#yes these are sort of extensions of their romances - but helps me put them where i think they’d fit

[agentnatesewell]

if you had to put each of your detectives in a different genre (ex. historical romance, sci-fi, horror, etc) who would you put in which?

Hello, hello! Thank you for such a fun question!

Surina Batra - Suri would absolutely go into a historical romance. I’ve had a lot of daydreams of placing her and Nate in some sort of story - but what kind of historical romance!! Shes definitely not one to want to follow the rules of the ladies on the marriage mart in the ton, so she might take on a sub genre role of a maid, a widow, or just more of a rebellious lady. The story would have great plot and development (of course something wild in the third act), and be full of desire, love, and steamy steam

Layla Yaseen - Layla would be in a mystery novel. One with a focus/lean on science and forensics, as her alternative career would to be some sort of physician. Of course, she would be paired up with someone as head strong as her, whose very presence presents a challenge, and there will be an undercurrent of romance. This story would have plenty of clues and red herrings to keep the reader engaged - more of a modern, updated Agatha Christie

Dinah Greene - Dinah would be in a story which is a mix of contemporary romance, dark humor, and horror. Her whole thing is being approachable on the outside, but being so sarcastic when one gets to talking to her that only a few people happen to make it in, and to those she is loyal to, even if she doesn’t exactly understand what the draw is. So, a funny sort of horror book and she makes several references throughout about how she is the final girl (spoiler alert, she is)

Penelope Lane - Penny would find herself in a hybrid fantasy and adventure story! Maybe or maybe not supernatural, it could lean towards The Ten Thousand Doors of January (an extension of our world) or Legends and Lattes (its own world, supernaturals) - which are two very different stories! Penny is friendly yet intimidating at first, and I think that’ll do her well as she proceeds along the excitement and plot (which lends you resilience in finding truth or opening up a new idea such as a coffee shop - against two very different stories!)

[iliad24]

Say more about Rose and Yaz, I think you're onto something

I'M RIGHT. THIS IS THE THING. I'M RIGHT. like i don't know i feel so deranged sometimes but i literally am right. (and also who cares if i'm deranged it's doctor who fanfiction and i'm having a good time)

i mean okay so like full disclosure i've written extensive fanfiction with a number of different rose&/yaz relationship dynamics. at some point last year i had a real unhinged spiral about parallels between the two (uhh i have a post about it here. i don't really think thirteen was written that way on purpose anymore though, i was a lot more optimistic about the specials when i wrote that).

but like... okay so of course i'm deeply attached to both of them as individual characters. but my interest in their dynamic i guess started as just... noticing that yaz fits the same archetype as rose (19-year-old woman, bored with her job, meets the doctor, falls in love) and wanting them to meet and talk about being with the doctor. and then my unhinged spiral last year ended with me being like "okay so they both spend their early 20's looking desperately for the doctor. what if they met during that time." and at that point i didn't really ship them romantically, but i thought that just by virtue of both being in love with the doctor, they would each understand something really fundamental about the other, and between that and just being really really lonely/touch starved they would find a connection.

but then it's like... okay so like. rose is really emotionally intelligent and open. i would consider that to be one of her main character traits. and she expresses her attraction openly too, for the most part. like it takes her a long time to verbalize her love for the doctor, but you can see it in everything she does. and yaz is a lot more reserved/repressed in that area. so putting rose into the equation helps her open up, helps her relax a little bit, and also forces her to express herself, because rose will straight-up be like "so you're in love with the doctor" and then yaz has to deal with the fact that yes she is very in love with the doctor.

and then i think in a lot of ways i see yaz as very steady. like of course she and rose will both run into danger at a moment's notice, they are doctor enjoyers, but i think yaz has sort of a logic to her that i think makes her very stable specifically for rose, if that makes sense. and like i think she's also very emotionally intelligent but in a very different way. so like she's someone rose can rely on for support, she's good in a crisis, etc.

and they give each other a level of understanding that she really needs from someone-- yaz sort of gets that from dan, but like… like do you ever think about how rose and yaz both canonically ran away from home as teenagers? i think about it. i think they have a lot in common that they don't necessarily get from anywhere else. like i just feel like they see each other in a way neither of them is necessarily used to. and they can be open with each other in a way they kind of can't be with anyone else, up to and including the doctor, because with the doctor (and to be clear i do hardcore ship both of them with the doctor) there's still this sense of uncertainty, like they don't know where they stand, they don't know whether or not the doctor even does romance like a human, etc, and there's this sort of barrier (i mean also like. the doctorrose is gay meta is relevant here too, because part of why that barrier exists is that the doctor does soooo much repression). but with each other they can express themselves, and there's a lot they just understand without expressing it.

and then also i think it does give them both space to exist without the doctor/outside of the doctor. which of course they can do without being shipped with anyone (one reason i love the rose tyler dimension cannon audios is they showcase rose's character and growth without the doctor), but like both rose and yaz are so strongly associated with the doctor that i think it's fun too to step back and say "yeah that's cool but what about this other dynamic?"

of course with doctor who there are so many different dynamics to explore, and honestly i find most of them to be really fascinating. like you can put any two characters in a room and i will find something to go full unhinged blorbo brain about. but of course rose and yaz are both really dear to me as characters and i think about them often. separately and together. and i do maintain that they stabilize each other in a really interesting (and arguably healthy) way.

if you are. interested. i am going to link a few of my fics too that explore their dynamic/illustrate my personal thought progression. i feel like linking my own fic here comes off as insufferably self-centered but like the fact is if you want me to say more you might be thrilled to hear i have already said like tens of thousands of words in fic form. and i think too it's something that like... it's easiest to explain by just. showing examples of how i think their dynamic could play out naturally. i guess because when i first say "yaz/rose" i feel like it sounds like it comes out of nowhere but if you put them both in a story and give it enough buildup i think it's easier to understand? but of course then i have to convince people to read tens of thousands of words of fanfiction about it. anyway:

this is the first one where i was like. yeah yaz and rose should meet and possibly be friends

this is the one where i was like... okay yeah they'd be friends but let's see if thasmin and thirteenrose can exist in the same space (spoiler alert They Can)

this is the one i wrote after my super unhinged brainrot where they meet while yaz is stranded in edwardian era and rose is dimension hopping

this is not the first thirteenyazrose i published but it is the first thirteenyazrose i wrote. it's also part of the series in which i established disabled rose but that's... a different post.

this is the human au i'm currently posting weekly in which i have yaz and rose already knowing each other long before they meet the doctor. i have another au with similar dynamics but it's nowhere near being ready to post, i just rotate it in my mind every so often.

so yeah that's all. thank you so much for sending me this ask i literally could rotate them in my mind forever. like. i really really could. blorbos

[faithfromanewperspective]

something sexy and romantic about emotional dependence when you're a lonely teenager. I get that--this is the only person who gets me after a lifetime of searching--but it isn't healthy. breeds a fear of them leaving, dying, etc. and janus just breaks my heart really bcus we see jace doing so well in tda (emma and julian is another story) after everything that's happened to him, and to think theres another version of him out there that got there, our james and cordelia's little great-great-grandchild, who has a million things going on but thinks being with/without clary is what makes or breaks his life (it's only a catalyst with many many factors playing in).

anyway I don't think janus is romanticised. I think he exists to show the danger of being obsessed with your partner if it takes over everything else: your morals, your respect of their wishes and them as a person. (and btw, this is something we see in abusers when they try to control their partners. just an extension of something we can relate to). I hate his existence as a character. I hope he gets a redemptive arc and some healing rather than just simply being killed off like malcolm and tatiana, though honestly, and I don't say this about many people because I don't fundementally believe it to be true: I don't think his character was constructed to make us believe that he could ever be happy in this life. it was unfair for him to get where he is, for clary to ask raziel to bring him back before the worlds split just for this.

and that's the problem. because if you read it the wrong way (and who's to say there's a right way? i hope hope hope this isn't it, and a basic knowledge of humans will tell you so, but most teenagers don't have that yet) it's like 'oh clary lives=good, happy jace; clary dies=he turns evil and loses everything we know and love about jace and can never be happy again'. maybe there is some truth to the premise of that. we all need love. but romantic love isn't the be-all and end-all.

what i love about tsc is it shows really realistically in a society that deals with a lot of trauma for a job, how much quality friendships and people you can be yourself and honest around or even who simply believe the best in you and choose you in front of everyone can be wonderful for getting through things that would otherwise be just about impossible. something that our individualistic culture, and the certain capitalist narrative of how to take care of our mental health needs to hear. we see this in every parabatai or once-parabatai duo ever (okay lucelia maybe not quite you) and, yes, relationships as well. and a good relationship does help you find yourself as an individual and see yourself for how amazing you really are, because your partner can see it, and for once you can learn to internalise it. thomastair is a great example of that in both directions, but they are also definitely not in a vacuum. they are surrounded by love from friends and family. and their personalities come out as individuals, not in relation to each other, because their relationship is healthy and not obsessive and sets them both free to become the best versions of themselves.

herongraystairs kinda sits in a grey area for this one. they're all so in love that it feels like magic, and they do refer to each other as variations of they saved me, brought me hope when their was none, or joy, beauty, whatever good thing. and that's their story and they were constructed to create a story that expands our limit of how much three people can all love each other and all in different ways. classic stuff you look for in a romance story--and it's true, it is beautiful. it is magical. but you can see how someone can look at that and expect their relationship, with their partner or even parabatai, to look like that, and put so many expectations on the other person that it ultimately goes to shit. if it's reciprocated it becomes an echo chamber of sorts that spirals very quickly whichever way it goes, a positive feedback loop of sorts, because the only real thing for these people is each other (and I think this links in to why parabatai mustn't fall in love: it pushes past the limits of human connection into something more dangerous that we have the capacity for). what i think means herongraystairs works is that the love they share radiates out to those around them, that and the fact that will and jem didn't stay parabatai (i know i know it is beautiful, it was especially as teenagers when they both needed each other so much, but you could say the same about emma and jules, plus we know from both james and cordelia that will and tessa do feel their childrens pain with something somewhat bordering on emotional dependence, not that it's wrong to be empathetic--but james has lived his whole life trying to present in front of his parents however makes them happy, and they should've shown the emotional regulation to make room for him to be a child, and that does permeate into his marriage especially). the fact that will's curse got resolved and he was able to relearn how to love. and the fact that when jessa properly got together they were literally over a century old and more than able to have that intense romance not take over their identities because they'd had so long to either live as themselves or learn Silent Brother (and warlock) secrets on how to ground yourself, survive being alone, etc.

but some, like emma and jules, speaking of parabatai falling in love (plus kitty was heading in that direction) never had that opportunity. both pairs formed in a really intense and difficult time and did need each other (they also needed parents who understood their trauma and their neurodivergence). I once thought that the ending to tda might be 'the power from parabatai falling in love is what we need to defeat all these demons now our numbers are low so now here's a new rune/spell so to protect against the danger' and I'm glad cassie didn't do that. still, you can see what it could be. and both those couples we did see in a really trying time (makes for compelling stories, if not relationships to model ours off) and I think do get healthier--one when they don't have to hide or be parents while they're still children, and one after some time apart to become their own people.

and then, if it's not reciprocated? that's where you get stalkers. the crazy exes we think about (not the ones who are reacting to this kind of abusive behaviour but those who perpetrate it). at the very very best you get something like early cot james but worse, self-sacrificing but unable to be vulnerable enough to take a chance for something good happening (and yes, there's abuse that does throw in extra complexity making it not a perfect metaphor, plus he's not completely like this as he has several people he attributes the best things in his life to so it kinda balances out and the ability to survive even when they are taken away, but what i'm saying is a more 'quiet' expression of the disappointment of expecting someone to meet all your needs and not getting it is to never expect to get what you need and never ask for it). worse, you get jordan kyle who thinks what he did when he wasn't in control of himself can be forgotten because, regardless of maia's trauma associations, it wasn't him and so he shouldn't have to deal with the consequences of it. you get janus who wants to kill his other self and take his spot, without thought of the experience of said other self and all who he's built connections with over the years (i do get that he's suffering). then you get malcolm who will kill dozens of people, resurrect his first love (yes there was a lot of unresolved injustice there so really who's surprised it might have led to this) without considering what she thinks. and tati who kept rupert imprisoned bc she thought she might resurrect him too after jesse who she also entrusted to a demon resulting in him going through everything opposite to what he wanted, not even starting on her treatment of grace and her constant need for revenge). all these people (not james) don't consider what even the object of their affections may want at all, because their own desire for them has overgrown their ability to make room for them to be a person, and they need them to complete themselves.

you can see how, as much as it seems like the opposite, that could grow from only caring what the object of your affections thinks. at some point if you become so reliant, so addicted to them, you risk them becoming first and foremost an object to you.

everyone has to make that choice, especially if, as many do, they come close to the line. for some the Right Thing seems easy, almost instinctive (good for them, but it's a privilege we must acknowledge). trauma and mental illness make it harder (guess what happens when you risk death every day and see it quite often and don't believe in things like therapy and affirming neurodivergence and the like) and we have to not be ableist about it. for some people, it is a constant battle that's often gotten wrong, and that's all the more reason why we need resilient support systems to take us as we are and carry what we can't (not just one partner).

but it's easy, isn't it, to fantasise about getting all that from some paragon you also have sex with and maybe build a family with too. humans need love and connection, we need it so much. but be educated, and educate others. yes this sells. feels good for a little while. but the satisfaction in being your own person and maybe, not necessarily though, having a partner who's so themself you fall in love with them for it (not just for the fact that they're the only person you let in and know how to connect with) and they you? it's the long game. and it is beautiful too. how good it would be (and i know it's not impossible and there would be a market for it!) to see that on page, in front of us. we know it is something our fave couples do learn, they do get going in that direction after often starting somewhere with a lot of potential to go either way (I'm looking at you, clace, why-fix-him-when-you-can-make-each-other-worse). but i think there are a lot of teenagers (and adults too! but teens are more vulnerable and less able to filter out what is actually toxic) who just want a roadmap. something we can connect to enough to be able to relate to and figure out how to make our own relationships healthier like we see on page.

can we talk about the emotional dependence that some tsc characters have to their partners? it’s honestly scary and it’s very romanticized!

PD: janus is a great example of that :)

[itsjustthechems]

Musings on Danse's political/moral alignments

I saw a post mentioning how a lot of the Fo4 fandom associates Danse with current American conservatives. I disagree, and just want to ramble about my feelings on the subject.

Yes, he is a meathead asshole.

I totally understand taking Danse at face value and assigning him mentally to the "bigoted bootlicker" category. That's totally valid. Unless you travel with him extensively and pay close attention to his ambient dialogue, it's understandable to figure that's just how Bethesda wrote him.

Danse's backstory

To understand Danse's moral and political standings, we have to take a look at his origin story. As far as Danse is aware, he grew up alone in the Capital Wasteland. He was an orphan that scrounged for scrap metal and other junk, which he sold to get by. He had no known family, parental figures, or mentors of any sort. He had one friend, Cutler, who was around his age. The Brotherhood of Steel, much like the real U.S. military, preyed on people like this for recruitment missions. Teenagers of low socioeconomic status - hungry, lonely, desperate, unsure of their purpose. Of course Danse and Cutler would elect to join the Brotherhood, which promised them food, protection, somewhere to sleep at night, and above all else - camaraderie. During one of his affinity dialogues, Danse admits that joining the Brotherhood seemed like the only way to escape his situation.

The Brotherhood took advantage of Danse and other soldiers' naivety and lack of experience by instilling fear and hatred of the misunderstood (synths, ghouls, mutants) and using those negative feelings to shape their training. Dare to disagree with their belief system? At best, you would be disciplined. Verbally abused by the Elder and shunned by your friends and mentors. At worst, you'd be booted out - back to the Wasteland you had been taught to fear unconditionally. Back to starvation, radiation, poverty, and isolation.

After a year of service, Cutler disappeared on a mission. Danse searched for him for three weeks, finally tracing him to a super mutant hive. Cutler had been exposed to FEV and had become a super mutant. Danse killed him. He admits that he doesn't know if it was the right thing to do, but it was what he had been trained to do.

That was the first circumstance that really gave me a glimpse into the nuance of Danse's beliefs. Like...wait, he questions his oh-so-precious-and-infallible training?

Is he still a douche to almost all non-human NPCs? Yes. However, I don't think he knows how to be anything other than a condescending, militant, Brotherhood heavy. That kind of attitude is what got him promoted so quickly. It's what got him out of his bottom-of-the-pecking-order trainee position, where he had felt singled out by his superiors. He learned that bigotry and cold-heartedness were the only methods of survival and success in the Brotherhood.

His character arc

Danse is not meant to be a one-dimensional, blatantly bigoted character. If he was, I don't think Bethesda would have made him romance-able. In fact, that's why you can't romance him until after his character arc quest: Blind Betrayal.

Spoiler alert! On this quest, you find out that Danse is a synth. He had no idea, and has a subsequent identity crisis that leaves him suicidal. This is the breaking point in the struggle between his own innate morality and his Brotherhood training. His default stance is that he should be killed to uphold the Brotherhood's code — he even offers to do the deed himself to protect the Sole Survivor from disciplinary action (a true testament to the brutality of the Brotherhood — Danse would rather die than allow Sole, his best friend, to face Maxson's wrath). However, through charisma checks, you can remind him of his own humanity and convince him not to harm himself. This breakthrough leads him to recognize that synths are truly nothing to be afraid of.

After Blind Betrayal, he will agree with most dialogue options supporting synths. According to the wiki, any leftover dislikes regarding synth-related dialogue are glitches.

There are other moments in separate quests that reference his moral confusion — for example, he likes when you help Kent, who is a ghoul, but doesn't like if you flirt with Holly, also a ghoul (maybe that's just some jealousy, lmao).

He also dislikes when you give Virgil, a mutant scientist, the serum that will help him return to his human form. My personal headcanon is that seeing Virgil cure himself forces Danse to address the fact that he might have been able to save Cutler, but killed him instead, due to his Brotherhood brainwashing.

Evidence of Danse's fiscal/economic beliefs

Danse is a COMRADE. You heard me. This man's pussy pops for socialized medicine. When you walk through Milton General Hospital, he says: "Facilities like this were funded by privately owned corporations more interested in making a profit than helping mankind."

You heard me, this man hates capitalism. Behold:

"Vault-Tec built places like this to conduct unethical experiments on human beings. Just thinking about it makes me sick."

"It was corporations like this that put the last nail in the coffin for mankind. They exploited technology for their own gains, pocketing the cash and ignoring the damage they'd done."

"Private corporations like Vault-Tec ruined mankind. All that brainpower put to waste..."

"This is disgusting. I can't believe Mass Fusion dumped these barrels here. This is the perfect example of how environmentally irresponsible the ancient corporations behaved."

"This is exactly the reason that science never belonged in the private sector."

