#I'M A LITTLE INSANE OVER THIS ACTUALLY. TO BE FRANK.

[shima-draws]

EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING JACK REACTED TO THE ART I MADE FOR HIM

[jeanbie]

IF I LAY HERE (WOULD YOU LIE WITH ME?) ★ masterlist.

pairing: eren x reader

genre: best friends-to-lovers-au, actor au, fluff mostly | warnings: fem!reader | wc: 2.6k

note: hey. i still love u guys and i am still pining over aot. will never stop probably. anyway, this was an older fic i wrote but i'm handing it down to eren! title is taken/inspired from chasing cars by snow patrol (my fav song)

⏤ Eren has had enough - it's been four months since he's last seen you, and he's not going to let his fame status keep him from seeing you any longer. He just hopes that you feel the same way when you see him again.

Eren was taking a pretty big risk, he knew that.

It was risky taking any step out of his apartment at any moment; he’d think he was safe until he made it to the end of the road, earphones snug in his ears, and the flash of a camera behind the bushes in the corner of his eye blinds him back to his front door in a twisted shame. 

Granted, he’d expected it to be worse now that he'd booked a plane ticket and made a rather hasty, in-the-moment journey to the airport and on a plane with no layover. Usually when Eren takes a journey overseas, there’s at least one or two fans hiding in the corner of the suites waiting for him, or someone on the plane who’d recognise his face.

For this, he’d suck it up and take a photo. It was better to have good PR and be a little bit pissed off that he’d been discovered, than to have bad PR and to be known as the actor from Attack on Titan who didn’t give a damn about the people who essentially made him and his friends famous.

But Eren thought the risk was worth it this time. The plane touched down in a different country, and from there, it was an hour long train journey to a station he didn’t know anything about to meet a friend of yours he’d only seen in Instagram pictures.

You were at university now, a face he saw on a screen rather than a face he quite literally saw every day months before. It had been four months since Eren had seen his best friend, and fuck anybody who was going to make him wait a second longer before seeing you again.

You were his greatest risk, but it was worth it. You were worth it.

“Fuck, it’s insane to actually be meeting you right now.”

Frank is a good guy, ginger with circle glasses resting on the end of his roundish nose. He led Eren out of the train station, offering to pull his suitcase for him. “I mean, I’m a huge fan.” Followed by a sigh and a quiet, “Who isn’t…?”

Eren smiled at him, squinting in the sun as it hit his eyes in the direction of Frank’s face. “Thanks. I hear a lot about you, too.”

Frank grinned, whipping his head towards Eren. “All sexy and scandalous things, I hope. You know, none of us believed Y/N when she said she knew you. We thought the pictures were Photoshopped, you know how she is.” They both paused by the side of the road waiting to cross, “Shit, she’s gonna freak out when she sees you.”

That was three minutes ago, but Eren's still playing that sentence on a loop in his head. She's gonna freak out when she sees you.

He walks alongside Frank down one of the streets, past a redundant furniture store that quirks his brows. He’s missed it here, and how unbelievably, shockingly awful it all looks when you’re not looking at picturesque photos of it online.

“I thought you’d know that Y/N’s my best friend,” Eren says thoughtfully. He pauses as Frank does as a car zooms past when they’re about to cross. “I mean, people know. The photos got leaked, all of them.”

“Hey, give me a break,” Frank says dramatically. “I only really became a super fan three months ago. I'm more into Levi, you know how it goes. And yeah, I figured it out eventually. Finally, I understood why so many people at this uni wanted photographs with her and to be her best friend…”

Eren frowns. “Is it bad? She doesn’t tell me this stuff on the phone. I mean, they go crazy online when she posts pictures and we interact, but I didn’t…”

Frank shakes his head and grins at Eren as the words die out in his mouth.

“Nah, don’t panic. It’s not that bad. If anything, she might get a kick out of the fame. Trust, there’s always gonna be the girls who hate her because she’s friends with you and that’s like, what, threatening to their fantasy? But she loves you a lot, and a friendship like yours…it’s kinda like family, you know?”

Eren feels his stomach flip, butterflies going haywire. These butterflies are bitter and relentlessly fast, his heart racing that extra bit quicker. He likes the sound of family. He doesn’t like the way Frank implies it, because if Eren is ever going to consider you as family, it won’t be as his sister.

You’ve never been his sister, even when you became part of his family growing up on special occasions, or even just on a daily basis when you came to visit. There were times his family called you their own, but you were never his sister. It was different than that; you both knew it but never dared acknowledge it.

Frank makes small talk until they make it to the student accomodation you currently live at, and because Frank knows basically everybody, a student comes to the gate to let them both in. They’re nice and tall, wearing an Aston Villa shirt that Eren remembers looks a lot like your dad’s back in the day. Might be the same kind, might be a vintage.

He smiles at him, because maybe this guy knows Eren, but then the guy just turns back into the common room and doesn’t come out again. Frank doesn’t live here - he lives in a flat of his own around the corner, but Frank might as well be a resident here. He lets himself in towards the lift and shoots a text to one of your flatmates.

“Apparently she’s in the shower,” Frank says casually. He locks his phone, taps his foot as the lift rises, “Let’s hope she doesn’t stride out completely stark naked as you’re in there.”

He almost blushes, “Ha, yeah.”

He declines to mention the times you two have showered together, the time you went skinny dipping together when you were seventeen. Those were things that might end up getting misunderstood, and those are his memories he’d like to keep a secret. He says nothing, nothing but a thank you when he enters your flat with Frank and takes a different turn to the left whereas Frank goes right, towards the kitchen.

Your room is at the very end, your name on the door in stickers from a set you got from the market, and from inside, he hears the music in the bathroom. The door opens silently and closes with the same volume, and Eren manages to wheel his suitcase to the end of the bed and plonks himself down.

As expected from pixels on the screen, your room looks better in person - white walls and a bed set that’s white and covered with little peonies. Above your desk, Eren recognises all your photos together, new polaroids of you and the friends you’ve made at university who Eren always felt kind of threatened by. He smiles to himself, and rests his head against the wall your bed is attached to. From here, he can see the bathroom door in the mirror on the opposite wall, but he knows you’ll only see his feet when you come out.

Speaking of which; the song playing in the bathroom ends suddenly and the shower water has stopped running. Eren hears the toilet flush and his heart starts to race.

Four months of falling asleep on Facetime and texting when there was no time left in the day, and now, here he is, on your bed, waiting for you to step out and… And, then what?

Maybe you wouldn't even want him here. Maybe you were happier now that Eren was travelling the world with his other friends and film crew while you were still here, in a new city with new friends and a new life. Maybe the memory of Eren was burdensome to you. Worse - maybe he was something you felt you had to remember but didn’t really want to.

Eren's always been scared of the rejection he might receive from you. He might be a dream for fans across the world, but there’s a split second where Eren feels like he might not be good enough for you. He’s the world to other people. But you deserve the whole galaxy, and he’s afraid that’s something that he might not ever be able to give you, even with all the money and the fame.

The bathroom door opens and in two seconds, the light is shut off and he hears you sigh.

“Jesus, Frank, you gotta stop letting yourself in here without telling me,” your voice says. “Good thing I’m semi-decent. Usually I’m not.”

“No fun,” Eren teases, and silence follows. There’s a pause, and Eren cocks his head, his left cheek on his shoulder, waiting for you to click and appear in front of him.

Suddenly, he hears small but quick thuds across the carpet and Eren feels his chest tighten with a nostalgic feeling when you come into view with wide eyes, damp hair and nothing but a bra and those stupid black worn leggings you refuse to throw out.

The grin that reaches Eren's eyes now aches as he laughs at you, at the way you gape at his presence. It takes a moment, a moment of what feels like could be the rejection that Eren absolutely fears, but then you smile so wide that Eren feels it in his stomach.

“Holy shit!” you exclaim loudly, bringing a hand to your mouth as you hurry towards the bed. It dips beneath your knees and Eren rises up to a more comfortable position. “What the fuck!”

He laughs out loud, and when Eren wastes zero time in bringing you into his arms, hugging you tightly.

“Careful, my hair’s all wet,” you squeak.

“Don’t care.”

He really doesn’t. There’s probably going to be a damp spot on his clothes after, but that’s okay. You groan loudly with happiness as you hug him in return as tightly as he is hugging you, your weight on his lap and your arms around his neck.

Eren smiles so wide, sighing with content into your neck. Here, he smells the marshmallow body wash on your skin, the fragrance of your hair that kind of reminds him of Cabbage Patch babies.

“You smell good,” he mutters. You laugh quietly, squirming when his nose sniffs across your neck like one would kiss. “I don’t.”

“You do, you always smell good,” you reply. One sniff, he laughs, “See!”

“Mmm,” he plays along, “the sweet smell of planes and trains and jet lag.”

That makes you laugh, and at the mention of jet lag, Eren realises he could probably fall asleep like this given the chance. He has missed this, missed you, so fucking much. The emotions are overwhelming. 

Eren kisses behind your earlobe, and then just underneath your jaw. That’s new. Eren was always a cheek-kiss kind of best friend, but never this.

