#and had crushes on two of her friends that are asian

[wolftheawoo]

Chapter IV - How things go.

NSFW FANFIC - DDDNE

Reverse Fall(s) - Twisted Realities

Relationships: Bill Cipher/Ford Pines, Will Cipher | Reverse Bill Cipher/Ford Gleeful | Reverse Ford Pines, Will Cipher | Reverse Bill Cipher/Dipper Gleeful | Reverse Dipper Pines, Will Cipher | Reverse Bill Cipher/Mabel Gleeful | Reverse Mabel Pines, Bill Cipher & Will Cipher | Reverse Bill Cipher, Dipper Gleeful | Reverse Dipper Pines & Mabel Gleeful | Reverse Mabel Pines, Dipper Gleeful/Ford Gleeful, Mabel Gleeful/Ford Gleeful, Bud Pines/Gideon Pines, Mabel Gleeful | Reverse Mabel Pines/Pacifica Southeast | Reverse Pacifica Northwest TAGS/TW: DDDNE, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Rape/Non-con Elements, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Rape, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Underage Rape/Non-con, Underage Sex, Consensual Underage Sex, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Underage Kissing, Anal Sex, Anal Gaping, Piss, Vomiting, Object Insertion, Gore, Visceral, Violence, Reverse Falls, Alternate Universe - Reverse Portal (Gravity Falls), Alternate Universe - Reverse Falls | Reverse Pines (Gravity Falls), Reverse Pines Family (Gravity Falls), Ford is sadic as fuck here, Dipper and Mabel are very very bad, there will be blood, Bill is a spectator and voyeur, Voyeurism, Mabel suck his grunkle to get what she wants, Incest, Sibling Incest, Uncle/Nephew Incest, Uncle/Niece Incest, Stancest, pinecest, Spanking, Non-Consensual Spanking, Non-Consensual Touching, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Oral Sex

Summary:

Bill Cipher, the most chaotic triangular demon in the universe, is about to discover that not all cosmic power is hole-proof. Stumbling into a dimensional rift, he plummets straight into the universe of Reverse Falls, where everything is twisted, sinister, and a little more broken than he remembered. Instead of looking for a way back, Bill decides to do what he does best: turn this chaos into his personal playground. With constant misfortune and characters darker than ever, he plunges headlong into a universe where nothing makes sense, but everything is potential for fun. For Bill Cipher, the more wrong the situation, the better. And in the end, he may even discover that the chaos of Reverse Falls is where he really belongs.

Chaos, acid humor and a lot of misfortune guaranteed. After all, for Bill, hell is an amusement park.

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(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧ NOTES: Grenda and Pacifica, Mabel and Stanley, Will and Dipper... yeah, this chapter is full of people having intercourse. NOTES 2: I'd like to thank everyone who's been following my fanfic, and for all the kind comments and Kudos. You're all in my heart. Thank you very much.

Pacifica's body shook violently as Grenda thrust inside her. She was bigger than Candy had imagined, and watching what was happening made her wet, even though she didn't want to admit it. Mabel had told them both to clean up the place, but she hadn't said they couldn't have a little fun first. As Grenda drove her cock deeper and deeper into Pacifica, blonde strands stuck to her face and saliva dripped from her mouth; her legs spasmed slightly and her insides tightened. Southeast's small womb was brutally beaten by Granda who, close to the climax, grabbed Pacifica and held her body in her arms, crushing her until she heard her bones crack and, inside her canal, emptied herself until not a single drop of semen remained. Candy was perplexed and very excited, and as Grenda pulled out of Pacifica, her seed ran down the girl's legs who, when she was released, only fell to the floor in her own urine.

Mabel's two friends, as ordered, cleaned the bathroom of any residue that might have remained from the "game". They mopped it with the janitor's mop, and used a lot of toilet paper to leave everything clean. Pacifica, on the other hand, was left a mess of saliva, tears and cum.

“What do we do with her?” said the Asian girl, fixing her glasses.

“We leave her here. She must be too embarrassed to go out like this, and even more embarrassed to tell anyone.”

“Yes, you’re right…” and crouching down in front of the blonde, Candy smiled mischievously: “If she tells anyone, I doubt they’ll believe her. It’s easier to think she did it because she wanted to.”

Bill, in the little corner he had taken, stayed there the whole time Pacifica was fucked by Grenda. He had liked the way those girls were... they reminded him of his own henchmen who carried out his orders without question, but who were still his friends. The band of misfits and exiles from their own planets and universes. The gang of forgotten and despised people. Just like the six-fingered one who, if he wasn't so altruistic, might have been on his side. In any case, the triangle stuck around to see what the girl would do. And the two girls were right: she was too embarrassed. There was blood, urine, and all sorts of fluids on her body, running, dripping, dirtying her. When she tried to get up, her legs gave way and she fell miserably to the floor, and with her, the tears fell. She was pitiful.

With a restrained sob, Pacifica clung to the walls and, on shaky legs, got up to go to the sink where she turned on the water and began to clean herself. She took her hand between her own legs and touched it, rubbing her fingers against her vagina to remove the excess semen. When she looked at her own hand, her face twisted in a mixture of disgust and sadness. The smell, she contested, was horrible, and she almost vomited. In fact, she regurgitated some of what she had eaten in the canteen into the sink and, completely dazed, washed her hand under the cold running water. As if she had turned on autopilot, she did the same thing a few more times: she used her wet hand to wipe her pussy and then washed her hand in the sink, and repeated this until she felt clean and there was nothing left on her palm.

Then it was time for the legs, and the body. At least, the places Mabel had scribbled on. She rubbed the pieces of paper she'd torn from the dispenser until her skin turned red, and when blood balls were forming under her dermis, she stopped. Leaning against the sink, she lowered her head, letting the strands of hair cover her face. As curious as Bill was, he didn't have to move to notice that Pacifica was crying copiously and the more she cried, the more she trembled. She was on the verge of a breakdown: she threw, pushed, hit, punched, kicked and finally sat down. She punched the wall, kicked the garbage cans, knocked over the soap dispensers, threw paper rolls away and pushed open the cabin doors, then let herself fall to the floor to cry and cry.

It was a long time. Long and tortuous minutes until the bell finally rang, telling them to return to their classrooms. Two more bells rang before Southeast had enough courage to get up. She was more or less dry now, and finished drying herself with toilet paper. She washed her face to uselessly hide her tears and reduce the swelling a little, and, taking a deep breath, smiled at the mirror before leaving. She had to grab her backpack, and she did so, telling the teacher that she wasn't feeling well and needed to go home. Sent to the nurse's office, the poor woman who attended to the students there let Pacifica call her parents, noticing the girl's visible emotional distress. She needed her home. She needed her mother's lap. She needed to go back, that's all.

[…]

Mabel wrapped her legs around her great-uncle's waist as the thrusts became more intense and less spaced out. The girl's thighs pressed against his sides and her heels on the older man's lower back squeezed him enough for his fat, hard cock to enter his grandniece's little pussy completely, making even more of the juice that wet her drip. He was so close to cumming inside her that his moans became even hoarser and lower, close to the girl's ear, who felt shivers run down her spine. The pleasure was overflowing just as was the liquid that dripped from her tight entrance, and as Stan thrust his cock deeper and deeper, Mabel let her voice be heard more and more, moaning like the little slut she was.

"Ohhh, darling... like that, like that... my god, what a delicious pussy... and all wet like that for your great-uncle... what would they think of you if they knew you were my personal little whore?"

The laugh that came from his throat made Mabel arch her back and groan. The girl couldn't think clearly, much less contain herself. Meaningless words left her mouth as her nails dug into Stanley's back and served as an incentive for him to hold Mabel's waist in his arms, lifting her hips off the bed, lifting her so he could fuck her harder and faster. He was going to cum, he was sure he was going to cum because she was squeezing him tightly, and when he reached her womb, the walls of her vagina contracted and crushed him inside.

Stanley's belly rubbed against Mabel's thin abdomen, and his hair tickled the girl. He was sweating like a soccer player on top of the girl, and the strong smell coming from his old body was masculine; a mix of wood, aftershave, cheap perfume and manly body. That delicious body smell that men produce when they work out. Mabel was so horny for it that she would sink her face into Stanley's neck, chest and sometimes armpits just to smell him while she was being fucked hard by him. The rogue's fat cock gave another three thrusts before he buried his cock as deep as he could in his grandniece, making her moan and melt all over his cock as his testicles contracted and he spilled his sperm inside her, filling her up. They didn't usually use condoms, and Mabel loved that. She liked it when she was full, full of cum. She liked it when she put on her panties and, in no time at all, she'd get her entire panties soiled with her uncle's sperm. She liked to feel it running down her legs, and to force it out, and she liked it even more when Stanley decided to fuck her with his fingers, pulling the cum out before shoving the same fingers he'd used in her vagina into her mouth. And Mabel sucked; she sucked with pleasure, moaning and delighting in Stanley's thick, rough fingers.

“Ugghn... yeah, like that... good girl, good girl...”

When he pulled out his still dripping cock, Mabel's pussy was throbbing. She hadn't cum yet, so the old man slipped two of his fingers inside her, bringing his mouth closer to her clitoris and sucking on it. Gleeful wriggled on the bed and tried to push the old man's head away, to no avail: he licked and rubbed his mouth on her, sucking on the labia minora and smacking his lips on the girl's sensitive little button, as she moaned Stan's name. She even grabbed him by the hair, but as he was bigger and stronger, he wrapped both of Mabel's wrists in one hand and held her like that, still, trapped and receiving a pleasurable oral while he lasciviously fucked her little hole with his fingers.

The orgasm came when Stan stuck his index finger up Mabel's already trained urethra and she spasmed and urinated all over the bed, soiling not only her grandfather's hand but also the mattress. The orgasm had been so intense that afterwards she didn't even have the strength to move or clean herself up. Stanley just laughed at the situation, slapping his niece's pussy, teasing her about being a pisser; and he absolutely loved it. He loved knowing that he was making her piss herself with pleasure. He loved knowing that he was making her almost pass out from exhaustion. He loved being able to empty his sack into her and have her beg for more. Mabel was his sex toy, and as much as he loved it, she loved it too.

The girl's calls for Will to go to her room and clean up the mess while she showered were in vain, as Dipper was already busy with the blue triangle demon of that universe.

Stanford wanted to be left alone, as was often the case. He dismissed Will who, still wondering how he was going to find the extra-dimensional being, found himself pacing back and forth until Dipper called out to him.

“I need your help,” he said, grabbing the thick chain that was welded to the metal collar around Will's neck. Tugging hard just for the fun of watching the demon stumble, Dipper dragged him into the very room he affectionately called his laboratory. It was there that he trained his spells and, when he managed to steal Ford's books, studied them to understand more about science and the weirdness of the Falls. As they entered the place that Will already knew with the palm of his hand, Dipper pulled the chain so that Will was forced to kneel down, hitting his knees on the wooden floor, making a loud sound. The wooden door closed and Dipper sat down, staring at Will.

“About this creature you sensed... what else can you tell me?” The way the boy crossed his legs and leaned his head on his hand, that... was typical of Ford. Furthermore, not only did he imitate the posture, but he also kept the chain in his free hand tensioned, forcing Will downwards the whole time. “Answer, slave.”

“I only know that it was as powerful as me, if not, more...”

“And that's possible?”

“...but of course it is.”

A tug was given, and Dipper clenched his jaw. With the back of his hand, he slapped Will across the face. It was never as strong as Ford's slaps.

“Sir! You refer to me as sir!”

“Yes, sir”

“Well? Is it possible?”

“Yes, sir, it's possible”

“How?”

“Well... there are many universes. Many beings in countless timelines, dimensions and alternative realities. The time baby, for example, is very powerful. Just like me, who came from a place with beings from a very different dimension to yours... where I come from, people are 2D, whereas your reality is completely 3D... sir.”

“...I understand. And this being? What is it?”

“I'm not sure, sir... but... if you want, I can find out.”

“Not only can you, but you will.”

“Yes, I will, sir.”

“With you by my side, Mabel doesn't stand a chance. I order you, while we're hunting this creature, to obey only my orders.”

“...but your uncle...”

“My uncle won't mind. He didn't say anything about us not being able to use you. And I'm sure he'll be too busy studying or doing whatever it is he does in his spare time.”

“Yes, sir...”

“Good boy, Will. You're a great dog.”

Despite wanting to, Will held back the urge to roll his eye. The more Dipper tried to look like Ford, the less respectable he seemed. Still... he wanted to please him a little. That's how he got the things he wanted when it was with Dipper.

“Sir...” the boy muttered, crawling across the floor towards Dipper. “Let me... look after you... you look tense.”

As much as he hated it, he crawled towards the boy and, when he was very close, knelt down in front of him. Carefully and with great caution, he slid his velvety fingers up Gleeful's legs and untangled them, placing himself between them.

“When we find this creature together, your uncle will be so proud... and as a wish, perhaps you could ask him to give me to you, to serve you only and exclusively, what do you think?... Or maybe he could give you this creature... and it will be yours. Your first acquisition.” As Dipper's eyes glazed over at the thought of being noticed, Will deftly and quickly unzipped his pants. It wasn't long before he had the boy's meat out, and wrapping his hand around it, he began to stimulate it with slow movements. It was noticeable when he shivered, and when he locked a moan in his throat, since Ford would never moan. “Still... Mabel could get in our way... don't you think it would be more useful if I looked for this creature while you distract her?”

He was careful with his words so that there would be no suspicion. If he looked for the being on his own, and if he found it on his own, he might be able to hand it over on his own. Without Dipper, without Mabel. He would be the one to give Ford what he wanted, and receive the desire in return. The movements were slow, and puberty was brimming through the boy; his erection was already beginning to form, and he clutched gently at the swivel chair he was sitting in, panting softly.

“If we look together...” he started to say, and before he could finish, Will took him in one go, putting the length of Dipper's cock in his mouth. He didn't want him to finish his thought. He couldn't let him think clearly. He had to clear his head. The boy contracted and, moaning low, grabbed onto the blue hair of the tanned-skinned demon with both hands. Will's mouth was warm, welcoming and moist. He'd spent too many years sucking cock at Ford's behest, and had acquired enough experience to provide excellent blowjobs. Dipper's cucumber was nothing compared to Stanley's thick cock or Fiddleford's long dick. When Cipher had swallowed it, he touched his lips to the boy's waist and sucked on it, even smacking his lips around it.

There, he began to move his head, sucking him, slurping him, causing Mason to lay his head back and open his mouth, letting the hot breath escape. Will looked up to see Gleeful fully flushed, with his jaw clenched to stop him moaning and wriggling, twitching, close to cumming. Yes, he was fast, and that was great as it meant Will wouldn't have to keep his jaw sore. Pulling his mouth away from Dipper's cock, Will sighed, jerking him off with one hand while the other stroked the boy's testicles.

“Mabel can get in our way... she has Stanley, Fiddleford and Soos on her side... and you have me... if you can distract her, I'll find this extra-dimensional being and bring him to you, and then you can do whatever you want... Master Stanford will give you what you ask for, and it can be anything. Anything,” he said emphatically, noticing that Dipper was so close to cumming that he couldn't answer. He therefore decreased the frequency of his masturbation, “What do you say, Master Dipper?”

'Master Dipper', that had been his last card. Mason couldn't think with two hands so soft and so skillful caressing his cock and balls at the same time, and in his urgency to cum, with his ego softened: “Fine! So be it!”

Ohhh, but the happiness Cipher felt was great enough to bury his mouth once again, this time with real enthusiasm, in Gleeful's cock. He sucked and licked it, making noises with his mouth, so excited was he. Dipper, for his part, grabbed his slave's blue strands and pushed his head against his own intimacy, contracting his testicles as the seed filled Will's mouth, who, in turn, swallowed it without hesitation. In the end, Mason was limp in the chair, his pants down, and Will, licking his lips, helped him get dressed and clean himself up with wet wipes. It was only at the end that he heard Mabel's calls, and when he got to her room, he realized what had happened. She wouldn't be waking up any time soon, so he left everything clean so that he could start his search.

Was it possible? Could everything have turned out so well?

[...]

That night, Mabel slept like a baby, not even waking up to drink water. Dipper spent the night making plans on how he could keep his sister occupied, one of which involved drugging Stanley with enough Viagra to keep his cock hard. Pacifica cried when she ate dinner in her room, unable to eat without throwing up afterwards. She cried in the shower, scrubbing herself until bruises formed on her body. She cried herself to sleep in bed, and had a strange dream about a yellow triangle offering a deal. Gideon went home without his best friend, and his father counted the money his strange friend always gave him when he wanted to see the white-haired boy. And Will? Well... Will went off in search of the creature that had shaken the structures of that world with its presence.

If only Axolotl could see him now.

[yes-that-would-be-dark]

how it feels watching that one kpop or anime fan go through crushes on every asian person that enters their life

[jesncin]

A Failure of Asian Lois Lane: Pt 2: My Adventures with Superman, an honest discussion

If I had to pinpoint the fundamental problem with My Adventures with Superman's depiction of Asian Lois Lane it's in their attempt to subvert the classic two person love triangle: Lois loves Superman but is indifferent to Clark Kent. In MAWS, Lois insta-crushes on Clark Kent and hates Superman. In the show's attempt to make sense of this dynamic, Lois' Asian identity becomes at odds with a story meant to touch on xenophobia and immigrant themes.

Let's have an honest discussion about a show that made fandom cheer as an Asian character removed the one thing that made her most visibly Asian.