Ugh. Really gets me goin'.

Conclusion

He has several other comments that suggest he is generally anti-war, is very pro-education, shows appreciation for the arts, loves children and animals...several things that conservatives couldn't care less about. He reacts angrily to greed, assaulting or harassing any non-hostiles (including synths, ghouls, and mutants), turning your back on beggars, harming non-hostile animals, etc. In my opinion, he's a pretty stand-up guy once he completes his character arc.

Does he still love the taste of boots? Yeah, and he probably always will. :/

Bethesda did him so dirty by not finishing his character arc. The fact that he still gushes about the Brotherhood and acts as if he's still in their ranks after Blind Betrayal is pretty clear evidence that he's a generally unfinished character. I think he had the potential to become a more accepting, radicalized, philanthropic individual after recognizing the shortcomings of the Brotherhood's ideals.

But yeah. I love this handsome dumbass, and I personally consider him a comrade, not a conservative. Kudos if you read this far into my crazed ramblings!

[zotlel]

The Exhibition (M)

pairing: jaebeom x you (ft. jinyoung)

genre: photographer!au, smut, romance, one-shot

synopsis: You are starved for inspiration as a photography student. When visiting the anonymous photographer “Defsoul’s” exhibit you meet a like-minded boy who gives you that spark. Only you didn’t expect the night to pan out exactly as it did.

word count: 7.8k

The wide city sidewalk was packed full of people anxious to get home and start their weekends. Their hurried steps accompanied by the warm street lights were quite a sight, you thought. With a quick flash of your camera, you are able to capture the scene as is, but you were already running late. You weave in and out through the bodies because unlike them you were not going home.

This was the third year of your photography program at the city’s most prestigious university. Despite how much you loved photography, you had been stuck in a creative rut recently that you just couldn’t seem to break free from. Therefore it had become a tradition of yours starting this new school year to attend some sort of photography exhibition on Friday nights. The size of the city that you were currently studying in allowed this to be a possibility due to the ever-growing art community it had.

Your steps continue at a quick pace, but you couldn’t help your eye from wandering at the scenes around you. So hungry for any sort of inspiration, from the streets dampened with a former rainstorm to the businessman making quick work to undo his burgundy tie that had been constricting his neck. Anything. You wished for just anything to strike you with a spark.

You had finally reached your destination where the new exhibition was being held. Alone. That was the title of the photographer’s first show. The photographer in question? Unknown. The photographer was going under the alias as “Defsoul.” It was quite a trendy thing these days to have no idea whose art you were looking at. You really could not wrap your head around as to why you would not want to put your name amongst the work you are proud of. Which was also a perfect example of why you probably struggled so much creatively.

The space the photographer chose had a rather grunge vibe, photographs were arranged on the tattered brick walls and all throughout the room. The air was thick around you as soft R&B beats flowed throughout the space. Stepping into the studio, you notice that you are one of the first patrons to arrive at the exhibition. While most guests came in pairs or groups you stood small in the expansive space in solitary, you preferred it that way. Small gatherings of people were scattered throughout the different rooms, all ranging from different ages, sexes, and ethnicities. You silently complemented the ambiguous photography for having the ability to reach so many demographics. The more you walked about the studio space, the more you understood everyone’s attraction to the enthralling photos.

Each photo was supposed to emit a different sentiment, or so that is what you have learned from your classes. The photos themselves vary from different subjects, older couples holding each other close, some were expansive European landscapes, and then also the occasional stray cat stretching in the afternoon sun. You tried your hardest to interpret the photos in your own words, trying to find the connection. Alone. That was the exhibition name. So why didn’t you feel that when walking amongst the various scenes?

To you, the different film that was taken emulated a mass collection of photos taken from someone’s personal collection. There was a sense of solace in each photo that you couldn’t quite put your finger on. It felt as if you were with the photographer in every photo, imagining the way they shot each scene. You had been walking around rather aimlessly through the gallery until you stopped upon one image in particular. 

The photograph was no more expressive than any other photo in the gallery, but you couldn’t help stopping and staring. The scene was the back of a man, his hair slightly long and disheveled, he looks out into an extensive lake surrounded by forestry, the light of a late midday sun which illuminated the photograph.  You cannot help your logical analysis of the image, and you find no flaws. The common idea surrounding photography is that it is a completely creative and artistic practice, while this isn’t false, it just so happened to also require certain formulas as well. It requires an eye for direction, proportions, and balance. This photo that fascinated you in the gallery had all of those elements.

The sound from the other patrons fades around you as you become enraptured in the photograph. It was only the scent of pure pine and spice that had you reeling back to the current moment. To the right side of you, a man stood, he wasn’t looking at you but instead he was, just as you were, staring into the alluring photo. You studied the man, he seemed to be around your age, taller than you, with dark hair that matched his sultry eyes. You admired the man’s bone structure, tall nose and cheekbones, he really was quite attractive. 

The way your gaze lingered on his face must have given him a sense of being watched. Because before you could hide your stare the handsome man was shifting his face towards you, looking straight into your eyes, a devilish smirk dances on his features. Heat rises to the apples of your cheeks as you turn to look at the picture again, pretending like you weren’t just caught checking him out.

“What do you think?”

You turn to face him, “Excuse me?”

“About the photo,” he smiles back at you. You cough slightly trying to hide your embarrassment. 

“Oh, um-” you start carefully, “it is actually my favorite one in this exhibit I think.” 

His face softens at your answer as he nods, looking back to the photo before he begins to speak again, “What’s so great about it?” 

You look at the photo one more time, really analyzing it.

“I’m not sure exactly,” you say honestly. “It was the only photo that really caught my eye. Don’t get me wrong I thought all these photos were great, but this one helped me visualize what the photographer must have been witness to through his photos.”

He looks back at you with a surprised expression. 

“That’s a really interesting take on the photo, I thought you just thought the man in it was attractive.”

You laugh slightly, “You can’t see much of looks from a person’s back.”

This has the man doubling over in laughter, much to your surprise. You look around the room to see if any of the other patrons are staring at the man, you couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed at the attention. Then you looked back at the man and his blinding smile and you cannot help but return the same emotion. And for the first time, in a long time, you began to feel captivated with this man.

His laughter seizes yet his smile remains as he turns his body to face you, “I am Jaebeom by the way.” 

He says while extending his hand out to you. You are now able to see his entire face as you grip his hand in a greeting. To your surprise, he had a silver nose ring on his right side, along with multiple piercings all up and down his ears. It was your first time feeling such an attraction to a man’s jewelry. You blink rapidly realizing you had just been grasping his hand in silence for some time, but he didn’t seem to mind. You tell him your name before dropping your connected hands, he repeats it softly as if he was saying it for only him to hear.

“Did you come by yourself tonight?” He asks.

“Is that some form of a pick-up line?” You reply back snarkily which has the man chuckling at your playful banter.

“It’s only a pickup line if it works,” he states causing your head to nod in agreement.

“Well then yes, I am alone if you must know.”

“Fascinating. I would have definitely assumed you to just be here on a date, not actually here for the art,” he says.

You scoff, “How pretentious of you to assume such a thing,” you say. 

“I’m a photography student if you couldn’t guess, so I am most definitely here for the art.”

“I meant no offense,” he holds his ringer clad hands up in a form of surrender. “It was just a simple observation due to the other people here tonight.”

He wasn’t wrong about that, you thought. The gallery was littered with different couples strolling throughout the space. Love could easily be seen in the air the minute you walked in. Not that you minded, of course. If you had allowed yourself to date you would also think to come to an art gallery like this, spending time with someone you were attracted to amongst gorgeous imagery, it was quite romantic. 

“This does seem to be a hot-spot for couples tonight,” you note back to him.

“So, what would you say if I asked you to come out for a drink with me tonight instead of staying here?” He asks you.

“What, are the lovebirds kind of cramping your style?” You laugh back at his sudden suggestion.

He laughs at this before continuing, “Not necessarily. I’m just interested in you, I thought maybe a good way of getting to know more about the beautiful girl from the gallery would be over a couple of drinks.”

You smile shyly looking away from him, “I don’t know, I was kind of curious to see if this secret photographer would show themselves by the end of the night.”

“Trust me, he’s not one for introductions.”

He? You thought to yourself, how could Jaebeom know the gender of the photographer? Perhaps he had been coming to Defsoul’s exhibitions enough to have eventually met the elusive photographer. 

Perhaps you should take Jaebeom up on his offer. Hell, you couldn’t even remember the last time you had been out for a drink. Especially with a man as good-looking as Jaebeom. Maybe you could finally allow yourself to let loose, just this once.

“Well, in that case, you lead the way,” he smiles at your response. Jaebeom raises his hand inviting you to take hold. You do so while smiling, excited for what the night shall bring.

Jaebeom grips your hand tightly as you two make your way throughout the lamp-lit city streets. Your heart is beating wildly every time he would look back to check if you were still there, grinning when he is met with your presence. The two of you walk hand-in-hand as he tells you he is taking you to one of his favorite lounges in the city, you can’t help your excitement.

You two finally arrive at the bar, the exterior of the building is ornate in nature with vintage signage and lights decorating the brick walls. Jaebeom drops his grasp on your hand to open the large wooden door allowing you to step inside first, what a gentleman you thought. Inside the lounge the cigar smoke twisted in an elegant way, forming curls in the dim light. The room was illuminated solely by the age-speckled bar lights. Jaebeom finds an empty booth towards the back for you two to sit. A smartly dressed waiter comes around to grab drink orders and skirts away hurriedly after. You sit back a bit in your seat trying to calm your nerves by looking around the room. 

You wouldn’t exactly describe yourself as an introverted person, but this definitely was a new experience for you. Coming out with a man you barely knew, to a part of town you were unfamiliar with, just for drinks. It was all so different for you, but there was something about Jaebeom that made you feel a certain sense of security. It was usually pretty easy for you to tell when a guy was a complete sleaze-bag and Jaebeom definitely did not give off that impression. Still, you couldn’t help but feel slightly shy to be with such a handsome man.

“I’m so curious to hear what you are thinking,” Jaebeom speaks up from the other end of the table. 

You turn to look at him and notice his chin perched on his hand as he stares dreamily at you with his deep-set eyes. You go red as you realize he must have been studying you this entire time.

“I was just thinking about how all of this is a very new experience for me,” you respond back.

“What exactly?”

“Just this,” you emphasize your words by swinging your finger in the space between the two of you. 

“I’ve never said yes to drinks with a man I had met less than an hour before.”

“You don’t say,” he chuckles. “I would imagine a girl as beautiful as you would have plenty of suitors waiting to take you out for a simple cocktail.”

You laugh at this. It’s not that men have not tried taking you out in the past, they most certainly did. You were just in a place with your life that didn’t allow you the capacity for any man. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded, really. You knew that at this point in your life the things that were the most important to you were school and finding your place in the competitive field of photography. No man could ever distract you from this dream of yours.

“Even so,” you begin. “I don’t really have the time for any sort of man in my life right now.”

“So then why did you agree to come out with me?” Jaebeom asks you.

That was a good question, why did you say yes? Despite the fact that Jaebeom had been one of the most attractive men to ever approach you, you wondered what it was about him that pulled your attention so strongly.

“I’m not sure why exactly it’s kind of hard to explain,” you say. “I just feel comfortable in your presence.”

This was something new to hear for Jaebeom. Mysterious, chic, sexy. These were all things Jaebeom was used to hearing from women, but “comfortable” was new. Little did you know, you were also a new experience entirely for him. The other women Jaebeom had encountered in his life felt like nothing more than a shallow quest for lust or domination with him. But you, he wanted to know so much more about the girl sitting across from him. Your dreams, inhibitions, fears. He could listen to you ramble on all night.

“I feel the same way,” he replies back coolly, to which you beam back a tender smile.

The rest of the night with Jaebeom is filled with giddy conversation between the two of you, both anxious to learn more about the other. You share with him things that some of your closest friends did not even know about you, but that was the power he held. He somehow was able to fluster you like a shy schoolgirl and yet hold your hand so sincerely that it felt as if you had known him for years. Drinks and conversation flowed throughout the few hours you spent with him at the lounge, effectively easing all your anxiety.

Once the two of you got onto the topic of photography there was no stopping the excitement. You could see in his eyes he loved it just as much as you, but ultimately he feared he was not good enough to be professional. You related closely to this worry, also sharing the hardships you faced with the creative aspect of it all. The way Jaebeom was able to relate so deeply to you on this issue made him all the more attractive to you, but that could also be the drinks talking.

“Of course you also make music,” you laugh at the man across from you at his recent confession.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He gawks back at you.

“Nothing offensive really,” you begin. 

“It just fits your whole image you know. The gorgeous man I met at the exhibit is also incredibly deep and creative,” you joke with him.

He smiles and nods his head understanding that to most people he appears that way. Not that he minded, of course, he just wished sometimes he wasn’t so easy to read. 

“Gorgeous, huh?”

He completely ignores your other statements to instead put you on the spot, but to his surprise, you don’t seem the least bit bashful. Instead, you take a long sip from your drink before setting it down with a soft thud. Looking him in the eye as if to say, “Did I stutter?” Jaebeom smirks and breaks his eye contact, absentmindedly twirling the small cocktail straw in his almost empty glass. 

“I want to hear your music,” you say breaking him from his trance. 

He looks up to see you leaning in on the table excitedly, a small flame of mischief burning behind your eyes. 

He leans in towards you, “Really?” 

You nod.

“Well then, let’s get out of here.”

You knew just as well as anyone what it meant to go back to his place and listen to his music, but that was exactly what you wanted. Jaebeom hails over the waiter closing up your tab before you both exit the bar to the crisp Autumn night air. As if on cue, a taxi pulls in front of where the two of you stood, allowing a handsome young couple to exit its backseat. Jaebeom takes the opportunity, seizing the door open for you to step into the now emptied seats of the taxi. He joins in after you quickly telling the older man who was driving the taxi his address.

The ride began innocently enough. Silent, as you two sat next to one another, too nervous to make eye contact. Because you knew as soon as you looked, things would take a drastic turn, but you were always too curious for your own good. You turn your head slightly to catch Jaebeom looking at you, not in your eyes, but everywhere else. From the way that your legs were crossed to your innocently folded hands in your lap, the curves of your body, the long expanse of your neck, until finally, into your lust-filled eyes. That was all it took.

Jaebeom was the first to snap, instantly latching his hand onto the back of your neck in order to bring your lips onto his. You more than happily obliged bringing your own hands to rest on his taut shoulders, molding your lips unto his. The connection was everything you imagined. Hot, rushed, and oh so gratifying. You could taste the deep bitters of his drink as his tongue danced across your lip, your own tongue eager to meet his. He groaned into your mouth once he felt the connection which in turn had you draping a leg across his lap attempting for your bodies to be closer. You felt somewhat sorry for the cab driver, but you mostly didn’t care.

Jaebeom grips your leg that is draped over him feeling the soft flesh beneath your tight jeans. God, he only imagined what you looked like completely exposed to him. The thought had to wait as the two of you could feel the car come to an abrupt stop, followed by an awkward cough from the front seat. You both break free and stare into each other’s dark gazes, unable to shake the overwhelming amount of lust. It took a second clearing of the cab driver’s throat to snap the trance and leave his car. Jaebeom handed the man the cab fare, being sure to tip him generously, before exiting the car and extending a hand out to you. You take it graciously after saying a quick “thank you” to the driver. 

Once outside the cab, the pace of the evening leveled out. Jaebeom, now calm and collected, takes your hand in his, smiling at you briefly before guiding you to a rather expensive-looking building. It was late at night when you two arrived, yet upon entering the bright lobby you notice a rather well-dressed attendant sitting modestly behind a large desk. She looks up from her desk to see who had entered. Upon gazing at Jaebeom she stands and bows her head silently in a form of saying “Welcome.” Jaebeom smiles politely at her while still having you in tow towards the titanium elevator doors. They open upon his touch of the button allowing you both to step inside.

The feeling of being next to Jaebeom in the elevator versus the taxi was entirely different. While the backseat of the taxi was filled with nothing but lust for one another, the elevator was quiet. Utter silence from you both as you anxiously spare looks to one another. Whenever one of you caught the other’s eye it would be hard to hide your bashful smiles. Your stomach was doing flips in expectancy of what was to come. The doors part, you had arrived. 

Jaebeom enters his apartment with relative ease, despite his nerves making it difficult to punch in his door code. Once the two of you were inside is when he finally began to speak, “Can I offer you anything to drink? Wine? Water?”

“Wine sounds lovely, thank you,” you respond back. 

He smiles, “Wine it is. Please make yourself at home while I go get us some glasses.”

Then he is off, leaving you to wander about his apartment curiously. It was relatively a clean place, or rather there just wasn’t much furniture in general. Simplistic and chic. You couldn’t think of a more fitting apartment for Jaebeom. You walk about the space coming unto what seemed to be a living room with a single black leather loveseat and a computer desk against the opposite wall. You make your way over to the couch sitting down gently. 

Not long after, Jaebeom appears from the doorway holding two glasses of a deep red wine. He chuckles nervously extending one glass to you. Jesus, he was so endearing. You take the glass with a small smile and thank him, bringing the bitter liquid to your lips. 

“Did you still want me to play you some of my work?” Jaebeom asks nervously, still standing above you. 

You had almost completely forgotten that was the whole reason you wanted to come. You were too enraptured by the beautiful man’s aura. 

“Yes please, play me something,” you say excitedly. 

He takes a sip of his wine and smiles before turning his back and walking towards the computer. He types away for about a minute before a soft melody can be heard throughout the room. You look to see speakers installed all around your head creating a hypnotic atmosphere. You close your eyes and sway, finding yourself getting lost in the beats and pretty vocals of his song. It isn’t until you feel a dip in the seat next to you that you open your eyes to see the expectant face of Jaebeom at your side.

“You really made this?”

“Yeah, that’s my voice if you can’t tell,” he replies nervously bringing a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

“I don’t know as much about music as I do photography, but this is really good,” you say to him which has him chuckling and shaking his head. “No, really I mean it.”

He looks up at you to see that you were in fact being genuine. He felt more proud then than at any other moment he could remember. Jaebeom sets his wine glass down on the coffee table next to yours before turning his full attention towards you, tucking a soft hair behind one of your ears. 

“You’re really something, did you know that?” He asks you, with a voice just barely above a whisper.

Your heart pounded loudly in your chest at the sudden close proximity, but God did you love this man’s presence. You leaned slightly into his hand that was still hovering near the side of your face, allowing him to cup your cheek affectionately. 

“That’s funny,” you say. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”

He’s smiling at you now, staring deeply into your shining eyes. The self-control he had completely left him at that point. He leans into you slowly, allowing you time to register what was about to happen. You close the gap, kissing him softly. He sighs into the kiss, languidly moving his lips against yours while at the same time grabbing your hips to move your body closer. You reciprocate and bring it a step further, throwing one leg over his lap to straddle his thighs, never once breaking apart your lips.

