#they isn’t anything platonic happening there and even the actors know it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xhmeusworld · 3 months ago

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go in blind | lee seokmin

genre: college! seokmin, friends to lovers, matchmaking

seventeen’s majors and minors here

pairings: lee seokmin x gender neutral reader

warnings: none

word count: 8.3k

note: this is not proofread and i’m not exactly proud of the ending, but i love seokmin so hopefully that makes up for it lmao

when you and your best friend, hayoung, entered college the most exciting part of seemed to be the rooming situation. you were both excited about getting away from your families and living your own lives, but you each had a rule that the other one should respect.

your rule was very simple.

hayoung was to have absolutely no sex in the dorm, especially not in your bed. honestly, that wasn’t hard for her to follow because she hadn’t even had a true relationship. you were sure something had happened between her and her friend jooheon, but he never admitted anything to you and you never asked.

the rule hayoung had set for you seemed very easy for you to follow.

don’t push me out of my comfort zone.

that’s it. that was her only rule.

yet, here you were breaking it.

“i’m telling you that they like each other. anyone who has eyes can see it!”

you were currently in the theater helping plan out everything for the newest student production, which happened to be by jeon wonwoo who was majoring in directing and telecommunications. that’s how he knew hayoung and which also explained why your best friend was glued to his side helping him figure out all the controls for the lightening and sound.

“seriously, just look at them!”

you turned your head at lee seokmin’s words, your eyes traveling to take in wonwoo and hayoung’s figures. their heads were pressed closely together as they discussed what a certain control did. you had to admit that they would be cute together.

“but isn’t hayoung with that jooheon guy that’s friends with jihoon?” jun asked. “i’ve seen them hang out a lot.”

“they’re just really good friends. they haven’t ever been together as a couple.”

seokmin and jun’s heads turned toward you, surprise in their features as a result of you contributing to the conversation. normally, when it came to theater productions you often kept to yourself, choosing to do your job as stage manager and leave.

however, this was your roommate being discussed. she was your platonic soulmate. there was no way you were just going to stand by while two actors talked about a relationship involving hayoung; something that she had no experience with whatsoever.

“see? y/n’s her roommate, which helps further prove my point that wonwoo and hayoung would make amazing babies.”

his words caused you to chuckle. “that’s where you are wrong, seokmin. hayoung has a very strict bubble that she lives in. she will not strive out of her comfort zone on her own, so there’s no way in the world those two will ever get together.”

seokmin seemed to ponder something before choosing his words to respond back. “well, you know her better than anyone and i’m good friends with wonwoo. we can help them get together. we can give them that push.”

jun scoffed. “this is definitely not going to end well.”

“just because minghao doesn’t love you doesn’t mean you get to kill the power of love!”

at the beginning of freshman year, you swore hayoung that you wouldn’t push him out of his comfort zone. however, if you didn’t help seokmin, she could very well possibly be missing out on being with the love of her life.

you sighed. “fine, I’ll help you.”

the grin on seokmin’s face grew as he threw his arm around you, excited that he finally had a partner in crime when it came to matchmaking. “we need a name for our plan.” jun rolled his eyes, but the brown-haired boy continued. “operation love scenario?”

“absolutely not.”

“operation love bomb?”

“sounds too violent.”

“operation love shot it is.”

•••

“seokmin, your dumb matchmaking plans always end up failing? you know this.”

the dark-haired boy looked at lee jihoon in disbelief. “what do you mean they always fail?”

“remember when you tried to set bang chan up with felix and they literally did not like each other, you just thought they did?”

“that was one time!”

joshua cleared his throat, glancing up from the medical textbook he had positioned on his lap. “love is an emotion that occurs naturally. no one is able to force two people to be in love, so in a way, you playing cupid is pointless.”

“you aren’t a doctor yet, so your opinion is also pointless.” seokmin threw an arm over your shoulder, which you have discovered was a gesture that he did with everyone. “however, this time is different. this time i have a partner in crime.”

a week had passed since you agreed to help lee seokmin set your best friend and jeon wonwoo up and you honestly wondering why you agreed in the first place. but there was no turning back now.

seokmin had already exchanged numbers with you and introduced you to his friends, joshua, jihoon, jun, and seungkwan. they were very easy to be around, but you did share the same fears as they did about operation love shot.

what if wonwoo and hayoung didn’t like each other? what if you and seokmin were just misinterpreting everything? what would happen then?

“and since i am your partner in crime, do you care to tell me why you insisted that i came to the quad area with you and your friends when i could very well be in my dorm watching youtube?”

a grin made its way onto seokmin’s face and the arm around your shoulder tightened. “well, the first stage of operation love shot is happening tonight and your assistance is required.”

“what’s the first stage?”

seokmin shook his head. “that’s for me to know and you to find out. i just need you and hayoung to meet me at this address tonight at eight.”

jihoon whistled as seokmin slipped a piece of paper into your hand. “this definitely isn’t going to end well if he won’t tell you what he’s planning.”

the gigantic grin never left seokmin’s face. “well, it’s too late for y/n to back out now!”

•••

it took a lot to convince hayoung to actually get dressed and accompany you to the address seokmin gave you, especially since she desperately wanted to know where you were taking her.

at the time, you didn’t have an answer for her, but how bad could it be? it was seokmin after all.

however, it was worse than you could have ever imagined.

seokmin directed you to the university’s most popular frat house.

and a party was in full swing.

you honestly didn’t know what to do as you grabbed a hold of hayoung’s hand and pulling her toward the kitchen where there seemed to be less people. it was easy to tell that she didn’t want to be here. she hated loud noises, crowds, and alcohol and this party had all three.

truthfully, you were going to deck seokmin the moment you found him for not making you aware of his plan. if you knew, you could have avoided the panic attack that your best friend was bound to have eventually.

the sound of loud laughter greeted your ears from the living room and you immediately recognized it as lee seokmin’s.

you quickly grabbed a red solo cup from the table, filling it with water and giving it to hayoung. you tried to ignore how bad her hands were shaking. “okay, i promise we can leave soon, alright? i just need to talk to somebody real quick. just stay here and do not, by any means, sit your drink down.”

“o-okay,” hayoung choked out.

you gave her a small smile before diving back into the crowd and heading toward the living room. seokmin wasn’t hard to find at all. he was the only one who was currently laughing his head off, but he stopped the moment he saw you.

“y/n, i knew you would come!” he cleared his throat, his eyes subtly darting to the boy next to him who looked severely uncomfortable. “where’s hayoung?”

wonwoo glanced up slightly from his feet at the mention of your best friend’s name, but quickly looked down once he realized that you were looking at him.

“she’s in the kitchen.” you crossed your arms over your chest. “i think we need to talk about something.”

seokmin’s grin faltered at your tone. he turned to wonwoo. “hey, you wanna go get us something to drink in the kitchen?”

the boy with glasses nodded, moving past you, leaving you and seokmin alone. well, as alone as you could get at a party. you immediately hurt him up side the head.

“ow, what was that for?”

“do you realize that you brought hayoung and i to a party? if i knew this was your first stage, i would have never brought her.”

seokmin looked at you in puzzlement. “it’s just a party, y/n.”

“no, it’s not, seokmin! hayoung gets panic attacks easily, especially around crowds, loud noises, and alcohol!”

the huge grin always on seokmin’s face reappeared. “see, that’s exactly the point, my dear y/n! him and wonwoo hate parties for the same reason and they share a similar major, which means the moment wonwoo finds hayoung in the kitchen, they are going to bond. and boom stage one of love shot is complete!”

your eyes widened in disbelief. “you are insane!”

“no, i’m a genius.” seokmin grabbed your hand, pulling you toward the kitchen. “i’ll show you.”

once you both reached the doorway, seokmin released your hand. what you saw in the kitchen surprised you.

seokmin chuckled. “see? what did i tell you?”

wonwoo and hayoung were sitting in the corner of the room, their heads bent low as they talked. you could see hayoung’s hands shaking and it was clear that wonwoo was trying to calm her down.

“wait until i tell jihoon and joshua that stage one was a success!”

that earned him another slap to the head.

“ow, why are you such a violent person?”

“because you’re an idiot.”

•••

even though you didn’t agree with the way seokmin planned stage one, you had to admit that it worked better than you had hoped.

wonwoo offered to drive your roommate back the dorms not even fifteen minutes after you had arrived at the party. you quickly reassured him that you would be seokmin’s ride home while the happy virus beside you tried not to explode from happiness at the thought of his plan actually working.

it was clear a few days after the party that wonwoo and hayoung had bonded. instead of just discussing the lightening and the sound during the theater meetings, you often turned to see hayoung laughing at something the boy with glasses had said. you also learned that they had exchanged phone numbers after the party, but hayoung still insisted that they were barely friends.

which meant it was time for stage two.

“okay, so if we are going to get them together, we are going to have to actually get them together,” you told seokmin as you were positioned next to him on his bed. he was currently playing an intense game of fortnite, his eyes staying glued to his tv.

“how are we supposed to do that?” seokmin asked as he violently punched the controls, trying to stay inside the safety circle where the toxic fog wouldn’t reach him. “the only reason my first idea was to get them together at a party was because i knew that both of shared a mutual hatred for crowds. like they literally share the same major. they have classes together, yet they aren’t ever around one another unless absolutely necessary.”

you hit your pen against your notebook paper, lost in thought. you wanted to think of a way that you could get hayoung and wonwoo together without making either one uncomfortable.

“maybe we can invite hayoung and wonwoo hang out with us, jihoon, joshua, vernon, and seungkwan?”

seokmin’s eyes got wide and he immediately started shaking his head. “no, no, absolutely not. soonyoung has been hanging out with us recently and that boy cannot keep his mouth shut. the moment he saw wonwoo he would make a comment the sexual tension between him and hayoung and then we will all be in trouble.”

“you do have a point.”

“do they even have similar interests?” seokmin asked, his attention focused back on the game.

you sat your notebook down in front of you and sighed. “aren’t you supposed to have all the answers? you’re the one that insists that you are close to wonwoo. aren’t you supposed to know his hobbies?”

seokmin let out a yell as he got attacked, resulting in his death. “you know what, i hate this game.” he threw the controller onto the floor before turning to face you. “literally wonwoo is so absorbed in his studies that i don’t even think he has hobbies.”

that set a lightblurb off into your head. “that’s it! that can be stage two!”

seokmin gave a look of puzzlement. “studying? you want studying to be a part of operation love shot? are you joking? i’m trying to do our friends a favor and get them laid, not get them smarter.”

that earned the dark-haired boy a smack on the back of his head. “will you stop doing that?”

“i will when you quit being an idiot. however,” you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear as you began to explain your plan. “you said that wonwoo is always extremely focused on his studies. well, so is hayoung, which means that’s how we get them together. hayoung and i will plan a study date in the library and you and wonwoo can as well, but somehow something is magically going to come up for us two where we don’t show up.”

seokmin’s eyes lit up as he began to understand. “which means hayoung and wonwoo are going to be there studying alone and possibly for the same classes.”

you smiled. “bingo.”

the grin on seokmin’s face widened. “you know what? i am glad you agreed to do this with me. not just because you are awesome at planning, but because you are really easy to hang out with. i really enjoy being around you.”

his words caused your heart to miss a beat, but you truthfully didn’t understand why. your cheeks were slightly red as you spoke. “i like being around you too.”

seokmin chuckled. “even when i play fortnite?”

“yes, even when you play fortnite.”

•••

“we did exactly what you suggested. tell me why it’s not working.”

seokmin’s tone of voice made you want to hit him on the side of the head for the thousandth time, but you resisted the urge. you and the dark-haired boy had been positioned behind a bookcase for about twenty minutes just observing the subjects of operation love shot.

saying hayoung was pissed when you bailed on your planned study date was understatement. you were honestly surprised that she hadn’t decided to lock herself in jooheon’s dorm to avoid you. she hated when somebody bailed on her, especially if that someone was you. however, you obviously couldn’t tell her that you were trying to get her together with wonwoo and that’s the reason why you cancelled.

at first, you didn’t feel bad about hurting her feelings because you knew she wouldn’t be lonely for long, but your plan was one hundred percent failing. wonwoo was seated all the way across the library from your best friend and you and seokmin honestly weren’t even sure if they knew each other were both in the library.

hayoung had her headphones in while glancing through her science textbook while wonwoo just kept his head down as he worked on his calculus homework.

“we need to do something,” you whispered, turning toward seokmin. “nothing’s happening. we have to make them interact somehow.”

seokmin seemed lost in thought for a second before a light blurb went off in his head. “i got idea, but you are going to have to help me.”

you raised your eyebrows. “what do you want me to do?”

“okay, so I’ll distract wonwoo and while i do that, you come up behind him and take his pen. if he doesn’t have a pen that means he can’t do his homework. he’ll have to get up and ask hayoung for one.”

although seokmin often had no braincells, he did manage to come up with good plans.

before you could even agree to participate, the dark-haired boy was already making his way toward jeon wonwoo’s table.

“hey, wonwoo, i have a question.” there was no surprise that seokmin’s major was acting. “when is our next theater practice? I forgot to write it down, but i know the day involves around you and hayoung’s schedules. oh, by the way, speaking of hayoung, did you notice that she is sitting right over there?”

seokmin’s eyes darted toward you and you took that as your cue to start moving. you were holding your breath as you delicately picked up wonwoo’s pen, hoping to everything out there that he didn’t hear you do so. luckily, he didn’t and you hurried back to your place behind the bookcase.

“okay, thank you so much!” seokmin remarked once he noticed that you had succeeded with your part of the plan. “i’ll see you tomorrow!” the smiling boy started walking back toward you, leaving a bewildered wonwoo in his wake.

“now, we wait for him to realize that we just double crossed him,” the boy remarked as he crouched back down next to you.

luckily, that didn’t take long and you couldn’t help but laugh as wonwoo glanced around his workspace, searching for the pen that was currently in your hand. after a few moments, the boy with glasses released a sigh before pushing back his chair and slowly making his way toward hayoung.

the younger girl instantly looked up from her book, a big smile appearing on her face as she saw who was approaching her.

you and seokmin watched as wonwoo explained to the girl that he needed a pen. both of you were definitely surprised when wonwoo bent down and started helping hayoung with a question she had about her homework.

next thing you knew, wonwoo moved back over to his table to gather all of his things before returning to hayoung, sitting down next to her.

“i think our job here is done,” seokmin whispered to you. “time to leave quickly as possible before we get caught.”

both of you quietly snuck out of the library, relieved sighs leaving your lungs as hayoung and wonwoo didn’t notice your departure.

“i feel like we are finally getting somewhere,” seokmin told you as you walked side by side toward his dorm. “they discovered that they struggle with the same class, so they could have study dates. you and i can drop hints about them working together.”

the thought of hayoung having a study buddy that wasn’t you sent a pang through your heart. you wanted her to be happy if she did decide to get with wonwoo, but at the same time, you knew that in a way you would lose your best friend.

you weren’t sure if you were ready for that.

•••

ever since the stage of operation love shot that occurred in the library, you and seokmin had barely had time to see each other because of gigantic tests and projects for both of you. of course, you saw him during theater practice, but you were just the stage manager. he was one of the main actors, which gave him limited time to actually speak to you.

both of you were missing one another although the thought was often just pushed in the back of your minds as a result of your busy schedules. however, today was different. you both had a free day and you were surprised when seokmin said that he wanted to spend it with you, but the world seemed to be against him.

he was forced to cover a co-worker’s shift last minute at the university daycare, but he wasn’t willing to break the promise he made to you, so he got it cleared with his manager for you to come in and help out with the children.

honestly, you were a bit nervous. this was technically the first time you and seokmin were going to hang out and not discuss the topic of getting your two best friends laid. what if seokmin found you boring as a person? what were you supposed to do then?

the fact that you cared so much scared you as well. seokmin was just your friend; a friend that was created from a plan to get hayoung and wonwoo together, not out of interest in each other. why were you so concerned about losing the relationship you had with him?

you quickly shook your head, clearing the anxious thoughts from your head as you entered the daycare. the first thing that greeted you was the smiling face of a blonde boy. you recognized him from somewhere, but you didn’t know where exactly.

“hi! i’m guessing you are here for seokmin,” he said, coming out from behind the reception desk. “he told us that he was having someone help him for the day.”

you nodded, your palms starting to sweat. “yeah, i’m y/n.”

the boy smiled. “I’m boo seungkwan. i’ve heard a lot about you from seokmin. he and i have known each other for awhile.”

the fact that seokmin actually talked about you to his friends made your heart warm and you were sure you were blushing.