Disclaimer: While I am of East Asian descent, I am not Korean. I'll be discussing general Asian diasporic experiences but the specifics of Korean culture are outside of my knowledge (as usual I can't and don't speak for every Asian person ever, I am 1 opinion). Secondly, I'll be pulling from my personal experiences every now and then particularly pertaining to being a butch Asian person watching this show. It'll be a mix of formal analysis and personal anecdotes. Thirdly, this isn't an exhaustive analysis of MAWS Lois' character. We'll be sticking to what I consider is relevant to themes of Asian identity and immigration. Lastly once more, I do not believe the MAWS crew had malicious intent in any (of what I consider) poor writing decisions. We're here to analyze and challenge these writing decisions.

Please read Pt 1 of Asian Lois analysis that covers the comics, as it provides the groundwork for the ideas expanded on in this essay.

We need to talk about Lois' design. In the follow up to MAWS' release, people have been speculating on Lois' ethnicity. CBR writes that the show has "some fans believing that she's at least part Asian" and other articles have the show crew confirm Lois Korean heritage via her hanbok outfit in episode 4. The existence of these articles, my own anecdotal experience of streaming MAWS with Asian friends, and comments I receive from people asserting Lois' Asian identity was never explored in the show ("you'd only know she was Asian if you searched up articles about it"), tells me we have a case of an ambiguously designed Asian woman. Tangentially many people had no idea Livewire, the white haired and blue eyed woman, was meant to be South Asian.

There's a lot to be said about art styles that don't properly stylize ethnic features, but for the purposes of our analysis that means the writing has to deliver the heavy lifting where the design fails. This is the opposite case of American Alien: a comic that relied on the art to portray Asian Lois.

Let's start at episode 3. In it, Lois finally manages to conduct a private interview with the elusive Superman. When she asks where Superman comes from, how his powers work, etc- Superman comes up empty. In this version, Superman can't talk to his Kryptonian father (Jor-El)'s hologram because of a language barrier, so he knows very little about his alien heritage. He leaves Lois, assuring her he's here to help the people of Metropolis. When Clark Kent congratulates her for interviewing Superman, Lois rebuffs him. "Oh, he's [Superman's] a liar." smirking as she says it. This is the start of the Lois Hates Superman For Being a Liar arc.

I'd like you to consider the optics of an Asian American woman interviewing an alien immigrant who honestly told her he doesn't know where he comes from and is still figuring out who he is, only for her to think he's lying. Because she didn't get the answers she wanted. I can't help but think about my own experiences, where I was asked "but where do you really come from?" or "okay but what's your real name?" I think of my Asian American peers who would honestly say they're from Texas or Atlanta and get a vindictive "you're lying" as a response. People want to hear you're from China. They want their biases confirmed. I think about how I honestly can't tell you where my elders hailed from, because of cultural genocide and language barriers. This scene makes me uncomfortable, but let's press on.

Episode 4 is where Lois is most visibly Korean. In this episode the trio of Lois, Clark, and Jimmy are tasked with interviewing rich techbro Prof. Ivo of Amazo tech at an investor event. It's a prom episode. Lois wears a "hanbok inspired gala outfit" designed by Dou Hong and Jane Bak in a deliberate move to showcase Lois' Korean heritage. Bak comments "I remember feeling strongly about wanting to inject some aspect of her Korean heritage without disrupting her characteristic as a spunky and resourceful intern/reporter." while the wording poorly implies that Korean heritage is at odds with Lois' spunky personality- I do want to challenge a couple of the decisions that went into this design.

I want to acknowledge as an Asian butch that there are many ways to sport traditional garments and it's okay to mix and match to figure out what reclaiming culture (and your comfort) mean to you. However we're talking about the opportunity to showcase culture in an episode of a fictional animated show. I also encourage cultural gender expression that thinks outside of western white people's idea of gender (in both fiction and real life).

Whenever artists try to do a non-conforming spin on a cultural outfit, I always have to ask: "what standard of masculinity are we basing this on?" It's clear that MAWS is pushing for a "tomboy" Lois, and this gala outfit is an extension of that. But what's the standards of masculinity in a Korean lens? Men wear hanbok too, so why can't Lois imitate how Korean men wear hanbok, by traditionally accompanying her look with baji (baggy and loose pants)? This design notably has tight pants that hug the form, instead. I know the hanbok look has been modernized in and out of Korea in many ways, but in a show where you have the opportunity to showcase cultural non-conformity, I feel more thought should be put into the outfit outside of a potentially western lens- or the idea that cultural heritage of any sort "disrupts" a character's personality.

Now that we've discussed the design of the outfit, let's look into the narrative role it plays in episode 4. While we can celebrate cultural representation in media, I consider it important to ask "what is this media's relationship with the cultures it represents?" and the answer for Lois' hanbok in this episode is: nothing! It's an aesthetic acknowledgement of culture. "Hanbok" or "Korea" are not terms explicitly mentioned in the show. When Prof Ivo offers beautiful women as compensation for Clark to keep quiet about his company's corruption, Ivo looks over to Lois- who spills food on her clothes, and remarks that she's unclassy. She's not judged for wearing othering cultural clothes- which would have tied nicely into Clark choosing to be silent on issues of Ivo displacing a neighborhood, making Clark realize his complacency actively hurts marginalized people. Despite wearing cultural outfits being a political statement in America, nobody reacts to it. It's clear what the actual goal of this scene is: Clark looks cool for defending his "tomboy" crush.

In a scene blatantly made for fanservice, Lois offers to sew up Clark's ripped tuxedo by undressing her hanbok so she can reach her little sewing kit. Lois never wears her hanbok again afterwards. This scene haunts me. It's a scene that tells you that fanservice is more important than cultural representation. It's a scene meant to set up that Clark gives his tuxedo to Lois later on for warmth. Lois removing her hanbok is meant for not one, but two fanservice scenes.

Lois talks to Clark at the stairwell. She opens up about her estranged relationship with her father, how her mom has passed away, and how she's been an intern at the Daily Planet for a year with no sign of being hired. This makes the narrative decision for Lois to lose her hanbok far more tragic. Lois being a diasporic child with so few familial ties to her culture would mean garments like her hanbok would hold a lot of sentimental value! It's hard enough finding a cultural outfit that fits with your butchess (many of my cultural outfits are hand made to fit my form and gender expression), and yet Lois unceremoniously loses her hanbok. You would think in Lois opening up about being distant from her parents that Clark would be able to culturally relate with the distance he has with his Kryptonian parents. But the narrative opportunity to link their immigrant experiences is not taken, because the show simply doesn't recognize the parallel between the two.

Instead MAWS pushes for the Lois Thinks Superman is A Liar thing again. A far less narratively substantial and fundamentally flawed arc. This episode starts with Lois calling Superman a liar and has Lois ranting about him "dodging her questions" (remember, he was honest with her about not knowing his heritage) thereby rendering her interview unpublishable. She resorts to conspiracy tabloids giddily provided by Jimmy for information. She rather cruelly says "nobody normal believes in aliens". We are uncomfortably seeing the build up of Lois being allegorically xenophobic towards alien immigrants- a Lois on a quest to out an alien before he's ready. This is their justification for flipping the love triangle. Lois loves cuteboy Clark from work, and hates Superman for not confirming her biases that would help her publish an interview that would promote her at work. What a love story.

To wrap this episode up: Prof Ivo ends up challenging Superman to a fight so he can flex his Parasite suit to investors, only for it to backfire, destroy his reputation, and greatly damage the Amazo building (remember this it'll come back later). The episode ends with Lois discovering Superman is Clark Kent. Anecdotally, I was so frustrated with the treatment of Lois' hanbok in this episode, that I went online to search if anyone else felt similarly. All I was met with was fandom thirsting over the stairwell scene where Clark and Lois were undressing. Consider the optics of an Asian character who removed the most visible signifier of her heritage (the outfit far more culturally specific where her character design was racially ambiguous) and how people cheered because that meant they could see her in her undergarments. They can happily thirst over the body they desired now that the othering cultural garment was out of the way. It's just clothes after all. Diversity clothes. This show continues to be very uncomfortable, and a little too real.

In episode 5 Lois is passive aggressive to Clark and Superman, trying to get Clark to admit he's Superman and vice versa. She eventually confronts Clark by jumping off the roof of the Daily Planet, causing Clark to fly down and save her. She proclaims she doesn't want to be friends with him anymore for "lying" to her. This episode caused a huge ruckus online as people were divisive over Lois' actions. Some defended Lois, saying that "women should be messy" and "it's not Lois Lane if she doesn't do something crazy for journalism!". Ignoring that opinion's very flandarized view of Lois' character for a second, let's thoroughly discuss how this relates to themes of immigration and Asian identity.

By this episode, Lois had known Clark for 5 days. In that time she's entitled and angry to the point of friend-breaking-up with him because he wouldn't disclose his marginalized identity to her within less than a week. "A secret is another type of lie!" Lois says, regardless of her lying on sight to both Jimmy and Clark upon meeting them at work, and continued to lie in episode 3 (after promising not to in ep 1) about her intentions to interview Superman. Only Lois gets to lie in this relationship. The hypocrisy of her character is never recognized. Clark calls out Lois for having previously admitted to him that she wanted to dox Superman and "publish all his secrets. MY secrets!". Keep in mind that when Clark brings up Superman feeling uncomfortable about his secrets being published by Lois in episode 3, Lois' response was "yeah, but HE doesn't know that's my plan!". She explicitly admits that she would publish private information about Superman without his permission. But when she's confronted by Clark in episode 5 about that, her response is "I would never do that to you, I didn't know it was you until after the gala. How could you think that?" It's only through conflict of interest that Lois spares Superman of being doxed. He's supposed to magically know this. Extremely cool of Asian American Lois to be entitled to an alien immigrant's identity within four business days.

Episode 6 wraps up the Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc, so let's quickly summarize what happens. Lois and Clark set aside their fight to find Jimmy in an abandoned scientific facility (he's being cared for by Mallah and the Brain). Jimmy admits (very smugly) to having known Clark was Superman all along because he kept breaking stuff. As the trio are chased by killer robots, they emotionally confront Clark for not trusting them with his alien secret- despite neither Lois or Jimmy creating a safe environment for Clark to come out to either of them (Jimmy outed Superman as an alien on his video channel). The moral of the story is Clark should have trusted his friends anyway, because lying is bad. Not once does the narrative hold Jimmy or Lois accountable.

We have Black Jimmy Olsen and Asian American Lois Lane being entitled to their white passing friend Clark Kent's marginalized alien identity. A joke is made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry, and Lois clearly doesn't understand why an immigrant wouldn't be forthcoming about his identity to his hostile friends at work. This is how that arc ends.

I'd like to quickly compare this Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc to my favorite scene in Superman Smashes the Klan. In this story, Superman debuts as a strongman superhero instead of an alien, suppressing his more othering powers to pass as human. He jumps instead of flying. Roberta, the Chinese American girl targeted by the Klan, calls Superman out for not using his full abilities to save people who could've gotten hurt. Yet, as she's calling him out, Roberta understands Superman's fear of not wanting to be othered. She sees the way her father dresses up to pass as an accomplished scientist, how he tells her mom to speak in English, how her brother makes racist jokes at their family's expense to fit in. She's not mad at Superman, she's mad at the world that would be scared of Superman if he flew.

"I wish it were okay for you to fly!" Roberta yells. This is a beautifully empathetic scene that shows a marginalized person frustrated at a systemic problem, instead of blaming the marginalized for being marginalized. It's the empathy and perspective we're missing from MAWS.

Episode 7 is a metatextual episode where MAWS addresses how their Lois isn't like the other Loises you've seen before. Lois and Jimmy are brought on to a team of alternate dimension Loises to find interdimensional troublemaker Mxy. In seeing the other more accomplished Loises in the multiverses, Lois ends up feeling inadequate about her self worth...in connection to being Superman's girlfriend, of course. Because Superman only loves Lois Lane after she wins a couple of Pulitzers, right?

I'm open to a version of Lois Lane that isn't as accomplished as she's historically known to be. I can like a Lois that's young and idealistic, like in Girl Taking Over. It's hard not to compare this episode to 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once, another multiverse story about an Asian American woman who is the "greatest failure" version of all the parallel iterations of herself. But while that movie talks in depth about themes of generational trauma, expectations, and self potential within Asian immigrant families, MAWS uses the multiverse to say that while their Lois is less accomplished, she's still a good girlfriend to Superman! Why should I bother giving grace to a different take on Lois only to get such a superficial story out of it. This is metatextual-ly frustrating.

Why is it, the minute we get an adaptation of an Asian Lois in something as prominent as an animated show, we get "the worst Lois in the multiverse"? Lois is historically depicted as excelling in her field. She's an award winning journalist, jaded and mean from having to work her way to the top. She owns her sexuality, she's the experienced city girl. Instead of taking the opportunity to inform Lois' jadedness and excellence with her Asian American identity like in Girl Taking Over, instead we have an Asian Lois that's simply incompetent at her job. Why are we now adapting historically accomplished women into adorkable quirky screw ups? She went from being sexually confident to being insecure over sending a text to Clark. Is it more relateable to see an Asian woman that way? Is it too intimidating to see a butch Asian woman who excels at her job? Who's romantically confident? This is what MAWS would rather do than humanize her excellence or her failures.

Are you tired of an ambiguously designed Asian American woman reporter being xenophobic to Superman in MAWS? Well too bad because episode 8 introduces us to Vicki Vale, voiced by Andromeda Dunker (an Asian actress), with explicit notes in leaked concept art to design this character as "Indian American or Asian American" (as if those are mutually exclusive...) inspired off of real Asian reporter Connie Chung. Vicki wants to write a hit piece on Superman and interviews Prof Ivo's assistant, Alex, for a negative biased opinion on Superman (to Lois and Jimmy's dismay).

This episode is where it's abundantly clear the writers don't know how to talk about xenophobia. They'll make nods to xenophobic rhetoric, but they don't know what the rhetoric means. In response to Alex's derisive opinion on Superman destroying Amazo tower thereby bankrupting the company and putting "thousands out of work", Vicki responds "Superman wiped out good American jobs". This is a misplaced nod to Replacement Theory: the fear white people have over people of color, but particularly immigrants, coming to "their" country to "steal" jobs they're entitled to, ultimately becoming demographically replaced by non-white cultures and people. This rhetoric is also commonly applied to Jewish people.

The problem is, that's not what Superman did in the show. Amazo tech was going to go bankrupt because of Prof Ivo's poor business decisions. Prof Ivo made the mistake of antagonizing Superman and ruining his own image. Superman damaging the building came from his fight with Prof Ivo, not a deliberate attempt to get hired (if anything don't the building repair people have new jobs now?). No one's job is tangibly being taken by Superman. None of this is called out by Lois or Jimmy, who know the full story and were even the ones to attack Alex for helping Prof Ivo (let's be real the writers forgot this happened). In fact, Lois and Jimmy don't react to Vicki's Replacement Theory remark at all! It's like they don't even recognize she said something with racist implications!

Jimmy and Lois meet up with Superman who learns the people of Metropolis are becoming scared of him (from causing some recent property damage in an attempt to hunt a criminal down) and writing mean comments on social media. A user writes "he should go back to where he came from." This is a transparently xenophobic comment. It doesn't work in the context of the show because of a huge plot hole: Superman never publicly came out as an alien to Metropolis. No verified newspaper has explicitly made this fact known. The only source that mentions this is Jimmy's conspiracy channel, which the citizens of Metropolis are apparently treating as fact- therefore (if we're to believe this is how people knew) this means Jimmy absolutely outed Superman as an alien without Clark's consent.

So how does Asian American Lois respond to seeing her alien boyfriend go through xenophobia? She says "Take a break from being Superman and just try being normal." To be fair, the narrative does portray Lois saying the word "normal" as charged (only here at least, not in episode 4), and when she tells Superman to "take a break" it's because he had been overworking himself after suddenly unlocking the ability to hear when someone's in trouble. But was this really the response Asian American Lois thought to say? To her boyfriend going through such explicit xenophobia? At this point it's abundantly clear that racism doesn't exist in the world of MAWS. Being "normal" is to be human. And to be marginalized- or as the show likes to call it "different" is only reserved for white passing alien man Clark (along with gorilla and robot that was once a white man). Any hope of an immigrant parallel between Asian American Lois and Superman should be fully discarded at this point.

After the events of the previous episode where Superman is kidnapped by Task Force X, in episode 9 Lois regrets being allegorically xenophobic to Clark. At least I think that's what's happening. I often describe MAWS as a show that's extremely squeamish with getting political- and I believe the vagueness of Lois' Dark Night of the Soul moment reflects that. "I said awful things to Clark. I doubted him when he needed us most. I was wrong and now he's gone..." Lois says as she cries to Jimmy. Is this dialogue implying she shouldn't have told a sleep deprived Superman to take a break? What did she doubt about him? This dialogue is purposefully vague about Lois being xenophobic. They've universalized Clark's immigrant identity to such a point that they can't keep their argument consistent. Was Lois in the wrong for telling her overworked superhero boyfriend to take a break? Or was she being xenophobic for telling him to lay low for a while? Or is she regretful for hating Superman for Being A Liar? How is that possible when the narrative sided with her and Jimmy in episode 6? It's woefully non-committal. Regardless, the intent of this scene is to pay off in the climax of the episode.

In the end Superman has a showdown with Prof Ivo Parasite, who has grown into a large godzilla-esque kaiju creature. In typical MAWS fashion, the show is more interested in a surface level nod to Asian media instead of engaging with the specific themes of nature and post-war trauma kaijus and godzilla serve in Japanese culture. I digress. Using Jimmy's massive social media platform, Lois delivers a hope speech that instantly heals Metropolis of its xenophobia towards Superman.

Lois says to the people of Metropolis.: "People have told you to fear Superman because he's different from us. But we humans are capable of causing hurt and pain too. [...] Because we want to punish those who don't look or act like us." I mean this in the most polite way possible, but who on Earth thought this line was a good idea for Asian American Lois Lane to deliver when talking about white passing man Superman?? Why did the writers feel the need to specify Superman not looking like us. I simply don't understand how nobody considered the terrible optics of this.