He takes a shaky breath the minute your body softly grinds onto his. God, he was intoxicating. You were so eager to elicit more responses from him, to watch him come undone, so you snake your hands into his long hair, earning an appreciative moan. You can’t help but whine at the sound, wanting nothing more than to feel his body pressed against yours. 

Jaebeom seems to know your thoughts exactly because in one moment he is sweeping you up off of the couch, legs still fastened tightly around him, making his way towards what you can only assume to be his bedroom. He would stop occasionally to press you against a nearby wall, breaking from your lips he would decorate your neck in soft kisses. The scent of his musky cologne exhilarating your thoughts. Finally, he reaches his bedroom, dropping you down to your feet softly with a thud. 

“I want you,” he breaths out onto your abused lips.

“Then you can have me,” you whisper. “All of me.”

He groans at your response as it seems they were the exact words he wished to hear. Swiftly Jaebeom grabs at your top peeling it off over your head leaving you clad in a simple black bra. If you had known you would be seen naked tonight you would have opted for something a little sexier, but Jaebeom doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, his head instantly drops to your cleavage, pushing your breasts eagerly up into his face as he begins to kiss and suck at your skin surely leaving marks for you to remember him by. You breathe out at the sensual feeling, greedy to feel his skin against your own.

You reach below him to tug at his black t-shirt hinting at how much you wanted it off of his body. He understands, breaking away from your chest to pull his shirt over his head. His chest is broad and milky, illuminated from the streetlights outside his bedroom window. You can’t help yourself, bringing a hand to rest against the middle of his chest. You felt him, all of him. The warmth, the sweat, the anticipation, all of it rested just below your fingertips. Slowly you drag your hand lower, noting the shiver that ran through Jaebeom’s body at your soft caresses. You reach his belt, playing with it you look up at him through your lashes, batting them innocently.

“Fuck-” he says. “If you keep looking at me that way, I don’t think I can control myself.”

“Perfect,” you say, pulling him closer by his belt loop. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

You have no idea where this sense of confidence has come from. Normally during sex, you tend not to be much of a talker, letting the man do as he pleases. Tonight felt different from all those nights before. Jaebeom made you a different person, someone who felt bold enough to take control. You liked this person he created, and he seemed to be just as pleased.

He smirks at you, enjoying your teasing nature, he pulls you flush against his skin. He holds your eye contact for a moment before firmly turning your body so that your back meets his chest. You gasp as you feel him move your hair to the side, decorating lustful kisses along your shoulder and neck. His hands find purchase on your hips, greedily massaging them while also forcing your ass to grind onto his already stiff cock straining against his jeans. You moan at the feeling, taking pride in the effect you had on him.

“Do you like that, baby?” He asks you. “The feeling of my hard cock against you?”

The man could talk dirty, you thought, could he be any more attractive?

You don’t reply with words. Instead, you grind your backside harder against him, causing a hiss to fall from his lips. You lull your head back dreamily, getting lost in the feeling of your bodies moving together, both of you ravenous for any sort of friction. While his hands stayed firmly on your hips you took this opportunity to grab at one of his hands, bringing it upward to your chest, encouraging Jaebeom to massage your breasts. He happily obliges, feeling up your warm body with his rough hands, your scent invigorating his mind.

“I want you to strip for me, then go lay on the bed,” Jaebeom softly commands in your ear, effectively snapping you out of your daze.

There was something about his assertive tone that sent heat straight to your core, you were so eager to feel him there. He takes a step away from your body allowing you space to remove your clothes, and you do so. You look over your shoulder at him to see his bottom lip caught between his teeth, anticipating your show. You reach down for the button of your jeans undoing it in a slow and sultry way until you are able to strip the fabric down your legs. 

Jaebeom intently watches your scantily clad figure which in turn gave you the confidence to continue. You put on a bit of a show with your movements, matching your swaying hips to his music that could still be heard inside the bedroom. Once you step your feet out of your jeans you turn your body so it is facing his. There is still a bit of space between your bodies, but the tension is extreme. You reach behind your back to unclasp your bra, taking one strap between your fingers as you allow the bra to drop. 

Upon seeing your bare chest a fire ignites behind Jaebeom’s eyes. You smirk, with still swaying hips, you hook two fingers into your panties. Turning once more to give him a view of your backside, you dance your way out of the soft material, letting it gather around your feet. Finally, now completely bare, you make your way to his large king bed adorned with fresh white sheets. Crawling on all fours up the bed, making sure to arch your back for the best view, you flip your body onto the bed awaiting his arrival.

Jaebeom drinks this all in. The music, fragrances, lights, visuals, and the ambiance of seeing your bare body lay upon his white sheets, decorated purely by the moonlight. Without waiting for a second longer he rids himself of the last of his clothing, pushing his jeans and boxers down with haste. He walks to the foot of the bed, softly caressing your calves as he climbs up the expanse of your body. Your eyes meet his hazily, running your gentle hands along his forearms until his forehead is resting softly against yours.

“Can I taste you?”

Your mind is in a haze at his request, but who were you to say no?

Your head nods at his request and he smiles. Kissing your lips passionately before dragging them lower and lower down your body. Occasionally Jaebeom would nip and suck on parts of your skin, causing your body to tremor. Until finally you began to feel his heated breaths over your core. You gripped the sheets expectantly, unconsciously tensing your body in anticipation. He gives each of your thighs one last kiss before licking a strong tongue through your core.

You moan instantly, surprised by how sensitive you were from just one touch. Jaebeom doesn’t stop, he grabs hold of your thighs effectively throwing them over his broad shoulders. At first, his licks are long and languid, causing your hips to fall in motion with his tongue. Once he begins to feel your thighs tense at the sensations he picks up his pace, switching from licking up your core to occasionally wrapping his lips around your clit. 

You feel electric waves throughout your body at his movements. At one particular suck, you moan out into the night, threading a hand through Jaebeom’s hair, which in turn has him groaning into you. He too was lost in the pleasure he was giving you. From your scent to your heavenly moans he couldn’t stop himself from grinding down against his mattress eager for some relief on his achingly hard cock.

“Jaebeom please, I need to feel you inside of me, please,” you manage to moan out wanting nothing more than for your bodies to become one.

Although Jaebeom wanted so badly to see your body come undone from his tongue alone, he too was starting to get impatient. One last suck to your clit before he is climbing back up your body, greedily you reach for him and connect your lips. He moans at your soft sucks against his tongue, desperate for you to taste your own arousal. 

Shockingly, you are able to flip your bodies over allowing you to climb on top of Jaebeom’s beautiful body. You break away from the kiss to sit up and see him. There he was in all his glory. The stoic man from the gallery naked and heaving beneath you, so eager to be inside of you. You smile sweetly at him and he groans, taking his painfully hard cock into your hand you stroke him tenderly, to which he throws his head back in excitement. Without waiting a second longer you align him with your dripping core, slowing sinking him deep inside of you.

You release an intense sigh that you didn’t know you were holding. Jaebeom moans at the warm feeling of your pussy wrapped tightly around him, he then looks to see where your bodies meet. As if on cue you begin to sway your hips back in forth, still in rhythm with the music coming from the living room. The pace is slow and sensual, just as you like. 

Jaebeom felt as if he could feel every little movement. From the way your beautiful hips swayed to your hands pressed firmly on his chest, he savored every second. His hands come to rest against your hips once again, encouraging your movements. Moans spill from your mouth as you get lost in the feeling of him buried so deep inside of you.

“Oh god,” you cry out.

Jaebeom is blissed out in the feeling, allowing you full control; he loses himself in the moment, suddenly becoming acutely aware of the song. You too let your body take over and allow your mind to float above the two of you making love. You can hear the melody too.

난 네게 눈이 멀었고

(I became blinded by you)

넌 내게 눈이 멀었겄지

(You probably became blinded by me)

우리 서로만을 보았고

(We only saw each other)

이 세상에 둘만 있었겠지

(We probably were the only ones in the world)

Jaebeom begins to lose his patience as he can feel his end nearing. You yelp with surprise as his strong arms wrap against your frame, flipping you onto your back. You squeeze around him from his dominant change in nature, he groans at the feeling.

“I want to feel you come all around me, baby,” he tells you. 

You nod back ready for him to ravish your body. He hooks one of your legs over his shoulder giving him the best angle for you both. The pace from before is completely different. While you took your time with Jaebeom while you rode him, when he was on top he fucked you, hard.

Sheathing himself back inside of you so hard and fast you both scream out in pleasure. He wastes no time fucking you raw, trying to chase the high you both so desperately longed for. His movements are fast yet calculated, effectively hitting your sweet spot every time he entered you. You were desperate to hold on to reality gripping the sheets above your head as you moaned loudly. Jaebeom saw this action and instead moved your hands to his hair.

“I want you to show me how good I’m making you feel,” he says to you in his gruff voice.

You understand his wish, grabbing his hair just as tightly as he fucked you, earning an appreciative groan from him spurring on his movements further. 

You felt your end coming. It was like a small fire that suddenly began to blister in the pit of your stomach. Your chest heaved for air as you gripped his hair even tighter, warning him. He understood.

“Come on, baby, I need to feel you come, please,” his words did just the trick.

The fire turned into an explosion as the white-hot orgasm swept through your body. You trembled in his hold as he thoroughly fucked you through your high. Once you came down you noticed his brows furrowed and his movements began to waver. You released his hair to hold him close to your body, encouraging him to let go.

He eventually reaches his own high as he drops his head to your shoulder, you hold him close as he moans out deliciously into your ear. His movements stutter as he tiredly milks his orgasm to completion. He slumps his body against yours, slick with sweat the two of you stay connected for some time attempting to calm your breaths. 

Tiredly you stroke your hand softly up and down his back lullingly. You begin to feel the effect of all the alcohol in your system as you fought to keep your eyes open. Too at peace with where you were, you allowed yourself to become a victim of slumber while caressing Jaebeom’s naked frame. 

When morning broke, you expected to be woken by the bright sunshine pouring into his room. Instead, the thing that woke you from your slumber was the distinct click of what you only know to be the sound of a film camera. Still naked in his sheets you turn your body over to see an equally naked Jaebeom perched at the foot of the bed with a small camera plastered to his face. The morning sun decorated his frame in the most beautiful way, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He lowers the camera slowly from his face, gauging your reaction, “Sorry I just thought you looked so perfect lying there. Does it bother you?”

You shake your head no. He smiles and climbs up his bed to be with you again in the early morning light. He lays at your side and you turn your full body to him, he tucks a stray hair behind your ear. You both stay there for what felt like an eternity. Mindlessly you both would let your fingers dance along the other’s naked form, basking in the soft flesh below. The silence was infectious, filling your soul with content. You never wanted this feeling to end.

──

“Can I just say what an honor it is to be accompanying you on this gorgeous Friday night,” Jinyoung smiles at you. “The forsaken Friday nights that you would normally spend in solitude, per your own request, but I am the first one to break that tradition. Really it is a privilege.”

You laugh at Jinyoung’s over-the-top monologue. Jinyoung wasn’t wrong, he was the first person you had ever asked to accompany you on this Friday night. Your friends all knew the deal, Friday nights were for your alone time, for your creativity to rekindle. 

“You are just too handsome to say no to,” you reply back sweetly, reaching up to Jinyoung planting a swift kiss on his cheek. His eyes crinkle in the most adorable fashion. 

As much as you had grown and changed in the past couple of months, Jinyoung was always a constant in your life. Before you used to be so caught up in your art and finding inspiration that you never gave the cute boy from your English class the time of day. Often times Jinyoung would ask you out for the occasional coffee or study date to which you would always find an excuse not to go. It surprised you that even after all his failed attempts he even still wanted to take you out, so ultimately you agreed. You could say that perhaps you had a change of heart. Something eventually opened your eyes to his affection for you.

After walking some time the two of you finally make it to the exhibit. The words “Awake.” displayed in white neon outside the entrance. Looking to Jinyoung and smiling you both make your way through the large entryway. Subtly you feel him slide his fingers through your own, and your body heats at the affection. 

It had been quite some time since Defsoul had held any sort of photography exhibition. In fact, the last one being just over six months ago. Although the photographer was still active through social media you were surprised as to why it had taken them so long to put on another show. You remembered just how much you fell in love with their work last time that you were eager to see what else they had in store.

As the two of you walk hand-in-hand throughout the gallery you instantly notice the ambiance of this show to be vastly different from the one you had attended months before. The air was lighter, the photographs themselves felt brighter than before, and even the conversations between the patrons were airier. Jinyoung would occasionally point to certain photos attempting his best at discussing the art of photography in order to impress you. You would smile at his attempts, bringing his body closer to yours the more you strolled throughout the space.

Your mind couldn’t help but wander to the night you shared with Jaebeom just months before where you met him at one of these exhibits. It had been so long since you had even thought of him or his name that you had almost forgotten. Though the feelings you felt never disappeared. 

You catch yourself smiling at the memory before looking up at one of the larger displays in the studio. You stopped dead in your tracks upon looking, your breath caught in your throat as you just stared. It was you, not your face, your naked backside peeking perfectly out of his crisp white sheets, the morning sun playing through your soft hair beautifully. There you were on full display for the whole world to see. 

The world around you faded as you sat and stared, Jinyoung taking notice finally to what you had been looking at, “That is gorgeous, I think this might be my favorite one so far.”

You can’t hear him as your mind was reeling a mile a minute. It was then in that moment you came to realize everything. His sheets, his bed, his room, his photograph. This was his show, Jaebeom was Defsoul. How could you have not seen it before?

You looked about the room frantically, fear striking you as you noticed the other patron’s eyes glued to the huge mural of you, Jinyoung too being entranced with the photo. Anxiety bubbled over into your stomach. That was until you saw it, the title: Muse.

You didn’t know why exactly upon reading the simple word that tears began to pool in your eyes. Again you looked around the room. You needed to see him, to confirm your thoughts. You needed to know who Jaebeom really was. Then suddenly there he stood, perfect as ever.

Jaebeom stood meters away from you and Jinyoung, the bodies of the other patrons crossed your paths as the two of you just stared at each other. He looked just as stunning as that night, that one fateful night. His gaze is soft on yours as if to ask if you were okay. You cannot answer him, still in too much shock. 

Until Jaebeom looks to Jinyoung, your connected hands, and then finally you, he smiles warmly. Little did you know that this is exactly what Jaebeom wanted to see for you. Your happiness above all else. To others, what the two of you shared could easily be written off as just some other one night stand, but he knew it was so much more. He cared for you in ways he never thought he would be able to feel for another person. And so he was happy, if he couldn’t be the one holding your hand in this gallery, he was glad you had someone to take his place. You deserved as much.

A tear finally escapes your eye as you continue to gaze at Jaebeom’s sincere expression, laughing slightly you brush the tear away. You felt no anger, no embarrassment. Because what Jaebeom said was right, for that night you spent together, he too was your own muse. The spark you needed at that moment. You needed him then just as much as he did. 

Without leaving his eyes, you bow your head slightly, doing something you realized you never did that night. You thanked him. He raised a wine glass in recognition. Then he was gone, swallowed into the sea of people who would never know his true identity. 

“I didn’t know photography moved you that much,” Jinyoung says to you while wiping your tears away, a look of concern etched into his features.

You laugh, dropping your head bashfully before raising your eyes again to look at Jinyoung. You were so content with the way you began to live your life since meeting Jaebeom. For so long you had deprived yourself of the one thing that should have mattered the most, your happiness.

It was fate for you and Jaebeom to meet each other that night, but you knew it was only meant for that one night. Jaebeom was the trigger for you to stop living inside the constrictive box you created for yourself. You felt inspiration more than ever through your art, which in turn greatly improved your abilities. You also finally allowed yourself love, and to share that love with someone who genuinely wanted you. 

Now with Jinyoung, you had never felt more at peace in not only yourself but your life. Rising to his height you capture Jinyoung’s lips with yours. He smiles against you and reciprocates your affection. This is who you were meant to be with tonight, and for every night thereafter.

[coreastories]

Modern Royals: 10 Times the King and Queen of Corea made ahjummas ugly-cry over their romance

You know what this author loves about Corea? The delightful mix of tradition and modernity

I mean, in this country, you have visiting and dining etiquette, respectful address etiquette, and countless other delicious customs steeped in tradition. Catholicism with its millennia-old ceremonies is also a favored religion

On the flipside, this country has rock-solid laws on divorce, equal rights, and zero tolerance for  rape and abuse or discrimination of ANY sort

I’m quite in love with this country. Its people are well taken care of

And of course, the biggest deliciousness for me are Their Majesties

Shrouded in privacy and that same tradition I just mentioned, the king married the queen in July

In the course of a few weeks since the wedding, the queen endeared herself to her people, and even made friends with the Prime Minister, a formidable woman who was herself previously linked to the King (entirely one-sided pursuit on her part)

It’s now October, and we’re happily expecting the first royal baby in May!

I’ve seen some colleagues in the media voice that thought we’ve all had: “They didn’t take long.” 

I’ve also seen comparisons with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and Baby Archie, who was born only a few days shy of his parents first anniversary. Corea’s royal baby will be born two whole months before his/her parents’ first anniversary. 

So this little article seems absolutely timely!

It sounds trite, I know, but lists are all the rage these days. Add Corea’s royal romance and this article will pay for my office’s bills for two months.  

This is with sanction from the Royal Public Affairs Office, who I’ll never cross, and who also gave me some background where they could or would.  

1. Who can forget the breathless kisses in New Zealand? 

Well, they made us breathless. Taken from Chateau Maryleone-- a security breach that apparently got people fired. If it was originally a video footage, we don’t know. Only the photos were spread online. 

The world is in love with this smiling kiss. 

The Royal Public Affairs Office’s only comment here is: “We’ve found the parties involved and they have been summarily dealt with.” 

You can see why I would never dream of crossing them. 

2. The snuggle at Pyeongyang Children’s Hospital

The new digital diagnostics wing was inaugurated in July. If this author remembers right, two of the queen’s photos made it to a list of 7 Times the Queen of Corea Stole Our Hearts with Her Smile. 

Children, parents, media, and hospital staff loudly showed their approval of the queen then, and she had laughingly and shyly accepted it. 

Reports have emerged that the queen was quite overwhelmed, and had actually retreated to a room with the king. It was one of the new consultation rooms of the new wing, with glass windows. 

People saw the queen seek refuge in the king’s arms, hiding her face in his chest, and the king cradling her against him, arms around her, one hand stroking her hair. 

We don’t have photos, because none of the witnesses dared. But they’ve all reported and demonstrated it. I’m sighing here. 

3. The hand-in-pocket cuteness when we visited the palace before Queens Day 

You’ve read about this in the Royal Twinkle, of course! 

