#I feel like I should add that I'm not bashing the show

[etherealnoir]

I know the creator is Black and I’m assuming they’re lots of Black women in the writers room so I know the writing for Gabi is intentional but sometimes she comes off very ‘strong black woman’??? Like maybe it’s just me but I hated that from the jump kid!Gabi was shown to have it together even while she was cowering under Sir—her being taken in ep 11 was the first I felt the depth of her betrayal and terror. I know by the time she show starts it’s been a year but she’s still a kid and it’s still a horrific situation. They’re this like idek lax feel about all of it? Like she’s just always ready to fight and it’s a lot. With adult!Gabi I get it because the chains and basement give her an illusion of power but idk I want to see more complexity and I’m not getting that. I think Shanola is acting according to direction but I wish they’d actually let her be a mess and break down (like in episode 4 or 5?) and just not be so stoic all the time. It’s a horrifying situation! I would be fucked up for life. But it’s like Gabi just… goes on. Granted there is a hostage in her basement but still lol. All the recent HTGAWM asks reminded that for the most part Annalise Keating really was it because for all that shows silliness, they didn’t falter on writing her as a complex, multifaceted Black woman.

Apparently the person who created this also created the show All-American. I've never really seen it, but I just remember acknowledging once that all of the female leads were light skinned/mixed, and very easy to confuse with one another. I thought that was weird.

All of that aside, I don't think I can really place the blame on her, because the episodes she wrote were some of the strongest of the series ("Pilot" and "Missing While Sinning" with the missing sex worker).

Maybe the writers room has a very general idea of what Gabi's character is like (headstrong, compassionate, determined, a leader) and basic human qualities get overlooked in an effort to keep her character consistent. Even with Annalise...she was intense, very cold sometimes. But God, even Anna Mae told a joke sometimes. She was sarcastic and funny as hell when she wanted to be. She had time to be intimate with people and have fun.

I know Gabi is very focused on her career. But we don't need another "Strong Black Woman TM" who puts her interpersonal relationships and sense of humor on the backburner. Especially when she's currently going through a crisis. I think the only person we ever really see her slow down and talk to quietly is Margaret.

Side note, the writers really love Margaret. I also really love Margaret. But I kind of wish Gabi got the same level of softness in the narrative.

[woahjo]

katsuki rarely drinks. it's not something he enjoys. but one one night, he shows up at your once-shared apartment, smelling like liquor. something sweet and fruity, liked he'd tried to wash a bitter taste from his mouth. to someone who doesn't know him the way you do, a tired sobriety may be assumed. he's that sort when he drinks.

he smiles when he sees you, a bashful kind of smile, despite not having spoken with you for months and you realize that maybe he's forgotten. maybe he's forgotten the last few months when he moved his stuff out of your place, the period of time after the break up where no one would bring up your names in front of the other.

"katsuki? it's the middle of the night," you say to him through the half open door. "what are you doing here?"

katsuki looks at you, clearly tired, and he swallows thick before opening his mouth and closing it again. you wait for him to find his words.

"i wanted to see you," he says.

"you don't live here anymore," you remind him gently, though you're not sure why you assume that he believes he does.

katsuki glances at the ground and then uses the doorframe to steady himself. you can tell that he's trying not to scare you, trying not to use the sheer size of his body. there's something cautious and equally careless about his motions and you tilt your head.

"katsuki?"

"why don't we talk anymore?" he asks you, swallowing again. you wonder where his friends have gotten off to and at what point int he evening they'd noticed that he wandered off.

the question tugs at your heartstrings as you stare at the man in the doorway. it's a pathetic sort of feeling, a weak longing in your chest. you're not sure how to answer. after the break up, things just sort of... fell off. there was nothing to say anymore.

"I want to talk to you," he admits.

this is a side of katsuki that only you are privy to. a quieter, gentler side of him. one where he can openly admit his wants and faults. an exposed bleeding wound that katsuki has never really been able to sew shut.

you shake your head a little.

"talking's hard," you tell him. you're being honest. talking to him is hard. there is so much history there.

"we used to be friends," he reasons, almost as if he's reminding himself.

"yeah," you nod, "we did."

"and now we're not," he adds. "and that fucking sucks."

you nod again.

"it's late, katsuki," you say to him. "you should get home and sleep this off."

katsuki nods, but he lingers. his eyes wander past you into the inside of your apartment, almost as if he can picture himself wandering in. you keep the door half shut.

"we'll talk soon?" he asks, something hopeful in his voice. this vulnerability makes you ache.

"yeah," you respond. "we'll talk soon. fix things."

katsuki nods and then, as if something sobering has come over him, he straightens his back. you furrow your brows as he looks at you, a pink tinge over his cheeks, and wait for what he has to say next.

"sorry to- sorry to bother you so late," he says, a little less gently. he's let a mask slip carefully over his features.

"it's fine," you shake your head. "get home safe, okay? do you need me to call someone for you?"

katsuki shakes his head insistently. "no, no," he says firmly— soberly. "i'm good. i'll see you around."

"okay."

he turns from your step and you watch his back for a moment before quietly shutting the door to your apartment. it feels too quiet now, and you briefly miss the light from the street as you turn back to the empty, darkened rooms.

you wonder if he'll remember coming to your door tomorrow and kick himself for it. you wonder if he'll wake up in the morning, his head pounding, with the mortifying memory of having shown up on your doorstep, telling you that he misses you in a set of different words. or, you wonder if he'll forget. will he wake tomorrow with no memory at all of the first conversation you've shared in months?

it's probably best if he doesn't remember it. then, there'll be nothing to follow up on and nothing to apologize for in the sobering light of day. you won't have to talk to him and be reminded of just how painful every aspect of this is. you have no intention of keeping your promise to talk soon, as much as you might like to fix things. it's best, for the both of you, if you let him fade into the background. then, you can meet him again as strangers—friends of friends—and pretend that the history between you both never happened in the first place.

[lovelyiida]

THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH KIRISHIMA WOULD WANT YOU TO MATCH WITH HIM FOR HALLOWEEN, imagining the lengths he would go through to find that perfect outfit and show it to you, just for you to deny it.

"How about this one?"

"No."

"What about this one? I'm the plug and you're the socket!"

"Corny."

"How about I'll be a pirate and you can be a mermaid!"

"Mm... I feel like you're saying that because you want to be the mermaid."

A sigh escapes the redhead's mouth as he crashes on your bed in defeat. It's been several hours since he brought up the idea that both of you should match for the holiday, but you wouldn't budge. Either the ideas he gave were too corny or just painfully bad, and it was starting to hurt his feelings.

Both of you were invited to the annual UA Halloween bash; the whole school was attending, and everyone usually had on the best costumes. You didn't want to be rude, but you didn't want to be the peanut butter to his jelly, sadly.

Certainly, here's the improved version of the passage with corrected grammar and sentence structure:

"Hey, do you even want to match with me?" he says, shuffling closer to you. His face pressed against your stomach, he lets out a whine. Rolling your eyes, you then sigh.

"I don't know. I think this is the first time I've ever been able to dress up without someone else's opinion. I just want to be something really unique, not a basic couple's costume."

You run your fingers through Kirishima's red locks. You can tell he's upset by the visible silence that casts over the room.

"Kiri," you say. With a sigh, he turns around and looks into your eyes. "Hm?" he says, his tone flat and a little bit irritated.

"Don't be upset with me, babe," you say with a defeated smile. "You know I hate it when you're upset with me. Please say something," you add softly.

Kirishima lets out another drama-filled sigh and sits himself up. "I just thought that since this was the first party we would go to as a couple, you'd want to match. But I guess I was wrong." A frown visible on his lips soon disappears and forms into an understanding smirk.

"I bet I'll still have a better costume than you," he says with a mischievous smirk. The pressure from the previous conversation lifts, and a laugh escapes from you. "Yeah, okay. Wanna make a bet?" you say. Soon, the redhead climbs on top of you with a simple hum as a response.

"If I win, you're all mine for the next day, and you have to do everything I say," Kirishima says, but he cuts himself off by kissing your lips. "And! You have to match with me for the next party."

Giving him a nod, you then kiss him back with another peck. With a smug smirk you speak.

"If you lose, then it's vice versa... and I get to pick the stupidest costume there is known to mankind."

"The night of the party, it was hard to find your boyfriend. It felt like the whole entire school was there. Going through the area, seeing so many faces but none you could recognize, you finally spot a familiar face.

"Bakugo!"

The blonde soon turns around and looks you up and down, a smug smile plastered over his lips.

"Hey, looking for your boy-toy angel?" he says, all pun intended. You came to the party in an all-white costume with the cutest angel wings and a halo to match.

Rolling your eyes, your gaze lingers.

"Where is he?" you yell, the music blaring over your voice, making it hard to hear his response.

Grabbing your arm, Bakugo points over to the front of the room. With a nod, you venture over to the front of the room.

A crowd is still present, and you fight your way to the front. People thrashing their bodies and screaming to the lyrics make it even worse. Yelling out your boyfriends name, you look all around for him but he’s no where in sight.

Growing anxious from the blaring music and the suggestive stares you’ve been getting from multiple people you’ve passed; you grew anxious. Turning every which way to find him, you were about to break off into a jog until a strong hand grips you.

“Y/n!”

Turning around, you smile at the sight before you.

“Kiri!” You yelled in relief, throwing yourself onto Kirishima, you pull him into a tight embrace. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” You laughed.

Pulling away, your eyes linger down to his body, seeing the costume he had on made your stomach drop.

“A devil” you say, voice filled with humorous disappointment. Looking back up, you watch your boyfriends’ shit-eating-grin grow wide.

“I told you we’d match!” He chuckled.

Rolling your eyes you reach your arms around his neck. The redhead pulls you in close, “let’s call a truce?” You say, looking into his auburn eyes. Kirishima lets out a groan, but looking back at you he couldn’t help but to smile.

“Truce.”

❥: @xo-evangeline , @nar00 , @king-dynamight , @gold24fish , @lovra974 , @bakugospartner , @gaby-11 , @akqsa-xxi , @jolynegf , @goldenglow149 , @aliruuiz , @zukowantshishonourback , @ilovedenk-i , @atsushiki , @smolbeanzzz , @urdecentartist09 , @lem-hhn , @stevenknightmarc , @ryumiii , @idontevenknowlolls , @lyn07 , @kennshifts , @ackerman-suck-3-r , @elegantvoids , @thecurlyhairedgoddess , @sunyrose , @thisbicc , @thekookiecorner, @snxwycloud , @skylardarling

[stinkysam]

Roronoa Zoro - Well, this is awkward.