You’re not complaining. Your head drops to one side, almost giving him more access to the space free, and he occupies it. Those fucking butterflies; Eren feels sick with nerves as he kisses you, under your chin and across your neck, on that spot on your collarbone you found out tickled after Seven Minutes in Heaven in Year 8.

Maybe your fingernails in his hair are a way of you telling him to stop - it’s something he can think about tonight if he can’t fall asleep, something he doesn’t care to think about when he kisses on your actual jawline, to your cheek and the corner of your mouth, your cupid’s bow.

He moves away with a blush that matches your own, but maybe you can’t see his in the colour of your fairy lights. He plays with the dazed confusion on your face as he moves the hair from across your face to around your ears, smiling and raising his eyebrows.

“Your hair is so fucking wet,” he sniggers boyishly.

“I told you,” you shrug. You shrink, relaxed, “Fuck, why are you here? I mean, I’m literally so happy, but… Are you gonna get in trouble for this?”

“I dunno,” he admits. “Maybe, probably. I mean…the guys know I’m here. Jean drove me to the airport with Armin.”

“That’s not what I mean, though.”

Eren sighs loudly. “Yeah, I know. Frank told me all about the girls.”

“Little fucker. Is he here? I’ll punch him for mentioning it to you. It’s honestly fine. It's only a few. Most are really nice!”

“You’re my best friend for life, it’s important to me that you’re not uncomfortable by--”

“I’m not,” you assure him, hands trapped in his hair. You frown and try to change the subject, “Damn, this got long. Didn’t look long over the phone.”

“I've been growing it out,” Eren replies. “Heard you fancied Keanu Reeves, couldn’t handle the competition.”

“Ha!” you retort. “Simp.”

“For you,” frowns Eren dramatically.

Conversation fizzles comfortably, to the point where you both forget that Eren's underneath you and your legs are wrapped like a koala around his middle.

The fact that this is normality for you both is ignored. You’ve done worse things together. Eren even knows that the bra you’re wearing now is one he bought for you, half as a joke, half not. That could be why Eren feels the way that he does, why the confusion wraps around his body and traps him.

Eren knows that the butterflies in his stomach don’t just appear because you’re his best friend he hasn’t seen in a while. He knows what they mean when they flutter when your name pops up when you’re calling him, when an interviewer tries to catch him out by bringing you up in another interview that you don’t need to be mentioned in.

Eren knows that coming here was worth the confusion, and the nerves, and the fact that this will be a headline when it gets out. EREN YEAGER GOES TO VISIT HIS BEST FRIEND…BUT ARE THEY MORE? Or worse, NETIZENS HAVE PROOF THAT A.O.T EREN IS DATING HIS BEST FRIEND Y/N…

He doesn’t want to hurt you. That’s why he feels scared. For you to be scandalised by an article online that caught him out in his feelings, he knew it wasn’t fair. Eren might be too afraid to say he’s in love, and too afraid to find out if you feel it too, if all those years of confused relations and flirtations meant anything, but he’d risk those feelings and the headlines if it meant being able to spend one more day with you.

Eren's got a week and a half with you. Something’s gotta give within this week. He doesn’t want to go back to filming with more regrets than he came here with, and so for now, he’ll just have to swallow those butterflies back down when they pour out of his mouth.

Right now, he can’t afford to be caught out. It has to be said on his own terms, when the timing is perfect. It has to be perfect, because it’s what you deserve. It has to be perfect, because if it isn’t, then Eren doesn’t think it will be worth it.

Losing you to a headline and a butterfly is out of the question. You hop off him and shrug on a jumper from out of your wardrobe. If you noticed his unease, then you didn’t mention it. He almost wants to cry, wants the confusion to go away for the night so he can enjoy being here.

Fuck.

For now, he thinks as he follows you with an arm around your shoulders out of your bedroom and towards the kitchen to meet the others, he’ll just have to fake it 'til he makes it. Just like always. Put on a face, put on a show, until it all feels worth the spillage. He can’t let the butterflies escape yet.

It has to be perfect, and until then, he’ll just have to be patient, even if it breaks his heart more by pretending.

[aziraphales-library]

Hii im looking for fic that looks at Crowley/aziraphale from an outside perspective for example the other whickber street traders being confused about where Aziraphale has gone and asking Crowley or other civilians noticing aziraphale and Crowley in general. Not looking for a particular fanfiction.

I do love a good #outsider POV fic...

Eavesdropping by IneffableDoll (G)

A patron of the pub overhears a bewildering conversation between a grey suit (Gabriel) and a beige suit (Aziraphale) in which their adoring descriptions of their respective goth partners are extremely…concerning.

The Mystery of the Missing Mr. Fell by treatsnsweets (G)

"Aren't you investigating? Keep the rant about the confusing relationship with Sunglasses in a separate thing." Phyllis spoke out loud, reading the notebook. "Hey! I'm not done with that yet. It's still my first draft and I needed more evidence." Trixie huffed as they grabbed her notebook back. Or Two teens decided to investigate why "Mr. Fell" has disappeared after the events of season 2.

Sanctuary by Scheissemann (M)

Days were hard for the shopkeepers on Whickber Street, Crowley was drinking, and Mrs. Sandwich just wanted to have a cigarette undisturbed.

What You've Lost But Never Had by BlackUnicorn (NR)

Mr. Fell, for that was all everyone knew to call him, was a peculiar man. He owned the bookshop next to Frank's record shop – A. Z. Fell & Co. it was called – and it had been there for as long as anyone could remember. Why, if Frank's mother, may she rest in peace, was to be believed, the Mr. Fell who had been around when she'd opened her own establishment was the very same that was still around now, over 70 years ago. That couldn't possibly be true, of course, and yet sometimes Frank wondered. He remembered Mr. Fell, of course, from his own childhood, his own youth, the kind man living next door, a little reclusive, perhaps, but always willing to offer a cup of tea and some nice biscuits to anyone in need of a cheer-up. 

A Table For One by WaitingToBeBroken (T)

There is a couple that has been coming to Justine's restaurant every third Wednesday of the month for more than a decade. Now, they are suddenly gone. Justine decides to ask around the neighbourhood about them. Everyone has a different theory.

amaranthus cruentus by jilliancares (G)

“It’s not my plant.” “Okay,” says Nina. “I mean, it wasn’t my plant. It was given to me. I didn’t pick it out.” “Right.” “I don’t even like flowers,” Crowley continues. “I like leafy plants. Leafy plants make sense.”

Or: Crowley and Aziraphale navigating their break-up, through the eyes of everyone else. Or: 5 times Crowley and Aziraphale deal with their heartbreak, plus 1 time they actually do something about it.

All of This is Completely Normal Here by TogetherAgain (G)

The events of an entirely ordinary day for one particular police station in London towards the beginning of summer in 2019. ~ ~ ~ Lonnie Clarke was talking to a lunatic. To be fair, that wasn’t really unusual. It was a standard part of police work. This particular lunatic was a special sort of insane, though. Crazy like a fox, this Mr. Fell. Or, just absurdly lucky. Clarke was just finishing up with him — confirming his contact information, thanking him for his time, and so on — when an entirely different and more familiar lunatic came swaggering in with their hands cuffed in front of them. “OI! Who sent a rookie to pick me up all by herself? That’s hazing, ‘s what that is. Thought you lot were above all that.” Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Crowley was in the building.

the best of the world in the palm of our hands by middyblue (T)

Crowley seems to be going through a bad breakup and Maggie just wants to help. Apparently, the world is also ending.

- Mod D

[someforeignband]

there's red & green everywhere (but i'm so blue) WC: 1.8k this is for all the christmas haters who have partners that are christmas lovers

Theoretically, Eddie should hate Christmas. It’s an amalgamation of everything he stands against, from organized religious celebration to conformism to capitalist gift-buying bullshit.

And, it’s not like Steve hates Christmas. It wasn’t like that, he swears it’s not. But, this year he didn’t even bother pulling decorations from storage because he knew his parents weren’t coming home.

And that was that, the garland and tree and mistletoe could stay boxed up in the garage. Steve wouldn’t have to worry about breaking his back to decorate the house. He had a partner that not only loved him, but liked him, so he didn't have to worry about impressing someone with unrealistic expectations of him.

For the first Christmas ever, Steve was without obligations.

Christmas might, for once, not be a massive disappointment if he didn’t spend the next few weeks building up excitement for something that would never happen.

It should’ve all been fine and dandy, should’ve been good. Steve could rest easy knowing there wasn’t anything he had to do in preparation for the holiday season.

But, to Steve’s absolute shock and horror: Eddie Munson loves Christmas.

Eddie loves Christmas in a way that he actually owns a copy of Frank Sinatra's Christmas album on tape and apparently keeps it in his car year round. Eddie loves Christmas in a way that means he has a whole box of recipes reserved just for the Christmas season. He loves Christmas in a way that means that he goes all in, just like he does with anything else Eddie loved.

