." Which...no, that's not how it works.

(Not going to rabbit hole the whole "pro/anti-shipping" discourse because it's dumb and stupid and it should be obvious which side I think is phenomenally dumb and stupid)

Also, I don't know many erotica pieces you know where the author put in, "This shit's fucked, if you're experiencing any of it IRL PLEASE seek help!" in their fic at regular intervals. Which, you know, is something I did. Because sometimes people are deep in the shit and don't know it until they read their lived experience and someone points out that no, relating to that character is not a good thing.

A gentle reminder that the behaviors and actions in this fic are not to be normalized or accepted. RP is fun and enticing, actual incest, abuse, and suicidal ideations are not.

Suicide Prevention Hotline

For the U.S.A.: 988 Hotline

For the U.K.: SPUK

Resources for your country: psychologytoday.com/Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World

Reporting Domestic Abuse

Identifying and Reporting Domestic Abuse in the USA: Wikihow

For the U.K.: UK.gov

Resources for your country: International Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Abduction of a minor

For the U.S.A.: Call 911

For the U.K.: Call 999

For your country: Call the Emergency Police line in your area

Resources for abducted children: International Center for Missing and Exploited Children

If you recognize the behaviors in this fic in you or the people you are in relationships with, get to a place of safety and seek help as soon as possible.

[nayl0rdoesstuff]

Pokemon Sword Nuzlocke Part 1.

This is the beginning of my first (documented) Pokémon Sword Nuzlocke. I have nothing better to do and am extremely bored. So why not?

The rules are simple.

1. Pokémon faints = Dead forever, no longer able to use it.

2. Battles are on 'Switch' mod to help make it easier.

3. Only catch the first Pokémon per route/area. If you fail to catch it, i.e. no Pokéballs, or accidental kill, you are not allowed to get another encounter.

4. Dupes. I am playing with dupes clause, so no Pokémon from the same evolutionary line. Different Pokémon from split evolutions don't count.

5. Items are allowed in battle.

And with that, let the games begin!

_________________________________

I start up the game and go through the usual motions to get my starter. Naming myself, selecting what I'll look like beforehand I change it, putting the text to fast mode, the general stuff.

After a very long opening cutscene, I'm off to meet Leon and finally get my starter.

I choose Scorbunny, name him Flint after the Sinnoh Elite Four, and the next day bash in Hop's Wooloo and Grookey.

After that whole thing, we have to run into some spooky woods to rescue a different Wooloo.

Anyway, nothing really exciting happens until we get to the end where *SPOILERS, YES I HAVE TO PUT THIS HERE-* an illusion of Zacian is.

I think we pass out from the shock cause we wake up to Leon lecturing us about going here.

So we leave the creepy place, and cam finally set off on our journey after telling my mom we're leaving. On to the first encounter!

I find and catch a Skwovet I name Barry, after one of my favorite rivals (you can judge me if you want-).

A quick style change and berry spending trip later, I catch my next encounter, a Blipbug named Einstein

There's a lot of trainers after this so I'll just skip that and move on to the second Hop fight.

Flint and Barry proceed to obliterate his team.

Lot of story happens but the gist of it is me and Hop get Wishing Stars and Prof Magnolia makes them into Dynamax bands.

We set off to the train station the next morning, Hop gives me a Swift TM, we get stopped by our moms who give us camping equipment and we finally get to go.

More story happens but don't ask for details, I really wasn't paying attention.

Anyway, I caught a Manny the Swinub (Rolling Hills), Sora the Vulpix (West Lake Axewell), Orville the Wingull (East Lake Axewell), Belladonna the Stunky (North Lake Axewell) and Glacier the Snorunt (Dappled Grove).

Also Einstein evolved, which is cool.

Finally, I got to Motostoke where I finally completed my look, wandered around a bit looking for items and got my number for my challenger outfit, I always pick 11 because it's my lucky number.

Some stuff happens and I beat some Team Skull grunts in a few battles.

Now it's actually time for the opening ceremony and man is that a long cutscene. I don't mind though cause that means I can just sit back and listen to my Reddit scary stories video.

I also got the Corviknight taxi service thingy with is cool.

I end up battling Hop for the third time, cause Kilnk named Klanker on Route 3 and made my way past the trainers all the way to Galar mine No. 1.

The only interesting thing that happened there was the Bede fight, besides catching the newest Pokémon in there, a Rolycoly I named Fossil Fuel.

The trainers on Route 4 were pretty easy and I got a pretty cool encounter of a Cutiefly.

The first gym was pretty easy, as expected and that opened the opportunity to acquire up to 2 new encounters before the next one.

Everything was going well, until I came to the realization that I don't have a Pokémon that can super-effectively hit any of Nessa's Pokémon as of recently.

I also realized I had two Pokémon that were weaks to Nessa's water types, so for now I have to box Flint and Manny. That leaves two spots open.

I did some research and apparently her Drednaw doesn't actually have any rock moves, so I'll possibly be able to keep Einstein in the equation.

The main threat is not knowing with water move she's going to go for, so I'll have to put something out that completely resists water attacks.

Good thing I have Orville.

I'm nervous, but in Flint and Manny's place I put Glacier the Snorunt and Sora the Vulpix to take their places for now.

If push comes to shove, I can sack them while healing the others.

Here goes nothing.

My plan is to lead with Einstein, the who is the best at taking special attacks, even better than Barry is. The reasoning is that her Goldeen has a really good water type attack in Water Pulse. By getting a Pokémon good at taking special attacks, I lessen the chances of any other Pokémon dying.

My next move is to use Barry for her Arrokuda, since that only has physical moves and physical defense is Barry's forte.

Lastly, I'll put out Orville, where the bird should be able to handle Nessa's Drednaw. Hopefully.

Well, things did go well at first. Einstein and Barry were abe to handle her first two Pokémon with ease.

And then came the Drednaw. I sent to Orvas planned and immediately realized my mistake. I didn't have a single move that could do very effective damage on this monster.

So guess what I do?? I use max geyser on it. Fine right? Neutral effectiveness and all that. Wrong.

I accidentally boosted it's water moves.

It nearly one-shots Orville and I hav to do some quick thinking took keep him alive. A max guard + super potion are able to stall the monster out of it's Dynamax. I quickly swap into Sora, making her take the incoming water attack before switching to Belladonna.

I thought I couldn't at least get a Screech off to lower its defense before needing to switch out.

But... the Drednaw out sped her and one-shot Belladonna. First (actual) death, to some stupid circumstances I forgot to account for.

I have to keep going though, the fight's not over yet. Luckily, there was a silver lining.

Aftermath, Belladonna's ability.

I struggled against the Drednaw who, despite it not being Dynamaxed nor rain boosted anymore, was still a scary enemy. My first decision was bringing Einstein out to set up light screen to lessee damage output and whittle it down and pray to not get Bite crit.

After awhile pf back and forth I finally get it where I want it, switch to Barry and Body Slam that dumb turtle, securing me the second badge.

It was hard, and definitely not without consequences, but I'm glad that's over.

Part 1/?

[mileapokp1677]

Three Steps to Win You (CH 11)

Title: Three Steps to Win You

Rating: M

Pairing: DaddyChan/Tankhun, Kinn/Porsche, Vegas/Pete

Category: M/M, AU Nerd-Jock

Summary: Accidentally, scientist Tankhun Theerapanyakul embarrassed footballer Captain Chan "Daddy" Knight in front of his coach, teammates and fans. He had to fulfill three tasks from the captain before his apology was accepted.

Chapter 11 

(Chan POV) 

The Next Day 

Chan got up from his bed slowly and in pain. It had been a long time since the last time he had had to compress his thighs and calves with ice like this, and it truly makes Chan feel his age, all 36 of it. But BSFC's victory over Bangkok United in yesterday's match was really sweet and Chan wouldn’t have it any other way. Moreover, not many professional athletes in his age could continue to compete at the top level like this, most of them had to give up their careers because their skills have drastically decreased, or some even had to retire early due to injuries. Chan realized he was one of the luckiest, and for that he was very grateful. So, no complaint whatsoever from him.

Chan was just about to consume a huge portion of vegetables-fruits-protein powder smoothie that had just been blended, when his cell phone rang. It was Don.

“Coach?”

“How are your thigh and calf muscles? I hope you've iced them.” 

“Already did, Coach,” answered Chan while shaking his head in wonder. “I guess, nothing escaped your scrutiny.” 

“Chan, I’ve been training you for almost 14 years, of course I’m aware of your condition. Just like I’m aware that you drained all your energy to guard that United midfielder, ” stated Don. "If it weren't for the fact that I knew yesterday's derby meant a lot to you, I would have stopped you.” 

“Thank you, Coach.”

“Overstraining your leg muscles at your age is not a wise choice, especially when you intend to play in all the games this season.” 

“Understood, Sir.”

“It's a good thing that next weekend there will be no match because of International Friendly, so you can rest more.” 

“Yes, Coach,” responded Chan. “What can I do for you, Sir?” 

“Ah yes. Saturday morning, people from management came to the training ground to give you a notice, but you weren't there yet, so they gave it to me. Since that day we were all so focused on the derby match, I forgot to pass on their message to you.” 

“Oh, what message?” 

“The National Football Federation has decided to give you a special award to honor your outstanding professional football career.” 

Chan was stunned for a moment, he knew he had a good career as a footballer, but never expected the National Federation would want to award him with such a high honor. He felt very flattered and grateful at the same time.

“Chan? Are you there?”

“I’m here, Coach. It’s just that… I don’t really know what to say…”

“You deserved it. When I told you, you’re my pride and glory, it wasn’t lip service, you know that, right?” Again, Chan was stunned. Don is more than just a coach for him, he’s like a father figure, a mentor.

“Coach, I…”

“I’m sure Mr. Krisda already told you about the BSFC offer.”

“Coach…”

“Wait, I'm not done talking... I’m also aware that you want a long break from football. The point is, once you're ready, BSFC is also ready to accept you as part of my coaching team. I'm waiting.”

“Hn,” responded Chan curtly because he knew if he spoke any more than this his voice would crack. Even now, he was having a hard time holding back his emotions.

“Okay, I better leave you and your super healthy smoothie.”

Chan chuckled.

“Coach, if I didn't know better, I'd think you had planted a secret camera here to spy on me.”

“What makes you sure I don't plant one? Good day, Chan!”

“Have a good Sunday, Coach.”

Chan was still filled with disbelief as he finished the smoothie. Usually after breakfast, he would do light exercise and cardio, but he decided to skip it today. He will allow his muscles to rest for the next 24 hours. As he was contemplating what he was going to do to spend his Sunday, the notification on his cellphone rang again. It was a message from the architect firm, asking his permission to call him. Chan decided to just give them a call right away. 

****** 

(Tankhun POV)  

Three Days Later

New Message from Caramello

Tankhun's eyebrows rose in response to seeing a new message notification from Chan, the first in eighteen days, but who's counting, right? Tankhun ignored the voice in his heart that suspiciously laughed at him just now and immediately opened the message from the footballer.

[Caramello]

Ready for ur second task?

Tankhun let out a grunt although inside he was very curious. Before he could reply though, a new message from Chan appeared again.

[Caramello]

Still giving me the silent treatment?

[Tankhun T]

Please ... you’re not that important for me to give you the silent treatment. I'm just busy.

[Caramello]

Ouch!

Tankhun smiled.

[Caramello]

I'll pick you up Saturday at 7.50 AM. Be ready!

7.50 AM!? Is he mad?

[Tankhun T]

Not so fast, mister. You'd better have a good reason for ruining my weekend, and you should tell me clearly what task I have to do. Do you even know my home address?

[Caramello]

I’m Chan “Daddy” Knight, the Captain of BSFC. I have my own way. 😉  

Did he seriously just throw my own words at me? Damn this man!  

Again, before Chan could type a reply, a new message from that... that old man appeared.

[Caramello]

There will be many activities that require physical exertion. So, I recommend wearing something that is comfortable and not designer clothes.

Tankhun gasped.

How dare he? Why, you…

Tankhun never typed as fast as he did at that moment.

[Tankhun T]

One, I never let anyone tell me how to dress myself. Two, I let you know that I can do anything in my designer clothes!!!  

[Caramello]

If you're not afraid they'll tear or dirty, be my guest, Pumpkin. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.  

[Tankhun T]

It’s Doctor! And what’s that supposed to mean!?  

No reply. 

[Tankhun T] 

CHAN! ANSWER ME!  

Still no reply.  

[Tankhun T]

I hate you!  

[Caramello]  

See U Saturday~ 😊 

UGH!

****** 

(Tankhun POV)

Next Saturday 07:30 AM  

As soon as Tankhun saw Kinn and Porsche having breakfast with Pa in the dining room, he's 100% sure that his suspicions last Wednesday – regarding who had informed Chan their home address, confirmed. 

Nosy bastards.

“Good morning… looks like someone still hasn't given up on meddling in my business,” jibed Tankhun, face full of accusation.  

“Good morning, son.” 

“Good morning, Tankhun.” 

“What do you mean, P'? We missed you, Pa, and Kim, so we decided to have breakfast here today,” Porsche replied, his face guilt-free, his lips curled into a wide beaming smile, his eyes as mischievous as an imp.

Ugh, this lil shit.

“Tankhun, come, Kinn and Porsche bring your favorite fried dough stick to eat with the porridge,” requested Pa, as he patted the seat on his right side. “Let’s eat while it’s still hot.”

“Yes, Pa,” answered Tankhun, obeying his Pa’s request. “Where’s Kim?”

“Still sleeping, I guess, but I’m about to wake him up now,” said Kinn. “We haven’t had breakfast together like this for a while.”

Kinn left the dining table to go upstairs to wake their youngest brother.

The mischievous look in Porsche's eyes grew even more intense, and suddenly Tankhun realized the real reason for his brother and brother-in-law's visit to the house early in the morning. Tankhun couldn't help himself not to feel amusement, his pouting had turned into a smile, while continuing to enjoy his favorite fried dough sticks.

"It's going to be spectacular, P'," promised Porsche. “You look great, by the way. Special occasion?”

“Shut up,” replied Tankhun, chuckling at the thought of what would happen soon. His brothers were his weakness, he could never be angry with them for long.

"It's the weekend, and I don't have practice today, why do I have to eat breakfast so early?" Kim grumbled as he entered the dining room and took a seat next to Tankhun. His fairly long hair was tangled, and Tankhun reflexively straightened and combed it with his fingers.

"You haven't washed your face, have you?" asked Tankhun.

"This is your punishment for waking me up so early, please enjoy my face that is still full of drool," replied Kim, still feeling annoyed. "Good morning, Pa." 

“Morning, Kim.” 

Kinn had just returned to his seat next to Porsche when the doorbell rang.

“Ah, right on time,” said Porsche, looking meaningfully at Tankhun.

"Kim, would you please be a sweetheart and open the door?" asked Tankhun sweetly.

“But whyyyy~ I haven’t even had a drop of water,” wailed the youngest Theerapanyakun boys.

“Pretty please?” pleaded Tankhun again, puppy eyes in full force.

“Sometimes I really hate being the youngest, you all take advantage of me,” Kim protested as he got up from his seat and walked towards the door.

Tankhun, Kinn, and Porsche were following Kim slowly, trying hard to keep him from noticing that they were trailing behind him.  

“Good morning, is this the Theerapanyakul residence?”

“Holy Shit!” Kim shouted as he slammed the door loudly.

“Umm, Kim… you do realize you just slammed the door in your favorite captain's face, right?” asked Porsche, desperately holding back his laughter seeing Kim's shocked face.  

“HOLY SHIT!!!”   

TBC

[starglow-xx]

checklist

heyo! i wrote and posted this on my quotev for keith’s birthday (october 23, 2020) and i finally made a tumblr for my fanfiction soo here it is!!

keith kogane x f! reader

genre: fluff and slight angst!

This was what you had planned and written out coming to the Garrison.

(y/n's) Checklist: Garrison Days

Get into the Garrison✔️ extra: best friend is here too! :)

Get a license to become a co-fighter pilot extra: we're getting there!

Make new friends!✔️ extra: pidgeon, lancelot, and sunshine :D

Graduate!

Okay, granted, it's a bit short, but nevertheless it's straightforward and guaranteed to not knock you off course.

Although, this was the list that she seemed to be following at the moment.

(y/n's) Mental Bullshit Checklist

Fall in love with your best friend✔️

Sneak out of the Garrison basically every night to meet up with said best friend who just so happened to be expelled✔️

Fall in love with your best friend✔️

Keep secrets from your other best friends✔️

oh and FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND

✔️

Can't forget that checkmark.

You sighed.

'Damn him and his pretty face.'

Sighing once more, you flopped backward against your bed holding your phone out away from your face staring at the time.

11:23 p.m.

'It's still early. I'm not meeting up with Keith for at least another half hour.'

You frowned at your phone.

'I wish time would go faster. Or better yet, just skip this.'

You put the phone down opting to stare at the ceiling instead. Frankly, you were exhausted. Keith always ends up keeping you up till the very early hours of the morning, just before daybreak, leaving you with a small amount of sleep.

'I mean we do this basically every night. It wouldn't hurt to bail on him just this once right? It's not like we end up finding any clues about Shiro or "the energy source".'

Frowning again at the thought of your lost older brother figure, you closed your eyes and placed your right forearm against your eyes, leaving your other hand against your stomach holding your phone.

'A quick nap wouldn't hurt now would it?'

You shut your eyes slowly and then you were out like a light.

You awoke to light knocking at your door.

Opening your eyes slowly, you stared up at the ceiling, and you wait until your eyes get adjusted to the dim lighting of your room.

'Wait a damn minute.'

You frantically sit upright looking for your phone before spotting it on the floor. You immediately grab it before widening your eyes in horror.

12:46 a.m.

'Shit.'

*knock knock knock*

The knocking of the metal door snapped you back into your senses, making you rush all over the room fixing your appearance while simultaneously packing a small bag.

*knock knock knock*

'There's no fucking way Keith broke into the Garrison. There's no fucking way he's outside my door. No fucking way.'

