#i love making lists sue me lol

[pinazee]

I love me a strong healthy male friendship. They are more dear to me than romantic pairings

(Dubious to call this one healthy lol)

(Though tbh i also ship spirk. its a rare case of being equally in love with both a platonic and romantic relationship. So long as their together ❤️)

(🥹 best thing about stranger things for me)

(Not a well known duo but Franklin and Bash have to be one of my faves. The show itself wasnt great but their friendship was fantastic)

[slythernnn]

✨Spotify Wrapped 2023✨

[sylvies-chen]

sweet nothing sleeping

summary: lucy has never been so happy to have fallen in love as she is when she’s falling asleep

pairing: tim bradford/lucy chen

word count: short??? i wrote this on notes app don’t ask me to count

warnings: none

a/n: this was written at *many* a 2am but it was my coping mechanism for the chenford breakup so there will be nothing but fluff and happiness here!! but also sorry in advance for any typos. written for my @morganupstead who gave me this idea ages ago and I just took forever to write it LOL

••• ••• ••• •••

cause they said the end is coming

everyone’s up to something

I find myself running home to your

sweet nothings

She’s had a long day.

The list of grievances wracked up in a single shift has been nothing short of astounding. For example: a man no less than an hour into her first stretch of patrol who puked on her. A bar fight gone horribly wrong, and he was drunk out of his mind so when she showed up at the tail end of a swift punch to the drunkard’s gut then… well, you can figure out the rest. Then another man threatened to sue her and the entire LAPD Mid Wilshire division because he refused to be told by a woman to stop ejaculating in public. Nothing but insufferable misdemeanours one after the other, without end. The robbery homicide tailing the end of her shift was the worst. Lucy doesn’t know what’s more horrible: how violent the young married couple’s death was, or how her first thought was that she wished she could have been the detective on a flashy case like this. Knowing she was even capable of putting her career before her compassion and duty left her gutted.

It leaves her now with a bitter aftertaste of guilt and shame. That coupled with the exhaustion and ridicule of her other calls makes for a particularly dreadful combination. Normally she can see Tim in passing and vent to him about things, but he’d been stuck in some new Metro training program all day. Updated protocol or tactical practice, or whatever they wanted to call it. Based on the state she sees Tim in at the end of one of those days, she’d call it something more akin to torture. It also means she had no support system throughout the day whatsoever apart from Nolan’s typical words of encouragement, which were swell but never substantive.

Since Tamara’s moved out, things have been lonely too. She misses her old roommate. If nothing else, at the end of the day Lucy still had a young and vulnerable kid she had to feed and house and clothe. Cooking for them always felt like a backup ritual, a healing sort of constancy, and that’s gone too.

So she heads to Tim’s. Her foot feels like lead on the gas, pushing down hard and inching dangerously closer to speeding the closer she gets to his place. It’s like her heart can feel the distance closing and misses him even more, the weight of her bad day crushing her heart and leaving spider fractures. A magnetic pull is always at its strongest the minute before contact, after all.

For the most part, Lucy’s been able to hold it together. She’s kept things professional, never complained, held her head high. And even as she trembles with anticipation as she knocks on the door, there’s a part of her refusing to let go of that facade.

She knocks at the door, but there’s no answer. Three louder knocks after a minute of waiting, and still nothing. Only after a third round of knocking does she think to use the spare key he’d given her last month.

“Hi,” Lucy calls out as she enters his place. No immediate response, but that’s no matter. She puts the keys down in his key bowl and hangs up her jacket.

The sound of nails skidding against the floor alert her only seconds in advance to Kojo’s presence. He runs up to her full speed but comes to a screeching halt when he reaches her. With his tail still waving fervently, he tries to sit down. (Tim’s trained him to understand that petting and general affection from guests is contingent upon his very handsome sitting.)

“Kojo! Hey there buddy,” she greets him with a soft laugh, like an old friend. Lucy knows by now, even having owned him once, to scratch him behind his ears. The gesture earns her a right good lick from chin to cheek on the left side of her face.

“Yeah, you’re a good boy, aren’t you? You’re a good boy,” she tells him as she keeps petting him. “Now where’s our Tim?”

She looks around half expecting Tim to appear in the hallway, but no sign of him is to be seen anywhere, save for the sound of his television from the next room. Football. Figures.

“Alright, Sir Kojo, King of the Canines,” she declares, patting him on the head and gently urging him forward by the collar, “let’s see what your dad’s watching.”

The two of them make their way to the family room to see what he’s up to. For a football game, Lucy’s already surprised that he isn’t shouting at the TV and jumping up and down like he normally does.

When she enters the room though, she doesn’t see him watching sports. Instead, she sees a passed-out Tim on the couch, snoring in his Rams jersey, remote loosely balanced in his hand. She tilts her head, curiously soaking in the scene.

She should have expected this. He’s been working as hard as she has lately. Though she isn’t entirely sure as to why, he’s been taking on extra shifts and doing double overtime these past two weeks. God knows he didn’t have the steam for a full game of football. Tack on her unexpected company, and she’s sure she’ll tire him out even more.

But the look of him. The television emits a soft glow that flashes hues of green and blue across his stubbled cheekbones. His head hangs back completely crooked on the headrest, and with the positioning of his arms, Tim’s posed like a dramatic renaissance painting. She can’t help but let out a soft giggle under her breath, and then silences into the brightest of smiles she can give after a day like hers, because nothing about this is funny anymore.

Even drooling, his mere presence soothes her. Lying there, entirely disarmed and peaceful. The world and all its troubles just melt away, dissolve in her mind until only a faint trace of what remains lingers like dust. It’s a beautiful haze Lucy can get stuck in, just standing there and watching him. The tight corners of his mouth, his eyes shut gently, the curve of his neck, the way his hair’s a little shorter right now.

Oh hell. Who is she to disrupt him anyways.

She tiptoes over to the couch and carefully extracts the remote from his hand. Turning the television off to avoid more light and sound will definitely help him sleep. Whether Tim’s asleep or awake, it doesn’t matter. Lucy always sleeps better when she’s next to him.

What doesn’t help Tim sleep, apparently, is Kojo. Having followed Lucy into the room, though she will defend him ferociously and say his heart is in the right place, Kojo makes a beeline for the couch and starts pulling at Tim’s jeans with his sharp canine teeth.

“No! No, Kojo! Bad Kojo, stay back,” she pleads in a whisper pushed out through gritted teeth.

Kojo seems to only get more excited— a sort of escalation which Lucy saw all too frequently in her calls from today. Tim jolts awake almost immediately.

“What the-“ he sits up and pulls his jeans away from Kojo, but then looks up at Lucy, still hovering over him guilty as ever. “Lucy?”

“Sorry.” She winces, finally shooing Kojo away enough to give them more space. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to put a blanket over you but Kojo got excited.”

“It’s okay,” he assures her, though he’s still rubbing at his eyes. Lucy’s almost certain he’s still half asleep and hasn’t registered the whole situation before him. “I gave you a key for a reason. What are you doing here?”

“I…” She tries to explain it rationally to him, to go through each bad happening chronologically, to compartmentalize. But then, his voice. His sweet, low, milky, humming voice like the pulse of a heart being soothed into a slower rhythm. It’s so steady, so calm. Something about hearing it unlocks a valve within her. She cracks, as she knew she would when she decided to come, and before she knows it she’s crying.

“Hey, hey,” Tim hushes gently, immediately sitting up. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Oh nothing,” she sobs. “I just had a crappy day. I got puked on and yelled at and all this nonsense which I can normally handle but I don’t even know why I’m… why I’m…”

“Don’t question it too much,” he tells her. “Just let it out.”

“Okay.”

And so she does. For a little bit, she just cries. Surprisingly, it’s not sad. The world isn’t ending, nothing is going to go wrong. There is no other shoe about to drop, no real heartbreak, no evil around. These tears are but a release, and there’s a safety to them.

Once she’s done, she wipes at her tears with her sleeves and sniffles.

“Better?”

“Better,” she says, and can really mean it, genuine smile and all. “Thanks.”

“You never have to thank me.”

She nods, but switches the subject. “You never told me how you’re Metro seminar went today.”

“Eh, it was alright,” he says. “Apart from being exhausted and sore all over, of course. We’ve got some new recruits who are… eager.”

She looks at him with loving suspicion. “You went full Tim 1.0 on them, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” he admits with a big huff of relief. “I ran through the drills and protocol updates 36 times because they couldn’t get it right. I didn’t have the heart to just demote them from my team.”

“Tim Bradford not having the heart for a tough love moment? Who are you?” She teases. “Where was this energy 6 years ago?”

“Waiting for you to come along and change it, I guess,” he sighs wistfully. “Always just waiting for you.”

“You’ve gone soft, Sergeant Bradford.” She shakes her head. “People will talk.”

“Let them.”

He pulls her in for a kiss, and it only deepens for a moment, then plateauing into a pleasant and chaste hum before release. His arms pull her into his side and her head finds that perfect spot on his chest to nestle into.

The sigh she lets out is almost a song. “This feels good, being here with you. Feeling at peace.”

“Just wait for it.”

“Huh?”

Lucy doesn’t know how Tim saw this coming, but before even asking she’s given an answer. Kojo jumps up onto the couch and steps on Lucy’s lap to lick her and Tim all over their tired, sweaty faces.

“Argh! Kojo, off!” She squeals, though not so gravely that she can’t laugh in the process. Eventually, with enough shooing, Kojo calms down. He doesn’t leave the couch, but lies down next to them, choosing to rest his head on her lap and make happy little sighs.

“Told you.”

“How did you know he would do that?”

Tim shrugs. “He’s happier when you’re around. Like me.”

Lucy smiles, even when pushing Kojo off of them. “I love you.”

Tim doesn’t respond. Too much time passes. A beat, and then another. She gets worried.

“Tim?”

“Oh so you weren’t talking to the dog then?”

She giggles and smacks him playfully across the chest with the back of her hand. “No! Well I do love him, but he drools. And you’re—“

“Human?”

“The love of my life.”

She watches the ripple of those words dance across his face. Tim smiles, his cheeks turning all shades of pink and red. Though he doesn’t seem scared off by her comment, the surprise of it still shows in his raised eyebrows and subsequent lines in his forehead. The way his head tilts, like he can’t quite believe it. But, above all else, the love in his eyes. And that way he’s looking at her now… sometimes she thinks that’s what life’s all about.

“I know I don’t have to be yours,” she continues. “You know, having been married before and all, but—“

“Don’t think for a second you aren’t,” he lets out, almost like the words couldn’t contain themselves. “You are.”

“Good.” Her turn now: the ridiculous blushing, the smile, the love in her eyes. So much joy.

So much fatigue too though. Being around him, getting to decompress like this, it’s making her crash fast. She yawns, and Tim yawns in subconscious response, and out of his own fatigue.

“I should get going,” Lucy tells him, though her face is still nestled into his sweater and has no intention of leaving. “I really only came over to feel some comfort and decompress but I didn’t bring a change of clothes or anything.”

“Mmm,” he groans in disapproval of the idea. “Stay for a bit.”

“No. No, I’ve… gotta…” She sucks in a deep breath, Tim’s woody scent catching onto her nose. Her eyes flutter and her muscles start to release their tension as the hand which isn’t sprawled across Tim’s chest starts to massage the spot behind Kojo’s ear.

“Oh, maybe just a few minutes…” she tells him hesitantly. “But keep me talking, I don’t want to fall asleep.”

“Ok. What about the rest of your day? You never finished telling me all the things that had you so upset.”

“Well it started when the air conditioning in the shop nearly exploded on me, and then I immediately took my first call at this dive bar before I could get it fixed. But oh, you won’t believe what this one guy did…”

Lucy goes on and on, her eyes growing heavy and her voice growing layers of drowsy rasp, fighting sleep to tell all her stories of woe. The drunkards, the sexist pigs, the violence. Part of her registers Tim’s lack of response or reaction as she tells her stories. Time passes. She talks, and he listens.

“I think it’s better not to dwell on it though,” she concludes eventually. “I’ve felt all I can feel about it for one day. And anyways I… I can barely remember my own anguish now. It feels so far aw—“

She looks up to see him passed out, his breathing a low rumble that threatens snoring. The soft fur under her other hand feels alarmingly still as well, until she looks to the other side and sees Kojo sleeping on her lap.

So much for leaving. She supposes that’s exactly how she wants things anyway. The heartbeats of these two precious boys at the tips of her fingers, nestled right next to hers. Giving her strength, steadying her scattered mind. Under these dim lights and warm blankets and beloved company, she wouldn’t dare move a muscle.

“Oh hell, who was I kidding,” she whispers to him. “I was always going to end up here anyways. With you.”

She rests her head on his chest once more. The last thing she remembers is the rise and fall of Tim’s chest against her hand and the feel of Kojo’s soft fur against her other.

This isn’t a big moment. No fireworks, no heartfelt confessions, no twirls or kisses in the rain. But even as the day ends and the lights go out, she feels love where it dwells best: in a quiet room. And it remains that Lucy has never been so happy to have fallen in love as she is when she’s falling asleep.