4. Turning up late and blushing during Queens Day

You also remember this from our recent report. Their Majesties turned up late for their scheduled appearance, and then the king was just a giggling mess in the dim part of the stage (stage right), and the queen just looked at him, blushing. 

The Royal Public Affairs Office almost had no comment, but remarked that the king and queen are newlyweds. Well, that’s exactly and the ajhummas and I said, didn’t we. 

5. Another hand-holding-and-tuck, also during Queens Day 

Remember the king looking anxious whenever the queen was onstage, despite the queen being surrounded by the Royal Guard? 

We have eyewitness reports from people closer to the stage, who have craned their necks or ducked between people’s onstage legs to get a glimpse of the king and queen whenever the guards surrounded them. 

Apparently, the king invariably fetched the queen in the same way. He would go on stage, take her hand with his left and hold her hand against his chest while his right hand and arm tucked her securely against his side. 

I love a man who’s so enamored of his wife he takes hold of her with both hands. 

6. The distraction during the Opening of Parliament in Seoul  

The Opening of Parliament is a series of ceremonies dating back to 1945, when the parliament was first established. We were hoping to see the queen accompany the king, but she had stayed in Busan-- and we now know the reason why, don’t we? 

In one of these ceremonies, the king was supposed to signal the Usher to open the door to summon the Ministers into Parliament.  

But the king had seemed transfixed by a bunch of forget-me-nots included in the predominantly blue flower arrangement in the Parliament’s subdued decorations for the occasion. 

Sources say the king had a fond expression on his face, and his eyes were, according to the reports, shining, like he was near tears. 

The Royal Public Affairs Office had no comment. It seems the significance of the forget-me-nots remains a secret between the King and Queen.  

Since then, forget-me-nots in pots and seeds and cultivars have sold out across the kingdom.  

7. Every time they step out of the car

This is an event people of Corea have come to watch, even more so than the actual events the king and queen attended. 

Unlike other royals who get their doors opened for them, the queen gets her door opened by none other than the king. 

It always happens this way. A member of the royal guard opens the king’s car door, the king steps out, and then he goes around the car to open the queen’s door. 

And then we watch with bated breath as the queen swivels in her seat to bring both legs and feet outside the car. The king’s hand is already waiting, and she takes it with one of hers. 

He helps her to her feet and then just smiles at her for long moments, head tilted to her, whether or not she’s also looking at him or is already distracted by the crowds. 

And they hold each other’s hands until they absolutely have to let go. Duties be damned. They’re working royals, yes, but they’re married and in love! 

It’s become a game among members of the media and event organizers to attempt to prolong that hand holding as long as possible. 

Ministers of Parliament and their wives-- the more popular ones-- always seem to have planned on holding something in their hands so that they only bowed to the king and queen and Their Majesties didn’t have to offer to shake hands. 

It’s ridiculous and yet delicious, the way this romance has united the country like this, both Parliament and public besotted with them.  

Their Majesties hold hands so romantically too. Their grip is always so visible, like they’re constantly gently squeezing each other’s hands. 

Corean celebrities and their own significant others imitate this on red carpets, calling it the royal handhold. 

8. An actual kiss after the Bureau of Fire Protection Annual Gala

No wonder the gala raised nearly a billion won. The queen had turned up unexpectedly, remember? 

And we’ve had matching stories from eyewitnesses who saw the queen’s car pull up to take her back to the palace. At the time, the Royal Guard had taken care of crowd control, to make sure only the queen was leaving at the time, with no other car waiting or leaving. 

But the gala had been held in a converted warehouse in Clearwater Bay, and as such, a doorway was practically an entire absent wall, so plenty of people had a vantage point of seeing the king stepping out of the car. 

The queen was visibly surprised to see him, and then she was gently greeted with a kiss before being just as gently ushered into the car. 

9. Every time the king broke the order of precedence-- and he continues to do so 

For state and diplomatic events, the order of precedence protocol dictates that the queen consort follows two steps behind the king. If they have a son, the crown prince will be next in line, literally, after the king, overtaking the queen consort unless His Majesty gives a king’s order about it. 

That king’s order is only a matter of time. I very much doubt the king or his heir will let the queen trail after them. 

Since their marriage, we’ve witnessed the king and queen attend two state events and one diplomatic event: the investiture of the re-elected Prime Minister in July, the 383rd anniversary of King Yeongjeong’s Defeat of the Qing Invasion in early August, and a return visit from Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden. 

The PM’s investiture was held in the Royal Audience Hall, and the king and queen arrived when everyone was already seated. 

The anniversary was commemorated in King Yeongjong’s Memorial in Yeongjong Park in Busan, where Their Majesties were driven right up to the blue carpet leading to the memorial statue. 

For Crown Princess Victoria’s arrival, the king and queen publicly welcomed her at Busan Airport, with the heir of Sweden and Their Majesties of Corea walking toward each other to give and accept welcome.

In all three events, the king does walk ahead at first, but then he always stops and waits for the queen, turning back to her and putting an arm around her upper back. Then they walk side by side, or even with the queen slightly ahead of the king. 

We’ve seen the queen give the king a look, but the king just smiles at her, a restrained close-mouthed smile, or an outright grin, which was what he wore when they met Crown Princess Victoria, who is a friend. 

10. A hug after a long day in Busan. There’s so much love inside the palace. 

This one is from the Royal Public Affairs Office, captioned, “The king meeting the queen in the grounds after a long day.”

If you’ve been to the palace grounds for Queens Day, you will recognize this clock. It’s in the part of the extensive gardens open to the public, and it has a little coffee shop where you can taste the palace’s appointed teas, coffees and cakes.

The print came to us exactly like that-- it’s not the fault of our scanners. Perhaps it’s a stolen shot and our dear Mr. Jang Mi-reuk hastily took it and then made the photo grainy and overexposed when he hid his phone again? Who knows. 

And who cares?! 

Look at how the king holds the queen as if they’d been apart for days or weeks rather than hours. The press of his head to hers, the curl of his body around hers, and that hand cradling the queen’s head-- these all speak of his love for her, and I’m melting. 

That royal baby is going to be such a beloved baby. The royal parents certainly don’t shy away from displaying that love. 

I don’t want to leave Corea. I want to follow this happily ever after today and forever. 

More to come! Stay tuned. 

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

[chaoticspacefam]

(Fandom meme) B and N 👀

Thank you for the asks, Pinky! @palepinkycat I’m gonna stick to SWTOR for this one since I p much live in this fandom now, y’all are never getting rid of me. I’m like the lil funky ghost that comes with the apartment 🤪😂

This got long again oops, so under a cut to avoid eating/lagging ppl’s dashes bc of the gifs. No specific trigger warnings tho, so continue without a worry, this is just because it got kinda long :P

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind 

I have a couple, actually!

1) Lana/Koth (and by extension Saarai/Lana/Koth) - this one actually started as a silly animatic idea to the song “Sorry I Stole Your Girlfriend” by Stereo Skyline (which, yes, is also where their ship name comes from ;) XD) which I shared with one of my friends on Discord (who afaik doesn’t have a tumblr, but they’re gr8 and I love them very much owo), and then in a cider-tipsy 3am revelation my brain gremlins took control and put to me the idea of “But what if they ALL kissed?” basically. Fren encouraged me to do it bc they thought it sounded cute af, and around that time I also started vibing with Bagel over Discord, who further jumped on the “polyam triad gremlin train” and that was that. So y’all can blame my anonymous amazing Discord friend and @darth-bagel for encouraging me to make the OT3 a thing even tho there was pretty much NO content of the sort (I think there’s one other Lana/Koth fic on AO3??) So this is literally a case of:

They’re very cute, I love them SO much they are literally my new favourite ship to write. I would die for all three of them 🥺🥺🥺 & the haters can die mad about it lmao

2) Sith Inquisitor(F! mostly for me but ya know, I think M!Inquisitor could work just as well :’3)/Andronikos: at first I was very reticent to try this one, bc I started out with a M!Inq and I was worried Andronikos would be like Doc 2.0, but I saw a lot of nice fanfics for them and decided to try it out with Ni’kasi and that’s it. I love them now. I would die for them just as much as the OT3 XD

3) F!Jedi Consular/F!Sith Warrior: Again, because there is just a stunning lack of this content on AO3, see the gif in #1 😂  This is 100% Ariano’s fault, they’ve wormed their way into my angstyfluff brainrot. This pairing has so much potential guys. THE DRAMA. THE ✨A N G S T✨ I cannot talk about it enough 🥺

Honourable mentions for: Jaesa/Vette and Ashara/Jaesa which are rlly darn cute, and also bc it was the first longfic I ever read, and idk the author’s tumblr or if they’re even active anymore, but I need to go back and re-read the fic one day: F!Jedi Knight/F!Sith Warrior and Jaesa/Vette/Kira because the way they wrote them in that fic was so good I cri ;A;

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

1) Repeatable 👏 Companion 👏 and 👏 romance 👏 cutscenes!!! BIOWARE. GIVE ME. NOW. I don’t care if it’s the same 3 - 4 animations/cutscenes that can be replayed at my leisure/whenever I want, I WANT IT. ghsyugyudfd

2) More vanilla companion and romance content in general. A lot of my toons have romanced either Koth or Lana so we get a fair bit in KOTFEET but after that even they haven’t had much. Poor Vano hasn’t had a decent convo with Vette, who she considers like a sister, since her re-recruitment in KOTFE. GIVE ME CONTENT, DEVS, I MISS THEM *stamps my tiny feet* Also, leading in from this: more “neutral”/non-romance dialogue options without having to be a dick to ppl, please?!?! Just bc I don’t wanna smash doesn’t mean I wanna be mean (to everyone. Some of them deserve it, but most of them, I would actually like to be friends with, pwease?! XD)

3) More varied companions!! There’s a whole goddamn galaxy of REALLY COOL interesting species, why are like 90% of our perma-companions all human Bioware?! I know you can do better than that. Gimme more Purebloods, Nautolans, Mirialans, hell, every species tbh. I just think they’re neat ok.

Honourable mentions: POLYAM RELATIONSHIPS IN CANON: LET ME KISS THEM BOTH BIOWARE, YOU COWARDS! ✨ Vaylin “redemption” arc ✨ (and by that I don’t necessarily mean that she has to join the Alliance but at least a tiny sort of rapport with an Outlander who is willing to try enough to plant the thought in her head that they hate Valkorion as much as she does, who can help Vaylin get away from all the conditioning and let her disappear off to Voss or wherever she needs to go to heal herself from all that trauma bc Vaylin deserved better goddammit!), more “repeatable” content in KOTFEET style, I know it’s probably reaching/impossible but I really want the option to rerun the class stories without having to make another clone ok. I’m gonna run outta those slots eventually bioware P L S 🥺 , options to “recruit” long-running NPCs from the other expacs that we never see again e.g. Cytharat and others I can’t think of rn but like...lemme?? pls, bioware 🥺🥺, aaanddd finally, more female companions that aren’t your padawan/apprentice/significantly at a power loss in comparison to you??? it’s super creepy c’mon ughh.

[koteosa]

here’s some modern au headcanons for the arcana ... it’s something I think about a lot

Asra

gamer memeing shitlord . he majored in minecraft you cannot convince me otherwise

plays A Lot of minecraft but also just enjoys any similar sort of game, sdv, animal crossing, etc. He’s really good at video games but he’s just fucking around . he likes to play online games and try his best to make everyone hate him in a really harmless sort of way . he heals the enemy spy . changes his display name and avatar to be exactly the same as someone else . tells people to go into the console and type unbindall

he plays games with his friends and he’s usually the top player so he just spends his time spoiling the shit out of his friends giving them good items carrying them through dungeons etc but not Julian, he tells Julian to dig straight down in minecraft . Julian doesn’t ever know what he’s doing in any video game so Asra trains him wrong on purpose, as a joke

anyway enough about video games (for now)

Asra lives in a van that he painted the exterior of himself, it was both a fun project and a very smug way to annoy people with this awful fucking hippie van strolling into town, eat shit

it’s decorated with crystals, furs, fairy lights, mason jars full of food For The Aesthetic, books, etc. It’s very cozy, cottagecore / bohemian and it’s ridiculously obvious that he’s into witchcraft. he just lets Faust explore because this isn’t real and I can pretend that a snake is exactly as well behaved as in a fantasy story

basically homeless by choice

drugs tw but I see him as the type to want to try anything and everything at least once so if he’s ever been offered A Drug (and he crashes parties for fun and for free food, so he’s got opportunities) he’ll try it Just To See, and this has resulted in some bad trips before, but Muriel saw him in the middle of one and then after he sobered up Muriel put his foot down and made Asra agree to only do these things as responsibly as possible, like, with supervision from a friend

still drugs tw but I also see Asra as a stoner but in the cbd edibles sort of way, a lot of this is because I headcanon Asra as having ADD (because I do and I want to project a little bit) so it helps him focus but also he just Likes It. the glove box of his car has like, chocolate/lollipop edibles stuff like that

goes between like super healthy elaborate meals with mushrooms and veggies and fresh meat and shit and then just eating nothing but cheez-its all day

style wise I see him as the type to wear a lot of tank tops, like, the loosest of tank tops so it hangs super low and long and you get some nice cleavage out of it, crystal necklaces, gold jewelry, pride pins/jewelry/etc (trans/nonbinary/bisexual flags), oversized hoodies with loud colorful patterns, joggers and other loose comfy pants, and either boots or slippers

he’s got like... the at home look that’s basically what I just described, and then the away from home look that’s got thirty layers and none of it makes sense and he just shows up in orange crocs With Patterned Socks and everyone who sees him just lets out the heaviest sigh

Asra getting home be like (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a l

He likes to go on long road trips completely at random and saves up money to go on more extensive trips like, out of the continent. It can be really hard to place him at any given time, especially because he’s extremely slow to respond to texts for a whole multitude of reasons. He just fucking vanishes sometimes and he doesn’t get that maybe people want to know where he is. He’s too solitary

He makes money either via street performances (magic, tarot readings, etc) or selling shit on etsy like handmade tarot decks, crystal necklaces, magic charms, etc. He Has Never Worked A Day In His Life and He Will Not Start Now

Responsibility? Don’t know her

People ask him really obnoxious questions sometimes and he makes outlandish lies to tell them for fun . Why do you live in a van? A house killed my parents

In the fall/winter he lives with Muriel or more to the point, he crashes on his couch for a really long time and Muriel’s landlord doesn’t need to know about it for rent purposes

Julian

he’s a highly paid doctor and your mother would love it if you’d marry him if not for the fact that he looks like he never left his teenage emo phase

PIERCINGS

There’s DEFINITELY at least one piercing on his d

he lives with Portia and Mazelinka and tries to handle all their expenses but Mazelinka won’t fucking let him

soundproofed his room but not because he’s a youtuber or anything but because he uh. y’know what I’m gonna let y’all figure this one out on your own

goes to like............. lgbt friendly bdsm clubs every now and then looking for someone to step on him and call him garbage it’s for his mental health you don’t understand

black turtlenecks . silver jewelry . distinguished but Edgy as well, black boots, winklepickers, doc martens, ohmygod this is my SHIT I’m giving him red plaid pants and a reversed cross necklace and a leather jacket that says some radical shit on the back and Lots of Rings . black jeans with tears in the knees and black eyeshadow, demonia boots, leather gloves, hhhhhhOHmy GOD

catch him at home in black leggings and a my chemical romance tshirt with holes in it . he wakes up in the morning with yesterday’s makeup and he just cleans it up a little and that’s good enough

fairly small bedroom because he’s usually never at home, but it’s still pretty clear what he’s into even if it’s not super decorated or elaborate, kind of just Default Room but with his stuff arranged throughout . band posters, black furniture, a bed that looks like a depressed vampire sleeps in it, a bookshelf but most of the books are scattered around his desk, bed, and the floor. there’s a taxidermy skull on display somewhere because it’s just so dramatic you gotta love it

plays a black electric violin

extremely out of tune with pop culture he still listens to 70-00s music and he doesn’t know what a minecraft is or why Asra keeps yelling CREEPER when he comes into the room nor why Portia yells back AW MAN

I googled it and he qualifies as a millennial but I still see him as such a fucking old man who doesn’t know how to use electronics

despite being a doctor he’s so unhealthy . he eats nothing but depression meals (or just, nothing) unless someone forces him to sit down and eat an actual meal . No Julian whiskey does not count for your daily water intake

Malak probably happened because Julian wouldn’t stop feeding every black bird he saw just for the aesthetic and that was like 17 years ago but they still show up at his window expecting almonds or whatever the fuck . he changes houses but they’re too smart . you try to be a cool gothic thespian with a raven that will pose on your arm ONE time when you’re a teenager and they just never stop coming

sad lonely no friends hasn’t been laid in six years because he’s too busy and no longer remembers how to form meaningful relationships. Portia keeps being like so I met this really hot (insert gender here) and like idk I think they’re into goth dudes............... just saying...................... and he’s like am I really so pathetic that I’m going to let my baby sister set up blind dates for me? Yes

would drive something very goth like a hearse or some shit if not for the fact that his family would make sure he ends up in a coffin in the back of it if he drove up in that shit . please . buy a normal fucking car . Julian . oh my god

he starts quoting melodramatic poetry at the slightest inconvenience . he is that “All you did was betray me as I lay sick and festering. You are the definition of dread. My cat stole my fucking garlic bread” meme

been arrested multiple times for general rowdiness but also for political activism . at this point Portia/Mazelinka will just sigh and pay his bail and they don’t even ask what he did this time . how does he still have a job? I wish I knew

theater kid

Muriel

lives in a rundown apartment in the shitty part of town because it’s all he can afford, it’s quiet, and no one will try to visit him (except Asra) because no one wants to go to THAT part of town . but no harm will likely ever befall him because he’s 6′10 and like three million pounds of raw muscle with battle scars like you gonna fuck with that? really?

even if he got robbed it wouldn’t matter because A) he doesn’t own anything B) Inanna will chase the thief away

depression man staying in his quiet rundown dark apartment distracting himself with idle hobbies and taking care of his dog to prevent the encroaching ennui from tearing him a new asshole

changes jobs frequently both because he never stands out therefore never gets taken on full time after the part time trial period, AND to protect himself from the horror of being known

works mostly things like construction, auto repair, dog sitting/walking/etc, woodworking, mostly hard labor but if he can convince granny to let a very scary but completely harmless man look after her bichon frise for the weekend then he’s pretty happy about that

in a similar manner, he orders everything online so cashiers/etc won’t start to recognize him. delivery workers leave everything outside his door and he just drags it inside after they leave like an itazura kitty coin bank

goes camping a lot because staying cooped up in his apartment is super bad for his mental health and he doesn’t like to take walks through the city for a multitude of reasons. he takes Inanna on walks through the woods instead