'Guess we'll just have to find out.'

Taking a big deep breath, you allow the metal door to open.

And you end up staring into the blue orbs of your flirtatious best friend Lance McClain.

A sigh of relief passes in between your breath and you smile as you lean against the frame of your door only then noticing Hunk's panicky presence behind the lanky male. Ignoring his nervousness, you wave at the soon to be yellow paladin, with him exchanging a fidgety smile and wave in return. 

Taking note of your sigh and smile, Lance speaks up with a cocky, goofy grin on his face.

"Woah there pretty lady, happy to see me?~" 

Rolling your eyes with an equally goofy grin on your face you respond.

"Ha! In your dreams McClain."

"But you're always in my dreams (y/n)!" he replies cheekily.

Playfully shoving the tall teen backward, you stifle a laugh. You always enjoy your time with Lance; it's always been like this, the playful banter, everything. Even since you met as kids at the Garrison.

"Okay! Okay! Jeez (n/n) so violent."

Rolling your eyes again, you take another look at the best friend duo before asking, "So, care to tell me why you're here in front of my dorm at like one in the morning?"

Lance opens his mouth only to have Hunk shove the both of you back into your room with him following and the metal door shutting behind the three of you.

Lance not liking how he was treated so roughly, started to whine, "Hunkkkk what was that forrr- MPPFH," only to get interrupted by Hunk placing a hand on both of your mouths.

"SHHH! We have to be quiet you guys," Hunk lowers his voice, "I heard a guard walking down the other hallway, I think he might turn the way next! Oh wait! I hear him shhhhh"

The three of you stood still and quiet as you hear the footsteps of the guard get closer and closer until eventually fading. 

After that very close call, you all sigh in relief as you had done a few minutes prior.

Suddenly remembering the conversation from a few minutes ago also made you become more aware of the time. Taking a look at the clock on your dresser, you curse under your breath.

12:57 a.m.

Quickly taking out your phone from your satchel, you curse again seeing the missed calls and text messages from Keith.

57 missed calls & 6 unread messages

keef♡

where are you?

sent 12:03 a.m.

(y/n) answer.

sent 12:07 a.m.

(y/n) pick up the damn phone! I know you're tired and I always drag you out late but come on pick up.

sent 12:09 a.m.

Okay, okay I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me.

sent 12:10 a.m.

(y/n) damn it. Now's not the time to be mad at me or to be sleeping. I think we might actually find something this time, I can feel it.

sent 12:15 a.m.

Fine then. I'll go on my own this time.

sent 12:17 a.m.

Ah shit. The only time Keith texts you first, and it's because you were being an idiot and accidentally bailed on him. Now he thinks that you've ditched him. Knowing him, he's gonna feel way more upset than you think because of what happened with his mom, dad, and Shiro. 

'Ah I fucked up this time didn't I?'

Breaking out of your thoughts, you realize that you have guests at the moment.

You whispered yelled at the two taller boys, "What are you two doing here?!"

Lance sulked, "Aw (n/n) I could've sworn you were happy to see us like five minutes ago."

"That was before you almost got me in trouble!"

And that's coming from the girl who sneaks out of the Garrison on a daily basis. But they don't need to know that.

Not yet at least.

Hunk (bless his soul) interrupts Lance once more as he opens up his mouth, "Lance here wants to do some "team bonding" so we were going to get both you and Pidge, but we saw Pidge run out of his dorm, but we still needed to get you and this is the worst team-building exercise ever."

Ahh that's right.

The four of you got scolded today after failing the simulation.

Hunk puked, Pidge removed his (you're still doubting if he is really a he, but no judgment there) safety harness, and Lance crashed the jet. You on the other received praise from Iverson after attempting to pull a safer (cough cough Lance) emergency landing, and trying to pull the team together.

Well, it's your job as the co-pilot to keep Lance in check, just like how you attempted to keep Keith in check. All your teachers and other friends warned you about sticking close to Keith. They never did understand that you two had a close bond.

You two grew up together after all.

--

"Seriously (l/n) stay away from Kogane. You're a bright kid, you got real skill. Don't get mixed up with that troublemaker."

You look down as Commander Iverson speaks to you.

"Well go along, break will be over soon enough. See you in class."

He walks down the hallway as Keith approaches you carefully as he enters from the other side of the nearby wall.

"You can stop you know. You always get in trouble for sticking with me. I'll understand." He says in a low voice looking down.

You, on the other hand, shoot your head up and quickly wrapping your arms around him surprising the young teen.

"Are you dumb?! I'd never leave you Keith! We'll go through thick and thin together remember?! If anything, you might be the one leaving me! You move too fast you might just leave me behind!" you exclaim while squeezing him tighter fully aware of the growing blush on your face.

He lightly laughs before wrapping his arms around your smaller frame squeezing you just as tight.

"Don't worry (y/n), I don't plan on it."

You refuse to let him go as you don't want him to see your red face, not knowing that he hasn't let go for the same reason.

--

As you both got older, around the disappearance of Shiro, Keith gets expelled, but the both of you still manage to keep in touch seeing as you frequently sneak out.

"Why don't you two go ahead? I was just about to get some shut-eye, so tell me how it goes tomorrow okay?"

Yes, sleep would be pretty nice, but in reality, you needed them to get out of here so you can find Keith.

Please say okay, please say okay, please say okay.

Scrunching his eyebrows, Lance denies your request, "What? No! You're part of the team, we need you there!"

'Damn it.'

--

Before you know it, you find yourself on the roof checking out Pidge's equipment.

"Stop touching my equipment!"

You and Hunk pouted.

--

Now, you find yourself and the other three spying on an alien ship on a small ledge after hearing the emergency lockdown announcement at the Garrison.

You blinked. 

"Hmm hey, Lance?"

"Yes (y/n)?"

"Why the hell are we here?"

Lance stopped looking through the binoculars to look up at you.

"We need to find out what's going on! But we'll never get past those guards to take a look."

Pidge types away on his computer.

Hunk sighs, "Aww yeah, I guess there's nothing else but to get back to the barracks right?" and he gets up from his crouching position and starts to leave. 

'Good idea Hunk.'

As you yourself start to head back, Pidge speaks up.

"Wait they set up a camera in there and I picked up its feed. Look."

The three of you gather around Pidge, only for your breath to hitch and for tears to start gathering in the corner of your eyes.

'Shiro?'

You think back to Keith's message.

"I think we might actually find something this time, I can feel it."

'Damn it, I hate it when he's right. I need to text Keith.'

You snap back into reality to dig through your bag only to hear Lance say, "No, what we need is a distraction."

As if on cue, a series of explosions go off in the distance.

'Oh no Keith I swear to God.'

"Ahh are those the aliens?! Are they here?! They got here so quick!" 

Hunk continues to freak out, but Pidge interrupts him.

"No, those explosions were a distraction! For him. The Garrison is heading towards the blast, while he's sneaking through the other side!"

You could recognize that red hoverbike anywhere.

So, you quickly make your way down the small ledge ignoring the shouts of your friends.

"(y/n)! Wait! Oh that guy is always trying to one-up me!"

Lance quickly runs after you.

"Who is it?" Hunk asks.

"Keith!"

"What?! Are you sure?!" Hunk is quick on Lance's heels.

By now, you're way ahead of the three.

"Who?!" Pidge questions.

"(y/n)'s boyfriend!"

But not far enough to not hear that.

"I heard that Lance!"

--

(y/n's) Mental Bullshit Checklist

Find your lost brother figure✔️

Get chased by the Garrison✔️

Realize that your bestest friend might be mad and hurt because of you✔️

Today is just not your day.

*A few minutes prior*

"Nope, no, n-n-no no you don't. I'm saving Shiro."

As Lance makes his way over to Keith and Shiro, you find yourself locking your (e/c) eyes with Keith's purple ones.

His eyes widened, not noticing Lance taking Shiro's other arm. 

'Wait. Is that a metal prosthetic?'

"(y/n)?"

Snapping back into reality, (you seem to be spacing out a lot recently) you try and wrap yourself around this delicate situation.

Keith thinks you abandoned him on something that means a lot to him.

Keith is possibly mad at you.

Keith finds Shiro only for you, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge to barge in.

Keith might be thinking you left him alone for those three.

Keith looks hurt.

Your already teary eyes soften along with your voice, "Keith I-", only to get cut off by Keith himself.

"Who are you?" he quetions looking at Lance.

'Ouch.'

'I guess I deserved that.'

"Who am I? Uhh the name's Lance?"

Lance blinks waiting for Keith to recognize him. When he doesn't he speaks again.

"Uhh we were in the same class in the Garrison."

Keith still not recognizing him asks, "Really? Were you an engineer?"

Lance tired of his confusion clarifies, "What no. I'm a pilot. We were like rivals. You know, Lance and Keith neck and neck, and with (y/n) breaking up all our fights."

You deadpan at the brown-haired boy.

'Does he mean those petty fights where Keith doesn't acknowledge him, and I end up dragging him away?'

As if suddenly remembering, Keith says, "Oh wait I remember you. You're a cargo pilot."

"Well not anymore, I'm fighter class now thanks to you washing out."

Keith being Keith sarcastically congratulates him.

"Seriously, how are you (y/n)'s bestest friend?! You don't even know anything about her other best friends? And what's with the attitude?! I swear! I always tell her to stay away! You're a bad influence on her!"

You warn the blue-eyed boy, "Lance..."

"What?! I'm just trying to look out for you!"

*Flashback end*

Now, the five of you along with an unconscious Shiro are all on Keith's red hoverbike with the Garrison hot your trail.

Keith's driving, you're behind him, behind you is Lance, the Pidge and Shiro, and finally Hunk in the back.

Hunk's panicky voice carries through the air, "Oh man, Mr. Harris just wiped out Mr. Montgomery! No no, he's fine."

Keith speaks to you without looking back, "(y/n) hold on."

You quickly wrap your arms around his masculine chest.

'At least he isn't that mad to ignore me completely.'

"Big man lean right!"

Hunk quickly listens and leans right guiding the overworked machine to the right making it jump to another rock structure. That maneuver efficiently stops one of the two Garrison vehicles chasing you. 

Your heart is pounding realizing that you're all heading towards a cliff.

"Uhh guys?!" Hunk promptly points out what you've just been dreading. "Is that a cliff up ahead?!"

You hear the screaming of your teammates behind you and Keith leans forward forcing you to do the same. He grips and twists the handlebars making the bike speed up while confirming Hunk's question.

"Yup."

You don't even have to look at him to know he has that hot stupid smirk on his face.

'Damn it. My heart just skipped a beat, and it's not because we're falling off a cliff.'

Lance continues to scream at Keith.

"What are you doing?! You're gonna kill us all!!"

Not giving Keith the time to respond, you answer Lance with your own yell while squeezing your eyes shut and squeezing Keith even tighter.

"Lance just shut up and trust him!"

Smoothly maneuvering his bike, Keith "lands" back on solid ground and zooms away.

You guys were alive.

Barely.

But that's beside the point.

(y/n's) Mental Bullshit Checklist

Save Shiro✔️

Almost get caught by the Garrison✔️

Almost die falling off a cliff✔️

Feel Keith's masculine chest✔️

--

You, Shiro, and Keith look at the sky as the sun begins to rise.

Once again, you blank out as you try to wrap your head around what had happened in the past few hours, missing Shiro and Keith's conversation and Shiro calling out your name.

 "(-/n)"

"(y/n)"

"(y/n)!"

A sudden shake of your shoulder snapped you back into reality, making you turn your head towards Shiro who was looking at you worriedly and Keith who was looking down and his feet.

'Ah.'

'He's still upset.'

"Are you feeling okay (y/n)?" Shiro asks worriedly.

You look up at him, with a smile on your face and you cheerfully answer his question.

"Ahh Shiro, you haven't changed, always acting like a dad huh? If anything I should be asking you that question!"

His face showed mild surprise but then he chuckled and ruffled your hair making you squeal. 

"You haven't changed much either (y/n). I'll be heading inside, are you two okay out here or are you gonna follow?"

Once again your focus falls on the rising sun.

"Nah, I think I'll just stay here for a bit longer. I can meet you guys in there a bit later."

"Okay, just be careful. You Keith?"

"I think I'll stay here a bit longer too. You can go meet up with the others."

You inwardly flinched. The two of you were going to be alone.

"Alright, I'll head back inside."

Now, it was just the two of you.

A light breeze past by, and you shivered. It was only then you realized you didn't have a jacket.

'I guess I didn't realize it was cold with everything going on.'

Your thoughts were once more interrupted by something getting draped around your shoulders.

Your eyes widened and you look over your shoulder to see Keith looking away from you now only in his black v-neck shirt. 

You bashfully look away as you hold the collar of his jacket close so it stays on your shoulders, with your left arm hugging your body to keep the warmth. You mutter a quiet thanks only to have been met with silence.

It was like that for a while, until you couldn't help but speak.

"Keith I can-"

"Why were you with them?"

With your body now turned as to get a good look at him, you frowned as you process his question and because he still wouldn't look at you.

"Keith, they're my team, even if I didn't want to, I'd still go anyway. They're my best friends Keith you have to understa-"

"Are we not a team? Are we not best friends?"

You visibly irk as you get interrupted yet again.

"I never said that."

"You were thinking it."

"Dammit Keith! Let me talk!"

The purple-eyed boy finally turns to look at you with an agitated look on his face.

"Why should I?! You'll just leave like how everyone else did! It won't matter."

Frankly, you were hurt. Did he really think that you'd just leave him after years of memories and a childhood of growing up alongside each other? But, you understood why he was so upset. He was scared. 

Not wanting to lose your childhood friend and your first love, you try and defuse the situation. 

"Keith, I understand why you're so agitated right now, it's okay, I understand, I know-"

"Know what (y/n)?! You know nothing! You don't know anything! You don't understand anything!"

It's a good thing the both of you were at a far enough distance away from his shack.

He slowly walks towards you waving around his hands and arms to show how agitated he really was.

"What made you think you knew anything?!"

"Our friendship! Our trust! Our bond! Our everything Keith! Did any of that even matter to you?!"

"I don't think it mattered to you! If it did, you wouldn't have abandoned me! Especially since this was important to me!"

You couldn't believe your damn ears. You scoffed before yelling back, not caring about the tears starting to fall.

"I didn't fucking abandon you Keith! And don't you dare think that this thing was only important to you! Shiro means just as much to me and much as he does to you!"

"Then why the hell did you not show up?!"

"For God's sake, I was sleeping! Call it a lame excuse I don't care! Keith, I'm tired. Every single fucking day we're out till fucking daybreak. On top of that, I have class! I have training! It's fine for you because you don't even go to school anymore! You can sleep all day then explore all night! Me? I run every single day with less than four hours of sleep. It's a fucking blessing to even get one. I understand that you're scared! Cause I am too! We grew up together Keith! Do you know how devastated and worried I was after you got expelled?! I thought that was the end for us! Here you are yapping that you have it rough, that I abandoned you, and some other bullshit while I have it just as bad!"

        Your voice was raw and cracking, tears streaming down your face, eyes starting to puff up, but at this point you didn't care. You didn't care if the others could hear you, you didn't care that Keith stopped yelling, you didn't care that his eyes finally softened and weren't sharp and spiteful anymore, you didn't care.

        You didn't care because you felt your heart break. You want him to know. You want him to know how much you struggle every day, but most of all you want him to know how much you cared. You want him to know how much you care for him even if he doesn't really understand right now, even if he doesn't care for you as much as you do you, or if he doesn't care for you the way you want him to. You wanted him to know that you loved him. Him and only him. Even at the risk of rejection.

"(y/n)..."

"No! I listened to you, now you listen to me Keith Kogane! I understand that I hurt you! I understand that you have trust issues and that you don't want anyone to get too close only for them to leave, I understand! You don't want me to be another repeat of the people in the past; your mom, your dad, Shiro! I understand more than you think! I care about you so much so Keith...please."

At this point, Keith looked like he was going to cry too, and Keith never cries in front of you anymore.

"(Y-y/n) I-I didn't know. I-I'm sor-"

You stop him right there.

"Keith, you have nothing to apologize for. You didn't know cause I didn't tell you, I never wanted to tell you but but oh my God fuck. Keith, it's because I love you!"

There. It's out in the open. No going back now.

"I love you more than friends, more than best friends, more than siblings, Keith I love you with all of my heart! And it hurts so much seeing you like this. I don't need you to love me back, what I need you to do is to trust me. To trust me with everything you've got because there's no way in hell I'm going to get up and walk away from your life. I will always be there for you. I'm your best friend. Through thick and remember?"

You're choking on your own words, and your voice trembled with every other word you've said but it doesn't matter now. You did it. You confessed. Maybe now, your heart can be at peace.

You look up at the boy you've grown to love and you take a good look at him. His long dark locks, his captivating purple eyes, everything. 

You take a good look because you believe that this is going to be the last good one you'll have. The last one before he'll shy away from you. But that's okay. It's okay because you'll always be there for him even if he won't be there for you.

You remove his jacket from your shoulders and gently take his hands placing the jacket into them. You feel his eyes on you and you look up at him placing a gentle smile on your features. You watch as his tear-streaked face looks at yours with so many emotions. More emotions than you've ever seen on him. 

Your hands never left his and with one last act of bravery, you lean up and kiss his cheek. 

You gently pull your hands out of his, and turn towards his shack.

You turn around and bravely smile at him and say, "I'll be heading back inside now okay? If you need anything, you know who to find." 

You turn back around and you slowly walk away with one of your hands covering your mouth to cover up your soft sobs. You just really wanted a hug, and you plan on getting four big ones.

As for Keith, Keith can't seem to move.

Don't get mixed up, no no he isn't frozen because he couldn't believe his best friend just confessed to him.

Well actually that was one of the reasons, but that's not important right now.

Your confession and love? Oh boy, he thought that was only a crazy, hopeless dream. Something that he could've never thought would happen.

Let's face it, the boy's in love with you.

Head over heels really.

How could he not be?