After Superman defeats Parasite, episode 10 is about Clark, Lois, and Jimmy celebrating Thanksgiving at the Kents' house. At the Daily Planet, the trio of interns are promoted to finally being reporters. It only took Clark and Jimmy a few weeks while it took Lois a whole year! Now feels like a good time to remind you that Lois as a character was historically frustrated at sexism in the industry and despised how men were treated better than her (including Clark Kent). Well in MAWS episode 4, Lois has no idea why she isn't getting picked up to be a reporter. According to the narrative, and Perry White's dialogue ("you're terrible interns, so the only thing to do was to make you reporters")- she simply didn't break enough rules yet! Thank goodness she had the help of two men to show her how it's done! This is a pretty clear case of character regression. Keep in mind that in American Alien, at the very least that Asian Lois still underwent sexism, and I gave it the grace that the story could eventually expand to talking about both sexism and racism if it were to continue. But in MAWS? I don't think even sexism exists, let alone racism. Somehow Thanksgiving does, though.

Half the final episode is spent on Thanksgiving shenanigans where everyone's trying to be polite but they dislike Lois' stoic dad (Sam Lane)- who Clark recognizes as the Asian American xenophobic man who tortured him in Task Force X's government bunkers. A parallel is pulled between Sam and Jor-El, two fathers with different ideals when it comes to protecting their kids. There's a huge missed opportunity to have Lois and Sam speak in Korean with each other, to create a parallel in the language barrier between Clark and Jor-El. Maybe Lois isn't as fluent in Korean as Sam is depending on how culturally connected she is. Oh, but the existence of non-English human languages would imply some sort of minority, who would be marginalized, and we can't have anyone outside of aliens and a gorilla be marginalized in MAWS. Non-English languages in America are political, after all. Oh, but they also got a Filipino actor to voice Sam. Generously Lois could be Filipino-Korean but if we're being truly honest it's clear the MAWS crew think Asians are interchangeable.

Let's talk about Sam. In terms of optics, it's already not great that the main villains who represent the face of America's secret government xenophobia are Amanda Waller and Sam Lane- a Black woman and an Asian man. What's doubly notable is that of the antagonistic villains, Sam and Vicki are the most xenophobic. When Sam tortures Superman, he shouts "When is the invasion? How many of your kind will come through this time?" without a hint of irony. Reminder that historically, Asian immigrants were (and still are) considered invaders in America. They are the perpetual foreigner. MAWS loves making nods to Superman being an immigrant allegory, and yet they can't fathom the human beings that allegory is inspired by.

It's not impossible to portray people of color or even Asian American characters specifically being xenophobic. In Superman Smashes the Klan, Dr. Lee is initially antagonistic towards Superman but we understand why. We see him trying desperately to assimilate into whiteness, to the point he rejects assistance from his Black neighbors who help put out a fire in their backyard (that the Klan started as a threat). We understand why he's a character who would turn on fellow people of color, or fellow immigrants, in order to fit in. For MAWS, if we had a flashback scene where Sam was serving in the military and fought against Asian soldiers, showcasing his loyalty to America over his own people- that would narratively explain why an Asian American character would be xenophobic. Writing bigotry from within marginalized communities requires specificity. Otherwise, you've just got a diverse villain. In the end, Lois defends her immigrant alien boyfriend from her xenophobic Asian American dad.

Whenever I bring up how MAWS fails its characters of color but especially Asian Lois, I'm met with people telling me that "hopefully they'll make Lois more Asian in S2" or "they'll just retcon the bad writing in S1" and I hope this thorough analysis on the treatment of Lois' Asian American identity can help enlighten why I personally think that's impossible. The entire concept is flawed from the very beginning. The story MAWS wants to tell is at odds with Lois' Asian identity. In trying to justify an Asian Lois that loves Clark but hates Superman, they never considered what it means to hate Superman. To hate the alien immigrant. The alien other. What it means for an Asian American character to do all that. MAWS is a show that wants to have its cake and eat it too, they want a diverse world without racism or sexism but still want to reap the clout of lightly portraying Superman as "different".

They'll make the most surface level nods to Lois' Korean heritage- but remove all of the cultural context from them. They can't be bothered to acknowledge the inherit political identity being a person of color means in America, they're too busy doing that with Clark. I'm told "MAWS didn't have the time to go over Lois' Asian identity, it's a 10-episode series that focuses on Clark's alienation", and to that I say the potential of an immigrant love story and time frame was there, they simply chose to go another direction.

When I bring up things like Superman Smashes the Klan, Girl Taking Over, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, it's not to say MAWS should have used those stories as reference when crafting their allegory. All of those specific media were released while MAWS was deep in production already. Girl Taking Over was released the same year MAWS premiered. What I am saying is that we, as the audience, should have higher standards. Because better media portraying Asian American characters already exist. Better media portraying Asian characters relating to Superman mythos already exists. What we're doing when we celebrate the breadcrumbs of representation that is MAWS, is allowing mediocrity to exist uncritically.

Shows like Wednesday are known in the discourse for their portrayal of Black characters as being functionally white, yet that kind of scrutiny doesn't seem known for MAWS. The diverse reimagining of Lois and Jimmy is so poorly handled in MAWS that it would honestly make more sense if Jimmy and Lois were white here. The joke made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry would be actually funny if it was calling out his white privilege. If, for whatever reason, the writers are compelled to write a xenophobic Lois that unlearns her bigotry and falls for Superman, I'd rather she be white for that kind of story. I wouldn't personally root for that kind of couple, but at least it'd make sense. It's a common joke among DCAU fans of color that we like to headcanon Lex Luthor as Black, or Lois Lane and Terry Mcginnis as Asian. It's a cruel irony that the one time we finally have a canonized Asian Lois in an animated show, she honestly feels and acts whiter than actual white Lois ever was.

I mentioned in Pt 1 of my essay that Asian Lois and Superman has the potential to be a definitive love story. One that considers both their backgrounds as immigrants, othered in different ways by American society. The story of a jaded but accomplished Asian city girl who finds hope to be herself again in an alien immigrant superhero. One where she gets the courage to wear traditional clothes again, to practice languages she once suppressed. The story of Superman, an alien immigrant, finding hope in someone with a painfully similar experience.

As of writing, we have yet to see this dynamic in any canon DC media. A second season of MAWS will not give us that story.

[pretty-blkgirl]

hi!

may you do a fluffy seungmin x black reader? maybe the reader experiences hate from seungmin's fans and seungmin shows her that he loves her regardless of what's being said?

it's all up to you ofc! ok bye ~ <3

Let Me Help You

//fem!black reader x idol!Seungmin//

Synopsis: After experiencing excruciating hate from his fans, you try to leave your boyfriend