Warning : none

Genre : angst-ish

Synopsis : “zoro and his ex boyfriend run into each other again and a lot of old feelings are brought back (maybe they break up due to mutual differences like zoro wanting to become the world best swordsman)” - anon

Reader : male (you/yours)

He grimaces, eyes wide as he sees you. What the fuck ? That's not what he had expected. What are you doing here ?

He tries to look for his crew to hide amongst them but they got fucking lost as usual and are nowhere to be found. It's not as if he could hide well between 4 people anyway. They should at least be 10.

Shit ! You've spotted him. What to do ? What to do ? He tries to act casual, looking through a window shop as if interested by the clothes displayed.

His heart was beating fast in his chest. Both stressed to see you again and happy. But he wouldn't admit the latter.

You were in the same state, unable to know what to do. Should you greet him ? Has he seen you ? Could you leave if not ? What if he had ?

You take a deep breath and decide to go to him. After all, you were still curious about him and you've heard a lot about the pirate hunter.

“Hey, Zoro.” You call, standing next to him. He hums, acknowledging you, and keeps focusing on what's in front of him. You smile, trying to remain unmoved by his lack of interested response.

“So uh,” You clear your throat. “How are you doing ?”

“Fine…” He glances at you. “And you ?”

“I'm okay…” I miss you, you want to say.

You look at each other, unsure of what to say. You clear your throat again.

“Wanna buy a dress ?” You say, pointing with your head what he was standing in front of.

He grimaces, slightly embarrassed.

“Uh… no. I was uh, trying to avoid you.” He finally admits, hoping his words don't hurt you too much.

“Yeah, I figured. You should've gone inside.” You joke, ignoring the tug at your heart.

He agreed, though he was glad he didn't go in.

“So, pirate hunter, yeah ?”

“Not anymore. On the other side now.” He smiles, finding it a bit funny.

“Oh.” You couldn't help but smile too. “Siding with the marines didn't suit you anyway.”

“I wasn't with the marines.” He defended himself.

“So you're a pirate now ?”

“The future best swordsman in the world, yeah.”

Your smile fell a bit at his words, reminding yourself why you two broke up.

“Ah.”

“I never dropped my dream.” He adds, determination spewing from his words. You frowned. Did he think you dropped yours ?

“Me neither. I will be the best swordsman.” You declared, hand on your heart.

“No. I will.”

You glared at one another for a second, before both looking away with a sigh. It was starting again.

You both wanted to be the best and that's what drove you apart. Being rivals could be tough for a relationship. Unwavering competitiveness, constantly arguing, refusing to show weakness and vulnerability. Slowly you stopped saying “I love you” and began to wonder if you still felt it, that love you had for each other, overshadowed by your bullheaded dreams.

You tried to get rid of your animosity, not wanting it to ruin your sudden reunion. You hadn't left on good terms and wanted to change that.

You looked down, swallowing your pride.

“I missed you.” You say and he looks at you surprised, his heart doing somersault, not believing you would say it.

It's his turn to look down, debating whether he should speak his mind as well. It's true he had missed you too, but he didn't want to restart something that was doomed to fail.

“I… Yeah… I missed you too.” He finally said. Admitting it doesn't mean you two would be a thing again, after all.

Taken by a surge of confidence you continue in your momentum.

“You know, I think I never stopped loving you. Even when we hated each other.”

He looks at you with wide eyes, not knowing what to answer. That's not what he had planned for the day, at all. But his heart felt at ease, happy, beating smoothly in his chest, knowing your feelings for him had never vanished.

He feels bashful, just like the day you asked him out after a sword fight together.

You can see his ears redden along his cheeks, he still doesn't know what to say. Saying “I love you” has never been easy. But he has to say something, he has to tell you the truth.

“I didn't hate you either.” It's not an ‘I love you too’ but it's close, and it'll do.

You smiled, happy to know he felt the same.

“Wanna… grab a beer ?” You ask, wondering if it was too much.

“Yeah.” He simply answers, turning to you, ready to follow you. It was just a drink. Not the start of anything if not of your renewed friendship.

[alienatedtsuki]

Dom!Naruto/Sub!Sasuke [Kinktober 2023 Part I]

It's Kinktober, baby! I am not creating anything but recommendations, so let's go. I want to start with one of my favourite tropes in the smut for this pairing, this being - Master/Pet | Dom!Naruto/Sub!Sasuke. 

Cumslut by pedosoka Naruto and Sasuke didn't show up for training, and Sakura and Ino go see if everything is okay with their precious Sasuke-kun. Or, Sakura, Ino, and Sai walk in on Sasuke, getting his back blown out by Naruto and his shadow clones. - You read this summary right. There is all I love: Sakura bashing, the use of shadow clones(I probably should add it to my "Oh, how useful are these shadow clones" post), and the Master/pet dymanic.  NaruSasu | Master Naruto | pet Sasuke | Sakura bashing | accidental voyeurism | orgy | Naruto uses Shadow Clones | Saying "I love you" is hot | Canon AU (3,237)

Sasuke and his sexual dream Naruto by Skyheaven @0skyheaven0 This is a fantastic trilogy of relationship development between our boys, where Naruto is top and Sasuke is bottom. They investigate the darker side of Naruto in the last fic with full-blown Dom!Naruto and Sub!Sasuke. They are deeply in love with each other, so Porn With Feelings. 

 Take my virginity away by Skyheaven @0skyheaven0 Growing up in a homophobic household, Sasuke never got to experience any romantic or sexual connection. Now that he's an adult, he's afraid no one would want a complete virgin like him. Through an app he finally meet someone who sparks his interest and agrees to rid Sasuke of his cursed virginity to give him the courage to start his real life, his sex life. Shock hits him though when on the other side of the door stands no one other than his old classmate and rival Naruto. - Sasuke is 26 years old, gay and virgin. He wants to get rid of his virginity, and fate gives him Naruto to be his first. As I mentioned earlier, this is NaruSasu only. There are mentions of the use of toys. Basically, this fic is quality first-time fanfic. (Consent is hot as hell.) NaruSasu | First time | light Dom/Sub | Cum eating | light Spanking | Fluff and Smut | Porn With Feelings | Modern AU (15,730)

Steal all that I am by Skyheaven @0skyheaven0 Three times that Naruto stole Sasuke's control over his own body, turning him into a horny, submissive, dirty mouth and three times Naruto stole Sasuke's heart, making him stronger, weaker and a whole lot happier. - It's a fantastic continuation of the first fic with a deep dive into their relationship with amazing smut (they delve deeper into their kinks). NaruSasu | moderate Dom/Sub | Cum eating | Spanking | Rimming | Dildos | Fluff and Smut | Porn With Feelings | Modern AU (12,953)

 Tonight I'm yours by Skyheaven @0skyheaven0 Sasuke is devastated from an explosive meet with his homophobic parents. Luckily, his boyfriend Naruto shows him his bag of toys to improve the mood. - Full-blown Dom!Naruto/Sub!Sasuke play, healthy BDSM relationship.  Naruto is so passionate in this role, and Sasuke submits so beautifully for details read the tags.  (I love the part where Sasuke is coming out, and this isn't a fairy tale but a harsh reality and how Naruto helps Sasuke to process his feelings. I will focus on these smut rec posts, mostly on smut reviews. I am sorry if I don't describe the plot that much.) NaruSasu | Dom/Sub | Rough Sex | Bondage | Face-Fucking | Nipple Play | Rimming | Sex Toys | Dildos | Size Kink | Spanking | Creampie | Fisting | Fluff and Smut | Porn With Feelings | Modern AU (15,202)

Enough by IvvyMoon (blue_jack) What lengths will Naruto go to in order to give Sasuke what he needs? - This author is a master, no pun intended, in writing Sub/Dom smut. This is just exceptional. There are so many complicated feelings in this session, but how full of passion this is... It's just a must-read for this smut section. Also, check out the Master/pet NOT finished fic Sasuke, My Pet. NaruSasu | Dom/Sub | public Blow Jobs | Sex Toys | Impact Play | Nipple Play | Spanking | Blindfolds | Porn With Feelings | Angst | Modern AU (11,345)

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Just a short ask spring boarding off that Marinette quote to Adrien in revelation about seeing good in people.

Just, think about how it's phrased. 'That's what I love about you, you always want to see the good in people, etc etc.'

This has two very icky contextual add ons.

1)Marinette doesn't always want to see the good in people. For a magical girl heroine? Eww? If she's som le jaded AF proto-Libertarian then why are we using her for a lens? I don't feel this dialog lines up with the rest of the show, but it is speaking directly to the audience so the impact is still important.

2)The tone here is incredibly paternalistic. 'Oh Adrien, my equal and boyfriend, you're just a little guy who doesn't know any better. Don't worry, I'm here to explain how the world works to you.'

This is extra squicky with the Gabe parallels the show has intentionally drawn *and* the way the S5 finalé shook out.

Neither of these points is me trying to 'bash Marinette.' I feel she is very much being used as a direct mouthpiece without character-driven motive here. It's just another tick in the 'Do they really think this is healthy?' ledger. It seems like they do, and *that* is problematic.

I've said it before, but for a show whose theme song literally talks about the power of love, it really doesn't show practice what it preaches.

Nobody's saying trust can't be taken advantage of, but the show always loves jumping to the conclusion that the second someone is mean to you, you shouldn't try to help them out at all.

Hell, I've seen an actual magical girl show pull off this lesson far better: Healin' Good Precure. What makes Nodoka's refusal to help Daruizen is that the decision is given a lot of weight to it. Nodoka acknowledges how much of a hypocrite she is choosing not to help the literal virus who made her life miserable, while Dariuzen himself showed he wasn't actually going to change his ways, making it clear that he was actually trying to take advantage of Nodoka's kindness.

This is how the lesson should have been handled. We needed to see more internal struggling from Marinette for her to come to this conclusion and write Chloe off as beyond helping, or at the very least, emphasize that kindness won't be enough to help her change her ways.

[princelylove]

How have you been your highness? I see there’s still a lot of demand for Leone in your court. Let me add to that. I remember reading in a post of yours from a while back that Leone would kill for his darling. Is that right? What would a person have to do to get on his list? Or is it like everything else he does and is purely in the moment? There’s also the fact his darling could totally walk in on him doing it which would be awful for him, but what would he do if darling is into that. Maybe they don’t want to admit it, but it does something for them.

I'm well.

Leone's... he's not possessive, well he is, but he mainly acts out of overprotective urges. It's fear. It's anger. How could someone treat you so horribly, how could someone do that to his angel?