“originally, seokmin was planning on showing you around, but he’s currently dealing with an especially fussy child right now. he wants me to show you around and he’ll join us soon.”

seungkwan gestured for you to follow him down a hallway. he turned to look over his shoulder at you. “what’s your major?”

“i double major in music education and stage management.”

“oh, so that’s how you know seokmin. you’re helping with wonwoo’s theater production.”

you both fell into silence as the blonde boy showed you all the rooms, explaining that there’s a daycare kitchen along with certain rooms given to each age group.

once you reached the final door to the left, seungkwan entered. “this is the playroom for all the toddlers, so basically kids from ages two to four. this is where you and seokmin are pretty much going to be today.”

a smile made its way onto your face as you observed all the little kids. some were running around while others were just quietly playing with their own toys.

seungkwan’s smile seemed to get even wider as he studied the children along with you. you turned toward him, a curious expression on your face.

“what’s your major?”

“child development,” he responded. “i love working with children of all ages, which is thankful because if i didn’t, i would have to change my major and that’s such a hard thing to do. i changed my minor and i never want to go through that again.”

you tilted your head to the side as you studied his facial features. “what’s your minor?”

it was as if on cue, seungkwan’s smile faltered, but he quickly recovered it. “my minor is human sexuality studies. let’s just say it’s a quite an interesting topic for me.”

before you could respond, a door on the opposite side of the room opened, revealing a small child and seokmin. the child rushed out to join the others and the dark-haired boy made his way toward you.

“hey, y/n, you made it!” he grinned, pulling you against his body in a hug. “i’m so happy you did!”

as you tried to slow the rapid heartbeat in your chest, you also tried to ignore the knowing look seungkwan happened to have on his face.

as if he knew something you didn’t.

•••

“so do you just watch the kids play until you get off of work?” you asked seokmin as you both were positioned at a small table in the corner of the room. various kids were running around while others were playing games amongst each other.

“not usually,” seokmin replied. “each worker gets assigned to a certain room each shift and i’m normally in the baby room.” he chuckled. “which means i change diapers and get puked on more often than not unless i have to calm him down from one of his fits.”

your eyes followed seokmin’s to the little boy who he had to take care of earlier. he appeared to be in a better mood based on the fact that he was sharing his blocks with another child.

“why does he always ask for you? can’t someone else calm him down, like seungkwan? he seems good with kids.”

seokmin grinned, a chuckle leaving his mouth. “daehyun is my one of my best friend’s sons. i’ve known seungcheol for a long time and i was there for him when daehyun was first born. because cheol is a single dad, although he’s trying his best, i think it’s caused daehyun to have temper issues. and don’t me wrong, he loves seungkwan a lot, but it’s more in a teasing way. he likes making fun of him, so he isn’t a good choice to calm him down when he’s having one of his fits. i am because he’s used to me.” he shrugged. “i guess i just know how to handle him.”

you opened your mouth to respond, but you were interrupted as one of the toddlers let out a scream before bursting into tears as she fell down. seokmin was up in a flash, pulling the young girl into arms and swaying back and forth.

“hush, it’s okay,” he whispered. “you’re not hurt. falling down just scared you, didn’t it? well, i’m here now. you’re safe.”

your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest at his actions.

and that’s when you truly realized that you were developing feelings for lee seokmin.

the feelings you experienced when he was around: the warm feeling in your chest, the happiness, the laughter. it wasn’t just because you enjoyed his company. it was because you liked more than a friend.

that thought was terrifying to you.

•••

“again, i would like to apologize for the fact that i had to work today. we could have went out and done something fun, but you had to watch me take care of screaming kids instead.”

you and seokmin were currently in the elevator, heading up to your dorm floor.

“i honestly didn’t mind. some of those kids were really cute.”

seokmin smiled. “yeah, i love working with kids. so does seungkwan, but i honestly think he wishes that his minor could be his major.”

you raised your eyebrows. “how come?”

“seungkwan picked human sexuality studies as his minor because he’s crushing hard on this psychology student. he picked the minor to help him figure himself out and it turned into something he really enjoyed.”

“so is he with this psychology student now?”

seokmin shook his head. “he’s never even talked to him. seungkwan just admires him from afar. it’s kinda creepy.”

the elevator beeped, signaling you were on your floor before the doors opened.

“maybe seungkwan can be the subject of our next matchmaking plan,” the boy suggested.

you opened your mouth to respond, but seokmin grabbed a hold of your arm, making you stop in your tracks.

“quick! over there!”

you and seokmin rounded the corner at the end of your dorm hallway before timidly peeking around the corner. relief spread throughout your body when it became clear that wonwoo and hayoung hadn’t noticed you two stepping off the elevator.

“what do you think they’re doing?” seokmin whispered, his voice extremely close to your ear. it sent chills down your spine.

“it looks like they’re just talking,” you replied.

“well, how long do you think they’re just going to take in the dorm hallway? it’s literally like nine at night.”

you scoffed at seokmin’s words. he was the one that desperately wanted wonwoo and hayoung together, yet he was complaining about how late they were together. “let them talk. it’s not like you have anywhere else to be.”

“i don’t know if that was meant to be offensive or not.”

you opened your mouth to respond, but before you could, your eyes widened as a soft “oh my god it’s happening” escaped seokmin’s lips at the scene in front of both of your eyes.

hayoung didn’t even see it coming when wonwoo leaned forward to attach his lips to hers. you could tell from here that the kiss was gentle and sweet; almost timid even. however, your best friend didn’t seem to know what to do.

her back stayed completely straight and it was apparent that she had no idea what to do with her hands. they were clutching the jean material at her sides.

wonwoo pulled away after a few seconds. he muttered something to hayoung with a small smile before hurrying down the hall and toward the stairs.

you and seokmin only moved when hayoung entered your dorm room.

seokmin had a gigantic grin on his face when you turned to face him. “i told you operation love shot would be a success.”

you rolled your eyes. “i never doubted your plan. jihoon did.”

seokmin’s eyes lit up. “oh my god, i have to call jihoon and rub it in his face that he was wrong.”

that earned a laugh from your lungs.

“i’m serious, y/n. if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, ask jihoon what he did with his paintball gun.”

•••

after witnessing the kiss between wonwoo and hayoung, you expected to enter your dorm room to find your best friend in a state happiness. instead, she was in a state of anger and anxiety.

“hey, what’s wrong?”

the girl flipped around to face you, tears streaming down her cheeks. “what was the one rule that i told you to never cross when i agreed to room with you?”

“don’t push you out of your comfort zone,” you replied instantly. “but i still don’t understand why you’re upset.”

hayoung wiped angrily at her cheeks. “I know. I know what you and seokmin have been doing. you’ve been trying to get wonwoo and i together.” her words caused your breath to hitch in your throat. “i saw you guys in the hallway when your first stepped out of the elevator and suddenly all made complete sense. the reason why you dragged me to that stupid party, the reason why wonwoo moved over to my table in the library. it was all because of you guys.” she let out a scoff. “and to think, i actually thought wonwoo liked me.”

you attempted to step toward your best friend, but she quickly stepped back. “of course, wonwoo likes you, hayoung. why wouldn’t he?”

the blonde girl took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing. “why wouldn’t he? you’re really asking me that? think about it, y/n. i have been in classes with wonwoo since we started college and he hasn’t paid me any mind at all until you and seokmin started planning things. whatever wonwoo and i’s relationship is, it’s not happening naturally. it’s happening because you guys keep making it happen. and what if i’m not ready for relationship? i guess that doesn’t matter, does it? because i didn’t get a choice. you and seokmin took away that choice.”

you were surprised to find yourself holding back tears as well. “hayoung, i didn’t-”

your roommate shook her head, cutting you off. “i’m going to go stay with jooheon for a few days.”

a few days turned into a week and a half and hayoung still hadn’t returned back to your dorm. she was ignoring your calls and texts and theater practice had been cancelled as well because wonwoo couldn’t even get ahold of her.

you couldn’t take it anymore and that’s why you were currently standing in front of jooheon’s dorm room.

“hey, y/n, what are you doing here?”

you weren’t surprised when jooheon’s roommate, wonho, answered the door. ever since freshman year, you always had a crush on shin hoseok and it normally made it extremely hard to be around him. you would always turn into a blushing mess whenever he even looked remotely in your direction: however, when you looked at him now, you felt nothing.

and it was probably all because of lee seokmin.

you sighed, running a hand through your hair. “can i talk to hayoung, please?”

wonho looked behind him, his eyes connecting with something before he turned back around. “she’s actually sleeping right now, but i can take a message?”

hayoung had been your best friend for years and you knew that she wouldn’t talk to you willingly. she was too stubborn for her own good and honestly, in this situation, she had every right to be. however, you couldn’t stand the thought of you guys not talking for any longer.

“i’d rather talk to jooheon then,” you replied.

wonho opened his mouth to obviously deny your request, but you cut him off. “don’t you dare say that he isn’t home because i know very well that he’s listening to our entire conversation right now. besides, i know his next class isn’t until tomorrow.”

your words caused the orange-haired boy to appear beside his roommate with a sigh. “fine, we’ll talk, but hayoung actually is asleep, so we’re talking in the hallway.”

wonho gave you a small smile before jooheon stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

a few seconds of silence passed before you decided to speak. “look, i can tell that you aren’t very happy with me right now and i don’t blame you, but at least hear me out, okay?”

jooheon gave a slight nod and you took a deep breath. “i understand that what i did was wrong. trying to set her up with wonwoo was pushing her out of her comfort zone and i should have never agreed to help seokmin. but you know that i didn’t have any bad intentions. i care about her just as much as you do.”

“do you realize how scared she is?” the orange-haired boy asked quietly. “she hasn’t gone to any of his classes that have wonwoo in it for the last few days. she’s terrified to face him because she thinks wonwoo is going to want to talk about what has been going on. hayoung has never had a true relationship. she doesn’t know to let herself be that vulnerable to someone, yet you and seokmin thought it would be a good idea to push her into one when she clearly wasn’t ready. you, of all people, should understand why she’s upset.”

“i do understand why she’s upset and i am sorry. i am truly sorry, but you know that she won’t talk to me on her own accord. that’s why i’m talking to you. she listens to you. all i’m asking for you to explain to her that i meant no harm and that i’m done with helping seokmin, alright?” you sighed. “you you please do that for me?”

jooheon seemed to mull over the idea in his head before responding. “hayoung deserves to feel happy and safe and for the last few days, she has felt neither, and i believe a part of that has to do with the fact that she hasn’t been talking to you. I know you guys haven’t gone without talking every day since sophomore year and it’s taking a toll on her, so yeah, i’ll talk to him.”

you released a sigh of relief. “thank you, jooheon.”

“you can thank me by leaving wonwoo and her relationship alone.”

•••

“what if she doesn’t want to talk to me again? just because jooheon said he would talk to her doesn’t mean she’s going to forgive me. what if she decides to switch roommates? what if i ruined our friendship for good?”

seokmin sighed over the phone. “y/n, calm down, okay? hayoung just got his feelings hurt. she’ll come around eventually. wonwoo made me explain everything once he couldn’t get a hold of hayoung and he was upset too, but after a couple of days, he got over it.”

“but hayoung isn’t wonwoo, seokmin. you don’t know her like i do.” your voice cracked as you held back a sob. “i can’t lose my best friend.”

rustling was heard from the other end and eventually seokmin’s voice spoke. “i’ll be at your dorm in ten minutes, okay? everything will be alright.”

•••

you could barely get yourself to focus on whatever drama seokmin currently had displayed on the television. you were too transfixed by how close your bodies were.

he had his body turned toward you, his head propped up on his elbow. his fingers were playing with your hair and although you hated having your hair touched, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him to stop.

you were extremely grateful to lee seokmin. he knew what you were going through with hayoung because he felt the same thing with wonwoo, but the issue was that hayoung was more stubborn than the black-haired boy. so the only way he knew how to help was to be by your side whenever you needed support.

and that was the exact reason why he was with you now.

he knew that there was nothing he could say to make things better, but as long as you weren’t alone, he felt like he was helping even if it was just a little bit.

relying on seokmin so much scared you. you knew how deep your feelings for the happy virus went, but you weren’t sure what you supposed to do. should you just confess? bury your feelings and never let them come to the surface? if hayoung was here, you would ask for her advice, but this time, you were on your own.

“are you about to fall asleep?” seokmin asked, a chuckle leaving his lungs as his eyes trailed over your facial features.

“no,” you replied, quietly. “i’m awake.”

“still thinking about hayoung?”

“kinda.”

seokmin gave you a small smile. “don’t stress over it, y/n. jooheon will talk to her and everything will go back to normal, okay? you just have to give it time.”

“I have been giving it time,” you protested. “It’s been a week and a half, seokmin! how long am i supposed to give her time before i completely lose hope?”

the boy next to you sighed. “have faith in her, y/n. she’ll come around no matter how long it takes, i promise.”

the two of you lapsed into a comfortable silence, the only sound being the noise from the television. you wanted to confess your feelings to lee seokmin more than anything, but you couldn’t seem to find the courage. however, he seemed to beat you to it.

before you realized what was happening, seokmin cupped your face, pressing his lips yours.

the kiss was gentle and slow, almost like he was scared to make any sudden movements. your brain was screaming at you to kiss him back, but your body couldn’t help but react exactly like hayoung’s had when wonwoo kissed her. now you understood the emotions your best friend had felt.

the uncertainty. the fear. the anxiety.

your back stayed completely straight and your hands stayed glued to the blanket underneath you. panic began to blossom seokmin’s chest as a result of your reaction. he couldn’t help but think he had made a massive mistake.

he broke away from you, eyes wide. “i didn’t mean to overstep your boundaries,” seokmin said quickly. “i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have done anything. i should have asked you if it was okay.”

you wanted to tell seokmin that it was okay. you wanted to tell him that you liked him. you wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to apologize for anything. but you did the exact opposite as you climbed off of your bed, running your fingers through your hair. your voice was barely a whisper as you spoke. “can you please leave?”

“y/n, i didn’t-”

you flipped around to face the dark-haired boy, tears now falling down your cheeks. those tears sent a pang of misery through seokmin’s heart. all he wanted to do was hold you and wipe your tears away. it was clear that you didn’t want him to do that. “just go away, seokmin! please!”

seokmin’s face instantly fell at your words, but he obeyed, standing up from your bed and stepping toward the door. once his feet made contact with the carpet that was in the hallway, he glanced over his shoulder for a brief second. his words made you want to cry even harder. “If you need anything, just text me, okay? i’ll come right back over. it wouldn’t be an issue.”

he hadn’t even been gone for half an hour before you had already exhausted yourself from crying.

you were glad that your roommate didn’t ask questions when she returned back to your dorm, plopping down on her bed, her back facing you.

at least you had your best friend back, but in the process, you may have lost one of the people you cared about the most.

•••

to say that you were angry with yourself was a severe understatement. why did you react like that? it was seokmin for crying out loud.

but maybe that was the problem.

through this mess of a matchmaking plan, seokmin had become an important person to you. someone that you could rely on. someone who you felt safe with. he made you laugh with his dumb antics, he cheered you up with coffee on a hard day, he was your video game partner-in-crime. what if committing to a relationship ruined that?

what if you guys tried to pursue something, but it just crashed and burned and everything never went back to normal? what if seokmin never talked to you again? you weren’t sure that you could handle it.

hell, it had only been a few days since the kiss in your dorm and you were about to go mad as result of not being around the dark-haired boy, which was clearly your own fault.

you were the one avoiding him like the plague. well, to the best of your ability at least.

you weren’t one to ignore all of your obligations, so you still forced yourself to attend show rehearsals since you were the stage manager. luckily, the performance was to the part where most of the actors were busy the entire time, which kept you and seokmin separated.

it was hard to ignore the looks he kept throwing your way. it was especially hard to ignore the looks everyone else was throwing your way.

it came as no surprise that seokmin seemed to have updated all of your friends about the recent developments. you wouldn’t have expected anything different, but you felt like a gigantic spotlight was targeted just on you, and you weren’t made for that. there was a reason why you worked behind the scenes instead of on the stage itself.

the only people who seemed to not be phased by the distance between you and seokmin were hayoung and wonwoo. granted, they obviously had better things to deal with than to focus on a relationship - friendship - that wasn’t theirs.

hayoung had been back in your dorm since the night everything changed with seokmin. everything was back to normal. she was acting completely like herself, she was interacting with you like normal. you just kept waiting for her to crack.

to scream at you for the part you played in operation love shot.

to scream at you for breaking the only rule she set for you when you guys agreed to become roommates.

but that never came.

hayoung and wonwoo appeared to be closer during stage rehearsals. smiling, laughing, but your best friend confirmed that they didn’t see each other outside of theater and agreed to remain friends, which meant seokmin’s planned failed.

and it took you down with it.

in attempt to try and clear your head of the situation with seokmin as well as theater obligations, you found yourself taking a walk through campus, hoping that the nature surrounding you would help.

spotting a cardinal, which had just taken off in front of you, you were lost in thought when a familiar voice called out from behind you.