You were a godsend in his eyes. You were kind to basically person that you've met, you're compassionate, you're intelligent, and so much more. Your good looks were only a bonus. And one of the most important things was that you were always there. 

You were there to defend him, you were there to comfort him, you there to just be with him.

You were always there. You were there when he cried over his mom, you were there when his dad died, you were there when he found out about Shiro. You were right, the two of you went through thick and thin.

Getting back to the point, he couldn't seem to move was because he hurt you.

Yes, Keith can be an ass, but he's always made sure not to accidentally hurt you in any way shape, or form, but he did.

Seeing you with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge hurt. It stung like hell, but after what just happened, he knowing what he just did hurt far worse, but it hurt just a little bit more realizing that you would've probably planned on not letting him know about your struggles and pain ever. But, something changed, something changed your mind, so you told him.

Just like you wanted, you put your feelings and inner turmoils out in the open, and now he knows. 

Seeing you standing there, pouring your feelings out to him voice raw and filled with emotions tears rapidly falling down your face, your trembling body, it, it was just too much for him.

And after you said that if he needed something, anything, he could go find you; it made him realize how he truly doesn't deserve you.

Yes, he has thought of it before. He can't help it with what seems like every single person in existence telling you that he's bad news or their doubts of him, and with his own insecurities. Truth be told, their words always end up right back into his head, no matter how long it's been.

"Stay away from Kogane"

"Don't get mixed up with that troublemaker."

'You don't deserve her.'

"(y/n) is that guy really your friend? He seems like he's a cold person."

"(y/n) that guy is trouble! Why do you hang out with him?!"

'She's too good for you.'

"Seriously, how are you (y/n)'s bestest friend?!"

"I always tell her to stay away! You're a bad influence on her!"

But even with all those words meant to scare you away, you stayed. He couldn't help but remember the words you told him long ago.

"Are you dumb?! I'd never leave you Keith! We'll go through thick and thin together remember?!"

It was then when Keith made his decision.

--

You were almost at the front door. Surprisingly not one of the four boys three actually, but you didn't know that yet checked outside after all that yelling. Not like they heard any of it

You were lost in your thoughts. Thoughts about Keith, your past, your pain, who would give the most comforting hug right now probably Hunk when someone I wonder who it could be grabbed your wrist and tugged you back so you would be facing him.

Knowing who it was you kept your eyes shut as if you didn't, you knew you were going to cry.

But Keith was stubborn. You of all people know that better than anyone.

"(y/n) look at me."

Keith was stubborn but it didn't mean that you weren't too.

Keith's voice cracked.

"(y/n) please."

Your resolve wavered, and it seems your hesitation was obvious as Keith softly spoke, "You don't have to say anything, I just want you to hear what I have to say."

You hesitantly opened your eyes and you could already feel your eyes watering again.

Keith's entire being seemed to deflate soften at your state.

"Okay, I know I don't deserve you, much less deserve you taking your time to listen to me right now but I just want you to know that I love you."

Your eyes widened. You weren't sure what you were expecting but it certainly wasn't that.

"Keith, if you're just saying that to-"

"(n/n) I promise you that I'm not just saying it because you said it to me. I'm saying it because I truly do love you."

Your voice was stuck in your throat and you gently shake off his hold on your wrist. You opt for wrapping your arms around yourself.

Your glassy eyes showed confusion and panic.

"I-I don't understand," you shakily argued.

"(y/n) you've always been there for me and that's something I will always be grateful for, and it's one of the many reasons why I fell for you."

You didn't respond. Instead, you continued to listen to him. You listened to him because he was allowing himself to be vulnerable.  Even Keith was surprised by his own actions. Yes, times and times again has this broken boy show you his vulnerability, but he always made the effort to do so in a private setting.

Not right outside his door with his brother figure and three strangers waiting for him inside.

Keith gently tilts his head, "(y/n)..."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

You softly gasped, not expecting the purple-eyed boy to give you his thanks.

From your angle you see a small smile on the boy's face which make your eyes water even more than they already have and your tears once again fall down your face, but at a slower speed.

"I will always appreciate you, and I will always be grateful for all the things you've done for me growing up. I love you. I love you so much, but I'm so sorry that I've been hurting you all this time. I understand if you'd rather go out with Lance seeing as he looks out for you-"

You cut him off with a tight hug that is filled to the brim with love, affection, and warmth. So much warmth. Keith is remain frozen not knowing what to do.

He wants to hug you so badly, but remains from doing so because he doesn't want to hurt you again, but he hears you mumble something that gives him so much reassurance, so much that he forgets all about his insecurities involving you.

"It's okay, Keith. We're okay."

With that, Keith's eyes start to glisten and he gives in and just lets go of reality for a moment to hug you. To hug you and let his tears fall because he knows he's safe with you.

That you are his home and he is yours in return. 

--

(y/n's) Mental Bullshit Checklist

Release and spill all your feeling onto best friend✔️

Act like a crybaby in front of your best friend✔️

Confess to your best friend✔️

Think you get rejected by best friend✔️

Find out your feelings are reciprocated ✔️

--

omake!! :D

"Are you two getting inside or not?! We kinda have an alien problem on our hands!!"

You and Keith jolt out of your hug not expecting to be interrupted by your team pilot at such a vulnerable bonding moment. The both of you turn your heads to see Lance sticking himself out the window shaking his fist into the air as if he was an old geezer yelling at little kids to get off his lawn.

You see Keith visibly irk and you sweat drop seeing Lance duck back inside closing the window letting out a small shriek.

"Remind me to stab him later."

You look up at the boy who's still glaring at the now closed window and softly chuckle before letting out a small "don't" but a teeny weensy small side of you secretly not minding the planned assault.

You hoped Lance knew how dodge. 

--

[teatimecrumpetsandsugar]

Hey! :D So, just saw that your requests are open, so I thought I could tell you this very cheesy idea of mine for a Lance x Reader fanfiction (either female or gender neutral pronounces are fine; it's all supposed to play in a modern setting, by the way): So, the reader and Lance are going to the same college, and are sharing a flat. Evertyhing is cool, until Lance realizes that he had developed some geniune feelings for the reader, and screams to Hunk about. After talking for a little while, he comes up with these big romantic plans in order to confess his feelings as cheesy and sweet as possible. However, not everything that you plan will also work out that way. So, instead of being able to confess his feelings in the way he wants to, he instead accidentally confesses his love on a lazy Sunday while they are playing video games. But guess what? The reader doesn't mind one bit because they've been in love with this boy as long as they can remember? Thanks for hopefully taking my requests and have a nice day. :3 (That got longer than I thought it would lmao)

I LOVE THIS REQUEST SO MUCCHHHH MMMMMMM IMPROMPTU CONFESSIONS MAKE ME SOSSOSOSOSOOSOS HAPPY OFC OFC

Okok before I get too carried awayyy, I just wanna say that I really, really love this request and all the genuine fuzzies that come with it uGh it's so sweet!

As always, if I don't touch upon the prompt correctly or you're dissatisfied, I'd be more than happy to rewrite it! :) Take care, and I hope you enjoy!

Also also, I decided to give the reader she/they pronouns to satisfy both pronoun requests! I hope that's okay! :D

/                                                                                                            \

Typically, on a Saturday morning, Hunk would be up sometime after 11 AM, drinking hot chocolate with the little marshmallows and eating pancakes covered in syrup- sweet things to encourage a sweet day, he'd once told someone happily. Typically, he wouldn't be up before then, and he wouldn't be trying to talk down Lance during that time.

Unfortunately, this is not a typical Saturday morning.

"I'm really, really into her, Hunk! It's not fair that she gets to walk around, being all cute and fun and awesome and I have to be stuck here, pining hopelessly and breaking the one universal rule for having a roommate! There has to be some kind of law against being that cute somewhere!" 

Hunk drags a hand down his face, sighing wearily, “Then just talk to her. I still fail to see why you had to call me at 7 AM on a Saturday for this,” He pauses, eyes narrowing skeptically, “Why are you even up at 7 AM on a Saturday?”

“Hunk, I don’t want to mess this up. I think I might actually be... into her.” 

There’s a heavy pause as Hunk stares at the phone in disbelief, “Actually into her? Like- Like ‘if she rejected you, you’d cry’ into her?” 

Lance lets out a small sad noise at the thought, “Like ‘if they rejected me, I’d lay down on the floor right there and never get up’ into them. I think I might be in love with her, and I don’t know what to do.”

Hunk leans back in surprise, lips parting with uncertainty, “In love?” His tone is laced with trepidation, “That’s... a big word. And a big bundle of feelings I don’t think I can help you unpack this early on my day off.”

Lance lets out an exaggerated whine, “I know! I just- I wanted to-” He pauses, searching for the words, “This is gonna sound really, really, pathetically lame-”

“-Lance, you know I literally couldn’t judge you if I tried-”

“-I wanted to plan out a confession.”

Hunk opens his mouth to speak again, but nothing comes out. He genuinely has no words- it’s terrifying to think about Lance being this committed to anything, really.

He tries again, opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to find the words, “That’s... I... Wow,” He laughs a little, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the counter, “You’re really serious?”

Lance exhales softly, “I’ve never been this serious about anything in my life.”

Hunk sighs, running his fingers through his hair, “Okay, but just know; if I help you with this, you’re not allowed- literally not allowed- to break her heart within a week.”

Lance scoffs indignantly, “How little do you think of me?”

Hunk raises an eyebrow, fully aware that Lance can’t see him, letting the silence answer for him.

“Fine, fine- I suppose you’re not completely wrong in saying that. Still stings, though.”

/ /                                                                                                        \ \

“I’m actually going to slaughter you, Lance! You’re so bad at this, what the heck?” You toss your head back as he dies in the game, cackling in delight, “Come on- that was so easy!”

Lance’s fingers fumble idly with the controls, a non-committal response falling from his lips. He can’t take his eyes off of you, off the way your eyes crinkle at the corners and the way your hair falls into your face. Your slow smile, the way it pulled up languidly the closer you got to winning; the curve of your back as you lean back against the couch.

At the lack of protest from your roommate, you turn and meets his gorgeous, cobalt blue eyes. Your smile slowly falls, gaze completely transfixed on his own as your lips part slightly, drawing his eyes down to them.

He says your name, softly, heart stuttering in his chest at the sudden realization that he really wants to kiss you right now.

“Yeah, Lance?” You reply quietly, slowly drifting closer, “What is it?”

He exhales shortly, chest aching with the fear of rejection, and a flush starts to creep up his throat. He splutters out an attempt at speaking, and you laugh, throwing your head back again and brightening the air in the room in one fell swoop.

For a second, he laments the loss of the moment, but your head comes back down as quick as it went up, face suddenly even closer than it was before as you ask the very question that had been on his mind, “Can I kiss you, Lance?”

He hesitates a moment, remembering the plan he had, but then he looks at the bright smile on your face and realizes there probably won’t ever be a better moment to kiss you for the first time, “Yes.”

You surge forward, pressing a hand to the back of his neck and drawing him into a sweet, innocent kiss. His heart soars, mind racing and drawing to a complete halt all at once as he parts his lips against yours, hands cupping your face reverently.

You taste of what butterflies sound like, lips sweet and slightly chapped against his own, and he can’t quite breathe right, drowning in you yet utterly unwilling to come up for air. You laugh lightly against his lips, causing his own bright laughter to bubble up from his chest- soon, you’re both just a silly mess of laughter, foreheads leaning together gently.

“This was... not according to plan.” You make a soft noise of confusion, and his heart skips a beat at the realization that he just ratted himself out.

He tries to take it back, blushing profusely as he stumbles over his words, but you only laugh, a mischievous smile curling at your lips, “What plan, Lance?”

He purses his lips, hesitating for a moment, before leaning in to kiss you again. ”Imagine a picnic in the park,” he murmurs against your lips, eyelashes fluttering gently against his cheekbones, “With homemade red velvet cupcakes and hot chocolate thermoses.”

You let your eyes fall shut, imagining the scene he’s painting with his words.

“We go to the playground at sunset, and I push you on the swing so you can touch the last rays of the sun as it falls,” He takes a soft, unsteady breath, and you fall further into the daydream with him, fingers curling around his wrists as he strokes his thumbs across your cheekbones, “At dusk, we start watching the stars, waiting for them to make themselves seen. Then, in the dead of night, when the stars are at their brightest...”

Lance’s voice trails off and your eyes blink open slowly, breaking the trance languidly, “What, Lance?”

He exhales softly, “I finally tell you that I’m in love with you.”

You watch as he holds his breath, heart racing in your chest when his words settle over your mind like a fog, “You’re in love with me,” You repeat softly, and he nods gently.

“You drive me crazy.” You laugh softly, tilting your head up and brushing the tip of your nose against his, “I drive you crazy? I’ve been head over heels in love with you for as long as I can remember, McClain.”

His eyes snap open in surprise, a delighted hoot parting ways from his lips, “You are? You’re in love with me? You love me? You love-”

He lets out a wet laugh, tears burning his waterline, and you laugh back, “Aw, you crybaby! I do- I love you-”

He kisses you again, cutting you off- he kisses you again and again and again, repeating over and over again that he loves you until you can’t breathe.

[marshmallow-phd]

Nine Little Letters

Genre: College AU, Fake Dating AU, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before AU

Inspired By: This graphic made by @rcse-tvler​

Pairing: EXO x Reader

Summary: Just when you thought life was done shoving you down, it got much, much worse. After finding out that your latest crush was already in a relationship, you did what you always did when emotions ran high: you wrote a letter. Signed and sealed, you put it away with the eight other letters you’d written to past one-sided loves, never to be seen again. That is, until a mix up accidentally sends those letters out to their respective recipients and you find yourself in the middle of one confusing web of love. With fake relationships, insecurities, and revelations swirling around, things are bound to get a little messy.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11

This was the worst kind of humiliation. Standing there on the sidewalk staring open-mouthed at the one person you were excited to see today, you were crumbling into a million pieces. And no one even noticed. That was what made this humiliation so bad; there was no one to witness it. You were breaking and no one cared.

You should have known better, really. This morning was going too well. You had woken up on time, had a delicious, filling breakfast, and had managed to put an outfit together worthy of any Pinterest board. Your confidence was through the roof and you were going to do the one thing in your life you swore you would never do.

You were going to confess to your crush.

Signing up for math tutoring was the last thing you wanted to do. Who in the world wanted to spend their valuable free time learning more about equations and algorithms? But you needed to pass this class. It was the second time you’d taken college algebra and the thought of taking it a third time made you want to crawl under your bed. So, you buckled down and took the walk of shame into the math lab. (Yes, that was an exaggeration. Everyone knows there is no shame in getting help. Didn’t mean you had to like it.) When you got the call from your assigned tutor, you ignored it. You didn’t like talking on the phone to anyone let alone a number you didn’t recognize. No voicemail was left. Then a text came through.

Hi, (y/n)! This Kim Junmyeon! I’ve been assigned as your math tutor. When you get a chance, let me know when you’re free so we can create a schedule that works for you. Have a great day!

You waited an appropriate amount of time before replying. So, an hour and half later, you texted him your schedule and made a plan to meet up in the library the following Thursday. You marked that day on your calendar with exactly zero enthusiasm. In your head, this Kim Junmyeon was the cliché nerd from movies: dorky glasses, snort-like laugh, and clothes that looked better on a grandfather. Oh, boy were you so happy to be wrong.

Sitting down at one of the tables by the large, ceiling high windows, Junmyeon was nothing like you’d imagined. He had a sophisticated aura about him. He dressed nicely, a thin long-sleeved shirt over a patterned button down, the collar laid nicely over the top of the shirt, and was blessed with sharp, handsome features. You knew you were in trouble. But you didn’t care. You sat down at that table eagerly, ready to… learn.

For the past month and a half, you’d met Junmyeon twice a week to go over the lessons and work on the assignments. By some miracle, your grade was actually going up in the class. Somehow you were able to better comprehend the material and secretly fawn over your tutor simultaneously. At this point, you were sort of feigning how much you weren’t understanding to keep the tutoring sessions going. The nice thing about algebra, once you understood the basics, everything else built on top of it.

But today – today you had decided that you were going to step over the line from tutor and student into the realm of perhaps something more.

You liked Junmyeon. You liked his math puns and the way he scrunched his face when he thought hard about something. His lips would pucker whenever he lifted the sheet of paper to check over your work. Each time you met up with him your heart acted like it was in the middle of a NASCAR race and it was determined to win. You had it bad. This wasn’t the first time you’d had a crush like this, but you had set your mind on making this one different. This time, you wouldn’t hold it inside. You were going to be the brave one, the bold one. The fact that birds were tweeting as you rode your bike onto campus should have been a sign that things would only be downhill from there. Unfortunately, like the optimistic idiot, you took it as a positive instead.

After locking your bike up, you headed straight for the courtyard near the pond. Junmyeon had told you that he often spent his mornings there to finish up homework or to read a book (the fact that he read so much was another factor in your liking of him). In your head, he was all alone, flipping through a novel as he leaned against the trunk of a tree, looking like a prince taking a rest in the shade on a warm summer’s day. The water would be glistening in the background as a lovely, lighthearted melody played softly through the air. He would see you approach and smile that wide, brilliant smile. Your heart would skip as you sat down in the grass next to him and poured out your feelings. The daydream turned into a nightmare the second he came into view.

Junmyeon was not alone nor was he sitting under a tree with a book. He was on one of the benches, splayed out on the wooden beams with his head resting in the lap of a very pretty, more his league type of girl. She laughed as Junmyeon told a story. A delicate hand ran through his soft brown hair. Your heart fell to the ground, forming a crater at your feet.

Shoulders slumped and day ruined, you turned and headed for the student union. If today was going to suck like this, then you were going to sprinkle it with an overly sugary coffee drink. Preferably with extra chocolate drizzle. It helped - a little bit.

Your morning classes went by in a blur. You were certain you took notes, but none of the information sank in. Later you would have to transcribe your quick scribbles to a word document to help you study. You would learn the information then. By lunch, you were starting to peel yourself off the sidewalk of humiliation. Especially when the one person you could always rely on joined you for lunch.

“How did it go?”