Genre; angst, eventual fluff

Warnings: racism is a heavy theme in this story, reader is described as fem

A/N; Thank you so much for the request ❤️❤️ As you can see, the story is a bit lengthy since this topic is something I’m passionate about. There aren’t any explicit instances of racism present (such as the use of slurs) but it is heavily implied.

~~~~|~~~~

“Y/N?” You hear from behind you, making you jump slightly. You immediately looked back to see your loving boyfriend staring at you with pure disbelief in his eyes.

The look on his face alone makes you want to run into his arms and kiss all his pain away. The pain and confusion you caused.

You were in the bedroom you two once shared, gathering the last of your things and returning a necklace Seungmin had given you. Since he was so busy at work, it was easy to dodge him and move out of the apartment without any problems.

Your original plan was to leave the apartment without a trace. Block him, and all his family and friends, never looking back.

However, you know he deserved more than that. You two’s relationship was perfect.

Well, near perfect.

You and Seungmin were beyond compatible. You loved the same shows, food, and artists, and it helps that you were familiar with the music industry so you two connected on another level.

The company was aware of the crush you two had on one another in the beginning, so they asked Seungmin ahead of time to try his best to hide the impending relationship.

He truly did do his best to hide you, not that he wanted to. He would have preferred to show you off to the world, and let everyone know he was in a relationship with the most beautiful, caring, talented, and loving woman in the world.

However, both of you knew that he needed to seem “available” as an idol. The fans needed to believe they had a chance with him, and them finding out about you wouldn’t be good for anyone.

It was a bit more tricky as well, considering the obvious difference between you two. Neither you nor Seungmin had a racial preference when it came to dating, so you being Black and him being Asian was rarely a situation you two cared about.

To be honest, who cares about the difference in race? It was never a big deal, all his family and friends absolutely loved you, and the company even took a liking to you.

The moral of the story is, it never mattered that you two were in an interracial relationship…until it did.

Being Black in Korea was an…interesting experience. The majority of your age group and younger exhibited great openness and compassion towards everyone. But there were still some ignorant people, and those people made sure to show themselves to you.

One day, an older man caught you and Seungmin leaving a restaurant late at night. He cursed at you, insulting you and calling you names you’d never repeat.

Seungmin defended you, but the man’s outburst caught the attention of a group of teenagers who recorded the interaction.

They posted it, and it went viral quickly. Sharp-eyed fans immediately recognized the masked man’s voice and eyes. They knew it was Seungmin, then everyone knew he had a partner.

Many people supported you and your man, even other celebrities came out in support, but a large number of nonblack fans came out and started to give you hell.

They sent trucks to the company, demanding the idol break up with you. They trended tags on Twitter, they spammed Bubble with pleas for you two to break up.

Seungmin and the company both put out a statement, but the hate continued to get worse.

His members began to speak in defense of you, and you noticed paparazzi stalking outside your job.

The death threats didn't take long to start, and then the shameless TikTok videos claiming you’re only “ruining his career” and “destroying his purity” came in dozens.

Again, there was still an outpour of support, but the blatant racism you were shown was so too much to handle.

Being Black, you unfortunately experienced at least a little bit of ignorance, prejudice, or racism wherever you went. You were beyond proud of your race though, making sure everyone could feel the confidence and pride exuding off you wherever you went.

You were never ashamed of your race, you would never allow someone to make you feel bad about who you were. To you, you were beyond blessed to have such beautiful brown skin, but it did hurt to know that people hated your guts just because of your skin color.

The fans were ruthless, and you tried to stay away from the hate, but your curiosity got the best of you.

Long story short, you spent 3 hours reading about how Seungmin could do better and how his reputation is being ruined. By the 4th hour, you had started packing your stuff.

You loved Seungmin more than anything, but you started to feel like you were ruining his career. He was almost put on hiatus when the news broke, and he was so miserable. You watched as he cried on the phone with the higher-ups, and you couldn’t stand the fact that it was all your fault.

You managed to pack the majority of your things in a few hours, mostly because you didn’t have much to begin with. Running off of pure adrenaline and sadness, you left for a hotel and ignored the eventual calls that came later in the night.

You stayed away for three days and planned to come back to the apartment to get the rest of your stuff while Seungmin was supposed to be recording a music video.

Unfortunately, he played sick and was able to leave the shoot early. Something in his gut told him you’d be back at the apartment, and he was right.

“I’m sorry,” You said, staring down at the floor

“Can we talk?”

“I just came to get the rest of my things”

He sighed, “Please baby, this can’t be the end of us”

“I’m not good for you”

“Don’t you ever say something so stupid again”

Against your better judgment, you looked up at him. He was so hurt, but still managed to put a little smile on his face.

Your knees felt weak

“Why’d you leave?” He questioned

“You know why”

“Maybe” He nods, “But I wanna hear you say it”

A few seconds of silence made the atmosphere more tense than it already was.

“I’m ruining your career” You whisper

“No, you’re not”

“I am, and I don’t want your dream to be ruined all because your fans don’t like me-”

“Y/n” He interrupted, “Fuck my dream. Do you think I’ll put a career over you? I’ll leave all of this bullshit behind if it means you’ll come back home”

“I don’t want you to give up on your career!”

“And I don’t wanna lose you, so what now?” He crossed his arms, and you hate that you found him so sexy at that moment

“Please just let me leave. This has gotten so out of control”

“Baby I understand that this is overwhelming. I promise you I do, but I swear I’m doing everything in my power to ensure all those people who've been harassing you will face consequences. I promise you I’m gonna fix it”

“You can’t get all of them”

“But I can try” He shrugs

He walked over to you, silently asking to touch you. Again, against your better judgment, you look into his eyes and allow him to hug you.

“Please don’t let ignorant pieces of shit destroy our relationship. I know the hate is getting to you, but let me help you through it, let me at least try to”

You knew you were going to say yes. Both guilt and unmeasurable love filled your chest and he rocked you side to side.

“I’ll put out another statement, and I’ll go live. I’ll make sure those motherfuckers know that I’ll do anything to protect you.”

He lets you go a little to pull back and look at you, “Plus, there are still millions of people who support us.”

“I know,” You say

“So let's focus on positivity? Or maybe we can delete social media for a while? I’ll delete mine too. If you don’t wanna come home for a bit, I’ll have the company set you up with an apartment. We’ll also look for a therapist, okay?”

You nod, and mutter a small “Okay baby”

You two hug for a while, knowing you guys won’t ever let some stupid people keep you away from each other again.

[sleepyangelkami]

I am completely obsessed with your Ellie stories. I beg you, please... Write more!!

HAUNTED DREAMS e.williams

 ☆ WORD COUNT - 3.2K

ELLIE WILLIAMS X FEM!READER

  ☆ SUMMARY - you had always found it difficult to sleep but when ellie's there, it's like all the bad dreams go away. one night she takes night patrol and when she returns, she realises that the dreams have snuck into your mind while she's been gone.

 ☆ WARNINGS - reader has a nightmare, mentions of character death, mentions of reader's family dying, ptsd, reader having sorta a panic attack, violence + gore, comfort, suggestive joke in the beginning, use of y/n, petnames, use of good girl (not sexually), intended lower case, nothing i write is ever proofread 🩷

your parents died before you got to jackson. in fact, when you'd found yourself walking in the gates, you were covered in blood from head to toe, your arms shaking from around you. you'd lost the only people that meant anything to you after the world had gone to shit. the people of the town had let you in. some asian kid opened the gates, he'd soon become one of your best friends. you were appointed to maria and tommy who, of course, let you stay. they took you in as one of your own.

ellie williams followed to the town soon after you did. at this stage, you were already best friends with dina and jesse, they had become the family you only could have dreamed for, it was all you needed after everything had happened.

back then, you were too shy to talk to the pretty auburn haired girl. she looked so cool, so fearless. she quickly became friends with jesse after being on patrol who then introduced her to dina who then introduced her to you.

you and ellie hit it off like no other.

quickly, you became inseparable. best friends, so they called it. you two were practically attached by the hip. she got you and you got her, there was nothing more about it. some people (jesse, single handedly jesse) would tease you for closeness to ellie, tell you that you must have a crush on the girl if you missed her the second she leaved and fawned over her the moment she returned. then again, jesse had always known you better than anyone else, seemingly more than yourself did at times.

jesse soon turned out to be right and by seventeen, you and ellie were just smitten for each other. when you guys got together, you went through a phase where you didn't talk. i mean, of course you talked, you hadn't gone mute. but what you hadn't talked about was everything before. ellie seemed pretty open when you guys started dating, she began spilling everything about her past, the present, everything with the fireflies, her immunity, joel's lies. everything just spewed from her mouth and into your arms. you? you picked her right up and comforted her that night that she told you everything, tears trickling down her face.

you never could talk like her though.

she knew you used to get really bad nightmares of that night, the night that everything happened, the night that you're life seemingly ended. she knew that these dreams seemed to always sneak up on you at the times that she wasn't around which was why she did everything she could to be around. it'd been years since you met ellie, you trusted her more than anyone else you've ever met. but there were just some words that you simply couldn't get out. ellie was okay with this, never pressured you. if anything, she'd kiss your head and let you know that when you were ready, she'd be there. even if it were mere loose words falling from your lips, she'd string up sentences and make a story for you both. she was so good.

then, maria had the bright idea of putting ellie on night patrol.

"do you have to go?" you spoke, your chin on her shoulder and all pouty as you looked up at her with her doe eyes. you and ellie spent every single night together, covered in one anothers embrace. she made all the problems in the world go away by simply being there. the nightmares, at least.

ellie sighed, turning her head to you with a look of guilt across her face. she really didn't want to leave you alone for the night but nobody could argue with maria. "i'll be as quick as i can, baby." and you believed her, but that didn't mean that it didn't suck.

"I know." you snuggled yourself into her, nuzzling your head into her neck. her scent filled your nose, wood and cologne, it was enough to have your legs wobbling. her arms were around you, holding you close as her hands trailed up and down your back, underneath your her shirt. her hands were warm, they reminded you of the summer, heating you up even when the harsh winter invaded your skin. you loved jackson but god was it cold.

she let a couple moments pass before sighing, glancing up at the clock. "i really have to go, sweetheart." because as much as she'd love to spend the rest of the night with you, she knew her patrol partner would soon worry as to where she'd gone.

you pulled yourself out of her embrace, blinking heavily. it seemed as though you were already pretty tired. "i know." you murmured again, as much as you didn't want to accept it.

when ellie had found out she had night patrol, the first place she went was maria's, telling her she couldn't do night patrols, not now, not ever. maria understood, she tried sympathising with her and with you, who at the time had no idea of the situation. but ellie didn't need the sympathy or the pity, she merely grumbled. she got a little angry, stating that maria didn't get it and that ellie couldn't go on night patrols, not when she knew you'd be sat inside your shared home while curling up into yourself. ellie had listened to your 'it's okay's and 'just go, it's fine' one too many times only to find you in the living room, staring into space with teary eyes. she wouldn't leave you alone for another night again, not when she knew how it'd end every single time. maria could only sigh, telling her she'd see what she could do. soon enough, she informed ellie that she wouldn't be put on night patrols again but tonight there simply wasn't anyone to cover for her. so, she'd give up tonight to save the rest of the nights. but that didn't mean it was any easier.

"hey." ellie caught your chin between her thumb and pointer finger. "you're gonna be fine, okay? jus' get some rest, sweet girl, i'll be back before you know it." her mouth leaning forward to press a kiss against your warm lips.

and so, she was gone.

without her, the room felt so cold. without her presence heating it up, it felt damp almost. there was something eerie about it that had you folding in on yourself. you were dressed in her boxers and her sleep shirt, using it so you could soak in the smell of her. you thought it'd help, it didn't. without her, you were sort of lost.

you felt a cold shiver run up your spine.

no, no you couldn't do this.

you quickly sat up on the bed, switching on the lamp next to your and ellie's bed. the bedsheets were a light pink, dark pink hearts dotted across the sheets, your wallpaper was pink again, with flowers across it. ellie wasn't a fan of anything in the room really, but it made you happy and that was all that mattered to ellie. you soon found out that you cold get anything you want just by smiling at her, you were her inseparable.

but as of right now, nothing felt warm and fuzzy. and you couldn't bring yourself to smile, even when you were thinking of the most beautiful, gentle, perfect girl in the world, your ellie. oh, how desperately you needed her home.

you shut yourself down, shaking your head. one night, you reminded yourself, you had to get through one night without her. you suddenly felt like a baby for even being scared in the first place. nothing could hurt you here in jackson, not like what could outside, not like what hurt your family all that time ago.

you blinked harshly, trying to erase the thoughts from your head.

a book sat on your bedside table, you'd read it a thousand times. or, well, ellie had read it. you merely listened as you forced her to read it, batting your lashes and telling her please. you just needed a bedtime story and ellie wasn't exactly the most creative. the last time she tried making up a bedtime story it ended with her pushing your two plushies in front of you, imitating your moans from the night before. this, of course, had earned a swat into the back of the head and a whine quite alike 'ellieeeuyh! you're supposed to be making a good story!' to which she was awfully offended. 'this is a good story! see, i'm bear ellie fucking bunny y/n.' putting on weird voices for each character.

you'd picked up the book, sitting it in front of you and focusing your mind on the words. this time, you wanted to be good for ellie. you wanted her to be able to come home and just sleep. if you focused on the words, distracted yourself enough then you could stay up as late as you pleased, you would only go to sleep after she's returned home.

you thought the plan was great.

staying awake until she got home. staying awake until she got home. staying awake until... you were so tired.

you were so tired that you hardly noticed your mind slipping and your eyes fluttering shut. your sleeping mind didn't register the way that the book slowly fell from your hands and onto the side of the bed, eyes screwed shut and breathing becoming softer, slower. suddenly, you were in a deep sleep and you had many hours to go before your girlfriend comes home.

seconds passed, turning into minutes and then the blur of at least two hours.

you were still passed out in the bedroom. in your sleep, you'd managed to move so you were laying against the soft, fluffed pillows that elevated you a little. your body had found itself engulfed in the blankets that surrounded you, ellie's scent filling the room.

but even the familiar scent of your girlfriends clothes you wore couldn't pull you out of the dream that had snuck it's way towards you now.

the eerie feeling creeped through your body, sending shivers throughout you as the hair stood on your arms. it snuck it's way through towards your head, seeping into your mind. before you'd fallen asleep, you'd almost assumed that the warm light of the room would keep the monsters and demons in your head at bay. but of course, without ellie, you were seemingly trapped.

ellie found herself making her way towards your guys' house a while later. it was late, so late, the sky had darkened completely, a black blanket enveloping the town of jackson. her jacket was covered in snow, little flakes draw across the material. she'd barely made it inside the house when the real snow began, she knew jackson like no other and she knew that by morning, the entire town would be covered in snow. she wasn't a fan but you adored it. you thought it was the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen, she thought the same about you.

making her way inside, she kicked off her boots, tossing off her jacket and letting her bag fall against the ground. it was quiet, she took this as a good sign.

her sock covered feet trailed themselves towards the living room, peeking her head in and not spotting you anywhere. she supposed, that was also a good sign. perhaps you'd done what she asked and gotten some sleep for yourself.

before she left the living room, she made sure to put another log on the fire, knowing it'd be the last one for the night and hoping that it'd keep the house warm for a while. you'd mentioned lighting the stove in the kitchen earlier but ellie shrugged you off, stating that you both would be just fine with the living room fire. of course, you were right, you were always right and as her arms wrapped around herself, she realised she better start listening to you more.

she found herself walking up the stairs, reaching the top and flicking off the light. you were always too scared to do it by yourself, she couldn't help but smile fondly at the thought.

ellie's eyes glanced towards your guys' bedroom door, peeking inside. she could see that the bedside table lamp had been turned on and she found herself walking towards it, spotting you. you were all wrapped up in the blankets, your hair covering the only part of your face that had been visible. she couldn't see your face, however, she still managed to press a little kiss against your forehead, petting your head slightly. then, she grasped the book that was sitting next to you, it must have fallen. without a second thought, she took it from your position, placing it back on the table and then grasping the blankets, taking them down from your face and tucking them around your body. she pushed the hair from your face too, seeing your beautiful features suddenly come to life. she wondered how on earth she had gotten so lucky.

at this point, her eyes were almost fuzzy from tiredness so she hadn't noticed the way your brows were scrunched together, lips strewn in a pout. turning off the only light in the bedroom, she moved away from your body, grasping her jumper and pulling it off her body. she stayed clad in her sports bra, her hands fumbling with the buttons of her jeans, letting them fall off her. it wasn't until she was stepping into her sweatpants that she heard it. a noise fell from your lips, a little whimper.

instantly, her ears perked up, turning her head in your direction. you'd moved from where you last were, almost shoving your face in the pillows beneath you. then, she heard it again, that loud, prolonged whine.

and she knew, it wasn't right.

she was rushing towards you in seconds. getting up onto the bed and her hands finding your body. "hey, hey, wake up, baby." those blasted nightmares that she wished she could get rid of. her poor girl didn't deserve such things. "c'mon, angel, wake up." she tried, her hands pushing at you, shaking you gently albeit.

"please." you mumbled, all broken and soft as you pushed your head into the pillow impossibly more. though, your eyes were still strewn shut, ragged breaths falling from your lips. "please no."

and ellie's heart broke impossibly more. she knew what you were dreaming of, those clickers, those stalkers, the infected, taking your parents and piecing them apart piece by piece all in front of your eyes. their blood spewing onto you. you'd tried so hard, fought for them and in the end you were left with dead clickers, though your parents weren't in any better condition. "wake up, sweet girl." though her voice was slick with stress, trying to will you awake.

when you did wake, a scream was ripping at your throat. you were up in seconds, your breathing laboured and whimpers falling from your lips. ellie's arms were wrapping around you so instantly, you found yourself clawing her off. "please, please, stop, don't―" you couldn't see that it was ellie in the darkness of the bedroom, only feeling arms engulfing you.

"hey, hey, it's just me. 's ellie." she wrapped her arms around yours, strapping them down so you didn't flail them, hurting her or yourself in the process of waking.

you stopped moving, although your breathing was still laboured, breaths shallow and uneven. "ellie." is all you mumbled, so confused. everything had felt so surreal, as if you were there in the moment once more, now that you were back in the bedroom with ellie by your side, it just didn't seem real.

she'd placed your back against her front, sitting behind you as she held you close. "'s okay, sweetheart, 'm right here, ellie's here." but she could hear the way your breathing only picked up, your mind flooding with thoughts of the nightmare. "i gotchu, angel, calm down, alright?" but you couldn't, you tried, believe me you tried but your breathing wouldn't stop, you couldn't catch your breath. ellie knew what to do, noticing the panic attack that was stringing upon you. "hey, c'mere." her hand fell down to your own, clasping it softly, she brought it up to her lips, pressing a kiss to it before placing it on her chest. "y'feel that, honey? 's my heart, 'm here and so are you." she placed your hand over to your own chest, feeling the harsh beat of your heart against it, it was a stark contrast to the soft one of her own. she moved downward slightly, pulling you with her so she could lay on her back, laying your head against her chest. "jus' match my breathing, baby, you've got this." and you tried, wheezing your breaths out. "jus' like that, such a good girl. where are you, sweets?"