“hey, y/n?” surprised, you turned to see boo seungkwan jogging slightly to catch up to you. “can we talk for a second?”

you nodded. “of course. what do you need?”

you thought that the topic of conversation would involve theater, rehearsals, or something to do with the stage production, but you nearly tripped over your own feet when seungkwan started speaking.

“i know it’s none of my business, and i normally don’t insert myself into other people’s issues unless absolutely necessary, but i just feel like i should say something here.”

he’s going to talk about seokmin.

“i get that admitting feelings is hard and the unknown is terrifying, but i’ve known seokmin for a long time and it’s a clear that he really really likes you. and if you don’t return his feelings, that’s fine, but at least tell him.”

tightening your hand around your backpack strip as you and seungkwan walked, you choose to focus on your feet, attempting to keep yourself grounded as the blonde boy’s words sunk in.

“i don’t have the option to tell the person that i like that I like him and-“

your head snapped up at his words, your mind going back to the time you had gone to the daycare with seokmin. how seungkwan’s face changed when you asked him what his minor was and how he answered human sexuality studies. seokmin’s mention of a certain psychology student that he liked.

that’s when it clicked. you had only seen seungkwan with one psychology student.

“you’re talking about vernon.” you didn’t say it like a question. you didn’t have to.

seungkwan rubbed the back of his head, eyes darting to the ground before moving back to you. he smiled softly. “seokmin always says you’re really bright.” his words set your cheeks ablaze. seokmin actually talked about you when you weren’t present. “but not being able to be true to myself and talk to vernon - it kills me inside. don’t do that to you or him. be honest with whatever you’re feeling. if it doesn’t work out, fine, but you have to try.”

deep down, you knew the boy in front of you was right.

•••

the sun was starting to set when you made up your mind. you were going to take seungkwan’s advice.

before you lost your nerve, your phone was in your hand and you were clicking on seokmin’s name, watching the phone ring. he answered almost immediately and he agreed to meet you next to the university’s fountain without any hesitation.

you arrived first, but it was a only few minutes later when seokmin arrived. your stomach started to do flips as your eyes met his. they were the same eyes you were used to although this definitely wasn’t the situation either one of you were used to. his dark eyes still held kindness; one of the many things that drew you to him in the first place.

you both opened your mouths at the same time.

“look-“

“i’m-“

seokmin chuckled, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “okay, you go first.” 

god, you were hoping he wouldn’t say that.

“seokmin, i don’t even know where to begin. i didn’t agree to this dumb matchmaking plan with any idea that i would fall for you, but it just happened. and i don’t know why i freaked out.”

when you were upset, you rambled. you knew this, but for once, in this situation, it was easier to do that than try to deal with any awkward silence.

“i don’t know why i pulled away because you obviously felt the same way because like if you didn’t - why would you even kiss me in the first place. maybe i was just scared? what if this ruined our friendship? what if this ruined the entire friend group? what if this ended badly and we can never recover?”

you took in a deep breath as you finished speaking, exhaling as you studied seokmin’s face. he observed you quietly, a small smile on his lips, but he didn’t say anything.

why wasn’t he saying anything?

the silence felt suffocating and you needed to break it. opening your lips, you quietly said, “i’ve been oblivious to you because i’m afraid of losing someone i truly care about on this earth. if we were to ever date and break up, i really don’t think i could handle it.”

“you’re not gonna lose me,” seokmin’s voice spoke, “even if you didn’t feel the same, i’m content with loving you without it being returned. at least this way i can still have you in my life.”

without any hesitation, you closed the distance between the two of you and pressed your lips against his own, taking the taller boy by surprise before he finally melted into you, his hands cupping your face gently. you pulled away, looking into his eyes before saying, “i knew so early on that i was going to fall for you.”

seokmin only kissed you again, this time with the reassurance that you would never lose him. the kiss was soft, but conveyed everything you needed it to. seokmin was returning your feelings. he was forgiving you for putting both of you through hell the last week.

almost too soon, seokmin pulled away, a gigantic grin on his face as he rested his forehead against yours.

“so would you say that operation love shot was a success after all?”

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foundfam2754 · 3 months ago

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S18e2 episode reactions!!

Spoilers…obviously

Okay so I already have a lot of thoughts going into this episode… because even though i swore to no spoilers I accidentally opened social media and saw a post…about what happens - and let me tell you, my heart dropped

I’m really not happy with this, but i hope they have a good story reason for this, he deserved better and i love him

I feel a little bummed going into this tbh

Okay but of course I’m still excited because beyond everything, i love this show

Ahh this is going to be JJ coded isn’t it

Okay this episode is going to be a big one

Omg they are giving us all this happy and domestic Tebecca to drown us with sadness later :((((((

They’re so adorable, fuck it, i can’t not like Rebecca anymore (didn’t trust her in s16)

Oh this is it

Ooh it took me 5 business days to realise they were ft’ing

I’m trying so hard to focus but i can’t think but about ‘IT’, what happens this episode

But voit first

OOOH sexy brooding Luke yes please

Ah come on, old story, bad guy is innocent when he wakes up from coma thing, feels a little overplayed, but if I know CME, this is going to be flipped on its head to shock us later

DR. OCHOA - THIS IS THE NEW GUEST STAR! Hello ma’am

DAD??????

I called it, little Elias sees Rossi as his dad

WAIT - is this why they need Spencer? Is this going to be a way to introduce him back? To help with Voit? Besides of course … what’s coming

AWW GREENVEZ (i love the Luke and Tyler’s bromance)

Oh god they paired Luke and Tara up so Luke and the doctor could have scenes right? Oh god, please let us have garvez at LEAST

This kind of interview is Tara’s wheelhouse right? I missed these scenes where you saw her academic prowess

Was that a sneaky smile, Elias? grr, i can’t trust you

Show him lee duval - that’s his real name, that’s what’s going to trigger something

He doesn’t remember stuff from Sicarius and post, he probably only remembers things from before he became Elias — that’s why he’s calling Papa Pasta “dad”

SECOND STREET??

Lukeyy you okay?

Angry Luke is hot

Look i don’t mind Tyler and Penelope scenes as long as we keep this platonic, friends

Penelope’s outfit is so cute

Is she the actor from ‘Cruel Summer’?

Yes! I just checked - she is

“Shitload of science” lol I love Emily

Dave after how many 1000 years of profiling do you not know that you should not promise anything?? LOOK AT JJ’S FACE SHE AGREES WITH ME

Um what is happening???

Oh, heck this is a scary as fuck episode

Dang, in the age of technology

“Little help”, meaning Elias???

How does Penelope find this?

Oh - okay, thank you Tyler

Oh god this is a jj season for sure

Woah — em looks so good! That blouse is so cute on her!

Did the hospital only give Elias….one pair of pajamas/sweatpants?

Elias is smarter than ANYONE gives him credit for - DEFINITELY knows what he’s doing

Go you ty ty, go you!! Contribute to that profile

Aww he’s kinda adorable asking questions

OOH they’re doing a likert but in person

This is so interesting

“Not anymore” well damn

they’re letting ty ty go own his own??

Oh frick there’s no way he’s going to be able to do this, he’s so new

Okay I’m scared so scared, it’s getting to the end of episode and the news is coming I’m scared

I kinda hope they do this without audio it’ll be more powerful

Oh god come on Penny, Luke and you are forever please

Aw she’s at least a good friend i can read that as platonic

OH fuck this is it

I’m so scared

Fuck fuck fuck

Oh that’s something else bad about JJ fuck

Oh okay thank god

Oh god no this is it

WILL?? They brought josh just back for this one moment to do this to him?

My babe im so scared

I’m so scared

FUCK WILL

WHY DID THEY DO THIS FUCK FUCK FUCK

I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON THIS TEBECCA SCENE I KNOW WHAT’S COMING AND I’M SO DAMN SAD

There are too many emotional things happening right now and I’m so overwhelmed

Yay garvez in the same scene together - and yes, literal crumbs and i can’t even focus on it

I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE THEY DID THIS

AND LEFT US LIKE THIS I’m CRYING IN THE CLUB

😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥

Poor JJ. Poor Henry. Poor Michael.

Poor me.

I honestly have to process this a little more and I’m going to come back with a longer thought out reaction this weekend

Until next time, friends.

RIP William LaMontange Jr. I love you, bud.

#criminal minds #criminal minds evolution #garvez #luke alvez #jennifer jareau #tyler green #garvez fanfiction #emily prentiss #david rossi #penelope garcia #tara lewis #tebecca #spencer reid #greenvez #william lamontagne jr #elias voit

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cloveroctobers · 9 months ago

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LITTLE DARK AGE — Bode Leone x Reader x Fire Country? [October Prompts] 🧡

A/N: It’s still early into the new season but there’s always potential for me to write more for reckless bode lol. This was a quick write tbh because it definitely could have been longer but I’ve barely had time to write so for those of you who like the spooks, I hope you enjoy this one! Yet this is more of a platonic love (because those are important too!) along with the rest of the characters from fire country hence the question mark lol. + mentions of a character from Chicago Med because why not? Have a safe, fun, and happy Halloween ghoulies 🧡🥳!!!!!

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE & I’m using: GENERAL PLOTS — SURVIVING SUMMER CAMP | possibilities: our muses survived a terrifying serial killing at camp as teens and now as adults we've returned to pay our respects for the nth anniversary. only for us to find that there's a copy cat killer. or maybe one of our muses is a journalist teen actor and the other a survivor.

WARNINGS: slight language + small references to what happened but nothing graphic for the soft Halloween lovers🤞🏽

<- Read my previous October anthology prompt here.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

The summer of 2006 at Camp Goulcrest has been described as one of the most horrific crimes that has ever taken place in Hadleigh, California. What was supposed to be an enjoyable time for young teens to spend their summer with other fellow teens…they would soon experience an unforgettable terror as their precious lives became targets to Hadleigh’s first and only known serial killer.

“I’ve just never expected anything so tragic to happen in a town like this.” Sixty-Three year old, Mary Dixie says with her clasped hands pressed to her mouth before speaking again, “My twin grandsons were supposed to attend that same camp next summer and now this happens? Those poor kids who lost their lives, their families, and oh for heaven’s sake, those young survivors!” She gasps while the camera zooms in on her face, as if she thinking about it for the first time, “I can’t even imagine what they’ve went through and will continue to go through. Although Edgewater—where those kids are from—isn’t that far from us, This has also affected the community of Hadleigh and our deepest sympathies are always with them. It feels as if god is telling us that the dark age is near. I’m glad they caught the bastard but may god be with us all!”

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

Attempting to keep up and not have your ankles roll as you’re being dragged along by the collar, the last trip on a branch irks your nerves just enough for you to snap up at the dark haired man who has his paws on you, “If this is how you treat a lady, then I see why you’re still single.”

He stops in his tracks to glare down at you, “I see you still have a mouth on you.”

You grin up at him, making sure it’s full of sarcasm until the slowly heated exchange is interrupted.

“Hey, Luke! What’re you doing?” The familiar voice catches both of your attention, turning to see Vince Leone making his way over with his wife, Sharon right in tow.

Now those were much better faces to look at!

Luke only pulls on the collar of your jacket some more but that doesn’t stop you from trying to yank yourself from his grasp. “I found this one lurking about fifty yards away in the trees. That tells me everything that I need to know.”

“Oh? Does it?” You mock.

Sharon snickers while Vince tightens his stare at you as he says your name, “…what’re you doing out here kid?”

“I’m back in town and thought taking a stroll to the one place that handed me a nice portion of trauma, would be a good idea.” You state while Vince scoffs and Luke rolls his eyes, never finding your antics to be amusing like everyone else.

Luke huffs, “We’re never going to get a straight answer out of them. Which is exactly why I’ve called it in, one of the cops will take you in since the sheriff will be expecting you.”

“Wait, what?” Sharon questions, “You can’t just go around speculating things, Luke. That’s what gets your ass in trouble all the time.”

The man frowns, knowing that was a jab and thought they were all past that.

“What other explanation would there be?” Luke quizzes, “This old abandoned camp, where the most gruesome murders took place, which they were involved in, along with your son, my nephew, happened eighteen years ago—

Vince holds his hands up, “We don’t need a history lesson, Luke. And I’m sure they don’t either.”

“…im just saying,” Luke sighs, “it’s suspicious that this place almost burned down and yet I find the one person, who has the closest connection to it, just lingering in the woods.”

You’re looking down at your nails, wondering where you could find a good nail shop…definitely not in Hadleigh’s small ghost town, that’s for sure! You only just got here two hours ago, spending majority of the time at the diner where the vanilla milkshake was giving cream sickle instead and the chicken and dumplings had extra seasoning of flies.

It took you a minute to bite the bullet to even get out to this camp but it’s not like Luke Leone bothered to hear any of that.

“Well who do you think called it in, Mr. Know it all?” You piped up, “Yeah that’s right, me! I watched the cabins go up in flames because that’s where it started before it spread.”

Luke glances at his big brother and sister-in-law.

“I think you can let go of them now,” Vince encourages but Luke still hesitates.

You pluck Luke’s wrist, making him focus back on you with a sneer. “That’s Ferragamo you’re messing up and I know you would hate to see the bill.”

“How humble of you.” Luke mutters with another roll of his eyes, “Is it sustainable?” He picks as he finally lets you go with a fling of his wrist.

Fixing your jacket yourself you sigh, “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll ask my auntie for you and see what she says, oh wait…she hates you too.”

That struck a nerve because the next thing you know, Luke is ready to put his finger in your smug face but Sharon steps in, shoving his wrist right back to his side, sending him a stern look before turning back to you. She takes one look at you before slipping an arm across your shoulders and leads you back to where the rest of the firefighters are just about finishing the clean up.

“It’s good to see you,” Sharon starts, always having this nurturing energy about her, “Just didn’t expect it to be like this. You know this is going to be a lot of shit now.”

You cover up a yawn before tilting your head towards the blunt haired woman with a lazy smile, “When isn’t it, Mrs. Leone?”

Equally she sends you a small smile, in an attempt to be comforting. For as long as you known the woman, she was pretty good at reading people. If your mother had lived long enough and didn’t have two older sisters who would do just about anything for you, you were certain that she would have made Sharon your god-mother instead. Plus Sharon lived for the celeb gossip and was always rooting for you, not just in the limelight either.

She turns you by the forearms while Vince is having a hushed conversation—well somewhat—since Luke has definitely raised his voice and is pointing at you, while Vince is caressing at his facial hair in frustration.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen.” Sharon takes her eyes off the two as well, “You’re gonna go with the cops and cooperate because you have nothing to hide. Vince and I will meet you there.”

You nod, not surprised that the older woman didn’t bother to hear much else of your story. Sharon had the upmost respect and trust in you still, even though you both couldn’t recall what year was the last time you visited Edgewater. All you remembered was it was sometime in the fall where your aunties put together this big event at their Victorian cottage and that always got the people talking.

“Promise not to tell my aunties?”

Sharon laughed, “And stress those highly spiritual ladies out over nothing?! I wouldn’t dare and leave that all up to you, girlfriend!”

“Thanks, Mrs. Sharon.”

“Course.” Sharon squeezes your shoulders, “Now try not to make much of a scene since Bode, Jake, and Eve all realize it’s you that I’m talking to.”

A crooked smile spreads over your lips while a throat clears. You turn to see a burly cop waiting for you with one hand on his waistband.

“Where the hell did they find you?” You ask, sizing him up just as the man states your first and last name.

He doesn’t bother answering your question and does a twirl with his finger, “Hands behind your back.”

Sharon begins, “Is that really necessary? They’re not gonna run—

Just as Sharon says this, you jerk to the right of the cop who was probably Samoan—if you had to guess—who easily follows your movements and latches onto your wrist. Playfully smiling up at him with your hands raised you say, “You’re fast, Mr…Mahuta.” You read off his chest, “Play any sports before becoming one with the law?”

Officer Mahuta glances at Sharon to see if you were in fact being so causal about this or it was just in his head. He was also new to the town, been here for six months and he heard some things about you along with your family but once he heard that you were back in town, he didn’t mind being the one in charge of bringing you in.

His sister was a fan.

“Uh yeah, Rugby back in New Zealand for about seven years.” He grins at you, honored that you kind of figured it out without him saying anything.