Leone normally falls for those be believes to be better than himself in some way. If someone tries to harm you, and he's right there, he's going to do whatever he can to just stop it. Sometimes, when a threat is so big, you just act out of instinct and- ah. They're dead. He bashed their head in, right in front of you, in front of someone who should never have to see any of the shit he does all day.

He's actually on the verge of tears. Leone won't regret it- he doesn't care about the blood, the mess is nothing he can't clean up, but he cares about how you see him. You shouldn't see his face contort in such a way- in disgust, in a fit of rage at the injustice, in anything that isn't the love he's been giving you. God, he ruined it. You're safe, and that's all that really matters, but he's probably altered the dynamic permanently.

He doesn't feel good about it until you hug him. Put your head in his chest and squeeze, show him you still think he's safe. His insecurity really knows no bounds, of course he's safe he just killed someone that was about to kill you, but it's just... not something he'd like to do in front of you again. Let's just stay here for a few minutes, hours...

Leone doesn't plan his kills, but he can fully intend to jump somebody that's wronged right in front of him. He's in a gang. They do that sometimes. I suppose it depends on the severity- if it's someone who broke your heart, he'll give them a hard time if he sees them, but he's not going all out for some loser.

The day you opened up to him about your trauma relating to a certain someone was different. He usually cringes when people say they'll kill someone in situations like that- offer some empathy, you big brute. It just sort of hits something in the back of his head, this person needs to die for what they did to you. It's more of a fantasy than anything else- Leone won't go out of his way for it, not when you're safe "at home," but he'll think about it extensively.

It hits him when he washes the dishes the most. He scrubs feverishly to get tonight's stains off of the plate he's currently manhandling- it's full on autopilot mode at this point, especially considering he's normally the one that does the dishes.

Truly, all he can think about is taking a knife to the guy's abdomen. He's not the gentle type, he wants it to open it right up. Let it breathe and get some fresh air, some nice sun. Doesn't that sound nice, don't you think your intestines have the right to be re-homed?

He pops back into reality when he sets a glass down and it clacks a bit too loudly. What a nice, stress relieving fantasy that he'll shove to the back of his subconscious.

Leone has more important things to take care of, like his darling. If it's not immediately threatening them, it doesn't exist and it's not going to come get them.

You know, until it does.

Then he'll handle it. There's a reason why Leone's happy to play guard dog for his darling all night, he knows he's physically capable of protecting his darling. Even if he doesn't have a stand that's good for combat, he's good at it by himself.

Leone doesn't really notice his darling's reaction to it. If it's not disgust with him, or anger, or anything bad, he can sleep that night and live with himself. He's going to repress that he did this anyway, I doubt he'll remember it in a few weeks. Oh, yeah, I did break that guy's neck. Happy you're safe.

Leone doesn't do well with subtle hints. Responding well and responding well are different, Leone's just happy he's still allowed in his darling's life. You'd have to flat out tell him, and if you don't recognize it yourself, how is he supposed to?

He's a little slow. You'd have to consistently give more than a little reaction to certain behavior you enjoy for him to pick up on it- what, you like when he stands between you and Guido? You like it when he moves you to a safer spot? You like when he checks on you?

Of course a partner that's protective is attractive, but if you think it's hot when they kill someone for you, you like someone that's overprotective. Don't reward the small behaviors, reward the big ones. Puppy only gets a treat when he does a trick.

[teecupangel]

Just binge watched Lucifer on Netflix and now I present to you:

Desmond Miles survives 2012 (Desmond Miles Lives truthers, where ya at?), gets the hell outta dodge from the temple with new POE powers, and gets hired to work at Lux in LA. Meets his new boss and both of them are like, "!"

Lucifer instantly knows this boy is hella special because, damn does his soul reek of Isu Bullfuckery. (Headcanoned God and his Angels are sort of a rival interdimensional species to Isu, and God is the one who supposedly gave humans free will... idk I never paid attention to bible study anyway.)

Does the whole, "what do you desire?" schtick and Desmond, due to POE powers and Isu Bullshittery, wonders 'why the fuck is actual Satan here in LA?'

I imagine a platonic bromance relationship between these two. Y'know? 'Cause on the one hand we have the Reluctant Ruler of Hell and on the other hand the Reluctant Savior/Sacrificial Lamb of Humankind.

Lucifer could offer safety and protection from whoever Desmond is hiding from, while Des can be his bartender/bouncer/very much-needed BFF. And come on, I betcha good ole Lucy boy (and Maze) would absolutely enjoy dragging a couple a lot of Abstergo people Vidic down to Hell for multiple crimes against humanity(i.e. kidnapping and unethical human experimentation which results in mental instability.)

I’m all in for this idea. Desmond and Lucifer being bash brothers, yes please. Just imagine the chaos these two would get to because they're both morally dubious? XD

Also, just imagine how much faster Chloe would be finishing her cases with Desmond’s Eagle Vision? She would have two cheat codes with her this time.

Anyway, I’m going to focus on how we can integrate Lucifer into AC more in this one.

Before anything, just a sorta fun trivia: Lucifer has a little cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths and he talks to John Constantine, implying they have some sort of history together. John Constantine is played by Matt Ryan who voiced and mocap’ed Edward Kenway XD

We will be keeping this contained to Lucifer though but you can totally add a John Constantine cameo and set it during the time Desmond is working in Lux (and you can totally add Desmond feeling some sort of longing and sorrow because John Constantine sounds and looks familiar to his Bleed of Haytham Kenway)

Alright, with that little trivia out of my system, let’s talk about how we can push Lucifer into AC canon.

(You might not have paid attention to bible study but my religion teacher was so boring he had to implement a rule that there should be no other notebook/books related to other subjects on our table during class because we kept doing other subjects when he’s lecturing us soooooo I was bored enough to read the bible he made us bring every class. I'm sure he'll be proud I'm using what I learned in his class for fic related things XD)

Let’s talk about God in Lucifer’s show. He’s obviously based on the Judeo-Christian God. Now, we have no confirmation if that said God does exist as an Isu in Assassin’s Creed BUT we do have a leeway we can use to make it easier to integrate the characters from Lucifer into Assassin’s Creed.

The Templar Order uses the phrase “May the Father of Understanding guide you”. Now, this is based on the Isu triad that pops up a bit.

The one we’re more familiar with is the Capitoline Triad where Tinia is known as the “Father of Understanding”.

However, there is an earlier iteration of this triad.

The Isus who created humans.

And the one to hold the title of ‘Father of Understanding’ during that time is Yaldabaoth.

From Wikipedia

Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God, and the Demiurge, "creator" of the material universe.

Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the Unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God.

If we use the statements above and the fact that Yaldabaoth is considered one of the creators of mankind, we can set up God as another Isu scientist who had an alternate idea of a workforce but his idea was pushed aside and Yaldabaoth’s project with the other two Isu scientists moved forward.

God, in anger, created his ‘children’ together with the Goddess. And, to complete the triad, we’ll add Lilith as an Isu as well instead of Adam’s first wife. The three of them (although Lilith has a more advisory role to this entire thing and is actually working on her own workforce idea) created the ‘Angels’, trying to one-up all the data they could get from Yaldabaoth’s project to make them better than humans.

They are. Unfortunately, that meant they were also… shall we say… ‘freer’ than humans as well. God knew that the Isus would see them as defective and, not only that, many would find what they have done as some form of betrayal and being stripped of their rank and status would be the lightest sentence the Isu would give them. So God and Goddess kept the Angels a secret, and passed them off as human slaves while Lilith went her merry way and continued to work on her personal workforce.

And now we come to the whole ‘gave mankind freewill’.

So many like to point at Lucifer as being the serpent that gave Eve the forbidden fruit. Let’s use it. Lucifer, being one of God’s first children, takes an Apple of Eden and presented it to Eve who used it to start the Human-Isu war. Lucifer takes up arms to join the humans.

Things get super messy when they find out about the impending Solar Flare and God and Goddess decided to add their consciousness to a device called ‘Heaven’. (In this setup, Goddess!Charlotte would be like a more ‘questionable’ setup of an Isu consciousness overwriting a human’s consciousness). Their children (who did have the kind of body that would survive a solar flare and were more or less immortal) were tasked with guarding ‘Heaven’.

Except Lucifer who, as punishment for starting the whole Human-Isu war, was tasked to guard a device called ‘Hell’. He guarded it together with Lilith’s ‘children’, the demons.

What these two devices do will be a mystery but they are connected to the Gray in some way and to the Calculations. Perhaps it’s even the actual database of all the Calculations and, by that very definition, it housed all the knowledge, memories and emotions of every living thing in the world.

What defines them as a person.

What defines their soul.

And, from there, we can just integrate all Celestial things in the show as this entirely more advanced workforce’s ‘code words’. (And the devices are connected and that’s why God could boot the Goddess into hell)

By the time 2013 rolls around, Lucifer already owned Lux for a few years now and Desmond applies as a bartender as he’s had enough of all these Assassin-Templar BS to last him a lifetime. He saved the world, this is his damn retirement plan.

Lucifer sees him and goes ‘how interesting, an actual human-POE hybrid.’ while Desmond sees him and goes ‘why does he feel… familiar?’ because his Isu genes and POE-hybridness is giving him signals that Lucifer is definitely not human BUT he ain’t an Isu too.

He’s… Isu-adjacent.

Like Maze.

So Desmond continues to work there and Lucifer finds the perfect time to do the whole “what do you desire?” and Desmond’s POE-hybridness just kicked in.

We’ll make it in this fic that all the Apples are connected to one another and they have a ‘shared memory space’ so Desmond ‘remembers’ that this is the smug bastard who gave the Apple to Eve.

And, because of his limited knowledge of religion, he goes “Why the fuck is actual Satan here in LA?!”

(side note: some count Satan and Lucifer as two different beings but, in this case, we’ll just make Satan another name for Lucifer)

So now they both showed their hands. Lucifer just blatantly showed he wasn’t human and Desmond just showed he has Isu-related knowledge.

Cue an entire night of trying to get drunk while talking about what the fuck happened to them (with special mention to their daddy issues and the whole reluctant ruler of hell and the ‘more-or-less pushed into it’ savior/sacrifice)

At the end of their heart-to-heart, Desmond becomes Lucifer’s main confidant and slowly becomes his BFF. Lucifer uses his mojos to keep Desmond hidden from both Assassins and Templars.

Also… it’s not just Abstergo’s that in his shitlist. William Miles is there as well, that’s for damn sure.

Another subplot we can add is that Lucifer ‘asking’ Chloe to look into Abstergo just so he can, you know… ask them… what they desire?

Other unorganized notes:

What do we do with Juno? I set it to 2013 so Desmond dealt with Juno before peacing out to be a random bartender. Hey, if Ubisoft can do it in the comics, we can take out Juno with one paragraph… maybe even one sentence.