[itslikepullingteeth]

okay gonna make a list of the animals that inspire the appearance of each of the ghouls (starting with current band ghouls because i have been a fan for a year and a half so my grasp on the older ghouls is tenuous at best lol) in my head. they aren’t exactly 1:1 of these animals; it’s more so bits and pieces i mix to make their image.

each element in my head corresponds to specific families of animals. ghouls are humanoid, but very much not human in my hc. very predator coded (i am in love with every author who writes murder ghouls, you guys get me)

fire- reptiles, serpents, very dragon-like (cliche, sue me), these ghouls are all wicked sharp claws and fangs. they may have a laidback, leisurely air about them majority of the time, but they are ruthless hunters. capable of remaining preternaturally still until their prey comes into range, then striking quicker than the blink of an eye. some fire ghouls are capable of producing venom

earth- ungulates (especially bovine, deer, goats), large wildcats, most commonly hooved though some may have paws. thick, heavy fangs, vicious claws. these ghouls are excellent persistence hunters, they may not strike as fast as fire, but their stamina is unmatched and they never lose a scent- they will chase you down until you physically can no longer run

water- fish, marine mammals, amphibians, aquatic reptiles. these ghouls have many very sharp fangs, and their claws are barbed/serrated to keep their prey pinned while they tear out chunks with their razor sharp teeth. sleek and lean, these ghouls are made for speed, land or water. the serration is universal, whether the ghoul is more fresh- or saltwater aligned

air- birds, especially raptors and corvids, bats, insects. basically any creature capable of flight. these ghouls rely more on their claws/talons than their fangs- but don’t underestimate their bite! air ghouls can be the most aggressive of all elements. they are frighteningly light footed, you’ll never hear them coming. they can move effortlessly from treetop to treetop, rafter to rafter, dropping down like an angel of death onto their prey. air ghouls also have little care for if their prey is dispatched or not before they begin eating, they will simply dig in as you thrash and scream, pinned by their talons

quintessence- hardest to pin down, due to the unknowable nature of dark matter/quintessence they can appear with the most variation in characteristics. most commonly they’ll have ursine, canine, or feline features. quints are the most prolific hunters of ghoulkind. while many of them can end their prey with a thought, they often draw out the hunt, relishing in the fear. quints will stalk from the shadows. you’ll never know they’re coming until it’s too late. they play with your mind, slowly feeding into your fear. it’s like when horror movies use extremely low frequency sounds; you can’t hear them but you feel it- that creeping sense of dread that gets bigger and bigger the closer the killer gets, until suddenly you’re panicking and you can’t breathe and oh my god did that shadow just move? and-

mountain: red deer, lion/mountain lion, goat

rain: shark, alligator, axolotl

dew: blue-tongued skink, horned viper

swiss: (hc as a multi, every element) texas longhorn, jaguar, griffon vulture

phantom/aeon: (he’s an earth/quint hybrid to me!) jacob sheep ram, alexander archipelago wolf, vampire bat

aurora: (i hc her as an air/water hybrid) loon, jewel beetle

cumulus: barn owl, bumble bee

cirrus: raven, yellow jacket

sunny: red-tailed hawk, bearded dragon, fire ant

aether: grizzly bear, i love the idea of aeth having tusks but there’s no specific animal i feel like i draw that from it’s a hc i’ve poached lol

[fixfoxnox]

I don’t mean to add to your never ending list of drabble requests, but how do you think the NicPrice kiss went down??? I’d like to get a better gauge of papa Price lol

ANON I LOVE YOU FOR ASKING THIS JSBFJFJFNF AH

Setting Us Up For Failure - Price/Nikolai

Description: A young Lieutenant Price meets, befriends, and falls for a Russian pilot

Word Count: 9k (I may have gone a little overboard)

My Masterlist

"Captain MacMillan," Price had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he trailed behind his Captain, watching him greet the jovial Russian man ahead of them. It was an interesting sight, seeing his Captain wrapping the other man up in a hug, "It has been too long, how is your wife?"

"Still begging me to come home," MacMillan answered with a resounding laugh. The two men exchanged another hug before MacMillan was stepping back and motioning Price forward, "This is my Lieutenant," Price puffed up slightly at the use of his new rank. He'd worked hard for the promotion, sue him for being proud of it, "John Price."

The man held his hand out to him, a bright grin on his face, "Ivan Orlov," his gaze turned back to MacMillan briefly, "I see you've found yourself a protégé." He pulled back, crossing his arms across his chest and smiling in a way that didn't seem fully genuine to Price.

"Yes," MacMillan answered, meeting Price's eyes briefly before continuing, "He's a good lad, rather skilled."

Orlov eyed him up and down for a moment, a smirk on his lips that had Price flushing red in embarrassment and anger. It was clear to see that the other man didn't believe MacMillan's words.

Price knew that he was smaller than a lot of people expected of him. He'd been a skinny, lanky, underweight thing when he'd joined the military, most of that from his time on the streets after he'd run away from home. Over the years he'd managed to put on some weight and muscle, but it didn't come easy to him. It was exactly why he looked how he did. A lieutenant in the military, still a skinny thing with a layer of lean muscle over his body. His clothes hid most of it, making him look weaker than he was. With that and his affinity for random hats that he'd picked up in nearby towns, MacMillan had commented several times that he often looked more like a kid than a lieutenant in the military.

"Right," Orlov said finally, a chuckle pulling from his lips.

Price wanted to say something to the man, prove that he was more than he looked, but he didn't. Instead, he just ground his teeth together and clamped his mouth shut, letting MacMillan change the topic.

"You said you've put together a team for us, but do you have a pilot?" He raised a brow at the man, "No offense, mate, but you seem a bit too out of it to be offering us support these days." The words were a jab, an answer for the clear remark that the other had made about Price.

Price watched Orlov's jaw clench as he forced a smile. He suddenly understood why MacMillan had gruffly commented that he hated working with Orlov. It was clear that the man turned everything into a competition. "Yes," Orlov gave a cynical smile, "I've taken on a protégé as well," he gave a low chuckle, "come, I'll introduce the two of you."

He turned, starting off toward the airfield where several different planes were going through routine checks. As they walked he pointed out various things on the base, pride radiating through his voice as he spoke. Occasionally he would throw in something like "bet you don't have one of those in England, eh?" The patronizing words grated on Price's nerves, but he kept his frustration to himself.

The walk was almost agonizing with his constant speaking, it felt like it took them thirty minutes to finally make it to their destination when, in reality, they'd likely only been walking for five. Orlov had stopped him in front of one of the larger planes, one that would carry an entire platoon if need be.

There was a man standing outside of the plane, a clipboard and pen in his hands. He would call something out in a loud barked Russian and, moments later, a deeper voice from inside the plane would respond, also in Russian. Orlov turned to them as they came to a stop in front of the transport, "I think you will like him," his eyes turned to Price with a smug grin, "He is around your age I believe. Quite accomplished too." He turned then, calling something out in loud Russian. The only thing Price could make out was a name. Nikolai.

The voice responded quickly and there was a brief pause before a man, around Price's age, appeared at the entrance to the plane, quickly dropping down and walking over to meet the group with a smile. Orlov spoke to him in quick Russian, pointing to Price and MacMillan as he spoke before finally turning back, "This is the pilot. Nikolai."

Price tried not to stare, but it was difficult. Nikolai was, well, gorgeous. Black hair that was grown out to his chin, split with a middle part that showed his widows peak. He had to be using some sort of gel in it with the way it was slicked back, all but one loose piece neatly out of his face. Price knew it was likely to hang down at the sides more messily when it wasn't slicked away.

Nikolai had a strong, sharp jaw and defined muscles down his entire body. It wasn't hard to see that he was strong. His shoulders were quite broad with bulging biceps and pecs made only more defined by the tight white shirt that he wore. There were several buttons at the top of the shirt, two undone showing a bit of his chest. Price tried to avoid looking, but the silver of a chain around the man's neck kept drawing his attention back. At least, that was what he told himself.

He ended up having to divert his gaze completely from the other man, trying to avoid being caught ogling him. His face went a bit pink at the thought. He was a Lieutenant in the military! He did not ogle at cute bulky Russian pilots!

"Captain MacMillan," His captain stepped forward, shaking the Russian's hand before motioning for Price to do the same, "This is my Lieutenant, John Price."

Price hesitantly stepped forward, taking the man's large hand in his own and giving it a firm shake. He risked glancing up at the man, his cheeks flushing red when he met the other's eyes. They were a soft brown. He stepped back quickly, moving his hands to fold together behind his back as his gaze fixed itself on the ground.

"Nikolai," he responded. His voice was deep, the Russian accent adding something to it that had Price's ears tingling and his hand clenching tight behind his back. He took a deep breath in, he needed to get ahold of himself. This was work, not some bar where he could openly stare at handsome, muscular, nice-voiced Russian pilots!

"You know the mission?" MacMillan asked the man carefully.

"I do."

"Think you can handle it?" MacMillan crossed his arms, "you'll be leaving the plane and joining us on a raid, not many pilots are up to that."

Price glanced up, watching Nikolai from under his lashes as he puffed up slightly, "I can handle it, sir." Price spotted the way that the man glanced at him, though he couldn't quite understand why, "I've been trained in ground combat just the same as air combat."

MacMillan nodded to him slowly, eyeing him carefully, "Good," he landed on finally, "I'll have Price here run you through some drills," Price's gaze turned to MacMillan then, his face likely showing how startled he was by the assignment. "Not today, 'fraid Price and I could use some rest. Expect to see him tomorrow though. I just want to be sure you can handle it."

Nikolai nodded, his eyes moving over to meet Price's again. Price had to look away quickly, unable to hold the other man's gaze for long. "I understand. I will look for your Lieutenant tomorrow."

"Good lad," MacMillan chimed with a grin. "Well if the two of you don't mind, Price and I are going to get settled. We've a busy few days ahead of us men."

"The pilot, Nikolai, you should try to befriend him." Price whipped around quickly, meeting MacMillan with confusion in his gaze. He'd been unpacking his things, left to it by his Captain while the man went to get himself settled. The Russians had been gracious enough to give them separate rooms.

"What?" Price stood taller, tilting his head at his Captain and crossing his arms over his chest, "Why?" He really hoped that his Captain hadn't picked up on the way that he'd been looking at Nikolai. It was an awkward conversation that he did not want to have with the man who had become something akin to a father figure for him.

MacMillan tilted his head at him, an amused smile tugging at his lips, "It's good for you to make friends. Have an ally with the Russians and it will make dealing with them much easier for you in the future."

"What," Price asked, a lump forming in his throat, "Like you and Orlov?" He could feel nerves racing through his system. He always got nervous when MacMillan started talking about his future. He hadn't even thought he'd ever become a lieutenant, but MacMillan was always aiming higher for him. He had a lot of faith in his abilities and a lot of faith meant that it would be easy to let the older man down if he didn't live up to that potential.

"No," MacMillan gave a chuckle as he stepped further into Price's room. He closed the door behind him, blocking their voices from any nosy people who might pass by. "Orlov and I tolerate each other. We work together when we need to and we pretend to like each other."

"He is a bit of an ass," Price grumbled out, still a bit sore from the way he'd been eyed up and down by the other man earlier.

"More than a bit," MacMillan agreed with a chuckle. "I want you to be different. I want you to actually befriend this Nikolai."

"Why?"

"Because," MacMillan gave him a smile, "It pays to have people you can trust around. If what Orlov says is true, then both you and Nikolai are extremely skilled. He'd be a good ally to have. Someone good to rely on." He stepped forward then, lightly smacking Price's arm before turning to head back to the door, opening it fully before turning to add, "Tomorrow when you're running him through the drills, make a friend, John." With that he stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him with a thud and leaving Price by himself, silence echoing around him.

Price hesitantly moved into one of the large open garages on base, glancing around himself nervously. He knew that stepping into the garage was more than allowed for him, but it still felt somehow taboo. He figured it was because of the almost personalized nature of the small area. Tools on the walls, little pictures hung about, a jacket slung over a chair. There were little bits of the pilot he'd come to see all around the room. It made it feel almost like he was stepping into someone's home unannounced. Though, if Orlov's words about Nikolai practically living in the small garage because of how much time he spent there were true, then it was to be expected.

After a quick morning check-in with MacMillan and Orlov, Price had set off to retrieve the Russian pilot and take him through the drills his Captain wanted to see. Orlov had given him quick directions of the few places where he'd be most likely to find the man before taking off with MacMillan to start prep for their mission. He had to pretend that he didn't see MacMillan's pointed look toward him as the men were walking away. His words from the previous night about making a friend still echoed around in his mind. He knew it wouldn't be as easy as his Captain made it out to be, making friends could be difficult for him, and, even now, he had no one in his life who he considered a friend.

He'd gone searching for Nikolai, checking every place other than the garage first, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't have to step into a room where he would be completely alone with the other man. Of course, his luck wasn't that good, so he'd found himself marching toward the garage. He'd knocked on the little side door at first, trying to maybe put some separation there. He tried twice, but the sound of tools being used on the other side of the door seemed to swallow the sound of his knocks, even where he stood, so he pushed quietly inside.

He couldn't see Nikolai, but based on the various tools that littered the ground and the sound of the man muttering to himself, he could assume that the Russian was currently underneath the small car that was parked in the garage. It seemed that the Russian was good with things other than planes as well. Price stood still for a moment, just watching and listening as he tried to work up the energy to let himself be known. He really hoped that Nikolai wasn't anything like Orlov.