The Munsons love Christmas in a way that means that Eddie and Wayne have a massive advent calendar that they take time every day to open. The Munsons love Christmas in a way that means that there’s VHS tapes of A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s A Wonderful Life sitting out just begging to be watched.

Eddie Munson loves Christmas.

So much so, that it pretty much looks like Santa and his Elves exploded all over the northeast corner of Forest Hills Trailer Park.

“Holy shit, Ed,” Steve shakes his head, looking around the trailer in disbelief. “This is crazy.”

“Isn’t it incredible!” Eddie grins, unwrapping another string of multi-colored lights.

“It’s-uh...” Steve stammers, trailing off, sort of dumbfounded by the insane amount of holiday cheer.

Not that he cared that Eddie loved Christmas. It was nice, actually, to see him so excited about something so... normal. Maybe this was a minor re-direction of the current timeline. No biggie.

Except that Steve supposed he’d have to rethink just about everything regarding the upcoming holidays. There’d have to be gift buying, and event planning, and meal prepping, and cleaning, and all of this pressure to do things he's not good at.

He's never been good at holidays, or gifts, or family, or love, or any of that stuff that comes with this time of year.

"Wayne needs some help outside with the lights, he's too old to be up on the ladder." Eddie calls over his shoulder, having migrated across the trailer to top the tree with an angel.

"Do you mind helping him out?"

"Oh-uh... No, no not at all. I got it." Steve murmurs, backing toward the door, still reeling from seeing Eddie like this.

Wayne greets him outside, smiling, nose red from the early December air.

"He's serious?" Is all Steve can say, exasperated, breath fogging up in front of him.

"As a heart attack, son," Wayne shrugs, grinning. "The kid loves Christmas." "Oh, no, yeah," Steve barks out. "I got that much."

"He's a little intense," Wayne chuckles.

"Got that, too," Steve laughs.

"I think he gets that from his momma," Wayne shrugs.

Steve moves toward the pile of lights and begins untangling. He's still in a near-trance, thoughts swirling, trying to figure out what this meant for Eddie, what this meant for their relationship-

"Don't work too hard over there, boy," Wayne chuckles, plugging a string of lights into an extension cord.

"Oh, I wasn't, I'm just-"

"C'mere," Wayne beckons him over, pointing at the painter's ladder leaned up against the side of the trailer. "Eddie'll lose his mind if I get up there." And so they go about hanging lights, and Steve's so focused on the fact that Eddie likes Christmas to even recognize that he was on a rickety old ladder, that it was higher than he was probably comfortable with, or even that it was cold.

Eddie likes Christmas.

He climbs down from the ladder, shoving hands in his pockets, just looking at Wayne, whose brows were furrowed, mouth all tensed up like he was trying not to cough or something.

"All done," Steve offers, brightly, slapping on a smile.

He's trying, alright. But, the imminent Eddie likes Christmas won't stop screaming at him, like it's a box he can't check.

"You okay, son?" Wayne asks, and it's like all the air gets sucked out of Steve's lungs.

"I don't think I can do Christmas like Eddie does," He confesses before he can stop himself, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

Wayne laughs, shaking his head, resting a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Nobody does Christmas the way Eddie does."

Wayne was entirely too unserious for the situation at hand and was obviously not understanding what Steve was saying.

"I've never really liked Christmas," Steve says quietly, like it's a secret, like he's afraid Eddie will hear. "I just don't want to disappoint him."

Wayne stops laughing, blinking a few times. "Oh, Steve, it's not that big'a deal."

"I didn't even plan on getting him a gift, I didn't even know we were celebrating Christmas, I thought he would hate it."

"Steve," Wayne cuts him off, placing his other hand on Steve's shoulder. "Eddie doesn't care about any of that."

Steve shrugs his hands off, shaking his head. "I just wish I would've known so I could better prepare."

"Prepare for what exactly?" Wayne asks, wetting his lips.

"So I'd do all the things he needs me to do to make Christmas special, you know? Ugly sweaters and presents and baked goods and all of that Christmas crap."

Wayne's eyes flicker downwards, like he's thinking something he's not saying.

"You wish you could've better prepared? To what? Pretend to be somebody you're not?"

"Well," Steve groans. "Don't say it like that."

"Son," Wayne sighs, and his hand is back on Steve's shoulder again. "The most important part of Christmas for Eddie is being with the people he loves. You are what makes Christmas special for him."

It takes everything inside Steve to not roll his eyes, it would be like Wayne to give him the 'Christmas is about love and family' bullshit. From the way it looked inside that damn trailer, like the North Pole had suddenly relocated to Hawkins Indiana, Steve had a snowball's chance in hell of making Eddie's Christmas special.

"The most important present Eddie will get this year is you spending Christmas with us," Wayne presses further.

And this time, Steve can't help it. He feels his eyes roll, ever so slightly. He sighs, giving Wayne a defeated shrug because this guy can not be serious. Did they see the same Eddie inside throwing fistfuls of tinsel onto every free surface?

But, before he can get into all of that, the front door to the trailer is slamming open and Eddie's skipping around all excited, looking at the lights.

God, Steve felt like shit.

"Look, kid," Wayne tries one more time, squeezing Steve's shoulder, pulling his attention back to the task at hand. "Eddie loves Christmas because it helps him be close to the people he loves. Don't go off trying to be somebody else for him, that would ruin the whole damn point."

That would ruin the whole damn point.

"They look so good, you guys!" Eddie grins, feet crunching over frozen leaves as he trots over to Steve and Wayne.

"And, I didn't get on the ladder even once," Wayne grins, eyes flicking between Steve and his nephew.

Something in the middle of Steve's chest tugs, painful but good, like rubbing out a sore muscle or itching at a sunburn.

"I wouldn't let him," Steve offers, end of his mouth twitching up into a soft smile.

"I knew I could trust you," Eddie grins, dimples on full display, cheeks already going red from the winter Indiana air.

Wayne waves a hand, feigning frustration, scoffing. "You both act like I'm a sneeze away from the grave. I'm goin' inside."

He storms away, but Steve knew he wasn't actually upset. His shoulders were shaking in silent laughter as he trudged toward the trailer's front door.

The door slams, and Steve feels Eddie's hand just barely grace his own. They stood a respectable distance apart. Steve's hand tingles from the featherlight touch, and his stomach flutters, watching Eddie look over his shoulder at the lights.

"Thanks for helping him," Eddie whispers, eyes bright and full of pure happiness. "He makes me so damn nervous on that stupid ladder."

Steve nods and a gust of wind makes him shiver, cutting right through him. It was damn cold out, and yet he hadn't noticed.

"Come inside, bug," Eddie gives his hand a quick squeeze. "It's gonna start to snow."

Steve looks up, and almost serendipitously a frozen flake hits his nose.

"Oh," He whispers, wiping his forehead.

Eddie giggles, "C'mon, baby. I was gonna make us some cocoa." He pats Steve's arm gently, nodding towards the trailer.

"I even bought a real gallon of milk for it! No powdered shit."

There's that feeling again, like cracking your knuckles or ripping off a bandaid.

The most important present Eddie will get this year is you spending Christmas with us.

Steve sighs, feeling another flake hit his ear, then another, and then another. He looks at the lights he just spent the better part of the last couple hours hanging, a few of them didn't light up fully, blinking dull and slow.

"Coming," He says, feeling the frozen leaves and grass crumbling under his steps. Eddie's holding the door open for him, grinning ear to ear at him like he was the one who put the angel at the top of the tree.

He picks up his pace, knocking his hip against Eddie's as he shuffles through the door of the Munson's trailer.

You are what makes Christmas special for him.

"I love you," Steve breathes, quiet and hesitant, as soon as the front door closes.

It feels weird, the warm lighting, the smell of hot cocoa on the stove, the Frank Sinatra Christmas album playing in the background.

Sunburns heal. Sore muscles get stretched out. Ripping a bandaid off only hurts for a second, and sometimes you have to crack your knuckles, so your fingers will feel better.

"I love you too, sweetheart," Eddie responds easily, without obligation.

For the first Christmas ever, Eddie had Steve. For the first Christmas ever, Steve was without obligation.

[tleeaves]

Folks going "WHAT they made a show about the Fallout franchise?? I've been hearing people say Bethesda messed it up, but I haven't watched it myself, so I'm going to trust the word of other people -- some of which also haven't finished watching it" is driving me insane.

Being a hard core fan of something obviously brings with it a lot of passionate feelings when adaptations come into play. Of course, there's going to be people going "but in 8 episodes of the first ever season they made, they didn't explore Theme C or D, didn't introduce factions E and F and G, and because the source company is notorious for its scams, we and everyone else who's a TRUE fan should hate it".

The Amazon Original series Fallout follows the videogame franchise of the same name. It is a labour of love and you can tell by the attention to detail, the writing, the sets, and YES THE THEMES ARGUE WITH THE WALL. It's clearly fan service. I mean, the very characterisation of Lucy is a deadringer for someone playing a Fallout game for the first time. She embodies the innocent player whose expectations drastically change in a game that breaks your heart over and over again. Of course, she's also the vessel through which we explore a lot of themes, but I'll get to that.