Desmond could see through Maze’s shapeshifting. Whenever he uses Eagle Vision, he sees Maze’s true form.

Actually, Desmond’s Eagle Vision has been powered up by his POE-hybridness that he sees EVERYONE’s true form. His only description of Lucifer’s form? “Bright as fuck.” (this also means Desmond knows Michael by 'sight')

Also, Amenadiel? He looovvveess Desmond’s Shirley Templars.

Lucifer’s deals? He has a connection to Hell and, because of that connection, he’s connected to the Calculations as well. In this case, any deal he makes impacts the Calculations slightly so the person making the deal would get what they want.

Also, this:

[lover-of-mine]

You said something about "do I over judge Tommy". In regards to the age difference.. and I just wanted to add this perspective. I would never accept him as end game because I ship Buddie. But in 4, I actually did think he was cute at the end. I did have to let go of that in general I do not like unconcentual lip locks no matter your orientation. But like the mouth static ext.. I didn't hate it......

But then we are clearly told the Tommy we saw, and to be clear, we really didn't see him until the end of the episode, the whole of the episode revolved around Buck watching Eddie.. Well, that was all from Bucks tinted glasses. Tim made sure we knew this. So, from episode 5 and on, we see the actual Tommy. I don't feel bad for judging him because it was an absolute personality flip. He seems disinterested in actually courting or charming Buck. He has no new relationship energy vibe in regards to Buck. There is no excitement to his vibe. So me personally, I don't judge my reaction to the daddy joke because it lines up. He thinks Buck is hot and just wants a sexual relationship with someone pretty and younger. I don't get why that opinion can be controversial. It's all I saw. The show made no attempt to show a deeper connection. Or the fact that in the beginning, when he is hanging out with Eddie that he has any interest in Buck. I mean, they could have given me a scene of "Hey, you should invite Buck along," from him to Eddie. But they actively didn't. So why should I invest more into a pairing? The show clearly doesn't so why should I?

Yk, I even added hater to my description just because I got annoyed, but something I always do is try to be objective when I'm posting this stuff, I try to back what I'm saying up with canon at all times, and sure, I can get aggressive if I'm mad, but I'm not going around calling people names. I did stay neutral about the relationship until it got unbearable (which was pretty fast since I have been called homophobic since 703 but...) and I discuss bt with @the-tomorrow-road quite a bit and they bring me back to that objectivity, and the other day they said something along the lines of "now you're just looking for reasons to bash him" and I know that, at this point, I want to dislike the guy, but, the idea we are not supposed to believe the relationship is gonna last and the idea that we are not supposed to like Tommy are two different things. A lot of the problems with Tommy is the reaction to him. BT is firmly in the background of the show, it's kinda like Ali or Ana, the relationships never stood a chance but we were never encouraged to dislike them, but there was never a fandom around them, so we were never thinking this hard if should we like or dislike them, yk? They were just there with the not-so-occasional misogyny-fueled bashing. But Tommy on the other hand, yes, the relationship is not being presented to us as having endgame potential, but as Lottie likes to remind me, if it was as bad as we make it seem, the scene with Bobby in 709 wouldn't go that way. So, I know I'm not supposed to be invested in the relationship, but I cannot tell if my dislike for Tommy is about what the show is telling me or the general HORRIBLE experience I'm having with him in fandom, Tommy being presented as a not that invested boyfriend doesn't automatically mean he's being presented as a bad person. Yes, he was painted in a bad light during the begins episodes BUT we are supposed to believe he evolved, the show did give the idea that gay excuses complacency, he was scared for himself and hid behind his privilege, which isn't great, but Tommy got a cake when he transferred, he helped when Chim called in two different situations, he got mentioned by him in another, and given his general s7 persona, that feels like part of his personality, he just doesn't warm up to people the way we would expect, and that can just be an aspect of his character construction, not as something that's being designed for us not to like him, but instead is just there so we won't think he's a good long-term match for Buck because he doesn't match Buck's energy. Bad boyfriend doesn't automatically mean bad person. And there's also the way that not being the type boyfriend we expected also doesn't mean bad boyfriend. I know I'm not supposed to love him when it comes to Buck, but I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel about him outside of Buck.

But in the end, what I know is that Tommy in 704 had to be presented that way to justify bi Buck. They needed the audience to believe Buck would want him because Buck has been presented as a womanizer. Ever since then, they have been making the relationship look less and less like something that would be good for Buck beyond the honeymoon phase. But the relationship being doomed doesn't necessarily mean they are trying to make Tommy into a bad person, because for the most part, he's just there. I do agree the show didn't give us any reason to be invested in the relationship, so I'm not, but yeah, this is my mental conflict when it comes to him.

[oxydiane]

'So...' Harry stands right in the middle of Sirius' room entrance, his hands fidgeting and his eyes looking anywhere but at his Godfather, bashful. 'Uhm...'

Sirius raises an eyebrow. 'Yes, Harry dear?' Harry groans and Sirius smiles.

'I told you to stop! It's not funny anymore!'

'Nonsense. I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, why don't you sit here and tell me what's troubling you, sweetie-pie?' Harry's eyes widen at that last sentence, any annoyance at Sirius' cheesy nicknames gone as his cheeks colour red. Sirius' eyebrow arches once again. 'Don't tell me you thought you were being slick with that?'

More frustrated groans leave the boy's lips as he makes his way to Sirius' bed, sitting down and pulling his knees against his chest.

'This is stupid. How do you always know?'

'Come on, Haz, I changed your diapers and walked around with baby vomit on my clothes –'

Harry screeches in an attempt to stop his Godfather from bringing up any more embarrassing shenanigan, but Sirius is hardly deterred.

'I held you in my arms as you cried after that kid told you Santa wasn't real and I actually got you that Snitch toy –'

'And then you showed up at his parents' house and gave them an angry rant, saying that if they want to taint their children so young they should at least make sure they don't go around ruining others.' The teen adds painfully.

'Of course, I did, nobody is allowed to make my pumpkin –' a whine. 'pie cry. So, out with it, what's wrong?'

'I...' With a deep breath, he shuts his eyes close. 'I think... I think I might, I don't... I'm not sure – I think I may fancy someone?'

The statement is met with silence and Harry is afraid to look at his Godfather, feeling his cheeks burn. God, this is embarrassing.

It's only after he hears the sound of an ink bottle smashing against the floor, and feels Sirius' hands hold both his arms, that he cracks an eye open and sees his Godfather crouched right in front of him.

'Who is it?'

'Uh –'

'Bambi, who is it? It's Ron, right?'

Harry is sure his face must resemble a bell pepper. 'H-How –?' but Sirius squeezes his shoulders before he can finish that sentence.

'I bloody knew it. Of course, it's the redhead, oh Moony is going to pay up –' the muttering comes to a halt when Harry clears his throat, trying to get Sirius' attention back. 'Oh, yes, of course, you know it's totally alright to like a friend, especially at your age, right baby? Liking a boy is not the end of the world, I mean, especially when they so clearly like you ba –'

'So,' Harry interrupts him before Sirius can get lost in his rambling. 'You are... alright with it? You're not freaking out?'

'Oh, I'll have my freaking out over how fast my little one is growing later, probably after a few glasses of wine, which you know you aren't allowed –' Harry frowns, he was allowed a sip of wine from his Godfather's glass sometimes, on occasions. 'But now, I want to know everything. So? Your best friend?'

Harry's face heats up once again. 'Yeah... It came out of nowhere!' Sirius nods in understanding before taking a seat beside his Godson, ready to ask for every detail.

[corrodedcoughin]

Hello, so @metal-dads and @kkpwnall made some truly excellent points of Christmas pun lover Eddie and I’m here to add some nonsense

I'm thinking as soon as it turns to the first of December the campaign turns to 'elf-fire' and all of the party has to create elf-sonas. The whole story is that they have to slay Satan, oops sorry, Santa (‘Did you hear that everyone? sleigh? oh, you did? well, I didn't hear any laughing, so I'll say it again and maybe this time you'll get it. oh, you don't find it funny Gareth? well look who has a life-threatening curse that means they are always at half hp, its Ga-wreath the christmas elf! Shut Up! if you appreciated my comedic genius, you wouldn't be in this mess’)

As the weeks go on he slowly adds and adds to his santa costume but none of the red tones match, the beard is just cotton balls glued to an old tshirt and he's doused his hair in talc to make it white that just ends up coating everything when Eddie starts getting into the game and shaking his head at each roll of the dice.

Each time Eddie makes an atrocious christmas pun, be it at the club or out in the wild, the party laugh too enthusiastically, knowing the vengeance he'll take out on them if he doesn't.

Then on the final night, Steve comes to pick the kids up but he's early and outside is freezing so he takes himself inside to sit in on the last part of the campaign. Eddie makes yet another terrible play on festive words and all of 'elf-fire' laugh too loud and too long. When they stop Steve just looks up and states quite plainly and unbothered

'dude, that was shit'

The party go silent, but then they realise, Steve doesn't have a character, he isn't at risk in this situation. They all cheer much to Steve's confusion and Eddie whips his head around, feeling brave in his dungeon master persona. Stares Steve down and mischeviously smiles 'hmm don't like my puns? maybe you should find a way to shut me up then'

and Steve? Steve didn't get his reputation for nothing, sure his heart is beating like a hummingbird, and he feels lightheaded and the thought off what Eddie is proposing but he doesn't let it show, not yet, not when he doesn't know if Eddie is serious

'oh no santa is mad at me, have I been bad?' with a roll of his eyes and smirk of his own.

Eddie turns immediately back to the party face as red as his Santa hat and ploughs back into the game, maybe not so focused as he had been before. The campaign is successful, absolutely annihilating Santa/satan as Eddie dramatically re-enacts the death (‘and to all a good fright ho..ho…ho…AND SCENE’)

If Steve hangs back after the kids file out and gets back to the car with a bashful smile and white powder suspiciously similar to the talc in Eddies hair on his face and clothes well, that's Dustin's mystery to solve. And he will, have no doubts about it.