You remained silent, continuously munching on the sandwich in your hands as your best friend sat down across from you at the small, two-person table near the middle of the cafeteria.

Baekhyun laughed his signature, SpongeBob-like laugh. “That bad, huh? I told you not to do it.”

“Technically, I didn’t do it,” you corrected. “He already has a girlfriend.”

“Ouch.”

You nodded. How could you not see this before? Did he mention having a girlfriend and you just blocked it out? Junmyeon and you talked casually between math problems, about your friends and fun things you liked to do on the weekends. He’d failed to mention one very important detail.

“Well,” Baekhyun reached over and plucked a potato chip off your plate and plopped it in his mouth, “at least you found out before you said something. I told you he wasn’t worth it.”

“Just because he has a girlfriend doesn’t mean he isn’t worth crushing on.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “You’re so much help.”

Ignoring your quip, Baekhyun snatched another chip. You smacked his hand, but all that managed to do was break off a few pieces, the crumbs falling to the table. Smiling proudly, Baekhyun popped the half-chip into his mouth. “So, are you just going to go home and write a letter?”

“Are you just going to go home and write a letter?” you mocked with a scrunched face.

Byun Baekhyun had been your best friend since the two of you had met in the first grade. He’d stolen your popsicle that your mother had packed as a special treat for your first full day of school. When he saw you start to cry, he broke off the piece he’d been sucking on and handed the rest back to you. There was a bit of a disagreement on the level of nice-ness that act achieved since it was your popsicle to begin with, but somehow it caused the two of you to be inseparable ever since. Being your best friend meant that he was privy to the more private parts of your life.

Like the letters.

Starting as young as ten years old, you’d developed a bit of a tradition when it came to your crushes. Emotions were hard to process, but you found them easier to work through if you thought about them and translated them into words. Those words would fly across the paper, transferring the feelings that made you both laugh and cry into the graphite that formed them. Not to mention, the act made you feel like the heroine in a rom-com. Certainly it was something that Meg Ryan or Rachel McAdams would do once they realized how they felt about the male lead.

The first letter you ever wrote was during your final year of ballet class. Dancing had been a part of your life since you were three, but a new passion had been discovered so you’d decided to quit after this last cluster of classes. A terrible decision, really. Because right after your mind was already made up, a new boy had joined the class.

Kim Jongin.

He had just moved into town after his father was promoted to a new position and had to transfer to headquarters. You’d never seen him at the park or the grocery store before. He was completely new. And beautiful.

He was blessed golden skin that glistened, shining brighter the longer he danced. And, oh, the way he danced. It was well beyond what anyone else could do. His movements were fluid, water-like, as if the very beat of the music were pulling and manipulating his limbs to convey what the notes had to say. Each move was a word and when he formed them together, they could make you smile or cry. And when he smiled… oh, his smile was like starlight. The kind of brightness that stayed in the sky even as the city lights flickered on. To this day, you’d never found one that could rival it. He was a dream that every composer coveted. So, what was your young heart to do?

Well, the movies told you to confess. But there was no way you could find the courage to do so, especially since you only saw him in class and you couldn’t confess in front of everyone. The only other option was to write it out; to write it out like Jane Austen pouring her heart out for Tom Lefroy.

 Dear Jongin,

I’m not sure how to start this. Do I compliment you on your dancing? It’s nothing like I’ve seen before. Prima Donnas in the Russian Ballet would be jealous of you! But you probably hear that all the time. And about how handsome you are, even under all that hair. I can’t help but watch when you pull it back for class so you can see yourself in the mirror. Why can’t I look like that? I somehow ended up looking like a frizzy wet cat that just climbed out of the tub.

I guess what I’m trying to avoid saying is that… I like you. A lot. I like your laugh and your wide smile. I like how much you love music and how you interpret the melody with your moves. No one can freestyle like you! My heart does a dance of its own whenever I see you. I hope you don’t have anyone that you like, just so I can stand a chance. Would you ever think of me like that? If not, it’s okay. I just needed to tell you. Someday, you’ll be on stage dancing to an audience of thousands and I’ll be right there in the front row, cheering you on! Until then, I hope you always find happiness in what you love.

Love,

(y/n).

 That sentence about watching him on stage made you cringe in hindsight. Cute for a ten-year-old, but a bit stalkerish. Luckily, though, you never gave it to him. You chickened out every time up until the last class. The idea of him opening it and reading right there in front of you was mortifying. So, then, you decided to mail it. The teacher gave you his address after you told her you wanted to invite him to your birthday party (it should be a little worrisome that a teacher was willing to pass on private information like that… perhaps it was because you were a kid). Three times you went to the mailbox to send the letter out and three times you ran back inside to hide it under your mattress.

That was the beginning of your weird little tradition. Though you never sent the letter to Jongin, you felt better having somewhat confessed your feelings and worked through them without the humiliation of actually… doing it. So, the next time you had a crush so overwhelming that you needed to get the feelings out, you wrote a letter. You even went all the way each time to address the envelope, giving the confession a sense of finality. There was no fear in them ever going out. Baekhyun was the only other one in the world who knew of their existence. At the current moment, eight were hidden in a drawer in your vanity. The way your fingers were itching, a ninth one was on the way.

“I might,” you finally replied.

Baekhyun leaned forward eagerly. “Can I read it when you’re done?”

“No!”

He snapped his fingers as he sat back in his chair. “Darn.”

“Why am I even friends with you?”

“Because I’m charming.”

There was no question in his voice. He one-hundred percent believed it. And… to be honest, he did have his moments. But that was all in the past. “Like a plank of wood.”

Shaking his head, Baekhyun rapped his hands on the table before standing up. “Alright, I’m going to class. Have fun with your pencil and imagination.” For emphasis on his stupid remark, he stole one last chip before walking off.

You finished off your sandwich in a bit of a rage. By the time you were finished, your mouth muscles were aching as if you’d spent several hours at the gym and it was jaw day.

You only had one class left for the afternoon. But it was algebra. How were you supposed to concentrate on functions when your sad attempt at getting into a relationship with your tutor failed so epically? Somehow you managed, though, and you packed up at the end of class with a new sort of determination. As you hopped on your bike and rode home, you thought over what you were going to write. You were so lost in your head that you hadn’t notice the car pulling out of your neighbor’s driveway, nearly hitting you before the driver hit their brakes.

“Shoot!”

You back peddled to break. Your heart thumped in your chest. No life memories flashed before your eyes, but you were sure you almost died. Slowly, you moved forward to get out of the way of the car. 

“I’m sorry!” you yelled over your shoulder.

The driver leaned out the window.

Oh, great.

It was your neighbor. Or, at least, your neighbor’s son. Do Kyungsoo. He stared at you with an expression that could be blank but could also be a glare. It was hard to tell with him. Shaking his head, he pulled back inside the car and drove away.

Fighting off embarrassment for the second time this day - albeit this situation was much lower on the scale and it happened a bit more often than you’d like to admit - you put your bike up in the backyard and headed up to your room. Your mother, a literary history professor, and your father, a doctor at the local hospital, were both at work and wouldn’t be home until well after dinner. You were used to it. Besides, you were an adult and you liked being able to decide to have pizza for dinner and not worry about what other people wanted for toppings. Once you put your order in, you sat down at your vanity and got to work.

 Dear Junmyeon,

Has anyone told you how your hair looks in the sunlight? The dark brown hues seem so warm and inviting, like an ebony chair that was warmed by the unfiltered rays. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to run my finger through it. Would the strands be as soft as they look? Would you wear the same smile on your face that you do during our sessions? But I guess I might not be meant to feel them. Today, I intended to tell you how I felt. I woke up with a determination, a goal to say how much I like you to your face. I was so nervous riding my bike to the university, but it was the good kind of nervous; the kind that makes you keep going. It seemed, however, that I was too late. Or maybe I simply never had a chance at all. I’d missed any signs that said you were already someone else’s.

I hope she knows how lucky she is. I hope she makes you laugh and listens to you when you’re having a bad day. Your laugh is like a symphony. Does she tell you how light and lovely it is? Or how infectious it is? When you laugh, I can’t help but laugh along. It’ll be sad not to hear it anymore. Or have our talks filled with random subject changes. But I think I’ll miss your smile most of all. The way it crinkles your eyes yet still lets them shine. The way it spreads across your face and the way your cheeks grow. It is truly a sight to behold. I hope wherever you go, you are always smiling. You always let your light shine even on the cloudiest of days. That’s what’s so special about you and what made me fall for you. Even when I was frustrated or couldn’t understand, you were patient, taking my mind off of the negative and turning me so I could face the positive. That’s a rare kind of person. You are a rare kind of person. Please always be happy, Kim Junmyeon.

Love,

(y/n)

 With a sigh you sat back in your chair. The letter had done its job. Though you were still sad about the way things turned out, you no longer felt defeated. The words you needed to say were now out there without being “out there”. Okay, so he had a girlfriend. Big deal. It wasn’t the end of the world. There were more potential love interests out there that you could find. He was only one and obviously wasn’t the one.

Beginning to smile again, you folded the letter and put it in an envelope. You didn’t have Junmyeon’s address, so you wrote out the address for the math lab. Opening the top drawer of the vanity, you placed the latest addition to your collection under the first envelope. The doorbell rang right as you closed it up again. Oh, thank goodness. Food.

Practically skipping down the steps, you hurried to the front door.

“Hi-” You stopped as soon as you’d opened it. The person waiting on the other side was not the pizza delivery guy - it was Baekhyun. The boxes holding the pizza and cheese sticks you’d order for no one but yourself were in his hands. Over his shoulder, you barely caught sight of the delivery man driving away. “Really?”

“What? I was bored. And hungry.” He flipped open the lid to show you the hot, melted cheese of the appetizer. “Cheese stick?”

Rolling your eyes, you stepped aside so he could come inside.

Baekhyun had been to your home plenty of times in the past so it was easy for him to make himself at home. He didn’t wait for you before pulling plates out of the cabinet and pouring a drink. He even went as far as getting you glass as well. “Thirsty?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

The two of you ate at the kitchen table as your mother had a “no meals in the living room” policy. Small snacks like nuts and popcorn were okay, as long as you didn’t spill any on the couches.

“So… how did the writing go?” Baekhyun asked cheekily between bites.

You shrugged. “Fine. I’m deciding that I’m getting over it.”

Now it was Baekhyun’s turn to roll his eyes. “You always get over them fast.”

“What’s the point of dwelling on the things you can’t change?”

That was always your answer. Yes, the hurt was immediate and painful, but Baekhyun was right, you tended to push it aside rather quickly. That was the whole point of your letters, anyway. Get the feelings out of the way so you could move on. What was the point of clinging on to something like that? You would only end up worse if you stayed in that spot. So, you pushed yourself to move on. And eight times out of nine, it had worked. There was only that one nagging letter that failed to do its job. That particular set of feelings refused to go away even as you looked to other crushes, as you found other boys to like. It was the one you would always wonder about, the one that was completely off limits. The dull ache still crept up every once in a while. If moving on was what you had to do, you would do it. Because you would prefer if you never had to go through something like that ever again.

[icology]

(turns out the uni thing I had to take care of today ended up not happening because of the usual bureaucracies SO,,, doing the 30 day challenge to destress)

Team Ico 30 Day Challenge // Day 1 : Which game is your favorite and why?

My favorite game so far is Shadow of the Colossus without a doubt, though I have a very strong connection with Ico as well, as it was the first one I played.

I feel that to explain why I love it, I have to backtrack to the time it released and tell you the story of how I came across it. Leaving it under the cut because it's super long and I don't wanna put a wall of text on your dashboard, but I SWEAR it's funny!

When shadow released, I was around 10/11 years old, and though I played videogames on a regular basis, being a kid my interests were mostly cute and funny stuff like Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, etc, etc. You get the deal. It finally releases, and this game is all over the place. It's on gamestop, it's on the cover of gaming magazines, it's everywhere. My brother was beyond excited and somehow managed to convince me to be excited for it too, and we get our hands on the game. Now's the time to mention english isn't my first language, games back then were rarely localized, and us being kids, we didn't even read the description all the way through. I actually think my brother accidentally skipped the intro cutscene because I have zero memory of ever watching it then.

Imagine my shock when I start up the game and there are minimal instructions in a language I know like 3 words in, a dead girl, barren land with no enemies despite there being a weird "monster" on the cover and zero visual cues as to what to do next. I tried all the buttons. I checked the menu for a missions tab. I tried to find anything that would tell me what to do next (yes, I tried the sword. I thought you had to use the light beams to kill something!!!). The only thing I ended up doing was climbing the shrine (I used to call it a "castle") because it was the only thing I could do, and I was 100% convinced that whatever had to be done, had to be atop the shrine because everything else was empty. Needless to say I fell down every single time before I could reach the top because I had no stamina. I DETESTED IT. But, for some reason (or anger. probably anger), I played it almost every single day because it was getting on my nerves how I just couldn't figure that strange game out. It had me right on that instant but I didn’t even realize it.

One day, my dad got so tired of seeing me and my brother aimlessly riding Agro around, he took the controller from us and started playing it himself. I got bored watching him and went to do something else, 5 minutes later I hear screaming from the living room, turns out my dad reached the tutorial area that nor me or my brother bothered to check before, and that's when we realized there WAS something there after all. Then Valus shows up and my dad just says "THERE ARE GIANTS IN THIS GAME???" (I don't think he ever bothered to look at the cover lol). It was like having a collective epiphany. He hands us the controller and after a few tries taking turns we manage to take down the goddamn thing, then the black "tendrils" pierce Wander and we're taken back to the shrine. Me and my brother looked at each other and we went like "that's game over, we did something wrong". I gave up on it and didn't play it until years later in my teens, but I loved Ico growing up (I didn't know they were from the same dev team back then!). Some weeks later I bought the Playstation Magazine and they had an entire section dedicated to the game where they explained how to take down each colossi. I felt really dumb but at that point I was so frustrated that I didn't bother to pick it back up, but I'm sure my brother did at some point.

I finally played it again out of curiosity that never really died down at around 17, after going through all of our old stuff stored away and finding it. I did some research first and spoiled the entire thing for myself while reading about it online, but by then I was finally fluent in english and a lot more experienced, so I was able to clear it with no issue. And I loved it. Throughout my teens I got obsessed with anime and manga, so for years I only played games in that vein, but it was as if correctly replaying shadow had filled a void in my heart I didn't even know I had. It made me get back into the PS classics, and writing, which I hadn't done since I was like 14, and made me see every single piece of media I came in contact with from then on in a completely different light, all because no game or song or movie had ever played into my emotions like that. I had never seen something that broke your heart and mended it immediately after, it reminded me almost of the way your parents scold and teach you a lesson but they do it in a loving way. And in my little writer heart I felt envious. SO ENVIOUS. Because how could someone come up with a story like that and execute it so perfectly? I wanted to do that to people. I wanted to create something that made people feel like it changed them after being in touch with it.

In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't play it all at that age because I just didn't have enough emotional maturity, or age, even, to understand the themes or why it looked the way it looked. I remember seeing the black blood spill all over the place for the first time freaked me out, it reminded me of something closer to horror and gore than of dark fairytales. I know the experience could have been different if I hadn’t spoiled the plot to myself, and that it would have probably hit me a million times harder than it did, but if the story itself hadn’t sparked my interest in the first place, I could have never even touched it again, so I’m even grateful for that as well. I wouldn’t change a thing because that was the way I was supposed to come across it. Around that time I finally found out ico was from the same devs and of course, it all made sense. Then, a new game was on the way, and I ended up staying to see what would come next. No regrets, and I plan on staying for much longer.

Long story short and apologies for the long read: Shadow is my favorite because I hated it, but it’s so good that I ended up loving it.

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1981 - Bonus: Avengers Annual 10/What If? 27

The X-Men, those Claremontian mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men! [more here]

(Avengers Annual 10 & What If? 27) - by Chris Claremont and Mary Jo Duffy, Michael Golden and Jerry Bingham

Avengers? You’re not here for Avengers! Let me make the following counterpoint:

Holy eye shadow, Rogue!

See, Avengers Annual 10 is less about the Avengers and more about three other things:

The rehabilitation of Carol Danvers who, after this, has had her fill of the Avengers and becomes an honorary member of the X-Men;

Spider-Woman and the X-Men trying to figure out what has happened to Ms. Marvel;

Mystique trying to spring her Brotherhood from prison, using a secret weapon: Rogue.

Depending on my mood that day, I might name Rogue as my favourite-ever X-Man, so I really could not skip her debut issue. Instantly iconic, all of this:

Her streak;

Her signature green outfit with hoodie;

Her accent.

Queen.

I love how Claremont once again almost effortlessly introduces a strong female character, one that single-handedly takes down three of the strongest Avengers. Also note how free Rogue still is with her powers: fun, flirty, without the tragic can’t-touch-anyone-angle that will define her for the next three decades.

I’m sorry, am I getting ahead of myself?

This story begins as a whodunit: who pushed an amnesiac Carol Danvers off the Golden Gate Bridge and stole her mind? For that matter, where did she came from? Wasn’t she happily married and pregnant in some alternative dimension last time the readers saw her? Spider-Woman rescues her from the choppy water and calls Professor Xavier to help out. He manages to retrieve the Jane Doe’s identity and knows who attacked her: a woman named Rogue.

Rogue, meanwhile, skulks about the Avengers Mansion, first taking out Captain America and then attacking Thor.

Considering what this comic is about, I don’t believe Hawkeye’s throwaway mysognism is accidental here.

Rogue’s powers work as follows: through touch, she can steal other people’s powers and memories. The longer she touches someone, the longer she’ll have them - with the looming threat of the theft becoming permanent.

After absorbing Thor, Rogue is faced with three Avengers who’s powers she can’t absorb - Spider-Woman (covered in a suit); Vision (robot) and Wonder Man (being of pure energy? Idk, I’m not really familiar with him other than his bromance with Beast). Hoping the three powers she has in her arsenal - Ms. Marvel’s, Thor’s and Cap’s - will be enough, Rogue flees.