He even loosens his grip on your wrist, leaving you to clasp them behind yourself while winking at Sharon, who shakes her head at you.

“Oooh, New Zealand huh?” You continue the conversation as Officer Mahuta starts to cuff you, “I originally auditioned for a show that was supposed to film out there but the project got scrapped.”

Officer Mahuta begins leading you away by the elbow, “It’s the most serene place to be with the highest quality of life.”

“Yeah? So the pictures don’t do it any justice? Why leave and come to stinky Edgewater? was it a woman? Or man? Or person?” You quiz as you soon feel more eyes on you the more you get closer to the rest of the firefighters.

Officer Mahuta tells you about his wife and how they both made the decision to come back to help her ill parent. It took a turn for the worse so they ended up staying here much longer and found out they were expecting their own bundle of joy soon. It was nice to hear that some people still found blessings in disguise.

“Superstar?” Jake calls out to you, making you zone back and glance to your right where he stood with Eve.

Kicking that slight dissociation to the side you send a grin his way, “Guess who’s back?”

Eve mutters from Jake’s left, “It ain’t slim shady, that’s for sure.”

You laugh before your eyes shift further to see Bode making his way to stand beside Jake.

“Now what did you go and get yourself into?”

Is the first thing that slips out of Bode’s mouth.

You scoff, “Ask your unc, you know how obsessed he is with me and my whole family. Now that I’m here for who knows how long, it’s going to be marathon for him…because you know I’m about to give him hell.”

Bode side eyes the direction of where his Uncle Luke is, who’s now on the phone but his eyes are sharp on you as Officer Mahuta paused to let you converse with your old friends. His hand is raised in confusion, silently wondering why you’re getting special treatment but again his arm is shoved down but by his brother this time.

“I don’t doubt that.” Bode comments as Officer Mahuta lightly starts to steer you away at the widen stare Luke is sending him some feet away, “Let’s just hope it’s not you going to three rock this time.”

You snort, “Oh, I’m going to make them all look crazy for doing this, believe me. It’s going to be even more satisfying when I make Luke eat shit…so if you’re all not busy, would you care to meet up for breakfast or something tomorrow?”

Eve glances at the two men to her right and shrug, “As long as we’re not bombarded with your fans.”

“Don’t forget, apparently I’m not the only star here. At least in this town.” You tell as Officer Mahuta actually gets you moving again, per Luke’s visual request.

A equal shudder passes over the three but Bode is the one that answers redirecting it back to catching up and not the fact that they’re all standing on the grounds of the one place they tried to shove to their back of their minds, “Yeah. We’ll be there.”

“Great.” You state as you allow Officer Mahuta to lead you away into the night.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” Bode asks from across you.

You lift your cheek from your balled up knuckles, “I’m just trying to figure out, when you decided you wanted to look like your damn grandad?”

Eve and Jake share a snicker, just as the waitress slides over your herbal tea. You thank her verbally and with your eyes before latching onto the mug then meeting Bode’s shining dark teal eyes.

“What? You’re not a fan of the new look?” Bode quizzes, while watching you barely blow on the tea before sipping at the liquid.

It was a thing, you not caring about how hot the food is temperature or spicy wise, you would dive in. Jake often joked that your aunties better watch out since their relative might just be a demon but they all knew you had a phobia of fire. Which is why it didn’t make sense for Luke to accuse you of setting fire to the old camp that required Cal Fire to come out and assist on. Sure you had motive, just as the rest of the three but you got snippy, ready to show your burn marks to the cops who interrogated you until the sheriff came back (to take over) from a quick ran he had to make.

It was obvious the old cops wanted to keep you here for the night and you might as well have, since you didn’t get released until one in the morning!

“You need to give your dad his mustache back. As for the new chop? Reminds me of how curly your hair used to be back in the day, now that? Was a look.” You informed, making Bode laugh lightly before biting into his bagel.

Eve whispers from beside you after obnoxiously slurping on her smoothie, “Careful now…”

Jake also chimes in after bumping the blond’s shoulder, “Bode can’t help it if the curls always got the girls.”

Playfully gagging, earned you some napkins being tossed your way by the man himself. You soon watch the expression on his face turn serious, which immediately, being that friend, makes you use your elbow as leverage to twist your body against the booth to see what changed this demeanor of Bode’s.

“Can you not be so obvious?” Bode gruffs, which makes Eve almost want to turn too but she figures it out once Jake mouths what she was thinking.

The table goes quiet as the dark haired woman heads to the counter, saying that she’s picking up an order. With one hand on her phone, she slowly turns towards the table you’re all seated at and waves with a smile.

“Hey, Gabi.” Jake calls over his shoulder.

Eve also smiles back at her, “Morning, Gabs!”

Her eyes flick to Bode and then you, but turns her attention back to the guy behind the counter who hands her a bag. She makes her way by the table but not without throwing in a, “Bode, hi.”

“Um, hey, hi.” Bode stumbles which makes you raise a brow.

Reaching over Eve you hold out your hand to introduce yourself, “So you’re thee Gabi I’ve seen and heard little about. I’m…old friend of these three rascals.”

Gabby places her hand in yours to lightly shake, “Uh…yeah, I’m familiar with some of your work. How did you hear about me, exactly?”

“Jake’s Instagram!” You admit, “Just to learn you two are not together anymore.”

Gabriela awkwardly glanced at Jake who shakes his head at you in annoyance, “Don’t mind them, they just say whatever comes to mind.”

“Y’all are acting like I said something horrible.” You place your hands on your chest with wide eyes, “Is it not a fact?”

“It is,” Eve verified, “Just not the first thing you need to bombard her with, given that you’re just meeting, so early in the morning.”

Gabi stretches a smile over her lips, “It’s not a big deal. Things just didn’t work out, as some relationships don’t, right?”

You hum and sip at your tea.

“Well…It was nice meeting you.” Gabi bids her farewell, “I’ll see you guys later.” She sends another glance at Bode who presses his lips together at her before leaving.

Meeting everyone’s eyes again you demand, “Okay…out with it. What was that?”

“What was what?” Bode lifts his shoulders, ready to bite back into the half of his bagel but you slap it back down onto his plate.

Mocking him with a lift of your shoulders you say, “That whole lingering look between you two. What’s the story?”

Jake rolls his neck around, while Eve points between the two.

“So are you two going to tell them, or shall I be the one to do it?”

“It doesn’t even really matter.” Jake exasperates, while Bode appears to be more interested in his breakfast than meeting your eyes.

Your brows raise, “I call bullshit. I’ve known all of you since forever and may have been living a different life in Chicago and wherever else I’m expected to be but please don’t think I’m dumb.”

Jake meets Bode’s eyes while Eve decides to tell you. You were all friends and it didn’t need to be a secret.

“Jake and Gabi used to be in a relationship as you know, and we’re actually engaged. Then that was broken up by Bode and Gabi becoming an unofficial thing—mind you this was all happening while Bode was serving his time in three rock. THEN Bode pushed her away and Gabi got involved with a paramedic dude named Diego, which led to them getting engaged pretty fast. That wedding didn’t happen either because Bode and Gabi keep going back and forth with their feelings for each other. Oh! And also Jake and Cara, you remember Cara Maisonette? Were in a relationship for a while and due to her untimely passing, rest in peace! Jake is now raising her daughter, Gen, Genevieve who was potentially Bode’s but she actually might be Rick Stengler’s.” Eve gave you the run down, while you pointed mentally connecting the dots as she talked as if you were Adele in that one livestream.

Sitting back against the booth you blink back and forth between the two men, “…what kind of soap opera shit is this?”

Jake points his fork at the short haired woman on your right, “Notice how Eve didn’t air out any of her business?”

“That’s because I’m clean from the drama baby!” Eve whoops with her fist raised up in the air.

Sipping at your herbal tea once more you say, to the two across from you, “The tabloids would have a field day with you two.”

“Thank god we didn’t go Hollywood, we’ll leave that all to you, superstar.” Jake lifts his own mug up at you, as he uses your nickname.

Bode clears his throat, deciding to ask, “Enough about our crap, what’s up with you in that department? Are you and the foot? Doctor guy still a thing?”

“He wasn’t a foot doctor.” Eve scrunches up her nose.

Bode is confused, “I could have sworn—

“Uh, He’s a pharmacist?” Jake affirms so matter of factly, “And it’s John, right?”

Laughing at your friends you say, “you’re all wrong. The only thing Jake got right was his name. He’s a resident in Pediatric emergency medicine.”

“That’s a mouth full.” Eve comments as she pops some grapes into her mouth.

“Tell me about it.” You nudge Eve who raises her brows at you while you smirk.

“Ew, alright! It’s too early for that kind of talk, shut up.” Jake cringes while you just laugh.

Stretching your arms above your head you exhale, “That’s unfortunately over with after four years. He tried to say it was to focus more on his career but he and I both know he didn’t want that kind of spotlight put back on him.”

“That’s right, he was on that one show when he was a kid right?” Jake snaps his finger.

You nod.

Bode apprised, “That’s his loss, he had to have known what he was getting himself into.”

“Sure,” you shrug, “People change their minds all the time though, which is scary. We all know I’m also not the most easiest to deal with either so…I have no choice but to respect it.”

Eve nods, “yeah maybe…but if you love someone enough and the relationship is healthy then you put the work in to keep it going strong. That’s just how I see it.”

“I never liked him anyway, not that we’ve been around him much.” Jake adds with his mouth full, which makes you scoff with a roll of your eyes, “His face was too perfect and you can’t trust that.”

Oh brother!

Bode even pretends to think about it too.

“I’ve missed you guys,” you let out sigh resting your hand in the center of the table reaching out, which is shortly followed by Eve placing her hand right on top of yours.

“Are we really about to do a whole hand huddle right now?” Bode inquired after Jake stacks his right on top of Eve’s.

Jake scoffs, “Don’t act like you don’t miss this on the baseball field.”

“…Never really thought about it.”

“Really?” You quiz.

“Yeah, there’s always been too much going on to really think about what went on before.” Bode speaks, “…At least some things.”

Which definitely meant he was hinting at Riley.

You nod in understanding, “I get that.”

Bode searches your face in that moment before slowly placing his hand on top of Jake’s.

You let the ball drop, “Which is why…I’m going back to the camp tonight since it’s the anniversary today.”

“What?!” Eve peered at you sideways.

“I knew there was a catch,” Jake grumbled, taking his hand back, “Buttering us up just to throw something crazy on us.”

You shrug your shoulders, “I’m not forcing any of you to come with me. It’s been eighteen years and i was drawn there for a reason—

“Yeah it’s call unresolved trauma.” Eve answers, “I think there’s been more than enough signs to stay away from that Goulcrest. I even bet that the sheriff told you to say away from there too.”

“…I cannot confirm or deny.” You rest your elbows against the table, sticking your nose up into the air.

Eve groans with her hands thrown back up in the air, pleading with her eyes as she looks at Jake and Bode to be the voice of reason.

“It’s mostly about paying my respects.” You try to justify.

Bode blinks as he leans a bit over the table, “You shouldn’t be out there alone, especially when that place is being investigated on arson and they thought you had something to do with it.”

“Mostly Luke, since he couldn’t blame it on my aunties…but give it time.” You continue, “Clearly I’m not afraid to be out there on my own and I’ll do it again.”

Jake hisses, “That’s your problem. You don’t know when to quit.”

“Hey, you’ve guys have been here for years and not once did any of you bring it up to me in our adulthood and that’s fine, we all deal with trauma differently. I got out as soon as I could, ran away from it but can any of us really sit here and say we got the closure from what happened?”

“…my closure is not ever mentioning it again.” Jake explains, now pushing his food around on his plate.

“Keep telling yourself that, you bury yourself into your work and are strictly by the book not being open to new ideas because of what exactly?” You round off, “Having control over things is better than not having control and where do you think that stems from, hm?”

Jake swallows the lump in his throat as he fires right back, “…how would you know? You haven’t been around.”

Chuckling to yourself humorlessly you respond, “I’ve heard more than enough just sitting here listening to you talk and it’s been over an hour. Whether you like it or not, I know my friends, no matter the distance.”

Eve comes in, “if you know us enough, then it should have been in your best interest to probably keep your little second venture to camp of horrors to yourself.”

Your tightened stare meets all three sets of eyes, “Wooooow, okay! And here I thought this was a safe space to not avoid shit because that’s what you’re all doing.”

“Did you or did you not just say that we all deal with trauma in different ways?” Eve tilts her head to the side.

“I did. But I also dont need for you all to look at me as if I’ve grown three heads for wanting to honor the victims…which most of us were too, if you forgot.”

Eve sucks in her cheeks at this, feeling as if that was a jab. She had been sent off to a hospital after breaking her collarbone during one of the activities. Just to come back to multiple bloody scenes that didn’t go away even when she closed her eyes.

“How could we?! We were kids. I’ve never been so depressed before in my life. You and Bode thought I was dead, I did almost die. I don’t think it’s a crime to try and move on and that’s no disrespect to those we lost.” Jake speaks, “I tried to play it off once recognizing the address before it was announced that it was camp Goulcrest because we had a job to do. All I wanted to do was turn that damn truck around and let it burn. Once I finally snapped out of it, I knew I had to live my life and that’s what we should all be doing. Not living in the fucked up past.”

The table goes quiet.

“The thing is…the limelight isn’t bright enough for me to live the life I need.” You say with a shaky breath, “So I’ll be at the camp tonight, no matter what anyone says or thinks.”

Bode’s seen that look in your eye plenty of times before so he knew you meant it, as you collected your things and excused yourself from the deli.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

Letting out a slow exhale, you stood inside what was once known as the rec hall. It didn’t experience as much damage as the cabins which completely burned down but the soot covered a good portion of it along with a hole in the wall that brought in the air that was ready for a season change. It smelled like smoke opposed to its old sap and dirt feel it used to have back then.

The ceramic wind chimes that you managed to loop around one of the lower beams, had you hugging yourself as you stared up at them afterwards. Your eyes felt like they wanted to burn remembering all the lives that were lost and you fought the urge to scratch at the burn that took up a good chunk of the side of your thigh. The more you stood in the rec hall, eyes scanning the end of the stairs, where your mind sizzled with the thought of the killer causing you harm in his off-putting mask.

A hand goes to your shoulder, a reflex was instant as you twisted the palm and pressed on their thumb, ready to break it.

“It’s just us!” Jake’s voice calls out, wincing and you immediately let go of him, “I called out to you a good five times but you seemed to be zoned out. Damn.”

“You don’t sneak up on people!”

“I wasn’t sneaking,” Jake shook of his hand, “How else did you want us to get your attention?”

“By not touching me?”

“Okay, relax you two.” Eve commands as she peers up and around the ceiling of this place, “we’re all okay.”

Which sounds like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

“…are we?” Bode asks, his voice projecting a good distance from you three.

That’s when all of you set your eyes on the blond, who’s standing by the fireplace that’s tucked into the back of the spacious hall.

You’re the first that moves over to Bode, seeing that he’s holding something between his two fingers. His eyes scan over your face once more, as you latch onto his wrist holding his arm in place as you peer at the card he’s holding.

The card read: THE FOOL which was a distant memory of the joker card that was always left at the scene of The Goulcrest killer’s crime.

“W-what is that?” Jake rasped, although you can sense that he already knew.

Eve whispered, “…is that blood?”

Bode calls out your name after you step back from him, moving around the hall in search of what could be another dead body.

“What is happening right now?” Eve is frantic as she watches you, seeing you stop in your tracks, hand going to pinch at your hairline in thought.

The chimes start to whip from the beams in a manner that is less than gentle. You’re overwhelmed, knowing that there had to be somebody here because who randomly leaves behind a card like that, which is highly connected to what happened years ago?

The Goulcrest killer tried to set you on fire as if the brutal attack before that wasn’t enough. You were his last target and the first to see the camp begin to burn in present day, there had to be a connection there.

It felt like being in a trance the longer you stared at the chimes that were supposed to honor the old camp members, although it was better to define it as trigger like because the harder they whipped against the wind, the more they started to sound like the bells that dangled from the killer’s mask.

Jake and Eve were already back by the door, ready to high tail it out of there once they got a good enough look at the bloody card Bode found. It was Bode who had to remind you that you weren’t alone, just like you had to do at fourteen watching him get tortured.

Telling him that you were there and wouldn’t leave him as you lay by the stairs with only a shattered ankle at the time.

“Hey,” his voice broke through the jingling of bells that did their best to occupy your mind.

Those same bells that commonly affected your sleeping patterns so much that no pill or drug could conquer it.