Asra is his only friend and that’s fine (it’s not fine)

convinced therapy doesn’t work and he wants nothing to do with it

doesn’t like using electronics and only keeps a few things around his house so Asra can use them when he’s around . Muriel has a phone (that Asra got for him) so he can text Asra, check the time, check the weather, google questions, and like, nothing else

pretty much only happy when something is about dogs. he wants to go to the pet store and look at the dogs but he needs Asra to go with him so Asra can distract the workers and Muriel can look at the puppies in peace

dresses in blacks, grays, greens, and browns for the most part, jacket with the hood up, tank tops, dark jeans with tears in them, brown boots with mud stains on them . functional, not particularly stylish, and if he’s going to be in public he doesn’t want to make it easy for anyone to see his face. at home it’s mostly no shirt + sweatpants/joggers/etc. doesn’t accessorize or put in any real effort. he doesn’t care what he looks like (because he’s convinced he’s not much to look at anyway)

lives that super eco friendly life like Asra does but it’s more that he just feels comfortable living like he’s always on a camping trip

he doesn’t want to eat junk like Asra does but if Asra shows up with mcdonalds then well he can’t really say no

the type who uses something until he absolutely cannot use it anymore instead of just buying a new one

has never been to a doctor, dentist, etc Ever. the most he can do is take Inanna to the vet because he loves her so much

drives a very old pickup truck with like, chipped paint and mud stains. he’d take better care of it if only anything in life mattered

didn’t go to school

Portia

I like to think that she took on a groundskeeping job at Nadia’s very expensive large house and they fell in love and now Nadia pays for everything and Portia just spends her time gardening, playing with Pepi, and like idk running a vlogging/gaming youtube channel

200 videos of Pepi on her youtube channel with 4 million views each bare minimum . takes random videos of cats where she has to audio edit it to shit so you can’t hear her high pitched squeals of delight

minecraft let’s play part 30 where her, Asra, Nadia, and Julian play together and it’s extremely chaotic because Asra and Portia decide to gang up on Julian who does NOT know what he’s doing, and then Nadia surprises them all by not being the bigger person and instead tricking Julian into some elaborate trap where he steps on a trapdoor and falls 15 blocks into some lava and he looks up and all he sees is Nadia’s smug fucking avatar looking down at him

nightcore. it’s just not FAST enough

wears sweaters with cats on them. generally dresses in warm colors + brown/green, it’s like a very soft cozy look that you could go camping in or just generally be outside and get grass stains and whatnot. cute, functional

likes to make Julian do things for her like drive her places etc because like, he will. he always will

really likes social gatherings with her friends; sleepovers, beach trips, sitting at mcdonalds and pouring all their fries into a pile etc. tries to get Julian to go with her but he’s Just So BUSY. she makes fun of him and makes him drive her to it, then manages to convince him to stay

cottagecore aesthetic . she just thinks it’s so cute to have the little mason jars and decorate everything with leaves and flowers and BEES and whatnot . would love to live in a little cottage with a farm if she could

her room has a big cat tree in it . green wallpaper with yellow flowers. pressed flowers into books, an extremely cozy bed, fairy lights, it’s very farmy but also there’s a lot of electronics. she’s got a lot of 00s games, like, right in that ps2 sweet spot

nicknames all of her pokemon

she spoils the ever loving shit out of Pepi. She’s got a little cat harness and they go on walks through the park together

I don’t have a lot to say about the other two I Am Sorry

[simple-heroics]

Momo Yaoyorozu Fluff Alphabet | Part 2 | Letters M-Z

 Guys, I love her so much. This took awhile to finish but here it is! Read Part 1 here.

credit to creator of the fluff alphabet prompt list here

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

In a word…yes.

However, Momo never dreamed of marriage as a little girl nor did she ever feel like she needed marriage - or any relationship - to be happy. She has her family, friends, a fulfilling career, tea, and other passions (i.e advocacy, fundraising, etc.) to keep her busy. 

Momo doesn’t date to get married or because she’s lonely or needs another person to feel complete. She dates you because she loves you. She marries you because she wants to spend the rest of her life with you. (Oh, and the legal benefits. One of which is that threats against spouses of various federal employees is a federal crime. Including pro heroes. Don’t fuck with Creati’s baby :) :)  She will use every possible way to ruin a person’s life forever if they come after you.)

Basically, YOU make HER want to get married. And you bet your ass she’s gonna put a ring on that.

Forget about “stimulating the economy” and that trickle down economics bull shit. Momo is making your ring - a symbol of YOUR LOVE - herself, and only the best of the best for you. She spends hours researching designs, meanings of various gemstones, the durability of metals. All the “samples” she makes are a small fortune in and of herself.

When she proposes, Momo takes you to a botanical garden - the same one you both went to on one of your first dates. Literally rents the entire place out. While you walk around, you start to get nostalgic just as she hoped and reminisce. 

Holding your hands, Momo talks about the first time she saw you, her favorite memories, how you’ve made her so happy. She tells you how you’ve changed her and helped her grow as a person, how everyday has been such a blessing.

Then she makes the ring, right then and there, for you. Softly, reverently, she asks, “Can we spend the rest of our days together like this?”

Marriage actually makes Momo much more comfortable with PDA. Whereas before she would only go as far holding your hand, now she presses loving kisses to your face and strokes your hair and is in general at least 20% more touchy. Marriage gives her a sense of security and - in a weird way - “propriety”. It’s one thing to lovey dovey with a datemate in public; it’s another to be affectionate with one’s spouse.

Oh, yeah. She loves the sound of it. Whenever your name comes up, it’s always “my spouse, y/n” or “y/n, my spouse”. It just makes her so giddy to say.

The feeling’s mutual of course. Anytime Creati is on TV, kicking ass or looking so pristine in an interview, you’re like:

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Momo is full of sweet, doting nicknames: darling, my love, dear, dearest, beloved. These are usually accompanied by a kiss on your hand or temple. 

All in private, though. You’d have to take her by surprise with a sudden visit to the office or it’d have to be an intensely emotional situation for Momo to call you those sweet names in public.

But Momo doesn’t need to call you a pet name in public for people to know who you are to her. Just the soft, almost reverent way she says your name - practically cooing it - says it all. Everyone knows that you’re her darling even if she doesn’t outright call you it in public.

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Okay, so this is gonna be a little contradictory but…I see Momo as being both the most relaxed she’s ever been in her life and more focused than she’s ever been before.

You teach her that it’s okay to be herself and not this image of her “best self” she always has in her head. You make her feel safe enough to be let go of her perfectionism and accept her enough that she gradually drops one insecurity after another. She can be messy around you. She can be loud or quiet or giggly or grouchy or literally anything else. She’s just Momo with you.

Finally with some kind of outlet, the explicit permission to be free, it’s like watching an entire lifetime of tension slip away. 

But….because you make her feel this, so happy and light and free, Momo is overwhelmed with gratitude and love that it kind of kicks itself in reverse. She has to be absolutely perfect for you.

And it can become a cycle. Not a great one, either. So please keep in check with each other and help balance yourselves out. Please. She just wants to make you the happiest person on earth which - in her view - is hard because you already do that for her.

Like I briefly touched on above and will even more so below, it’s Very Clear that Momo Yaoyorozu is in love. People who have known her for years have never seen her happier nor have her own colleagues ever seen her so…intense.

Because Momo has a very solid, very real reason to make it through missions waiting for her at home. She has a precious person to make the world a safer place for now. She was absolutely dedicated before but now? Now it’s personal.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Given Momo’s upbringing, the answer to most of these is no. Definitely not. Not only is Momo shy about PDA but she was taught that doing so is disrespectful to people around you and even your significant other. Japanese etiquette only affirms this. The most you can expect from your girl is holding hands or linking arms while you walk around.

That doesn’t mean Momo stops touching you in public. In fact, sometimes it’s like she can’t keep her hands off you but her affection is expressed in small, subtle touches disguised as helpful gestures.

Tucking your hair behind your ear, straightening your collar, dabbing the corner of your mouth, brushing imaginary lint off your shoulder. 

As for bragging…Momo doesn’t necessarily “brag” about you. But she does talk about you. A lot.

Out with a friend? “S/o said hi!” Doing paperwork? “S/o got me this pen.” Eating dinner with a colleague? “I should bring s/o here.”

Momo absolutely adores you. Even though she doesn’t go shouting this to the word, it shines in the little things.

The biggest giveaway? The way she looks at you with those bright, shining gray eyes. 

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship. I just love this prompt for BNHA imagines.

Momo has a lot of secret talents that you’re always discovering at random. Her parents put a lot of thought and care into their only daughter’s upbringing, especially her education, and it shows. Your favorite so far?

Her dancing.

And it’s not like Ashido’s dancing or really many people your age. I am talking classical ballroom, mostly for the sake of those fancy banquets and soirees that the Yaoyorozus often attended. Momo knows how to elegantly through a ballroom as well as she does in the field. 

But that’s not what you’re interested in. It’s the quiet, private part of your lives where’s it’s just the two of you in your home. No one else, no demanding tasks, no where to be. Just you and some lo-fi music.

Momo will gently take you in her arms and sway you around the room. And this is where you see her at her most relax, taking one of those skills hammered into her from a young age and just…letting go of all the rules. She makes it her own and just moves fluidly to the music, taking her with you.

Catch me when I swoon.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Extremely romantic! Didn’t I tell you that she’s doting? And affectionate? And absolutely mesmerized by you?

And looord, does she know how to treat you.

As she grew up without want for any tangible object in the world, Momo is not a gift giver. Love, to her, is expressed in the time you spend with a person. This leads to fun weekend trips, surprise visits on lunch breaks, concerts, you name it. 

Momo always finds a way of incorporating a little personal touch into the most cliché of clichés and making them entirely your own thing.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

You have been nothing but supportive of her pro hero career - one that demands so much from Momo and by extension your relationship with her. And Momo is READY to support you in any way she can.

This girl legit researches and creates an entire long term plan on how you can achieve your goal, whatever it may be. School-related? Hello, Momo-sensei. Fitness goal? She goes to the gym and exercise with you, encouraging you the entire way. Artistic goal? Oh, what a coincidence. That random gallery owner happens to be a friend of her mother’s!

You maaaay have to pace her a little bit. She believes in you wholeheartedly but needs to be reminded that they’re your goals and you’re the one working towards them. Not necessarily you and your enthusiastic girlfriend. 

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Momo has a high risk job where people’s very lives are at stake. For god’s sake, she was thrown headfirst into danger in her first two weeks of high school with USJ incident and it’s just been one thing after another ever since.

Give her a routine. Give her that calming domestic bliss. 

Seriously. It’s crucial for your relationship and Momo’s own mental health that she has some sort of routine with you. Routine is comforting; routine provides a sense of security and safety. For that, Momo sets some serious boundaries between her personal life - with you specifically - and work. 

You won’t be going on skydiving dates or anything with Momo. But you will wish each other good night every night, whether you’re in each other’s arms in bed or phone when she’s away or even just text if she’s on a stakeout. It’s these little, consistent things that make your relationships so strong.

Understanding - How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Part of the way Momo shows her love is learning you and everything about you. She’s spent hours dedicated to studying and now she studies you. It’s likely that she knows you better than you know yourself.

She knows everything about you: your favorite food, your hobbies, your goals, where you were born, who your best friend in high school was, everything. 

She collects every piece of information about you, always listening and observing, and holds it close to her heart.

That said…and don’t hate me for this…but Momo isn’t the most empathetic person. Of course she’s kind and caring and an overall lovely person. But she is a person who follows things by steps, who uses logical thinking to predict people. Sometimes she gets so wrapped up in her line of thinking that she…misses out on the emotional side. 

You’re probably the more empathetic person in this relationship, trusting your instincts and just letting yourself feel out situations while Momo tries to think her way through them. Both have their pros and cons, and it honestly teaches each of you a lot about each other.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Momo’s a busy woman. If she takes the time and energy to not only enter but maintain a relationship with you, you mean the absolute world to her.

And she reminds you of that every. single. day.

However…Momo is a selfless person. She gives a lot in the relationship and to you but to her, it’s not a necessity (close, though) but an indulgence. She sees herself as selfish for keeping you in her life, ever aware of the dangers of dating a high-ranking pro hero. She sometimes thinks of herself as selfish by staying with you, loving you, as she does.

Her worst fear is that you’ll suffer for her “selfishness” or be used against her in some way. Or worse still…that she’ll be forced into a situation where she’ll have to choose between you and her duty as a hero, between saving you or the public.

Even Momo doesn’t know which she would choose. She prays she’s never, ever put in the situation where she would have to make such a terrible choice.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

You know that one cool couple who is always hosting fun get-togethers with friends? Like, there are all of these monthly hang outs and yearly traditions that literally everyone in the squad looks forward to every year?

That’s you guys. 

Momo LOVES playing hostess and you know how to have fun. Seriously, you’ve expanded Momo’s world beyond posh banquets and afternoon tea and she adores you for it. You host regular hot pots. Movie nights. Brunches. Beach days. White elephant parties. Every year there’s a cake baking competition with a golden whisk as the prize along with a full 365 days of bragging rights. (Bakugo, who didn’t even want to come, won it last year and will die before giving it up. Nobody cares who wins the golden whisk next year as long as it’s not that gremlin.)

Y’all know how to throw a party.

Probably of one the best things about this relationship is that you’re not in a “couple only” bubble. You cherish your other relationships, and it shows in how you often include others in your lives. :)

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Doting. Doting is the exact word that comes to mind when I think of Momo and affection. Almost immediately after meeting you, Momo was just so achingly fond of you and those feelings simmered for loooong while before the confession finally happened.

Now she just can’t help herself.

If she’s not playing with your hair, she kissing your fingers. If she’s not doing that, she’s hugging you. If it isn’t a hug, it’s a full on cuddle session where she kisses your face and holds your hand and murmurs sweet affections and -

Yeah. Momo restrains herself in public to subtle, sweet gestures but once your alone? She makes up for lost time.

Her favorite is leaving soft, delicate kisses on your temple after tucking your hair behind your ear and whispering how much she adores you.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Momo keeps incredibly focused and on task at work. But as soon as it gets quiet and she’s alone…she yearns. She pines. She sighs. And she video chats you.

She does a very good job of staying in touch and communicating when you’re separated for any reason. Like I mentioned above, Momo always wishes you good night. And good morning. No matter what. 

Please send Momo encouraging texts throughout her long, hard day. Please send her cute pictures. Please tell her love just because and tell her you can’t wait to see her again. It’s those little things that get her through missing you.

On a more angsty note…Momo worries about you. A lot. She has actual nightmares about something bad happening to you - being held hostage for ransom, a villain looking to get revenge against Creati, you getting caught up in a random public attack and her being unable to save you. These nightmares are at their worst when she’s away from you. The longer the separation, the more vivid and terrible they are. There have been times that she’s called you in the middle of the night just to hear your voice - the only thing that can calm her pounding heart and soothe her enough to go back to sleep. 

So while she keeps in close constant because she does miss you a lot, Momo also does so to give herself some peace of mind. She needs to know you’re okay.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Y E S. Oh, my god, yes. Momo would do anything for you.

Sometimes, it honestly scares Momo how much she would do for you. She’s always been a dedicated person, a true perfectionist that approaches everything with well thought out strategy. She does things by steps. She’s the woman with a plan. 

Then you came along and her whole universe imploded, forming a whole new one in the dust of her past and creating something new and unfamiliar and beautiful and terrifying.

So much so that even Momo doesn’t know her own limits anymore - not when it comes to you. She had lines before, boundaries, places she would not go. But with you? God only knows what she wouldn’t do for you.

Momo doesn’t like to linger too long on what kind of incredible, possibly terrible things she would do for you if pushed. But she promises herself that she’ll do everything in her power to keep it from coming to that.

[albatris]

is there romance in atdao or is it all just found famiy vibes? if there is romance im real curious about how peeps would express those kinda feelings

hello hi hello this took me AGES I’m very sorry I kept getting distracted by things such as being asleep

anyway yes thank you for the question! romance? yes, we’ve got some of this going on, sure, though I would count the romance as within the found family c:

I don’t know if you wanted a Ramble™ but this is a topic I can ramble about and I’m in a bit of a rambling mood so you can have a ramble, free of charge, just take it up to the register and have them enter the code “logan this is not what I ordered”

but yeah, your question? about eight vaguely relevant tangents immediately spring to mind! also spoilers?? spoilers after the cut

I really should have formatted this response in a way that puts the super spoiler heavy part at the end but since when have I ever ever in my life made things easy for my dear sweet followers

y’all know what I’m like with spoilers by now 

but yeah, to set the scene, there’s two main romantic......................... situations going on in the story, the first being between Noa and Alice, and the second being between Kai, Tris and Shara. so, the former I would describe as “a legitimate romantic subplot” and the latter I would describe as a character tripping and falling into it by sheer chance and just being like “oh whoops well I guess this is what I’m doing now” which is also extremely valid

Noa and Alice end up not being, like, Confirmed Endgame by the end of the story even though much of the plot looks like it’s heading in that direction, and like...... yeah, in my head, they do end up in a romantic relationship at some point post-story, but I’m not sure on what sort of timeline

during the story itself, it’s established that they do share mutual feelings for each other and this is likely heading towards a romantic relationship, but I think since much of the story sees Noa still trying to find her feet in just, like....... having friends at all, and trusting those friends, and knowing who she is in relation to others on any sort of level, I think near the end of the story she decides that she’s not at a place where she wants to try and figure out a romantic relationship just yet

it’s not a hard no, it’s just a “hey not right now” and a “let’s see what happens later down the track, for now it’s just nice to be around friends” ‘cause even that is just super new territory for her

which I worry will make people feel cheated, but also, I think it’s the ending for this subplot that would make the most sense for where the characters are at and would be the most fitting c:

and secondly there’s like

hm. ok

well, there WAS a vaguely jokey post I made yonks back where I pitched the idea of an ATDAO polyamory ending being just like. Alice who’s dating Noa who’s dating Shara who’s dating Kai who’s dating Tris. and I stand by this being solid as hell. but also, given the ending to Noa’s subplot with Alice, it doesn’t really work in the story canon, n though I think Noa and Shara is a dynamic I really enjoy, it would likely not actually play out in reality :P

which leaves the trio of Shara, Kai and Tris, a trio I’ve always vibed with and had vaguely on my radar as a valid poly ending but for some reason didn’t twig that I could just, like, make it canon and no one can stop me LMAO

but yeah, this one, like I said, it’s not so much aHD whole big subplot, it’s just something that falls into place super casually and is never really brought up beyond “oh is this a thing that’s happening?” “yeah” “cool ok”

I think there’s a brief window as a reader where you might be like “ugh this is gonna be a stupid love triangle or some weird jealousy thing” but then it just ends up being a complete non-issue. there’s basically zero romantic drama for this plotline, Tris and Shara are bros and Kai is dating both of them

n as for your question itself, it depends on whether you mean, like.......... how they would go about expressing to someone else that they have romantic feelings or, like, how they express their affections in a romantic scenario