Finally, he cleared his throat, hearing the man under the car go silent, "Nikolai?" He took another step toward the car, "It's-"

"Price, from yesterday, right?" Nikolai was suddenly pushing himself out from under the vehicle, stopping to sit up on the little roller he'd been laid back on. He gave Price a wide smile, "Here to run me through my drills I'm guessing?" He gave a short chuckle and Price couldn't help but let a smile tug at his lips as well.

"Sorry," Price folded his hands behind his back again, looking down at the other man with a smile of his own, "I know I'm pulling you away from work."

Nikolai waved him off and pushed himself to stand from the ground, taking a confident step toward him as he responded, "Nonsense, this is work too. Besides, I could use the break."

Price was taken aback as he was, once again, faced with all of Nikolai. He could feel his face flush again as his eyes scanned over the man's face and chest, moving all the way down to his hands. They were large, large, and covered in some type of oil or grease that the man was currently trying to wipe off onto a small rag in his hands. That same substance was on the man's shirt and covering bits of his skin, mixing in with a layer of sweat to create a temptingly disheveled look on him. With every slight movement he made, Price found his eyes drawn to something new, whether it be his face, his chest, his arms, or those hands.

"Um," Price tried to refocus his mind, looking back up to meet Nikolai's eyes and noticing the amused smile that now graced his lips. "I don't," he tried to remember what they were talking about, his brows furrowed and he bit his lip for a moment before finally settling on, "I don't plan on going too hard on you."

Nikolai gave a low chuckle in response to that, "We can go as hard as we need to, don't worry, I can keep up." Price flushed red again, mentally cursing himself for the way that his mind had immediately turned to something less than innocent. He didn't trust that his voice wouldn't give him away, so he didn't speak. He just gave the man a quick nod of his head, taking a step back while the other man watched him, that smile still on his lips. "Hmm, cute."

"What?" Price blinked suddenly at the man, unsure if he'd actually heard him speak or not. Certainly, the man hadn't just called him cute?

Nikolai gave a hum in response, turning away from him to walk toward a free-standing sink in the room to begin cleaning up, "What?" The man responded casually.

"Did, did you say something?" Price asked, trailing behind him slightly.

"No," Nikolai responded with a glance over his shoulder. Price opened his mouth to respond to the man, but quickly shut it. He looked away from the other man, embarrassment burning at him. His mind must have been playing tricks on him.

"You're good," Price complimented the taller man with a smile. He'd just watched Nikolai tear apart several different targets on the range, his aim impeccable as he hit every target that he called out for him. Nikolai puffed up with pride at his praise, turning toward him with a bright grin on his face.

Price had learned rather quickly that having a smile plastered on his face seemed to be the man's default setting. It was only a little endearing. Only a little.

"Yeah?" Nikolai leaned toward him, trying to get a peek at the clipboard he held in his hands. Price was quick to tuck it against his chest, leaning away from the man as he received a playful pout in return. "Good enough to join you on a raid?"

Price lifted the clipboard up, just enough to hide his face as he grinned at the papers in front of him. "Hmm," he responded, pretending to look at the paper in front of him harshly, "I don't know," he pulled the clipboard down just enough that he could meet Nikolai's eyes over the top. "You could be cheating."

Nikolai gave a chuckle, seemingly pleased with Price playing along with his teasing. The smile that the man sent his way had Price's chest tightening and his heart squeezing a bit beneath his ribs. It wasn't the most professional reaction to have to someone he'd be working with, but he supposed it was fine so long as the other man didn't notice. "Cheating? Come now, you say that only because I am the best shot you've ever seen."

Price scoffed, lowering his clipboard back to his arms, "I've definitely seen better," he teased.

"Who?"

"Me," Price gave him a smug grin and was pleased to see that Nikolai didn't seem annoyed with his self-confidence, but rather amused at his words.

The man stepped to the side pointing to the base of the shooting range where he'd just been standing, "Care to prove it then?" He held his gun out carefully to Price, a challenging smile on his face.

Price only hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, his chin tilted defiantly up as he set his clipboard face down on the ammo table and took the gun from Nikolai's hands. It was Russian-made, one that he'd never used before, but with quite a few similarities to many of the weapons that he'd used back home.

He checked his ammo quickly, loading in a new mag before stepping up to the little shooting window. "Ah, ah," Nikolai called as he raised his gun, Price turned to look at him with a raised brow. "Ear protection and eye protection, Lieutenant. I'd hate for you to get yourself hurt."

Price rolled his eyes at the man's teasing tone, but listened to his words and grabbed one of the pairs of safety glasses from the table. He tapped the side of his head as he turned toward Nikolai, "I've been wearing ear protection the entire time, you're too loud not to," he was met with another laugh from the other man and he couldn't help but grin at him. He could tell his face was flushed, but this time it seemed to be more from his own enjoyment of the other man's presence rather than his mind running wild while he looked at him. "Call my shots?" He asked after a moment, turning back to the range to lift the weapon up into a ready position.

"Gladly," Nikolai replied, stepping up beside him. "Two by the car," he was starting him off easy, Price wanted to scoff at the man. He took one shot, adjusted for the recoil, then took two more shots, hitting both of the targets by the car with a headshot. Nikolai gave a low whistle before calling, "Three by the shack." Three more headshots. "Two by the wall." These two were fairly far away, still, Price hit his shots. Finally, Nikolai called, "One at the back, by the barrels." This was the farthest target at the little firing range. Price took a moment to aim before he shot and once again hit his target.

He turned back to Nikolai with a grin, already finding the man's eyes on him as he turned. He burned red at the look of amazement that he wore, but managed to stay calm as he smiled at him and teased, "Told you I was better."

"You've really never worked with cars before?" Nikolai tilted his head at him, watching Price with an amused grin as the shorter man peered anxiously under the hood of the car that Nikolai had been working on. They'd returned to the garage together from drills, surprisingly easy conversation flowing between the two.

Price had intended to leave once they'd reached the garage, though the thought did make him feel a tad bit disappointed. He was pleasantly surprised when Nikolai invited him into the garage to look at his latest project. Price had, a little too quickly, taken the man up on his offer. Nikolai hadn't commented on that though, instead, he'd just given him a big smile and guided him inside to look at the car.

He'd been talking about the mechanics of the vehicle for nearly twenty minutes, happily telling Price anything and everything as they walked around the vehicle. It was clear to see how passionate he was about his work, his voice going over every piece of the car excitedly, using words that Price had never heard in his life. He was content to just listen to the other man, even if he didn't understand what he was saying. Something about the happy look on his face and the excitement in his tone had Price's heart beating faster in his chest.

Of course, he'd eventually put his foot in his mouth. He considered himself to be a fairly good bullshitter, he had to be for half of the things that he and MacMillan got up to. Apparently, all of that flew out of the window when he was faced with someone as eye-catching to him as Nikolai. So he'd rather dumbly asked the man a question about something that was apparently common knowledge when it came to cars. Obviously, it wasn't common enough.

He'd felt his face go bright red when the other man had broken into laughs before asking him through his laughter if he actually knew anything about what they'd been discussing. Price had been forced to rather sheepishly admit that he had no idea what the man had been talking about the entire time.

That had led them to where they were now, with Price, rather embarrassingly, standing on a little step stool so that he could lean over the hood of the vehicle Nikolai had been working on. The man was explaining several things to him under the hood, trying to teach him the basics. "I've never had a reason to work with them before," he explained quickly to the taller man, "Nothing's ever fucked up on me before, so no reason to get under the hood."

Nikolai gave a snort, "You've never even changed the oil yourself?"

Price blinked at him for a moment, tilting his head with confusion, "You have to change the oil? How does that work?" Nikolai sputtered at him, a look of absolute horror crossing his face that only disappeared when Price let a playful grin cross his face, letting the other man know that he'd only been joking.

"Not funny," Nikolai muttered, nudging his side, "I was worried for your wellbeing you know."

"If it makes you feel better," Price leaned fully onto the hood, turning to look down at all of the complicated-looking things beneath him, "I don't actually have a personal vehicle, I only have my license for military driving necessities."

"That does certainly make me worry less," Nikolai gave a chuckle, that grin back on his face as he looked up at Price, "Anything you're curious about? I'd be more than happy to explain."

There really wasn't anything that Price was actually curious about, but he'd take any opportunity that he could to listen to Nikolai talk more, especially about something he was interested in. With that thought in mind, he just pointed randomly at something further toward the back of the hood, "What's that thing?"

The car, while likely taller on its own, was also up on jacks, meaning that Nikolai, despite his height, was forced to strain to try to see what Price was pointing at. After a moment, the man gave a sigh and turned, making his way toward him, "Hold on, I can't see it." Price went to step off of the little step stool, only to be instead pushed to the front of the little block, Nikolai stepping up behind him to look over his shoulder.

He could feel his entire face flush red, heat creeping up his spine as he felt the warmth and solidness of Nikolai's chest pressed against his back, his arms caging him in against the vehicle. "What was it you were asking about?" The man asked, his mouth next to Price's ear as he leaned over him.

Price took in a shaky breath, bracing himself against the hood nervously before pointing at the same spot again. "That thing." His voice sounded high and wrecked to his own ears, the sound pulling a wince from him. Thankfully, mercifully, Nikolai didn't mention it, only started explaining the little bit under the hood.

He really didn't mean to, but with Nikolai's chest against his back and his hands caging him against the car, it was no surprise that his mind began to wander. It was a dangerous thing, with the man his mind was focused on being quite literally pressed up behind him. He tried hard to focus on Nikolai's words, but instead, his mind latched on to the feeling of the vibrations of his words against his back.

"Price?" He realized suddenly that he'd definitely zoned out. His mind snapped back into place and he tried to take in a calming breath without the man behind him noticing. "Everything alright?"

"Yup," he responded slowly, "Just thinking. This is all rather complicated, I don't think I'd ever want to mess with any of this."

The words pulled a chuckle from the man behind him, "If you ever get a car, some of these things are important. You should try to learn."

Price wrinkled his nose at the idea, turning so that he could at least halfway look at the other man. He found the usual grin that Nikolai wore waiting on him, "I don't know about that. I think I'll just have someone else fix it up for me." He paused before giving a playful smile, "maybe I'll just have you do it."

He could feel Nikolai's rumbling laugh against his chest as the man responded, "All you'd have to do is ask. I'd be more than happy to help." He didn't quite realize how often he would come to hear those words from the man.

Price hadn't meant to hover around the front of the plane, really, he hadn't. He'd fully intended to board the little vessel with his Captain and take his seat by the man, waiting with the seven Russians, Orlov included, that were joining them on their mission as Nikolai flew them to their drop point. Really, that's what he'd meant to do.

He'd boarded the plane with MacMillan, fully dressed in his gear, one of his favorite beanies firmly in place to keep his hair out of his face. He'd followed MacMillan to his seat, sitting patiently as the back of the plane closed up and they took off into the air. It was a bit awkward, the entire back of the plane was filled only with the sound of loud Russian. Price could have spoken with MacMillan, but the man was chatting tensely with Orlov about business, which meant that Price was left to spend the ride essentially on his own.

Then, a loud voice cut through the noise, calling for Price and making most of the voices in the plane go silent. Price had gone bright red before slipping out of his seat and quickly making his way to the entrance of the small cockpit, leaning in to look at Nikolai. "Nikolai?"

Nikolai had given him a grin, motioning to the empty copilot seat next to him, "Sit with me for the flight?"

Price had blinked at him for a moment, shock sent through his veins. Sure, the copilot didn't have to actually do anything with this type of plane, but Price certainly hadn't expected to be invited to take the seat. He hesitated for a moment, the offer was certainly more appealing than sitting by himself in the back, "Are you sure?"

Nikolai gave a low chuckle, "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure. Come, sit." Price wasn't going to say no to that so, with one last glance back (and choosing to ignore the looks that he was getting from both Orlov and MacMillan), he quickly moved fully into the front area, plopping down in the copilot seat. He was careful to keep his hands folded neatly in his lap, trying to avoid knocking against any of the controls and fucking something up.

"I've never really been at the front of the plane before," he spoke idly, looking around at all of the confusing buttons and switches before teasingly saying, "it seems almost as complicated as a car."

Nikolai gave an amused snort, reaching forward to flip a switch on the dash as he responded, "Trust me, dusha moya, this is far more complicated."

Price tilted his head at the man, watching the way that he so casually flipped switches on the craft, flying the plane as though what he was doing wasn't something unbelievably impressive, at least in Price's mind. The man looked quite good at that moment, his hair slicked back as usual, the headphones that he wore for the plane fit snugly over his ears, and the sunglasses he wore framed his face well. He was wearing another tight shirt, showing off his muscular arms. It was a tempting sight for Price, especially as Nikolai reached up to flip various buttons, his arms flexing with the movement. The man was unbelievably attractive and it was eating its way at Price something fierce.

In any other scenario, Price would have easily considered Nikolai a friend already. Really, they were friends. They'd spent the rest of the day after drills together, they'd been taking their meals together, and Price had taken to joining Nikolai in the garage, chatting idly to the man as he worked on whatever needed to be worked on.