“It’s you and I, remember?” Bode said, now cradling your face, “And we can leave this time, okay?”

He’s patient but firm, letting you known that now you had the choice to get away from the dark. Bode didn’t think it was the best idea being here but he also didn’t think you should be here alone and he was right—which it wasn’t about—but there was now this high risk of there being a copy cat killer.

Something all of you didn’t deserve to see a repeat of.

So you allowed him to tuck you underneath his arm, leading you out of the old rec hall to where Jake and Eve stood by the doors of Eve’s car. Once they saw the two of you made it out, they did not hesitate to hop right into the car, which was already started.

“I’ll drive.” Bode tells you, awaiting for your keys, which you surprisingly didn’t fight him on as you slapped it into his palm.

Bode watches you as you get to the passenger side of your car and he glanced over at Jake who had his window down as Eve slowly starts to pull off, “I’ve called it into the county here but you know with a smaller town like this, they probably won’t jump right on it.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Hey,” Jake calls out to Bode, who glanced at the brown skinned man over his shoulder, “…you didn’t take the card, did you?”

The look in Bode’s eye was enough of an answer to Jake, as he’s rolling his window back up.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

“You should tell your aunties you’re here.” Bode suggestions in one of the motel rooms you chose to stay in.

He’s been watching you pace the floor for awhile and even muted the reruns of Family feud, finding your shuffling to be more soothing than the slightly irritating sound of the trumpet instrumental that played on that fan favorite show.

Bode’s seen your episode before in prison about three years ago with your now ex-boyfriend, John right at your side. It was weird seeing someone you grew up with be surrounded by people you didn’t think they would mesh with.

You never really had the time to just be.

After what happened at camp and being seen by numerous of doctors and counselors, it seemed as if everything was expected to go back to normal. At least that’s what Bode tried to do when it came to his healing process, dived into baseball to get rid of what still lingered, got into relationships, got into drugs, the distance between you grew as you went out to Los Angeles full-time to pursue acting, lost his sister, dealt with his father hating him, robbed a store, and you all know the rest.

It was all anything but fucking normal so in a sense, Bode understood that it was more than just paying your respects on the anniversary, it was about seeing the darkness little by little, and finding your way out for good this time.

“So they can try to locate this new copy cat killer for us and attempt to vanquish them?”

None of you saw a body or stayed around long enough to find out but it was something that was mutually felt.

A smile appears on the corner of Bode’s lips as he sat in a nearby chair with his elbows digging into his knees, “…if you think that would help?”

“No, Bode! I don’t.” You finally plop down on the edge of the bed, being aware that he was just trying to lighten the mood.

It was no secret back in Edgewater that people thought your mom and aunties were witches. Your mother was always chasing after normal whereas your aunties had no problem living in their truth.

Soon Bode’s sitting beside you, elbows digging into his knees. “…if you need me, I’m here.”

“I won’t leave you either, Bo.” You flop back against the bed, “Definitely not now.”

Bode also moves to lay back against the bed beside you, “…Did you have plans to go back?”

“To what?” You sigh, “Being under a microscope? Being tugged this way and that way like a robot…although this was what I wanted.”

Bode hums, “Originally you wanted to be on broadway, which is still huge and I won’t ever discredit that, yet you’ve been on the big screen and plenty of streaming services. If John walked away for good in terms of acting, why not take time to decide if this is still what you want?”

“…when did you get so wise, old friend of mine?” You raise your hand so that your knuckles can bump each other’s.

Bode snorts, “I’ve had time on my hands.”

“Literally.”

“Smart ass.” Bode laughs, slipping his fingers through yours.

Squeezing Bode’s hand against yours, you close your eyes. “Just you and I, Bode Leone.”

And you feel him shuffle closer with his head resting against yours.

𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺 𐬺𖦹꧁🃏꧂𖦹𐬺

October 2024 Masterlist here.

#drafts #bode leone #bode leone x reader #fire country #fire country x reader #vince leone #Sharon Leone #Luke Leone #jake crawford #eve edwards #gabriela perez #October prompts #spooky prompts #crime prompts

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blues-valentine · 1 year ago

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I finished watching Manifest a few weeks ago, so my opinions are probably old but here it is. It’s not a bad ending by any means — but if the original idea was for them to go back to the day the plane was supoosed to land but make the right choices then why develop all of those relationships if it wasn’t going to mean much of anything in the finale. It’s like they wanted to give the audience everything and nothing for the last season at the same time. And outdid so much growth. It sucks.

The first thing, if they wanted Zeke x Mick to be endgame since the start, why not actually make Jared fall in love with Drea like genuinely instead of relinking his relationship with Mick and making them be happy all of Season 4 but then forcing a Drea pregnancy and ultimately get Michaela to send him away to her? I feel like Drea deserved for Jared to choose her on his own and not because Michaela push him to it. It was lame to give them a one episode endgame that didn’t feel earned when they could’ve build to that on Season 3/Season 4. I get Mick needed to be with Jared to give herself the chance but could’ve been better.

I never cared about TJ and Olive. It was weird that TJ was 18 and Olive was 12 when they first saw each other. I know they managed to make their relationship less creepy after the time jump since Olive was a little older and TJ was “mentally still 18” but it didn’t make it less inappropriate. I didn’t care when he left and didn’t care when he came back but I get it since he was an OG passenger but the writers were obsessed with giving Olive a love interest when most of it didn’t add anything to the plot. Can't forget that one college dude they made her date for not reason. And at the finale, it was clear that her relationship with TJ isn’t even happening (at least for a long time) since Olive needs to be a child, as it was meant to be and in the finale they made it seem like TJ and Violet (Adult Cal!first date) might be a future thing. So, was their romance on Season 4 even necessary?

And then there’s the Saanvi and Ben thing.

Since the very start of the series they had a lot of chemistry. And I don’t know if that was the idea or it was just the actors but they got in each other’s personal space real quick. And then they hinted at Saanvi’s romantic feelings for Ben in one of her therapy sessions — but I was still okay with them never crossing that line and keeping it platonic. Then, Grace dies and they still didn’t go there so at that point I thought they were going to keep it platonic but then they did made it canon and emphasized on how strong their connection is to the point they don’t feel it with anyone else — and a strong physical attraction they themselves are very aware of. And not just them but Mick’s made aware of it too. And they act on that attraction. Saanvi is Ben’s intellectual soulmate and best friend in canon. He’d trust her with his life in a heartbeat and vice versa. For about 6 years, they were each other’s confidants and were willing to risk each other’s life for the other. And so, the show makes it canon but then backtracks and goes “but they still love their other partners and would go back to them” and that would be fine since it’s fair but here’s the thing with all that:

In the finale, they landed the day they were all supposed to land but now with some different perspective and experiences to make certain choices about their lives. They [the passengers] got to have and remember those experiences, not the people in their life. Ben, Saanvi and Mick are canonically different people from what they were — which is not true for the people in their life. Ben and Grace were at the verge of divorce before the plane went missing — so magically that’s gonna be resolved now since Ben got to live a life where he loses her but she doesn’t even remember? The issues in Grace and Ben’s marriage won’t exist now that Ben knows Cal will be cured? Okay. Will Alex truly leave her husband and committ to an exclusive relationship with Saanvi? Because that was their issue as well prior to the plane situation.

And you want to tell me neither of those women will notice that there’s this connection between Ben and Saanvi that seems way too deep for two people that just met on a 4 hour flight? I don’t know about Alex but will Grace not feel threatened by this inexplicable bond and would they ever be able to fully be happy with their partners if they aren’t honest about all the experiences they shared together and some that would even count as emotional cheating? Like, we saw during the finale how Ben was so not ready to lose Saanvi. And it’s not like Saanvi will be away from their new life, she will be Cal’s doctor and will be in their life the same way she was in their old life. Grace and Ben were able to fix their relationship before because the callings were affecting Cal but now Cal doesn’t remember it. Then, she got pregnant and that gave their relationship a new propose but now nothing guarantees that their relationship will turn out the same way without those circumstances. I’d like to think both Saanvi and Ben needed the chance to be with them the way it was supposed to be and see if it’s actually going to work out but I don’t think it will because Grace and Alex are still their 2018 selves while Ben and Saanvi are not.

The situation is different for Mick because neither Jared or Zeke have memories of what went down — she’s the only one that got to have a future with both of them and decide which one she wanted. Jared and Zeke are not affected, only Mick. That whole journey allowed her to understand that Jared and her might want different things from life and they’d only get marry to fill a void — and she knows there’s other people that will align more with what they’d want for the future. It makes sense that she didn’t went back to what she was going to do before the plane dissapear. So, it doesn’t make sense for Ben or Saanvi to go back to their old life without thinking there won’t be any changes with their entire dynamic.

#manifest #manifest netflix #manifest series #michaela stone #ben stone #saanvi bahl #ben x saanvi #benvi #zeke landon #michaela x zeke #olive stone #jared vasquez #drea mikami #text post

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rewatching-sam-and-dean · 2 years ago

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The Schrödinger's SPN Revival

So, recently there’s been a lot of talk on here and twitter because a couple articles have been published citing Jared and Jensen (or just Jensen in one POS article) mentioning discussing possibilities for a revival. Does this make it any more likely to happen or closer to being realized? I don’t know, but the guys have been mentioning it off and on for years already, so I’m not sure it’s any more likely now than it ever was. Also, with networks and the whole industry in seeming disarray, even if J2 want to get a revival going, I’m not sure it will happen.

But, let’s speculate anyway. Shall we?

(I CANOT get the link to work for some reason!!)

My thoughts on this, under the cut.

I’m no authority on anything in the TV industry, but I have watched our little show a lot, so I have thoughts. Let’s take look at each person on this poll.

Kripke - Obviously, he understands Sam and Dean. He created them after all. But, would I trust him with the revival? Well, judging by The Boys, he seems more focused on shock value than tight storytelling these days, so I’m not sure I would want to see an SPN on a streamer that he ran. It might become a case of all fireworks and little to no heart. Also, if he had ended the series in Season 5, both Sam and Dean would have been trapped in the cage forever. Not exactly a happy ending. Still, is he capable of manning a revival snd doing a decent job? Yes. Would I totally trust him with it? Maybe. Maybe not. Do I think he even has time to do it? Not really.

Jensen - Come on, people! If you want him to reprise his role as Dean, then he isn’t going to be the showrunner. Also, he’s an actor, not a writer, so it’s not even in his wheelhouse. So, no. This wouldn’t be a good idea. And after The Winchesters, I think it’s extremely unlikely that he’d be put at the helm in this way. The only upside to Jensen being a show runner? We know damn well Destiel would be ignored as vigorously as it deserves.

Robbie Thompson - Exhibit One: The Winchesters. So, no. Also, while he has written some episodes that I like of SPN, he was always trying to make the show something it wasn’t, whether it was Fairytale time with Charlie or trying to shoehorn romance into a platonic brother love story, he’s shown that he shouldn’t be trusted with the OG show in a position of power.

Sera Gamble - Season 6 while having some absolute bangers, was also a bit of a mess in some ways. And Season 7 was more so. How much of this was due to Gamble hersel and how much was due to Singer tugging at the reins, I don’t know. She is a proven showrunner, so I believe she could do it. She actually understands and enjoys Sam, so that would be a huge relief for those of us who actually care about Sam and want to see him get his due on screen. Also, she has never written Dean badly from my observations, despite certain past claims by “some people” on women not writing male dialogue well. In a lot of ways, I think she could be a good choice. But, would she be interested even? I have no clue.

Andrew Dabb - NEXT!!

Jeremy Carver - For reasons relating to Season 11, I would like to see him helm a revival. He can clearly follow through with a connected and coherent arc. However, for reasons relating to Season 8, where he had characters do a few hugely out of character things for the story’s sake? No. For Season 10 snd the bore thst it was for me personally (though that potentially had something to do with pressure that came from Singer)? No. All in all. I think he’d be capable of ruining a revival, but something tells me he isn’t particularly interested and they guys may not be that ready to chose him, either (purely just my gut).

Robert Singer - No. I believe he interfered with Gamble and Carver’s plans; I just don’t know to what extent. And worst of all, he did nothing to help steer Dabb away from the mess that was much of Seasons 12 to 15. Also, he’d probably bring Buck-Lemming with him. And can I just say a big, “Fuck no,” to that.

Again, all of this is just me rambling. I have no real idea how likely any of them would be to come back for a revival. And I also don’t know how much J2 would want any of them to run a revival, or whether they’d want to just get someone new who might be more likely to listen to their ideas. I don’t even know if J2 would have an easy time agreeing on who would make a good show runner from that list because I think they might not even agree on who they considered to be better writers, or be better candidates to showrunner. For example, I think Jared might be more enthusiastic about Gamble than Jensen would. And Jensen would probably welcome Singer more than Jared would. Again, I don’t know any of this for certain, but it just my impression based off of things they’ve said over the years.

If a revival happens what do I want?

First, it sounds to me like if there is one, J2 want to be a big part of it with Sam and Dean as central focus. This is what I would want. I watched the show for them. I stuck it out through the rough seasons for them. The only way I would watch a revival was if it heavily featured both Sam and Dean. Second, I think I would enjoy if they did a revival during the years (according to J2) between Episodes 19 snd 20. I would like this because it would make the likelihood of angel or demon interference minimal. And this would be the more likely scenario for us to get a more old-school creature hunting revival. We could still see Jody and co for those who care about that. There would be no need for Cas or Jack to show up, which I would prefer. Yet, it would be easy enough for them to make a brief appearance if J2 wanted to pander in that way. Also, I’m so very sick of Angel BS, and this seems like the best way to avoid it. Third, I could be interested in a bit of a prequel with John and the boys, if they could find a way to include J2 without making it convoluted and pointless. Finally, if they come back from heaven for some reason, I think it would be hard for the revival to have much in the way of stakes. And I really wouldn’t want a huge dose of Cas, which we’d potentially have in that case.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the potential revival, thoughts thst no one asked for admittedly. Lol.

If anyone read this far, what are your thoughts on a revival. If it happens, who should run it and what would you want to see happen?

#supernatural #SPN Revival Speculation #my thoughts #if they have one what should it be about?#Revival talk #castiel critical #anti destiel #*edited for so so many typos*

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ciaossu-imagines · 4 months ago

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Reni Kamikizaka friendship headcanons

I think in some ways that Reni is a lonely person. It’s not a deep, profound loneliness that constantly aches inside of him. It’s not even a day-to-day thing with him. But he’ll get hit, sometimes, often late at night when he’s home alone or in the empty theatre, when his brain doesn’t have anything else to distract it, with strong surges of loneliness that almost threaten to make even his poker face fall away. It’s like that loneliness has always been curled up inside of him, suppressed and with his brain refusing to even acknowledge it, just sitting and growing slower larger until Reni’s brain just couldn’t hold it back or refute it any longer. That’s when it sweeps over him and he can’t help but feel intensely lonely. I think a large reason for this is that Reni is actually very alone as a person. Don’t get me wrong – he’s popular as head of God-za, he had popularity as an actor. He has tons of proteges and want to be actors hanging on to his every word. He has people who desperately want to become closer to him because he’s Reni Kamikizaka, he’s slightly famous. Those people want him for what he could do for them. But he has very few true friends, people who love and care for him, who accept him completely, and allow him those kinds of genuine moments of human companionship and platonic affection and trust.

This isn’t entirely Reni’s fault, but he’s not completely blameless, either, in becoming this lonely person. What happened with Mankai in his past, especially what happened with Yukio, did change who Reni was as a person. Even after all these years, Reni is still marked and changed by all that happened, even if he is slowly trying to forgive and move on. What happened made Reni much more hesitant when it came to forming friendships. He didn’t want to get too close to another person; he feared allowing them to see any vulnerable side of him. While he was still charming and grew a large number of superficial and surface-level friends and friendly acquaintances, Reni just didn’t have enough trust in other people anymore to allow for more than that.

Reni takes a lot of pains to ensure that people still look at him favorably. He knows how to fake friendships, how to behave and what to say to not only draw people to him but to want to please him. He’s careful to keep all his connections within the theatre world – Reni is an incredibly intelligent man and very observant, wise enough to know who could be or is useful to him and he won’t jeopardize those relationships. The same goes for the lovers he takes during his adult life. He charms them, plays the gentleman, is nothing short of perfect, always aware of how they see him, always aware of what use they play him. Even when the time comes to leave them, he leaves them with only the best of impressions, both because that’s who he is but also in case they should prove useful to him again. In Reni’s mind, it’s for the best that way. If he can hold himself back from them, if he never fully engages and depersonalizes them a little, it’s easier for him, it’s safer, it’s better.