There're some folks arguing that the show retcons the games, and I gotta say... for a website practically built on fandom culture, why are we so violently against the idea of someone basing an adaptation on a franchise that so easily lends itself to new and interesting interpretations? But to be frank, a lot of what AO's Fallout is not that new. We have: naive Vault dweller, sexy traumatised ghoul that people who aren't cowards will thirst over, and pathetic guy from a militaristic faction. We also have: total atomic annihilation, and literally in-world references to the games' lore and worldbuilding constantly (the way I was shaking my sister over seeing Grognark the Barbarian, Sugar Bombs, Cram, Stimpaks, and bags of RadAway was ridiculous). Oh, and the Red Rocket?? Best pal Dogmeat? I'm definitely outing myself as specifically a Fallout 4 player, but that's not the point you should be taking away from this.

The details, the references, and the new characters -- this show is practically SCREAMING "hey look, we did this for the fans, we hope you love it as much as we do". Who cares that the characters are new, they still hold the essence of ones we used to know! And they're still interesting, so goddamn bloody interesting. Their arcs mean so much to the story, and they're told in a genuinely intriguing way. This isn't just any videogame adaptation, this was gold. This sits near Netflix's Arcane: League of Legends level in videogame adaptation. Both series create new plots out of familiar worlds.

Of course, those who've done the work have already figured out AO's Fallout is not a retcon anyway. But even if it was, that shouldn't take away from the fact that this show is actually good. Not even just good, it's great.

Were some references a little shoe-horned in to the themes by the end of the show, such as with "War never changes"? Yes, I thought so. But I love how even with a new plot and characters, they're actually still exploring the same themes and staying true to the games. I've seen folks argue otherwise, but I truly disagree. The way capitalism poisons our world, represented primarily through The American Dream and the atomic age of the 45-50s that promoted the nuclear family dynamic -- it's there. If you think it's glorifying it by leaning so heavily into in the adaptation, I feel like you're not seeing it from the right angle. It's like saying Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck glorifies the American Dream, when both this book and the Fallout franchise are criticisms of it. If you think about it, the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout is a graveyard to the American Dream. This criticism comes from the plots that are built into every Fallout story that I know of. The Vaults are literally constructed to be their own horror story just by their mere existence, what they stand for, what happens in each of them. The whole entire show is about the preservation of the wrong things leading to fucked up worlds and people. The missions of the Vaults are time and again proven to be fruitless, unethical, plain wrong. Lucy is our brainwashed character who believed in the veritable cult she lived in before she found out the truth.

So then consider the Brotherhood of Steel. I really don't think it exists in the story to glorify the military. We see just how much the Brotherhood has brainwashed people like Max (also, anything ominously named something like "the Brotherhood" should raise eyebrows). Personally, I don't like Max, but I am intrigued by his characterisation. I thought the end of his arc was rushed the way he "came good" basically, but [SPOILERS] having him embraced as a knight in the Brotherhood at the end against his will -- finally getting something he always wanted -- and him grimly accepting it from all that we can tell? Him having that destiny forced upon him now that he's swaying? After he defected? If his storyline is meant to be a tragedy, it wouldn't surprise me, because Fallout is rife with tragedies anyway. And a tragedy would also be a criticism of the military. That's what Max's entire arc is. It goes from the microcosm focusing on the cycle of bullying between soldiers to the macro-environment where Max is being forced to continue a cycle of violence against humanity he doesn't want to anymore because a world driven to extremes forces him to choose it to survive (not to mention what a cult and no family would do to his psyche). Let's not forget what the Brotherhood's rules are: humankind is supreme. Mutants, ghouls, synths, and robots are abominations to be hated and destroyed. If you can't draw the parallels to the real world, you need to retake history and literature classes. The Brotherhood is also about preserving the wrong things, like the Vaults (like the Enclave, really). They just came about through different method. The Enclave is capitalism and twisted greed in a world where money barely exists anymore. The Brotherhood is, well, fascism plain and simple.

Are these the only factions in the Fallout franchise? Hell no. But if you're mad about that -- that they're the main ones explored, apart from the NCR -- I think you're missing the point. These themes, these reminders, are highly relevant in the current climate. In fact, I almost think they always will be relevant unless we undergo drastic change. On the surface-level, Fallout seems like the American ideal complete with guns blazing that guys in their basements jerk off to. Under that surface, is a mind-fuck story about almost the entire opposite: it's a deconstruction of American ideals that are held so closely by some, and the way that key notion of freedom gets twisted, and you're shooting a guy in-game because it's more merciful than what the world had in store for him.

I mean, the ghoul's a fucking cowboy from the wild west character he used to play in Hollywood glam and his wife was one of the people who helped blow up America in the name of capitalism and "peace". There are so many layers of this to explore, I'd need several days to try and keep track and go through it all.

The Amazon Prime show is a testament to the Fallout franchise. The message, the themes? They were not messed up or muddled or anything of the sort, in my opinion.

As for Todd Howard, that Bethesda guy, I'm sure there's perfectly valid reasons to hate him. I mean, I've hated people for a lot less valid reasons, and that's valid. We all got our feelings. But the show is about more than just him. My advice is to keep that in mind when you're judging it.

[llondonfog]

let's make no mistake about it, i genuinely find lilia one of the most fascinating characters in twst— a 700 yr old fae who spent centuries as the most revered general of briar valley, confidant to the royal family, did an about-turn to fatherhood immediately upon finding an abandoned baby and now romps around a school campus with said son and the heir apparent to the draconia family pretending to be 680 years younger than he actually is???? fucking insane.

we know absolutely nothing about his own personal life; no immediate family to speak of (besides his adopted son), and we can safely assume they're no longer among the living. we have no idea what his own childhood was like, but i think we can extrapolate by the way that he initially raised silver that it wasn't conventional. were tensions always so high between fae and humans, did lilia simply grow up in a time where war was a common occurrence, that to serve in the briar valley army was the obvious path to take? we can only gather bits and pieces about his previous lifestyle from his card lines, and it would seem that his life prior to silver was a harsh one, with little to no time for personal amusement or exploration of interests.

and one doesn't just become a renown general fitting for the history books by simply leading an army for so many years— it's clear that he was so very good at it. did he too share the fae consensus that humans were not to be trusted, and if so, at what point did that begin to change? was it truly raising silver that altered his perspective? and more to that point, can we assume that he was truly looking for the boy as his new card title suggests? and if so, why? was it for silver's unique magic, did he really come from royalty, was he considered a threat to the draconias? does any of this have to do with the disappearance of malleus' parents so many centuries prior??

i'm so torn between the idea of lilia being instructed to find and raise silver for some greater purpose and over time, realizing how much he's grown to care and love the child, versus the idea of somehow this little baby being enough to give the fierce general pause, to take him in as his own. i also wonder if lilia even proclaimed himself as silver's father to begin with, or if that's simply a title silver gave him on his own and only then did the ramifications of what he meant to the boy truly sink in. it must have been such a shock, the realization that a human could look up at him with such pure love and think of him as a father— for what does he know of rearing a child, and a human one at that? lilia himself even admits this at countless points, and the more we learn of silver's childhood, the more clear it becomes that while the mutual affection is truly there, the understanding of how to properly care for another being of any kind is clearly lacking.

which is understandable when we think of lilia's past experiences— he was simply a guardian, a 'bodyguard' to an extent to malleus, and someone who intervened to provide the kind of life lessons and guidance that an absent father figure could no longer give. but he did not raise the prince, nor was he responsible for caring for him daily. if what we know so far is to be believed, there was little to no time of lilia's role as a general to his departure and caring for silver. for once in his life, he gets to taste the unfettered freedom of no longer shouldering the weight of a nation's protection, and to be frank, goes a little mad with it. it makes sense why he was cavorting around the world while leaving silver at home, he simply never got to enjoy these freedoms before and perhaps selfishly took advantage of that fact while neglecting the ramifications of leaving a child to care for itself (especially one with a narcoleptic condition).

(and even now he kind of seeks that familiar comfort of warfare— we see him gaming as a kind of warlord with idia, which makes sense that he was unable to fully part with that portion of his identity if it truly made up his entire persona for nearly 600 years.)

anyways all this to say that i have no doubt that lilia truly cares for silver. but i think there's something to be said for fae emotional differences, and that he massively underestimates or doesn't know how to acknowledge that silver loves him before even himself. that the things he does to his family (re halloween, his departure party) are ignorantly cruel at best. at the same time, how could you blame him? as a general and being accustomed to loss of life, what is the use of a long, drawn out goodbye? and to have spent the majority of his life in such a mindset, it's understandable, even if reprehensible, to apply this logic to silver, malleus, and sebek. on the flip side, how utterly fascinating how lilia seems to be fooling himself with these forced and abrupt goodbyes— he admits it himself that he fears becoming weak before his family, that vulnerability so at odds with the kind of power and strength he wielded for years.

i have absolutely no idea what the next part of ch7 will bring us, but i really cannot wait to explore more of lilia in his general years, at the height of his glory. and i really do hope that we get the truth of what we all know— his happiest dream, his sweetest memory, being that of when he found silver at last. how fitting would that be, especially for silver who had wept miserably to malleus about his failures to lilia as his son. how fitting to know that lilia does not see him in that way, that his happiest moment that he would choose to relive and dream is the one where he gathers up silver in his arms, and inevitably sets in motion his course to become his father.