you let out a shaky breath. "h-home." you managed to get out, your eyes still welled with tears.

she hummed, agreeing with you. "whose home?"

"ours." you spoke softly, shutting your eyes and breathing out. you attempted everything in your will to stop the rapidness of your heartbeat. but ellie didn't pressure you, making sure you took your time.

"my smart girl." she mumbled. "'s right, you're home. we're home, okay? there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about, nothing can get you here, you're safe."

"els." she hummed, waiting for you to finish. "w-was s'scared." this was when your breathing had returned to normal but the tears willing to break free were still embedded into your eyes.

"oh, i know, honey." feeling her heart break for you. she held you close, pressing kisses into your hair. she wished she could help more, she felt utterly useless just keeping you in her arms. though, her fingers soothed up and down your back, trying to comfort you. she'd never know just how good of a job she was doing. "but there's nothing to be scared of anymore, 'm here, okay?"

you nodded, breathing out as you placed your head in the crook of her neck, she could feel your steady breaths against her skin. "feel safe with you." you told, fluttering your eyes shut. suddenly, the world didn't feel so scary, the past didn't seem so terrifying. with ellie, being truly safe seemed possible.

"you are safe with me." she informed you, fingers pressing shakes onto your skin. "what happened to you was... awful." your chest ached at the thought of that night with your parents. "but nothing more is going to happen to you as long as i'm here."

you pulled your head from her neck, looking up at her with those watery eyes. "promise?" voice bleak and broken.

ellie smiled softly at you. "I promise." pulling your head towards her to capture your lips in a soft kiss. you melted into her, allowing her to heal you with her touch, her hand against your jaw. when she pulled away, she was pulling the hair away from your face, big green eyes looking at you so full of admiration and love. "'s me 'n you against the world, baby."

never in your life had you been so sure of something before.

main masterlist/ellie's masterlist

[ladykailitha]

Staking My Claim Part 3

Hey, guys! We're back!

Part 1 Part 2

We finally get the lowdown on what happened. Otherwise known as don't mess with Jeff.

Robin freaks out.

And Gareth is loaded. Or at least his parents are. ;)

I'm also going to try tagging the untaggables separate and see if you can't get you lovelies tagged.

@redfreckledwolf, @mira-jadeamethyst, @itsall-taken, @emly03, @rozzieroos

***

He hurried over to the phone and called Family Video.

“Hello, thank you for calling Family Video,” the soft female voice said. “How can I help you?”

“Robin!” he cried again. “I’m so sorry!”

“Steve!” Robin shrieked. “Where have you been? Are you okay? You’re not in the hospital or jail are you? What happened?”

“I’m not in jail or the hospital,” he assured her. Eddie huffed out a laugh. He whirled around to stick his tongue out at him. “I’m okay. I’m still in Indy. I just landed at some friendly metalheads’ apartment.”

“Wait...” Robin said. “Those friendly metalheads wouldn’t happen to include one Eddie Munson, would it?”

Steve looked over at said metalhead and turned away to hide his blush. “Maybe,” he mumbled into the phone.

“Hell yeah!” she crowed. “Now tell me what happened now!”

Steve pressed his lips together. “Um...to be honest...I’m not one hundred percent sure I know what happened last night. Like I remember bits and pieces, but it all kinda blurs together.”

Eddie walked over and pointed to the phone. “May I?”

Steve nodded and hand it to him.

“Robin?” Eddie asked. “This is Eddie Munson.”

“Hello, Eddie,” she said coolly. “Would you like to explain why my best friend isn’t, I don’t know, home?”

“I would love you to tell you that story if it’s okay with Steve finding out by me telling you?” Eddie questioned, looking over at Steve.

He shrugged and waved his hand for him to go ahead.

“He’s says it’s fine,” Eddie said.

“Noted,” Robin said. “Now spill.”

So Eddie did. He told her about the sleazeball at the bar who wouldn’t take no for an answer. About his daring rescue of pretending to be his boyfriend.

Steve blushed when he heard Robin go, “Awww,” at that.

Eddie grinned at him. Then he launched into the actual fucking rescue. It turned out that Mr. Persistent bumped into Steve to lace his drink with a drug to knock him out.

Steve’s eyes went wide. “He did what now?”

Eddie hummed. “Yeah...it was this whole thing. Jeff even got to punch the guy in the nose. I think the bartender has a crush on him now.”

Steve’s eyebrows went up. The bartender was a thirty something Asian dude with tattoos and piercings. But he supposed it made sense, considering the bar’s general attitude toward that specific portion of the population.

“At least he’ll get free drinks for life, right?” Robin said with a chuckle.

“That’s certainly one way to look at it,” Eddie agreed. “So yeah, this dude bumps into Steve and suddenly our friend is getting tipsy, fast. And I’ve been at many a rager to ply my wares, there was no way Keg King Steve was drunk after two beers, a margarita, and a half of a Cosmo.” The half a Cosmo was from sharing with Gareth.

Steve blushed. He wasn’t proud of those wild days in high school, but it probably saved his life in this case.

“Yeah...” Robin agreed. “I’ve seen him drink men under the table who were bigger and had been drinking longer.”

Eddie nodded even though she couldn’t seen him, but Steve could.

“Then the asshole comes over and starts flirting with Steve again, trying to draw him away,” he continued. “That’s when we really got that Steve wasn’t acting normal. So Brian steps in and tells asshole to leave him alone. But this guy has gone past persistent and into full creep territory.”

“Eww...” Robin hissed. “How did Jeff get his punch in?”

Eddie chuckled. “That’s honestly the best part, so Brian and Gareth take Steve out to my van and I go and get the bouncer. We come back and asshole is trying to get past Jeff to make his escape. So he takes a swing at Jeffy.”

“Bad idea, I’m guessing?” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

Steve tilted his head in interest and Eddie fought down a smile.

“Jeff’s dad is a former boxer who taught him how to fight to make the bullies leave him alone.”

Steve’s eyes go wide and Robin said, “Oooh. Please tell me he laid this asshole out! Please!”

“Dude stiffened like a board and went straight down,” Eddie confirmed. “The only downside is that they couldn’t prove anything, so he just got tossed out, but make no mistake, they’ll make sure spread the word around the other gay bars about this guy.”

“That’s good,” Robin agreed.

Steve wandered back over to his food, safe in the knowledge that he was in safe hands.

Jeff and Brian were at the counter grabbing their breakfast so Steve joined them. Coffee was was doled out by Eddie a few moments later.

Creamer, milk, and sugar were placed next to the coffee pot.

“Robin says not worry about coming into work,” Eddie murmured to Steve. “She said she would tell Keith you have the stomach flu. Which according to her will get you at least three days off.”

“That’s pretty impressive,” Brian said. “I don’t think there is anything I could tell my boss short of being in the hospital that would get me even a couple of hours off.”

Steve laughed. “Keith has a weak stomach. You just mention vomiting and the dude turns green.”

“Handy that,” Eddie said with a smile.

“It’s very handy when you’re out drinking and drink too much,” Steve said with a shrug.

“I’ll say,” Jeff said. “I’m just glad we were there, man.”

Steve blushed. “Yeah, me too.”

He dug into his food and was happy to note that while it didn’t necessarily ease the queasiness in his stomach, it didn’t make him want to throw it all back up, either.

He cleared his plate.

“So this is what’s going to happen, Stevie,” Eddie said as he cleaned up the pans from breakfast, “you are going to stay here until I am sure one hundred percent that you won’t throw up on the three hour journey back to Hawkins.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn’t. Right now nothing was coming up, but put him in a moving vehicle and he couldn’t say for sure that breakfast wouldn’t come right back up.

He nodded.

“I gave Robin the address so she’ll be stopping by after she gets off work,” Eddie continued. “I recommend that you get so actual rest, she seems like she’s a lot without her worrying about you, I can only imagine what she’s like when she is.”

Steve blushed.

“We’re going to all stay here,” Gareth said. “At least for one more day. I talked to my mom about it and she would rather pay more for utilities this month then worry about Steve getting worse.”

The other boys nodded their agreement, while Steve blinked at him in confusion.

“What now?”

“You do realize I live in Loch Nora, right?” Gareth asked, raising an eyebrow.

Steve shook his head. “My parents were very much exclusionists, dude. I only got to hang out with people that they deemed acceptable. Nicole, Carol, Tommy H. If they thought they weren’t in the right trade or held more liberal views, they weren’t worthy to interact with their son.”

Gareth blinked. “Fuck, that must have been lonely.”

He ducked his head and half shrugged.

“Anyway,” Gareth continued into the now deafening silence. “They pay for this apartment in the city for when we play gigs or need a place to crash after a night of drinking.”

Steve frowned. “You’re not eighteen yet, though, right?”

“No,” Gareth said with a laugh. “But my parents trust these guys to keep me safe.”

Steve thought about Dustin and his mom. That despite all the things that Steve had gotten up to in his high school career that she still trusted him to take care of her baby.

“Yeah,” he said fondly. “I can see that.”

Eddie came over to the other side of the counter. “Come on, up you get. You’ll be sleeping in my room.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “How many rooms does this place have?”

“Three,” Jeff said. “Brian shares with Gareth, but Eddie and I get our own rooms.”

“That’s because you’re both sluts,” Brian said rolling his eyes, “and me and Gareth don’t want to be kicked out of our rooms when you bring someone home.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, okay. That’s fair.”

“I’ll give you the tour when I steer you back to my room,” Eddie promised.

Steve nodded and allowed himself to be lead back through the apartment and back to the bedroom.

Eddie tucked him back in and put a garbage can next to the bed. “I’ll be out in the front room, holler if you need me.”

Steve nodded and let himself drift off to sleep.

***

Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Yeah, I'm sorry, I doubt even a middle class family would buy their very young son (if we hold to the belief that Gareth is OG drummer and was in the talent show with Eddie and Chrissy, putting Eddie in 8th grade, Chrissy in 6th, that would make Gareth in 5th grade) a drum kit.

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @vecnuthy @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @littlewildflowerkitten @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @irregular-child @lololol-1234 @r0binscript @monsterloverforhire @mugloversonly @live-the-fangirl-life @f0xxyb0xxes @lublix @breealtair @croatoan-like-its-hot @confuseddisastertm @dissociatingdemon @sleepdeprivedflower @thedragonsaunt @jamieweasley13 @hellfireone @dragonmama76

[jirsungs]

NO IDEA | profiles #2

gal pals & two men | masterlist | next

y/n, the beloved third year dance major. always dreamt of being on a cheerleading squad and finally joined after her gal pals (seulgi & yuqi) convinced her to. lives off campus with them as well. considered popular because of her boyfriend, hyunjin, but many people know her through cheerleading. busies herself by going to the basketball games to cheer for hyunjin and her friends. spams her spam account with shits and giggles, and is usually the one texting in the group chat.

the chatty and bratty third year dance major, song yuqi, is a talkative girl who's well known all around because of her beauty and careless personality. shares an off-campus apartment with y/n and seulgi. had ONE past relationship, but it ended badly (everyone hates her ex-girlfriend). looks nice but is actually a menace. the group loves her, though, because she brings fun. her snarky remarks with chenle always make the group chat more enjoyable. works part-time at a convenience store with mark.

kang seulgi, a last year student majoring in fashion to become a stylist. is the opposite of yuqi. looks like a menace but is actually a huge sweetheart. can't be mean to anyone for the life of her, which is where y/n and yuqi (mostly yuqi) come in for the rescue. is THAT student who goes all out with her outfits and shows up to class looking like she popped out of someone's pinterest feed. adopted y/n and yuqi into her apartment when she scouted for new roommates after her last ones graduated. loves updating the group chat with stupid things, and is the one answering y/n most of the time.

now, everyone knows the last year music composition major, mark lee. his popularity sprouted due to his kindness, talent, and attractive looks, especially. besides seulgi, he's also the one answering the group chat. joined the group after befriending yuqi at their shared job. has a weird obsession with becoming the next asian spiderman, or marvel, in general. still says "i love you 3000" as a form of endearment, but no one bullies him for it 'cause half of the school has a crush on him.

zhong chenle, the youngest of the bunch! a second year sports sciences major who joined the basketball team because of his close friend, jeno, who shares the same major as him. yuqi's nemesis (jokingly, i think). sometimes doesn't think before he talks, but the group thinks he's cute so he gets away with it. loud and immature, and yet he (and mark) still hold most of the brains in this friend group. befriended y/n and the group through mutual friends and they immediately hit it off because she found him so funny.

hyunjin and y/n's combined group (basically just hyunjin's friend group) note: these accounts won't be seen as often since they're mainly associated with hyunjin! (besides jeno and chenle)

[butterflywithsass]

Watched Dead Boy Detectives last night and I’m obsessed. If you like the queerness of good omens, but with more gore, and in the same universe as the Sandman (death and despair both show up) if you like dark academia gay boys, if you like ghosts, or paranormal stuff, or demons, if you like cats — lemme tell you this show is for you.

So, like, there’s these two ghost boys who are best friends but also gay for each other but also a secret third thing and their names are Edwin and Charles.

Edwin Payne was a demonic sacrifice in 1916 and as spend literal decades in hell but escaped. He’s a repressed Victorian gay who has zero charisma but every single man he meets becomes obsessed with him and wants to sleep with him except the boy he actually likes which is his best friend Charles. His entire character arc is about gay panic and getting over his internalized homophobia — he wears bow ties!!!! He doesn’t know what a hand job is. He’s literally the perfect tumblr blorbo. His superpower is getting tortured. He’s so sassy! His sexual awakening comes at the hands of a cat king and his first kiss is with a crow.

Charles died in like the 90s or something I’m not sure. He’s so optimistic and sunshine but also so full of rage. He’s the most supportive guy 100/10 would trust him with anything. He doesn’t like to talk about his issues. When confronted with the inexorable monsters of hell he solved the problem with a Molotov cocktail. I love him and his single earring he’s a golden retriever who would rather stay on earth with best friend than move on to a peaceful afterlife. His jawline is impeccable he can’t not press a big red button when he sees it.

Crystal Palace I wasn’t sold on because I thought she’d get between my boys but she actually so cool and I developed a bit of a crush let’s be honest I have a thing for curly haired witchy girls, she’s a physic with amnesia and a demon stalker ex boyfriend people stare at her when she hangs out with the boys cause it looks like she’s talking to herself. Everyone she knows thinks she’s insane. She’s a reformed mean girl.

Niko Sisaki I was a little iffy about because it felt like they were gonna go with the bimbo anime Asian girl but turns out she just had a parasite that made pink hearts float around her. She’s so weird she tries to help Edwin with his gay problem by introducing him to explicit gay fan fiction, she tries to get her landlord to date, she likes cool rocks. She has two tiny people trapped in a jar in her room. Her friendship with Edwin is everything. She’s ghosting her mom.

Jenny. I love her so much, she feels so safe which is weird because she chops meat and all her clothes are covered in blood. Everything about just screams big sister and her character arc is learning to embrace that. She goes on one date and almost gets murdered.

Monty. He’s literally a crow turned into a boy. He’s down bad for Edwin. He’s a secret honeypot agent for an evil witch. He has the most adorable smile, the whole time I was expecting him to be an agent of Morpheus. He’s obsessed with astrology.

The Night nurse originally annoyed me a bit (in a good way) I just wanted to get rid of her. When Charles punted her into a giant sea monster I clapped. Then it just got weird and I love it.

The cat king. He’s such a creep, but honestly, I love that for him. He has some of the best lines and he just exudes cat. He’s a classic fairy tale trickster, he a nuisance for the whole season, he’s central to the plot, he’s constantly hitting on Edwin.

Esther. She’s a archetypal evil witch. She gives off mystic trash vibes. She’s obsessed with beauty and revenge. She’s shamelessly horrible. She feeds kids to her giant snake. She literally can’t die.

All in all, I think I’m gonna have brain rot over this for the next year, go and watch it.

[bulbagarden]

Opinion: Scarlet and Violet are Pokémon's Queerest Games Yet (Bulbanews)

Hi it's Lisia here!! The following is an opinion piece from one of our staff members, Torchic W. Pip!! Blanc and I both loved this and like... we had to share it here LOL.

Pokémon was my queer awakening. I had silly little crushes on male and female characters alike, and I resonated with many of the designs of the series’s more gender nonconforming designs. Pokémon has always had a wink and a nod to queerness: Jessie and James’s genderbending antics, Beauty Nova in X and Y, Blanche from Pokémon GO… the list goes on. But with Scarlet and Violet, queerness shines bright as celestial stars.

“But wait!” you might say. “Scarlet and Violet has no canonical gay or trans characters! How can this thesis make sense?” Well, queer representation need not be explicit to be impactful. Sometimes, the stories queer people resonate with most are told through metaphor, from the misfits in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to X-Men to Luca and Gwen Stacy. The roots of this trace back to a history of censorship. LGBTQ+ stories have been historically censored, such as with the Hays Code. Queer people have long been unable to see stories with explicitly queer characters, so they instead turned to metaphors and symbolism. Gender nonconformity is also nothing new to the scene of video games. Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Guilty Gear are just some of the games that play with our expectations of gender. It’s also nothing new to Pokémon. East Asian media tends to depict transness and gender nonconformity differently from the West, but for more on that, I'll direct you to this video.

Even before the release of Scarlet and Violet, gender nonconformity shined through. Take a character like Grusha, for example, who many mistook for a girl when he was first introduced. It goes a little deeper than that, though. “Grusha” is Russian for “pear”, but it’s also a diminutive for the name “Agrafena”... a female Russian name. Whether or not it was intentional, it does add an extra layer of nonconformity to Grusha. Another character with some queercoded elements is Iono: Her color palette evokes the colours of the trans flag, and her Magnemite headpieces evoke an explicitly genderless Pokémon. Baggy clothes are common among many transgender people. Her friend Bellibolt is a frog, and many frogs in real life can change their sex. In Japanese, she speaks with a Bokukko speech pattern (a girl using the masculine “boku”), which is often used for plucky characters, but also nonconforming characters. All of Iono’s names across translations evoke themes of questions. On top of all that… well, the Vtubing scene is, from personal experience, very queer. All of my friends who watch VTubers are queer in some way. More seriously, creating a persona where you can let your true self shine in a way that regular society won't allow you to... that's pretty queer.

With the release of the games, we’ve seen a wide array of characters—Rika, Saguaro, Penny, and all of the leaders of Team Star, among others—showcase a wide range of gender expressions, either in their appearances, their personalities, or their hobbies. And all of these characters are seen as heroes, as role models.

As with games before, there are two characters with queer subtext in their relationship. Hassel and Brassius have been seen by many as being in a gay relationship, bonding over a love of art, supporting each other in dark times, and giving each other pet names. Even if it's not outright stated that they're in a romantic relationship, their care for each other is a beautiful thing. Many gay coded relationships are often of younger men or women, and while these relationships are important, it's also important for older gay couples to receive some of the spotlight. After all, queer people have always existed, and it's important to remember our past and honor those who came before us, who helped paved the path to acceptance.

For the first time in a mainline game, the player character can choose any clothes, hair style, and so on regardless of gender. While the player can still only choose between being referred to by masculine or feminine terms, this is a step in the right direction, and it opens the door for many opportunities never seen before. Boys can be feminine, girls can be masculine, and both can be anywhere in between. The world of gender expression is as big as the open world of Paldea.

But back to Team Star. The whole Team Star path is one big, queer metaphor. Think about it: kids are bullied for how they dress or act, these misfits band together and retaliate against their bullies, finding a sort of family in each other, villains who turn out to be just the opposite… It’s a story that, in some way or form, can resonate with many kids who have, sadly, dealt with homophobia or transphobia in school. The path is a story about righting what’s wrong, about making the world a more accepting place.

Scarlet and Violet is a game about shining bright in the sky with other stars, about being your true self. Its themes are deeply resonant with the queer experience. At the end of the Team Star path, you battle Penny, whose ace Pokémon is trans flag-coloured Sylveon, and as she Terastilizes her partner, she says, “Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be!” So shine bright, trainers, and be your true self.

Oh, and of course, Quaquaval is the queer icon of all time.

[Torchic W. Pip is a Bulbanews writer with a focus on music, merchandise, and spin-off games. They're also a fanfiction author and moderator of the Writer's Workshop subforum. Outside of writing, Torchic is studying music theory and linguistics, and his favorite games are X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.]

[mrs-lockley]

Reach for the Moon | I. The Breaking