The past week of Price's life had been him befriending the Russian man and, as sad as it sounded, he already felt like Nikolai was probably the best friend that he had. That should have been enough for Price, he should have been happy with the almost natural friendship that had formed between himself and the other man. But he wasn't. He wasn't happy, and the entire reason boiled down to the fact that in the process of befriending Nikolai, Price had also quickly formed a fucking crush on the man.

Sure, it was one thing for him to find Nikolai attractive. He was a gay man with eyes, he wasn't going to not find Nikolai attractive, but to have to admit to himself that he had a crush? It made him feel like a stupid kid in eighth year with a crush on the handsome boy in his maths class. It felt stupid. It felt childish. But fuck, he really wanted to kiss the other man, even though he knew he couldn't.

"It's kinda cool," he muttered lowly, watching Nikolai's hands flex against the steering for the plane, "Seeing you in your element and all."

Nikolai hummed, turning to give him a quick wink that had his face heating up again, "I'm excited to see you in your element," he responded playfully, "Lieutenant Price. I'm quite looking forward to taking orders from you." And fuck, if that didn't make Price squirm in his seat a bit.

"Well," Price turned away from the man, pretending to be interested in something on the dash in front of him, "You may not like it so much when I'm screaming at you to move your ass."

"Oh," Nikolai gave a chuckle, "No, I think I'll still like it just fine." Things were silent between the two for a moment, Nikolai quickly flicked a few more switches as Price tried to get the heat of his face under control and the stupid butterflies in his stomach to stop fluttering. "I like your hat," Nikolai said after a moment.

The comment, though simple, pulled a wide grin from Price, "Yeah? It's one of my favorites!" He reached up to touch the edge of his hat. He had quite an affinity for them and he was more used to people teasing him than complimenting him.

"You wear hats often?" Nikolai questioned, "I noticed the caps that you wore during the week. I was wondering if that was a preference or just because you were having some bad hair."

Price gave a small chuckle, rubbing at the back of his neck. He hadn't expected Nikolai to pick up on something so simple, just the thought that the other man had made his heart flutter again. "Yeah, I have a lot of hats, I usually pick one up every new place that I go. Captain says most of them make me look like a little kid though."

"I don't think so," Nikolai shot a quick glance at him, "I think they make you look cute, dusha moya." Price gripped tight to the fabric of his pants, his face flushing.

"Thank you," he managed to get out, his voice a bit too shaky and high for him to not feel embarrassed.

Nikolai gave a hum, "Have you bought a hat here yet?"

"What?"

"You said you try to pick one up every new place you go. Do you have one from here yet?" Nikolai turned to look at him fully, raising an eyebrow at him above the sunglasses he wore.

Price hesitantly shook his head, "No, not yet. I don't really know my way around the town, so I haven't had a chance yet."

Nikolai's lips curled up slightly at the words. He turned back toward the front of the plane again, casually saying, "Good, I'll take you out to get one when we get back from our mission, yes?"

Price could only agree with the man, those butterflies in his stomach coming back even stronger. He was fucked.

"Nik!" Price turned, watching one of the men who'd been on the mission with them run up to the man next to him, his cheeks tinged red and his breathing heavy as he spoke quick Russian to the man. Nikolai answered in Russian, though based on the way he'd motioned to him while speaking, Price could assume that he was telling the other man that he was taking him out.

The Russian in front of him furrowed his brows, looking Price up and down like he hadn't even realized he was there. It sent a flush of anger down Price's spine. Why were so many of these Russians so damn rude? Luckily the man didn't stay much longer, simply giving Nikolai a friendly slap on the shoulder and a few more words in Russian before turning and heading back to the bar that Price and Nikolai had just left.

Once he was gone, Price turned to Nikolai, his eyebrow raised as his mind turned back to what the man had called him. "Nik?"

Nikolai gave a chuckle, "That's the first time you've heard someone call me that?" He guided Price toward the car they came in, opening the passenger door for him and shutting it once he was inside. Price waited patiently for the man to come around and climb into the driver's seat.

"I like it," he spoke quickly, shooting the man a grin before repeating, "Nik. It's cute." He was surprised to see a bit of red rise to the tops of Nikolai's cheeks at his words.

"Well," Nikolai cleared his throat, "You're free to call me that whenever you want, dusha moya."

"What does that mean?" Price asked quickly. Nikolai had called him that several times now and the almost affectionate-sounding words had been eating at his mind. He'd thought about asking Orlov about it, but the idea of mispronouncing the words to the older man or getting them wrong somehow made him want to jump off a cliff. So he'd decided that was a no.

Nikolai didn't answer him, he just kept his eyes firmly on the road as he drove them into town. "I'm taking you to a clothes shop. I think we'll find you something you'll like there." Price nearly huffed at his question being ignored, but he respected the dismissal for what it was. He wouldn't press, no matter how curious he was.

The ride was short, though not uninteresting. Conversation flowed between the two men naturally, discussions of their mission and the shop they were going to taking up the majority of their conversation. Price also found himself occupied with the sights outside of their small vehicle, admiring the area as they drove through.

They made it to the shop about thirty minutes before they were set to close. It was clear to see that Nikolai was relieved that they'd made it in time, his face fixing into an easy grin as they got out of the car and made their way into the building. Price knew they'd probably stayed a bit longer at the bar than they were meant to, but when Nikolai had jokingly asked if he was able to handle his alcohol, he couldn't help but take the man's offer of a bit of whiskey to wash down a successful mission.

"This place looks nice," Price spoke lowly, trailing through the small clothing shop after Nikolai, "Not sure if it's my style," he wrinkled his nose at an overly flashy top that they passed, "but it's nice."

Nikolai gave a low chuckle, "Luckily for you, their selection of hats is much larger in styles." He motioned Price back to a large wall of hats of any and every kind that he could think of. It was an incredibly impressive sight and one that had Price's heart swelling with excitement. There were so many choices, so many new things that he would be more than willing to add to his growing collection.

"I don't even know where to start," he stepped closer, letting his hand run along the top of several different caps and beanies along the wall, his eyes racing around to try to take in everything. Eventually, he stopped hesitantly at one of the hats, pulling it off to get a closer look at the details.

After a moment, he plopped the hat on his head, turning to look at one of the mirrors along the walls so that he could get a good look at himself. He hummed at the sight. The color wasn't quite working for him and he already had several other caps, so he knew it wouldn't be a winner. Still, he turned to Nikolai with a small smile, "What do you think?"

Nikolai tilted his head at him, his eyes scanning over his face for a moment before saying, "It looks good, though something tells me you don't agree with that?"

Price gave a short chuckle, taking the hat off and returning it to its place on the wall, "I don't like the color," he spoke simply, "And I already have plenty of caps. I'm thinking a different style, like..." he looked over the hats before playfully pulling down one of those gimmicky propellor hats and plopping it on his head. He turned to Nikolai with a grin, already seeing the man trying to contain his laughter, "How about this?"

"Perfect," Nikolai responded, his voice laced with amusement, "Suits you very well I think."

"You don't think it makes me look too childish?" Price stepped closer to Nikolai, a teasing grin still on his face.

"Not in the slightest," the man responded, his lips pressed together tightly to try to hide his smile. After a moment of just looking at one another, Nikolai reached forward, flicking the little propellor on the hat to send it spinning. The two men devolved into laughter only moments after.

They went on that way as Price continued trying on various hats, cracking jokes to one another and delighting in every smile or laugh that the other gave. To Price, this was far more enjoyable than sitting in some Russian bar with MacMillan and a bunch of rude Russian soldiers. Still, they'd gotten to the shop late, which meant that they didn't have much time until a worker was coming up to them to let them know that they were closing in five minutes.

"Well?" Nikolai raised an eyebrow at Price, "Made a decision?"

Price gave a low hum. Normally he would have gone with the soft blue beanie that he had clasped in his hands. It normally would have been his first and only choice, an easy one to make. But there was something else that had caught his attention, though noticeably for a far more selfish reason.

It was a simple hat, something he never would have looked back at twice if it hadn't been for the man standing next to him. It was a brownish-green bucket hat, one that looked more similar to something a fisherman would wear than what he would ever even think of putting on his head. He'd tried it on absentmindedly, not really thinking anything of it. He liked how he looked in it, in an odd way it suited him, but that wasn't the reason why he was thinking about snatching the thing up.

No, the reason behind that was the man standing next to him. He'd turned to Nikolai, prepared with a little quip in mind about the hat. All of his words had failed him when he caught sight of the way the other man was looking at him. His face was soft and there was something that Price would have had to be a fool to miss shining in his eyes. He recognized that look, the pure adoration that the other man was sending his way. It sent a shock of joy through his veins and, just thinking about it had him snatching up the bucket hat.

"I think I'll get both of these actually," He muttered quietly, giving a shy smile to the other man. Though Nikolai only gave him a nod, he could see how pleased his choice made the other man. It pulled a grin to his face, one that didn't leave even as he paid for his hats and walked outside to climb inside the car with Nikolai again. He pulled the tags off and plopped the hat on his head as soon as they were in the car.

He could feel Nikolai's gaze warming him the entire ride back to base. There was something different between them on the ride back, like a shift that filled the air with tension between their light conversation. Maybe it was Nikolai's heated gaze or the flush that sat high on Price's cheeks the entire ride back to base. Maybe it was just that the two were done dancing around one another, bolstered by a successful mission and a week of friendship entwined with flirting.

Price felt closer to Nikolai than he'd ever felt with anyone else and he knew, even when he and MacMillan were forced to leave in the morning, even when he would be so far away from the other man, Price knew that they would stay like that. This friendship, romance, whatever the hell it was...it would just keep growing.

His face was still flushed when they finally arrived back on base, Nikolai pulling the vehicle he'd borrowed back into its space in the garage. Price clambered out, meeting him around the front of the vehicle. They stopped there, watching each other for a moment. Price knew that he needed to get back to his room. It was late and he'd likely missed his check-in with MacMillan, not that he could find it in himself to care. He needed to go inside, but he didn't want to.

"I guess," he cleared his throat, smiling hesitantly up at Nikolai, "I should probably get back to my room. MacMillan and I are supposed to leave tomorrow." He paused, turning his gaze away from Nikolai as he spoke. He wasn't asking anything crazy, and he wasn't making a request that would seem anything but friendly, but still, looking the other man in the eye seemed too intimate. "Please stay in touch and everything, I'd like to say goodbye tomorrow before I leave, but I know you're busy, so-"

There was a hand on his jaw, gently turning his face. Warm soft lips connected with his own, pressing passionately against him and nearly knocking him back with the force. He was pressed back against the vehicle quickly, caged against the metal by Nikolai's strong arms as the man stole the breath from his lungs. Price didn't hesitate to react, his own arms moving to wrap around the man's shoulders, yanking him as close as he physically could.

The feeling of the man's warm body pressed against his own sent shivers down his spine and pulled a satisfied little sigh from his lips. This, Nikolai licking his way into his mouth, his hands gripping tight at his hips to hold him steady, it was so much. It was so much, but it was so perfect.

After a moment, Nikolai pulled back from the kiss, resting his forehead against Price's as they both took in deep breaths. They didn't say anything at first, just looked at one another, occasionally diving down to press another short but passionate kiss against the other's mouth. Finally, after several moments, Nikolai pressed closer to him, slotting their lips together again so that he could mumble through the kiss, "See me tomorrow, before you leave. In the garage."

Price could only nod against him, his mouth far too occupied to respond with words.

Price was still high on Nikolai's kisses when he made his way back to his room. He could still feel the man's touches on his skin, tingling where they'd brushed against his arms or grabbed his hips. He was high on the feeling.

Of course, with every high came a crash. Price's came in the form of his Captain sitting on the bed in his room, a knowing eyebrow raised at him. "Captain," Price tried. MacMillan didn't let him finish.

"I told you to befriend the pilot," he tilted his head at Price, "Not seduce him."

"Sir," Price started, his voice small, "I didn't mean to, it's just he's so," he tried to find the right word, but nothing good enough came to his mind so he lamely settled on, "nice."

MacMillan watched him for a moment. "You like him? Really like him?" Price nodded his head hesitantly. There was a moment of silence before MacMillan gave a heavy sigh and stood up from his bed, "Listen to me, John. I want you to be happy, I do, but I also want you to be successful." Price winced a bit at his words, diverting his eyes to the ground quickly. "This goes beyond what is professional, if this doesn't work out for you? If the two of you only last a month before having a heated break? That's an ally that you've lost." He stepped forward, placing a hand on Price's shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze, "It's your call, lad. Just know what you could be losing."

The man stood for another moment, watching him before giving a quick pat on his shoulder and leaving the room. Price stood silently, his Captain's words eating at his mind. There was a heavy feeling that settled in his chest, a heavy feeling and a pool of dread that rose up his throat, replacing the high of Nikolai with the weight of the crash. It was consuming. It was heartbreaking. But, above all, it was enough to pull Price back to reality, a reality where he knew what he had to do.

Price felt sick stepping into the garage. He had his bag slung over his shoulder, all of his few things packed up. He was ready to leave Russia, but the thought made him feel sick. When Nikolai saw him, fixing him with that bright grin that made his heart stutter in his chest, he wondered if the sting in his chest was what a gunshot felt like. He was sure he'd find out eventually, sometime in his career.