[charmac]

Hi! Do you have any thoughts on Mac and Mrs. Mac’s relationship? I find the whole McDonald family dynamic so interesting, but especially after season 16/frank shoots every member of the gang I’ve been fascinated by those two. You always have such impressive, well thought out answers!

Thank you!

I do have a lot of of thoughts regarding Mac's upbringing, especially in terms of his relationships with his family and how they clearly affect his current-day relationships and misconceptions of love, but I'm not sure I've really fleshed that out so, great question.

First of all, I have a gripe with Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang, as it really insanely retcons Luther's age. Mac Kills His Dad established that he was 59 at the time, which would have made him a teen when he had Mac. Shoots establishes that Luther's dad served in WWII and wrote him letters during that time, which means he had to have been born before 1945, and would have been at youngest in his 30s when Mac was born. It's not like it's a huge issue, but it does change some previously-thought dynamics. (Though, the fact that they weren't younger-cast in A Sunny Christmas does better-align with the idea that they were in their 30s when they had Mac.)

There was/is always kind of the vibe that when they were together, pre-Luther going to jail, Ms. Mac did really love Luther and vice-versa, and Mac was more kind of like a by-product of unprotected sex more than he was a part of the family. (I mean, they named him after the Hamburger Clown). Luther clearly love(d) him as the idea of having a son, someone who could carry on his bidding and his name, but doesn't love him as the child he actually has. I think Ms. Mac didn't love him as the idea of a son and doesn't love him as the child she has, and never did. BUT she did love Luther, and Mac observed that as a young kid, his parents loving each other but neglecting him. Looking at Christmas, we can kind of assume the order of anything in Mac's childhood home was Ms. Mac > Luther > Mac. So for his early development he was kind of sidelined, saw no love from his parents toward him, but did see love between his parents (in a definitely not healthy way, as it goes).

We know in the deleted scenes of Sunny Christmas that Mac's dad is going to prison probably right after the events of the video tape... I honestly think it's reasonable to assume that Mac's screaming that woke up the residents of the house they were robbing might have been probably was what led to Luther being arrested (with whatever warrants he had hanging over him catching up with him once he had been detained). So, does Ms. Mac blame her son for her husband being locked up for the next 25 years? Probably. She didn't even want him, didn't care for him, and then his obnoxious behaviour was their downfall.

Back to Shoots, I did really like it for what it gave us in terms of (Char)Mac childhood lore. I think it definitely wasn't a shock for them to drop the cigarette lighter line, but it was a hit to the chest for me. Everything I kind of assumed before, re: didn't want or care about having a child equated to strictly-neglectful, Mac clawing for the love he saw his mom give his dad, now with his dad gone even more-so, and being brushed off, now escalated to retaliation in response to Mac failing to be brushed off. Sometimes the dismissive, grunting and not moving from your chair approach just doesn't work on a hyperactive little bastard like Mac, sometimes you have to make him shut up by giving him something else to fuss over. I think Ms. Mac probably hoped that would be what breaks through his skin, makes him realise she doesn't love him, but Mac only sees it as a warning, a pause, a try-again-later, mom's just in a bad mood.

Presently, what we see of Ms. Mac is almost always the same: completely indifferent. Shrug, cough, I don't care at all about you. Mac's a serial killer? Yeah. Mac's dead? Ok. You're gay? Meh. She'll fuck with him though, sure: your dad is actually Dutch. You wanted these letters that meant something to your father? I needed toilet paper. Who cares. She doesn't love him, never has, never will, and Mac has no ability to understand that.

Based on his upbringing and the past 20 years, I think he has a complete misunderstanding (and at this point inability) to recognise and understand what love is, mostly because of his mother. Because she just, doesn't love him, never did, but Mac thinks that parents have to love their children, that's a fact in his mind. If he has a mom and a dad they do love him, they have to, especially when he was a little boy, right? His dad loves him, he's just in jail so he can't show it, but his mom is here. And mom did love dad, he remembers that, he saw it, so he just has to make himself known, she can love him too because she's capable of it and she's his mom. He loves her, he says it over and over, she never says it, but she just doesn't see him because she's busy, working, or making a home for him, or just for some reason she's not paying attention... So love for Mac is fighting neglect, love is refusing to be ignored, love is pestering over and over because if you can get away with your bombardment without a finger being raised, without being scored by a cigarette lighter, they must really want you to continue... they must be waiting for you to really prove yourself before they show or admit their love for you. There are people in his life who have to love him, it's like a law, so they'll admit it as long as you keep asking, keep making yourself known, keep trying to prove yourself... and if it comes to the point where you're getting burned, stop for a minute, take a step back, and reevaluate how (or when) you can try again...

[ultrastupid]

Do not expect me to post in main tags often, I just had to post all this because Sunny, my love, my chaotic little bird man. I had to share all the stuff I've found and/or screenshotted about him with you all because I'm obsessed to an insane degree. Commentary will be included on stuff. Hit the "read more" for more, LONG POST AHEAD!

Some of the few bits of info we have about Sunny, from Clown's old deleted blog. Things of interest include him being friends with Barnaby, an inkling of what his house looks like and where it would be located, and what puppet type he was. Also, the hidden text on his picture. Keep in mind that "being quiet" was a large theme back in the old Welcome Home lore.

An actual high quality version of the Sunny-getting-grabbed-by-puppet-hands pic, since I've seen too many versions of it looking crusty, along with a high-contrast version of it to show the hidden background details.

Group photos of the OG six puppets. Also where my favorite image of Sunny screaming comes from lol. Of course, can't forget that Sunny's name is upside-down in the second pic, hinting at his nature of being different.

Ooky Spooky™️stuff that happens to have Sunny in it. If there is a smidge of Sunny in it, I save it.

Sunny merch. I don't know what on earth this thing is but I'd buy it /lh Also of course, getting rid of him and all that. Note, I believe Clown when they say that Sunny is truly removed and the removal isn't a part of the story or whatever... I can dream otherwise, though, because man that'd be cool if he was removed on purpose FOR a story point. But again, Clown said he was just removed because he didn't fit into the story and they don't like "hero types" for it.

Wake up babe, the OG Frank ship is here. Franks's phone not having a 3, and also having a 6 on it could have meant something, who knows (Edit, it's their numbers from that one pic, I was tired lol). Also more "behave" and "listen" stuff included as well. Anyways observations aside, I just love how floofy Sunny is in the second pic, it gives me life. It's one of the more polished images we get of Sunny, too.

Screenshot of the text that came with the group picture. Again, "being quiet". I'm sure that people could run with this theme for their fanart and fanfics if they wanted to, since I know beta designs have been getting some comeback.

Some more information on what Sunny was planned to be. Points of interest include confirmation that him and Frank indeed were going to be in a relationship, Sunny being a "hero", and Sunny's purpose involving "blow the whistle", which when you pair it with the "be quiet" stuff and focus on "being quiet" really starts to paint a picture and makes me go nuts over what he could have possibly have done. Add the "you're FREE" and again, more things just fall into place. Anyways, "attributes already covered (bird)" makes me laugh.

Anyways onto the more inane stuff (/pos), Frank and Sunny as Ducktales OCs. Everything about the Sunny pic makes me feral and bang my fists on my desk, because he is SO flaming queer, LOOK AT HIS FACE, HIS BODY LANGUAGE, HIS MOVEMENTS, FRANK'S REACTION, THEY ARE BOTH FLAMING GAYS!!! LOVE, ENDLESS LOVE FOR THESE TWO!!!

And lastly to end this all off, Gay People Jumpscare: Electric Boogaloo 2. Sunny's beak being CONE makes me happy. Frank and him physically so close together and Frank blushing makes me happy. Them explicitly being called gay makes me happy.

These two are so delightful, and I like to imagine that in a canon where Sunny still exists, he's accepted into Eddie and Frank's relationship and it's poly and everyone is happy, THE END.

Thank you for coming to my rant about a scrapped character for something that technically hasn't even started and is a flaming queer.

[haikyuu-fluff-imagines]

Haikyuu Characters First Kiss with Their GF

Sakusa, Kageyama, Akaashi PT. 1

Sakusa Kiyoomi

It was Itachiyama's game with Karasuno, and to be completely frank, I was terrified. Kiyo's team was winning, but I'd heard, and seen, some insane things from/about them. So when the ball hit the ground inside the lines and I heard the buzzer, I almost started sobbing. Kiyo had been practicing so hard for this and it payed off.

I was with his coach on the side lines, smiling brightly with tears in my eyes, as they went around thanking each other and the audience.

Finally Kiyo came over and smiling at me.

"We won." He said and I giggled.