Mystique, meanwhile, has duped Iron Man by pretending to be the Wasp and has paralysed Tony Stark in his suit with some sort of device. She picks up the powered-up Rogue and their plan becomes clear:

Rogue immediately earns her place in my heart by using billionaire Tony Stark the way the Coyote uses anvils. (Also note the odd way of spelling ‘sugah’.)

I love how both the Brotherhood and the X-Men continually pull focus from the Avengers: for an Avengers-comic, it's surprising how much they're pushed to the background. Again, this makes sense if you know what this issue really is about, but that won’t become clear until the epilogue. I don’t mind, it means we get a ton of great moments, like the Blob calling Mystique ‘Misty’:

My God, this era’s Destiny/Mystique is even more obvious than 90’s Rictor/Shatterstar.

A battle erupts. One funny moment is actually seeing Destiny fight. I’ve never really read comics about this incarnation of the Brotherhood and my collection mostly takes off after Legion Quest, so I mostly know Destiny posthumously. I always figured that, as a villain, she stood somewhere off on the side, delivering cryptic messages. I never realized she was the one to almost shoot Senator Kelly, nor that her powers are this practical.

X-Men drinking game rule 11: Drink anytime someone fatshames the Blob.

The fight is pretty evenly matched until Spider-Woman releases Iron Man from Mystique’s little trap. Soon, the Avengers overwhelm the Brotherhood. While Mystique and Rogue manage to flee, Destiny, Avalanche, Pyro and the Blob are detained again.

With the main antagonists sorted, we return to the actual storyline: the rehabilitation of Ms. Marvel. Professor X has managed to tease her out of her catatonic state and offers her therapy to restore her missing memories and powers. (The ones stolen by Rogue.) The Avengers, not fully understanding why Carol won’t ask them for help, eventually come by for a house call.

Carol asks the X-Men to leave while the Avengers gingerly confront her. It’s very awkward.

“Fuck the Avengers. Taking my beer.” - Wolverine, probably.

See, what all this refers to is the rape of Ms. Marvel. I haven’t read the particular comic in which this happens (Avengers 200), so if you want all the details, I’ll refer you to this article. Before I get into the details, it’s important to note that Claremont was the writer for Carol Danvers in her solo-series, giving her agency and turning Ms. Marvel into a three-dimensional character. The title was then cancelled and Carol was shuffled off to the Avengers. (Rogue was, in fact, planned to make her debut in that the solo-Ms. Marvel series, as one of Ms. Marvel’s new antagonists. Presumably, Rogue would steal her powers there, too. We all know Claremont loves to strip his heroes and heroines of their powers to show they’re even more badass without them.)

As an Avenger, Carol was wooed by some other-dimensional dude/entity named Marcus. He courted her by giving her flowers, worshipping the ground she stepped on and, oh yeah, ‘subtly’ influencing her mind to make her fall in love with him and consequently impregnating her.

Yes.

Now, Claremont is no stranger to putting his characters through their paces and he gleefully makes use of the whole mental manipulation-trope. In fact, telepathically coercing someone to fall in love with you is absolutely what Mastermind did to Jean Grey: he probably violated her just as much as Marcus did Carol. The difference is how it’s treated in the narrative: Mastermind’s actions are never laughed away or apologized for and are the direct cause for his downfall. They help trigger Jean’s transformation to the Dark Phoenix, whose first deed is taking out her fury on ‘Jason Wyngarde’.

That’s… not what happened with Ms. Marvel. There, the narrative condones Marcus’ actions by framing it as ‘her happy ending’ (married and pregnant, yay!), something which is celebrated by the Avengers.

This is where Carol calls them out for their bullshit.

We call this ‘The Reason You Suck’-Speech. It’s a thing of beauty.

The Avengers depart, tail between their legs, and Carol hangs out with the cool X-kids from now on. For now, at least.

So, this issue is not only a landmark because it’s where Rogue debuts, but you can also see Chris Claremont going to bat for one of characters: he (presumably reluctantly) gave back the character of Carol Danvers when her solo was cancelled, proceeded to see how terribly they massacred his girl and then claimed that ownership right back.

Good for you, Claremont.

***

The “What If… the Phoenix Had Not Died”-issue is kind of boring, because it’s basically a rehash of the Phoenix Saga. Why am I paying attention to it? Because of the (mild) gore (and because the Avengers Annual wouldn’t fill a whole post). Anyway, it’s like watching a Final Destination-movie: it’s silly, light on plot and never a particularly thought-provoking movie, but it’s still fun to see all those people inventively but haplessly die.

Plot! Instead of committing suicide on the moon, the Shi’ar strip Jean of her powers after her trial. Jean is trapped in a barren mental state, almost feeling like she's a veggie. But Jean's powers refuse to remain dormant: slowly, her telepathy returns.

When Galactus threatens the Shi’ar homestead, Lilandra summons the X-Men as her champions. Jean embraces her Phoenix-side and defeats Galactus. Everyone is grateful and super-convinced Jean can handle the Phoenix this time! Yay!

And, because that battle with Galactus took a lot out of her, Jean decides she can have a little asteroid. As a treat. She keeps slipping up on her diet, supping on the occasional meteor and lonely planet to keep her power levels up. It turns out to be a slippery slope: finally, she consumes another star (in an uninhabited system! And a small one! How dare you judge her!), but when she returns to the mansion…

The absolute worst moment to forget you have powers, Kitty.

Xavier attempts to bind the Phoenix, but last time, Jean helped him fight from within. This time, there's not much Jean left. Without breaking a sweat, the Phoenix wipes his brain. But she doesn’t stop there. Maybe the Phoenix remembers that, last time, she was undone by the principles of “friendship is magic”. This time, she’s determined to not let it get so far.

It’s absolutely bone-chilling.

And the stars blinked As they watched her carefully Jealous of the way she shone - Atticus

I wonder if there’s a rhyme or reason to the way Jean murders her friends: is it random? Does she go for the ones she loves the most first? Does she save Cyclops for last, knowing killing him might trigger Jean to respond?

The narration mentions that the three remaining X-Men are the most powerful ones: Polaris, Havok and Cyclops. (I would’ve swapped in Storm for Cyclops, but whatever.) They have formulated a quick plan: Polaris pulls focus while Havok and Cyclops shift into position. Phoenix disintegrates Polaris while Havok and Scott try and blast Phoenix to smithereens.

But at the last moment, Scott can’t. Havok’s blast alone is not enough. Phoenix shoots him through the heart and then, finally, kills Cyclops. That’s when Jean resurfaces, realizing what she’s done. She can’t take it - she’s in the mood to dissolve in the sky, as per Virginia Woolf - and she lets the Phoenix take over.

Phoenix finally lives up to her potential: The End of All That Is.

It's a mediocre plot with a lame ramp-up to a terrifying conclusion. In the regular universe, the thing that triggers the Phoenix is the utter violation of Jean’s body and mind; here, it’s being confronted by Kitty. One is the proverbial red cloth in front of the bull, the other is being assaulted by an ineffective wet cloth. The Phoenix Saga is iconic because all the pieces were carefully put in place; this just feels rushed an unearned.

Also, the Watcher is full of shit. You can’t say you don’t pass judgment whilst simultaneously comparing the merits of one tragedy to the other. Shut up, Uatu.

Check back next week for your regularly scheduled X-Men Abridged! It’s time for 1982 and the brood saga!

[chyrstis]

WIP Sunday!

After the number the start to the week tried to pull, I’m glad to have a few moments to kick back and relax a bit, b/c things are only about to get even busier! For now, though, I’m just glad to be able to sneak in more writing, b/c these ideas just aren’t going to get done otherwise. :’)

Tagged by: @fadedjacket @cobb-vanthss @faithchel @raisinghellinotherworlds @painterofhorizons @geronimo-11 and @proudspires! You’re all wonderful, thank you! <3

Tagging: @writerofblocks @amistrio @tommymillers @softmillers @foofygoldfish @ma-sulevin @shellibisshe @unlikelynick @redroci @teamhawkeye @scarlettkat86 @guileandgall @risenlucifer @tomexraider @nightwingshero @strafethesesinners @baeogorath @lilwritingraven @weekend-writer @sneaky-apostate @nightingore @aceghosts, along with anyone else that has any WIPs being kicked around! 

First up, more of the Trap fic, b/c the more I write, the closer I can get to posting it, and I really, really want to start putting chapters up, darn it.

---

The handle started turning, and Hana nearly fell ass over end trying to get away from it.

She’d expected force of some kind. For it to swing open and startle her, but the man holding onto the doorknob let it slip out of his hand as he entered the room, giving her a good look at him.

It wasn’t John. That alone was a relief, but he was covered in tattoos like him. Wore heavy boots, had no shirt to speak of, and carried himself differently than the people she’d fought off before.

What had they been called over the radio? Cult VIPs? She’d only seen a few of them from a distance before, but if anyone was going to fit the bill, it’d be him.

The words and phrases running up his arms and over his torso reminded her exactly of the kind covering Joseph. Words of dedication tattooed next to those carved into him directly, and as he crouched down next to her Hana had no choice but get a closer look.

“You’re awake,” he stated. “Can you move?”

She spat on the floor.

The man didn’t frown, or get mad. But when he reached for her, she launched herself away from the wall only for him to hook her arm and bring her crashing down into the ground.

“Don’t! I’m not here to hurt you.”

She angled her head up to look at him, and waited for the hit to knock her back out again, but he didn’t raise a hand or a weapon. In fact, he hadn’t brought one in or gone for one at all, and that only ratcheted her nerves up further.

“What’s your game then, huh?” she hissed, feeling his grip on her loosen. “Just going to keep me here ‘til your boss drops by?”

The man frowned, though it was hard to tell just how much under the full beard he wore. “If he were, you wouldn’t be here to begin with.”

---

Then the No-Cult AU, b/c I’m weak for it, and this idea’s not getting any shorter in the slightest.

---

Another woman bounded up to them, giving Selena a hug while the rest of his response fizzled out completely.

“The first blooms have started opening! I thought it would be another few days, or that it would happen closer to morning, but they’re here and they’re beautiful.”

Selena gasped. “The flowers from the field?”

“Yes,” the other woman said, almost bouncing in place as she reached for Selena’s hands. “The others have already seen them, but not you! Please come see. Unless you’re needed here?”

Sharky hadn’t been sure at first, but the two were almost identical, from their modest dresses down to the way their hair was styled. One was blonde and blue-eyed, and the other with green eyes and darker hair, but having both turn to smile at him didn’t help clear his head at all.

No, he was almost floating in place as a dazed smile settled onto his face and he only snapped out of it when Selena spoke to him again directly.

“Mr. Boshaw?”

Oh, fuck no. That sobered him up fast. “Call me Sharky. Don’t gotta worry about being all formal and shit.”

“Well, Sharky” - and actually hearing that might’ve made his heart skip a little - “they need me over at the greenhouse. I’d stay longer, but this moment can’t be missed.”

“I mean, if you gotta go, don’t let me hold you back,” he said with a chuckle, his voice pitching funny. “Guess I’ll just have to come back and ask you later? …‘Bout getting food, showing you cool shit, um. Both, just both of those things.”

She smiled, and gave his shoulder a gentle pat before bounding off. It left the spot tingling as he stood there, holding his breath as the two faded from sight.

---

And maybe a little more of the Accidental Kiss idea, maybe?

----

“Yep.”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, and it took way too long to realize she was mirroring him perfectly.

“…Sorry.” Hana blew out a breath and ruffled her bangs. “For being weird, and making this weird, because that was a huge mistake to make. I shouldn’t have-I’m sorry for doing that.”

Sharky’s small smile fell. Turned more awkward than anything else when he tried to bring it back, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, didn’t wanna go and spill shit all over you either, but I went right for you.”

“No, you were-it was sweet of you to get that for me, and you dropped that on your foot, hon. That hurts.”

“It’s cool. It didn’t hurt, or leave me with a burn or nothing. Just-“ He shrugged, and his mouth twisted. “Didn’t want you to miss out. Forgot how quick that shit goes when you’ve got both the Resizzy and the po-po doing laps around it, and it was starting to look low.”

“And you probably didn’t want to hear me complain all over again, huh?”

This time he didn’t meet her eyes when she smiled at him, shuffling in place as he shoved his hands in his pockets. It was the most uncomfortable she’d ever seen him, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth as she looked him over.

Stepping closer, she lightly touched his arm. “Hey, Shark-“

“Rook?”

The door at the end of the hall opened, and the minute she caught the sheriff stepping out, she aimed a concerned look his way.  

[saturngrqy]

So Close to Magic (OC) Prologue

Helloooooo everyoneee this is kinda an intro to my new series. I hope you like it hehehehehhehehehehehehe i love y’all

-

When June was younger, she would sit at the dinner table and listen to her mom and dad fight for hours on and on and on. She would pay attention to how her mom would fall into her seat every time her dad screamed in her face, and how she would pick at her food shamefully while he would throw glasses against the wall. 

Eventually, June just started to skip out on family dinners. She would come down to grab a plate then go upstairs and put on old episodes of victorious to drown out the volume from downstairs. 

In sixth grade, she became friends with Caylee, a girl she had met in her history class, they were made partners one day for a project on Mesopotamia. Whenever June was invited over, she noticed how her parents sat comfortably on the couch, watching reruns of ‘I Love Lucy’. She quickly realized how much she hated staying over there, and ever since then they only ever hung out at June’s when one of her parents were absent. By the time she was 11, June had given up on any future hope of having a happy family with a loving husband. 

Eighth grade, June’s parents finally filed for divorce, and she moved in with her mom who for some reason only decided to move about a mile away from her ex- husband. Caylee and June began to hang out more now that she only had one parent at home, and freshman year started and they were closer than ever.

June met Grayson at a football game freshman year, the game had ended and June watched him exit the field, pulling the bottom of his jersey to his face to wipe the sweat off his forehead, showcasing his somehow already developed six- pack. 

June pointed to Grayson and whispered in Caylee’s ear a quick ‘that dude is so hot’ before Caylee rolled her eyes and pushed her through the crowd of people exiting the stadium. 

One of Grayson’s teammates had thrown a party after school to celebrate their first win of the season, and June and Caylee had attended, sitting in the corner to themselves practically the entire time, afraid of talking to people other than themselves because the party was mainly sophomores and juniors. 

Caylee and June had been talking about a girl in their grade who had cheated on her boyfriend when Grayson was pushed into June’s back by Ethan accidentally. Grayson turned around quickly muttering a quiet ‘sorry’ softly touching her shoulder shrugging her off before running back to Ethan. 

June remembered how electric his touch was, and how it sent shockwaves through her arm. She smiled back to him in forgiveness, glancing back at Caylee. 

Second semester of freshman year, Grayson and June were put into the same geometry class. June was struggling trying to figure out the pythagorean theorem when her teacher assigned Grayson as her partner to sort of tutor her. 

By the end of the February, June and Grayson grew to be best friends. Caylee and Ethan ended up becoming friends too, and you were all exclusively your own friend group.

Grayson finally asked June out mid- april, giving her a bouqet of her favorite roses. June said yes, assuming that their relationship would be over within a month. However, by junior year, they were still going strong. 

Grayson, June, Caylee, and Ethan were the friend group everyone wanted to be apart of. They hung out every week, had sleepovers every weekend, and carpooled to school together. They threw huge parties, went to eachother’s sports games, etc etc. 

If you asked someone about June and Grayson, they’d say they were ‘endgame’. They were the couple everyone wanted to be. 

-

[watchtower-feed]

Running Hot

Notes: I lied. I didn’t write at all yesterday because I watched a sports anime on running. That’s the origin story of this baby. Also, I needed a break from the angst and write something fun. Words: 1,611

     Waking up in the morning to go jogging on campus is one of the hardest things a student has to work through to build into a habit. But not you. Not when you have a six foot three beefcake acting as your carrot (and hopefully, stick).

     Every morning, at three in the morning, an hour you didn’t know existed until now, Damian Wayne leaves your co-ed dorm to jog around the campus. After he finishes his route through every trail, he heads straight for the varsity gym until his first class at ten.

     You’re not a stalker. You don’t know this because you deliberately sought it out. You came across this information by accident. It was one drunken night where your friends forgot about you and you forgot how to get back to your dorm. So you sat by the park bench in front of the varsity building.

     That was where you first saw him. Sweat lathered limbs that made his muscles shine even in the low light. Shorts short enough to see half his ass. No shirt. And eyes that can pierce through your soul like a real, actual bad boy. Not the leather-wearing kind that smokes their lungs to shit or breaks windowshields and then runs off before the cops arrive.

     No. This boy--- this man looks like he would wait for the cops and stare them down until they agree that yes, he had to do it.

     Once sober and once it’s time for a new dawn, you put on your running shoes (ones you only use when you go grocery shopping) and head out to maybe accidentally run into this perfect hunk. You’re surprised to find the door opening before you even touch it. You look up and right above your head, there’s a strong hand pushing it open.

     You stare at it and follow the tanned muscular limb with your gaze until your eyes meet with dark green eyes setting your skin ablaze. Suddenly, it’s too hot to breathe from your nose alone. You stare and only now realize that he’s crazy tall, close to a head taller than you.

     He’s looking back at you and raises an eyebrow at your stunned figure. You completely lose it. He looks like the bad guy your parents warn you about as teenagers but you go into his van anyway because his eyebrows alone promise the most amazing sex you’ll ever experience on this planet. Maybe even in the entire galaxy.

     “You’re in the way.”

     His voice fits his body perfectly and you wonder if God is a sexually frustrated woman. It’s low and deep, almost guttural, like an animal. Can’t be tamed. Defintely wild and dangerous.

     Like a mute, you keep staring at him and Damian Wayne isn’t known for his patience. He rolls his eyes and steps closer so his foot can hold the door open. Then he grabs hold of your waist, calloused hands and a firm grip, (oh how you wish you were wearing a sports bra or crop top), and lifts you outside, out of the way of the dormitory entrance.

     As soon as he put you down, you cover your face with your hands because you may not see it but you can definitely feel the red on your face. When you look, he’s already gone.