[cherryredstars]

hi hii cherry !! i love love love ur shit fr 😩

i saw this jjk's gojo fanfic the other day by @hannzai (shoutout bc also a cool writer !!) in passing where reader was his son's ex n they got revenge on him by sleeping w his dad (can't add link :/) n my mind couldn't help but end up thinking abt how the concept would be so fun to apply to miggy

i was thinking non-spider au, billionaire-ceo!single-dad!miguel who had his son, gabe (the second gabriel o'hara bc miggy loves his baby brother but has to give his kid a nickname for a distinction), young (i specifically thought of 20-22 but u could always change it to younger for a teen pregnancy thing, i just wanted him in his forties 💀). with a baby mama that walked out. miguel was a big family man nonetheless and had always made time for gabe n his family, made sure to raise him good. but somehow, his kid turned out a womanizing brat who had zero respect for others—the complete opposite of what miguel had taught n raised him to be. n it frustrates him to no end bc he doesn't know where he went wrong.

one day, gabe randomly tells him over dinner that he met someone (reader, ofc) a little older (i'm thinking four years older, so gabe is 22 n reader is 26 bc it's a good age gap for her n mig) n started dating them seriously n miguel was so surprised but he was so proud n so happy for his son, miggy himself didn't care too much for romance bc even after a little over two decades, he still thinks of how his baby mama left him n w his line of work, trust issues were necessary. but he was so happy n proud of his son !! he met reader very few times, once over dinner and a few times as his son's date to an event/ gala they were invited to n he was so glad that his boy was settling for someone so good n mature n intelligent n elegant n pretty and—

but then he realized it was all for naught be his son slept around anyw, regardless of the fact that he was supposed to be committing to someone, miggy questions his life decisions pt. ii.

reader ofc knows she's totally being cheated on, but she persevered. not be she's in love w gabe or anything, she doesn't even really like him, she was just lonely bc she only moved to nueva york recently for her job n she hadn't made any good friends yet so she's clinging :((

then it's gabe's 23rd birthday bash, they're like two months into dating, reader was hoping to get his attention that night. she wore a new dress that showed her off, shaved, spent hours on hours getting ready to look pretty so that her so-called ‘boyfriend’ would acknowledge her, only to be stumped at the party when gabe was alr sucking face with some other girl, surrounded by other women dressed skimpier than her n didn't even glance at her once. so she just ends up trying not to cry at some balcony, trying to still feel pretty bc she really did like her dress, she's regretting sm bc y did she even decide to go for someone younger, anyw, that was stupid n desperate—she always liked older guys anyw.

n guess who ends up seeing her?? her bf's hot dad!!!!!!

he approached her bc he preferred a familiar face n was never one for parties, but then he sees her crying n he immediately knew why. n for some reason, he wanted to comfort her, she was too pretty to be crying over his stupid manwhore son, anyway. he was too young to understand. miguel was older, he had the experience. he could treat her better—wait, y was he thinking that?? that's still his boy's gf.

but he just feels so so bad for her :(( maybe he should just show her exactly how she should be treated :(( starting by how to properly receive an o'hara dick ;(( (yes nsfw pls if u don't mind)

(she immediately ran off to yell at gabe from a distance n tell him she's breaking up w him ((bc she's not a cheater but which he hardly cared anyw)) before running back to pounce on papi o'hara and kiss him silly.)

optional but i think it would be funny for the next morning to happen n gabe either finds his dad n (ex) gf cuddling naked beneath the sheets in bed or seeing her in his kitchen making coffee (reader does not like coffee she made it for someone else ;)) while trying to nurse his hangover, not remembering that she was there n asking why she was, only for her to say that she was w his dad now n gabe pretty much fell out of his chair.

(preferably afab!reader pls !! also, i thought of reader being slightly more innocent ((doesn't partake in vices; drinking n smoking n all)) n kind of a good girl so do w that as u will <3 I'm so so sozzy this is so long i had to shrink it so it's not that long but i use too many words to summarize things that it's still so long anyw i'm hoping u like it enough to pick it up tho if there aren't roo many requests :D this idea has been stuck in my head for days since i read that oneshot i'm so stupid for this AGH)

Here you go!!!

[overlord-of-chaos]

Thoughts on the end of Good Omens 2, as an aroace

So, I'm going to preface this with a few things, since I would very much like anyone who does choose to read this to do in good faith, and I would like to establish my own. Firstly, this is absolutely not a criticism of anybody's headcanons. Crowley and Aziraphale, of all characters, have incredible potential for headcanoning, and I love seeing the fandom's wide and varying interpretations. Secondly, what you see here is not a complete and entire reflection of my opinions of the characters mentioned or the show. It is very specifically me airing my grievances and concerns and venting because I cannot cope with not saying anything at all. I love Good Omens, but I am not going to add caveats to my every sentence to make sure that you, the reader, are certain I'm not just bashing one of the most fantastically queer shows I know. Thirdly, if you vehemently disagree with everything I'm saying here, you're free to ignore it. This is not for you. You're also free to ignore it if you do agree, but at this point I'm going on the assumption that that'll be a smaller portion of whatever audience this reaches anyway. Fourthly, if you are in a similar position to me and sort of spiralling at the prospect of your comfort QPR not being a QPR anymore, then maybe you should read the bullet points at the end. I've sort of got my shit together by then.

So, that said, I would like to take this post as an opportunity to say that I worry about where Good Omens is going. Not in a plot-related sort of way as such, we all know it'll all be alright in the end, more in terms of representation - specifically, whether, by the end of the show, I'll be able to see myself in the characters anymore.

Now, why is this? Well, as you may have guessed from the title, I'm aroace. And when I first saw the Good Omens show, I hadn't really been involved in the fandom at all. This is due to a variety of reasons, including that I wasn't on any of the platforms that enable me to engage in fandom now, and because I'd only read the book a couple of months prior. I didn't know, as I do more now, that one of the main interpretations of the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale before the show came out was romantic, and I wasn't expecting to see that in the show. I don't tend to expect romance in most circumstances. I more end up picking up on the common tropes used to develop romantic relationships in fiction and observe with little enthusiasm as a character dynamic 'blossoms' into something I cannot comprehend. (This is not to say I dislike romance in everything. I simply dislike it being the one and only significant dynamic in pretty much everything all the time.)

I was well aware that the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale in the show had been expanded and developed along the lines of a romantic relationship, and I really liked the way it was handled. But at no point did I think this meant that their relationship had to be read as romantic. I thought I could see something of myself in them, and see a relationship that was something other than romantic. At the risk of sounding insulting, I did not feel like their relationship could be anything as simple as a romance. I saw two beings who very deeply loved each other in a nonromantic way, and thought hey, maybe this is a dynamic I could see myself in at last. Maybe this isn't the same old kind of love story.

I thought, perhaps naively, that no matter the hinting from the cast and the way that season 1 was set up, there would always be the room to interpret Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship as platonic (or queerplatonic, specifically, as I read it). And then...well, I imagine you all know what happened then.

From a more objective (probably not quite the right word, but can't think of a better one) analytical perspective, the kiss was one of the hardest-hitting moments in any story I've ever watched, or read. The setup was amazing, the acting was impeccable, and I could not imagine anything else having the same impact. As Neil Gaiman himself has said, no one could deny that it happened. I think it was categorically the right narrative choice. That's not what I'm debating here.

What hurts, what really fucking hurts, is that a lot of the time, I don't feel like there's space for my aroace/queerplatonic reading of their relationship anymore. Some of that's on me, because headcanon is headcanon and there's no reason why I should assume my reading of the relationship is wrong, or canonically impossible. (I mean, Ineffable Bureaucracy is canon. Anything is possible in this fandom.) However, it does mean that I do not quite have the same ability to bury my head in the sand and say that Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is not set up to be read specifically as a romance.

What worries me is that I am very well aware that I am in a disappointed minority when thinking that their relationship will continue to unfold by hitting key romantic plot points until the door for an aroace interpretation isn't even left ajar. I am in a minority that the writers of Good Omens will likely never hear, and even if they do, I certainly wouldn't expect them to change the coming plot for me.

Most people take the kiss as explicit confirmation that the love between Crowley and Aziraphale is romantic. There's the occasional 'it's okay, they can still be ace!' post dotted around, but no one seems to be talking about the possibility of them being aromantic anymore. They weren't doing that much previously, admittedly, but all I seem to see, from other aro people included, is discussion around how they're feeling about the romance between them being made canon, while I'm sitting here thinking is that the only thing that kiss is allowed to mean? It means that I find myself wondering whether I should give up on seeing the relationship as nonromantic, if only so that I am not as disappointed when season 3 rolls around. (There had better fucking be a season 3. Amazon better fucking pay the writers, pay the actors and renew shit instead of just cancelling it.)

I think one of the main things that makes me uncomfortable is the assumption that the next logical step in Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is sexual. Because that's how these things normally go, right? You have an ostensibly platonic relationship with romantic undertones, then it becomes explicitly romantic, and then the next 'natural' progression is sexual. It's the same thing every single time. I think it's been vaguely mentioned that they're asexual by virtue of not being human (almost all ace rep being in nonhuman characters is a whole other essay and not something I'm going to get into here), by Neil a few times and in the book, but since I wasn't expecting there to be so little space to read their relationship as nonromantic, I don't know that I can continue to expect it to seem nonsexual too.

And even if that's not the route they take, I don't know that I can trust them not to play up a romantic dynamic, particularly when I think a lot of people would be disappointed if the relationship is 'just' platonic, or platonic-leaning. And I get that, I do. We've been queerbaited enough, but that doesn't mean that something not being romantically queer means it isn't queer at all. I have no idea how one would manage to frame a relationship as explicitly and specifically queerplatonic; there isn't really a template for it (though my god would I love for Good Omens to be the show that makes one). I imagine it would be much more realistic to perhaps hope for something that isn't exclusively and explicitly romantic.

One of my concerns, of course, with a queerplatonic route is that it would be upsetting to people who do see them as a romantic couple to have that door be closed to them (I really don't wish an experience like that on anyone), and that it would leave more space for queerphobic assholes to claim that they're 'just friends'. But I've spent my life hoping for a story that doesn't push platonic love to the wayside when there's the potential for romance, especially when the relationship starts out as something brilliantly compelling and nonromantic. I've spent my life trying not to internalise the idea that the way I love, the only way I can love, isn't enough, even when it seems to be the message that's being shouted with almost every story I ever encounter. A lot of the time, it doesn't bother me anymore. I'm used to it by now. But most of the stories I know haven't meant as much to me as Good Omens. I didn't see the same space to read a relationship in a nonromantic way as I did in Good Omens.

Anyway. I figure either I post this, two people read it and then it disappears into the aether, or I wake up tomorrow morning and find I have made enemies of over half the GO fandom. It doesn't really matter. I think I have accomplished what I wanted to do when I started writing, which was to lay everything out logically for myself so that the mounting evidence not in my favour did not seem quite so insurmountable. And honestly? It doesn't anymore. My brain is very often my own worst enemy, and articulating my emotions somewhere means that I can look at all of this and conclude the following:

Most of the reason why I do not think I can view Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship as nonromantic anymore is because everyone else thinks the ending confirms their hopes of it definitely being romantic. If nothing else, I'm genuinely delighted that it's bringing so many people that joy. We all deserve that kind of joy, and all the canonically queer relationships media has to offer. If nothing else, there is so much joy to take in other people's wholehearted adoration of what season 2 meant to them.