‘cause for the former, the answer for both Tris and Noa is just.... they don’t

Noa because at the start of the story she views her crush on Alice as a huge fucking inconvenience that’s going to make things messy and complicated, so she just tries to ignore her romantic feelings as hard as she can (obviously this doesn’t last hahaha). but yeah, she’s just very pissed off that she has a crush and doesn’t want to acknowledge it :P she also has no idea how to respond when Alice expresses romantic interest in her, this is all extremely new territory

and Tris because he doesn’t realise he’s even experiencing romantic feelings in the first place?? like. the boy has so much baseline anxiety jitteriness that stuff like, idk, feeling your heart pick up pace, butterflies in the stomach, any kinda social nerves you get around the people you like, etc, he experiences this with Kai and is automatically just like “great now you’re here and I’m having a panic attack can you please leave”

just slaps a label of Bad Vibes onto it then later is like Wait A Minute

but yeah, I think neither of them would be super comfy actually expressing their feelings out loud or making that first move, Noa because she’s super fuckin petty and stubborn and Tris because he’s waaaaaaaay too fuckin socially anxious for that shit are you kidding

in terms of how they express their affections though??

so like. I have to reiterate that I’m aro and ace and I have a lot of difficulty in articulating what makes a romance A Romance, like??? I have relationships that are friendships and relationships that are romantic, but I myself don’t really experience romantic attraction in the way other people do

as such, the way I write characters in their romantic expressions tends to be just an extension of how they act in their friendships? which I think is a pretty ok thing to base a romance off anyway, but like, yeah, romance, this is a mystery to me for the most part, do I look like I know what a romance is

anyway I think once Alice and Noa get a little closer there’s a lot of good-natured ribbing and friendly insults, n since they already had a bit of a rivalry going on beforehand I would imagine this competitive streak doesn’t disappear :P Noa is generally uncomfy with being Openly affectionate and soft with others, so I think there would be a lot of more “indirect” ways she shows this care. I think they have the kind of relationship where from an outside perspective you don’t really get how it’s warm and affectionate, but it’s just ‘cause you don’t know the lingo, right

Tris is just the cheerleader type in all friendly relationships I think, lots of encouragement and hype and compliments and enthusiasm, he’s very excitable and very easily impressed hahahaha. though I think it takes people a while to click that he’s legitimately being 100% earnest and genuine, the constant deadpan does not work super well in his favour

anyway I’m gonna hop back up for a sec so I can cover Shara and Kai real quick

these two are............ a bit more direct with actually verbalising their feelings to people? Shara is a socially anxious type, but also not someone who enjoys beating around the bush, n she generally likes to just speak what’s on her mind and be direct with others whenever she can. Kai just kinda........ I mean, I don’t think they consider romantic affections to be a super big deal? at least in theory? I say in theory ‘cause, like, I think they give the impression that this kind of conversation is just super smooth and easy for them, and on the inside they’re like “it’s really not a big deal it’s just feelings it’s whatever” but they’re still anxious about it and had to hype themself up for like a week before going through with it lmao

but ye, in terms of how they express their affections, they’re both fairly similar. you suddenly will just Not Be Able To Get Rid Of Them, they’ll constantly be hanging around in the same space or dragging you into whatever shenanigans they’ve got going on, I think for both of them their favourite expression of love is just sharing in experiences or sharing the same space, just Being Involved And Around 

a “hey come help me run errands” type or a “I’m gonna hang off the back of your sofa while you’re studying and sometimes slingshot balls of paper at you with a rubber band” type :P

and now I have to go on Another Tangent just ‘cause the subject matter is vaguely relevant and idk where else I’m gonna go on this tangent

there is definitely some part of me that’s still super super fond of the idea of Kai being aro??? and I initially did write them as such, but for the moment this is not something that’s remained canon in text ‘cause I’m a little bitch ‘cause like

Kai would be aro in very much the same way I am, which is to say, they’re a person who is extremely full of love and who has difficulty in differentiating what the step is supposed to be between friendship feelings and romantic feelings, so, someone who may not necessarily “get” what makes a romance a romance or experience any feelings different from a strong friendship, but who is still open to being in a romantic relationship

(the difference between us being that Kai Really Really Likes People and enjoys being close with others as much as possible, where I’m more the awkward standoffish hermit type lmao)

but yeah, I was kinda like. well. despite being a perfectly valid aro person in a romantic relationship myself, if I were a fictional character people would probably call me bad rep HAHAHA. like “yeah they’re apparently aro but they don’t really ACT aro and the author put them in a romantic relationship ://”

and while I think there’s value to be had in fiction in exploring the different ways a person can be aro, I just, like................... thought about the hypothetical future discourse and was just like UGH. I cannot be fucking BOTHERED

I get enough people in real life being like “ok but you’re not REALLY aro like why do you even bother having that label it’s not like it matters in your context” even though I’m the goddamn expert on my own experiences you bastards

lmao

but yeah I think aro Kai is canon in my heart hahahaha. and they may end up articulating some of the same feelings, maybe just not with the label applied, who knows

anyway that’s my rambles done I think! thanks for reading n have a nice night c:

[seeaddywrite]

slaughter in swan lake

for @christchex, who had the brilliant idea of Liz being a huge fan of a certain mystery series, & realizing Max wrote them when they move in together. if you’ve got echo prompts, feel free to send ‘em my way.

a couple of notes: sasha jiminez is the name on Liz’s fake ID in the flashbacks from right before rosa’s death. liz says she’s a dancer. also, cunningham is a random last name i picked as ann evans’ maiden name. 

"You do realize I’ve successfully moved all of my own stuff across the country twice now, right?” Liz calls acerbically, watching as Max lifts a stack of boxes from the bed of Michael’s borrowed truck and starts toward the back entrance of his house. “I think I can handle carrying a few boxes on my own!” 

She’s seated on the patio, cheek leaning against her palm, as she watches. Max had insisted Liz take a seat as soon as they’d pulled up at his house, and had taken her shoulders to redirect her back to this spot every time she got up to try and help. He’d already carried more than half of the boxes from her room above the Crashdown into his -- their -- house on his own, and at this point, Liz has pretty much given up any hope that he’ll let her help. 

“I told you,” he calls back, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of a hand before reaching for the next box. “I’ve got it. You just relax.” 

“You’d better be careful, Max,” Liz calls back, her smile wide and showcasing all of the joy and contentment she feels in that moment. She’s moving in with Max today. Officially.  Only a few weeks after Rosa’s teasing comments about deserving her own room had blossomed into a real, adult conversation that ended in, “The idea of waking up next to you every day is the best thing I can imagine, Liz. Let’s do it. Move in with me,” and a resounding, “Yes!”

It’s crazy, it’s too fast, and a million other things that probably mean she should stop and think, but Liz is tired of over-analyzing every moment of her life. Being with Max is the first thing that’s felt right, and she’s done running from it. “If you keep treating me this way, I’m going to start expecting it! Today you carry all the boxes, tomorrow you move all the furniture to make room ... the next thing you know, you’ll be bringing me breakfast in bed and carrying me everywhere on a litter or something.”

Max rolls his eyes good-naturedly, but Liz recognizes the pleased glint in their depths. It’s been there every time she’s mentioned living together, every time she’s referenced the two of them sharing time and space permanently. And that’s how Liz knows she’s made the right decision. Easily.

“Oh, come on, let him play macho man for a while,” Isobel insists, rejoining Liz on the patio with two glasses of white wine. She settles herself into the opposite patio chair and hands one of the glasses to Liz. “It’s not like moving boxes is going to hurt him if his heart can take the sort of athletics you two have doing in the bedroom, after all.” 

The sly smirk stops Liz from glaring at Isobel; she’d like getting a rise out of Liz way too much, and Liz refuses to give her the satisfaction. So instead, she just shrugs, a smirk of her own playing across her lips. “True. And he does look damn good all hot and sweaty, doesn’t he?” she asks, batting her eyelashes dramatically until Isobel’s expression twists to one of disgust. 

“Okay, okay, you two,” Max interrupts, a bemused grin on his heat-flushed face that makes something flutter in Liz’s abdomen. He loves that Isobel and Liz are friends now, she knows -- it appeals to the strong desire for family that he’s always had, and it makes Liz happy to know that she can give him that, even if Isobel still drives her absolutely insane, some days. “Could you stop discussing my sex life and open the door for me, maybe?” There’s several boxes stacked in his arms, the one on top balanced precariously. Liz stands and opens the door, letting Max go through -- but that box scrapes the top of the door frame and tumbles from the pile, striking the ground with a loud thud. 

“Sorry!” Max says immediately, setting the rest of his burden down to kneel and start gathering the spilled contents. 

Liz only chuckles and joins him; the box was obviously full of books, which weren’t likely to be harmed in a fall. “That’s what you get for not letting me help,” she teases, dropping a hand to the back of his neck to squeeze gently. Max turns his head to brush a soft kiss to the inside of her wrist -- then freezes, lips still pressed against Liz’s skin, as wide eyes stare in Isobel’s direction. 

“Oh my god,” Isobel chokes, and Liz turns hurriedly to see what’s causing such a dramatic reaction from both of them. In one perfectly manicured hand, Isobel holding an obviously well-loved paperback. The spine is cracked and worn, and the cover is dog-eared and nearly torn in one corner. Liz recognizes it immediately from all of the rough nights in Denver when she’d lost herself in its pages. She snags it from Isobel’s grip a little defensively, and drags it back in against her chest. 

“What?” Liz demands. “I like mystery novels, so? Like I didn’t walk in on you reading a Harlequin romance novel last weekend?” She’ll admit, her favorite mystery series isn’t exactly cerebral, but the novels got her out of her head and pulled into a world where every problem was solved and tied off in a bow by the end of it, which, considering Liz’s life, had sounded pretty damn good. The author is funny, and wrote in a way that made Liz want to hide in the words and turns of phrase for as long as she could -- which is why all three books in the series bear the marks of being read and reread during several long years of Denver living. 

Green eyes dart from the cover of the book to Liz’s face, then to Max’s wide eyes, and Isobel bursts into laughter hard enough to make her curl forward, clutching her stomach. “Oh my god,” she repeats, still cackling, while Max inexplicably buries his face in his hands. “Slaughter in Swan Lake? In which a beautiful, brainy, Latina dancer solves a murder with the help of a handsome, heroic Sheriff’s deputy in a small town?” 

Liz blinks. “Yes? You’ve read them?” 

Max groans from the other side of the box as Isobel guffaws, waving the paperback around in the air. “Oh, come on Ortecho, you’re smarter than this! A Sheriff’s Deputy in a small town? A Latina heroine who dances professionally and uses science to solve mysteries in her free time? Written by M.E. Cunningham?” 

“Isobel, didn’t you say you needed to meet Mom this afternoon? You should probably get going,” Max interjects, and when Liz turns to look at him, she’s bemused to find that the tips of his ears are red. “Liz and I can take the moving from here.” 

But Liz’s mind is already working, putting together the clues that Isobel had so helpfully laid out in front of her. “Wait a minute,” she says, turning an incredulous stare on the book still in Isobel’s grasp. “Are you saying Max wrote those books?” She doesn’t wait for an answer before turning to the man she was about to move in with -- the man from whom she’d long ago thought she’d extracted all secrets. “Max Evans, is your sister trying to tell me that you’re the author of my favorite books?”

Max rubs the back of his neck with one hand awkwardly, looking away. “I need to give you some better things to read if those are your favorite books,” he mutters, and that is definitely not a ‘no.’ He finishes shoving the rest of the box contents back inside and stands up, long legs carrying him swiftly into the house before Liz can ask anymore questions. 

She casts an incredulously look at Isobel, who only grins back and lounges against the side of the house, unconcerned. Liz snorts and hurries after Max, hands on her hips. “You do realize there’s no way you’re getting out of explaining yourself, right?” Liz says, once she’s cornered him in the library, where Max is sliding her book collection onto the shelves with his own, far more extensive one. The mystery series, she notes, are still in the bottom of the box, ignored. “Why wouldn’t you tell me you’d already published something? And why were you still working as a deputy when you actually are a writer, like you always wanted?”

Max snorts, and glares down at the battered paperbacks. “Those are not what I want to be known for writing,” he explains firmly. “It’s why they’re under a penname --” he glances at Liz and sees the question in her face. “Cunningham is my mother’s maiden name. And M.E --” 

“Yeah, I think I can figure that one out on my own,” Liz cuts him off dryly, and grabs both of Max’s hands before he can try to busy himself with another task or walk out of the room on the pretense of getting more boxes to upack. “Come on, Max. Why didn’t you say anything? We’ve talked about your writing before. That seems like it would have been a perfect time to mention this.” Liz isn’t angry, but it is a little jarring to learn that Max still has secrets from, even now. Especially about something that she would have loved to celebrate with him. Becoming a published author with the amount of fans the Dancing and Death series has? That’s a big deal. Why wouldn’t Max want to share it? 

There’s a moment of silence, and Liz starts to wonder if Max is going to answer her question. He leans back against his desk, his fingers toying with hers absent-mindedly as he gazes around the room, hopefully working to collect his thoughts for a response. “I wrote the first book about three months after you left town,” he says finally. “Michael hated my guts, Isobel had just met Noah -- and I really, really missed you.” 

Liz thinks of the brilliant main character, of her Mexican roots and her love of science despite her career in the performing arts. The thought that the woman who Liz had empathized with, had laughed and cried with, is based on her makes an odd rush of warmth flood her chest. “So you created Sasha Jiminez?” she asks, naming the heroine with an affection smile tilting her lips.  

Max nods, sighing. “Sasha. And Todd,” he agrees, looking at her sideways. Liz can’t help but laugh at that -- the lovable Sheriff’s Deputy who spends the entire book looking after Valeria while she solves his cases is pretty obviously based on another small town hero she knows pretty damn well. “I never meant for anyone else to read it, but my mom caught me writing late one night, and somehow, one of her friends in the city ended up with a copy ... and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a publishing contract.” Max shakes his head, looking a bit bewildered, even now. “It’s embarrassing. It’s not even good literature. I wrote it to make myself feel better, and I knew I couldn’t sign my real name to any of it. Not without everyone in town realizing exactly how embarrassing it was.”

Glancing down at the book again, Liz considers her words for a moment, then leans in to rest her head against Max’s chest. His arms enfold her automatically, like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it, and she takes another moment to thank whatever -- or whoever -- might be out there that this man had never given up on her. 

“You told me when we were kids,” she starts, still pressed against his chest. “That you just wanted to write books people could get lost in.” The memory evokes others of dancing on that mountaintop, their almost-kiss and the sweet, too-short bliss of believing that when she left Roswell, Max Evans would follow her. The persona she’d given him that day of a dancer with a fake name had come alive in his mind when Liz herself was long gone, and though Liz isn’t a romantic, she couldn’t help but feel a little weak-kneed in the face of such devotion. 

“Those books ... God, Max, I must have read all three a hundred times while I was in college, and in grad school. I lost myself in them over and over, and they made the real world a little more bearable. I didn’t have to think about Papi, or Rosa, or whatever stupid project or assignment was stressing me out. I love those books, Max. And knowing that you wrote them? That the people in those pages are really us?” She grins, and leans up on tip-toe to press her smile against Max’s lips. “It makes me love them even more. It’s like you followed me after all, in some ways. Or like I never left, because you had a huge part of me in your head while you were writing.”

Max brushes his lips against the crown of Liz’s head. “Not in my head,” he says quietly. “My heart. Always.” 

The words still bring a flush to the tips of Liz’s ears, even now, when she’s confident in the love Max has for her -- and that she has for him. They’re moving in together, planning a future and a live as a unit, and still, hearing the romantic proclamations he loves to throw her way make her blush like an awkard teenager. 

“Even better,” Liz responds, and kisses him one more time, allowing herself to linger a little before she pulls away to finish unpacking the box at their feet. She puts the mystery series on the top shelf, displayed proudly for all to see, worn-out covers and all. 

Max glances at them uncertainly, and Liz wonders if her paperbacks will disappear mysteriously in the coming days --  but they’re still there, watching over Liz and Max three months later when he gets down on one knee. He never finishes the series, but Liz likes to think that Sasha and Todd are as happy in their world as she and Max are in the real one. 

[fencer-x]

1. Hii, do you still post Drarry fic recs? I've only recently started shipping these two and the fanfic side of HP is entirely new to me, and if I'm honest it's slightly overwhelming lol. So I was wandering if you could perhaps help me find or rec the kind of fic I'm looking for because I have trouble finding them myself in this sea of fanfics. (This is probably going to be a really long ask so apologies for that).

2. So what I'm looking for is the Hogwarts era, and not eight year or post war but before the war, the Voldemort era if you will, from the 5th year and onward when Draco and his family are still involved in being Death Eaters and stuff. If there are fics set in that time where eventually romance blooms between Draco and Harry could you rec me some please? I have no idea what kind of search criteria to apply to find them unfortunately.

3.And another thing I'm looking for is some slow burn in general where the build up and transition to romance between Harry and Draco isn't too sudden which is the case in most fics I've read. It would be good to really see their annoyance and hatred towards one another before the romantic feelings appear, cause I much prefer that kind of dynamic rather than the one where one of them is already feeling a secret attraction toward the other almost from the start or where it escalates too quickly.

4. I have nothing against some silly, dorky Draco with some really funny inner monologue but I'd also much prefer seeing his less fluffy, unapologetic and callous self, and I feel like in most fics that part of Draco's personality disappears too easly and too fast to be in character for him. :/ I hope this isn't a bother and that my requests aren't too specific, and I hope you could point me in the right direction with this. P.S. need I say the E rating is much desirable? :3

First off, WELCOME TO THE SHIP. You’ll have a fantastic time searching for recs, because given the JUGGERNAUT status of this ship, there’s absolutely something for everyone. That can understandably be overwhelming, but this ship’s been going strong for 20-plus years, so no need to rush into things! Take your time and find something that works for you.

For recs, I’ll first give you a great resource: capitu’s Masterlist. It’s great for when you’ve got some certain theme or something you’re looking for (like non-8th-year Hogwarts, for example). AO3 is easily searched using tags, but sometimes you want a list a human being put together! Capitu also has a tumblr where you can trawl through the tags to find posts advertising fics you might like.

I also cannot recommend @drarryficrecs highly enough. Here’s their carefully tended masterlist! And another from fyeahdrarry!

If you want to look on AO3 and sort by, for example, kudos or bookmarks, try using the tag ‘Hogwarts Era’ to narrow down the timeline, and then other tags as you see fit.

As for personal recs, I haven’t made a new post in a while (because I haven’t had time to read much lately, though I intend to rectify that soon), but I’ll see if I can find a few that might appeal to you based on your criteria. I love slow burns and almost only read explicit fics for these two, so that shouldn’t be a problem :) I also adore snarky, crass, rude little shit Draco, so again, NOT a problem :)

However, I confess, pre-8th year isn’t something I usually see written too much now, so 95% of what I read is 8th year or later. I have a couple of recs, but only a couple, alas. 