     The next morning, you’re wearing a sports bra and running shorts, and you’re already stretching outside at 2:30 am. You hear kinks and cracks every time you fold your limbs over the other and you wonder if you should do this regularly, at least to keep healthy.

     Finally, at 3:08 am, Damian walks through the doors. His eyes catches yours for a single second before he already breaks into a run. You almost trip as you try to keep up. You’re swearing to yourself as you try to keep up with him. His pace makes you wonder what ever happened to warmups? Or jogging? Why does he have to be running?

     You last 5 minutes before you stop and lose him. You’re wheezing like an asthmatic 6-year-old during his first PE class. “Fuck you, Damian Wayne,” you say out loud.

     The next day you’re already jogging. You take your chances and see if he follows the same path. By 3:11 am he runs past you and you speed up to keep up. You last 8 minutes this time, losing him again.

     You keep doing this every day and you keep asking yourself if you’re a stalker or a madman. Why are you doing this to get Damian Wayne’s attention? Why can’t you just ask him for his number like a normal college student? 

     But this has gone on for too long that you don’t feel like giving up. You just want to finish his whole lap around campus until he enters for the varsity gym. If you do that, if you can finally keep up, then maybe you’ll stop this. And maybe Damian Wayne will ask you out.

     Of course, it’s not easy to get on athlete’s level. Especially if you’re not even an amateur. So it takes you months. At least it’s not half a year, but months of running every single morning is still an insane amount of dedication to chase after a hunk whose eyes can make you cum in an instant. Or is it?

     You shake your head, dispelling such thoughts because the view in front of you is amazing. You’re staring at Damian Wayne’s bare back, chiseled to perfection and ruggedly adorned with long scars that could rival a bear hunter’s marks.

     Then you realize it’s past 4 am. You’re suddenly giddy with excitement and adrenaline because he’s about to head to the varsity gym.

     Suddenly, all happy chemicals in your body leave you as you watch him turn towards the campus border. You stand, breathing loud and annoyed, while watching Damian Wayne continue running on the road until he was out of sight.

     You skip the next day. You lay awake until it’s time for your first class and you go through the day just like any other, but more upset.

     “Gosh, Y/N. Why are you in such a pissy mood? Isn’t exercise supposed to give you happy hormones or something?”

     “It’s called dopamine, dumbass. I almost made it yesterday, okay? But then Damian Wayne decides to change his running route and goes off campus!”

     They chuckle, “You fucking stalker.”

     You hit your friend and pout, “I’m not. This information just came to me.”

     To your further annoyance, they laugh and tease you some more. One of them suddenly stops and stares at someone behind you, and quickly says, “Kind of like how Damian Wayne is coming to you. Right now, Y/N. Like now.” Your friend grabs your shoulders and turns you until you see him standing behind you in his full (and fully clothed) glory, along with some of his varsity friends beside him.

     He looks at you with his arms crossed and he raises one eyebrow. You suddenly ask the god of sexual frustration what you’ve done to anger her.

     “I didn’t see you running this morning.”

     “Oh,” you stammer dumbly because your jaws and mouth muscles have suddenly gone stiff. “Cramps?”

     His eyebrow goes down while the other shoots up. Dear god, he can do it with both of them!

     “Are you asking me?”

     “No! Did I? Did I ask you out?”

     Loud groans flood your table like a tsunami. While his friends snicker loudly.

     “No, I didn’t! Ugh--” you harshly rub your face, trying to wipe off the stupidity you woke up with this morning, “I meant to ask you out--” but it obviously didn’t work. “I’m going to stop talking now.”

     “Promise?” teased one of his friends who’s leaning in over Damian Wayne’s shoulder while holding his stomach, cramped from all the laughing.

     Damian Wayne pushes his face back effortlessly and turns to you with the same deadly serious expression he always seems to have. “So you didn’t run this morning because you were going to ask me out?”

     You sigh. Tired of the groans and chuckling, you decided to come clean. “I’ve been running with you, or more like running behind you, these past couples months because I… Ithinkyou’rehot?”

     He narrows his eyes and leans down, closer, “Telling or asking?”

     You stare at him and you can really see his features now. His protruding cheekbones. His prominent jawline. His annoyingly clear skin. His soft jet black hair. “Definitely telling,” you blurt out. “But I never caught up with you-- obviously-- so I thought-- maybe-- if I--” Goddammit finish an actual sentence before the hot guy leaves. “If I finished your run with you before you go to the gym then maybe I can ask you out.”

     You bite your lips as you eye Damian Wayne and wait for your doom. Your friends are crossing their fingers but definitely invested in such a scene.

     Damian gives this little sigh and a small tilt of his head, as if saying ‘is that all?’ 

     “Yesterday I ran with my brothers at Gotham park. Tomorrow, finish my run with me on campus.” He pauses to look at you, making sure you’re still keeping up because you’re just gaping at him. You nod. “I’ll skip morning practice. We’ll walk to this small diner in the city. My oldest brother calls it ‘a hole in the wall’ because they make all kinds of breakfast foods.”

     You’re still gaping but your mouth has definitely opened wider. Impatiently, Damian uses his rough hands to close it. “Nod if you agree.” You nod. “Good. See you tomorrow, Y/N.”

✧ Watchtower Masterlist ✧

[theres-a-goldensky]

26 + 2 Various BL Series Fic Recs

Fandoms included in this fic rec list: Love By Chance, TharnType, Until We Meet Again, My Engineer, 2 Moons, HIStory3: Trapped (plus a bit of bonus Theory of Love and WHY R U?)

I’ve found a handful of good fics for all of these tiny pairings that I am newly obsessed with, and I thought I’d share them with you if you’re also looking for something good to read. Please, if you have recs of your own, point me in the direction of any other good stuff!

As ever, feel free to reblog and check out my other rec lists for the following fandoms:

The Untamed list one and two - various pairings, mostly Wangxian

IT chapter 2 list one and two - Reddie 

Good Omens - Aziraphale/Crowley

Or just head over to my bookmarks on AO3.

(All recs are complete) (I’ve noted pairings, length, and rating, but not any warnings or additional tags.)

** denotes personal favorite

LOVE BY CHANCE / THARNTYPE

1. the count up series by sweetiejelly - Tin/Can - ~34,000 words, explicit - A fix-it fic post-canon where Tin and Can slowly work out their issues with some missteps and learning along the way.

So two weeks later, when Can first does it, Tin doesn't know what to do. For the longest while, he just turns off his phone screen. And then turns it back on.

good night, tin. it's been a while but i promised to say good night. so, good night, sleep well.

Every damn time the text is still there.

In the end, Tin deletes it.

The next morning, Can does it again.

good morning, tin. looks like rain today. don't forget your umbrella.

Tin deletes it.

The texts keep coming.

2. ** LBC Aftermath series by Mara - LBC/TharnType crossover- ~6700 words, mature - Were you too horrified by Techno’s ending in LBC? This author feels your pain and did her part to get some justice for Techno. This fic has zero sympathy for Kengkla, which I deeply appreciated. This will help you work out some of your anger. It features LBC!Techno and the TharnType versions of Tharn and Type. Mind the warnings, since this deals with the serious consequences of Kengkla’s actions.

Kengkla stayed at the house through the morning and Techno was so jumpy he nearly leaped out of his skin every time Kla looked at him or talked to him. Even though Kla had explained what happened and how he wasn’t upset to be dating, Techno still felt weird. He kind of wished he remembered what had happened. A guy should remember how he lost his virginity, right?

Kla grabbed him in a big hug and Techno froze, managing a weak grin when Kla pulled back to smile at him. “I’ve got to go home now. But I’ll call you later. Let me know if you go somewhere.”

“O-okay.” Techno stared as the boy let himself out the front door.

3. 5 + 1 by strokeofluck - Tin/Can- ~3600 words, rated general - This is a sweet story about the times when Pete sees Tin having feelings for Can. 

Pete weighed his options as he glanced back and forth between Tin and Can. Can didn’t seem to be bothered by the whole thing, he even had a shy smile on his face. Or at least, Pete thought it was a shy smile, he had never really seen this kind of expression coming from Can before.

He could let this whole thing go, he supposed, but he didn’t really want to. It was time for him to finally say to Tin: I told you so.

“You were born in Bangkok,” he said, casting a wide net and hoping Can would find himself caught in it.

Can did.

4. That Testified Surprise by Mara - Techno/Tharn/Type - ~7000 words, mature - This is a LBC canon rewrite that stars the TharnType version of all three characters. Type realizes something is not...quite...right with Kengkla and invites Techno to stay with him and Tharn instead of going home drunk.

Pouring Techno into the passenger seat, Type sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled the phone out to check it, entering the passcode. (The passcode was the birthday of Thai national football team captain Siwarak Tedsungnoen, of course. Duh.)

Fuck, it looked like Nic had been either texting or calling every 20 minutes since they got to the bar. What was up there?

Scrolling back through the evening’s texts, Type scowled harder. Loving brother or not, this was fucking creepy. Going back farther, it looked like it was a pattern. Did the kid do anything other than pester his brother about his whereabouts?

THARNTYPE

5. everything he wants by minkit - ~5100 words, explicit - Type accidentally ruins one of Tharn’s shirts and agrees to do whatever Tharn wants to make up for it. Which means it’s porn stretched over the bare bones of a plot, and it’s great. 

Tharn’s hands moved across the bed, slowly, inch by inch and it was frustrating because Type knew they were heading to him, but Tharn took his sweet time. And then they were covering his hands and Tharn’s face was mere centimeters from his and Type could barely breathe. It took everything he had not to lean forward and capture those lips that also belonged to him, but he had a feeling if he tried, Tharn wouldn’t let him. He had that look on his face and Type knew what it meant.

He knew he was in for a long rest of the night.

6. You’ve Got Mail by perthbysaint - ~7800 words, explicit - Type sends Tharn nudes at the most inconvenient times.

A selfie? From Type? Tharn was thanking all of his lucky stars as he happily taps to load the image. The picture loads and Tharn’s phone slips from his suddenly lax grip. Convinced he couldn’t have just seen what he thought he just saw, he picks his phone up hastily and stares very intently at the picture.

It’s a mirror selfie, obviously taken in a changing room, but that thought comes secondary to thighs. Type is holding the camera in front of his face to take the picture, shirt clenched in his other hand and pulled up slightly to show off the shorts. The fucking shorts. He had seen Type in his soccer gear before and yes, Type has most definitely asked for the wrong size and Tharn is more grateful than he’s ever been for anything in his whole life. The shorts are riding up so high they can’t cover more than a few inches of skin, Type’s smooth, powerful thighs on full display. On the inside of his left thigh, there’s a tiny purple mark peeking out from under the bottom of the shorts. Tharn knows exactly what it is because he was the one who left it there just two days ago when he sucked marks into Type’s thighs for a half-hour before he slung Type’s legs over his shoulders and ate him out until Type was sobbing fat tears and begging Tharn to let him come.

7. pet names series by LokelaniRose - ~50,000 words, explicit - A series of post-episode fics that gives us the sex that the show only hinted at, starting with the shower scene.

Tharn prides himself on his self-control. All his passion and intensity is saved for his music, when he’s safely behind a drum kit and can let it all out. He’s never been as irritated by anyone else as he is by Type and all his playground bullying nonsense. Something about the other boy just shakes something loose inside him, rattles at Tharn’s iron discipline until he has to grit his teeth constantly not to just – what? Kiss him? Kill him? Tharn has enough composure (and pride) to put up a front that’s all smiles and wry amusement, but really he regularly skips between one of two daydreams – twisting Type’s head off or fucking him into the ground.

(Tharn is absolutely not going to admit to the third set of daydreams, of curling up around Type when he’s cold or cheering him on at matches or bringing him home to meet Tharn’s father. Nope, no, definitely not.)

2MOONS SERIES

8. ** The universe where we do not commit reckless, unlubricated buttsex by startledoctopus - Forth/Beam - ~8700 words, explicit - This is a great story about Beam giving in and trying to seduce Forth the same way he seduced all of those girls in his past. This Forth is great, and the story retcons their first time to something far more pleasant for Beam.

   "We're heading into a unit on disorders of the spine and I need to review my basic skeletal and muscular anatomy. But it feels stupid to keep studying these weird-looking diagrams and drawings." None of this was, strictly speaking, factual, but an engineering major wouldn't know any different. Beam gathered up all his bravado, walked behind Forth, and began rucking up his shirts as if this were completely normal.

   "What! I..."

   "Shut up, I need to look at a real back so I know what I'll be looking at as a doctor." Forth let him take the shirts off, glancing back at him several times but giving in meekly to Beam's stern look. Forth shuffled the papers some more.

   "All right. Okay, um...Ah!" Beam smirked at Forth's reaction as he ran his thumbs down the nape of his neck.

9. Good Things Come To by sweetiejelly - Ming/Kit - ~4300 words, explicit - Kit gets drunk and reveals more of his feelings for Ming than he probably means to.

"Hmm." Kit closes his eyes and leans his head back on the headrest. "Ming, Ming, Ming. Do you know your name's a kiss? I'm kissing the air everytime I say 'Ming'!" Kit pops his mouth and it pops Ming's mind a bit. "And then I think about kissing you. Why do you make me think about you so damn much? You're so annoying, Ming. No one's ever..." and Kit leans to the side, almost like he's going to conk out or throw up, only to straighten back up. "... made me this crazy."

Oh shit. Ming doesn't know what to do with all of this information. He knew somewhere deep down that Kit likes him. Kit's eyes can't lie. Kit's mouth can't either, the cusses coming out whenever he's keyed up and flustered, and then there are his kisses.

10 + 11. ** how to fail flirt your way into his heart (a guide by Kit) and a little conversation (and a little action please) by sweetiejelly - Ming/Kit - ~30,000 words, explicit in the second part - This story makes a tiny plot divergence. It has Kit put a little more effort into finding out if Ming is really into Yo and then from there, it loosely follows the plot of the show with some key differences. I really enjoyed this.

"Can I have your number?" Kit mentally face-palms. Why? Damn Pha. Damn Beam. Just damn everything, ugh. He has never flirted in his life. Pin asked him out, okay? He doesn't know how to do this. "I'm Kit, Phana's friend," he says, trying to make it less weird.

"I'm Ming. And of course, P'Kit!" Ming flashes him an easy grin and holds out his hand.

Oh right, the phone. Kit shoves it at Ming, nearly hitting him in the chest. Great, he's acing this.

Ming smiles at him, bemused or confused, probably both, and brushes his hand, totally unnecessarily, over the back of Kit's hand as he takes the phone. "In case of emergency, right?" Ming looks up at him from under his lashes and boy, this nong is brazen.

12. ** In Control series by LokelaniRose - Ming/Kit - ~27,000 words, explicit - Kit struggles to tell Ming that he wants something other than the careful, gentle sex they’ve been having. Ming discovers that Kit has some anxiety and panic problems. He also discovers what helps him feel better. [spoilers: these two things are connected.] I love how attentive and caring Ming is throughout this series. The anxious Kit also rings true to the character we saw on the show.

But now that Kit is fretting over things, he might as well fret over this as well. So Ming is great in bed. And let’s be honest, Kit probably isn’t. He hasn’t had a hundred previous partners – okay, tiny exaggeration, but still – and doesn’t know all the fancy moves and techniques and tricks…and just like everything else, in bed Ming is somehow casual and sincere at the same time. He never seems to want anything except what Kit wants, is always happy to do whatever, to take his time making slow, gentle love to Kit. Kit knows that he always comes at least – he secretly really likes it when Ming comes, he’s not quite sure why – but what if there’s more that Kit could be doing, to make it better for him? If Kit was better in bed maybe it would make up for being a shitty boyfriend in other areas, one who can’t be nice in public or talk about his feelings.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

13. another nightmare fic by itsmylifekay - Win/Team - ~2300 words, not rated - Team tries to sleep without Win and it doesn’t go well. 

Team’s room feels suffocating, the air too thick and the space too dark and the covers sticking to his skin with sweat. His breaths are too loud in the quiet, but the quiet itself is deafening. It reminds him of the water. The muted sounds. The frantic pounding of his heart. (The same one he feels now echoed in his chest.)

Flashes of the dream come back to him unbidden.

Everything is too dark, too bright, no way to see what way is up or what way is down. He’s trapped. Can’t get out. Can’t breathe.

14. ** Different With You by blackrose9212 - Win/Team - ~6900 words, teen - It’s open swim week, which means that the swimming club offers free lessons to any of the students who would like to participate. Team doesn’t understand why his teammates hate it so much - until he does. Great jealousy in this one from both sides. 

“Nice to meet you,” the boy gushes. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to join your group. Auntie said there needs to be at least three people, and no one was sitting across from you two. I’ve been paying attention so I already have ideas. Is that okay?” Team watches as he pulls out his books and drops them onto the table, pushing them a little farther out so they’re nearly touching Win’s notebook.

Team shrugs. “Sure, that’s fine. I don’t think Win has been paying attention so I’m glad you have an idea of what’s going on.”

Win hits him lightly at the back of the hand and Film giggles behind his hand. “Oh, no, P’Win looks very smart. I’m sure he’s been listening.” He looks at Win and smiles a little, blushing when Win gives him a smile back.

Team looks between the two of them. Then back at Film, who’s watching Win leaf through his literature textbook like he’s never seen anything so beautiful, and then past Film at the table he left from, where he sees three boys, laughing behind their hands and making cooing faces.

15. seven hundred thirteen by Kiranokira - Win/Team - ~6800 words, mature - Win spends two years abroad in England, and he and Team have to navigate a long distance relationship. It’s very sweet and written very true to life. 

“I kind of hoped you were going to show up at the airport tomorrow morning and chase the plane,” Win says. He kisses Team’s hair, lingering there to memorize the fresh, clear scent.

Team says, “Is it weird that I thought about doing that?” and Win feels him smile against his shoulder.

It’s late, nearly nine thirty, and Win had plans of how to spend tonight that can’t be realized anymore. He wanted to invite Team to dinner with his family. He wanted to play video games with Team and View. He wanted to talk about London with Waan and Team. He wanted to include Team in his family’s warmth in some small way, to make him feel less lonely.