PAIRINGS: (Slow Burn, Romantic) Jake Lockley x Southeast Asian Fem!Reader, (Platonic) Steven Grant x Southeast Asian!Fem Reader, (Unrequited) Marc Spector x Southeast Asian Fem!Reader, no use of Y/N, no physical description of the reader

WARNINGS: Unrequited love (Reader is in love with Marc, Marc is oblivious but means well), first love and heartbreak, Reader knows limited Spanish, italics in dialogue indicates Reader and her parents speaking a foreign language (unspecified), mentions of divorce and a brief mention of the military 

WORD COUNT: 7.5k

SERIES SUMMARY: Inspired by the 1954 film & 1995 remake of Sabrina, No Moon Knight AU. 

To heal your broken heart from your unrequited crush on Marc Spector, your family sends you to Singapore to help establish your cousin’s bakery. You return to New York two years later as a more confident woman, but you find yourself picking up the pieces of your broken heart (again) after seeing Marc still holding onto his first love. Sensing the pain and heartbreak between you and Marc, Jake steps in as a white knight to create distance to help both of you heal, but he was never supposed to fall in love with you. 

Author's Note: Many thanks to @soft-girl-musings, @v4mpires0ap, @callingmrsbarnes for supporting me with this fic. It's been a long time coming 🤍 Special thanks to @flightlessangelwings for your guidance and advice on making writing more inclusive! Today is my birthday, and I wanted to share this to my dear friends who never gave up on me when I gave up on writing.

Tagging (but no pressure to read!): @writefightandflightclub @venting402 @musing-magpie @themarcusmoreno

THE BREAKING

You remembered your last night in New York— it was near the end of summer when you were set to leave to help your cousin establish her bakery in Singapore. While your friends and family were excited for your new adventure abroad, you had run away, letting your feet guide you to an all too familiar apartment building before you collapsed on the steps. Your heart was filled with dread, splintering into two like an old tree bending to the howling winds of sorrow and heartbreak. 

How foolish you were, you thought to yourself as you sobbed on the steps, your face buried in your hands as the tears continued to pour out of you. Your heart held no contempt for your cousin or the beautiful country of Singapore; you loved your cousin dearly and always wanted to visit her there, but living in Singapore for two years would mean leaving him behind.

Marc Spector, the man you loved for so many years. The man who didn’t even know you existed, the man who didn’t love you back. 

He was beautiful, handsome. Dark brown eyes and curly black hair, strong brows and the whisper of a five o’clock shadow kissing his jaw and cheeks. A smooth voice with a bit of a drawl that you found comforting and uniquely Marc. Broad, wide shoulders and sun-kissed tan skin, it did not take long for you to fall in love with him.

Like scenes from an old film, you replayed your cherished memories of him in your mind. His nose scrunching when laughing at one of your jokes, his proud smile when you showed him your college degree, his gentle lips on your forehead as he comforted you after a rough night. 

As much as you love him, shards of guilt tore through you. Deep down, you knew he was still reeling from his divorce, and that he still harbored feelings for his ex-wife. A few nights after the two of you had too much to drink, Marc would recount the memories he shared with her that were near and dear to his heart. Each time he mentioned her name, daggers were impaled through you. How could you let yourself fall for someone who only saw you as a friend and still had feelings for their first love? 

You had set yourself for heartbreak, and you had no one to blame but yourself as you tried to pick up the pieces and forget your feelings for him. Perhaps living in Singapore for two years would be for the best. You would make yourself forget about him and the distance would ease the pain and remedy the inevitable heartbreak that was soon to follow.

Before you could draft a plan, a pair of dark boots appeared in front of you, followed by the sound of a familiar voice calling your name in concern.

Your heart skipped a beat. 

“What are you doing out here so late? What’s wrong?”

You pulled the sleeves of your shirt over your wrists as you hastily wiped your tears, using your sleeves as a makeshift tissue. “I’m fine, Jake. I just got lost in my head, please do not worry about me.”

Your lips quivered and your voice trembled as soon as you spoke, a sob threatening to escape from your throat as another wave of tears pricked the corners of your eyes. How silly of you to fall apart on the steps outside of his apartment building- have you no shame?

To your surprise, a thin cloth was offered to you, pulling you out of your thoughts before you could spiral into self-degradation and pity. Hesitantly, you looked up at him to find his brown eyes softening in empathy. When you didn’t accept the kerchief right away, he gently gestured it towards you again, urging you to take it.

With a quiet thank you, you accepted it, dabbing your eyes and steadying your breathing as you heard him take a seat on the steps beside you.

“Did someone hurt you?”

You shook your head, but kept your gaze fixed on the cloth in your hands. Even though Marc and Jake shared the same face, Jake was different. You couldn’t bear to look at him— one look, and he would see right through you.

Instead of answering him, you observed the scene in front of you. Across the street, two lovers exchanged sweet words and loving promises. Down the sidewalk, children screamed as they chased each other down the block. Cars, buses, and taxis drove by in a blur with only their flickering tail lights indicating their passing presence. You thought back to the nights you spent with Marc, your arm linked with his as he walked you home after you finished your night classes at the university. He would listen as you vented about the assignments your professors piled on you in the middle of midterms and other projects with similar deadlines. 

“We’re proud of you, you know,” Marc said once you finished crossing the street. “Going to school to get your degree. I went straight into the Marines after high school and was discharged after …”

His voice trailed off, but you caught the stony expression on his face and the darkness that clouded his eyes. Your heart began to ache. 

“I’m proud of you, too,” you nudged him lightly. “You’ve been through a lot, but you’re still here. I think that’s something worthy and important to celebrate.”

You grinned as you watched a smile form on his lips. How rare it was to see Marc smile, but how sweet it was to be the reason behind it.

After a moment, you answered him. 

“I’m just sensitive, that’s all.” 

The two of you sat in silence for a minute as you both listened to the bustling sounds of the city. That was the thing about Jake Lockley– his actions spoke louder than words, and him sitting here with you, letting you cry and stain his handkerchief with your eyeliner and mascara was enough to pull you out of your downward spiral. 

“That may be true,” Jake hummed from beside you, “but it’s okay to be sensitive. It means that you care and feel things deeply.”

Perhaps a little too deeply, you mused as you folded his handkerchief. It was your parents’ idea for you to live in the Lion City for two years as a way for you to not only apply what you learned in college to the real world, but to keep you away from Marc. 

“You need to forget about him. Pining after him will do you no good,” your father lectured one evening after Marc dropped you off at home. “He does nothing but bring you heartache.”

“He is a good man, Papa,” you reasoned. 

Your mother sighed as she pulled you onto the couch to sit between her and your father. “We never said he was a bad person, my child. But we don’t want to see you heartbroken over him. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you to fall in love with someone else.”

Suppose they have a point, you reckoned. All your life, you fantasized about falling hopelessly in love with someone and that they would reciprocate your feelings in return, but life is not as colorful and sweet as the romantic novels you read. 

“Have you ever fallen in love with someone you weren’t supposed to have feelings for?” You asked quietly. 

Jake smiled softly, but you caught the pain in his voice as he spoke. “A long time ago, yes.”

You were not close friends with Jake, not to the same level as you were with Marc and Steven. With Jake, he was more private. Much like the cabbie that he was, it often felt like there was a window between the two of you. He was in the front seat, but you were in the back seat, only seeing rare glimpses of him through the window in between.

His brown eyes fell on yours, and he raised a curious, but amused, eyebrow at you. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, your cheeks growing warm. “I don’t know you as well as I know Marc and Steven, so it’s a little strange for me to picture you as a man who was madly in love. You are always so quiet.”

To your surprise, Jake laughed, and you could not help but laugh along with him as you noticed how the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed. It was not often you heard him laugh, but it was a delightful sound that you wanted to hear again. 

“You’re a funny girl,” he chuckled, but you were not offended by his words. “But you do have a point. How about this? I’ll promise to show more of myself when you return from Singapore?”

You smiled at him as he extended his gloved hand to you. “I’d like that very much.” 

His smile was kind in return as he shook your hand. Then, he stood, gently helping you up from where you were seated on the dusty steps. 

“It’s getting late, conejita (little bunny), let me drive you home before your parents worry about you.”

You could not help but chuckle at the nickname he had given you as you followed him, barely catching the fond smile on his face as he helped you down the steps. Your tears had dried by then, your heart a little bit lighter while he guided you to his car. 

Like a true gentleman, he opened the door for you, making sure you had your seatbelt on before heading to the other side. Inside, everything was uniquely Jake with the smell of leather and his cologne, the seats spacious and free of clutter. As he turned on the engine, the comforting melody of a Spanish love ballad played from the speakers, and you slowly closed your eyes.

The first few nights in Singapore were rough. You were miserable and heartbroken as you absentmindedly helped your aunt, uncle, and cousin clean up the new shop. Concerned as they were, they insisted that you rest, convinced you were exhausted from the jet lag and adjustment to the new time change. Of course, you should have known better that they would contact your parents. Not wanting to keep secrets, they told them about your unrequited crush on “a handsome boy back home,” and that you were heartbroken that he could not tell you goodbye. 

The first few months, you wrote various letters to Steven. From tourist postcards to long handwritten letters, you poured your thoughts, feelings, and emotions into the letters, hoping that your best friend would offer you some solace and healing to your heartache. 

I have never fallen in love so deeply, not even when I was a teenager. Isn’t it childish? My parents were worried, and now my aunt, uncle, and cousin fear I may not be helpful in establishing their bakery because of my “broken heart.” Growing up, I wanted to fall in love like in the movies, but I never expected it to be this painful and tragic. You would think that a smart girl like me would have fallen in love with someone else. Instead, I fell for a man who is still in love with his first love. I might as well be reaching for the moon. 

It would take weeks, sometimes a couple months before your letter would reach him. You would anxiously check the mail each day, hoping for comfort from him. When you finally received his letter, you excused yourself to the kitchen where you sat with your face covered in flour, your apron already painted in various colors from testing different icings as you unfolded his letter. 

You are still young, and you will find love again. The first love is always so painful, but do not fret, love. Have you forgotten? We already built rockets to reach the moon. It is a matter of finding the one that gravity pulls you to. 

You cherished each letter you wrote him. Even in today’s digital age, you and Steven preferred pen, wrinkled papers, and postage stamps. You would collect the most colorful and vibrant postcards to send to Steven so he could add it to his collection, and you could not help but smile when he sent a picture of all your postcards taped to Gus’ fish tank.  It felt a bit old-fashioned to wait months for a letter overseas, but more intimate as you shared stories and memories with each other.

The first few months were a bit painful, but as it turned into a year, your heart did not ache as much as when you left New York. Your cousin’s bakery took off during the first year, and soared to higher heights in the second with lines trailing out the door, but you were quick on your feet to bring out all the delectable treats and desserts that the city loved. One eventful night, your cousin brought you with her college friends to the local bar to celebrate, and you forgot that Marc broke your heart as you both sang to your favorite songs until your lungs ached and your throat ran dry. 

You stumbled into the kitchen that night with your cousin, the two of you giggling as your aunt and uncle merely laughed at how affectionate the two of you were with each other. You quickly ran to your room to pull out a pen, your body filled with warmth as you sat at your bedroom window with your cousin’s cat curled at your feet. 

Oh Steven, I haven’t felt this happy since leaving New York. I just got back from the karaoke bar with my cousin, and although I might be a little tipsy, I’ve learnt so many things here in Singapore. The night is young, but rich with dreams, wishes, and hope as I write underneath a full moon. Come what may, my heart will be open to new possibilities and adventures, for I am not the same person as I was yesterday. And before I forget, don’t tell my parents that I will be coming home a few weeks early; I want to surprise them, and I want to surprise you with how much I have grown. I would like to think I am not the same college girl who left with a broken heart, because I will return as a hopeful young woman who still dares to dream.

Before you knew it, you were packing your things and ready to return home. Your aunt, uncle, and cousin embraced you tightly with tearful smiles as they dropped you off at the airport, and soon, you were flying through the clouds. Your heart fluttered in excitement at seeing your family and friends again, and for once, you were not too worried about facing him again. You remained hopeful as you reminded yourself of how far you’ve come as you carried your dreams with you. 

But perhaps you spoke too soon. 

You called Steven a few nights before to plan for your arrival. Steven promised that he would pick you up at the JFK airport, but as you made it down the escalator, your heart nearly stopped. Waiting at the bottom was Marc Spector, holding up a sign with your name and a bouquet of flowers. His face is partially hidden by the shadow of his cap, but you could see the growing smile on his face as you approached. 

“I know you were expecting Steven,” he explains as you stop in front of him, “but he remembered he can’t drive, so I offered to step in-”

Your heart swells as you take him in. It has been two years since you saw him last. You did not keep in touch with Marc as closely as you did with Steven, but seeing him hold a sign with flowers for you, you suddenly feel like that college girl again. 

Before he could finish his sentence, you wrap your arms around him and hug him tightly.

“Thank you for coming for me,” you whisper. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Your heart skips a beat as he returns your embrace. With your head on his shoulder, you close your eyes. His arms are as strong as you remembered him, and the scent of his cologne brings you back to those nights he would pick you up after class to walk you home. 

“It’s good to see you. We missed you.”

You ignore the sinking feeling in your chest as he pulls away. He looks down at you, and you could not help but smile at the warmth and softness in his brown eyes.

“I almost didn’t recognize you. You look different.” 

“Different?”

Marc smiles softly. He smoothes a loose strand of your hair, and you pray in that moment that he did not feel the sudden heat rising to your cheeks from the contact.

“A good kind of different,” he answers, “you’re glowing.”

Butterflies flutter in your tummy at his words. It was true- you were a different woman now, and you were not the same college girl with an unrequited crush on her friend. 

But in that moment, it seems all you could think about is his gentle smile. If you weren’t careful enough, you would slowly turn back into that lovesick girl. 

Before you delve too deep into your thoughts, Marc smiles fondly at you again as he hands you the bouquet.

“Let me get your things, and then I can take you home.”

You smile at him as he gathers your belongings. As you follow him out of the terminal, your fingers absentmindedly trace the soft petals of the daffodils. They are a soft white and delicate between your fingertips, and you are already thinking about what vase to use and where to put it in your bedroom once you get home. 

The ride home was quiet, and as much as you wanted to ask him about everything that you missed in the past two years, you were exhausted from your trip. It took some time, but Marc was able to persuade you to sleep, only lightly tapping your shoulder to wake you when he pulled up to your parents’ driveway. It was after dinner when you saw their silhouettes moving across the kitchen, and you could not wait to surprise them with your early arrival. 

And surprised they were. Screams of joy and laughter echoed throughout the neighborhood as your family embraced you with overjoyed tears streaming down their cheeks. Much to your surprise, they were civil with Marc as he and your father helped bring your suitcases in, even offering that he could stay for some coffee before he politely declined. Whether he knew that your parents did not favor him as much compared to Steven, you didn’t know, but you were happy that he brought you home. 

As he walks out the front door, you excuse yourself and call his name as you quickly follow after him. 

“Thank you again for picking me up and taking me home,” you tell him as he turns around. “I wouldn’t have gotten here without you.”

He smiles softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he did so. “Anytime, I just want to make sure you get home safe.”

You smile shyly. This wasn’t the first time he brought you home, and it reminded you of the nights he would pick you up or walk you home after class. Just like old times.

Your mind was reeling, your heart soaring as you placed the bouquet of daffodils on your desk. Despite your parent’s disapproval (and much to your dismay, too), all the feelings you thought you moved on from Marc quickly resurfaced after seeing him again. You did your best to not think about him too much while you were in Singapore, but seeing him smile at you and having him take you home, you could feel yourself falling for him all over again. 

It took a couple weeks to adjust to being back in New York, but it was wonderful to be home. You told your parents everything about your time in Singapore and the success of your cousin’s business. Every now and then, you would call her, your aunt, and uncle to see how popular their bakery became since you left. In the background of your video calls, you would see your uncle tending to a customer in the front, or your aunt reloading a tray of green tea mochi in their display case. You missed the hustle and bustle of Singapore, but you were glad to be in the familiarity of the Big Apple with your friends and family again. 

Steven met with you first after you settled back into your routine. It was a Thursday afternoon as the two of you sat in your living room and exchanged gifts. You beamed at all the stories and anecdotes he shared with you. 

“That’s amazing!” You told him. The two of you were cross-legged on the floor as you poured him another cup of tea. “I just know the kids are going to love having you as a tour guide in the King Tut exhibit at the Smithsonian.”

Your best friend grinned, a soft red dusting his smiling cheeks. “You think so? I start on Monday. I’m so nervous! I don’t want to mess it up or bore them with all the details, but you know how much I love Ancient Egypt.”

“You’re going to do great. You make history sound so fascinating and entertaining.” You smiled reassuringly at him. “I missed hearing all your stories while I was in Singapore.”

“Well, that just means I have to do some more research for you to get you up to speed,” Steven countered, and the two of you laughed. “I’m so happy that you’re back and that I get to meet with you again. We missed you so much.”

Once again, your heart skipped a beat at the thought of Marc missing you. But you quickly dismissed the thought as soon as it came— you and Marc were friends beforehand, after all. You already spent two years away from him, surely you should have gotten a grip over your unrequited crush on a man who had no romantic feelings for you whatsoever. 

Your face must have fallen. Before you caught yourself, you found Steven’s brown eyes washing over you with concern. “You know, love, Marc told me he missed you too. I know you didn’t keep in touch with him frequently like you did with me. Are you doing okay?”

You swallowed hard as the other shoe dropped. As much as you hated to admit, it was true. Compared to the handwritten letters and postcards you sent Steven, your communication with Marc paled in comparison. You reasoned with yourself that the distance would do you good, and the only times you shared any correspondence with him were through some texts and pictures you sent via email. Like Marc, you did not have much social media, and you preferred to keep your private life private. But in the texts you both shared, they were straight-forward. You knew Marc was not fond of communicating through texts, and it was difficult to keep track of when he fronted with the time differences between New York and Singapore. Naturally, he fell through the cracks. 

It’s been a few weeks since you saw Marc, and the last time you spoke with him was when he took you home after picking you up at the airport. You weren’t avoiding him, but you also did not trust yourself around him. One look at him, and all the feelings you tried to repress would suddenly rush to the surface. 

“Does he know?” You asked, your voice quiet and hesitant. “About my feelings for him?”

You watched as Steven’s eyes softened. Whether your best friend was telling the truth, or telling you what you needed to hear to avoid hurting you, you did not know.  

“No, he doesn’t.”

You nodded, but kept your gaze on your mournful expression looking up at you through your reflection on the glossy surface. The mug grew cold in your hands, and you no longer felt the warmth and comfort of your favorite tea. 

Sensing the change in demeanor, you heard Steven clear his throat and set his mug on the table. Pulling you out of your thoughts, you glanced over at him to see a sheepish smile on his lips, his curls slightly askew. 

“If you don’t mind, can I practice my first tour with you? I have my speeches ready, and I think I need to get you caught up on what you missed.”

You vaguely felt the sting in your cheeks as you smiled at him and nodded. “I would love to hear it. Tell me everything.”