I do think there’s a large part of Reni that wants to change this, to allow himself to let down his walls, and I think at a certain point he does actively start trying. It’s terrifying and it’s a constant one step forward, two steps back kind of thing. Anyone who is genuinely interested in getting to know Reni will have to be incredibly patient with him. They’re often going to wonder if they’re getting anywhere with him. They’re going to have moments, quite a few of them, where they find themselves so incredibly frustrated, both with Reni and with themselves. This isn’t going to be a ‘wait a couple weeks and they’ll warm up to you’ sort of relationship. If the person is understanding and patient enough to stay around and do everything they can to keep Reni in their life, it’ll be years down the road and his friends will still be learning completely new things about him, skills he has in his back-pocket, stories from his childhood, things he worries about or is self-conscious about.

It will take years to get this man to drop enough of his walls to form real and true friendships, but when he does, I think Reni is someone who, despite appearances and bad habits, Reni is one of the most generous friends a person could ever had. Not only is he financially generous (even with his more superficial friendships, Reni’s always the first to suggest buying the other a drink), but he is generous in more emotional ways as well. Reni, once he’s let someone into his life, is going to be someone who tends to see the absolute best in the other person. He’s going to be their biggest supporter and, when they stumble or trip up and feel like they’ve failed, he’s going to be the best friend to help pull them up and out of their funk. If someone were to speak ill of his friend, Reni finds subtle but very malicious ways to embarrass that person publicly. Though he’s an insanely busy man, when it comes to his true friends, Reni does everything he can to be generous with his time.

He tends to care quite deeply about his friend's opinions. Of course, being as aware as he is about how other's view him, Reni values his friend's having a high opinion of him, but this extends to everything that's important to Reni. When it comes to his own acting, to the theatre, to his ideas and plans, Reni wants his friend's opinions but even more, he wants validation from his friends for his own opinions, thoughts, and skills.

#unrequested prompts #headcanons #a3!#a3! act addict actors #a3! headcanons #reni kamikizaka #kamikazaka reni #reni a3

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confusedpandabear · 2 years ago

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For the HaruGou drabbles, could I ask for a soul mate au? Anything you like :)

Oh my god, why haven't I done this for them before?! I love a soulmate AU. I hope you like it anon, thanks for the request~

HaruGou: Drabbles By Confused Panda Bear Chapter 37: Red and Blue Read it below or on AO3.

The first time it happens, Haru is six and Gou is five.

She was running a little bit too fast on the slippery tiles of their local swim club than was sensible or even necessary, to greet her older brother at the starting end of the pool.

Predictably, she slips and he’s there just in time to catch her before she falls, head-first into the water.

He has his hand wrapped around her wrist and her eyes are closed and braced for impact, but when she opens them she sees that his are fixed on the space in between them: at the skin where they had made contact turning red and blue respectively.

They pull apart from each other with the shock and Gou ends up falling in the pool anyway.

Whatever this means is important enough to have their parents engaging in a serious conversation in the sports centre lobby.

They didn’t know it at that age, but the occurrence completely changes the trajectory of their lives as well as Rin’s, not really understanding why but overhearing nonetheless:

“Interesting, I’ve never seen it happen so young…”

“…I guess it’s a good thing that they have found each other so early on…”

“…It would probably be best to keep her in Iwatobi then…”

“…Yes, we can’t move now and keep them apart…”

“…I suppose Rin could go to that boarding school in the next town over to swim instead,” they were saying, but Haru doesn’t really care about any of that, even if he had a clue.

All he cares about is Gou who hasn’t stopped crying, her wails eventually subsiding when the blue that he had imprinted on her skin slowly fades and disappears.

____________

Suddenly, they’re not moving to Australia after all, and Gou is tagging along on Haru’s play dates with Rin more often—not that he’s ever minded when she did before.

When they were still young and innocent to it all, they would sit on the side of the pool together in between his practice laps, and Haru would make a game of doodling pictures on the tops of her knees and the length of her arms.

Gou would touch him playfully too, leaving little handprints on his shoulders and on his back so that she could see the glow of red on him, streaking beneath the water’s surface as he swam.

The marks faded usually within half an hour, maybe longer depending on the pressure or length of the contact. Rin finds it weird but whatever, mum and dad say that it's normal and that maybe he’ll find someone who he can do that with too, someday.

It isn’t long, however, before they both grow up and learn what this all means and that’s when things get awkward.

There are TV shows with romance lines with actors who do what they do, and adults who comment on how cute they are together, and how lucky they were to find each other so young let alone at all.

They’re twelve and thirteen when they notice that their touches start to leave a tingling heat.

It felt like being branded as a belonging, though it wasn’t painful but rather—dare they say it—pleasant, even though neither of them were brave enough to say it to the other out loud.

____________

Maybe it’s because most people find each other when they’re much older, but everyone and Gou the most, can see they don’t act like soulmates at all.

Her mum says to give it time—boys can take a little longer to come around to this sort of thing, she said—but then they’re fifteen and sixteen and rumours are starting to spread around their school that perhaps they are soulmates in the friend’s way, the purely platonic kind of way.

It wasn’t hard to imagine it from Nanase Haruka, who cared for little else besides swimming—his indifference to their circumstances prompting uncomfortable questions about the status of their relationship that Gou didn’t quite know the answer to.

____________

When she turned seventeen, the invitations to the cinema started, to get bubble tea and or even just to simply sit together at lunch; all of which Gou respectfully declined until it was obvious that Haru didn’t care either way.

In reality, Haru just didn’t pay much attention to it, at least at first.

He’d known since he was six years old that Gou was his—whatever that was supposed to mean—and had never doubted it for a second.

He knew he was being awkward though, he knew he went out of his way to touch her less these days, but it wasn’t for a lack of wanting to but more the implications of the marks he left on her that he was still getting his head around, even now.

He didn’t like it when people stared, let alone when their stares were directed at her because of him too.

So they acted like the good friends that they were around each other, and vice-captain and club manager in front of everyone else.

He thought that would be acceptable until he got his shit together and asked her to be his girlfriend instead, but then rumours started going around about some random guy from the weightlifting club who’d been flirting with Matsuoka Gou and was taking her out on a date with him on Friday night.

“He’s very bold, going out with someone else’s soulmate,” one of his classmates said.

“And she said yes?”

“I don’t see why that is a surprise. It’s not like Matsuoka would get any action, otherwise!”

There was a chorus of laughter at his expense, his peers feeling comfortable talking about her in such a manner around him because: so what? Nanase never did anything about it.

Only Makoto could see that he had stopped drawing and that his pencil was threatening to snap in his hand.

“Aren’t you gonna say something to her, Haru?” he asks, but Haru doesn’t even know where to start.

____________

He comes home late after practice, staying a little longer than everyone else to blow off some steam, and finds her sitting on his porch waiting and teasing the white neighbourhood cat with a piece of string.

On his approach, the feline stalks towards him and winds itself around his ankles and Gou can’t help but feel a little jealous.

“Hey, Haruka-senpai…”

“Kou.”

The tense silence that follows has him gripping at the strap of his backpack tightly.

“How was your…?”

He couldn’t even bring himself to say it.

“It was lovely,” Gou told him and he swears he can hear his heart cracking in two. “He took me to the new pho restaurant that’s opened up in town, and then we went for a walk along the pier.”

He nods to indicate that he is listening but fuck, what part of her thinks that he wants to hear about this?

“You know, he asked me if we could make it official—” his eyes snapped up to look at her, his expression pained and confused, “—but when he held my hand and I looked down and didn’t see blue, it didn’t feel… ”

She trailed off with a sigh and her smile was amused but a little defeated.

“…It was the same when he kissed me too. It was nice but—”

“—I don’t really want to know, Kou.”

She paused to tilt her head at him.

“Why?”

Haru sat down next to her, closer than he’d dared to in the past couple of years, but he still can’t bring himself to look at her.

“Because…only I’m supposed to…”

“It’s not about what you’re supposed to do, Haruka-senpai,” Gou said, tenderly. “It’s about what you want to do.”

Her smile for him was so gentle and so patient.

He’d never wanted to kiss her more in his entire life.

____________

When Gou arrived home that evening, her mouth was tinged blue and there was a trail of it down the column of her neck, and she has to physically restrain Rin from storming out of the door and back from where she just came.

“Fucking—Nanase!”

____________

It was the middle of summer and way too hot to be sitting by the pool with her tracksuit zipped right up to her neck.

But shorts and a t-shirt were out of the question, because then everyone would see the blue burnishing her inner thighs, the handprints on her knees and over the back of her neck.

“Hey Haru-chan, aren’t you getting in?” Nagisa teased him, who was similarly over-dressed (unusual for the boy, especially when near a body of water).

He smirked at Gou, and then down at their hands, laced on top of the tiles together with the colour purple mingling on their fingertips.

“Hmm. Maybe in a bit.”

#ask panda #anonymous cutie #panda fiction #harugou #matsuoka gou #nanase haruka #free!#drabbles #they're meant to be together your honour

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fairykazu · 2 years ago

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never be the one to lose - same side of the same coin༉‧₊˚.

EONS ADRIFT: scaramouche x gn! reader

masterlist

you have been thinking for a while. that even though you know he returned your feelings, and you’ve noticed when he looks at you differently. not a murderous glint he usually has and certainly not, the annoyed look he always gave you when you pester him. but you can’t bring yourself to point it out because then everything would change. your content for the relationship you has with scaramouche anyway. even so, you would be shunned in your family for dating someone in the fatui. not just someone, the sixth fatui harbinger.

you experienced a bunch of love before. platonic, attraction and familial. but romantic? you have never experienced it right. not sure why but maybe your parents’ treatment of you is to blame. but when you befriended scaramouche, it is as if your brain chemistry was changed. not exactly changed. just different than you've ever known.

but scaramouche was able to slither the cracks of your heart. even though you had plenty of lovers before, none of them were able to go beyond the surface. beyond the bubbly performance you played and they always leave when your facade’s curtains close. they only enjoyed the show, never the actor.

you’re sure that scaramouche has experienced more than you with decades of experience behind him. you only have roughly twenty years. he must have known someone better than you. in every way. you prayed that he would stop loving you and move on. he deserves someone so much better than someone so insecure. insecure of the way they love.

he has big dreams of being a god, but he hasn’t told you the reason why he wanted to be a god. he’s immortal, isn’t he? wouldn’t that be enough? if you were immortal, you would try to make the best of it but then again, you think you wouldn’t make it if you’re immortal. seeing everyone die around you– you winced. yeah, no. if his feelings or your feelings developed into something more, something established. you’ll never know how it would even happen or work. therefore, you will never be the one to confess nor will he.

but he’s in your lap, sleeping blissfully. you might’ve broken down his walls, but he hasn’t to you. you tucked a strand of hair behind his ear as he shifted in his sleep. you smiled as he tucked himself closer to you. maybe trying to get more warmth from you. reaching from the other side of the couch, you pulled a teal blanket over him. it's a blanket you bought for home, but it became the designated scaramouche blanket whenever he came over. wait, isn’t this the opposite of what i intended to do? you paused.

you tried to convince yourself, but it was hardly working anymore. no, it’s not me indulging. this is platonic. as you stated before, you're incapable of loving and scaramouche is lightyears beyond you. as a god or whatever being, he wanted to be. you're unable to assist him or anything he want in that nearby future. but as you looked at his lips, thumb hovering above it. before your train of thoughts could reach you, you swiped on his lips. yep... so platonic. scaramouche shifted in your lap as his eyes fluttered open, “what happened?” his hand lingered on his lip as you looked the other direction.

he tugged the blanket over him more so you could only see his purple irises looking at you. “there was a fly on your lip. i tried to get it off.” you tried to persuade him with your weak excuse. even though, the twitch on his brow showed that he knew you were lying. he didn’t say anything about it,

his voice muffled due to the blanket over him. “okay, just shoo it off next time." the sixth harbinger laid asleep on your lap like as if he was a housecat. not a murderer who has slaughtered millions. not that you mind though. he needs mora, right? the alarming thoughts of you crossing the promise you made to yourself came back. you tried to soothe yourself as scaramouche's hand was placed over yours. as if he knew this would happen. like how you tried to persuade scaramouche with a weak excuse, you tried to excuse yourself with your own.

i’m not indulging in this. you told yourself.

but as always, you were lying every time.

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piastrinorris · 2 years ago

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come along, one and all, to the hawkins fair! a special event held in honor of two thousand of you fine people being here. why not have a look around? we’ve got two wonderful parks for you to peruse, writer’s world and gifset grounds, so take your time, pick an attraction or two and be sure to check out the fireworks show at the end!

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Writer’s World ˊˎ-

🪞 hall of mirrors: you’re here, you’re there, you’re everywhere! which is the real you? who are these doppelgangers? – send me a description of yourself and i’ll write you a short blurb about what i think your role would be within the stranger things timeline! (+ add a 💕 if you also want to be shipped with someone)

💜 tunnel of love: they can’t stay still. your breath is shallow. awkward laughter as you catch each other’s eye, crammed in a boat with a strangely ominously glowing void ahead of you. – send a character or ship (please specify if the ship is standalone or an x reader polycule! i’ll assume all ships are standalone unless stated otherwise) and i’ll write a romantic blurb. (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

🎠 carousel: the music fills your ears, the cool metal pole pressing against your warm, flushed cheek as you see your best friend next to you, having the time of their life. – send a character or platonic ship (please specify if standalone or x reader) and i'll write a friendship blurb. *this is the only option where i will also accept members of the party as options, but not directly interactive with the reader UNLESS as a side character/sibling of reader. (e.g. i won't accept dustin x reader but i would include dustin (+ other kids) in a henderson!reader x older teen scenario, or dustin with other canon characters)

🎪 big top: sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! this one’s all about celebrating you, dear audience, so we’ll need volunteers! volunteer yourselves, your friends, your idols. everyone deserves a spotlight! – send a fic you’re proud of! send a fic you love! this totally isn’t a thinly-veiled attempt at me trying to farm fic recs since i’ve slipped so much! it could be a reader insert or a ship. i don't mind any ship (as long as it doesn't include b*lly or j*son), especially rarepairs!

🌀 a portal?!: uh-oh, looks like HNL’s been at it, again. this time, it seems as though they’ve opened a portal through the entire multiverse! people are appearing that look strangely like existing hawkins residents. – send another character that a stranger things actor plays and i’ll write a romantic or platonic blurb for them, too! (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Gifset Grounds ˊˎ-

🤹 the juggler: that’s right, i’m the juggler, baby! i can juggle almost anything you want, anything at all! i might even toss one your way, get ready for it! – make me choose between any number of things! people, ships, scenes, locations, seasons, etc.

🎈 balloon stall: get your balloons here! we got all the colours here, you want one? two? all?! you got it, kid. – send a character/ship and as many colours as you want to be featured.

🐤 hook a duck: feeling lucky, duck? why not take a chance on one of these rubbery fellas? anything could be under it, anything at all. you won't know unless you try! – send this and i'll have a randomiser decide who i make a gifset for.

🎡 ferris wheel: far above the shrieks of an excitable crowd, the blaring lights, the aromatic mix of sickly sweets, sweat and smoke; a moment of peace. just you, the world beneath you, and a simple song to guide you. – name a character and either choose a song/artist yourself or leave that up to me, and i'll make a lyric gifset for them!

👻 ghost train: what is dead may never die. what lurks within the dark depths of the unknown? truly anything can happen, if you dare to take the leap and open yourself to possibility. – give me an au (literally anything non-canon-compliant) and i'll try and make a gifset about it!

●・○・●・○・●

🎆 fireworks! 🎆

i just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you. it's been insane how i can once again fall in love with writing, be this close to finishing a majorly hefty writing project, and learn a new skillset that i actually enjoy right from the get-go. being a part of fandom again has me getting out of the house again, going to conventions again, making new friends wherever i go, making plans to go to places i've never been before with those people. i thought that part of my life was behind me. i've never been more proud to be wrong.

all of you have encouraged me in ways i couldn't begin to explain, but the mutuals i'm tagging inspire me with their support and creativity every dang day. i'm so lucky to have these people in my life in any capacity, whether we talk every day or we've never spoken (though if the latter's the case, i'd love to fix that!) 💜

@denim-mixtapes @fanatictypist @keerysquinn @userquinn @hellfirehoe @reysorigins @eddieandbird @heroeddiemunson @roykentt @iero @hellfireclubs @corroded-hellfire @munson-blurbs @lunatictardis @loveshotzz @quinnsbower @newlips @wroteclassicaly @usedtobecooler @corrodedbisexual @dindjarins @stargyles @mulderfcx @enidsnclr @elizabethgillies @sebuckyverse @wordscomehither @eddiemunsons-missingnipple @hearsegrrl @mcbeanzontoast @pitifulbaby

#*mygifs #*2kcelebration

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asocial-inkblot · 3 years ago

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Treatment of Zutara-Type Relationships These Days

(I hope it’s okay to put this in ship tags. I added some ships and or shows with ships which I believe had the below happen to them, as well as a few characters. Let me know if I mistakingly mentioned any or if I should add more, just because. No insult is intended here, these are just my personal opinions.)