Most of my concerns about how season 3 will go are largely unfounded and entirely hypothetical. Most of it hasn't even been written yet, and can't be until the WGA strike is over anyway, so no one can even hint at how it'll go because it is not, in fact, going.

People will read what they will into Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship dynamic, and so can I! Such are the joys of varying interpretation and headcanon and all that jazz.

One kiss does not close any queerplatonic (or aroace) doors. Nor would a hundred. One of the many joys of queerplatonic relationships is that they can be whatever the fuck you want them to be, including a dynamic that would typically be read as romantic, but isn't.

A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one. A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one. A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one, and nothing in the canon of Good Omens has ever stated this not to be true.

No one who is involved in Good Omens has ever at any point, to my knowledge, said that Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship has to be romantic, or even implied that one must see it that way, or that seeing it otherwise means seeing it as lesser. I am reading this into things because I expect it of the world. I should probably stop.

Short of some truly spectacular feats that may or may not be illegal, there is absolutely nothing I can do to influence the people creating the show, so what I get is what I get. If I can't change it, I might as well enjoy it. There's so much to enjoy, after all. No point stressing over maybes.

If you got this far, I am impressed, I'm not sure I'd have read this much. I hope that this post perhaps gives you a little to think about, preferably a positive something. I also hope that you bear in mind that this is a rather venty braindump and should not be taken as a damning indictment of anything or anyone. I'll probably delete this sometime soon, but I was seized by an urge to say something, and so say something I have, even if I probably forgot at least half my original points.

[lavenderlegends]

Okay but "you can hear it in the silence" is DEREK "you are in love" HALE (I guess sterek lol)

you are in love

stiles/derek word count: 4.5k ships mentioned: boyd/erica, lydia/allison, kira/malia characters: stiles, derek, isaac, boyd, erica, lydia, kira, jackson, scott cw: drinking, weed, implied physical abuse, Stiles thinks he's in love with Erica lol

ao3

♞♚♞♚

"I don't really understand," Stiles complains, stretching his legs out across Erica's.

There's a beat. Derek's heart aches.

"What's there to understand?" Erica asks, putting her hands on Stiles' legs. She tugs them in closer to her. "I'm going to marry him one day."

"But first off, you don't talk to each other," Stiles says, shaking his head. "And secondly, Boyd doesn't talk. To anyone."

"He talks to me," Erica says, smugly. "Isn't that right, Derek?"

"Hm?" Derek says, as if he's absentmindedly paying attention and not studying the way Stiles' lips move. "Yeah. He does."

"Okay, well, whatever. I've seen him hanging around Lydia's ex, Jackson." Stiles frowns. "And you know Jackson is bad news."

"He's really not," Lydia mutters, not looking up from her phone.

Derek shifts on the grass. He wants to tune out of this pointless conversation. Everyone here knows that if Erica wants to marry Boyd, she'll probably do just that and marry the guy. But Stiles loves to imagine that Erica’s secretly in love with him and has been since high school. He finally got over Lydia only to get hung up on Erica.

Stiles just loves love, even if he pretends to hate it.

Derek knows this, and often wonders why Stiles can’t see what’s sitting right in front of him. Derek. The guy who has been in love with Stiles since they were about twelve years old. The guy who has never wavered in their friendship, even when Stiles makes it nearly impossible sometimes. The guy who showed up when Stiles’ mom was dying, and the guy who showed up when Danny turned him down for a ‘virginity pact’ and left Stiles crying in the locker room.

But no. Stiles doesn’t see Derek in that way, and that’s fine. It has to be fine. Derek would rather Stiles be in his life than out of it.

“C’mon, the guy cheated on you!” Stiles argues with Lydia now.

“He was going through a sexuality crisis! In high school!” Lydia counters. “If anything, Erica, you should be glad that Boyd has a friend like Jackson. He went from hating his queerness to running the college queer centre. He wouldn’t keep awful company.”

“That’s a great point, Lyds,” Erica says, beaming. She turns back to Stiles. “You’re just worried that Boyd won’t understand that I’m trans, and that he’ll break my heart like every other cis boy out there.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Erica. You’re, like, obsessing over this guy. And he doesn’t even talk!”

“He does too!” Erica gently shoves Stiles’ legs off her. “And if you don’t want to be a supportive friend, then the least you can do is shut up.”

Erica gives Lydia a look and silently, the two of them start packing their things.

“Wait, what just happened?” Stiles asks.

“You were an asshole,” Lydia tells him, her tone dry. Erica stands up and walks away without a word. Lydia pauses to add, “I know you’re all hung up on Erica right now, but maybe don’t bash the guy she likes. It’s not a good look.”

Then Lydia trails after Erica.

Stiles scoffs and looks at Derek. “Can you believe that?”

Derek shrugs. He’d rather not get caught in the middle. Besides, Boyd does talk. Derek’s sure Stiles rarely gives him a chance to, though. He picks at some of the grass, ripping it from the ground, and immediately feeling guilty about it.

“I don’t get women,” Stiles mutters. “What does she see in him?”

What do you see in Erica that you don’t see in me? Derek wants to ask but bites his tongue. Instead, he opts to quietly say, “Why don’t I walk you to your next class?”

Stiles studies Derek’s face, and he can’t help but wonder what Stiles is looking for. Instead of asking, Derek gets up from the courtyard grass and grabs his backpack. He holds out a hand to help Stiles up, and tries to ignore the way his body buzzes at the contact.

"You know, I'm starting to question whether I'm even meant for love," Stiles mutters. "Like maybe I'm just destined to be single for the rest of my life."

Derek snorts, because that's ridiculous.

"What?" Stiles asks, as they head towards the school doors. "I mean, Lydia has refused to look my way once. Not even a tiny little glance or a peek. She was all obsessed with Jackson, and then fell for Allison. And like, sure, they're a great couple, but... I'm always going to wonder what if?"

Derek doesn't respond, but simply holds the door open for him and trails beside him.

"And Erica... she was single all throughout high school, always complaining that no one was ever going to love her -"

"-sounds familiar," Derek teases.

Stiles doesn't hear him though. He keeps going. "And here I am, ready and willing to make our friendship more, and she's suddenly hung up on some guy who doesn't say a word."

Derek's lips part and shut. It's impossible to get him to hear anyone else when Stiles gets on a roll like this.

"And Boyd! Do you think he has any idea what a treasure Erica is? I bet not. I bet he doesn't even see her. And I do." Stiles pauses to glance at Derek. "You think Erica and I would be a good couple, right?"

Derek freezes.

"Yo, Stilinski! I heard you been talkin' shit about me!"

Thank god for Jackson, Derek thinks, as they both spin around to see him coming up the hall.

"I ran into Lydia and Erica. They're both furious with you," Jackson says, coming to a stop in front of them. He claps a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "I'd be pissed at you, but I think their wrath alone will be enough."

"Ha-ha," Stiles says, sarcastically. Then his face pales a little. "Oh shit, are they really mad?"

"Furious, dude," Jackson says. "I just said that."

"Fuck." Stiles hesitates before saying, "Okay. I'll apologize after class. I just..."

"Just what?" Jackson asks, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. "Just talked shit about the guy that Erica's in love with?"

"Well, not exactly--"

"Just forgot your boundaries because you think you're destined to have met your soul mate in high school like your parents did?" Jackson continues. "You do realize that it doesn't always happen like that, right? And you don't have to jump from friend to friend saying you're in love like the boy who cried wolf."

"Well--"

"Food for thought," Jackson says, before gently shoving Stiles' shoulder. "I gotta get to class. But you better apologize before my party on Friday! I don't want any drama!"

"Su--sure," Stiles stammers, as if he doesn't know how to respond for once.

"Always nice to talk, Hale," Jackson says before jogging back the way he came.

"What is going on?" Stiles whines. "It's like no one wants me to be in love with Erica."

Derek glances at Stiles, and then has to look away. He could say, Maybe that's my fault. Maybe it's because everyone knows I'm desperately in love with you. Maybe it's because I've been waiting for you for so long now. But he says nothing.

Instead, he pretends to get a call and tells Stiles he'll catch up with him later.

Instead, he walks down the hall and fights the urge to look back.

Instead, he puts the phone back into his pocket without even an attempt at a fake phone call.

Some days, being in love with your best friend is too much. Even for Derek, who has years of practice at it.

♞♚♞♚

"Oh my god, you came to a party!" Kira says, giggling and clearly already drunk. She throws her arms around Derek's shoulders. "I don't think I've ever seen you at one before!"

Derek laughs, feeling more relaxed tonight than he has all week. He's going to see Stiles again, and maybe lose his tongue, but at least he's calmed down from his mini freakout on Monday. "Hey, Kira. I've been known to party occasionally."

Kira laughs. "Okay, sure. Oh my god! There's someone I've been dying for you to meet!"

Derek lets her take his hand and drag him into the crowd at Jackson's apartment. They make their way out to the balcony where a handsome, but slightly scrawny, guy stands smoking a joint.

"Isaac! This is Derek. I've told Isaac all about you, Derek. You two have a lot in common. And -"

"Kira!" a girl's voice comes from within the apartment.

"And that's my cue. Have fun!" Kira giggles as she runs back into the apartment. Derek hears her shout "Maila!" before the door shuts behind her.

Isaac sighs. "This isn't what you think it is."

"It feels like we've just been set-up," Derek murmurs, walking over to take the joint from Isaac's fingers.

"Yeah, but not in the way you think." Isaac takes a deep breath before he says, "She said you have a big house."

Derek blinks, because that's not what he was expecting. "I... do. It was left to me after my parents passed away."

Isaac winces. "Sorry to hear that, man."

"Do you need a place to crash?" Derek asks, taking another puff of the joint before handing it back to Isaac.

"Something like that," Isaac mutters. He closes his eyes and takes a long drag of the joint. Then he says, "Listen, I like Kira. I trust Kira. And Kira trusts you. So. I'm just going to say I'm in a really bad spot right now, and could use another friend."

Isaac takes a deep breath and offers Derek the joint again. Just then, his sleeve moves down, and Derek sees all he needs to know.

"Yeah, man. Any friend of Kira's is a friend of mine. Get my number from her, and we'll work it out."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Derek says, nodding. "My sisters sort of live with me, but neither of them are around much. Cora's in school on the east coast, and Laura works in New York City. So, the place is kind of lonely, anyway."