He can’t do any of that now but he still wants to sneak Team upstairs and have him in his arms all night. He wouldn’t, but he wants to. It’s been a month since he moved off campus permanently, and weeks since he was last able to spend a night alone with Team.

16. ** You Can Cry by Kiranokira - Win/Team - ~19,600 words, mature - Win goes missing while on vacation with some friends. Team is left at home trying to handle it. I like the way the author built up to the accident happening. They did a good job creating tension and showing us exactly how Team felt about Win. And spoilers, this story has a happy ending.

“You’re going to fail out of university,” Team tells him. “You’re not really going, are you?”

Win rolls onto his side and perches his cheek on his hand. “What if I say yes?” he asks. “Will you miss me?”

Team’s warning look is more venomous than usual. “Not at all,” Team says, and Win smirks because that isn’t true and they both know it. “You still shouldn’t go. What if you miss the flight back? You’ll fail out and I’ll break up with you for being a dumbass.”

The very recent phenomenon of Team acknowledging that they’re a couple has its usual melting effect on Win’s heart.

2GETHER

17. ** Love Songs on Our Skin series by Kari_Kurofai - Sarawat/Tine - ~15,700 words, explicit - A soulmark AU where Tine is born with the notes to a song that hasn’t yet been written wrapped around his chest. I enjoyed how Tine’s obliviousness in the show carries over to this fic. 

Only Mr. Chic would have a song no one had ever fucking heard of permanently etched on his chest. For fuck's sake .

Still, he waves it off, and he tries not to look too closely at other people's marks. Tries being the key word. He doesn't envy the elegant watercolors of a guitar pick and an open novel he catches sight of on the wrists of some couple's interlinked hands when he's in town. And he certainly doesn't envy the dude he once saw in a coffee shop with the words " I hate you " scrawled across the back of his neck. But yeah, okay, he might be a little jealous of the people who are lucky enough to have something as simple as their soulmate's name on their skin. That definitely isn't fair.

"Why couldn't it at least have been a Scrubb song?" he asks the mirror as he wipes it clear shower-born condensation. The mirror and him are well acquainted with this conversation by now. In fact, the mirror sees the stupid mark more than anyone, so it might as well put up with his equally stupid questions. "It could have been 'Together.' Just think of it, how romantic it would be to meet some cute girl's eyes after bumping into them at a concert, my favorite song playing . . ." He draws a nail over the winding bars of the music on his chest, frowning. "That would be so much easier."

18. Drown Your Sorrows by HyacinthsSoul - 2gether/Theory of Love - Sarawat and Third meet at a bar and bond over being in love with oblivious men.

“No, he’s an angel,” Sarawat says. “Unfortunately he’s a very stupid, very straight angel.”

“Mine’s stupid too,” the other man admits. “But definitely no angel. I’m Third, by the way,” he adds, offering a slender hand to shake.

“Sarawat,” says Sarawat. “Can I buy you another? I think we’re drinking the same thing, although I can’t remember what it’s called.”

20. ** Your Body Is My Instrument by Kari_Kurofai - Sarawat/Tine - ~12,000 words, explicit - This fic does a good job doing what, in this reccer’s humble opinion, the series failed to: showing Tine attracted to Sarawat. There’s great first time sex and some fun sexual tension. Plus, we get to see them switch off, which is extremely rare in BL. And most importantly: hand kink.

It starts innocently enough. Or, well, innocently enough for a guy whose first words to him were, “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll kiss you till you drop.” So, you know. It starts kinda like that.

They’ve been officially dating for a grand sum total of three days and altogether not that much has changed. Except that Sarawat touches him more now. Normally this would be fine, no big deal, right? But Sarawat has magic, evil hands, and apparently all he has to do is glance Tine’s way to deduce the exact right places and ways to touch Tine to drive him up the fucking wall.

And the worst part is it’s almost never the same place or the same way twice, and the only warning Tine ever gets is that sneaky little glint Sarawat gets in his eyes just before he does it, the bastard.

MY ENGINEER

21. Cool Boy(friend) by HyacinthsSoul - Ram/King - ~22,000 words, explicit - So this is technically a WIP, but each chapter feels like a completed fic without a cliffhanger or anything. This is a very sweet, comfortable story about King and Ram getting to know each other as their relationship develops.

In the selfie King sends, he’s holding up a full shot glass while someone’s arm reaches into the frame to hand him another kind of drink, something tall with a straw and a paper umbrella. Ram frowns. Whose arm is that? The person is wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, which doesn’t match what any of their friend group was wearing, and the engineer bar doesn’t offer table service.

Frowning, Ram looks back through the previous photos until he spots a detail he’d overlooked before: a red-shirted man at a neighboring table. He’s visible in the background of two or three pictures taken by Tee, and in each of them he’s staring intently at King.

Not that it’s any of Ram’s business. Not that he cares.

HISTORY3: TRAPPED

22. it’s too late (to turn back now) by stebeee - Tang Yi/Meng Shao Fei - ~7200 words, general audiences - Canon divergence fic where Tang Yi pushes Shao Fei away after he saves Hong Ye in order to try and protect him. Shao Fei reacts to that about as well as you’d expect.

“Tang Yi, what do you mean-“

“I think you’ve fooled around for long enough,” Tang Yi interrupts, his voice cold, nothing like the man who had dabbed at his lips with a cotton bud last night, the man who had smiled at him when he made the cannon joke.

“You’ve disrupted my life, and the life of my family and friends in the past few weeks, Meng Shao Fei. This has gone for long enough,” he continues, unwavering. “I don’t want to have anything more to do with you. Take a good rest here in the hospital, and I’ll get someone to pack up your things back at the house. Jack will deliver it back to your apartment.”

23 + 24. ** just waiting, waiting (on you) and between you and me by stebeee - Tang Yi/Meng Shao Fei - ~16,000 words, general audiences - These are stories about how Shao Fei and the rest of the gang deal over the years when Tang Yi is in jail. Found family fics are my jam, so I loved this.

The thing is, it’s been almost three months of this. 90 days, give or take. 2,160 hours. 129,600 minutes. And more than 7 million seconds of this — not having Tang Yi at his side.

Shao Fei wonders for a moment if he will ever stop seeing Tang Yi in every corner of the house. When he comes down the stairs in the morning, some part of him expects to see Tang Yi standing at the kitchen island with a bright smile, asking him if he wants jam with his toast that morning. Shao Fei sees Tang Yi in that apron he loves, cooking at the stove when he fixes himself dinner, alone in the spacious kitchen. Seeing Tang Yi’s favourite blue bathrobe, Shao Fei can almost see Tang Yi leaving the bathroom, his hair all wet and falling over his eyes.

25. amuse bouche by sarahyyy - Jack/Zhao Zi - ~2400 words, general audiences - This is more of Jack seducing Zhao Zi through food and attention. So basically an extension of the show. Mother hen Jack is the cutest.

“Jack?” Zhao Zi murmurs blearily. “Why are you here?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Jack shoots back, herding Zhao Zi back into the house. He checks for Zhao Zi’s temperature with the back of his hand. “Fever?”

“Just the flu for now, I think?” Zhao Zi says.

Jack purses his lips. “Have you had anything to eat?”

“I had some bread earlier?” Zhao Zi says, but he also looks shifty enough that Jack mostly takes it with a grain of salt.

26. Absolutely Nothing Goes Wrong by anon - Jack/Zhao Zi - ~4500 words, teen - This is an AU where Zhao Zi is the son of a rival mob boss, but he’s still, you know HIMSELF. And when his father says he’s useless, he decides to prove him wrong by seducing Tang Yi’s second-in-command. It’s absolutely adorable.

The man pulled him by the arm, resisting Zhao Zi’s attempts to unhook his claws without causing a scene.

“Hey, stop grabbing me!” he shouted, as the other man played deaf.

“While I admit this is a very loud bar, I didn’t think it was quite so easy to mishear what this young man just yelled straight into your ear,” a newcomer who’d witnessed their conflict said lightly as he walked up to them. His words were accompanied by a wide, almost chilling smile. Zhao Zi blinked once and the odd peculiarity of that smile vanished, leaving just a regular smile in its place. He must’ve just been imagining things under the harsh shadows of the dimly lit bar.

AND +2

Because I’m shameless, I’ll add my own two fics to the end, if you’re interested.

WHY R U?

27. Sorry A Thousand Times - Fighter/Tutor - ~3200 words, explicit - This is a canon divergence for the series finale. I needed more catharsis after the intensity of episode 12.

Tutor narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists at his sides. He took a deep breath. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone before you listen?” he asked. I don’t know how many more times I can bring myself to say it.

“Only once,” Fight said and then added, “if you mean it.”

Tutor crossed his arms over his chest and said, “What makes you think I don’t mean it now?”

The corner of Fight’s mouth turned up and he took a step closer. Tutor stumbled back until he was stopped by his legs hitting the edge of the bed. Fight reached out a hand and gently ran the back of his fingers over the line of Tutor’s jaw.

Until We Meet Again

28. Dream On - Win/Team - 8900 words, explicit - Takes place alongside show canon, so that we see how the bed sharing began and how Win and Team’s relationship developed over that year.

“Do you want to do well tomorrow?” Win asked, throwing one of his legs over both of Team’s.

“Yes,” Team said as he did his best to put some space between them on the tiny mattress.

“Then you need to get some sleep. I’m helping.”

“How is this helping?” Team demanded.

“Would you stop…” Win said, shifting closer every time Team pulled away. “Five minutes, Team. Just be still for five minutes, okay?”

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17) 

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.

[scribble-blog]

A Bird in the Hand (is worth the Bee in your bonnet)

Hey everyone!!!!! Somehow I started writing a ChoDamian one shot (and then I just kept writing.) This is entirely the Maribat discord’s fault. Enjoy!

The first time Chloé meets Damian Wayne, he is 11 and she is 10 and they both hate the world and are desperate for their parents’ approval. He doesn’t talk to her but she can sense it on him like the sunny flora perfume masks her mother’s cold personality and unused heart, the way her daddy senses weakness in his opponent’s when it’s time for re-election, the way she finds out each secret her school mates have so they will never try to turn on her and hers. Damian hates the world, and wants his (polite, distant, but still somehow open) fathers approval.

The first time Chloé meets Damian Wayne she decides she hates him, too.

Their parents talk for what seems like hours and Chloé checks her nails with the bored expression her mother taught her and she doesn’t let Damian Wayne catch her staring as she tries to figure him out. He glares out of a window and doesn’t look at her once.

Infuriating.

The second time Chloé meets Damian Wayne, he’s at least learned to be enough of a gentleman to talk to a lady when presented with one. She raises her nose in the air when he (clearly forced by his father) asks her to dance at the Wayne Gala that her mother attends more for the sheer status of it than any true enjoyment. He holds himself a bit different, looks more human and less ready to rip out the throat of anyone that gave him a funny look. She opens her mouth.

“I’m not going to da-“

“Clary would love to go off and dance with you,” Her mother says sugar sharp behind her, and Chloé grits her teeth and takes his hand.

“I wouldn’t want to dance with you for all the money your daddy has.” She tells him, scathingly, to his face. “Be lucky you’re in my mother’s good graces.”

“I might be, for all the money my daddy has,” he returns coldly, his green eyes cutting. She misses Adrien, his mother who is warm like summer and his father who is brisk like autumn and him, Adrien, bright as spring. “But you aren’t.”

“Like you were waiting in a line to sweep my off my feet,” Chloé sneers. “Looks like we all have to do things we’d rather spit on to get mommy or daddy’s approval.”

His grip on her hand tightens infinitesimally. His face, already blank, shuts down further.

“I’ll count the minutes until we’re both free.”

She lets her manicured nails just dig in the tiniest bit. “Only if you’ll let me count the seconds.”

The third time Chloé meets Damian Wayne, he’s more human-like than ever before, but she supposed she’ll give him the year of growth since the last time they’ve run into each other.

Richard Grayson-Wayne has taken over while Brucey-Bear, as her mother simpers, is in absentia. They poor boy sweats as he talks to her mother, hashing our some business deal that his adoptive feather could have turned with a few easy words and a smile.

Her mother’s lips curl into a grin like a shark tasting blood.

“You should really be sending out warnings,” Chloé says flippantly. “If it’s going to get this easy now that your daddy’s gone, my mother could send someone who isn’t nearly as tough as her and they’d still run roughshod over your incompetent brother.”

To her shock and - delight, where did that emotion come from- he actually rolls his eyes. “If my ‘brother’ was fumbling any more, he’d be putting the whole company in your mother’s pocket.”

She startles them all with a surprised laugh, and stops it the second it’s out, but it’s enough for all three of them to look at her. Her mother, cunning delight, Grayson, surprised bemusement, and Damian Wayne, self satisfied and smirking.

After a second the two adults go back to talking and suddenly it is just her and Wayne, tasing quips about the way her mother is practically pouncing on this poor man like a lion on a gazelle.

“Shouldn’t you be against him being this bad at business?” Chloé finally says. “After all, it is your daddy’s money that being washed into my mother’s wallet.”

And Damian snorts. “I thought you didn’t care at all about my Daddy’s money.”

She gives him a sidelong glance. “Well, I don’t at any rate.”

The fourth time Chloé meets Damian Wayne, it’s been four years and he’s apparently been presumed dead for half of it. The later half, but now both he and Bruce Way are available for her mother to shove her towards, and so she goes. She’s tired of Hawkmoth, tired of Paris, but also already tired of New York with her mother, and Damian looks so... drained. So unlike the boy she once gave one sharp laugh to.

“Cory doesn’t mind, do you, darling,” Her mother titters and Chloé grits her teeth.

“Her name is Chloé,” Damian says, and Chloé’s heart skips a beat.

“It’s just a little nickname,” her mother laughs it off. Damian’s eyes are on her, and she can only guess at what he sees.

“We’re old enough to wander away while the adults are doing business now,” he tells her, scowling. She takes the hint and starts marching away, letting him follow her. There’s a small park right outside the building, and she misses Parisian air but this is the closest substitute she can get.

“You lives with your mother, right, Wayne?” She asks him once they’re both on a bench outside, away from the looming presences of their parents. It feels easy and freeing to say these things here, where she doesn’t live, to a boy she’s met three times before and shared one laugh with. “Was it easier or harder?”

He grimaced, but doesn’t answer immediately. She, for once, gives someone a bit of time and space.

“My mother is not a good person.” He finally says. “Her rules were easier. My father’s are more rewarding.”

She desperately tries to pretend she doesn’t want to cry. She has never wanted anything but her fathers time and her mothers approval. Damian seemed to have his fathers approval, and at least when he had been with her, his mothers time. “What if there aren’t any rewards. What if no matter what you do you only get the same thing, over and over again. What if it’s all good things but you don’t care anymore.”

He looks uncomfortable. She realizes she’s let a tear fall and she hardens herself again. “Ignore me. I- I didn’t say anything.”

They sit in silence. When his phone vibrates and he tells her their parents are done negotiating, they take the elevator back up in silence. She exchanges her polite goodbyes with Mr. Wayne.

Damian catches her shoulder before she walks out again though.

“Stop thinking about the rewards. Just find something good. And hang on to it.”

She thinks immediately of the few times where she became Queen Bee. The few times where she did something unequivocally right.

She’d already lost it.

The fifth time she meets Damian Wayne, she’s been Abeille for three months.

It had taken time to convince Ladybug. Time to convince her classmates. Her- employees. But she was trying to hold on to something, no matter how fragile.

She finally got it when she’d stumbled into the bathroom just in time to see Marinette transform into Ladybug.

“A bathroom, Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé had said in shock. “Hardly high security.”

Marinette had screamed.

Chloé hadn’t even, like, blackmailed her into giving her the comb. She’d just- kept her mouth shut. Kept the secret. Made an excuse or two for Marinette when she was dead on her feet.

There’s been some akuma that just wouldn’t quit, and Ladybug has shown up at her window. She’d said yes. New suit, new look-

Abeille.

And now she was looking at Damian Wayne, who made her- wake up, who reminded her of why she’d felt good as Queen Bee, who- was looking at her.

“Bourgeois,” he greeted. “Not even a welcome?”

“My mother isn’t here to force us to play nice,” she teases. She should be - running away, should be playing the part of the bitch, should be doing anything as long as it doesn’t allow Damian to bring up her weakness from before.

Instead she smiles. Friends are weird like that, she’s realized since Marinette Chose her again. “What brings you to France?”

“Some extended business of my father’s” he shrugs. She remembers the way he had hunched petulantly at 11, looking half ready to attack someone if it got him out of their first meeting. He looks- better now. More whole. Less feral. “It’s a long term deal, I believe. A month, at least. I believe we’re searching for a school I can temporarily attend lessons at, while I’m here.”

“Our daddies can pull some strings. You should come with me to Francois DuPont.”

The thing is, she means it. She imagines being able to see Damian’s dumb face everyday and it’s not a bad thing. She imagines him meeting Mari and Adrien and she doesn’t cringe away.

The next day Mme. Bustier announces a new students.

Chloé has met Damian Wayne countless times before she realizes she wants to hold his hand.

And possibly, like, save him from Akumas but in a Superhero sweeping off their Sweetheart way more than her everyday “let’s save Paris” activities.

Marinette, the traitor, laughs at her.

“It’s normal to have a crush on someone who you like, and you enjoy their company, even if I don’t get it,” Marinette makes a face, probably thinking of that rocky first few days. Why was it whenever Chloé brought a friend to class they immediately and very accidentally made an enemy of Marinette? Was it just rich boys in general?

Adrien was encouraging, but the boy was so wholesome and supportive he might as well be a house foundation. Chloé couldn’t tell if he was behind her because he thought it would work or because he just wanted Chloé to be happy and this is what Chloé wanted.

But for once, Chloé is scared.

Adrien was safe to latch onto. Adrien was her brother, her friend, her constant and confidante.

Damian Wayne is, without question, a much worse crush to have because it’s real.