As Steven practiced his first speech and tour with you, thoughts of Marc began to fade away. All you could do was smile as you listened to your friend recite the great history of ancient civilizations over your favorite cup of tea. Your heart ached as the afternoon bled into the evening, but it was not as painful as it was before. Things were different now— you were different— as you looked at your reflection in the mirror, reminding yourself that you had to move on, for your sake.

The days went by slowly, and soon it was summer. You smiled as the sun shined longer and the nights grew shorter, painting the sky vibrant hues of golds, oranges, and reds like a sparkling fire. You did not see Steven as often once he started his museum tours, but you always smiled at his texts. 

It was a Thursday morning when you were at home when you heard your phone chime from across the room. Expecting it to be Steven gushing about his latest tour to elementary school children, you picked up your phone without a second thought, only for your heart to stop. Marc.

You did not mean to ignore him, but your communication with him was limited in the months you returned. It was for the best, you reasoned with yourself. The distance would do you good, and for a while, you truly believed that you moved on from your unrequited crush on your friend. But just a simple text and call of his name brought you back to the sleepless nights of staining your pillow with tears. 

The rushing sound of your beating heart echoed in your ears as your fingers over the text. You couldn’t ignore him forever. He was your friend first, your heartbreak second. 

Which led you to wearing your favorite dress with your arm linked through his as the two of you walked through the busy town square of a night market. Much to your parents (and Steven’s) concern, you agreed to meet with him. 

“I haven’t talked to him since I left for Singapore,” you argued with your parents over dinner. “He was my friend first. I can’t ignore him forever.”

And honestly, you couldn’t, even if you tried. Marc was too observant, and the last thing you wanted was for him to think he hurt you. Even if your heart was breaking.

“I’m sure the food was better back in Singapore, but I thought that I could bring a part of it to you.”

You laugh softly as Marc turns to you. Seeing there was an Asian street food market in town that weekend, Marc invited you to come along. It was a way for you two to catch up since you had yet to have a full and proper conversation with him since you returned home. It was casual enough, and surely, no harm could be done. 

“It’s still home,” you assure him, and your heart swells as he smiles at you. 

How could you hate him when he still brought you joy?

“I researched what I could, but I’ll need your opinion since you’re the expert,” he teases, and you laugh again. “There’s so many choices, it’s almost overwhelming. Where do I start?”

You look around at the different vendors, booths, and trucks around the square. Even at this hour, there are so many people trying new things and enjoying the night. There really is no place like home. 

“I’ll show you one of my favorites,” you tell him. “Have you had mochi donuts before?”

“It will be my first time,” Marc smiles at you, and you try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach as he extends his arm to you. “Show me.”

With a pounding heart, you link your arm through his as you guide him to the booth. Thankfully the line was not long, and you had food to temporarily distract you from the emotions rising to the surface. 

The conversation began to flow into a steady rhythm as the night continued on. Two years have passed since you last stood by his side, but tonight, the memories gathered in your mind as if it were only yesterday. You found yourself laughing over the shenanigans that Marc and Steven found themselves in while you were gone, and in return, you shared stories of creating recipes and painting the town red with your cousin and her friends on sleepless nights. 

For a little while, you fooled yourself into thinking it was the two of you, just like old times. 

You sit on a bench as the night draws to a close. With his jacket around your shoulders, it takes everything in you to not pull it closer towards yourself. It may not mean nothing to him, but it means everything to you.

Across the promenade, a local college band begins to play as the strings of their guitar tunes out the noise of your beating heart. If you listen long enough, you would not have to hear your heart ache. 

After a moment, Marc takes a shaky breath beside you, his dark brows furrowed. “Can I ask you something?”

You turn to face him. “Anything.”

You watch as a soft smile spreads across his lips, but you know him long enough to know that it did not reach his eyes. 

“You’ve been different since Singapore,” he begins, and you swallow hard, fearing his next words. “You’ve been distant. Things just aren’t the same or what it used to be. I need to know—”

Your breath catches in your throat as he turns to look at you. His brown eyes were dark, filled with emotion that he seldom showed. 

“Was it something I did?” He asks, his voice shaking. “Have I hurt you?”

Marc Spector was many things— observant, perceptive— but a heartbreaker? A heartbreaker was not one of them, even if he held your broken one in the palm of his hands.

“No, Marc—” you swallow the growing ache in your chest as you reach for him. “Please don’t ever think that. You did nothing wrong.” Gently, you squeeze his hands to comfort him. 

You could not lie to him. You could not hurt him, not when he was like this. 

“Things may be different, but I haven’t changed. Not really.”

But you have, in your own way. You would like to believe you have changed and grown into a young woman, but as you smiled at him, you wondered how much you really changed when your heart fluttered at his smile. 

“You seem more grown up,” he whispers softly as he smoothes a strand of your hair. “Don’t grow up so fast that you don’t need me, kid.”

You blink, ignoring the tears that threaten to fall from your eyes at his words. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

With a comforting smile, he stretches his arm and places it around your shoulders to pull you close as his lips gently place a soft kiss on your forehead. Your heart skips a beat from his touch as the scent of his cologne envelopes you. It is so tempting to close your eyes and fall deeper into his embrace, but you fight against the heartstrings being tugged at your heart. 

In the promenade, the band transitions to a softer, romantic song with a few slow strokes of an acoustic guitar. One by one, couples gather with their partners to sway and dance along. A soft smile graces your lips as you recognize the tune. 

“This is one of my favorite Hozier songs,” you remark fondly as you remembered discovering his music for the first time. “Do you like his music—”

You look over at your friend, but stop. It was as if he was frozen in time, eyes wide as if he had seen a ghost. 

“Marc?”

He did not answer. He remains frozen, paralyzed and rooted to the spot as if he was ensnared by invisible hands. You call out to him again as you grasp his hands in yours, trying to bring him back to reality. 

Finally, his eyes meet yours, filled with nothing but pain and sorrow. 

“This song—” he stammers, his voice hoarse. His gaze flickers between you and the band as the couples in the courtyard embrace one another to the lyrics. “This song was played at my wedding.” 

Your heart sinks as you realize the significance. Layla. 

“It was your song,” you breathe as the pain in your heart begins to splinter deep inside, tearing it in two. How insensitive of you to think that he was over his first love. 

As if he was burned, Marc pulls away from you. He turns his head away, his voice low and trembling as he speaks. 

“I’m sorry, kid, but please excuse me—”

Before you could say a word, he was already walking away, leaving you alone at the bench with his jacket around your shoulders. 

Slowly, you pull your hands toward yourself. The tears that threatened you from before finally had the chance to fall, staining your cheeks with heartbreak and woe. Your heart twists as you watch the couples cradle each other as if they would fall apart without their touch. You were foolish to think that could be you and Marc one day. How could you fault him for still being in love with his first love when you still had feelings for him?

You should have said no, you scold yourself as you pull his jacket tighter around you, trying to comfort yourself with the lingering scent of his cologne and imagining that he was holding you in his arms. Tonight was a mistake, and you should have kept your distance from him. You should have listened to your parents and Steven’s words of caution, but here you were, crying alone on a bench. 

Marc saw you as nothing more than a younger sister. He was never yours. 

As you wipe the stray tears on your cheeks, you are pulled from your thoughts by a familiar handkerchief crossing your line of vision. 

Stunned, you look up and find a pair of deep brown eyes washing over you in concern. He shares the same face, but you know the difference. 

“A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t spend her evening shedding tears, conejita.”

A dry laugh escapes your lips as you accept the handkerchief. As you brush away your tears, he takes a seat beside you and whistles a low tune. 

“Marc,” you clear your throat, trying to control the wave of tears that threatened to spill over. “Is he alright?”

“He’ll be fine, he just needs some time,” Jake answers. He looks over at you with a sympathetic gaze. “I’m sorry he walked away.”

You shrug as you look down, your fingers twisting the ends of his handkerchief to numb the heartache. Even when it hurt, you could not find it in yourself to be upset with him. 

You echo his words. “I’ll be fine.”

He clicks his tongue with a shake of his head. 

“We can’t have that,” he reasons as he stands and offers his hand to you with a gentle smile. “Let’s end the night on a good note.”

You ponder his words as you look up at him. Jake shares the same face as your best friends, but is different in his own way. Steven’s eyes were bright and doe-eyed while Marc’s were darker with a storm of emotion, but Jake was different.

Looking at him now, they are deeper, but filled with a sense of warmth and familiarity that you could not explain. It bewilders you, but at the same time, it was as if you were greeting an old friend. 

Yet, there is so much about Jake that you did not know. You try not to let your worries get the best of you, but you remain hesitant and guarded at his intentions. You prefer not to know, and you would rather delude yourself into hoping he was not aware of your unrequited feelings for Marc, too. It seems everyone knows how you feel about him except the man himself. 

As if he read your mind, he reaches forward to caress your cheek, his thumb gently wiping away a stray tear that falls from your eyes. 

“I promise I have no ill intentions, conejita,” he comforts you with a gentle smile. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Your cheeks grow warm. “I don’t know you very well.”

He chuckles softly at you. “I promised I would show more of myself to you when you returned. Let me fulfill that promise.”

You remembered that night when he found you crying on the steps outside of his apartment before you left for Singapore. It felt so long ago, but it also felt as if it were yesterday. 

With a sheepish smile, you accept his hand. “Lead the way.”

You allow him to guide you to the promenade with your hand in his. After a moment, he pulls you close with one of his hands settling on your back, the other holding yours as he begins to sway to the music. You follow his movements with one hand on his shoulder as the other was laced with his, keeping you connected to him. 

You were not much of a dancer. For most of high school, you opted out of homecoming and only attended prom during your senior year, but even then, you were with friends. You never slow danced with anyone except your father whenever he played the old romantic love songs from his homeland in the kitchen on Saturday mornings.

An apology immediately falls from your lips as you accidentally step on his feet. “I’m so sorry—”

He tucks a finger under your chin, guiding you to look at him. 

“Eyes on me,” he whispers. “Follow my movements. Pretend it’s just the two of us.”

Slowly, you nod, keeping your eyes on him as you follow his steps. Your cheeks feel warm from the contact, but you elect to ignore it. You could only imagine how you looked. 

“When did you learn how to dance?” You ask him curiously. You did not want to say it, but you were surprised to see that he was a natural dancer. 

“I’m a man of many hidden talents, and I am not one to reveal my secrets.”

You could not help but laugh at his answer as he grins playfully at you. He was always an enigma. 

“Well, whoever taught you must have been a wonderful teacher,” you compliment him with a small and shy smile. “And whoever you danced with had a lucky partner.” 

Jake laughs softly as he twirled you. Once you face him again, he smiles. 

For the first time, you feel something foreign tug at your heartstrings. In the glimpses you have seen of Jake Lockley, you knew very little about him, but you knew enough to know he only revealed his true self to a select few.

Perhaps this time, you would finally meet the man in the front seat through the window in-between.

The ride home was quiet, but the silence was not suffocating. The city lights blurred past you as Jake hummed and whistled along to the Spanish melodies that played on the radio. Some songs you were familiar with from the playlists that Steven and Marc would often share with you. There were times when you asked them to teach you the language so you could better understand the songs they would sing, and in return, you shared the music from your family’s homeland. You did not recognize the songs that Jake played on the radio, but even in your limited understanding of the language, you found comfort in the harmonies. 

Like a true gentleman, Jake walked you to your front door once he dropped you off at home. The lights were still on in the kitchen when you arrived, and you knew your parents were still awake and waiting for your return. 

“Thank you for tonight,” you turn to him as you stop at your front door. “I had a good time with you and Marc.”

Your heart aches at the thought of Marc. There was so little he shared about his divorce with Layla, and from the little you knew about it, you knew he loved her deeply. The wound in his heart had yet to close and heal, much similar to yours. 

Sensing your worry, Jake offers a reassuring smile. 

“He’ll be alright,” he reassures you. “He just needs some time to himself, but I promise you he’ll be okay. Steven and I will look after him.”

You nod. You’ve seen Marc withdraw at times, but not like this. You could still see the fear on his face— he looked as if he had seen a ghost, and you wonder if he will be able to come back.

“Did you want to come inside? I made some mochi earlier that you could take home.”

He shakes his head, but still offers that comforting smile at you. “I’ll be alright, but thank you. Can you tell your parents I said hello?”

You smile weakly at him, feeling a bit comforted by his reassurance. “I will.”

As you watch him walk back to his car, your heart begins to ache, a dagger digging into your chest and you could barely breathe. 

For a moment, he looked just like Marc. Slicked back dark hair, olive green jacket over his shoulders, and that soft, gentle smile. 

There was a time when Marc would bring you home like this, right after your night classes. He would walk you to the front door, his jacket over your shoulders, a protective arm around you as it was already dark once the sun had set. 

“Whenever you need me, you can call me,” he comforted you the first night you completed your night class. It was already fall with the days growing shorter and the nights growing darker, and you often called him to take you home since you felt unsafe walking across campus and waiting at the bus stop by yourself. 

“You don’t need to take me home every Thursday because I’m scared of walking alone to the bus stop at night. I can call campus police for an escort,” you told him as he opened the car door for you.

Marc shook his head and took your bag from your shoulders as you stepped in. “The buses aren’t always reliable, and I need to make sure you’re home safe.”

You began to protest, but he smiled at you as he leaned down and kissed your forehead. 

“No one can hurt you when I’m around,” he whispered. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easy, kid.”

But you did not have to do anything for Marc to leave you. How could you lose someone you loved if they were never yours?

You ignore the ache in your heart as Jake drives away, disappearing into the darkness like a dying star in the night sky. With a deep breath, you force a smile and step inside to find your parents waiting for you in the living room, eager to hear everything about your date. 

It went well, you lie. We are just friends, and my feelings for him have faded. I am no longer in love with him. 

I am no longer in love with Marc Spector, you repeat to yourself as you sit in your room, your fingers tracing the daffodil petals that you saved from the bouquet he had given you. You cherished the flowers he gifted you, but they have withered and died, their petals pressed into thin pieces you would have saved and kept near to your heart. 

You remembered sitting in the field as a schoolgirl with flowers in your hand and giggling with your friends as you sang, he loves me, he loves me not. 

You loved him, but he loves you not.

I am no longer in love with Marc Spector, you whisper, dropping the petals into the wastebasket. 

I am no longer in love with Marc Spector. 

Another petal falls, followed by the other. 

I am no longer in love with Marc Spector. 

A tear falls from your eyes as you drop the last petal, your hand empty without any trace of him. 

It was time to let him go. 

PART 2: THE FALLING

[starryalpacasstuff]

The subversion of faen fatale in Last Twilight; and why I love it

Can I just talk for a moment how much I appreciate P'Aof dismantling faen fatale tropes, as well as the notion of 'guys and girls can't be close friends' that is so prevalent in Asian society? Because not only did he do a fabulous job with Ink in Bad Buddy, but he's going above and beyond with it in Last Twilight. We have Gee, who could have so easily been someone who was interested in Day, and come in between their relationship (I was praying for her to not turn out to be a faen fatale when she was introduced). But instead, she's a great friend to Day, and she helps him regain another piece of his life by pushing him to join her at the bar. And then we have Porjai. She's Mhok's ex girlfriend, and the narrative has presented chance after chance for her to regain feelings for Mhok, and present problem for Mhok and Day in so many different ways, but none of them were ever taken.

And part of this feels very intentional to me. Showing us two female characters that could have very easily become barriers to the relationship, they didn't. We see it in the preliminary interactions between Day and Gee, where there's some time where Gee's character could have easily gone one of two ways. And you will not believe how immensely relieved I was when the show made it abundantly clear that Gee is a friend to Day, and nothing more. Similarly, Porjai is introduced to us as Mhok's girlfriend, and later as his ex. It would have been so easy for her to 'catch feelings again', like when Mhok comes to her aid with her ex (forgot his name, won't bother reminding myself). I feel like the show is trying to put the point forward that guys and girls can be friends, and that the girl doesn't always have to be a homewrecker.

And let me tell you this, I absolutely adore that P'Aof is doing this. The trope of female homewreckers, (or faen fatale as we like to call them) is extremely prevalent not only in bls, but in asian media in general. I've seen it everywhere, from bollywood movies to add drama, to serials that have been running for half my lifetime, to keep the viewers watching. I've watched it enough times to have a genuine hatred of it. There's a number of issues with the trope that I'm not going to get into right now, but I'm sure you're all familiar with. But the greatest point is, that it often takes away from a good story. It's a tired trope that serves only to add drama and disinterest the viewers from the story. Last Twilight (and Bad Buddy too) has had a very concrete storyline from the start. The purpose and aim of this story have been clear from the beginning, and in the most recent episode, the show has started to dig a little deeper into Day and Mhok's stories, relationship, and shown us how they're growing together. A faen fatale would absolutely ruin the slow, delicate journey these two are on of growing together, which is where I come to August.

Honestly, I was a little afraid when I realized that Day liked August. Because Day and Mhok have been slowly, but surely growing closer, and they're slowly letting down walls built up due to grief, and loss. But August only serves to help us further understand Day. I'm struggling slightly to put this into words, but in the single episode we had with August, I've learned so much more about Day, and how he works. And, his introduction also highlighted Mhok's caregiving instinct once more, his tendency to always put Day first. There are rare instances when introducing a past crush does so much for a story (another being Bad Buddy, P'Aof the wonder that you are), and I'm absolutely eating this up.

The last scene absolutely crushed me in a way that only Ep 5 [4/4] bls by P'Aof can. Once again, the resubversion of the Faen Fatale trope. When I first saw August, my first reaction was expecting faen fatale, 'and now he's going to take away Day's attention and Mhok's going to leave the flower and we'll all be sad". Well, the last part happened but it was so much more heartbreaking the way it was done. Once again, proving how much better a story can be without the trope that with. I won't lie, I'm still scared about how the knowledge that Day likes August will impact Mhok's actions toward Day. But, it's more of a fear for the characters, and less of a fear for the narrative, as in I'm not afraid that it will take away from the story.

Bad Buddy holds a legacy for subverting an innumerable number of tropes, and I'm glad to see that Last Twilight is holding it's own in the department too. The purposeful subversion of faen fatale made my heart incredibly happy (have you noticed how much I hate this trope? You probably have. I'm sick of it. Most Indian kids are)

Side note- I've seen a number of posts ghostshipping Gee and Porjai, and while it may not be very plausible, we did get InkPa, so it's never impossible

[brianna-lei]

Butterfly Soup 2 Asks #1

It's that time again...I-just-released-a-game-and-am-answering-questions-about-it Time!

I get way too many asks to answer individually, so I've consolidated some commonly-asked ones along with a few I thought would be fun to answer!! Sorry if your ask isn't in here!

I put all the lore/character questions first and all the "real world" questions (like about the merch shop) at the bottom. Obviously there's spoilers below so if you haven't played Butterfly Soup 2 already go do that!

LORE

What was Akarsha thinking when she confessed to Noelle that it was her brother who sent the chat message and not her? Did she think Noelle would remember? Or did she know Noelle wouldn’t?

Akarsha thought Noelle would remember. In Akarsha’s mind, that incident was so conspicious and embarrassing, there’s almost NO WAY Noelle would forget it. To Akarsha, this was practically her telling Noelle directly, “I have a crush on you.”

Unfortunately, it was much less memorable on Noelle’s end because she didn’t see Akarsha in that way and genuinely did believe it was just her brother typing nonsense at the time. And it doesn’t help that it was buried in months’-worths of Akarsha’s wacky messages.