The If Sieve by cest_what - [An If Sieve lets you see how things would have unfolded if somebody had made a different decision at a particular time.] My thoughts: pretty much what it says on the tin! Draco gets hold of an If Sieve, and things go about how you’d expect as he dives down the rabbit hole of how his life might have changed if he’d made different choices at crucial points along the way.

Men Who Love Dragons Too Much by fencer_x (yes...me XD *shameless self plug*) - [Extensive re-telling of Deathly Hallows - ‘Kill Albus Dumbledore’ is less a challenging task and more a suicide mission, so when Draco Malfoy is presented with the option to either dispatch his Headmaster or suffer an excruciating and most ignominious death of his own, along with his parents, he reaches deep into his black little Slytherin heart and manages to scrape together enough courage to go with option C instead: Spend Sixth Year secretly studying Animagecraft in the hopes he’ll turn into something sufficiently imposing even the Dark Lord himself won’t be able to keep Draco under his thumb. But just his luck, his Animagus form turns out to be a dragon, and a rather randy juvenile at that, intent on finding its mate: one Harry James Potter.] My thoughts: So, I’m not sure if this would count for you; it’s not 8th year, but they aren’t really at Hogwarts either? Not for most of the fic lol. Because like it says, it’s a retelling of Deathly Hallows. However, it’s...big. I beefed the heck out of that book in order to weave Drarry into it. At 480,000 words, it’s the slowest of burns, there is snark and hate aplenty, and oh yes there is definitely some porn. Eventually. But not gonna lie it’s gonna take a while to get there, the boys being who they are. Still, perhaps you’ll enjoy it!

And that’s all I have on-hand! Like I said, I don’t tend to read pre-end-of-the-war stuff too much these days, if only because most of the stuff I see written is set a little later. I can recommend everything to meet your wishlist EXCEPT that time slot! However, others might have some suggestions, in which case by all means, feel free to tack on to this admittedly short list!

[chaoticspacefam]

Character Traits Meme - Aria & Vano

I was tagged by the lovely @mercurypilgrim​ (thank you! :D)

I can’t remember who I tagged last time so if I’ve tagged you twice and/or you don’t wanna do it again (or the first time), no pressure as always :D but I shall tag @abyssal-space​ @sentinelapologist​ @thatmmolesbian​ @stratosara​

I did the Sith twins last time, so it’s Aria and Vano’s turn this time! :D

[WEALTH ]

$ Financial : wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

(Aria lived hand-to-mouth on the streets for a while during the start of her story, but built it back up after she returned to the Empire. She’s not quite “wealthy” but she did inherit a lot of her father’s things after his death so she’s what I would call “comfortable”.)

✚ Medical : fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged

(Mostly fit, but has extensive scarring from her younger years and some long-term memory damage thanks to a bad glitterstim habit in her younger years.)

✪ Class or Caste : upper / middle / working / transient / slave / unsure

(Was a smuggler for about 5 years after joining up with Merak & Ziri, but after returning to the Sith/Jedi, she worked her way back up again ;))

✔ Education : qualified / unqualified / studying / other

(Graduated from the Sith/Jedi Academy, sooo that counts as qualified right? :P)

✖ Criminal Record : yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / classified

(Uhhhh, yeah. Murdering a lot of Jedi Masters for the Sith, need I say more? She was arrested during the battle of Ilum and spent several years in jail until the first proto-alliance had need of her to help them fight the Revanites. As a show of “good faith” after Yavin, Satele expunges her record and allows her to return to the Sith with Vano, since any further damage Aria could cause has already been done - she’s already been feeding the EmpireJedi intel for years by that point!)

[ FAMILY ]

◒ Children : has a child or children / has no biological children / wants children / has adopted children

(Ziri is SORT OF like an adopted daughter to her. Sort of. But uh, she’s bad with children. Do not leave them with her.)

◑ Relationship with Family : close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

(An only child (though in the Zephyrverse AU(s) she does have several half-siblings on her father’s side!)

◔ Affiliation : orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable  

(Killed her mother as part of her Sith trials (something that still haunts her), was raised by her father Darth Noctis, but later on as an adult orphaned when Baras’ assassins kill Noctis. Then adopted into Vano’s family after they eventually marry. What a mouthful huh?)

[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES ]

♦ extroverted / introverted / in between

(One of the loudest people you will ever meet, Aria has NO filter and almost NEVER keeps her mouth shut. Vano wishes she would, but she does not XD)

♦ dis-organised / organised / in between

(I would call it “organised chaos”, it might seem a mess to someone else, but it’s organised to her. She never sticks to one plan and is always improvising on the fly, but she’s very good at that!)

♦ closed-minded / open-minded / in between

♦ calm / anxious / in between

(This one was difficult for me to decide...she doesn’t really get anxious or panicked so I decided to go with “calm”, though a more accurate description would simply be “doesn’t give a shit”)

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between

(Unless she’s close to you, she’s NASTY. Not someone you want to spend quality time with.)

♦ cautious / reckless / in between

(When it comes to life-or-death, she’s always cautious. She’ll never risk her life for you, unless your name is Vano or Qyzen. But if death is not on the cards, she will absolutely take risks without balking about it.)

♦ patient / impatient / in between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in between

♦ leader / follower / in between

(She’ll follow Vano and the Ahaszaai twins - and her father when he was alive - but otherwise, don’t tell her what to do. She’ll flip the bird at you.)

♦ empathetic / unempathetic / in between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

♦ traditional / modern / in between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in between

♦ cultured / uncultured  / in between

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown

(loyal to a select group of people (Vano, Saarai, Ni’kasi, Qyzen, her father), everybody else, you may never know if she’ll help you or put a knife in your back.)

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown

(See above)

[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]

❤ Sexuality : heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

❥ Sex : sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favourable / naive and clueless

♥ Romance : romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favourable / naive and/or inexperienced

(Aria is demiromantic so it takes time for her to build that sort of bond with someone, couple that with her father teaching her from a young age that “loving someone was weakness” means she’s not really given it much time of day. Now that he’s not around to keep pushing that viewpoint and she can learn to be more openly affectionate with Vano, though, she’s starting to try.)

❣ Sexually : adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

(I think this speaks for itself LOL)

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all

(If it’s human(oid) and it has a pulse, she’ll fuck it. She’s a whore, sir.)

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all

[ ABILITIES ]

☠ Combat Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(I would hope so, she’s been fighting stuff for a good few decades now!)

≡ Literacy Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(Her dad was a Darth and he intended for her to take his place one day, he made sure she could do everything she needed to be successful.)

✍ Artistic Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(She can dance well enough to not make a fool of herself, and maybe draw some simple things, but not much more than that!)

✂ Technical Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(She ran with smugglers. She’s not as good as they are, but Merak and Ziri taught her how to slice and she can make do in a pinch, though she wouldn’t be able to handle like...advanced encryptions and so on.)

[ HABITS ]

☕ Drinking Alcohol : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(She’s always loved a good drink. If she’s not working, you’ll find her at a bar somewhere, drinking the other patrons under the table XD)

☁ Smoking : trying to quit / never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Not nearly as often as she drinks, but yes.)

✿ Other Narcotics : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Oh boy, oh boy, she did a LOT of stims in her younger years while she was smuggling. Hasn’t touched them for a long time as of re-joining the war(s) proper.)  

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Previously a lot. Medical stims were a good, quick substitute if she ran out of other things. Since she’s gone clean, though, she won’t touch them now for fear of relapsing if she does.)

☻ Indulgent Food : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(If Vano wants to go out to eat, she’ll go with her, but it’s not something Aria herself will specifically suggest.)

$ Splurge Spending : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

♣ Gambling : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(On occasion, if she has time.)

[WEALTH ]

$ Financial : wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

(Vano’s never had to worry about money, but she’s not rolling in it either. Just comfortable :))

✚ Medical : fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged

(Gal works out, she keeps herself in good condition! :D)

✪ Class or Caste : upper / middle / working / transient / slave / unsure

✔ Education : qualified / unqualified / studying / other

(Graduated from the Sith Academy, so I am once again assuming yes :3)

✖ Criminal Record : yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / classified

[ FAMILY ]

◒ Children : has a child or children / has no biological children / wants children / has adopted children

(Unfortunately for Vano, her wife is not a child-oriented person, so they probably never will. It’s okay though, she’ll find a way to substiturte, probably helps teach younglings at the Enclave or something!)

◑ Relationship with Family : close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

(Vano has a younger brother, Merak, who is my smuggler. While they’re separated for some time, they’re still close - in fact, Merak begins his smuggler career because he wanted to travel the galaxy to try and find Vano again, and he needed money to keep searching so smuggling it was!)

◔ Affiliation : orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable  

(her father was killed when Vitiate’s Inquisitors raided Mirial and he tried to stop them from taking Vano with them to train, but her mother is only very weakly Force sensitive and was left behind. She works in the local Jedi Archives on Mirial, but after the Alliance forms and Vano and Merak reach out to her again, she eventually joins them on Odessen <3)

[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES ]

♦ extroverted / introverted / in between

(Vano is pretty outgoing and friendly, but not very “in your face”. She’s the quiet-but-friendly sort of type.)

♦ dis-organised / organised / in between

♦ closed-minded / open-minded / in between

♦ calm / anxious / in between

(Mostly calm and collected, though post-Valkorion possession, she has moments where she gets anxious. Particularly if she’s alone, or if she can feel he’s about to pop up and start bothering her D:)

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between

(The only time she won’t be agreeable is if you’re a dick, basically.)

♦ cautious / reckless / in between

(Not STUPID reckless, but Vano will take calculated risks and/or react first, think about herself later in order to defend someone else.)

♦ patient / impatient / in between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in between

(Mostly pretty reserved and quietly thoughtful, but known to be VERY vocal in terms of defending minorities or other disadvantaged people and so on.)

♦ leader / follower / in between

♦ empathetic / unempathetic / in between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between

♦ traditional / modern / in between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in between

♦ cultured / uncultured  / in between

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown

(Vano’s loyalty knows no bounds. She has a strong moral compass and she won’t continue to follow a complete tyrant (which is why she always kept Baras at arms’ length) - but if you’re generally a good person (even if you make mistakes sometimes - or a lot of times if your name is Aria XD - she will cross the entire damn galaxy for you and do anything for you, no questions asked.)

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown

[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]

❤ Sexuality : heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

❥ Sex : sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favourable / naive and clueless

(She likes it. Buuuut she can also go a long while without any and not get twitchy about it, if the world’s on fire or something of that nature, sex goes on the back burner, she can survive without it if necessary.)

♥ Romance : romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favourable / naive and/or inexperienced

(Yes please! Flowers, chocolates, sunsets and rolling credits, Vano’s a sucker for some good-ol’-fashioned romance.)

❣ Sexually : adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

(I struggled with this one, because Va’s not really “naive” she’s just very...vanilla? XD Willing to try things, but Aria’s definitely more experienced in terms of variety of things than she is, so Ari’s usually the one um, “in charge”. ;))

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all

[ ABILITIES ]

☠ Combat Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(She trained with the Sith. She had to be good or she’d be DEAD XD)

≡ Literacy Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(Pretty good, she’s not illiterate, but certainly not as silver-tongued as say, Aria.)

✍ Artistic Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(Decent enough singer and dancer, very good at calligraphy, which is one of her main hobbies when she’s not saving the galaxy from mass-murdering tyrants :’))

✂ Technical Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

(Decent enough. She can work the Razor’s computer systems, crack some rudimentary passcodes and do other basic things, but she would leave the more advanced slicing and coding to Aria, Vette or her brother, they’re better at it.)

[ HABITS ]

☕ Drinking Alcohol : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Social drinker, so will have some at a party or occasionally one or two while she’s out with Aria, but nowhere near as much as her wife.)

☁ Smoking : trying to quit / never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Va’s a stress-smoker, so the more pressure she’s under and the more worried/frazzled she feels, the more she smokes. If she’s having a pretty “normal” time of things, it’s in moderation.)

✿ Other Narcotics : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

☻ Indulgent Food : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Sometimes ya just have a shitty day and you have to eat an ENTIRE bag of toffee all to yourself. When you’ve saved the galaxy like 3 times over you deserve that much XD)

$ Splurge Spending : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

♣ Gambling : never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

(Not so keen on it, prefers to watch Aria and her brother whilst they do so she can get them out of trouble if they get into it.)

[cinderella1181]

Battle Cries Chapter 3

TITLE: Battle Cries

CHAPTER NUMBER: Chapter 3 /?

AUTHOR: Cinderella1181

WHICH Henry/CHARACTER: AU Henry Cavill /Juniper Denholm

GENRE: Romance/Comedy

FIC SUMMARY: Henry Cavill is the fourth son of the Lord and Lady of St. Helier. He is also now 37 still living at home and has no plans to move out. His father, recently retired, is forcing Henry to live on his own. Set up nicely, by his parents Henry has to find his place in the world and find real love for the first time with a girl he didn’t necessarily think he would even like. 

PREVIOUS: Chapter 2

RATING: M (sex, language)

WARNINGS: Um, nothing yet.

AUTHORS NOTES:  Just a quick filler chapter…

 Henry sat on the stool and was angry. He wasn’t sure why he was exactly, but he was one hundred percent sure that it had something to do with Juniper.  He made a face, getting up to begin working on restocking the comics that had come in. He may as well get pull lists started. Anything to keep his mind off of Juniper.  

Kal lay on his rug and looked up at him with sad eyes.  “What? Don’t stare at me like that. She is, frankly, irritating,” Henry said, putting his hands on his hips. Kal made a sound close to a harumph and closed his eyes, effectively ignoring his dad. “She didn’t like you anyway,” he mumbled as she walked away. 

Henry found the work of sorting the comics soothing. He was sure a lot of people found it quite boring, but he liked it. There was one bonus to it: he got first dibs on the comics, so anytime Joey asked him to do it, he jumped at the chance. Sorting them today helped soothe his mind and get it off of Juniper. 

Damn it, he thought. There she was again creeping into his mind. He kept flashing back to the look on her face when she opened the door. He was lucky he had the towel in his hand and had been able to get it in front of him. She simply stood there and stared at him. A look of wonder and almost lust in her eyes, though he might have mistaken those for what was really annoyance. 

No! He would be thinking of her in the terms of lust. It didn’t matter that he thought she was the prettiest girl he had seen since he had come to London. He paused what he was doing. He frowned, angry that it was even a thought that crossed his mind. He grunted and went back to working. He kept trying to keep her out of his mind, but she kept creeping back in invading his thoughts.  He wasn’t sure what it was about the brunette, but he couldn’t keep her off his mind. 

He continued to work in silence for a while longer, before the bells over the door jingled. He didn’t immediately look up and he simply called out, “Welcome in.” It was the happy whine of Kal that made him finally look at the door. 

“Mom!” Henry called out and went over to her.  “You’re here. Why?”

“Oh, Jillian and I decided to come over to London to do some shopping, and I just had to see my boy and where he was working.” Marianne smiled as her son wrapped his arms around her. Kal sat next to her, his head pressed in her leg, whining, and looking up at her.  “Well my boy and my favorite pupper grandbaby…” She pushed Henry away as he let go of her and bent to kiss Kal. 

Henry grinned.  “I am glad you're here, Mum. Where are you staying? Please tell me it is with me. I have missed you so much.”

“No, sadly, your father made us book into a hotel. He is still on this ‘give Hen independence’ kick. But, Jillian and I expect to be invited to dinner one night this week.” She smiled at her boy.  

“Yes, of course!” He smiled. “My friends are in a band, and they have a show on Friday night at the pub, you should come.”

Marianne smiled.  “Sounds good.”  She looked around the store. “So this is where you work?”

Henry grinned.  “It is. Joey owns it. He doesn’t really pay me, but it gets me out of the house and off the video games.” He pointed to the dog.  “And Kal can come in and work too. He gets paid in Milk B-O-N-E-S.” Even spelling it out, Kal sat up and began to pant excitedly as his tail brushed the floor. “No, not now.”

 Marianne laughed.  “Well, it sounds like you are doing well, my boy.” She smiled, but there was something sad about it. 

“What’s wrong, Mum?” Henry asked. 

“I just… I hate that your father banished you to London. I tried so hard to get him to just get a house in Jersey.” She sighed.  “I wanted to keep all my boys close.”

He smiled a little.  “You know, for like the first month I was so mad mum, but now, I don’t know. I am starting to really love it here. I like my life and it was a very good thing.” He smiled.  “I didn’t need to be almost forty and living at home. Dad was right.”

“Oh god, don’t say that to his face, I will never hear the end of it.” She shook her head, smiling a little.  “Well, that is good to hear. You will be home for Christmas, right?” 

“Absolutely. Mind if I bring Joey and Madeleine?” he asked. 

“Oh, a girl?” she said, a new twinkle in her eye.

“Yes, Joey’s girl. You’ll actually meet them both at the pub. It’s their band.” He smiled. “They have become my family here.”

Marianne grinned.  “I am so glad that you have a family here.” She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Okay, text me darling, I have to go meet Jillian. I love you, tell me when and where on Friday. We will meet up for lunch or another meal sometime this week. I think this trip is going to be rather extensive in the shopping.” 

He smiled. “I will, Mum. I love you.” 

“I love you, too, dear.” She leaned down and kissed Kal one last time and headed out the door in just as much of a flourish as she had appeared. 

Henry grinned, looking down at Kal.  “The last time Jillian went on one of these sprees, seven months later Lexie was born. Bet you two bones I’m going to be an uncle again.” Kal looked up at him with his big brown eyes and let out a low woof.  “Three? You drive a hard bargain. Okay... three.” He smiled and reached out to pet the dog. 

Henry smiled and shook his head, his mind effectively off Juniper.

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

Hi! I love your youtube channel & I think you're super cool! I'm a newer follower and was wondering if you could give a summary of the concept of Fostered---it sounds like a really interesting series!

Aww thank you!

Yes I can!! Fostered is too thicc for me to give extensive summaries (unless y’all want this) and there is very little you need to know from the earlier books to understand the current ones! That’s because as myself and the series have aged, its genre, age category, and plot points have changed!

Here’s a small outline of the main characters:

Reeve

Protagonist + narrator for all “main” Fostered books

Sister of Lonan

Will write salty breakup songs about people she was never in a relationship with

Bi as fuck!

Foster

Was once Reeve’s boyfriend?? no??

Best friend of Harrison

Will write love songs about tofu

Ace as fuck!!!

Harrison

Best friend of Foster

Also Reeve’s best friend!

Sort of love-interest of Lonan (we’re getting there lol)

Will write love songs about waffles

Gay! as! fuck!

Protagonist of Moth Work

Lonan

Reeve’s brother!