Nikolai seemed to pick up on his less-than-stellar attitude, his smile falling into something more concerned as he stepped closer. He came closer, reaching out for him, but Price stepped back. He gripped tight at his bag, avoiding the look of confusion that the other man sent him. He looked like a kicked puppy. It broke his heart, the splinters of it piercing into his chest harder.

"John?" Nikolai's voice was soft, laced with concern, "Is everything alright?"

"I," Price bit his lips, trying to find his words. This was better for both of them, in the long run. It was right. "About last night. I think we should try to keep things professional."

"What?" Price winced at the sound of Nikolai's voice. He could feel tears threatening to rise to his eyes, but he pushed them down. He couldn't fucking cry over this.

"We're going to be working together for a long time," Price cleared his throat, "I think it would be better if we didn't complicate that. If we just stayed as friends and coworkers."

"Friends?"

Price winced again, bringing a hand up to readjust the hat on his head. It was the bucket hat, the one he'd picked last night. There was a bit of comfort that he took in the material, in the memories that it carried with it. "If you want to stay friends," he replied, "I understand if, with all of this, you'd prefer it if we just were coworkers. Nothing else."

He jolted back when hands grabbed his own, pulling them up and drawing his attention back to Nikolai's face. Price could feel his eyes going glassy as he looked at the other man, recognizing the confusion, dread, and heartbreak that was building there. "John," Nikolai shook his head at him, stepping closer, "Tell me that you don't want this."

Price shook his head, looking away from the man as he slowly pulled his hands away and responded, "It isn't about what I want. It's about what is going to be better for both of us in the long run." He took a step away from the man, feeling like he was fighting against his own body to actually move away. He didn't want this. He didn't want to pull away from the man in front of him. He did though. He did because it was going to be better for both of them. "I'm sorry," he muttered to the other man.

Nikolai didn't respond to him, his face frozen into a picture of devastation. Price wondered briefly if a lie would have been better. If telling Nikolai that he didn't want him would have saved them both the heartache of knowing what they wanted, but couldn't have. It was too late for that though. He readjusted his bag on his shoulder, "I'm sorry. I," he paused, taking a deep breath, "I have to go. I'm sorry."

He hesitated for one more moment before turning, slowly making his way to the garage door. It felt like one of the hardest things that he'd ever done. Walking away. It wasn't until he got to the door, pushing it open to step out, that he finally heard Nikolai's voice. "John." Price hesitated for a moment. He prayed that Nikolai wouldn't ask him to stay, he didn't know that he'd be able to say no if he did. He turned to look at the man. Nikolai took a moment, steeling his face before saying, "If you need anything, just ask. I would be more than happy to help."

Price understood the weight of the words. He understood what the other man was telling him. He could feel his heart stuttering in his chest and he could certainly feel tears rushing to his eyes now. He didn't let them fall yet, he just nodded his head to the man before weakly replying, "Thank you, Nik."

He left the garage without another word, making his way toward the plane that would take himself and MacMillan back to their base. If his Captain noticed him wiping tears from his face he didn't say anything. Price felt sick. He could feel regret bubbling up in his chest. He'd done the right thing, but he knew that he'd also set himself up for a lifetime of wanting. A lifetime of looking, but never touching. A lifetime of pain when the other man eventually moved on. He knew, beyond anything, that he'd set himself up for failure.

Masterlist

[pbjelly90]

I’m rewatching/rereading or checking out for the first time a lot of Sherlock media lately and after seeing the teaser for Knives Out 3, it’s got me thinking about fictional detective characters. I haven’t thought this through completely, but I was trying to decide how I’d rank my favorites throughout various mystery and crime media.

Of course I’m also happy to hear anyone else’s plugs for their favorites I’ve overlooked or not seen before too, so share if you’ve got ‘em and you happen to see this! Would love to see more female led detective stories and queer detective stories.

I’m thinking off the top of my head that my top 15 or so list goes something like this (might end up making this a top 20 or more as I keep adding to it lol) -

1. Sherlock Holmes - This is pretty obvious given the very few things I’ve posted about and my reblogs. The detective that truly got me into mystery stories about 20 years ago. I started reading a collection of the original stories I came across at a Borders bookstore and got hooked from there. I think Watson is what really sold me on Holmes, he humanizes him, givens him more of an emotional anchor. I also have always appreciated how flawed he is. Some genius characters are over the top, but he’s always had some genuine struggles like his drug use. And in the books he even admits Mycroft is better than him at deduction, just lazier with the legwork. My current favorite incarnations may be the original from the books and the Yuumori version, but credit due to the BBC version because I was obsessed the first two seasons in. I love that he’s in the public domain so we can get so many creative takes on him and his world and stories. I’ve been to the Holmes museum at 221 B Baker Street in London (an address they made just for the museum) and seen the statue of him honoring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Edinburgh. One of my top favorite fictional characters of all time. If you mention he’s in something, chances are, I’m gonna read/watch it.

2. Harry Dresden - Should probably be no surprise that as a fantasy and mystery fan, I’m a big fan of novels that started off as private detective stories with a wizard on the case. The series gets away from its detective roots later on in favor of bigger plots, but I always enjoyed seeing Harry mix workmanlike detective methods with practical magic. He’s no genius, but he’s clever and willing to mix it up sometimes to see what shakes out. I’d like to think Marcone is the closest thing to his version of a Moriarty, his criminal counterpart. There’s a grudging respect of sorts there even if they dislike the other’s methods. I love Harry and his stories so much I went to Chicago years back just to geek out at some spots from the books (and see Sue!) so he definitely deserves a spot on this list.

3. Ron Kamonohashi - This is a very close race between him and Benoit Blanc, but Ron wins out. He’s got a Watson like character with Toto, which I always appreciate (let Benoit’s hubby come along sometime?) and he’s very Sherlock coded with his little quirks (black sugar syrup is his drug lol) and dependence on mysteries for mental stimulation. Also his dynamic with the police. I enjoy his relationship with Blue and the characters from the academy very much. And I’m very curious to see how the Moriarty connection plays out. He’s just such a silly and I wish the manga was out in physical form in English, I love him and he’s my blorbo. He feels like Sherlock from an Ace Attorney game even more than Herlock Sholmes from The Great Ace Attorney did. This anime feels very much made for me like Yuumori feels. Also his cat is adorable. 💕

4. Benoit Blanc - I enjoy him so dang much. I’d love to see a book adaptation of Knives Out but I wonder how much of how charm is how well Daniel Craig plays him and how much fun you can tell he’s having. Love his relationship with his hubby, his accent, his dress sense, and how he just stumbles into these intricate mysteries with crazy rich folks (and helps support the women who’ve been wronged by them so they can take matters into their own hands to set things right.) I’m delighted they’re continuing to make these movies. I’d take a graphic novel too if not traditional books.

5. Shawn Spencer - Had to bump everyone down this list, how could I forget about Shawn from Psych? He’s definitely more on the strong personality end for detectives, quirky, more interested in romance, and much more extroverted than many examples. I love his friendship with Gus and also his relationship with his father always gave him more depth. Seeing how his father trained him up from a young age, sometimes at great personal cost between them, was an interesting spin on how a genius detective gained their special skills. Also the show is just so dang fun and silly. As a person, I’d probably find Shawn a bit annoying IRL, but I greatly enjoy his misadventures with Gus to rein him in. Lassie is totally his Lestrade. And Shawn’s last name is a Robert B Parker reference to Spenser, isn’t it?

6. Sam Vimes (and the rest of the Watch) - Vimes only doesn’t score higher here because somehow he feels like more of a cop or protector than detective? His emphasis has never been completely about just unraveling mysteries but more focused on defending Ankh Morpork, especially the common people, and delivering justice. Jingo, Night Watch and Thud are three of my all time favorite books of his, with Night Watch as one of my favorite books of all time. Feet of Clay is probably his main detective turn in my memory, as the later books see him have to take on more of a diplomatic role with different responsibilities. Angua and Cheery get a shoutout here as also being highly competent members of the Watch. Carrot has his moments too. Vimes and the rest of the Watch are notable on this list as the some of the very few ranked who are part of actual law enforcement and not some sort of private consulting detective. The Discworld books and the Watch books in particular were formative reading for me back in my teenage years and further cemented my interest in crime stories (and caring curmudgeon characters like Vimes.) Hugh Laurie would play a great Vimes.

7. Amy Santiago & Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn 99 Squad) - The only other official members of law enforcement on this list so far. Jake gets most of the focus and cases, and similar to Shawn Spencer, I enjoy him as a character even if he’d probably be annoying IRL. Love Terry and Holt as the two leaders and mentors of the squad. But my biggest shoutout here is to Amy and Rosa, I would adore a spinoff with them as the Sleuth Sisters solving cases together. Two skilled, nuanced Latina detectives with their own distinctive, non-stereotypical personalities and an awesome friendship? Yes please. They’re what carries this squad way up the list, even if the cases in this show aren’t usually as complex as some of the others, with the focus more on comedy.

8. Hercule Poirot - Been years since I last read the novels, but I’ve always enjoyed him as a little fussy looking Belgian fellow that folks underestimate. He’s got a different approach from Holmes. He likes a dramatic ending reveal. He always seems like he knows a joke others don’t, has a twinkle in his eye. I devoured a lot of the Agatha Christie stories back in the day, and Poirot’s personality maybe isn’t as strong on the page as Holmes, but I feel that’s more to give the reader a chance to feel like they’re the detective figuring it out alongside him. It’s almost like reading along with a silent protagonist at times in a video game. Part of this is due to the fact that Poirot novels never have one consistent narrator, which allows Christie to do some creative things with the narrator and have them take different roles in the story, but it also means we never really have a POV character who understands and describes Poirot on the same level as Watson does for Holmes (at least not that I remember? Apparently Arthur Hastings is in 7 novels at least but I guess he did not make as much of an impression on me. He appears to be more prominent in the David Suchet TV show.)

9. Conan Edogawa - I never finished Case Closed / Detective Conan because it’s crazy long, but it’s a very nostalgic show for me and I very much enjoyed the many episodes I watched back in the day. Conan is a genius, probably to an over the top degree, but his difficulties in working around being stuck as a kid helped add some stakes and obstacles in his stories and felt very relatable as a younger person interested in mysteries growing up. I wonder if they’d ever consider doing a reboot series someday with much fewer episodes, so we’d get a conclusion without needing to watch over 1,000 episodes.

10. Enola Holmes - A little Mary Sueish and teenage wish fulfillmenty, but dangit she’s fun. Essentially a younger teenaged Sherlock with a touch more people skills? Fighting back against the misogyny of her time period. I have a feeling if she came out back when I was a teen and first reading Holmes, I’d be obsessed. I’m curious to check out her books, I don’t mind if they’re more YA oriented if the mysteries are solid.

11. Ranpo Edogawa (and the whole armed detective agency from BSD) - I love and enjoy Ranpo and he very much has spoiled little brat energy. Fukuzawa as his dad figure brings me much joy. However, I also find him and most characters from Bungo to be over the top geniuses, to the point where they no longer feel very grounded as human. Sherlock often feels still believable to me, that someone could specialize to his degree and be that effective, but the BSD characters have always felt supernaturally competent. But with that aside, they’re also often very fun. Given that Ranpo doesn’t have any other superpowers, unlike other geniuses like Dazai or Fyodor, I can allow “ultra deduction” to be his. But Atsushi and Kunkida feel way more grounded and they’re the heart of this group. Love Yosano and Kenji too. Fukuzawa is my favorite but does little detective work usually, leaving that up to the team. I would have enjoyed seeing Aya and Bram be a detective team within the ADA. 😢

12. Nancy Drew - I read these so long ago but these books definitely contributed to my interest in detective stories growing up. I don’t remember many distinctive traits of Nancy now, but I have to give her credit for nostalgia and sparking my interest in mysteries back then. Has there been a modern day update of these?

13. Spenser - Got into these novels by Robert B. Parker at some point back in my twenties, as they were always mentioned in early blurbs for The Dresden Files as a point of comparison, Spenser crossed with Merlin. Very pulpy detective stories, a lot like the Maltese Falcon. Not the most feminist, got plenty of film noir type tropes, but the mysteries were compelling. I can’t say Spenser was necessarily likable, but he had the workman like detective style you find in Dresden that I appreciated. Not a genius like Holmes, he truly had to stir things up sometimes, make a lot more mistakes, and in general do extra legwork. Wouldn’t mind seeing someone update him for modern day somehow.

14. Anita Blake - Does she count here? I’ve found a sad lack of female detectives, maybe that’s because I’ve largely read older stories in the genre? She, like Dresden, started off more detective (and huntress) and since then has changed. Unlike Dresden however, I gave up on Anita’s series around book 10. I enjoyed her early on although she definitely had some viewpoints I did not agree with, I enjoyed the St Louis setting and urban fantasy elements. I think the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries are in a similar area of the country, also with vampires? Maybe I’ll give those a try.

A tie below perhaps for number 15?

Adrian Monk - I’ve only watched a few episodes of Monk, never got super into it, but he gives me Poirot vibes with how fastidious he is. Eventually I’ll try watching a bit more of this.

Miss Marple - Curious to see how these books compare to Poirot. I started one ages ago but didn’t finish it, got sidetracked. I’ve seen now someone has written a book with characters based on Holmes, Marple and Poe? (Interesting that it’s not Dupin.) Curious to see how that’s handled since Marple I don’t believe is public domain? Some Poirot is, but not her yet to my knowledge.