"I saw. Congratulations Kiyo, I know you worked really hard. Good on all of you." I said to the team at the end. He smiled and then looked down and scowled.

"I'm going to go shower." I nodded, smiling.

...

"Good job, really." I said on the bus ride back to his house. He smiled and sighed as he let his head fall on my shoulder.

"I couldn't have done it without you." He said, nuzzling his head around.

"Wah, it's four am." I said.

"Woah." He replied as his head jerked up in surprise.

"Aww, you look so sleepy." I cooed and he blushed softly, not that I could really tell, his mask covered most of his cheeks.

"I am." He groaned as he flopped his head back onto my shoulder.

"Ow." I whined.

"That didn't hurt." He scoffed, playfully. I rolled my eyes and started brushing my fingers through his hair.

"We still have over an hour, honey, I'll wake you up when we're there if you want to sleep." He nodded and looked up. I raised my brows and pouted my lips, silently asking what he needed.

He raised his head back up and pulled his mask down.

"What?" I asked, a bit confused.

"You know what I noticed today?" I hummed.

"I was so tired, thinking I was going to pass out." I furrowed my brows in confusion but he kept going.

"But when I looked over at you, with your hands clasped and your little confused face, yeah that one." I smiled.

"I realized how much I loved you." I sucked in a breath and he smiled.

"You don't have to say it back, just wanted you to know." He said.

"Kiyo?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you kiss me?" I asked. He glanced down at my lips before softly cupping my jaw and slowly bringing us together into a soft kiss.

It was not one of those kisses you see on TV, it was so bad, neither of us had kissed anyone before. But knowing it was with the man I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, it was perfect.

He slowly pulled away and opened his eyes.

"I love you too." I smiled as he nuzzled his head into my collarbone, a blushing mess.

Kageyama

I groaned as the ball fell to the ground and I followed.

"Tsukishima!" Kageyama screamed as he ran over to me.

"Okay, I didn't mean for that to happen." Tsukishima said.

"Y/n, are you okay?" Suga asked as he came closer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I looked up and heard Hinata make an 'oh..'

"What?" I asked.

"You're bleeding. C'mere, let me get the first aid kit." Suga said but Kageyama stepped forward.

"I'll do it." He said and Suga nodded.

"Alright everyone, let's get back to practice." He said as he turned around.

Kageyama had an arm wrapped around my waist as we walked to Takeda-san and he opened the first aid kit.

"Y/n, do you feel disoriented at all?" He asked as he handed a package of tissues to Kageyama to open.

"No sir, just a tingly feeling." I giggled.

Kageyama tilted my head up and I shook my head.

"Mm-mn, that's not good for a bloody nose." I said.

"Well you're still a know-it-all, so I think you'll be fine." Kageyama said.

"Hehe." I giggled as Takeda-san walked away.

"I'm sorry you got hit in the face." Kageyama mumbled as I pressed a tissue under my nose.

"It's fine, and hey, Tsukishima didn't do it on purpose." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Mhm. Are you sure you feel okay?" He asked.

"...Actually, it does hurt." I said and he eyes widened.

"Where?" He asked as he bent down to be level with my face.

"Here." I pointed to my lips.

"Didn't Tsukishima hit you in the nose?" He asked confusedly.

"Tobio." I deadpanned.

"What- Oh." He flushed and cradled my head in his hands, letting me move the tissue out of the way. My nose had stopped bleeding.

He smiled as he brought us together in a slightly hesitant kiss. I smiled into the kiss and he pulled away and patted my head softly.

"Get back to practice you." I giggled.

"Mkay, just face the wall okay?" I pursed my lips and pushed him away and he had a grin as he walked away.

Akaashi Keji

"Bokuto!" I laughed as I was engulfed in a huge bear hug.

"Y/n, you didn't say you were coming today!" He yelled, excitedly.

"Ah, it was just on a whim, I made some cookies and decided to bring some." I said and he gasped.

"Guys! Y/n brought cookies!" He yelled and the rest of the team came in, Akaashi was walking slowly behind them.

"Here, how about you give them out." I said and Bokuto nodded as I walked to Akaashi.

"Hi, Keji." He smiled as I hugged him.

"Hey princess." He said softly.

"Bokuto seems happy." I said and Akaashi chuckled.

"He was a bit upset earlier, couldn't spike the way he wanted to." I nodded in understanding.

"Thanks for the cookies by the way, you didn't need to do that." He smiled.

"No, I did, I made a lot more than I thought." He laughed at my expression and I smiled at the sound.

.

I stayed for their practice because Keji said he'd take me out for coffee after. That wasn't the only reason I was going of course, but coffee with your boyfriend is better than coffee alone.

"Hey, I just washed up, let's go." I nodded at Akaashi and turned around.

"Bye Bokuto-san, I'll see you at school tomorrow!" I waved.

"Byeee!" He yelled and waved back.

.

"Good job today." I said when we sat down by a window in the coffee shop. He sighed and smiled as he shook his head slightly.

"Yeah, it was a good practice, mostly since you were there." I blushed.

"Flirt." I accused.

"Only for you, baby." He batted his eyelashes as he took a sip of his drink.

"You're too pretty for you're own good." I giggled.

"I'm serious though, it meant a lot, even if you thought it wasn't much. The team's been stressed lately." I nodded in understanding.

"Well if there's anything I can do, please tell me." I said as I got up to put my tray and plate where it needed to go and Akaashi got up to walk with me.

"Hm, well, one thing." I raised and eyebrow as we left the café.

"What is it?" I asked as he grabbed my hand softly.

"Can you kiss me?" He asked.

"Can I kiss you?" I repeated.

"Mhmm.." He blushed.

I tugged on his hand slowly and he smiled. He leant down until our lips touched and we both smiled into the kiss until we pulled away.

"Less stressed?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Let's do it again just to make sure." I nodded as he pulled me closer by the waist and connected our lips again.

[annihilatius]

I've thinking about Minerva's Den again and, even though we all love it, it's great, some people even think its better than Bioshock 2 (agree to disagree), I feel like it could have been substantially improved if it was its own game. It works for what it is, yeah, but so many of its shortcomings come from the fact that it's limited to only being a 3 hour long DLC side story to Bioshock 2. With its limited time it tries to give equal focus to the Porters as well as Reed Wahl, and, yes, Charles Porter and Pearl Porter are spectacular, we love them... But that's all you can really say about the new characters. The story of Charles Porter coming to terms with his wife's death is undeniably amazing and by far the best part of the game... But that's all people talk about when they praise Minerva's Den. There's an elephant in the room. What about the character that causes Porter to be turned into a Big Daddy in the first place? What about the character that causes the entire game to happen? What about Reed Wahl?

He does *work* for what he is. But that's all there is to it. He just works, he's not significantly good or bad at it. The reason why nobody cares about him compared to Bioshocks other main villains, even people who love Minerva's Den, is because he may be a good villian for what time he has, he's not interesting as a character for what time he has. Andrew Ryan, Frank Fontaine, and Sofia Lamb were all so insanely real and deliciously evil that they left things to the imagination to wonder how someone could be like that. Reed Wahl doesn't leave anything to think about once you're done playing, you understand why he did what he did (from a reason standpoint not a sympathetic standpoint), it makes sense, but he has no complex backstory that shapes his beliefs, personality and/or why he does what he does like the big three do. And the fact that he's expected to compete with them is the definition of a cruel and unusual punishment. That's just unfair. You might argue, "Minerva's Den doesn't focus on its villian, it focuses more on the relationship between Charles and Pearl Porter, so it's okay that's its villian isn't comparatively as good as the other main villains of the franchise" and besides the fact that it just doesn't, Wahl gets a lot of attention.. Reed Wahl is still the main villian of his game! Reed Wahl is one of the two new main characters added! He's constantly monologuing to you throughout it, his presence is always there! Once again, he is the entire reason why the game happens at all! He *should* matter! So why does he feel less like an actual villian and more like an obstacle in his own game??

(This next part is less of me criticizing him and me just being cringey) Something I feel like also amplifies how weak he is as a character is that him and Porter have little to no relationship with each other beyond "they were colleagues once until shit turned sour". Like.. That's really it? In a story that puts so much emphasis on the loss of someone you love when their death was for someone else's war and someone you trust betraying you and nearly ruining your life for something pointless in the long run, there could have been so many interesting parallels to make between those two themes! Imagine how much more impactful Wahl's betrayal would have been if him and Porter were way closer. The earth shattering betrayal Porter would have felt, having horrible trust issues after the unpredictable tragedy that happened to Pearl, Wahl knowing it, and then he does that to him anyway over something so trivial in comparison to their friendship! Obviously you might have to give him a better motivation for why he does it if he did actually care about Porter beforehand, but you get what I'm saying. Maybe it could have been tied to his sudden ADAM addiction driving him to insanity (as well as the disagreeing on The Thinkers purpose but I don't think that would be enough for him to want his best friend incarcerated) somehow? It's said that his ADAM abuse made him hallucinate that The Thinker could actually predict anything, maybe it also made him think what he was doing was okay and even good? But for whatever reason why, I want there to be less emphasis on why he does it, but instead on just the fact that he does it at all.