"Cool. Thanks."

They stand on the balcony in silence for a few minutes, passing the joint back and forth, and then decide to go inside.

Derek's mind is spinning with what just happened, and perhaps that's why, he doesn't see Stiles coming.

Stiles throws his arms around Derek's neck from behind and swings around to face him. "Derek! I need you, right now."

He doesn't hesitate. He puts his hands on Stiles' waist and is ready to whisk him out of this party when Stiles laughs and stumbles backwards.

"Oh, that's good."

Confused, Derek asks, "What do you need me for?"

"I wanna make Erica see what she's missing!" Stiles says, swaying his hips. He frowns when Derek doesn't budge. "Dance with me, handsome."

Derek feels rusty. Like someone who hasn't danced before. He swallows hard. "I thought you apologized to her?"

"I did! A bunch of times!" Stiles says. "But I guess she's on a mission tonight to prove to me that she's really in love with Boyd. So, I wanna make her jealous."

"And I'm the way to do that?" Derek asks, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

"Duh." Stiles shifts closer to Derek. "Is this okay?"

His mouth is dry. He manages a quiet "yes."

Derek tries to swallow again, but a lump has grown in his throat. It feels impossible, to be this close to Stiles, so suddenly after all this wanting.

Stiles tosses his head back and laughs.

He feels like he's drunk in love, Derek realizes. He sways off-beat to the music with Stiles, and he doesn't care. Being able to touch him... be this close... almost kiss him... it's almost too much.

The world pauses for a moment, and Derek blurts, "You are my best friend."

Stiles grins. "You're mine, too!"

There's a beat of silence between them. And Stiles' eyes grow wide. Does he know? Did he read it on Derek's face?

Derek frowns, untangling himself from Stiles and breaking the spell they were just under. "Sorry, I... I have to go."

"Wait, what?" Stiles asks with a panicked expression. "No, you can't just... leave."

Derek swallows and it feels like a hole just opened up beneath his feet and he's falling.

"Sorry, I got... too stoned."

Stiles' lips part.

"I'll text you," Derek finds himself promising.

He squeezes Stiles' wrist, unaware he was even holding it until now, and then he makes his way through the crowd.

"Hey, Hale!" Jackson's voice comes through. But Derek doesn't know what to do now. So, he rushes out the front door and doesn't look back. For once.

♞♚♞♚

"You gonna tell me what Friday night was about?" Lydia asks, settling in beside Derek at the picnic table in the school courtyard. Derek looks up.

"No-thing," he stumbles. "Just got too stoned."

"One minute, I see you all in love with Stilinski, and the next, you're leaving him on the dance floor." Lydia frowns and lowers her voice. "Derek, are you okay?"

He shrugs, because what is there to say? The only text he received from Stiles was a wtf and the only other message he got over the weekend was from Isaac, who has officially moved into the first spare room.

"Derek," Lydia says, her voice sharp. "Talk to me."

"I don't know, okay? He wanted to make Erica jealous or some shit, and I was too stoned to... I don't know. Deal."

Lydia considers this and then nods. "Idiot."

"Me?"

"No, not you. Stiles. He's being an idiot," Lydia says. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." Lydia shifts on the bench and then says, "I heard what you did for Isaac. He's in one of my classes. A quiet little thing. I'm glad."

"Yeah." Derek leans forward and whispers, "I think... he was..."

"Yeah, me too." Lydia nods. "I've had my suspicions for a few months now. But he's safe now."

Derek leans back and lets out a breath. "Yeah. Yeah, he is."

Isaac had thanked him a thousand times as they moved his stuff in. It was mostly in garbage bags, so Derek's pretty sure he didn't plan on moving quite so quickly. The poor kid was shaking when Derek came to pick him and his stuff up. It's an image he'll remember for a lifetime.

"You're a great guy, Derek. I love Stilinski, I do, but the guy is a bonehead. You could do so much better," Lydia tells him, and Derek sighs. He guesses they're back to that conversation.

Derek looks up at Lydia and quietly asks, "Is that how you feel about Allison?"

Her lips part and close before she shakes her head. "Alright, point made."

"Hey," a familiar voice comes.

They turn to see Kira. She wears a bright smile, but a pair of sunglasses.

"You can't still be hungover from Jackson's party," Lydia says in lieu of a greeting.

"I ammmm," Kira whines, sitting down beside Derek. She groans dramatically before she says, "I just wanted to thank you, Derek. You're a good man. A better man than most."

He doesn't know what to say to that, so he smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders. He squeezes her close.

"Hey! Hands off my man," another voice comes.

Derek really should've picked a less popular spot to eat lunch.

His heart pounds.

Stiles plops down beside Lydia with a wide grin. "Haven't you heard? Derek's taken."

"By who?" Lydia asks, dryly.

"By me." Stiles winks at Derek as if he should play along.

"What!" Kira says, sitting upright. "How drunk was I at Jackson's party? Since when?"

"Since Derek swept me off my feet," Stiles says, grinning.

"Oh my god! I'm so excited for you both!" Kira exclaims, and before Derek can stop her, she says, "He's been in love with you since, what, like ninth grade or something?"

Stiles blinks and looks at Derek. "Wait, what?"

"She's kidding," Derek says, but his voice is tense, and he's not sure a single person at this table believes him. Derek takes his arm back from Kira's shoulders and picks up his sandwich.

"No, no," Kira says, clearly not getting it. "When I met Derek, he was at Erica's house, high as a kite, and talking about you. Told everyone he was in love and--ow!"

Derek looks at Lydia, who has clearly kicked Kira under the table. Lydia snorts. "You can't believe everything Derek says while high, Kira. He also once pretended that he was a knight in shining armour and was going to save us all from a dragon."

Kira laughs. "Did he really?"

"I plead the fifth," Derek mutters.

"So you weren't madly in love with me?" Stiles asks, looking at Derek curiously.

Derek picks up his phone. "Shit, I'm going to be late for class."

That he doesn't have.

"I gotta go."

Anywhere but here.

"Derek, wait--" Stiles starts, but it's too late. Derek scoops up his stuff, shoves it in his backpack, and jogs towards the parking lot.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

♞♚♞♚

"Is it okay if I have a friend over?" Isaac asks when Derek gets home. He hesitates before adding, "I think you even know him. Vernon Boyd. We just have a project to work on and I can't really concentrate in the library and--"

"Isaac," Derek says gently. "Of course you can have someone over. This is your home too."

"Oh. Um. Alright, cool. Thanks." Isaac starts to walk towards the kitchen when he pauses and asks, "Are you alright, man?"

Derek laughs. He doesn't mean to, but the sound bursts out of him anyway. He shakes his head. "I'll be fine."

Isaac frowns, but lets it go for now which is exactly what Derek needs. He crashes on the couch, flipping through Disney Plus aimlessly looking for an easy-watching kids' show to watch.

He's almost half way through his fifth episode when someone knocks at the door. Isaac darts down the hall, pausing in the living room archway to say, "That'll be Boyd."

"Okay," Derek says, absentmindedly.

A few minutes later, Isaac comes into the living room with Boyd and says, "We're going to go in the kitchen, if that's okay. Don't want to--"

"Nah," Derek says, shaking his head. "Study in here. It's more comfortable. I was going to go take a nap anyway."

"Oh! If you're sure." Isaac hesitates before asking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Derek looks at them, with Boyd quietly watching him, and shrugs. "It's dumb."

"I highly doubt that," Boyd says, almost startling Derek with how smooth his voice is. "Isaac told me something was up. Hope that's okay."

"Um. Yeah. It's fine. It's really nothing."

But when Isaac and Boyd settle into the chairs, Derek finds himself talking. A lot. He explains the whole situation starting from ninth grade to this afternoon.

"And I don't really get it," Derek continues, almost out of breath. "Like, why is he using me like this?"

"Sounds like he doesn't get it," Boyd counters.

"Have you told him anything?" Isaac asks.

Derek shakes his head. "No, but I'm sure Kira and Lydia told him after I left today. He hasn't even texted or called or... I don't know. Done anything."

"Sucks," Isaac says.

"Definitely sucks," Boyd agrees.

Derek rubs his face. "What do I do now?"

"Let him go?" Isaac suggests.

"I can't. That's the annoying part," Derek admits. "There's just... so much history. And he's really a great guy. He's just been all obsessed with this idea that he's in love, and I don't think he even really believes it."

"Why do you say that?" Boyd asks, shifting on his chair to lean in. He studies Derek with his intense brown eyes, filled with concern, and Derek melts. No wonder why Erica's mad for him.

"I think he chooses people who are emotionally unavailable so he won't get hurt. Because if he chooses someone real, well, he'd actually be risking something." Derek sighs.

Boyd smiles. "I appreciate you sharing all of this with me, especially because we don't know each other well."

"Ditto," Isaac says. "And my advice? Maybe just... talk to him?"

"Tell him how you really feel. And that's why you can't pretend to see him to make Erica jealous." Boyd pauses before asking, "How do you know Erica wouldn't be jealous, though?"

"She's in love with yo--" Derek catches himself but it's a beat too late.

Boyd blinks, and then a bright grin crosses his face. "Sorry, gentlemen, but I think there's somewhere I need to be."

Isaac laughs. "By all means, man, go get your girl."

Boyd pauses to add to Derek, "Talk to him. He has no idea what's going on in your head. Good luck."

Derek watches in bewilderment as Boyd leaves. He turns to Isaac and asks, "Is that dude for real? He finds out Erica's slightly interested in him and he just... goes to talk to her?"

Isaac laughs. "Yeah. Boyd's been madly in love with her ever since they first met. Said she was a goddess. Claimed she was an angel without her wings."

"And... and he's just going to go tell her?"

"Yeah. He just wanted to be sure that she felt the same for him," Isaac says, before adding, "Why? Hoping Stiles is doing the same?"

Derek exhales. "If only."

♞♚♞♚

Feeling a little more hopeful than before, Derek knocks on Stiles' dorm room door. He doesn't know what he's going to say. But he knows he has to say something. He's been running from this for far too long.

He holds coffee in his hand, realizing that it may be a mistake to give Stiles coffee at midnight, but it's too late now.

Stiles' roommate, Scott, opens the door. "Oh! Derek. Hi."

"Hi, is Stiles here?" Derek asks.

"I don't know what happened between you two," Scott says, carefully. "But ever since Monday, he's been moping around. I'm not even sure he wants to talk to you."

"Yes, he does!" Stiles calls out from somewhere in the dorm room.

Scott frowns, narrowing his eyes on Derek. "If you hurt him, I hurt you. Got it?"

"Got it," Derek says, although he's pretty sure he could win in a fight against Scott. But he's not about to say that.