Auguste Dupin - Read The Purloined Letter, but not the other stories yet that I recall. I don’t remember Dupin himself having any traits that particularly stuck with me, but he is the proto fictional detective so I have to give credit there.

Sam Spade - Similar to Dupin, Sam Spade sets up the proto tropes for his genre of detective story, the more film noir type story. But otherwise he wasn’t super memorable to me, perhaps because he only had the one. Spenser takes a lot of inspiration from him.

Philip Marlowe - Ditto for the above. Read The Big Sleep, can’t recall if there were more that I read? But he helped establish the genre.

Nero Wolfe - I think I have read one of these, but I'll be honest, I don't remember it very well. Probably due to give this series another shot.

—

Honorable mentions: For characters that are not technically detectives by title, but still solve mysteries, or aren’t the lead in their respective stories -

Richard Ranasinghe de Vulpian - I first picked up volume one of the Jeweler Richard light novels because the boys on the cover are pretty, but I bought it because it was described as having mystery elements online and that the two leads would work through cases together. It’s shifted some in focus since then, but Richard is certainly like a detective for jewel related matters. He’s a bit of a Holmes figure, brilliant with specialized knowledge, clever, good at reading people, British, and Seigi is like his warm hearted Watson, good in a fight, deeply loyal. Yet another reason why I love these boys.

Maomao from Apothecary Diaries - Technically not a detective, but she does so much investigating and I love her. Her work sometimes even extends to non-medical cases, she truly has a lot of knowledge but it feels believable with her fixation on medicines / poisons and her upbringing, particularly with her adoptive dad’s mentorship and training. Love hearing her infodump on plants in particular.

All the Ace Attorney lead characters do so much investigating. I recently saw a post that said Phoenix is more of a skilled investigator rather than a lawyer, and they are not wrong. Herlock Sholmes is very silly and I need to finish GAA to really properly judge him, but I’ve seen him invent more than I’ve seen him deduce. I love Ema Skye and would love to see her get her own investigations game, really enjoy seeing her geek out over forensics and working cases once she lands her dream job. Gumshoe is precious but not the best at his job.

Jack Reacher technically doesn’t have a job anymore? But he was an MP and does investigate nearly as much as he fights. I read a fair number of his books when I wanted to learn how to write fight scenes better, and learned some other helpful details while following this series too, particularly about firearms. I like the new Amazon tv adaptation of these stories so far too. Reacher has earned a shoutout here on this list.

The first two Paper Mario games have at least one detective chapter, usually a very silly take on Agatha Christie like tropes, and I enjoy them very much. Give me a full detective spinoff in the Paper Mario world please. Detective Peach from Princess Peach Showtime maybe? Daisy as her Watson? I liked her cases but they were short and the mechanics got a little repetitive, gameplay-wise.

Also in video games, Professor Layton is technically an archaeologist and professor, but he certainly ends up solving quite a few mysteries. I haven't finished all of his games because I'm actually quite crap at a lot of kinds of puzzles, but I enjoy him very much.

House, MD - for a much harsher take on a Holmes like figure, with his own Watson in an actual practicing doctor, Dr Wilson. Ties back into Holmes inspiration coming from a real world medical doctor, Dr. Joseph Bell. I was really into this show for a few years, but House could be so acerbic at times I stopped caring for it as much. Especially when he would be a dick to Cuddy.

Neal Caffrey from White Collar does a lot of investigating and would be a clever detective type in another show, but here as a CI he gives me more Arsene Lupin gentleman thief vibes.

The leads from Cowboy Bebop do have to do a lot of tracking down criminals and investigating, but as bounty hunters, they’re generally after folks who have already been identified as major suspects or convicted, so they don’t quite fall under the umbrella of detectives. Still I love this show and it also added to my interest in crime stories and influenced my writing since I was a teen.

Spy characters in crime stories like James Bond, Twilight / Loid, etc - these guys do some investigation as well, but this is like a whole additional category on its own. Big fan of this genre typically as well, had someone recommend Alex Rider for a YA take on the genre.

I’ll probably continue adding to this post as I think of more fictional detectives to ramble about. 😆

[diagonal-queen]

The Flags in Highschool

♡ characters: Pianoman, Albatross, Doc, Lippmann, Iceman

♡ synopsis: What type of student would each of the Flags be in highschool?

♡ cw: Swearing, Lippmann is nonbinary cry about it, mentions of vapes

note: I have no idea where this came from. I guess my need for Flags content is taking over my brain lmao (I promise I won't only write Stormbringer content from now on I pinky swear) and I know I have tons of stuff still in my inbox from ages ago that you guys requested. I HAVE seen them and I do plan on writing them. At this point in time I'm just sapped dry of any inspiration, so sometimes I just need to get whatever I can. This time around it was flag shit. I apologise for the wait and I love all of you. Apologies for errors and I hope you enjoy x

Pianoman (the prep)

Definitely the leader of whatever student council is at the school he attends (unanimous vote)

He is always on top of his shit. He never gets detention, never turns in any late assignments, never gets into any fights

Has extra supplies for people who've forgotten theirs, from spare pens and pencils to spare tampons for the period-havers

Is the kid that your parents compare you to and say 'why can't you be more like him' (if your parents are anything like mine, anyway)

Helps people study and write notes for exams- he has a collaborative doc that nobody ever needs to edit because the notes are always perfect

Is the one that has to show the new kids around because he makes the student body look really good lmao

Hosts every single event, fundraiser, volunteers a lot

Though he looks like he knows what he's doing he definitely doesn't get enough sleep

So he has a very concerning coffee dependence- probably drugs himself up on caffeine to get through exam weeks (please someone tell him to stop)

He might be generally nice and an academic but he also has blackmail on basically anyone who's ever crossed him so...don't get on his bad side I guess

Albatross (the goofball)

The class clown that everybody loves even though he's a little piece of shit

Definitely bounces from clique to clique, cus he's friends with literally everyone lmao. Even the kids who don't even like him are willing to have him around

Is the reason why Pianoman began bringing spare supplies to school (he fully gets by by just borrowing other people's things)

Never wears his uniform correctly, and is always getting in trouble for it with his teachers, but he never changes anything

He skips classes ALL THE TIME and doesn't bother to hide it. If you have a free period and decide to go to the store for something you'll more than likely find him vaping out the front lol

(Sorry yall he just seems like the type of guy who vapes- I do not endorse the use of e-cigarettes. There now you can't sue me)

Spreads insane rumours about himself because he thinks it's funny, and then acts shocked when people ask him about said rumors

Always has food/snacks in class and teachers are far past trying to stop him from eating while in class

He's so good at P.E. it's kinda scary. He can throw, run, swim, kick...everyone wants him on their team

If there was ever a Matilda-style student uprising...we all know who's leading it lmao

Doc (the weird kid)

Okay when I say weird kid I don't mean 'kid who crosses your name off the list when you're nice to him'

I mean 'kid who sniffs glue and knows too much about WW2'

Doc is absolutely the type to get straight As without putting in even a LICK of effort. He just never studies, and he never helps anyone else study either

A bit of a wallflower, but he's by no means a bad guy. He's just kinda offputting at first

A little bit too enthusiastic about the science classes where he gets to dissect small animal corpses (he's really good at it it's frightening)

Brings his own lunch from home

Always in the nurse's office, he keeps other sick students company (he's exempt from P.E.)

He's like reverse gifted kid burnout- when he was younger he was a late bloomer but now he's one of the smartest kids in the grade

Even though people don't spend time with him they don't wanna get on his bad side because they know he's gonna become some world-renowned doctor after school and they don't wanna deal with that karma. Plus he's a little bit creepy

Nobody knows ANYTHING about his home life

Lippmann (the popular/theatre kid)

You might be thinking that 'popular kid' and 'theatre kid' contradict one another but you'd be surprised. Everyone LOVES this guy

The lead in every single school play regardless of what type of character they are (gender and body type mean nothing to him)

Also lowkey kind of a whore. He's probably dated most of his peers and yet they're all still enamoured with him

Probably has a super high follower count on Instagram (why are highschoolers so obsessed with Insta)

Kinda friends with all the teachers and so people call him a teacher's pet/tryhard (i'm TOOOOTALLY not projecting here)

One of the first kids to come out as queer (nonbinary) so he supports other kids and helps them with their own sexuality/identity

Though he mediates when his classmates fight, he secretly LOVES the drama and lowkey wants to be an enabler (but that would ruin his reputation)

Definitely comes from a rich family and probably helps fund the school- gets a lot of awards for nepotism reasons

Has tons of potential with his academics but never utilises it- he's more comfortable not studying and getting 80% than studying and getting 90%

Gets voted most likely to be famous in the yearbook

Iceman (the scary dog)

He's actually really good at school and gets pretty good grades. How does he do this? You'll never know

Always sits in the back of the class, but he's not bothering anyone back there so teachers don't care. In fact they'd probably rather have him back there because even they're kinda scared of him

Also knows a concerning amount about WW2, but it's less the gory gore stuff and more the war-y war stuff

Surprisingly good at humanities subjects. Never try to get into a political argument with him because he has his sources CITED

Though he's really scary and not many people would willingly approach him, he's actually really nice and gentle

Stands up for kids who get bullied and checks in on them sometimes

Scholarship kid

Likes loitering in the library and reads a lot in his spare time (he has tons of overdue library books to return)

If a bird or a bug or something flies into the classroom he's the one who's always designated to pick it up and gently guide it back outside

Always argues with teachers if they say homophobic/sexist/racist things and gets in trouble for it but doesn't care (a king)

taglist~ ♡ @gettinshiggywithit, @fyodorhatr, @flower-of-darkness, @bejeweledgirl

[bl00dlight]

i saw this ask on another blog and then recently i came across a reddit post abt this exacttt thing. but it did make me wonder, cause I know u got some opinions but, what do u think about Aemond being a blood supremacist? alot of team greens deny it but idk... he literally says it in the show? the blog also disagreed I think to. also love love love ur fic nd I like how u haven't made aemond and visenya like besties. cause I agree with ur other rant to, there is soooo much soft, Mary Sue stuff with aemond and it dosent really fit him as a character at all.

First of all thank you sm for reading the fic. I literally just cracked open my mother fucken laptop one day and was like "IM OVER IT!!!". But yes, I agree, so many fics really like project an idealised version of Aemond. Which is totally fine, no hate no hate but, I just prefer canon accurate characterisation with everything.

But to answer your question, I feel like it's pretty straightforward and I'm also really surprised this a debate? Yes, Aemond is obviously a valryian supremacist. Almost all the Targs are to some degree and the Velaryons. But Aemond quite literally references the importance of keeping their valyrian blood pure and is deeply obessesed with dragons. "It would keep our Valyrian blood pure." Coming from a 13 year old boy is like a clear indicator that, yes homie is pro-targ supremacy. He is also the mirror of Daemon... who is also pro-targ supremacy.

I don't believe that Aemond commented on Helaena in ep7 just to display how "dutiful" he is. We know for a FACT Aemond is not dutiful, he is ambitious/power hungry. That is his whole arc, especially in Fire + Blood. Homeboy is dutiful in the same way Daemon is. It's not about actually caring for what is right or wrong, it's about his own proximity to power. I think alot of people really misinterpret Aemond's lines regarding duty as being a display of dedication. When in reality, it's narcissistic grandiosity lol. Like straight up. His envy of Aegon isn't "ugh I'd be a much better King because I care about protecting the realm, helping the smallfolk, maintaining order, doing what is right." It's "ugh, I'd me a much better King because I'm BETTER." We can see that in ep 9 when he literally gives out a list to Cole, why he would make a superior King to Aegon. Not once does he mention anything outside of what he perceives as his own brilliance. This is a book Aemond quote when he becomes Prince Regent and wears Aegon the Conqueror's crown "It looks better on me than it ever did on him,". So here we have another indicator that this isn't about being a good dutiful brother, this is about him living out his Rogue Prince fantasy.

I feel like people may bring up Alys Rivers as a counterpoint but again, I don't see why? Because remember, Aemond literally slaughtered her entire House because he hated the Strongs. He would make fun of Jace and Luke's appearance in Fire and Blood for like lack of Valyrian features. He left Alys alive so he could take her as a "prize" to use as a 'bedmate' / 'paramour'. This wasn't recorded as a consensual reltionship, and of course Alys went with it because what else is she gonna do? Fight him? He just slaughtered her entire bloodline, just BECAUSE of their blood. She's on thin ice. By today's standards she was put into sexual slavery. (unfortunately fire & blood is an unreliable text and it was written to be contradictory, so literally there is no actual canonical understanding of their relationship) Also a significant amount of fire and blood was written by those from the Greens side, and there are claims she bewitched him etc etc so that he wouldn't kill her. Regardless, the point is, Aemond fucking Alys isn't a marker of his progressive belief that Targaryen's aren't superior? If anything it reinforces it because he has literally chosen a woman who in every single way is completely socially 'inferior' to himself. Again, it's about power and vengeance. Him taking Alys is saying "look at me, I can do whatever the fuck I want. I can burn the Riverlands down, I can slaughter an entire House and then, I can fuck the last very last woman left because I CHOSE TO KEEP HER ALIVE." And he did it again, he abandoned Alys at one point and left her captive to another mother fucker just to get more vengeance on the Blacks after Helaena's last child dies (i can make a post on the suspicious Helaena x Aemond parallels in fire and blood) and then eventually came back to get her again. He don't really give that much of a fuck, in my opinion. She is not an example of him not being a bigot. And we see this in the real world too. Powerful bigots have historically sexually enslaved whom they oppress. *cough cough, literally ww2*. Sex is a power exchange in many ways, and Aemond taking Alys to fuck, after he spent his entire life loathing her family and KILLING THEM, is not some star-crossed lover shit. It's him continuing his reign of abuse on the Strongs. He kept one of them alive, just to fuck. That is an active example of his supremacist beliefs. There is also speculation Alys got pregnant, but it's never confirmed. However, his son would be another Strong bastard. And it wouldn't mean shit to him, because is that not the ultimate "haha im superior" to interject himself into the Strong line? To be the one which controls it's survival?