There could have been a dynamic between them outside of their conflict with them being opposites because they disagreed on what The Thinker should be used for before that happened, maybe their differences are what made them gravitate towards each other in the first place, and their differences are what tore them apart? But I'm getting sidetracked and this is long enough already. I feel like Minerva's Den could have said so much more than what it was limited to, whether or not it wanted to. I've been thinking about how to word this for a while and I just wanted to get it out there somehow, so sorry if it's badly put together. There's so much unused potential in this character that sadly just wasn't brought justice, especially in comparison with his competition, and I'm TIRED of pretending there isn't....

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Convincing Arguments - A "Kissing You" Drabble

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Warnings: Brief mentions of sex, but nothing insanely graphic. Someday I'll finish that one I started that got way out of hand but today is not that day. Word Count: 1100 Prompt #3: Kisses traveling from your lover’s nose to their lips. a/n: Hi it's been like a month but I've been working long days trying to finish a television and film master class (I'M DONE) and working extra shifts (TOO MANY) and also am just trying to deal with the fact that planets doing dumb things makes my life feel dumb too (DUMB MERCURY) but amidst it all I wrote this little self-indulgent piece so here it is! Enjoy!

Masterlist | Previous Drabble | Next Drabble

Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe how you feel. 

Perhaps you should have listened to your friends when they told you that you should ease up on how much you’re adding to your plate. After all, your busy schedule didn’t exactly leave much time for socializing, or sleep for that matter, but it paid the rent either way. 

Still, you could feel the toll on your body every time your alarm went off at five in the morning, running yourself ragged as you jump from task to task before finally collapsing back in bed well after midnight. Even Frankie has started suggesting that maybe you should slow down a bit, but in a world where everyone expects you to say yes, it’s rather hard to say no. 

Your apartment is blissfully quiet when you unlock the door, and within seconds you’re collapsed on the couch, not even bothering with your shoes, much less changing into something more comfortable. You’re nearly asleep the second your body hits the soft cushions. 

When you wake, you’re unsure of how long you’ve been asleep, but you’re well-aware that you’re no longer in the living room, and on top of that you’re definitely wearing one of Frankie’s shirts and not the jeans and sweater you had on earlier. The room is dark, but it’s easy to make out his body next to you in the soft light streaming through the window. 

And then you remember. It’s the second Friday of the month, set aside in both of your schedules as date night. Guilt coils in your stomach as you stare at your boyfriend’s peaceful form, hair mussed against the pillow. You hesitate to wake him, but a glance at the clock tells you that it isn’t actually too late - just a few minutes before midnight - and you know that you’ll be tossing and turning all night if you don’t apologize for missing your time together. 

Scooting closer to his warm form, you lean in to press a faint kiss to the tip of his nose. Then another, and another on the bridge, following a path to his cheekbone, and you know he’s awake by the time his patchy beard scratches against your lips. When you trail down, he’s quick to return your affection, his tongue tracing your lower lip as he encourages you closer. Strong arms wrap around you in a flash, pulling you to straddle his hips. 

Instinctively, you grind down into him, warmth coursing through your veins, but things cool off quickly as you pull away to catch your breath, exhaustion still evident in your body as you relax. He laughs quietly, his breath fanning out over your ear as you nestle your head into the crook of his neck. “A bit tired tonight, Querida?” 

Your agreement comes out as more of a moan, and you shift against him to lay more comfortably, effectively draped on top of him. He runs gentle hands up and down your back, seeking out the tight muscles the best he can from this angle. “I’m sorry I missed our date night,” you mumble. 

“It’s okay,” he whispers into your skin, lips ghosting a bit of exposed shoulder. “I think you needed the sleep.” 

A frustrated sigh leaves your body. “Maybe, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I missed our time together. I feel like we never get enough of it these days.” It’s an admission that you probably would’ve kept to yourself had your tired mind not let it slip, and your anxiety skyrockets when Frankie remains silent, hands still working along your back. “Frankie?”

“Move in with me,” he says rather suddenly, and if you weren’t awake before, you sure are now. You sit up frantically, arms braced on either side of his head, his hands shifting to rest against your lower back, spanning your waist as he keeps your hips firmly situated against his own. 

“What?”

Frankie looks so serious, his expression the same as the first night he asked you out. The same look when he told you he wanted to get his pilot’s license back. The same look he wore when he told you he’d been clean for six months because of you. “Move in with me,” he repeats, a little louder this time. 

“Frankie, I...” you start, trailing off as you catch the minute change in his expression. Most wouldn’t notice, but you know that look too, the one he gets when his certainty evaporates into anxiety. He looks like he’s about to speak, but you cut him off by rolling off him and onto your back, still tucked close against his side. “Shit, Frankie...” you respond, running your hands over your face. 

“If you’re not ready it’s okay, I just thought -” 

“Wait,” you stop him, reaching for his hand so you can weave your fingers together. You take a deep breath that he mirrors as you stare at the ceiling above you. The same apartment ceiling you’ve been staring at since your move to Miami three years ago. Your very expensive apartment ceiling. 

“Yes.” 

“Yes?” he asks, and you can’t blame him for being confused. “Truly, if you don’t want to, I’ll understand."

"I'm sure, Frankie," you return, your voice steady and sure.

He obviously doesn't fully hear you, because he continues to ramble. "I know we’ve only been dating a year but I love you and it’s ridiculous that you’re working two jobs to pay your rent when you could move in with me and pay nothing and..."

You roll on your side again to look at him and he trails off. “You don’t have to try and convince me because I'm positive that I want to move in with you, but do you have any other convincing arguments?” 

Frankie smiles, anxieties now long forgotten as a mixture of joy and relief becomes evident in his features. “Well, for starters, you’d be closer to the job you actually like, there would be a yard for you to bring home that dog you want so much, and you’d get to wake up next to me every day.”

You hum, pretending to ponder your options. “I’m not so sure about that last thing, but the dog part is nice. Got anything else?” Playfully, you kiss his nose again, only to squeal when he peppers your own face in featherlight kisses, his beard tickling across your skin.

The two of you laugh heavily until he rolls on top of you, settling between your legs and caging you in. Frankie kisses you soundly, the air in the room instantly changing. “How's this for a reminder?" he offers, trailing a path down your body until he reaches the apex of your thighs.

You're tightly grasping the sheets on either side of you moments later.

A convincing argument indeed.

Masterlist | Previous Drabble | Next Drabble

[to-thelakes]

darlin, i definitely feel your bi panic about madani and frank cos SAME

as much as i can remember it was in season 2, madani was talking with a pretty woman who was working in the lab and all i thought during the scene was “BI PANIC BI PANIC, ladies why don’t you just start kissing”

jdsndlkfnwk sorry about the rambling i was just thinking about it since i’ve watched it and wanted to share 💘

never apologise for rambling!! i absolutely adore the rambles, i am a big rambler myself. it's honestly a problem

But FR, like dinah madani is bi, i don't make the rules, it's just fact. and her and frank?? the bi panic of the two of them on screen makes me lose my mind, like which one do i pick?? which one do i want?? (the answer is both) but they both just absolutely scramble my brain.

also, okay, the thought of those two like together has actually rotted my brain so badly recently. i don't think or it doesn't seem to be a popular like fanfic ship or like something that many people (at least from what i've seen) seem interested in but dinah x frank kind of just makes my brain melt a little.

obviously, i am a kastle girlie at heart. him and karen are just- 🫠🫠🫠 but i am nothing if not an incredibly self-indulgent woman and the thought of like frank x dinah x reader (bc i am whore) has literally rotted by brain. it's insane how bad it has been. like i've become actual feral for the thought of them. (feral to the point i have written a 13k smutty one-shot of frank x dinah x reader, whoopsie but we don't talk about that)

my brainrotting for those two aside, i am so glad i'm not alone in my bi panic over madani and frank because they make me absolutely FERAL and i just, i love my men and women emotionally damaged and slightly immoral <3

[there-must-be-a-lock]

WIPs

I was tagged by @mightymightygnomepriest!

WIP I’m actually working on: I'm about 20k deep in the Highway sequel, which is incredibly exciting as long as I don't think about the fact that I'm maybe a quarter of the way through it.

WIP I keep open in the background so I don’t feel guilty: Heh. See above. The notes doc, drafting doc, and full-draft doc are all perpetually open and have been for a few weeks. But also, I frequently type like 10 words at a time on my Jason/Bucky/Slade fighting-as-foreplay fic that's gonna be a gift for @notherdeadrobin. That's high on the to-do list.

Imaginary project: A WinterHawkHood hockey + Twitter bit of silliness that is entirely concept at the moment. Also, a Lost Days AU where Clint as a SHIELD agent is sent after Jason.

Passion project: Highway sequel again... very passionate about that motherfucker. But also, another part of the All The Devils 'verse that's gonna get insanely angsty and is gonna hurt like a bitch to write. I think it could be amazing if I do it justice but it'll be a rough process.