Although I’m not going to suddenly change tune and pretend to now be a fan of Zutara (albeit I did once think, for a short time, that they ‘could be cute’ together and had potential), there’s still something I can’t deny: The modern treatment of these type of pairings and by extension their fandoms, from today’s entertainment industry is...well...kind of objectionable.

I won’t get into the good, bad and ugly of such hypothetical romantic relationships (fictional or otherwise), the writing for them, nor those that back them and the possible psychologies held by said people. Not today. Instead, I’ll say that—to me at least—it seems like many writers and producers currently like to tease these pairings to pull in a certain type of viewer (admittedly often girls/women, but not always) only to abruptly switch gears and, at times, even completely incinerate any chance the ship had at being successful.

It could just be a case of overused subversion, meaning we’re so used to the ‘bad/sad/flawed/passive/aggressive boy gets the good/upbeat/forgiving/passive/assertive girl’ trope and all its variants that writers are now constantly trying to keep us interested and on our toes by using this ruse of flipping things on their head. Zutara after all isn’t the first ship (and certainly not the last) to have that vibe, of course. Plus the TPTB of TV have always pulled such tactics.

However, the manner that it’s often done makes it come across like the writers get a sick sort of pleasure from doing this to the pairings/fans of them. Almost like a “pysch, we fooled you losers!” moment (sometimes even with discriminatory intent implied). And just look at how those that work on the shows [scriptwriters, actors]/authors/etc. often talk about the ships too. This, in my opinion, is hardly excusable on the part of such creative teams and is—dare I say it—them being borderline emotionally abusive to these fans. They’re toying with them and that’s something I just can’t get behind. Not to mention how this tends to contribute to the increase in the level of in-group and especially inter-group toxicity in the fandoms too.

Now of course someone’s work will always be his/hers and the person can do whatever with it that he/she pleases. Anything can happen and some of the best stories involve huge, intense relational losses that the audience can empathize with. Also, self-insertion and refusal to accept change can be and typically is dangerous, no doubt. However, blatant manipulation and dishonesty to viewers will always be just that. So although I may not love every ship (if any) of the nature previously mentioned, I can definitely sympathize with and agree to the wrongness of a viewer being conned and purposefully led on (at least some of the time) by the creators of fictional works that on some level include this type of pairing.

This isn’t just regarding romance either when it comes to character(s) and the path they appeared to be going down eventually getting derailed, usually to the point that progress is stolen from them. It can be platonic ships or individual characters and their own stories, too. Many of us have seen this happen with our own eyes, often multiple times—by multiple creators of disparate works—to our faves, with regard to the different aspects and traits of them and the works they hail from, that we enjoy. Frankly, it’s becoming tiresome, bully-like...and expected.

(I think I’ve seen this particular topic brought up before somewhere, in a post that mainly referenced Zutara and Azula. I think that’s good because I feel this sort of thing can never be talked about enough. Nasty behavior from creators/writers toward fans is never okay, as far as I can see.)

#ATLA #Zutara #Azula #Sokkla #Tyzula #LoK #Makorra #Voltron Force #Star Wars #The Owl House #Gravity Falls #Harry Potter #DC Comics #Lex Luthor #Clex #SuperWonder #SatPoP #Catradora

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masterthespianduchovny · 3 years ago

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Tbh, nothing is wrong with two leads of a show or core characters getting together. Quite frankly, I’d argue that it works better from a writer and audience stance than it does to introduce a new character/love interest.

Imho, the issue isn’t that it’s done, it’s how it’s done.

Some shows can be incredibly lazy and obvious about their intent, which is what ruins that build up. Characters are immediately attracted to each other just because (and I mean in a way that is clearly contrived and doesn’t make sense to the narrative), and then all this work is done to either separate them or keep them separated.

Either the actors have no real chemistry or have chemistry, but the material is severely lacking.

Sometimes it’s just two good looking people.

And some tragic cases, it’s no chemistry, good looking, and subpar material.

Or they’re getting together because they’re leads. No narrative purpose, just “lead.”

When you watch poorly constructed romances; yeah, of course you’re tired and burned out.

There’s the argument that men and women can be friends, which I argue. However, I really don’t hear these same people loudly support and uplift the platonic m/f relationships in media. The only time they talk about men and women being friends is when they don’t want two people getting together opposed to chatting about the friendships they’ve enjoyed that was portrayed on tv.

The thing about shippers: we never shut the fuck up about our ship. Show could be off the air for 10 years and we’re still going hard. Where as the noromo crowd are quiet and only reacting to a ship opposed to supporting the platonic friendships they crave so much. Like why don’t I see viral posts about Ron and Leslie all that often? (If at all, tbh).) why don’t I see random tumblr posts about them or Twitter threads? Do y’all have to do that?

No.

However, some writers will go where they get the most support.

Tbh, I’d argue that many writers and show runners want to tell a love story. This example could age poorly, which is fine, but I think Ted x Rebecca from Ted Lasso was crafted with romance in mind. It’s quite weird to get upset at them not maintaining a friendship (if they get together) because “men and women can be friends without romance or sex” when the original plan (presumably) was for them to get together. In a sense, some are arguing that writers shouldn’t tell the story they want to tell because they like the first part of their relationship (friendship), but hate the other part (romance, despite it having not happened yet).

Imo, this series has clearly set up that this relationship is supposed to end in a romance, which if true, was always the plan. The writers have been upfront that everything in the show has been planned out before the show was even greenlit, which is why it’s ending after three seasons.

We know see this happening with The Bear. Some people are clamoring at the fact that Jeremy said Carmy’s not thinking about sex and sex is absent from the narrative. But the series is seemingly setting up something. And, if they are, that means that it’s always been the plan for Syd and Carmy to have romantic feelings. This show dropped all at once so it’s not like the fans pressured the show to do anything. And, yet, there are things in the narrative that hints at a foundation being laid for romance.

And this is primarily a prominent character syndrome. Whether or not they actually have a friendship, if someone even gets a sniff that they might end up together or they have shippers, it’s “why can’t men and women be just friends???” If the lead is shipped with someone else apart of the main/core cast, that’s fine.

I remember when many were afraid of Ted x Keeley being a thing, but instead they have a great friendship. Their friendship is hardly talked about, as in no one asking for it to be featured more and celebrating it. Instead, it’s “why do Ted and Rebecca have to end up (together” as these people pair Ted with his therapist ?literally because she did her job, I’m not joking) and are all in on Rebecca dating a player, despite her being the owner. They don’t even celebrate the Rebecca x Roy friendship that much or Rebecca x Leslie. Apparently, it doesn’t count because one of them are in relationships.

Even though Ted and Rebecca are close, I’m not sure if I’d define their closeness as a friendship. It’s very hard to define. Or, at least, I wouldn’t define them as besties like some people try to do. There’s a lot of weird elements that can’t be summed up to friendship that some are in denial about.

With The Bear, Sydney is only supposed to have a mentee/mentor relationship with Carmy, despite that not really being their relationship. Or a CDC/sous chef relationship, which again, that not really being their relationship although it’s their official label. The series sets up that they’re really partners before officially having Carmy ask Sydney to be his partner. They don’t have the dynamic people claim nor are they friends. Yet, the same people will ship Sydney with Marcus and Richie.

Disclaimer: I don’t have issues with other ships, however, there is a level of hypocrisy and willful ignorance behind many of these arguments. Like, someone may not see it for a ship, but when a series is clearly setting something up and the person is ignoring it, imo, they’re bad actors here.

The love interest who isn’t apart of the friend group or working closely with the lead shines in movies. It’s a tighter story with a tighter focus. The movies that do feature m/f friendships, again, tend to fall in the wayside of active support. Not money, but discussed platonic relationships.

Lastly, the most memorable and iconic couples are mostly either pairings from the core cast OR the couple was already established. In all honesty, this makes sense.

Romance or not, fans usually don’t take well to new characters popping up years later. You also have to integrate this person into the show without it feeling forced. We also want to be invested in this romance if that’s what’s being sold.

Not only does the writing have to be good and work on several levels, this person has to have chemistry with not just whoever they’re paired with, but the other characters as well depending on the show. The only show I know of off the top of my head able to do that was HIMYM. And it was considered a remarkable feat.

Where as building a romance with existing characters have fans more likely to invest, stick with, and root for the pairing. The romance is more likely to feel earned and natural to the narrative.

And I’m not saying there aren’t any love interest later on introduced who don’t work, I’m saying they don’t work as often as established characters.

#tv shows #shipping #chefs kiss #👩🏾‍🍳🧑🏼‍🍳#carmy x sydney #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #ted lasso #tedbecca #rebecca welton

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userirvingb · 4 years ago

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the meta i promised aka the “it is that deep” take of this post

i think the appeal of Ted/Rebecca as a ship to a lot of lgbt folks first and foremost is: Ted. he’s a nonthreatening male character who is empathetic and emotional and his kindness comes from deep within and anything he does for Rebecca is purely because he likes her, cares about her, and just wants to brighten her day. he never has an ulterior motive and he’s a man that women would fully feel safe around (he’s not the first fictional man to have this energy ofc and he’s not the last but ykwim). now of course, characters would fall a tad bit flat if they didn’t have a little trauma as a treat, and Ted definitely has his Baggage™. but his angst and trauma being part of who he is doesn't exist to justify his shitty behavior, but rather his past is why he tries his damn hardest to take care of others and is a helpless people pleaser. he’s also not remotely threatened by Rebecca’s strength (or height which hooo the amount of men who would squirm at the idea of a woman being 6′) or feels the need to have to “be the man” around her. even when he defends her against Rupert, he doesn’t gloat or take credit for it and it’s meant to empower her and give her agency to have the confidence to stand up to Rupert herself (and she does!)

then there’s the fact that mlm/wlw shippers tend to value nuances and we seem to enjoy reading between the lines and catching contextual clues, which tedbecca has in spades. though i’ll also say that this is a skill we had to unfortunately obtain due to lack of lgbt rep for years (and thus prone to getting queerbaited). it’s getting better now and we don’t need to rely so heavily on that, but y’know, meta is fun and who doesn’t like meta? here’s the thing: i’m experiencing a familiar fandom experience between Ted/Rebecca and the good ol’ lgbt ships of the early naughts and 2010′s

unlike the m/f ships that are currently out there (i can only speak about the two that i know the most about: Bradley/Cory from The Morning Show or Roman/Gerri from Succession) where the actors and tptb actively talk about their relationship and tease their audience about the romance that’s bound to happen, Jason Sudeikis and his writers (and Hannah Waddingham) are super tight-lipped about Ted/Rebecca’s potential romance, they don’t confirm or deny yet they also haven’t claimed that the two are just friends and will only stay friends (had they done that we’d all have a easier time here tbh). they go as far as to do that thing that writers used to do with lgbt ships, claiming the characters mean a lot to each other, how they’re intertwined in each others lives, how they define each other and save each other. which by the way, we as the audience are witnessing with our own two eyes. the things they talk about? it’s in the show, front and center, it’s unavoidable. but the romantic chemistry and the clearly laid out parallels that we see have completely flown over so many people’s heads. this is the first m/f ship that i’ve encountered and participated in where 1. the antis outnumber the shippers, 2. the antis are super against them having a romantic relationship and strongly insist that they are merely platonic, and their reasoning isn’t because there’s another equally convincing or good pairing that they think Ted and/or Rebecca should belong to, but purely because “they don’t see it”; and any counterpairing they try to toss into their argument can’t stand its ground against the canonical evidence that Ted/Rebecca are the most logistical pairing outside of Roy/Keeley. that, or they continue on their tirade of “there’s not enough m/f friendships on screen” when i can list 5 shows off the top of my head that have wonderfully written, deep, platonic m/f relationships that are at the same level of importance as romantic relationships (here’s some: The Good Wife, Elementary, Parks and Rec, Schitt’s Creek, The Morning Show, B99... i can go on...?)

(there’s also the whole “well Rebecca could end up alone! she’ll come to learn that she’s a strong independent woman who needs no man!!” argument as if her crying to Ted about her fear of being alone or her desperation to be in a relationship just so she could feel something isn’t a large part of her character simply wanting to be cared for and fully loved since she was in a very emotionally abusive marriage for 12 years. as if Roy’s “you deserve someone who makes you feel like you’ve been struck by fucking lightning” doesn’t carry any weight for Rebecca. but i’m not going to get into that today because i am deeply terrified the show is going to do this and i am not the one that’s going to speak that shit into the universe 🤡)

it’s interesting to me that Ted/Rebecca as a ship relies on a lot of hints (that i personally think aren’t subtle at all but 🤷‍♂️), parallels, and storytelling tactics that are often used on lgbt ships, and the people who do see it are lgbt (+ the het fans that have eyes i gotchu ✊🏼). there’s the classic slow burn we’re familiar with, the friends to lovers trajectory, the concept of soulmates, being emotionally vulnerable around each other-- all the fictional tropes we love. and for some unknown reason, there are more people who don’t want this incredibly healthy and emotionally supportive relationship to be romantic. it’s giving me war flashbacks sans the homophobia except now there’s this hilarious heterophobia coming from a bunch of people who suddenly reject the concept of romance entirely????

i wouldn’t dare compare them to the m/f slow burn blueprint ship MSR but it sure... feels like it. and now i just realized i could’ve used MSR to do this meta but i’m not well versed enough in them so this is the only comparison i can give you 😳

tl;dr tedbecca is popular amongst lgbt folks because they’re being presented in a similar fashion as the good ol’ non-canon lgbt ships (that 200% would’ve been canon if those shows aired today) down to the antis wanting them to “stay platonic”

#Ted x Rebecca #tedbecca #Ted Lasso #TedRebecca #my meta #i'm gonna put this in the show tag so more ppl can see and i'm open to discussion #but i will block you on sight if you give me bad vibes i'm well past my days of engaging with antis

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the-ferocious-kittyrose · 4 years ago

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My complicated opinion on Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane is definitely one of the more popular characters in the VLD fandom. People love brooding emo bad boys.

My feelings on Keith are... complicated. I definitely don’t hate him. I have a lot of problems with the character but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to actually hate him. Mainly because I kinda relate to him. We both have problems controlling our emotions, interacting with people, and making friends.

And we both have trouble believing there are people who truly have our best interests at heart and won’t abandon us because we’re a burden.

What I do hate is the way his character was written and the way it negatively impacted the characters around him.

There are definitely a lot of factors that contributed to VLD ending up the way it did. But to me, Keith and the writers insistence on pushing him to the forefront was the poison that killed the show.

Ok, before we get into this whole rant I feel like I should talk about the things I do like about Keith.

I like the premise of Keith’s character. He’s half Galra and never really fit in on Earth. He didn’t act like the other “normal” kids so kids made fun of him and adults didn’t want to deal with him. So in order to protect himself from the pain of rejection he would put up a tough angry facade and push people away and reject them before they could reject him.

This is something that really resonates with me personally having grown up neurodivergent. It’s awful growing up in a world that isn’t made for people like you and not knowing how to interact with or connect with your peers. Especially when you don’t know why you’re like that.

You learn to avoid social interaction because it always ends up negative. You put up walls because you don’t feel like anybody understands you or what you’re going through.

I know the writers probably didn’t intend to code Keith as neurodivergent. They just wanted Keith to be a hothead with abandonment issues, but nonetheless, this interpretation means a lot to me.

I also really like his relationship with Shiro. Keith is so used to being left behind and abandoned that when he meets someone like Shiro who’s patient and genuinely cares it’s new and strange. He’s so ready for Shiro to abandon him, even telling Shiro to send him back to the home, but Shiro refuses to leave him and tells Keith ethat he’s never going to give up on him.

It’s also interesting to see how their relationship develops over time. It’s clear Keith trusts Shiro, but you can tell that that fear of abandonment is still there deep down. In S2, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him, and then in season 6, he takes the extra step and tells Shiro that he IS his brother and that he loves him. And for someone like Keith, telling their friend they love them is a big scary thing.

And also it’s just great to see a platonic “I love you,” especially between two guys. Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them!!!

Now let’s talk about the stuff I didn’t like.