Also again, we see it time and time again with Targ men. They believe in Targ supremacy, actively want to participate in their 'traditions', while also wanting booty calls. Daemon does the same thing, homie fucks women left and right, yet still loved /married Rhaneyra because she was a Targaryen like him. Viserys iii also, fucked other women, yet canonically wanted to marry Daenerys once he assumed the throne to continue their bloodline.

Because marriage is very different from sex in this universe. Marriage and sex are two completely separate ideas. So it makes sense for Aemond to believe that Targaryen's should maintain their Valyrian blood through marriage because it is a marker of supremacy; while he also wants to exclaim is dominance through having sex with a woman who is 'beneath' him. Aemond is also an actual misogynist in the books too. So again? In what world does he look at Alys as his equal?

Thus, why marriage/love/legitmate children is reserved for Targaryen women, and sex is reserved for prostitutes, bedmates etc. People be forgetting, in this society women are used at the whims of men, LAWFULLY - like it's their right to do so, and women are very much given social status based on how men view them sexually. Madonna/Whore complex.

Which is kinda interesting if we even go further to talk about Helaena and Aemond...

Funnily enough, this exact topic will come up in my fic. Anyway, that's my take on it. That's kinda why the strong niece fics never made sense to me, because it is so contradictory to the motives behind what he does.

[zalrb]

Hey! so what did you think about Claire on the bear? I've seen some people call her a mary sue, a mpdg, a pick me which feels a bit much to me lol. I generally agree w people who say that she wasn't fleshed out and felt out of place bc of how carmy viewed her. My only thing is she never felt like an ER Doctor. Her career was supposed to be equally demanding so it should've affected their relationship in some small way at least but she kinda just seemed available for him at any given moment.

One of them I can see an argument for, the other two no. So before I get into the one I can see an argument for, I really need people to understand that these terms actually mean something. They're not blanket descriptors for female characters who annoy you and while we're at it, just for initiumseries, I'm going to add for the record that there aren't male versions of pick mes and manic pixie dream girls because these stock characters (or in the case of a pick me, viewpoints,) are rooted in misogyny

A Pick Me is specific

A Mary Sue is specific

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling [...] She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end [...]

Like even Nathan Rabin who coined the term MPDG apologized for doing so because it keeps being misused:

I feel deeply weird, if not downright ashamed, at having created a cliché that has been trotted out again and again in an infinite Internet feedback loop. I understand how someone could read the A.V. Club list of Manic Pixie Dream Girls and be offended by the assertion that a character they deeply love and have an enduring affection for, whether it’s Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall or Katharine Hepburn in “Bringing Up Baby,” is nothing more than a representation of a sexist trope or some sad dude’s regressive fantasy.

It doesn't make sense that a character as nuanced and unforgettable as Annie Hall could exist solely to cheer up Alvy Singer. As Kazan has noted, Allen based a lot of Annie Hall on Diane Keaton, who, as far as I know, is a real person and not a ridiculous male fantasy.

From what I can recall, nothing about Claire is "Pick-Meish" or "Mary Sueish", she explains that when they were kids and a girl broke her arm, everyone was freaked out except for her because she wanted to understand the injury, that is not Pick Me-ish.

This is Claire

not this

The fact that she has six months left on her residency doesn't make her a Mary Sue.

Now with regards to being an MPDG, these are the characteristics of one:

That day in 2007, I remember watching "Elizabethtown" and being distracted by the preposterousness of its heroine, Claire. Dunst's psychotically bubbly stewardess seemed to belong in some magical, otherworldly realm -- hence the "pixie" -- offering up her phone number to strangers and drawing whimsical maps to help her man find his way. And as Dunst cavorted across the screen, I thought also of Natalie Portman in "Garden State," a similarly carefree nymphet who is the accessory to Zach Braff's character development. It's an archetype, I realized, that taps into a particular male fantasy: of being saved from depression and ennui by a fantasy woman who sweeps in like a glittery breeze to save you from yourself, then disappears once her work is done.

She isn't quite the "pixie" part of the trope, I don't think she's whimsical enough for that, instead I would say she's the "insufferable female lead in an indie" trope (love this!)

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because she does kind of just appear or sweep in to Carmy's life and has this history with him

and instead of giving Carmy her number, she asks for his, therefore the narrative places the onus of initial pursuit on her

she's been carrying this torch for him since they were kids

and her role is to be someone in his life that makes him feel good, that takes his feelings into consideration,

that gives him peace

that urges him out of his shell

that shows him another way he can be and feel outside of the restaurant

while we basically know nothing about her outside of that role.

What makes this iteration more complex than others is not Claire, it's not that she's a fully fleshed out character and we see more than a glimpse of her life and it's not that we get to know about her personally because we don't really, what we get is this

which just goes back round to Carmy and his complicated relationship with food and cooking anyway

the subversion lies with Carmy and how he needs to heal and still has a lot of unprocessed trauma that doesn't go away because Claire entered his life, the show shits all over the typical outcome of the MPDG coming into the male protagonist's life and making it all better.

I'm not saying that they did that purposefully as in they're trying to say something about MPDG, like I don't think the show purposefully framed her as one or views her as one, I think they just wanted to show how deep-rooted generational trauma is and how it presents itself and how it affects your current relationships and it ended up being subverting an MPDG-esque trope for the male protagonist.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, I haven't slept and it's like 5 AM lmao.

[fluffytriceratops]

roleplay info. <3 [looking for more rp partners]

making a quick and temporary rp post until the other one i'm working on is ready.

bcuz i lost most of my rps due to quotev being a twat, i decided to start rping more on here. so i wanted to make a post so other rpers can reach out to me.

below will be my rules/requirments as well as a list of fandoms. please follow them all if you wish to rp with me. and if you're interested in rping, feel free to comment or message me.

ROLEPLAY RULES:

- descriptive/story/literate rp only. i'm not interested in rping script/text. 

- i only do double up rps. I’m not interested in just rping the canon character or original character for your rp. I don’t enjoy it and I want to actually be apart of it. rather than just play the love interest to your character.

- oc x oc or oc x cannon mainly. for my side. i usually only do oc x cannon esp if we're doing a fandom rp. obviously i would do oc x oc for an og rp. but if you'd rather do oc x oc, cannon x cannon for your side i'm fine with that. 

- it's very rare for me to do friendship based (platonic) rps, as i would like my side to be romantic. but if you want your side to be platonic, i can do that. 

- please try to copy my reply length to the best of your abilities. i need at least a paragraph or two. 

  - you play my love interest, i play yours.

  - i will not accept mary/gary sues. if i believe your oc is a mary/gary sue i will let you know. i do not mean to offend, i just find them annoying and wont enjoy the rp if your oc is like this.

  - with that being said, please don't make the whole rp about your character/oc.

  - no god modding. your oc/character cannot be the best at everything, give them flaws.

  - no adult x child. pedophilia. child porn. etc.

  - no love shapes. (threesomes, etc. i may or may not accept love triangles (just with crushing) depending on the characters and my mood).

- no incest.

  - no vore.

  - no bestiality.

  - no male pregnancies. 

  - no rape.

  - don't just play your oc and that's it. play more than one character. it's more fun this way.

- do not play my ocs.

  - do not spam me. message/spam me after a week of no reply.

  - be realistic. play the cannon characters properly. don't make them do something they wouldn't normally do. don't heal an injury right away. don't make someone pregnant right after having sex. etc.

  - use proper grammar and punctuation to the best of your abilities.

  - do not delete the rp without asking me first.

  - don't just stop replying, if you are done with the rp, let me know first.

  - don't time skip without asking me first.

  - don't make the whole entire rp sexual.

-my side will be bxg/fxm (girl x boy) but if you want your side to be something else (gxg, bxb, etc) than i am more than okay with doing that for you. as long as you're okay with doing bxg for me.

  - smut, cuss, and gore are all okay with me. but we can keep one or all of these out if you'd prefer. (i will not rp smut/nsfw with minors) 

-on that note, i will only rp with those of legal age. 18+.

- do not steal my forms or my characters.

  - do not write in the first person point of view. i will only accept third person pov.

  - if you have any ideas for the rp, let me know! don't be afraid to ask me anything.

  - don't hold your oc back, you know them better than i do. go nuts if that's how your character is.

that is all for now! thanks for reading through my rules, i know there are a lot, lol! :P to let me know that you have read my rules, please comment 'rat' or 'read' below! thank you!

FANDOMS:

[key] ✦✦✦✦ = very interested in. ✦✦✦✧ = still interested, just not as much. ✦✦✧✧ = don't really want to, but might if you convince me. 50/50. ✧✧✧✧ = not interested atm, very low chance i will say yes. updated frequently.

[animes] my hero academia - bnha/mha ✦✦✦✦ attack on titan ✦✦✧✧ ouran high school host club ✦✦✦✦ dragon pilot: hisone and masotan ✦✦✧✧ aico incarnation ✦✦✧✧ haikyuu ✦✦✦✦ demon slayer ✦✦✦✦ kiss him not me ✦✦✧✧ diabolik lovers ✦✦✧✧ kuro mukuro ✧✧✧✧ fairy tail ✦✦✦✧

[cartoon tv series] how to train your dragon - race to the edge ✦✦✦✧ she-ra and the princesses of power ✦✦✧✧ miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir ✦✦✦✧ avatar: the last airbender ✦✦✦✦ the legend of korra ✦✦✦✧ gravity falls ✦✦✦✦ star vs the forces of evil ✦✦✧✧ 3below tales of arcadia ✦✦✦✧ lego ninjago ✦✦✦✦ young justice ✦✦✦✧ voltron: legendary defender ✦✦✧✧ teen titans ✦✦✦✧ transformers prime ✦✦✦✦ transformers robots in disguise ✦✦✧✧ teenage mutant ninja turtles [2003, 2012,] ✦✦✦✦ ultimate spider man ✦✦✧✧ hazbin hotel ✦✦✦✦ helluva boss ✦✦✦✦

[live action tv series] greys anatomy ✦✦✦✧ gossip girl ✦✦✦✧ teen wolf ✧✧✧✧ the mandalorian ✦✦✧✧

the last of us ✦✦✦✧

outer banks ✦✦✦✧

shadowhunters mortal instruments ✦✦✦✧

game of thrones ✦✦✦✧

house of the dragon ✦✦✦✦

[movies] how to train your dragon ✦✦✦✧ spider-man into the spider verse ✦✦✦✦ transformers [bayverse, 1986 cartoon, bumblebee] ✦✦✦✧ teenage mutant ninja turtles [2007, 2014, 2016,] ✦✦✦✦ narnia [all] ✦✦✧✧ the maze runner ✦✦✧✧ the hunger games ✦✦✧✧ hellboy [the first two/older ones] ✦✦✧✧ the avengers [all] ✦✦✧✧ spiderman [all] ✦✦✦✧ xmen [all] ✦✦✧✧ suicide squad ✦✦✧✧ twilight ✦✦✦✧ star wars ✦✦✧✧ the lord of the rings ✦✦✦✦ the hobbit ✦✦✦✦ avatar & the way of water ✦✦✦✦ percy jackson ✦✦✧✧

warcraft ✦✦✦✧

pirates of the caribbean ✦✦✦✧

[video games] the last of us ✦✦✦✧ skyrim ✦✦✧✧ identity v ✦✦✧✧ mystic messenger ✦✦✧✧ genshin impact ✦✦✦✧ five nights at freddys (all) ✦✦✦✦

hogwarts legacy ✦✦✦✦ 

[books] a court of thorns and roses series ✦✦✧✧ [+ more]

if you wish to do a og rp with me, just let me know and we can go over the details. tho i will admit that i am mostly interested in fandom rps and it really depends on the storyline of the og and if i am in the mood for it.

PLATFORMS:

i am mostly interested in rping on here (tumblr) but there are a few other sites/apps/platforms that i am willing to rp on if you really don't want to rp on tumblr.

-wattpad

-instagram

-discord

-quotev (if it ever stops being a rat, as of now i cannot rp on that site)

-google docs (have never done this before but am open to trying it)

-i'm pretty open to trying new places, so if there's a site/platform not on here that you like, feel free to let me know about it and i may be willing to give it a go!