WIP from 3 months ago: Last opened the third chapter of the Roy/Jason/Clint threesome a little over three months ago, apparently.

Side WIP: I keep scribbling out bits and pieces of the werewolf 'verse. It's soooo fluffy and comforting and full of love, it's just really fun to write. Already added one little JayRoy timestamp, but there are a few more on the way - Frank/Slade, Bucky/Clint/Roy, and Matt/Jason, among others. Also a second part of the main fic, which I'm really excited about.

Zero pressure tags - @noxnthea @wyxan @drgrlfriend @kangofu-cb @bittercape @bill-longbow @notherdeadrobin @safelycapricious @oliocelottafanfics

[chvoswxtch]

👋 hi, i'm back again already :)

i'm so glad i'm not alone in being completely feral for those set pictures. like it's insane what just seeing them has done to my brain chemistry. i saw them like an hour or so before i had therapy on wednesday and i felt like i was going insane for the rest of the day. the frank brainrot is real and i will be binge-reading ur fics again (bc i love ur portrayal of frank and i need that man in my life) and just UGH, i can't even explain how this man makes me feel without sounding fucking nuts.

and okay after finishing season two, i just, i have no words. i know that the fandom doesn't always love amy but genuinely, she has such a special place in my heart. and the lengths that frank went to protect her actually just made me want to sob. he absolutely melts my heart and i remember when i watched the start of season 2 all the way back in like september last year, i literally sobbed at the end of the first episode after he had that conversation about maria with the woman he met at the bar. like i am such a simp for this man, it's insane how emotional i get over it sometimes.

also i know you've watched criminal minds (the two fics u wrote were absolutely delicious btw) so i feel like you will understand this but pilgrim's actor being the same as will's just made it slightly hard for me to take him seriously. like the actor did a phenomenal job but i just couldn't help but see him as will. it was so jarring and also just a little bit funny. either way, i didn't hate the storyline as much as i thought but the connection between him and the schultz family did seem a little jarring? or like out of the blue? but i'm not sure if that's because of the writing or because of how long it took me to actually finish the show. but i think it was such an interesting way to connect the two plots even if it confused me?

then okay, like billy this season, he was a complete fucking psycho and usually ben barnes can make psychos be so hot but after he and dumont tried to like break frank by making him think he killed innocents, bro i was not on this man's side anymore. like i honestly was so mad at him. i haven't like been that mad at a character in so long, i was concerned for myself. honestly, i could have strangled billy in that moment. also dumont was just such a kind of dull character? i think the scene in like episode 12 when dumont and madani are having that conversation about like the trauma she (and billy and frank) went through was so good but that was like the most interesting i found her. i'd love to know your thoughts on her!

and like madani? i can't talk about madani without going too feral. like her and frank are my definition of bisexual panic. any time they are on the screen together, i go insane. the thought of the two of them actually is just- it's too much. i feel like madani doesn't get a lot of love in the fandom which always makes me sad because she is (to me) a literal goddess. but anyway.

i have so many more thoughts (mainly about how much i love frank and how fucking good a job jon does at portraying him) but this is already such a long message. i am SO sorry, i can do nothing but apologise

(the only reason it's so long is because none of my friends have actually watched the punisher so i have no one to talk to. sorry court <3)

i'm gonna ramble below the cut with you, please step into my office <3

those set pictures are ruining my life. like it still feels surreal that it's happening?? but i'm so happy they listened to the fans and seem to be taking the reboot seriously. also I know how protective charlie and jon are over matt and frank, so I trust they're making sure it's done right. akjdfhdfh you're too nice to me pls

I loved season 2, personally. it felt a little rushed, but I think that has to due with the fact that they planned more storylines and got cancelled because of the disney plus thing. I liked that we got to see a more fatherly side of frank with amy because it added so many more layers to his personality. we got to see it with the micro's kids, but we got to see it so much more with amy and I loved that

OMG WHEN WILL SHOWED UP I WAS LIKE SIR WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?? WHERE IS JJ??? it's so funny you say that bc the first thing I saw that actor in was a horror movie and then criminal minds but I always think of those two when I see him lmao. the pilgrim/schultz storyline was a little strange but again I think it's one of those things where they planned for more and weren't able to do it with the cancellation

I did not care for dumont's character at all to be candid. I don't really feel like she added much to the storyline. my main complaint about billy in season 2 is he still looked too pretty LMAO. like I get it, it's ben barnes, they can only do so much, but frank rocked his shit too hard for him to have a few scratches. I would've preferred to see him be more evil and psycho and bloodthisty for revenge but that's just me

DINAH MADANI THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. she and frank are the definition of bisexual panic. she's just...like that scene of her and karen in the conference room when she's asking her if she knows anything about frank being alive?? karen is a stronger woman than me bc I would've let her bend me over that table. dinah doesn't get enough love in this fandom and that doesn't sit right with me and I feel it is my civic duty to keep the thirst for her alive

pls don't apologize! I am happy to chat about frankie anytime :)

[divine-cricetinae]

Actually I'm obsessed with the eldritch abomination magical girl do you have like more on that story? Like a synopsis or doodles that didn't make it to the post cool if not it just seemed so up my alley

yes I do! I won’t be able to pack it all in one post but I still got some juicy deets :)

slight body horror warning for some images below

Our Heroine Briar frank is a hermit, like a major hermit. She’s a fan of the occult and macabre who has a not so great view of life. Sick of the monotony and not much going for her social wise she decides to follow a random ritual she found on a sketchy forum. It was probably bullshit but god she was hoping for at least a little zest in her cramped apartment

who knew it would actually work? And furthermore-

-who knew a simple misspelling causes a completely different entity to appear? The sparkle filled and cutefied Cthuwu! her entrance caused Briar’s room to distort into what simply could be described as a psychedelic nightmare, inflict her with momentary madness, and had an almost fatal misunderstanding in which she got thrown into a completely different dimension, afterwards she was eager to receive an explanation, to which they were very happy with giving one.

it turns out heaven has been planning a do over on humanity for a long time after witnessing our chaos below and is finally arriving down on earth to grant us with loving salvation, of course in its eyes the only ‘salvation’ that could possibly save us is…death. It doesn’t help that whatever their sending is causing mass insanity to those who live to witness it’s ‘mercy’.

Now most other powerful beings aren’t blinking an eye at this, as to them its like a colony of ants being exterminated after a few millennia of them making a very big hill. Cthuwu however, finds humanity charming and worthy of life enough to want to defend it against this extermination…The only problem is on the power scale of beings she is..definitely on the lower side of it. So her plan?

Recruit as many otherworldly creatures to her cause as possible! And she needs Briar as her conduit for that.

Of course Briar doesn’t have much of a choice in this matter considering this elder god could easily turn on a dime if refused. so reluctantly, she took up the mantle of ‘magical girl chu chu Cthulhu’ to bring any monster-of-the-week she can find on humanity’s side while dealing with heaven’s army.

and even worse? She starts to yearn for connections, for people to be around her and like being around her…And It turns out those creatures might be a little bit of what she needs.

-whenever she gains the support of one they’ll leave a piece of themselves with her that is grafted onto her body and grants a new ability, along with a promise of their support in any particularly dire battle.

of course if they’re less…complying..Theres always the old fashioned way.

Yet she’ll need a lot of support if she wants to stop whats coming.

[bonesandthebees]

hi! given everything I'm distancing myself from the fanbase, fanfiction included as while I love it, Ik I'm someone who struggles to distinguish life and fiction sometimes and don't want to align his fictional character with the shitty actual one.

That being said, I just want to thank you for everything you've written in the space. Several of your stories have been some of the best I've ever read over several years of different fanbases and quite literally thousands of fanfics. The way you craft stories and characters and dynamics is insanely impressive.

After reading stars I was completely in love with your writing. your portrayal of characters and the way you crafted dialogue was incredible, and had me rereading it a dozen times over. I genuinely didn't think I'd read something else on the same level- and then you released tagd and proved me completely wrong.

I know not every fic writer's aim is to eventually be published in mainstream fashions, but if that's part of yours I can't wait to see what it would be - to be frank, with how well crafted stars and glass are I could easily see a change of names getting them published properly.

I'm rambling a bit now but yes. Thank you for writing some of the coolest pieces of fiction I've ever read and i cant wait to see what you do next, in or outside of the fanbase, I hope that cretin has not discouraged you in anyway

this is so kind thank you <3 sorry to see you go from the fandom but do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself. I'm so glad my writing has given you so much enjoyment over the years

actually, yes, I do have goals to be published in the traditional mainstream kind of way. my dream since I was a little kid has been to write and publish my own novel, and all the love and support I've received over the years I've been in this fanbase gave me the confidence to think it could actually be possible. and, well, my current project I'm working on to be published is actually a completely rewritten version of glass divine :) it's not just a change of names, the characters are wholly different people. I just need to sit my ass down and actually write it

don't worry, the cretin hasn't discouraged me from writing. if anything this whole mess kind of just gave me the shove I'd been waiting for to step away from dsmp and shift my focus onto other things. it was a long time coming anyway.

take care of yourself <3