An antagonist for a good chunk of this series

Will not write love songs he has no heart (he does I am just mean)

Also bi as fuck!! Everyone is bi in that family lol we love it

Here’s a breakdown (CW: there’s a lot of violence/convo about mental illness/potentially triggering content in these summaries, so tread with caution):

Fostered (book 1) to Resisted (book 3):

These books (Fostered, Hunted, Resisted) are probably the most harmonious out of the 6 (7 including Moth Work) so far! That’s because for a long time, I believed Fostered would end at three books (initially a standalone, then duology). They’re all closely linked through the “foster homes” plot (hence the name of the series) and are obviously the most dystopian of the books (all three are also YA). You can feel the 2014 dystopian vibes in this book lol. I wrote this summary 5 years ago for my first ask ever and it sums up that idea:

The book takes place in the not-too-distant future where children who’ve committed crimes, are neglected, or have chosen to, are sent to behavioural detention centres – what everyone else that’s not the government like to call ‘foster homes’. The story revolves around a fifteen-year-old girl named Reeve who’s lived two years in a ‘foster home’ after being accused of her sister’s murder. Following an accident that she caused which subsequently led to her escape of her foster home, she stumbles across a group of kids, who like her, have gone through the lifestyle and also have escaped. She makes an alliance with them and everything seems in its place until she finds out that a team of hunters are searching for her because of the same accident. Unable to remember anything that happened from the event, she then learns that maybe all things don’t point to her – what really happened on the day she escaped? 

(props to 14-year-old me for writing this)

I wrote these three books so quickly (though at the time, as a thirteen-year-old, it felt like drafting took forever). I started Fostered in October of 2014, and by May of 2015, I was halfway through Resisted :))))). How?? These books are all above 85k??? I could never!!!

FOSTERED (book 1 - YA dystopian):

Follows the above plot. What isn’t mentioned above is how this book starts. We start with Reeve (15 at the time–a baby!!!) chillin in an abandoned storage unit she was hoping to use as shelter. HOWEVER, plot twist of the season–there are already people there!

She’s semi-ambushed by these people who she later learns are our good ol’ pals Foster and Harrison. The boys are also taking care of a 6-year-old girl named Essie who they love fiercely!! They’re sketched out by Reeve, which we later find out is because–they! know! her! 

Foster, Harrison, and Reeve were actually all the closest pals in a ‘foster home’ they called WAFFLE. Reeve forgets that during the disastrous accident she causes that separates them (she blows up the foster home lmaooo) but lookie here–the squad is reunited! Eventually everyone comes to love each other (though it ain’t like that in the beginning) + Foster and Reeve have a romance which I find so bizarre now?? They would never.

The squad is being “hunted” by a group of “chasers” (I LOVE dystopian lool) headed by a woman named Red who is actually?? a badass? She tries to kill them a bunch of times, Reeve kills Lonan’s sister by using her as a human shield, Essie dies, I’m awful!

HUNTED (book 2 - YA dystopian):

After Essie’s death, the group is shook! Harrison especially as he is *soft* and the “leader” of the group. To protect his other ducklings who are now the most sought after people in America lmao (Foster and Reeve), he does something SCANDALOUS and joins the *government* AKA all the evil people putting innocent children in these awful detention centres. What a 180! Essentially, he does this to purposefully manipulate investigations into Foster and Reeve away from them, but Reeve doesn’t know this so she’s cheesed when she finds out (she feels #betrayed)!

Harrison’s departure of the group triggers the group’s breakup. Harrison joins an *elite* section of the government that *I believe* tries to wrangle runaway foster kids?? This group is lead by our other good pal Lonan and this is the first book he appears in! He takes Red’s place as antagonist in this book.

The group also includes Holly, a badass who is also Foster’s older sister (and also Lonan’s first serious girlfriend)! She’s scary! She also dies by hanging in a blood-drinking cult mid-way through this book! don’t! ask! Margo is this group’s tech analyst, and she’s a mentally distant hippie (and Harrison’s first and last serious girlfriend which obvi didn’t work out lol he’s gay!) Idk what Harrison’s job was here, but he learns techy stuff from Margo!

This book is important because it establishes Lonan, who continues to be a pivotal character as the series progresses. It also establishes Lonan and Harrison’s relationship. Obvi Lonan is the antagonist in this book and won’t make his redemption arc for another 1book lol, but him and Harrison have a bit of a bizarre relationship. Though they’re almost rivals, they almost adore being each other’s rivals (but don’t tell them that)? After Harrison leaves Lonan’s team, the squad essentially is *hunted* by them, hence the book title lol. 

By the end of this book, a few important things happen! Lonan kills Margo (remember, Harrison’s first and last girlfriend lol, we could say Lonan was killing his competition lol is that too much), this obviously reinforces his role as bad guy! After the book’s events, Lonan eventually overtakes the group and they’re all imprisoned! Love it!

RESISTED (book 3 - YA dystopian):

This is my favourite Fostered book because there’s just so much tea! We start in “headquarters” AKA Lonan’s pride and joy! After he kills off his old boss so he can be Ultimate Antagonist (actually because she essentially killed his girlfriend ahaha), he’s the Man in Charge and power trippin like crazy. 

Reeve is separated from Foster and Harrison who are also in HQ because she’s mentally unwell. Lonan has given her the job of executing people (because he is evil) which she ain’t diggin! so Lonan takes it upon himself to address her mental health concerns (which obviously isn’t helping because they mutually hate each other). 

Eventually, Reeve barters with Lonan for what she wants by using Holly’s death (which only she and Foster witnessed) as leverage. As I mentioned above, Lonan essentially kills/drives away his entire *elite government squad* which means! He needs another one! Reeve uses this as an opportunity and says WELL you COULD hire Foster and Harrison. Lonan does and VOILA we suddenly have a new squad!

This is really where we build a relationship between Lonan and Reeve who have previously done nothing but try to kill each other! They actually bond in this bizarre kind of way. While they still don’t like each other, they mutually understand each other more than Foster and Harrison do as in many ways, Lonan and Reeve have both done the same awful things (lots of killing people :))). 

This all builds up to the epic reveal that they are actually half siblings (they share a mother) and oh DOES THE TEA START BOILING. This news causes major tension in the OG squad (Reeve, Foster, Harrison) as Foster and Harrison think Lonan has done too many irredeemable things to be forgiven, despite the fact that he and Reeve are related. They are right! However, Reeve isn’t so quick to decide. 

She and Lonan go through a lot together (including kidnapping! attempted murder! An explosion! Reeve pretending to be a corpse!) which are still some of my favourite things to re-read and the reason I love this book the most out of all the books I’ve written. This is where #redemption arc occurs!

This book is too long for me to cover everything, but essentially their relationship is the most important! The book ends when the squad (now joined by Lonan) is forced out of hiding because Reeve is injured and actually needs real medical attention! This leads to ANOTHER separation, with Reeve heading back to a foster home for the first time in a few years!

Hollowed (book 4) to Rewired (book 6)

HOLLOWED (book 4 - YA (?) dystopian (?))

Book four is my least favourite book of the 6 and that’s because it’s melodramatic and I was finding my writing style! It’s not quite appropriate for YA because of its violent subject matter, but wouldn’t appeal to adults, so it’s a bit category-less. Dystopian elements still exist, but are less relevant, so it’s also a bit muddled in term of genre.

All you need to know in terms of events are that Reeve meets someone named Lincoln in the foster home she’s put in (see previous) who ends up being a horrifically abusive person. He sort of shifts into the role as antagonist, though from this book on, the lines between good guys and bad guys blur. Hollowed also introduces a new character–Glenne! Glenne is Lonan’s second serious girlfriend and remnants of this relationship still show up in current Fostered spinoffs (tho she will be irrelevant in Houses With Teeth most likely). 

SPLINTERED (book 5 - YA?????)

The genre and category of this book are impossible to define. We continue almost where we left off in book four, and this book is pretty unremarkable in terms of events lol. The squad remains the same, except toward the end, we’re introduced to Darren, a dude from California who hears about Lonan’s *elite government squad* (before the government disowned him) and hopes they can help him locate his missing brother (tho he don’t reveal this until book six). 

This book is mostly about Lonan’s declining mental health that still has not gotten better. Some hints of Lonan and Harrison’s relationship getting closer are also dropped in this book.

REWIRED (book 6 - Adult (???) literary fiction sometimes???)

The category of this book is bizarre. It begins as weirdly maybe almost YA, but dips into adult literary fiction at some points. This book is where I really grasped my style and so the genre and category reflect that transition. 

What you need to know about Rewired is the progression of Darren and Reeve’s relationship as it goes from acquaintances to PALS to MORE THAN PALS to I don’t! want to be! your! pal! This book is so weird and disjointed because of this transition away from YA dystopian and into adult literary fiction. We also get even more Lonan and Harrison relationship development as Reeve meddles her way into business that is not hers!

MOTH WORK (spinoff - no categories anymore I have no idea)

The most recent Fostered book! We finally get to see Lonan and Harrison’s relationship on the page and oh boy! Is there tea! As Lonan struggles to grasp trauma from childhood, and Harrison struggles to help him, their relationship goes to places it ain’t never been before! This eventually leads to a much needed separation where Lonan explores a new relationship with Eliza (his father’s ex oooooof) and Harrison figures out what he needs in order to live a healthier, happier life. MW is a bridge between book six and seven.

HOUSES WITH TEETH (book 7 - adult literary fiction *I’m hoping*)

I have yet to write this book, but we’re back in Reeve’s head! Here’s a synopsis I’ve shared before:

After escaping a toxic relationship, twenty-year-old Reeve disappears for the second time in one year. She’s drawn to Wicker, a mealy town outside New York City, whose disappearances of affluent girls has caught her attention. The day she arrives, a sinkhole buries one of them in the front yard of her new home, a fixer-upper she shares with estranged friend, Foster. Quickly she falls prey to speculation by herself and others, who try to connect her to the tragedy. And even stranger, false recognitions as the girl in the ground, and the many other missing Wicker girls make her feel more and more like one of them–these alluring, unknown women. 

This book is very much my vibe now as a writer, however, it’s been difficult to re-integrate back into Reeve’s head with all Fostered’s dystopian elements removed! I don’t have much else to share about this book since I know so little about it, but it is essentially my current project.

So I hope that was helpful! There’s a lot of unexplored territory that I worry might be impossible to get into because I legitimately do not remember a lot @sarahkelsiwrites calls me a fake fan lol (I genuinely am), but if y’all ever want to know more, I am 100% down to share whatever! This was also a lot of info so if y’all have questions, send ‘em in!

Enjoy this abridged version of Fostered!

–Rachel

[ifyourelostiamtoo]

Intellectual negotiations

Prompt: Hermione proposes to Tom, and Tom says yes.

PSA: This is a dialogue writing exercise.

Hermione: Riddle!

Tom: No.

Hermione: You’re not betrothed to any woman that I know of.

Tom: True, the prospect of settling down does not interest me in the very slightest. And I daresay you feel the same?

Hermione: The Ministry seems to value success of any kind. Society benefits from marriages in a manner that no other relationship does. Thriving partnerships between individuals imply they possess certain attractive traits such as conscientiousness, conformity, self-discipline, extraversion, trustworthiness, among others. With these in mind, I’m not opposed to one, no.

Tom: Imply they possess. Whatever spurred this on? Ms. Brown’s engagement to your red-haired knight in shining armour?

Hermione: I need your help in securing a lifelong partner.

Tom (chuckles): You must be at your wit’s end to ask for assistance. Well… I’m quite, shall we say, indisposed as of the moment. Give yourself a year, I’m positive the second you witness your friend, red-eyed with snot dribbling down her nose, rushing to your side after a trivial marital dispute will you see the light. Marriages are pathetic spectacles of dramatic actions.

Hermione: But you swore to take care of your older sister!

Tom: I haven’t forgotten my bloody promise, Hermione. I can arrange a few suitors to your liking after I’m finished with my latest endeavour. So if you are contemplating offing yourself tonight, I suggest you postpone it.

Hermione: And if I find them severely lacking?

Tom: I’m sure you will. A friendly reminder that your sanctimonious tendencies’ only accomplishment is scaring off men of sound minds and able bodies. You’re the most insufferable of swots. Perhaps an attempt to appear more desirable is in order?

Hermione: You find me tolerable, you swot.

Tom: I value your mind. Your temperament matters very little. This conversation is below you, although I, uh, understand your desperation. What I can’t wrap my head around, is how you find Weasley so appealing. It’s the strangest of things.

Hermione: I’m not, he isn’t… You’re fond of my company. I’d wager you sorely missed my presence when I paid my Bulgarian friend a visit.

Tom: You mean Viktor Krum, the world’s most famous seeker? Half-man, half–

Hermione: Nott half-mentioned you were an hour or two early picking me up from King's Cross...

Tom: I simply misread the time of your arrival. Anyway, it’s foolish tempting me to rid myself of your companionship, my dear. I'm begging to be persuaded by just about anyone. Although I’d hate to search for another to engage in verbal fore—(clears throat)—duels with, it’s not an impossible task.

Hermione: And who would replace me? Mulciber? Carrow A, or perhaps, Carrow A? Lovely Lestrange, who confuses clockwise for anti-clockwise? Unlike your lackeys, Viktor’s a sensible man. He's spending next summer with me.

Hermione: He has a pair of eyes and ears—and a tongue—that he puts to good use.

Tom: Vot you don’t fancy ‘im, nor do you appreciate his talents in flying.

Hermione:

Tom: I thought so. Brooms are for sweeping dead leaves. You're a bloody swot. You deserve another bloody swot. And if you’re insinuating my lack of abillity befriending wizards of exemplary stock, look no further than Bellatrix Black. Powerful, cunning and partial to me. Also, a Black.

Hermione: She’d lick your boots if you wish it.

Tom: I wish it. She will oblige.

Hermione: Oh, shut it, Tom! With what you’re up to, there can be no telling who you brush shoulders with. Promising myself to individuals you consider cattle—

Tom: Do not mistake my restrained contempt for anything else. Why don't you consider employing tactical strategies you picked up from playing chess with Ronald? The purebloods have some utility to boast of, aside from their elves, manors, and dwindling health and wealth. Being wed to a Malfoy would be advantageous, truly—

Hermione: They’re valuable to you and you only. Oh, you're so salivating at the possibility—an alliance with one of the ‘Sacred Twenty Eight’ to ensure your footing in the wizarding world!

Tom: I can secure their approval without auctioning off your—virtue. Four centuries have passed since Henry VIII. And Hermione, forgive me, but you have nothing, not even fifty galleons to your name.

Hermione: I’m resourceful enough to earn a measly fortune. Should the Ministry reject my inquiry, I can still be Hermione Granger, best-selling author of—

Tom: Your reputation precedes you.

Hermione: A pseudonym, then! Faced with the possibility of unhappiness for the entirety of my wand-wielding life, crawling on my knees for an inkling of respect I will never receive? Not a chance, thank you, I’d rather starve.

Tom: I won’t allow it. Nobody would dare, for they will be met by my— You’re the pragmatic one. Better accept you're growing old a spinster.

Hermione: I’m not craving for romance—I just cannot resign myself to a miserable co-existence with a man I shan't speak to! A marriage of convenience does not bother me in the slightest, but—

Tom: Then, if you fear that I cannot find you a fitting match, or if my ambitions are getting in the way of your—happiness, then I suggest that you search for one yourself. Or take on lovers if your need to… arises.

Hermione: I have.

Tom: Have what, exactly?

Hermione: Found someone, I have. We’re well-acquainted—he’s every bit as determined as myself, maybe more. Brilliant thinker who can see the bigger picture, perfect foil for someone as meticulous as me. He’s this tall and well-built, just about your size, really. Irritatingly handsome and charismatic, can make puking an art form. Our conversations are plenty stimulating and challenging—

Tom: I think I’ve heard enough. Pray tell, then, why pester me with such betrothal nonsense? Are you seeking my blessing instead? If you’re confident with your belief that you’ve met your equal, then by all means, go ahead. Tell me the date and time, and I will be there in my best robes and behaviour to send you off towards the proverbial English sunset. I can even write you a toast if you require one. To Mr. and Mrs.—Severus Snape!

Hermione:

Tom: Should or shouldn’t I judge you badly? Granted you’re a smidge inferior to me, but you’re the only person who can almost keep up.

Hermione: I measure up to you! I happen to possess the same number of Outstanding N.E.W.T.s as yourself! I have managed a perfect Arithmancy score, broken Hogwarts records—

Tom: Oh, you’ve never failed to remind me how I—

Hermione: I’m asking you. To marry me.

Tom:

Hermione:

Tom: I’ve always thought the Sorting Hat made a terrible judgment putting you in Gryffindor, but it’s clearly incapable of mistakes. A neat piece of old-world magic, don’t you reckon? Now, if you’ll excuse me…

Hermione: Wait.

Hermione: Tom Marvolo Riddle! I said stop right where you are! No, not one step!

Tom: I suppose I am permitted to shuffle in place?

Hermione: Are you so thoroughly displeased with my proposition that you cannot even offer me a denial—

Tom: My father... has allowed me to sell part of my inheritance. I was holding off informing you of this development until the deed of sale is finalised, but when you’re such a troublesome, impatient woman to deal with, it’s unbecoming.

Tom: The flat’s in Bloomsbury. I have plans to build an extensive library of sorts. If we are to live together in the near future permanently, I suggest—

Hermione: Permanently?

Tom: Did you ever picture yourself with someone else? Well, I have never imagined such a thing. We’re merely continuing our co-habiting arrangements – we’ve lived under the same roof since we were 10, for Merlin's sake. You can keep your dignity intact for as long as you wish.

Tom: I suppose a signed document changes nothing between us, and if it makes you feel more secure about your future…

Hermione:

Tom: Hold out your left hand. There.

Tom: Close your eyes.

Hermione: What for?

Tom: If I’m not mistaken, a congratulatory kiss is compulsory after accepting another’s hand in marriage, or am I?

Hermione: You’ve never been interested in upholding traditions.

Tom: Matrimony is, one that you’ve coerced me into. I’d rather not smell of spittle, but the prospect of you harping about how ungentlemanly I am…

Hermione: Not to worry. I’m plenty satisfied with the outcome of this conversation.

Tom: Wouldn’t you want to be… more than satisfied?

Hermione: I’m not the one making declarations of celibacy…

Tom: Just shut up and close your eyes, Hermione.

Hermione: I’m keeping my surname.

Tom: Very well. I need a whole study to myself. Bigger than Little Hangleton’s. Strictly off-limits to your abomination of a pet. But if you want to volunteer Crooks for target practice…

Hermione: Is it a yes?

Tom: I agree to be your husband-in-waiting, Hermione. Shall I see you at dinner?

Hermione (beaming): Will you offer a toast?

Tom: You’re the most dreadful witch I’ve ever met.