When Noelle doesn’t really respond to her confession at the assembly, Akarsha has two theories:

Noelle remembers, and doesn’t like her back

Noelle doesn’t remember (unlikely)

And she doesn’t know which one it is.

You guys are going to hate me for this, but because they’re Disaster Gays it takes them YEARS after that to become official.

As I was writing the assembly scene I kept thinking: If only Min could possess one of them for 10 seconds and just blurt out “I like you, will you go on a date with me”! It would’ve saved them literal years of confusion and turmoil...

Why was Akarsha in handcuffs at the end of the game?

You’ll understand when you’re older. Don’t worry about it!

It was so out of character for Noelle to start crying over Akarsha when she got hurt!

Noelle is so emotionally repressed 24/7 that when something jabs her unexpectedly, she sometimes loses control and it all starts rushing out like water out of a pressurized tube. That's why she randomly starts crying when Chryssa praises her in the first game.

So in my opinion, if she suddenly thought Akarsha was possibly dead or seriously hurt, she'd react how she did (as corny as it is)! I think that part also got colored by something that happened partway through development. My dad fell and hit his head on something so hard that he nearly died! So when Akarsha falls and hits her head, I think I see it as a lot more serious and scary than most players do.

This actually reminds me of a bit I’ve had in my head for many years now! When Noelle's in college, it's her first time in an environment where Asians are a minority. So she doesn't have asian food for a long time, but isn't aware that it's bothering her.

One day Min drives over to her college and takes her to H-Mart, and when they walk in Min goes "ok I know it's Korean and not like Chinese or whatever" and out of nowhere Noelle starts crying

Why do Noelle's joints crack every time she sits or lies down?

Because she’s stiff and doesn’t exercise enough. It’s harmless but whenever Diya hears it, she’s like :(

Is Ester’s webcomic based on/a reference to (webcomic here)?

Nope! Ester was inspired by a few friends of mine, including one who worked on her stories at school in a notebook. Her webcomic’s plot is based on a story idea I had at her age.

Are you SURE X character doesn’t have autism/ADHD? It’s so obvious!

My original answer to this years ago was “I didn’t intentionally do any research on either of those conditions, and I wasn’t aiming to portray them specifically.”

Well..........A while ago, I finally properly started doing research, and a lot of what I learned about autism sounded eerily relatable. So I took every autism diagnostic test I could find online and they all said I was autistic. I’m like 75% sure I am, but at my age I’m not sure I’ll ever get a real diagnosis.

So maybe all my characters are accidentally neurodivergent because I am? I feel like Diya is for sure because I gave her a lot of traits I relate to that I now know are signs of autism.

What are Akarsha and Noelle’s kids like? Do they have any pets?

I think I'll keep it secret for now, sorry! But I saw this comment on Reddit once and this is their family on April Fool’s day. Akarsha is the one faking a heart attack and Noelle is the one making the soup

Before they had kids, Akarsha and Noelle got the most fucked up old cat from the shelter because Akarsha felt sorry for him. He’s affectionate toward them, but he’s rude to their guests like Diya/Min and hisses at them for no reason.

How does Akarsha's parents feel about her and Noelle dating?

Before Noelle and Akarsha started dating, Akarsha's parents really liked Noelle. She made such a good impression on them at the birthday party that she became their Favorite Friend, so they'd ask Akarsha about her a lot.

One day Akarsha watches an LGBT+ movie with her parents and thinks "Since they like the movie so much, they'll be okay with my sexuality!”

Akarsha's dad is cool with it, but her mom isn't. She says those things only work in movies, and that those people aren’t happy in real life. She blames Akarsha's dad for constantly saying fruity things and in the same breath goes "Everyone thinks girls are hot! That's just normal"

She and Akarsha's dad have a few arguments over it and after Akarsha's dad claims he'll go on a "hunger strike" (???) she does come around. She ultimately becomes a very supportive Ally who sends Akarsha random news articles about gay celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres

So by the time Akarsha and Noelle actually start dating, Akarsha's parents are onboard with it. They end up being the family Noelle always wished she had

Real world questions

When is the online store coming back? I’m hoping to reopen it within the next couple months! I’m hoping to restock Min’s jacket and the charms, and I wanna add new prints and plushies of the main four. If anyone has manufacturer recs for any of these that they’re willing to share, please let me know!

Are you going to make a Butterfly Soup 3?

I have an idea for a third game, but there’s a couple other projects I’m busy with (and am pretty excited to show you guys!) so I won’t be making it for several years. 

Is it alright if I write a fanfic of Noelle and Akarsha’s wedding/smut/my headcanon of the characters being trans/etc etc etc ?

Write whatever you want! Just please be mindful of younger fans and make sure to tag sensitive content appropriately. And don’t ask me to read it because I can’t! I’m legally not allowed to.* *EDIT: Okay, this was a bit of an exaggeration, but I've heard that it's a bad idea for a variety of reasons! So it's a can of worms I'm not going to open as a creator

[neuroticbookworm]

18, 19, 20

18. You get to pick a side character from two different qls to put in a show as a main pairing--who are you choosing and what kind of story is it?

Pai from Cherry Magic Thailand – meet Yako from Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna Season 2.

Pai, fresh off her breakup from Rock (we all know that’s not gonna last), travels to Japan to get away from it all for a while and meets Yako while waiting in line at a food truck. I want to watch a show where they travel together, eat some delicious food and drink some exquisite wine, watch movies, and swap stories about their friends and their dramatic love affairs. I want to see Pai let go of any anxieties over her identity that may have arisen after her relationship and subsequent breakup. I’ll take 10 episodes of this show, please and thank you.

19. You have the chance to switch pairings in one Asian ql so that the sides become the main pairing and the mains get reduced to crumbs--which show are you choosing?

Mm I had to think on this one, but it came down to two options: Fire and Dynamite from Cooking Crush, and Saengtien and Lomfon from La Pluie. Both of these side couples had a solid storyline that could be explored further if they got to be the mains. But ultimately, I choose Fire and Dynamite because I would like to see more of Fire’s relationship with his mom and how he learns to carve a life out for himself outside of her control, as he falls for Dy. Also I want to see more of Dynamite, my beloved sassy son.

20. We are retelling your favorite Asian ql from the POV of a side character--who is taking over the story and what do they have to say about the mains?

Hosaka from I Cannot Reach You! There’s probably a lot more of his signature snark going on in his head and I want to hear every single word of it.

Asian QL Ask Game

[hyuckmov]

jing, she/her, asian, 20, bi | (carrd!) | ko-fi

the account who wrote himbo hyuck, rockstar hyuck, & the one where he's obsessed w boobs ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ some 18+, minors dni with those works!

recent writing: !! rockstar haechan part 2 | rockstar haechan (part 1) | himbo haechan part 2! | demon!hyuck + angel!reader recent completed requests: (new) request #4: himbo haechan

requests are currently open (check post for request masterlist + what has been requested!)

inbox status: clearing | empty anons: 💛 anon, niki anon, moon anon, 🥣 anon, 🍞 anon, 🐻‍❄️ anon, ☁️ anon

all works (masterlist) and wips linked under cut ↷ fill in this short form here to be added to my taglist!

✎ mark — sex by the 1975   ➵ exes!au, angst (sad ending), 1.8k ➵ somehow, like it’s intuition, like it’s clockwork, mark is always at his window to see you when jaehyun drops you off. 

✎ haechan — fallingforyou ➵ best friends to lovers au, angst & fluff, 5k ➵ maybe you do act like he’s yours. but maybe mark was wrong, because sometimes you think he acts like you’re his too. 

✎ haechan — be my birthday ➵ exes to lovers au, angst & fluff, 4k ➵ he wished he said something when you were walking out of his life. he wished he had held on to you when you came back. 

✎ haechan — just for you (m) ➵ boyfriend haechan, smut, 1.6k (read post for warnings) ➵ because haechan thought you were irresistible when you were clever, if only because he knew he was the only one who could make your brain go empty.

✎ haechan — gold-skinned, eager baby (m) ➵ boyfriend haechan, smut, 7.2k (read post for warnings) ➵ he used to be able to hide it. he used to be fine with glancing at you, habitually flicking his eyes to your chest when you would walk into the room or snuggle up to him. but now he’s totally fucked, because he thinks he’s developed some sort of addiction. 

✎ haechan — if i believe you  ➵ fake2real haechan, angst and fluff, 10.6k ➵ “what if we catch feelings?” tilting his head to the side in consideration, he leans in close, one arm reaching out to cage you in. the two of you are nose to nose. you can count his every eyelash, see the constellation of moles scattered across his face and neck. his breath so close to your own, that your eyes can’t help but flutter shut.“then that’s the best part.” he whispers.

✎ haechan — gold-skinned, eager baby pt.2 (m) ➵ boyfriend haechan, fluff & smut, 11k (read post for warnings) ➵ in which haechan is competitive (read: eager to please), and determined to find out what about him makes you lose all control

✎ haechan — mine by the 1975 ➵ boyfriend haechan, angst, suggestive, 900+ (one scene) ➵ late at night, you can't help but ask him the question weighing on your mind

✎ haechan — all my demons have your smile (m) ➵ demon haechan & angel reader, smut & angst, 9.6k ➵ you were rotten through and through, and it was all because of him. 

✎ himbo haechan — part 1 | part 2 (m)➵ himbo haechan, fluff & smut and a bit of angst, fwb to lovers for part 1 and established relationship for part 2

✎ rockstar haechan - part 1 ➵ "make sure no one sees you," he murmurs, low in your ear, before straightening up. "don't make me wait too long, hm?" 

wips (in no particular order) ↷ 

✎ haechan — in the city of angels (demon hyuck pt.2) ➵ demon haechan & angel reader, smut & angst & fluff, est. total wc 10k ➵ hey angel :)

✎ ningning — cheerleader ning x fem reader ➵ fluff & angst, tbc!

✎ haechan — siren haechan(m) ➵ siren haechan, est. total wc 10k ➵ tbc

✎ jaehyun — tbc ➵ crush!jaehyun, fluff and angst, est. total wc 5k ➵ there’s something so simple and bittersweet about studying at the library late into the night with the boy you’re in love with

[lover-also-fighter-also]

MEET MY MC

Hi y'all,

I have been waiting to create an MC profile for my HSS:CA MC, and finally I got the time to do it today. Hope you like it!

MILA DELGADO

Birthday: 15th April, 2002

Meaning of name: In Spanish, it means the miracle, or in Russian it means gracious and dear one.

Pronouns: She/Her (cis-woman)

Sexuality: Biromantic and Bisexual

Personality:

Dorky, clumsy, funny, and emotional. She is quick to anger and easy to please.

Has a very strong sense of justice, and can snap when the injustice is happening in front of her.

Does not hesitate to get into conflicts when the person being disturbed is a person she loves.

Family:

Biological Family: Alan Park (Father), Faith Park (Mother), Carlos (Twin Brother), Wendy Park (Paternal Aunt)

Adopted Family: Greg Delgado (Adopted Father), Rita Delgado (Adopted Mother).

Backstory (TW: mentions of Death) :

Mila was born in London, 3 1/2 minutes before her twin, Carlos. When she was 1, Faith and Alan meet with an accident where a drunk truck driver crashes into their car, leading to their death on-spot. She and Carlos were put in foster care system after nobody in their family was able to take them in, and they were adopted 2 years later by Greg and Rita Delgado in Cedar Cove.

Ethnicity: She is half-Asian and half-white from her biological family, and her adoptive family are Spanish.

Hobbies:

Other than play acting, improv and method acting, she is a really good singer and can pick up any kind of tune.

Baking is her comfort activity and additionally she loves to help out at the Golden Griddle.

She has a favorite activity with each person she hangs out with: With Carlos its basketball, Skye its drawing, Rory its video games and with Ajay its watching movies.

Love life:

As a kid, she hung out with Rory a lot since he was the only other kid in the neighborhood who was her age. For a while, she crushed on him till 5th grade, but grew out of the crush after middle school and admired him more as a good friend.

Her feelings for Skye grew, and they become official after the winter term of their freshman year. They end up going to different colleges in New York, with Mila majoring in Acting and Skye in Tech.

As per my HC, Mila proposes marriage to Skye at the end of their senior year of college, but they don't get married until two years later.

Other Facts:

Mila starts exploring Gothic fashion and music after she starts hanging out with Skye.

She has a deathly fear of rodents and rodent-like creatures, that sometimes Carlos takes advantage of.

The first play she acted in was 'The Hare and the Tortoise' in kindergarten.

She had a space obsession as a kid, and insisted her parents that her room walls be painted black. Eventually she had to settle with glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling.

Tagging: @cadybear420 @choicesficwriterscreations @somerandomjewelleryonthefloor for this MC profile.

[srs-deep-dives]

Minato & Kushina: A "Deep Dive" Analysis (Section A, Part II)

Last post we examined Kushina as Minato's rock. Today we will examine Minato as Kushina's.

(Section A) II. Minato as Kushina's anchor

To bridge into this, I want to linger on the hair-strength metaphor we established just a bit longer. For even before Kurama enters the picture we had a foreshadowing of love vs. hate. Both ends are symbolized in this same metaphor: because it was a source of her shunning, Kushina hated her hair; until it “brought” her Minato, where she began to like it.

[The red thread of fate is a real-world East Asian myth. An invisible red cord is tied around the finger of a boy and girl ‘destined’ to meet, fall in love and marry. The cord may stretch, pull, twist and tangle, but it never breaks. Interestingly, from the moment Minato saves her, Kushina never seems to cut her hair…]

Now on a thematic note, I've color-coded key aspects of their relationship blue (like the Rasengan, which we'll discuss later), for orange will be for Naruto.

Kushina’s accepting of herself is significant because without it Kurama’s hatred would crush her. (This is why Naruto, when attempting to tame his chakra, must first overcome himself in the Waterfall of Truth.) Even though Kushina hated her hair, she had, prior to Minato’s rescue, accepted it as a part of her. But of course, as we see with both Kushina and Naruto, self-acknowledgment is not enough. Only love can conquer hatred, and that love must come from the bond with another.

When rescuing her from the Cloud captors, Minato wins Kushina’s reverence and faith. Reverence for his skills as a ninja, and even more so for his devotion to all the village. (He came to save her, the outsider, calling her “one of us.”) In this rescue, he gains her dual-way faith: that he would one day become Hokage; and that he could “make all of [her] dreams come true.”

This dual-way faith entwines the Hokageship and their marriage long before either happens. In other words, Kushina is wholly devoted to Minato, sharing his dream for the future. How do we know this? She determinedly decided that she’d “be the wife of the Fourth Hokage.”

Now there is a misinterpretation plaguing the fanbase that Kushina ‘gave up her own dream of being Hokage so that Minato could fulfil his.’ Friends, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It comes from a complete misreading of her character. Her statement of becoming the “first female Hokage” came from a reason she herself explains, and while it (very much) parallels Naruto’s she is not once shown chasing Hokageship.

(We will touch on this further in a later post.)

When Kushina realized her decision to “be the wife of the Fourth Hokage” is up to speculation. The Whorl Within the Spiral however – if not precisely – gets us pretty damn close.

Recall first, with the conjunction “so” (chapter: The Birth of Naruto) from our panel two screenshots above, that she names Mito and Hashirama’s marriage as influential. Before Kurama’s transfer, Mito takes Kushina to look at the Hokage rock-faces. They gaze up at Hashirama’s, and Kushina learns he is the love “inside [Mito’s] vessel.”

Which brings us to the ‘vessel’ motif. As Kurama’s jinchūriki, Kushina is a vessel for the embodiment of hatred. To overcome the hatred – that is, Kurama’s essence – and live happily, she must fill her OWN ‘vessel’ with love. This motif is repeated through the same flashback occurring in both the main manga and oneshot (the screen below being from The Birth of Naruto as introduced for the first time).

In Gaiden’s ending, Kushina is standing where Mito stood, looking at Minato’s face; Minato being, as Hashirama was for Mito, the love inside her vessel. Minato is angled exactly where his face will one day be carved in the rock. A direct shot from Kushina’s viewpoint, the panel implicates that she resolutely believes he will become the next Hokage, and, now knowing her vessel full with his love, she will one day be his wife.

Let us now consider how Minato’s love enables Kushina to overcome.

First, the words that trigger her seal to break, which leads into his confession. The trigger itself, ironically, is an implicit statement of love. (Not simply or specifically romantic love, but one of protective devotion.) Minato tells Kushina about the jutsu he’s been creating (oh we’ll get to this gem later) for her to protect her. He reveals, in other words, that she’s tremendously precious to him and keeping her safe is his top priority.

Do these words sound familiar? To the anime-watcher they should. They’re the exact words Minato told Kushina the day she fell in love with him.

The repetition is immensely important for it is Kushina’s moment of realization, in the sense of her faith and hope in Minato being proven true (a faith and hope so strong she crossed the safety of the sealing barrier to go to him, resisting Kurama’s taunts and threats with “But I’ve got... [Minato]”). Not just the realization that Minato cares for her so deeply that he will create an A-class jutsu for her, but the realization that Minato has cared so deeply for her this entire time. His protection, she realizes, is unwavering; it is a protection that endures. And so, in perfect contrast, this realization sits framed between Kurama’s tauntings on trust.

The first time Minato said, “I didn’t want to lose you,” Kushina was the outsider brought into his circle of precious people. Now the context is far more intimate, and Kushina is overwhelmed with what it means. Kurama has been provoking her despair and loneliness day after day. Saying that everybody is out to use her – a reality echoed in Minato’s own words prior (panel below). The village is out to use her – she’s its trump card in war. But Minato is not, putting his every possible effort toward her wellbeing.

So when Kushina hears this she is overcome with emotion. And with her vulnerable outside the barrier, Kurama takes the opening.

It may be worth mention (though this is me speculating) that something similar happens during Naruto’s birth. Kushina’s seal weakening is explained in the physical: while she is pregnant, her chakra that would support it is divided and diverted to growing the baby. Childbirth is also specified as the time a jinchūriki’s seal “can come completely undone.” But the exhilaration of becoming a mom playing a role in its breaking strikes an interesting parallel. In both situations, the seal is already weakened: one in her leaving the barrier to see Minato; the other for Naruto’s nourishment. Both weakenings are in themselves driven by Kushina’s love: one romantic; the other maternal. In both, Minato strenuously keeps the seal in check, the fight being driven by Minato’s love. And in both, Kurama’s attempted breakout is enabled because of their love: Kushina being emotionally vulnerable due to Minato’s direct declaration; and the literal life-result of their love being ready to leave her womb.

In both situations thus, Minato and Kushina’s love pushes Kurama’s hatred to further retaliate, highlighting a foilism between the couple and Kurama. Just as Kushina and Minato fight his hatred, Kurama fights their love, foreshadowing his eventual redemption through that love passed onto Naruto.

Now back to Gaiden and out of the theory zone. We have a bleeding Minato holding a bijūfying Kushina while augmenting her seal. Which leads to Kurama acknowledging Minato’s skill and strength. Which leads to Kurama asking why Minato would stick with Kushina to the point of risking his life. Which leads to Minato proclaiming with utmost determination that he loves her.

Hearing this, Kushina recalls Mito’s words about filling her vessel, and, realizing her vessel filled, she gains the strength to fight back. Moreover, Minato declares this to Kurama, placing himself in the role of a perfect foil: Minato is the embodiment of love inside Kushina; Kurama the embodiment of hatred.

“Release your sealing hand! This is my human pillar. You are irrelevant.”

“No. You’re wrong.” I can sense it... “I exist inside Kushina at all times!”

And here we are given one of the most striking parallels in the series. Minato’s declaration spurs Kushina to unleash her Chains against Kurama in her seal. The same thing happens – right to the angle – when Kushina appears in Naruto’s seal.

Hugging his mother for the first time, Naruto is overcome with love – under the mirror circumstance of a near-defeat by Kurama. Kushina projects her Chains, her own chakra, through her son, pinning Kurama herself. She then tells Naruto her and Minato’s story, and then, in playful conversation about her hair tells him that she loves him. The significance, recall, is that of “the red thread of fate” – i.e. the unbreakable thread of love that exists between Kushina and Minato.

She tells Naruto he is the second man to ever compliment her hair. Following her recount of genin-Minato calling it beautiful, we get this:

Kushina’s declaration to Naruto being centered around the “red thread of fate” symbolizes her passing to him her and Minato’s love. Upon hearing her words – receiving that love – Naruto gains the strength to defeat Kurama, in precise mirror to Kushina hearing Minato’s confession.

But there’s more. Note the language: “I love you,” “…so happy!!” This is identical to the language Mito employed when telling Kushina to fill her vessel.

And to top it off we have the vessel motif explicitly repeated. The Japanese anime dub (episode: Thank You) emphasizes Naruto as having his “vessel filled with” his mother and father’s love.

During their final moments alive, Kushina will say these words to Minato, reinstating that throughout her whole life with him, his love gave her utter joy. Naruto asks her, “So you were happy, even though you were a jinchūriki, Mom?” To which Kushina replies with a resolute “Yes,” bringing him to tears.

We have examined Kushina as Minato’s anchor, and Minato as Kushina’s anchor. Concluding Section A, we will look at them as each other’s anchors together.

Section A, Part III here.