Scott opens the door for Stiles to slip through.

"Hey," Stiles says.

"Hey. Wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure. Let me grab a sweater."

Stiles slips back into the dorm and Scott gestures that he's watching Derek. He almost wants to tell Scott that he's got this all wrong. It's going to be his heart to break tonight.

A few minutes later, Stiles comes back in a red hoodie. He happily takes a coffee and says, "Let's go."

Derek doesn't know what to say, not even when they get into the elevator, so he stays quiet.

Stiles asks, "Did you hear that Erica and Boyd are officially dating?"

"Oh?" Derek says, as if he didn't already know this. "That's great for them. How... um. How are you?"

"Surprisingly... fine," Stiles says, but his voice sounds stiff.

"That's good."

Their shoulders brush when they both move to exit the elevator. Derek steps back to let Stiles go first.

They don't say anything until they're walking along the path by the pond.

"So, you're in love with me, huh?" Stiles asks.

Derek swallows, unsure what to say. He knew this would come up. Knew that he'd have to admit it tonight. But saying the words seems a lot harder.

"I wish I had known!" Stiles says, when Derek doesn't answer. "Here I am, mooning over these people, begging to be in love like my friends, and here you were. The whole time. But you didn't say anything. Why?"

"Because you weren't mooning over me," Derek mumbles. Suddenly, he's lost his nerve. "I don't know. Why didn't you ever tell Erica you were in love with her?"

"Because I wasn't!" Stiles says.

They both stop walking to stare at each other.

"You weren't?"

"No. I wasn't. I... I see that now." Stiles rubs his hands together. "In fact, I don't think I've ever been in love before. But..."

"But?"

"I don't know," Stiles admits. "I think I'd like to be."

Derek considers this, and then quietly says, "Stiles, would you like to go on a date with me?"

His eyes light up. "Really? Even if I'm not in love with you too?"

Derek smiles. "I've had a long time to be in love with you. Are you sure you're ready for something real?"

Stiles beams. "I am."

Derek holds his hand out and Stiles slips his fingers in between Derek's fingers.

It might not be the love story Derek expected, and it might burn hot and fizzle out, but he's relieved to have finally let his fears go and try.

♞♚♞♚

Three months later...

"Derek! Can you please tell Stiles he can't strip down naked every time he comes over without seeing if I'm home first?" Isaac calls down the hall.

Derek laughs. "Sure thing, Isaac. But you might not want to come into the kitchen."

"Aw, c'mon, man!" Isaac calls back. "In the kitchen? Really?"

"We're making breakfast," Stiles calls out. "But give me a second to put on more than the apron."

Stiles turns to Derek and motions for him to hand over Derek's blue sweater and a pair of sweatpants.

"Isaac is going to kill me if we keep doing this," Derek says.

"Yeah, well, he's going to have to get used to it. I'm not going anywhere."

"No?" Derek murmurs, leaning forward for a kiss. Their lips touch briefly before they hear a groan from the hallway.

"Did you two burn the toast again?"

Stiles and Derek both turn to see the toaster has popped up with black toast. "Crap! Derek, it was your turn to watch the toast."

"It's hardly my fault that you decided to get naked and distract me," Derek says, moving towards the toaster to deal with the burnt toast. He starts to pull it out, wincing at the heat, and glances over his shoulder to see Stiles is fully clothed again. He pouts.

"It's okay," Stiles says, coming up behind him and whispering in his ear. "I love you too, Derek."

It might not be the moment he imagined, but it's theirs, and it's perfect, and that's all that matters.

"Guys, is it safe to come into the kitchen yet?"

Derek laughs.

♞♚♞♚

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Hi! Uhh... How do you think Nathan would be like when he realizes he's in love with you BUT you're totally oblivious about it? And to make the matter worse, you're crushing HARD on that cute guy he's brought in a few times because of... Err... Research assistance and Nathan's just... Losing his shit?!

Maybe perhaps if you could like write an HC...??

Lotsalove!! ♥

Warnings: V light angst, fluff

You're not stupid, so you must be playing dumb.

Right?

Nathan's never met anyone whose intelligence he regards as highly as yours.

So all of those 'subtle' sidelong looks—

All of those brushed-off dinner invitations—

All of those wide-eyed, fascinated replies to the research associate's invitations—

They must be for show.

It's entirely within the bounds. That's the problem.

Maybe you're acutely aware of the associate's interest, and not of Nathan's.

Maybe you're more interested in him, and not in Nathan.

Hypothetically, that's a possibility.

Logically, it's a statistical improbability.

Damon is incredibly useful to Nathan.

A research assistant, he frees up the time that Nathan would typically devote to research.

But he's also someone that you seem to actively be interested in spending time with—

Working, dining, camping, hiking—you name it, and Damon's doing it, you're there.

They're things that Nathan has been doing, but haven't resulted in the same level of your interest.

He could fire Damon.

Ohhhhh, he's thought about it.

But weighing his interest in you, your seeming interest in Damon, and the amount of work Damon takes off of Nathan's plate, it's just not economical.

So he keeps Damon on, and he keeps his goddamn mouth shut when you make fucking goo-goo eyes at his senior Research Associate.

Maybe he hasn't been clear?

Maybe Nathan's been too subtle.

That seems unlikely, considering the fucking hoopla that's he's thrown for your birthdays and work anniversaries.

You get flustered then, too.

You go quiet and nervous when Nathan heaps interest on you.

When Damon does, you make a big show of it.

When Nathan does, you seem to brush it off.

So when this year's work anniversary rolls around, Nathan makes little of it.

It's vindicating to see you confused.

During the morning briefing, Nathan feels the odd gaze thrown toward him. He doesn't answer to it.

When you ask Nathan if there's anything else he wants to cover anything else in status, and he says no, he's vindicated by the brief confusion and disappointment that flickers across your expression.

He gives Damon a task that'll last him the next 36 hours.

And midway through the day, Nathan invites you to dinner.

When you turn up, Nathan is further vindicated and softened by the way your expression cheers and warms.

You're both talkative and bashful throughout the evening, drawing back now and again, as you seem to remember who you're with.

As the the two of you settle in for an after-dinner drink—

"Should I have invited Damon?" Nathan asks.

You shrug, leaning back in your seat. "He's nice."

"Nice?" Nathan repeats. "What about him is nice?"

"I dunno, he's just...He's personable."

"I'm not?"

"Do you want me to answer that truthfully?"

Nathan smiles at your question. You both fully aware of his answer.

"Anyway," You add. "It's...Nice to spend some time with you. I didn't think you liked to spend time with me anymore."

Nathan's brow furrows.

"Why would you think that?" He asks.

"You were inviting Damon to, like, everything. I thought you were adding a buffer."

"I wasn't buffering."

"Whatever, Nate."

"I wasn't!"

You don't answer, just raise your glass to your lips.

Nathan sets his glass side, reaching out and taking your hand in his.

This is a bad idea. His hackles are raised by the way you freeze, fingers stiff in his grip.

"I've only ever wanted alone time with you," He admits. "None of the bullshit babysitting duties with Damon."

"Those were half of my duties when he got signed on."

Nathan lowers his eyes to your joined hands, thumb absently swiping across your knuckles.

"I can loosen up next time," He offers.

"Wasn't so bad," You admit. "Now I know how I am in a mentor relationship."

Mentor. It makes Nathan's ears prick up.

"...Mentees don't get invited to anniversary dinners," He warns.

Before you can answer, Nathan gets up, scooching his seat around to rest beside yours.

He seems to go bashful beside you, even as you duck your head, fingers smoothing over the stem of your champagne glass.

"...So,"You mumble, "What do you have planned for my next anniversary dinner?"

Nathan leans, lips brushing your cheek. "I've got a few ideas."

[angeart]

also 🤲🤲🤲🤲🤲

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Happily! Here's a random snippet from my vampire scar au. i only have the beginning written, and it's currently mostly on hold for other projects, but i'm holding it so gently and i will properly write it at some point! consider this to be a snippet from the first chapter.

(also, i see the number of the emoji you used there 👀 i will add more snippets from other things later, i just need to dig through things >:3)

*

Grian side-eyes the vampire. “We should just kill him.”

“Kill?” the vampire repeats in alarm; the word is laced with false laughter, as if he tried to spin it into a joke. It rings hollow, anxious, untrue. “Noooo, no, there’s no need for that! I like living thank-you-very-much!”

“Living,” Grian repeats flatly, challengingly. “You’re not alive.”

“I am!” the vampire protests vehemently. “I breathe and I bleed and I can die.” He pauses, ponders briefly if making that one point in particular was smart. “I—Well. I can starve and all that and, and, I have feelings!”

Grian stares at him blankly. Something in him is unconvinced, but his heart bashes itself against his ribcage in attempted empathy anyway. “This can't be happening,” he mutters dismally.

“Look, I can, I can show you around! You can decide then! It’s just me here, all alone, there’s plenty of space for you even if you want me to stay away! I can go to a different wing or—or something. I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement?” he proposes, his voice hasty and desperate. “I just. You don’t have to leave.”

Something about the way he says it chips away at Grian’s resolve, strips his caution, leaves him feeling incredibly human in arguably the worst way possible when confronted with a charming monster. Still, he hears himself say, “okay.”

The vampire perks up immediately. “Okay!” he echoes.

“Okay?” Mumbo repeats with more alarm and unsteadiness.

Grian shoots him a look. “I thought you wanted to do this?”

“W—Well, yes, I just. I didn’t expect you to agree?” he admits sheepishly.

“Mumbo.” Grian is looking at him with a deep frown. “Do you want to stay or do you want to leave?”

“I—I don’t know!” Mumbo cries, indecisiveness rushing wildly through his veins. More than anything, he doesn’t want to be culpable for this decision and its repercussions. 

Grian sighs and lets his gaze slide away. If Mumbo can’t bear the weight of this decision, it now falls back on Grian. It’s a familiar weight. It’s something he needs to shoulder, their fate, their pitfalls. The inevitable guilt of it all. The feeling that whatever he decides might just guide Mumbo to his demise.

He meets the gaze of the vampire, as steadily as he can manage. “Give us the tour.”

Without hesitation, the vampire moves forward, towards the door, towards the room’s exit, towards the rest of the mansion—

Grian flinches at the sudden approach and stumbles a couple of steps back, pulling Mumbo with him, keeping the taller man protectively behind him. 

It makes the vampire pause. “Okay,” he says slowly. “I think we need to lay some ground rules. First of all, introductions. That always helps! I’m Scar!”

Grian blinks, his throat dry with the abruptness of his panic reaction. With the preposterousness of this situation.

*

// question from here