Keith doesn’t have much going for him in terms of personality. He’s just sorta brooding and serious all the time. He does make jokes occasionally but it’s rare. The writers were more focused on making him cool and badass rather than fun.

I always loved the idea of Keith as a cocky carefree asshole who doesn’t give a shit about rules/laws and is kinda rude/aggressive but has a heart of gold deep down and would do anything for the people he cares about. (Just like a cat.)

I would also make him more alien esc. In terms of design I like the idea of Keith having red eyes with narrow pupils and fangs. And also just small things like the way he walks and holds himself. He growls and bears his teeth when he’s angry, his hair puffs up when scared, he’s fast and agile, disappearing and reappearing without making much noise, small things.

Then you have his race and sexuality. I have no doubt in my mind that Keith was intended to be a straight white dude. A lot of people see him as gay and Asian but there’s no evidence for this in canon. Acxa was originally intended to be his love interest and his race was never mentioned in canon. His name isn’t even Kogane in canon. (And the race of the voice actor doesn’t equal the race of the character. If that was the case Shiro, Hunk, and Lance would be white.)

They should’ve totally made Keith Japanese like he was in the original. It would’ve been so easy! Just canonize Kogane as his last name and have the book say he’s half Japanese half Galra. They could’ve also done what they did with Shiro and keep his og GoLion name. Just have him be Akira Kogane. Definitely cooler than “Keith.”

And as for his sexuality, I definitely think they should’ve had Keith be gay. But well get to that Later...

I also don’t like how they handled the whole Krolia thing. Not only was it crazy rushed, but it completely goes against the shows theme of found family.

Keith’s arc should’ve been about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to accept the paladins as family. But instead they just get rid of the abandonment issues by just giving him his mom back.

I know a lot of people love Krolia but I don’t feel like she should’ve been introduced in anything other than flashbacks. Because Keith’s mom isn’t really that important. The show is about found family and friendship, not blood relation.

You can definitely have Keith learn about his mom and his family, but I feel like giving him his mom back was too much.

Personally, I always headcanoned that Kolivan was Keith’s grandfather or just a close friend of Krolia’s, and when Keith showed up at the Blade’s base Kolivan recognized the blade as his Krolia’s. Keith could learn about his mom through Kolivan telling him about her, how she was a great person and warrior who died fighting to make the universe a safer place for her son.

Another thing I didn’t like was the whole Keith leaving the team for the Blades thing. I know why he did it, he felt like the team was gonna reject him, he wanted to be more useful, and wanted to learn about his family, but I feel like you could’ve touched on all that without having him abandon his team.

One of the biggest problems with the show is that they did a bad job at establishing the paladins as friends, they feel like coworkers more than anything, and I feel like Keith being absent for two seasons contributed to that.

And his absence is hardly addressed. The team forms Voltron perfectly without him and no one ever says they miss him. Keith doesn’t even seem like he missed them after being gone for two years.

And a lot of the weight was taken out of that Keith v Kuron fight by the fact that Keith and Kuron hardly interacted.

That whole thing amounted to four things, Keith meeting Krolia (which I don’t think should’ve happened), them finding the colony (which was a dumb plot I don’t think should’ve happened), Keith aging up two years (which was weird and unnecessary), and Keith meeting Kosmo (which is... complicated).

I don’t think this plot was necessary. Keith should’ve stayed with his team.

Then you have his relationship with Lance. I know people are very sensitive about this topic. People have very strong opinions about whether or not Keith and Lance were intended to be romantically coded.

Personally, I do like Klance but I don’t believe they were romantically coded. I think if you want them to get together some things would have to go differently.

For example, the bonding moment. In canon, Lance tells Keith, “we make a good team.” I don’t see this as referring to him and Keith. I think he was talking about the whole team. If you want it to be about the two of them, I feel like it should be Lance telling Keith something like, “ya know, you’re not so bad after all,” and then Keith smiles and responds, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

Another example could be the scene where Lance comes to Keith with his insecurities. (Whether it’s as a leader or a friend.) This scene was weird in canon, Lance comes to Keith for advice and Keith basically tells him to just stop thinking about it.

I would prefer if Lance brought up to Keith how he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough or that he doesn’t have, “a thing,” and Keith is completely dumbfounded like, “what are you even talking about?” He goes on about all the good shit about Lance. Talks about how Blue chose him, how he’s a great shot, how he’s good at dealing with people, meanwhile Lance is standing there in shock as Keith says all these nice things about him.

Over all you would just have to develop their relationship more. More meaningful interactions. And if you want the relationship to be romantic you would have to establish that early on. Establish that one or both has romantic feelings for the other in like S1/S2 because if you wait too long it’s gonna feel forced/out of no where.

And then... you have the Black Paladin arc... I’m gonna be real with y’all, this is the arc that killed the show for me, for a few reasons.

One, even ignoring the whole quintessence bond thing, it makes no sense for Keith to be the bp. He doesn’t fit the role. I adore Shiro but choosing Keith as his successor was a dumb move. I get that he saw potential in Keith but they’re are fighting a war, there’s no room for favoritism.

Shiro should’ve chosen Allura as his successor. Not only does she have actual leadership experience, but you would only have one paladin in a new Lion instead of three.

If a lifeguard breaks his leg and can’t work, he should choose an experienced swimmers to take his place, not his little bro that’s still in water wings in the hopes that it’ll teach him to swim.

Two, Keith being the bp doesn’t help his arc. Keith’s arc is about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to be a team player, he doesn’t need to be the leader for that.

VLD should’ve been about the paladins growing into the best versions of themselves they could be. Their development shown by unlocking new abilities in their respective lions, new forms for their bayards, and new Voltron bayard power ups. They shouldn’t have to change lions and themselves.

Keith and Red have a strong bond and work great together. Keith and Red are both temperamental, unpredictable, and have issues with trust. Keith having to fight to get Red to trust and open up to him mirrors how others have to fight to earn Keith’s trust and get him to let down his walls.

It would’ve been interesting to see them grow together. Keith has no emotional connection with Black.

We never even get to see them bond. Keith just suddenly becomes the “perfect” bp/leader because he got over his mommy issues

Three, it’s a MASSIVE disservice to Shiro’s character. Shiro put all the work in earning his position as the bp, he literally fits fought Zarkon on the astral plane to earn her trust, yet Keith is the true bp? What?

It sucks. Sendak told Shiro that a monster like him could never be a paladin and the writers went and proved him right. Hell Shiro didn’t even get to kill Sendak, Keith got that too.

And don’t tell me, “but he got the Atlas!” REALLY!? A massive Deus ex machina that required absolutely no effort from him to acquire!? Filled with a bunch of rando background characters no one gives a shit about!? You’re totally right, that 100% makes up for it.

I could go on and on about how the treatment of Shiro in this show (and fandom) is blatantly ableist but that’s a rant for another time.

It sucks. I want to like Keith! He had the potential to be an amazing character but the writers just kept on trying to turn him into something he wasn’t and it ruined him for me.

They kept trying to turn Keith into the main character and ignored that ALL the paladins are the main characters. It’s an ensemble cast! You don’t have to have everything come back to one guy.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #voltron legendary discourse #vld #vld critical #keith kogane #keith vld #red paladin keith #klance #krolia #black paladin shiro #takashi shirogane #vld shiro #black lion #red lion #galra #galra keith #blade of marmora

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thefanficmonster · 4 years ago

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Just Another One

Sequel to: ‘A Little Bit Of Honesty’

Corpse Husband x Actress!Reader (Female)

Warnings: Angst, Heartbreak, Mention of bad past relationships, Swearing

Genre: Angst, Romance, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: They keep proving each other right in the most wrong ways possible. They each want to be guarded even if that means the other will be hurt. Maybe that’s what they want - to hurt one another because they’ve already hurt each other once before.

Requested by the lovely readers who enjoyed the previous fic ‘A Little Bit Of Honesty’. Sorry for the large time gap between the posting of the two fics but I still hope you guys will take the time to read it and if so I hope you enjoy it! Love you all with all my heart, Vy ❤

When you go out of your way to avoid leaving the house your options of entertainment are severely limited and you can’t blame anyone or anything but yourself for it. Today, I wouldn’t have gone out of my apartment even if I was one of those people who frequent the outdoors seeing as how the sky is trying to flood the Earth with all this nonstop rain. It does set a mood for a perfect night in but when you spend all your nights in doing the same thing over and over again, the atmosphere is practically meaningless. And so I ‘ve decided to resort to channel surfing as though I’ll find something interesting on TV that I haven’t yet seen on one of my social media timelines.

I pass several cooking channels on my journey, making a mental note of their individual numbers in case I don’t stumble across anything capable of better distracting me from my boredom and loneliness that’s slowly starting to creep in. I pass by a few movie channels showing teenage romcoms as if to celebrate the start of summer so you can imagine how quickly I moved on from those. Then come the celebrity channels which can often get a laugh out of me because of how pathetic and unbelievably ridiculous they are. And so, I stick around one where there’s a broadcast on a movie showing that’s happening tonight in LA. Oddly enough, despite my anxiety, going to a movie showing has always been on my list of things I’d want to do. This can be considered living vicariously or rubbing salt into the wound that I’ll probably never go because my anxiety and fear of being recognized is too severe. Either way I stick around to watch it.

And man do I regret it now looking at several different angels of a couple of actors entering the venue where they are to be photographed and asked questions by the mob of paparazzi that’s gathered due to the massive event. That in and of itself doesn’t sound - and really isn’t - so bad. However, it’s important to note that the actress in this duo is Y/N. Y/N L/N. My Y/N....shit, sorry, I mean my FRIEND Y/N, her arm linked with whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is who is holding an umbrella above the both of them, shielding them from the downpour of rain that is also taking place in LA apparently.

“The two were seen entering the venue earlier this evening, looking particularly cozy in each other’s presence if I do say so myself. The rain probably worked nicely in their favor.“ The first reporter says, her teasing tone of voice sending chills of anger down my spine as I glare at the screen, hands balled in fists, jaw clenched - all my body’s instinctive reactions to what is being shown to me. I know I technically have no right to behave or feel this way, in fact I should be fucking happy for Y/N and her successful career and the progress in her love life. But damn it how can I?! I was so damn close to kissing this girl! I was so fucking close to falling in another trap, tripping and landing in the embrace of another liar and user, another girl who switches partners more often than shoes. How could I’ve been so reckless to get so close to her even platonically? How did we become close enough for me to 1) show her my face; 2) start inviting her over to my apartment regularly; and how didn’t I notice the kind of messed up person she was all that time.

She was all sweet and flirting and shit a week or so ago and now she’s doing the exact same thing with him! The cameras are capturing them perfectly: every laugh, every exchange of a knowing look or nod, ever smack to his arm when he tells a joke. But what bothers me most is the many times he’s wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer. Not just for pictures, but just because the fucker felt like it! And Y/N doesn’t seem to mind it at all.

“They have been the talk of the town recently, so while they could just be adding fuel to the fire, they could also have been caught by the flame and ‘caught feelings’ as they say. Regardless these two are a view we’d like to see more often.“ The other reporter says and that’s the final straw.

In one swift motion I turn the TV off and throw the remote across the room. It hits the wall and falls to the ground in several pieces, broken by the force of the impact. Just like I am broken by the force of the impact of these news. I don’t know which is worse: the fact that I fell for her and almost let her know it; the fact that she’s just another member of the club I don’t want anywhere near my life; or the fact that I can’t believe it.

Yeah that’s right - one foolish part of me refuses to believe that’s she’d do such a thing. I think that’s the same part which is still in awe of her so you can bet I ignore that part the majority of the time.

She is just another one. Not the one. Having been hurt before doesn’t mean she won’t hurt me or anyone else she’s gonna be with. Hurt people hurt people.

And damn has she hurt me, probably without knowing a damn thing. How selfish can you be, Y/N? How selfish can you really get? And how much am I going to allow you to hurt me?

* * *

“Thank you so much, Andrew. I would’ve died on the spot of anxiety if I was on my own.“ I say to my best friend who is currently sitting next to me on a park bench, in a tux, eating a cheeseburger. I too am still in my gown and am also gorging on a cheeseburger of my own.

“Don’t mention it. Us anxious people need to stick together.“ He bumps his shoulder against mine, stealing a small genuine smile from me, “Plus I couldn’t not come with you. You know how much I like a good rumor.“

I scoff, “Of course you do, but then again there was no need to add to what the media has already made a whole-ass ship out of.” I roll my eyes and take another bite. My appetite hasn’t been in its best condition so I’m only eating this under Andrew’s orders. I have no idea how people can ship us romantically, he’s the definition of an older - and very bossy - brother to me. I wish I could tell each and every single one of those girls who hate me because I’ve ‘stolen their man’ that I’d most likely be their sister in law rather than man snatcher, seeing as how my relationship with Andrew is so sibling-like.

That’s because we’re too alike, no one gets that. People play the ‘opposites attract’ car more often than I consider rational. But then again when they see a couple like Andrew and I - who are basically the same person in different bodies - they suddenly think we’re super compatible. Trust me, we’re not. And everyone who’s been on set with us will tell you the same.

“What can I say...“ he shrugs, smirking at me, “I like the fun. I bet Becca doesn’t though.“

I can’t help but huff. Andrew is the only one I’ve ever openly expressed my frustrations with Rebecca to. He was super helpful on the subject, seeing as how he can relate - many partners of his have tried to use him, some of which even succeeded. He’s more than qualified to school me on the topic but it turned more into sharing bad experiences. One of which was that instance back at Corpse’s apartment.

“And neither does Corpse I suppose.“ As though he’s read my mind, he pokes the hurt spot, pouring salt in the wound causing me to visibly cringe as though the pain was physical - because it was, I felt it in my chest and in my gut, a sharp stab of guilt and regret.

Why did I let it come to that? Why did I let us get so close? How did I not think of the consequences?

“I don’t care if he does or doesn’t.“ My hand automatically reaches for the pocket of the jeans I’m not even wearing in search of a cigarette. Not that I’d be able to light one even if I had them on me - Andrew would smack it out of my hand before I could even take a single puff.

He has the audacity to laugh, “You’re such a bad liar, Y/N.”

That’s all he needs to say really - that’s enough to make me feel seen and understood. Though that’s not always a good thing. I often times wish he couldn’t read me so well. Better said: I wish I didn’t let myself be so readable, you know. I’m just glad he’s the one who sees me because if it were anyone else they’d use this vulnerability of mine against me. I’m well aware that it’s a weakness, a really inconvenient one, but damn it I can’t get rid of it. I feel like I’ll be less human if I lose it. Everyone’s allowed to be vulnerable, some just are lucky enough to choose who they’ll be vulnerable around. I’m lucky enough to to have a choice, not so lucky in the people I choose to trust. Guess that’s not a luck thing, it’s just my inability to decipher whether a person is worth all the pain and torture of coming clean to them or not. So far many people have burnt me but two stick out in particular - Becca and Corpse. Corpse especially, which is the odd thing considering he hasn’t even wronged me in any way. At least not yet.

“Your phone’s vibrating.“ Andrew says, pulling me out of my overflowing head when he hands me my phone which I handed to him because of my dress’ lack of pockets.

“Thanks.“ I mutter through a sigh as I take it from him, checking the notification I’ve gotten.

My stomach drops: it’s a message from Corpse.

“Hey I saw you are in LA but we have a stream tomorrow, will you still be participating?“

Before I can reply, he sends me another message.

“I know you’re probably very busy but we get the most viewership on the streams when you’re in them so....“

I’ve probably been staring at my phone screen for longer than I thought since Andrew felt the need to make sure I was still breathing: “Hey, you ok? You look terribly pale.” I can barely hear him let alone reply. I can’t hear my own thoughts to know what to reply to him. “Y/N, you’re scaring me.”

I’m scaring myself too, Andrew. I’m scared too. I’m scared of how broken my picker has become. I almost kissed this guy! I almost entrusted all my thoughts, hopes, wishes and goals to him! What the fuck was I thinking?! Well, at least I know what he was thinking about - viewership. Likes, subs, views, publicity. The more eyes on the stream the better for him and everyone else. I genuinely want to applaud him, no one has been so direct about using me before. I was in a relationship with Becca for almost a year before I accidentally found out what she had been doing the whole time. No one’s ever smacked me in the face with this much honesty. It’s bittersweet really.

I want to laugh, I want to cry, slap myself across the face, slap him...I want to do so much, but all I can do now is sit in silence and think of how I could be so stupid.

He’s just another one, how did I not see that? How do I never see it until it’s too late? Why is one part of me still screaming: ‘He didn’t mean it like that!’

AND WHY THE FUCK DO I WANT TO BELIEVE IT?

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