She suddenly regrets ever making fun of Marinette and her inability to hold a conversation with Adrien.

She doesn’t stumble and fumble and bumble but she does start glaring at him whenever he comes near her and she starts ghosting him because she doesn’t know how to handle this-

And then Robin starts showing up to Akuma fights.

It’s funny, how absolutely angry someone can make her. At one point, that someone had been Marinette. After that, Lila before she, Adrien, and Mari has dethroned her. And now-

“Watch out,” she snarls as Robin steps in at just the wrong moment, again. She manages to avoid him with her venom but only barely, and the akuma breaks away.

After the battle, she hunts him down. “Listen to me, Birdbrain. Ladybug might have accepted your help, and you might have a few years on us as heroes, but when Ladybug makes a plan- you follow it. This is our home, our villain, our fight, and you stepping in it like you understand what’s going on and how we work is going to get somebody hurt.”

“Abeille,” Ladybug says softly, and Chloé almost growls.

“No. I’m tired of him waltzing in like this, usually ruining the plan and setting us back. Either he steps up and starts acting like a part of the team, or he stops showing up at all, because as much as you hate to admit it, he’s doing more harm than good.”

Robin’s face twists, and she can just somehow feel that he’s going to say something that will make her angrier, and without thinking, she punches him. It cracks the knuckles of her hands, blooming with dull pain, and he cradled what looks like is going to turn into a nasty bruise on his cheek.

She bounds away before Ladybug or Chat or, god forbid, Robin could say anything else.

She finds herself later on Mari’s balcony. She gets fed cookies and swaddled in blankets and Mari just- listens. About Damian. About Robin. About her mother.

Damian lets her know two days later that he’ll be returning to Gotham in a few days. Ladybug tells her the same thing about Robin when they meet for patrol.

“He wanted me to pass on his apologies,” Marinette says gently. “He looked so awkward the whole time too. Said he wasn’t very good at making friends or keeping them and France didn’t seem to be helping him with either.”

It hits Chloé like a drum then.

Of course. Of course her dumbass friend was also a hero in his off hours. Was she ever going to make a friend who didn’t run around in a cape or a skintight suit?

“I have to go,” she says, and Marinette squeezes her hand.

She taps against the window she knows is Damian’s, for fucks sake, is he in a coma or something? He finally opens it, and she tumbled in and takes a chance.

“I know you’re Robin,” she says, and she watches him tense up, his eyes shifting as if looking for a way to lie. She doesn’t let him. “Pollen, buzz off.”

The transformation drops, and she is not Abeille. She is not a Bourgeois. She is just Chloé, standing in front of him.

“I think I’m in love with you,” she says, more honestly than she’s ever said anything. “And I have no clue what to do about it.”

He laughs, sharp, just the once, and her shoulders raise up, and she gets ready to- she doesn’t know, maybe throw herself back out the window?- when he grabs her hand.

“Chloé,” he says wryly, “your right hook is incredible.”

And then he kisses her, and she can’t exactly argue about that.

“We’re going to Gotham,” Chloé slaps the papers down in front of Marinette. “We took down Hawkass, Adrien’s already agreed, fuck the class-“

“Is this a kidnapping?” Marinette says calmly, stitching elegant embroidery into a pair of shoes. “Or do I even get a say?”

“You have a say. Your say just happens to be, ‘yes, Chloé, I’d love to run away to Gotham with you and Adrien to escape Paris and the memories of the terrorist who ruined our lives.’”

“There’s actually a pretty great fashion program at the university there,” Marinette says, handing her an open envelope, and Chloé sees the acceptance letter.

“You got in. Actually, fuck, you knew I was gonna do this and you applied preemptively.”

“Yes, Chloé, I’d love to run away to Gotham with you and Adrien to escape Paris and the memories of the terrorist who ruined our lives,” Marinette says. “When is Damian expecting you?”

Chloé just groans.

TAGLIST:

@ash-amg @vixen-uchiha @redscarlet95

[its-pronounced-quoassoint]

Power Rangers AU

A Sanders Sides fanfiction.

Relationships: romantic Logicality, Demus, Prinxiety, Remile

Warnings: swearing(mainly Remus and Virgil), poorly written fight scenes/minor violence, stupid pining, kissing/making-out/PDA(no smut cause I can’t write that. . . sorry), sympathetic Deceit and Remus, food mentions, more warnings/warning details will be at the tops of chapters

Credit for this AU goes to @when-day-met-the-knight (specifically this post).

This fic has been under review for a long time and I hope you all like it. More chapters to follow!

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Chapter 1-Red and Green

Roman wasn't the biggest fan of fifth hour. Sure, school would be out soon and he wouldn't have to deal with the disgrace of a teacher his peers had nicknamed 'Ms. Demon', but that simply wasn't good enough. An hour in her class felt like months to Roman and his B- reflected that perfectly. Roman felt the world grind to a halt and begin a sluggish jog the second that fifth hour bell rang and there was no way of getting out of it. The only upsides to the class were his passing grade and the ability to listen to music without his teacher realizing. Most of the time Roman found himself discretely nodding his head to a spotify broadway playlist and doodling aimlessly, wishing to whoever could read his thoughts, that something interesting would happen.

On this particularly sunny day, his prayers would receive an answer. 

'Ms. Demon' was twenty minutes into her monotone explination of another pre-calc unit, when the alarm system went off. Roman along with thirty other sleep-deprived teenagers jumped and looked around panicked. If he remembered correctly, this alarm meant they were under attack yet again.

Fricking Dragon Witch always interrupting me while I’m listening to The Prom, Roman thought, begrudgingly taking out his earbuds.

The P.A. system crackled to life and everyone turned to face the speakers. 

"Students, remain calm, this is not a drill, we are under attack." The voice of the vice-principal stated, clearly shaken. "Your instructions are as follows, leave your belongings where you are and stay in your classrooms. I repeat, stay calm and stay in you-"

The power cut off. People began quietly standing up and searching for their phones. A few students even began a hesitant walk to the door. Roman felt his heart beat and breathing quicken as a girl in his class opened the door and examined the hall, no other students had dared to walk the hallways. It was eerily quiet in the school as the hairs on Roman's arms and neck stood up. Suddenly a scream down the hall echoed to everyone's horror, followed by the collapsing of a wall and thunderous yells of fear and anguish. A wave of students began racing down the hall. Screaming and crying filled Roman's ears. Roman jumped up, he shoved his phone and ear buds in his pocket and hopped over desks to get out of the door. He looked down the hall to see a part of the building completely in rubble and more students running for cover. He began following the crowd, helping fallen students and frantically searching for his brother. 

Remus has world economics this hour I think. Run, run, turn left, run, on your right. Find Remus, find Remus. Roman began chanting instructions to himself. He reached Remus' classroom and looked inside to find it empty. Hoping that his twin had run for cover with the others, Roman ran to leave the school. He continued calling Remus's name and ran himself winded, letting the crowd pull him along. Remus was nowhere to be found. Roman’s twin was strangely tall and wore obnoxious clothing, so he should be easy to spot, but as hard as Roman tried, he couldn’t see him. 

Roman stopped where he was, a mistake as he soon learned after getting run into by several other students. He knew his brother would have grabbed his phone, so Roman pulled up Snapchat and checked the map to see if Remus was there. He found the icon and saw that Remus was quickly leaving the McDonald's across the street. 

"Remus I swear." Roman grumbled and continued his run. 

He made it out of the school and was immediately bombarded by the sound of the fight behind him. Roman wasted no time racing to find Remus. 

"Remus! Remus! Where are you?! For godsake Remus! I will-"

"ROMAN!!!" Remus' screeching was heard above the crowd and Roman ran to him. 

"You were at McDonald's!?!?!" Roman scolded once he had reached Remus. 

"I was skipping alright! You try sitting in that class for an hour everyday!" Remus retaliated. 

"I do sit in that class for an hour everyday Remus!" Roman yelled back. Remus looked like he was going to give a snarky retort, but suddenly he grabbed Roman's shirt and pulled the both of them to the right. Roman stumbled around and looked to where he had previously been standing, to see that Remus had pulled him away from falling debris just in time. He shook off Remus's hand and the two began sprinting for cover behind the nearest building.  

The twins leaned against it, catching their breaths. Roman ran his hands along his face, wiping off sweat and dust. He decided to sneak a look at the battle from where he was and peeked around the brick building. There the Black Ranger was wielding his axe and attacking the Dragon Witches's minions. He sliced through several of them and proceeded to dash through another horde of them, cutting each one down. Roman watched, mesmerized, barely noticing Remus move beside him to watch the battle unfold. The aliens appeared to have stopped arriving and the Black Ranger made quick work of the remaining ones. The battle looked almost won. 

Then Roman saw it. A hurling ball of purple fire rappidly falling from the sky. The Black Ranger didn't seem to have noticed it and Roman began to fear he wouldn't have time as it continued its descent. Suddenly he felt his body get the best of him and Roman jumped out from his hiding place. 

"BLACK RANGER, ABOVE YOU!!!!" Roman shouted. 

"What the hell are you-" Remus tried to pull him back, but looked over to see the Black Ranger narrowly dodge out of the way of the purple fire. 

More fire began raining from the sky directed at the Black Ranger who managed to dodge it the best he could. 

"Can you just stop moving!" A voice suddenly yelled out.  

A humanoid figure dropped from the sky and looked at the Black Ranger, more annoyed than angry, certainly a change from the typical attacker. The villain’s black and purple armor spiked up and circled their body. Six purple eyes glowed bright under the shadow cast by their hair and pointed crown. Considering the other cartoonish monsters the Black Ranger has fought, this one was pretty minimalistic.

"Sorry, but I don't exactly plan on dying any time soon." The Black Ranger stated. "You on the other hand-"

"Yes, yes, justice will be served, peace will be restored, blah blah, trust me buddy, no one wants me dead more than I do m’kay." The villain crossed their arms and shook their head. "But look, my mom is pissed and if I die she's just gonna bring me back and have me fight you all over again. So do us both a favor and let me capture you." 

"Not a chance!" 

"Ugh." The villain threw their head back and whined. "Why can't this ever be easy."

"Being evil will never be easy as long as heroes are around to stop you!" 

"I. Get. It." The villain puncutated each word with a clap. “Look, just turn yourself in and let's get this over with."

"I'll never surrender to you!" 

"Great." The villain groaned again before disappearing and reappearing behind the Black Ranger. 

The Ranger turned around and blocked the purple fire that was blasted at him. He continued dodging each fireball thrown. The fight continued as the villain lobbed purple fire and the Black Ranger battled on the defensive, clearly trying to minimize futher damage. Then, an opening appeared and the Ranger charged, shoving his axe at the villain who dodged and blasted him with fire on the back. The Ranger fell to the ground in pain and accidentally dropped the axe as he rolled. He began crawling to his weapon as the villain approached. 

“Remus! We gotta help!” Roman whisper-yelled at his brother.

“Why?!” Remus exclaimed. 

“C’mon just grab something!” Roman told him. 

Remus and Roman quietly snuck out of their hiding place and each grabbed the closest heavy object. Roman found a street sign that had been uprooted while Remus grabbed the nearest trash can. The two snuck closer to the villain and Ranger as fast as they could. 

"I'm not gonna do any of that 'any last words?' stuff.” They said, looming over the Black Ranger, fire swirling around their hand as it pointed at his chest. “We both know I'm not gonna kill you so-"

That was when Remus full-force chucked the trash can at the back of the Villain. They stumbled and flailed a little before regaining composure and turning to face the brothers.

"Ow, what the-dude!" They rubbed the back of their neck. 

Roman chose that moment to swing the sign at the at the villain who teleported away.

"You have no clue what your doing now, do ya?" The villain asked from behind the two condescendingly. 

"Wha-"

Suddenly, the Black Ranger's axe was thrown into the villain's side. They winced and looked down at the wound. Roman saw as purple blood began seeping out of their newest gash.

"Dammit." The villain said flatly before disappearing, the axe dropping to the ground.

Roman and Remus looked around for them fervently.

"Don't worry, he's not coming back." The Ranger told them, in clear pain. 

"He isn't?" Roman asked. 

"No, but he'll be sending more minions to attack us. You two need to run." The Ranger told them. 

"No way! You're hurt!" Roman protested. 

"How did you get hurt anyway, doesn't that suit make you basically indistrucable?" Remus raised his eyebrows.

"To some weaker attacks yes, but a full strength blast from Prince Virgilius is gonna hurt bad." The Ranger winced. 

"I didn't understand anyting you just told me." Remus stated matter-of-factly.

"That's because you have an I.Q. of negative twenty." Roman sneered.

"Says the one who almost failed seventh grade social studies." Remus retorted.  

"Geography is a hack and you know it!" Roman huffed.

Remus looked ready to say something in return, but was cut-off when hordes of minions began spilling into the Earth through a breach in dimension. 

"Like I said, minions." The Black Ranger sighed. "Run."

Roman raced beside the Ranger and put his left arm over Roman's shoulders. He began helping the Ranger along and the three began trying to get away from the swarms of minions, but were caught up to quickly.

"Roman, you need to leave me so I can fend them off. You and Remus have to run." The Black Ranger told them.

"No, you need help Sir, we can't let you-" Roman started.

"How does he know my name?" Remus asked no one in perticular.

"-protect us when you’re injured and I know you’re the Black Ranger, but you can’t fight all of them off alone!” Roman finished.

“Please listen!” The Ranger interrupted the both of them. “We don’t have much time before we’re completely surrounded, so you two better start running!”

“We are not leaving you!”

“You don’t decide who I can and cannot leave behind Roman!” Remus screeched.

“Will you shut up!” Roman stopped him. “I’m sorry, but like I said, Power Ranger or not, you shouldn’t be fighting alone like this. So, Remus, grab the nearest stabby-thing and let’s help him defend Earth from aliens.”

It was quiet for a bit. The Ranger didn’t seem to want to argue any longer and was more focused on the massive amount of aliens running toward the three. Remus laced his fingers together in front of his face like he was praying and looked at Roman.

“Ro Ro-“

“Please don’t call me that.”

“You had me at ‘stabby-thing’.” Remus sighed before turning away and beginning his search for said 'stabby-thing'.

Roman did the same, quickly scrambling over to pick up the sign he had used earlier. Roman stood next to the Ranger and smiled at him. Preparing himself for the battle before him. Then the minions were on them.

One after another the monsters attacked Roman and the Ranger. Roman slapping one with the sign and forcefully jabbed at the others. He swung the sign around and tried to knock out as many as possible. He wasn’t as effective as the Ranger, who though he was hurt, had an actual weapon that could hurt the minions. 

Roman realized his brother was no longer in his line of sight and accidentally let his guard down. Remus, stop going where I can’t see you- Roman’s thoughts were interrupted as one of the aliens grabbed him and held him down. Roman struggled against the grip and tried to pull himself free, but to no avail. 

Then, something happened. Roman wished he had been able to fully see what was actually going on, but all he really understood was; a red glowing object had come from nowhere and wrapped itself around Roman’s right wrist. 

“Roman!” The Black Ranger called from a ways away. “Listen to me!”

“Okay!” Roman yelled back, trying to get a better look at what had just attached itself to his wrist, but the minion just tightened its grip.

“I need you to say, ‘Red Ranger, activate!’." The Black Ranger told him, trying to keep his voice steady as he fended off the monsters.

"What!?!" Roman squeaked.

"Say it! Trust me!!" The Ranger called.

"Red Ranger!! Activate!!!" Roman yelled. 

Then his world dissolved. Everything was gone, no monsters, no Ranger, no Remus, nothing. Just a blank area. Roman looked around, it was silent except for his own shuffling as Roman stood up. Roman looked toward his hand, finding a red bracelet that had wrapped around his right wrist, seeping red light. The light spread, covering Roman's body. It began to solidify into armor. Roman closed his eyes to protect himself from the brightness, only to open them and find his head in a helmet. He stared at his body, now covered in a suit similar to that of the Black Ranger. In front of him a red glowing blob began taking form. Roman stared, bewildered, as the red light formed a sword, the blade jagged and intricately designed, the hilt pointed toward Roman, as if imploring him to take hold of it. Roman complied, gripping the sword tight, and closing his eyes once again as he was fully enveloped in red light. 

Roman opened his eyes and found himself standing in a small clearing of monsters. The minions staring at him an awe. Roman felt a grin stretch across his face as he brought the sword back a little and thrust it forward into one of the monsters. It collapsed into dust and Roman continued. The monsters fell out of their daze and Roman made his way to the Black Ranger helping him cut each of the aliens down. 

---

A long ways away, Remus was running like a mad man trying to escape the aliens who had followed him. He cursed them and their bloodline, soon finding his breath shortnening. He cursed his dramatic brother one last time before collapsing on the ground. He took in several deep breaths and tried to get up, only to have his vision turn blurry and his head spin. The boy fell back down again, waiting for the aliens to come and eat him alive. However, before he could meet his demise, Remus felt a sharp pressure apply itself to his left wrist. A cool metal object had encircled around him and Remus could feel it pulse a little. He tried to look at it but was once again met with a dizzy, sickening feeling. 

Then, his world was white. 

---

Roman saw from the other side of the block as a green flash exploded from the ground. Before he could ask the Black Ranger what that was about, he was attacked by another swarm of aliens. Which he made quick work of. The ground became littered in dust and it looked like the aliens were losing their high numbered advantage.

“Roman!” Remus’ voice cut across the courtyard.

“What?!” Roman shouted back snappily.

Roman turned to his brother’s voice and saw a suit much like his own and the Black Ranger’s, but green. Remus barreled toward the two swinging a spiky mace in his hands. He turned several of the minions to nothing and met Roman and the Black Ranger in the middle of it all.

--

Soon, each alien had been destroyed and the three stood among dust. 

“This is amazing.” Remus breathed swiftly. He swung the mace around playfully.

“This is insane.” Roman nodded aggressively. Catching his breath forthe first time in a while. “Are-are we Rangers now?”

“Welcome to the team.” The Black Ranger laughed weakly. He grabbed his side yet again and looked at the twins. “You two need to come with me.”