-and ofc tumblr

EXTRA IMPORTANT INFO:

when i say rping on tumblr i mean in messages. i will not rp on the feed or in the comments.

if you do not want to include certain nsfw topics, that is more than okay, smut is not a need for me. neither is gore, violence, etc. just let me know beforehand.

please tell me your triggers and rules before we start. if you have any.

also please tell me your pronouns before we start, if you're comfy with sharing. ^^

that is all for now. i may add to this later but i really don't know what else to write lol. 

if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know. 

[hinacu-arts]

List of things im considering writing...

A funny Dead On Main wedding oneshot

Dani and Conner being some type of soulmatch (non-romantic) bc the parallels, which leads to Danny adopting Conner. Might have a TimKon side plot with big sister Dani hyping Conner up

Vlad sues Lex for plagiarism(?) breaking copyright(?) bc Lex used a lot of Vlad's cloning research when making Conner. Danny invites himself into JL property because the ectoplasm used was coded to the equivalent of Danny's ghost DNA (science stuff idk man) and he's so excited to meet Conner. Que Danny and Conner developing a relationship that foils Clark and Conner's. Eventually Danny (age 18 lol) sues both Lex and Superman for child custody of Conner. And wins.

A silly fic where Danny is stitching various members of the JL's tik toks and adding his own commentary

Ive been binging dpxdc fanfic for a couple weeks now and i love it. The only things holding me back is BBC should be my writing focus rn and i have consumed so little canon material. My batman experience comes from LEGO Batman, Justice League movie, and Batman vs the TMNT (also faint memories from The Killing Joke) and with DP its just faint memories of reruns. Idek how it ended.

So far ppl have said my posts are pretty in character and i cant become a better writer if i dont write so maybe i'll give one a shot

[muniimyg]

KIMI'S FAQs

INTRO

hi ♡ i'm kimi

gemini & a filipina (yikes) ...

i'm in preschool teaching and specializing in children's special needs ! my favourite colour is pink but lilac is a close second . i love matcha . i have 11 piercings but no tattoos . summer is my favourite season but fall feels more romantic . i love picnics . i have a cat named loki . yoongi is my bias but i write more jungkook fics . sue me !

Q&A

what app do you use for your social media fics?

for my smau fics, i use the app social dummy. i've been using the app for almost 3 years now and it comes with formats for twt, insta, lock screen, facetime, imsg, youtube, news, etc. i've made a few one-time payments for the app to unlock specific features like unlimited msging and profiles.

for more recent social media features like insta dm's "replied to your story" formats, i use my own insta accounts and photoshop them into my msg edits. for the most part, i am using picsart, pinterst, or make-shifting the edits on my own.

with all that being said, i have been told that social dummy is no longer available on the app store. there are a few alternatives i've been looking into but ultimately have not been satisfied with the way the edits turn out. i will update this faq if and when i find something new and available for all.

what's your update schedule?

currently, i’m living the kdrama life of the poor full-time student girl with with 2 jobs. as much as i want to commit to updating on a regular schedule,, i can not. my work is usually a tba kind of vibe lol. for the most part, i update when i can and when i want.

what is your content style? what is the kimiverse?

a lot of my fics follow simple storylines imo. i think i end up writing a lot of college/uni au's because that's where my current state in life is so it's a lot easier to relate and gain fic inspo.

kimiverse sums up my fics & characters . it’s more known for the connection between fics like your universe & nonsense ,, casual & sour candy kisses ,, and paraluman & chaebol!jk

my fics are heavily influenced by ariana grande songs and tiktok edits lol

why do you content dump?

haha.

i go through impulsive moments of jus wanting to update. it usually happens when i'm avoiding school work.

how do i get added to your permanent taglist? fic taglist?

to be added to my permanent taglist, send in an ASK. the cut off of my 2024 permanent taglist will be may 1, 2024. i will reset sometime next year!

to be added to my fic taglist, send in an ASK with the fic name.

i will not be adding anyone who comments on the posts / series m.list. i feel more organized when the taglist inquires are all in my inbox and i can answer with a tag like #fic taglist: aao jk.

the alternative is to turn on my notifications!

what are your favourite fics?

my all time favourite fics are linked here.

@munirecs is my fic rec page where i reblog my current reads or my reading list.

why is your anon off?

anon is off so i can keep my blog as lighthearted as possible. i had it on for a while now but after a few asks that made me feel meh, i figured this is the best way to set my boundaries. let’s keep the asks kind!

if you want to send in but don’t feel comfortable with me posting my reply, you can send me a msg.

which order am i supposed to read the series if there are extras with the chapter numbers?

read the series parts first. the extras can be read after. i usually put a note in the beginning of the extras to state the time placement for the fic.

why are there so many typos?

it is what it is!

as much as i’d love to edit my work into perfection, i can’t. after i post a texting au, i’d recommend waiting 15 mins because i’m usually doing last minute edits. after i post a written, i’d recommend waiting 1 day because i’m usually re-read it again and again and again and making tweaks. no matter how much i reread or re-edit, i’m always going to be finding little things to change. so, for my own peace of mind.. i give myself the 15 mins or the 1 day before letting it be what it is.

can i critique your work?

no thank you.

i write because i like to write. i write and post content that serves my creative drive and growth as a content creator. i love positive feedback and getting to hear your opinions on characters, but i’d simply like to have my work remain as it is. i worked hard and spent time writing / making the content so jus enjoy it!

i’ll fix my grammar, my wordy sentance, and mis-punctuation when i get paid for writing fanfics… which will be ???

this is art! … and it’s literally fiction.

my main thing has and will always be to write something that makes people feel. if i’ve done that and you’d like to express it kindly, i await your words!

NOTE

— minors are denied from all of my content !

— i do not allow reposts, revisions, or translations of my work on any other platform or any other account ! if my work is being posted elsewhere, please let me know ><

— requests are closed ! 

— consider sending an ask / interaction for more updates and consistent activity ! 

© 2024 muniimyg on tumblr

[strawberrytalia]

here are some dc characters i imagine being south asian, except the list gets worse and worse

1. Raven ofc, she’s based on Miss India 1965, she basically should be canonically Indian atp. I like to think that she’s South Indian, and that her mother Arella’s side of the family is Christian since that’s a pretty common thing irl for South Indians.

2. Sue Dibny, mainly because I think her name Sue could easily be a nickname for Suhani and I think that’s adorable lmao. Also she’s a character I very much love, despite her cruel and unfortunate history. She IS one of the best detectives and I stand by that.

3. Zatanna. This one I’m not 100% serious about at all tbh, but in some panels she looks so very Desi that I’m just like??? Woah. Also can’t explain it but her personality/vibe also really matches. And it would be cool to have an Italian-Bengali or Italian-Pakistani girly.

4. Jason Todd. Controversial, I know, but his look in the Death in the Family movie was soooo…like you can’t tell me that’s not a Nepali man. Also it would make sense considering that he thought Shiva was his mom…there’d have to be a slight indicator of similarity somewhere. Also I deserve to see myself in a brown character who grew up poor in the streets and is unhinged.

Honorable mention:

I used to imagine Lois Lane as South Asian, but since her recent Korean depiction in the new superman show, I kinda dropped that idea lol. And I’ll never forget when I told one of my old mutuals about my Lois headcanon, and they were like “No, I think she’s Latina. I don’t agree with you at all” 🥲❤️‍🩹 anyways maybe she can be Korean-Bengali…

[namor-shuri]

Our poll results are in! 🗳✨

*cracks knuckles* Let’s dive in and talk about it (: [Grab a snack and something to drink because this is about to be long. Yes, a bitch made graphs lmao Sue me] Alrighty, let’s do this:

: : : : : : : : : : :::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : : : : : : : :

I can't remember where bpwf was first released and the order of its premiere in each country but it's interesting to see that the majority of fandom [who participated at least] are from North America. Also Asia being the third highest group was fascinating because at least when it comes to Twitter, I’ve noticed a lot of the Namor/Shuri fan art has come from Thai and Korean artists. They are seriously carrying this fandom and I'm here for all of it.

ALSO: Random, but where are my Antarctica Nashuri fans?? 😭 I’m also curious to know how Africa has received the Black Panther franchise all together over the years. Do they resonate with it? Do they find it offensive/ overly dramatized? I’m curious. If you are a fan who lives in Africa, can you comment on your experience with this? I'd be happy to know.

To be honest, I’ve always assumed that the Marvel fandom [along with superhero spaces as a whole like DC and what not] were male dominated but this poll gave me some hope. I am curious what parts of fandom men frequent more vs women. For example, do Comic Cons ring in more women, more men, half and half? With fan art, do majority of artists identify as women, men, other? It’s interesting to think about. I also love seeing women/fem identifying individuals show up in these spaces because countless times we are made to feel like an inposter and harassed for our interests in comics, games, movies, shows, music, the list goes on. Questioned down with trivia, fact checking and all sorts of BS ultimately trying to prove that “you aren't a real fan". Don't ever let anyone make you feel like you have to prove your knowledge of anything to be interested in something you like. ESPECIALLY if it is coming from a man child guy.

ALSO: Hi all trans, non-conforming and alternative gender expressing baddies! Know you are welcome here and pls enjoy your stay at my humble blog abode. 👋🏾💜

It’s amazing to see how diverse this fandom is! I didn’t expect that we would have such high numbers of black/brown fans/shippers. As a black mcu fan myself, it’s exciting to see us show up in fandom. Fandom has unfortunately been heavily white/Eurocentric for a very long time, which has slowly changed but we still have a long ways to go in it’s inclusivity. With the increase of bipoc characters and the actors who play them, I look forward to this continual progression.

ALSO: It’s been heartwarming to witness Mexican, Indigenous, Lantix fans feel seen with bpwf and Tenoch, Mabel and Alex's performances! I remember how enamored the black community was with Chadwick and the first BP. We were hyped to have this treasure of a movie, which I assume is similar to how the Asian community felt with Shang-Chi and so on. It's been said countless times before but representation truly makes the world of a difference and the power of the bipoc dollar should never be taken lightly. We cause real change when we support something.

There will always be a spectrum of ages in any fandom but I figured the majority of people were probably within this age range. It may be due to the timeline of when the mcu was born and how it has progressed alongside millennials? This also explains why I keep seeing fans make posts about their age gaps with Tenoch and wanting to be his questionably young gf 😩 [get in line]

ALSO: Shoutout to the 55+ folks in the fandom! I have a sneaking suspicion yall are some of the coolest people 🤘🏾

Okay *inhales exhales* I know I'm going to get flak for this but let's hop into it lol I saw the scale sway back and forth for a minute but it mostly stayed between White Wolf [Bucky Barnes] and Iron Heart [Riri Williams]. I myself personally love both answers! My annoyance is not with shuriri, but with its fandom. They have been some of the biggest instigators/bullies since bpwf has dropped. I've seen all kinds of mental gymnastics from saying the nashuri fandom would rather see shuri with a killer than support gay love [like what??] to Letitia is clearly lesbian because of her attire [pls be fr] and everything in between. It’s so unwarranted and I never see Nashuri fans doing the same thing back. Enjoy what you like, and leave the rest behind. It's such an easy 1+1=2 concept and yet, it goes over people's head still. It’s honestly disappointing when a fandom turns you off to a ship/character, especially when the ship is lowkey dope. Something that reminds me of this was the stucky fandom when the Captain America movies came out. Y’all.......when I tell you this fandom had me STRESSED 🥴. I saw racism/ deliberate exclusion of Sam, hate towards Sharon Carter just because she was a woman, you name it. They annoyed me so bad that I began to dislike Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers as characters [trust me, it made no sense lol] I couldn’t stand seeing either one of their names pop up. It took some of the Avenger movies [and honestly the sambucky fandom + Sebastian Stan/ Anthony Mackie's friendship] coming out years later for me to even be remotely cool with the idea of Bucky Barnes again. Anyways *drinks water* I'm getting stressed all over again just thinking about it lmao Long story short, don’t be an asshole. Enjoy YOUR flavor of ice cream and try not to shit on others and their differing flavor of choice in the process. Trust me, it's easier than you think.

ALSO: If you are a shuriri fan that hasn't been hateful/ problematic, this isn't about you boo [yall are good in my books! 😘]

Crying that the #1 answer was “Bitch me!” because honestly mood. Jokes aside, I can’t really imagine Namor with another partner. It's probably largely due to the fact that Shuri was the main character we see him interact + bring his guard down with [outside of Namora?] This is also coming from someone who has not read the Namor comics and am very new to him as a character. If you have any knowledge you want to share in the comments, pls do ✨

ALSO: I threw in the Sue Storm comment to be annoying *teehee* but it was interesting to see how many people actually agreed with this statement. Maybe I'm just a horse with blinders about this fandom but I’m not really pressed? I’ve seen people argue that Ryan's current iteration of the Namor character wouldn't be in this type of relationship [along with people saying Tenoch wouldn’t go for it either] but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what unfolds *tries not to stress while we wait for future iterations of Namor and the fate of his character's arc/ Talokan*

The question on everyone’s mind! Although the delusional side of me was bummed that yall weren't more chaotic and went full "yes!", my logical side agrees with the final poll 🥲. Again, I'm not pressed about mcu and what they put out, whether it favors this ship or not. At the end of the day, I’m still going to vibe like I’ve been doing. If nothing else, I just hope we get to see these two characters and their rich dynamic again because Marvel can't ignore how the world reacted to Shuri and Namor. And hey, sometimes Marvel listens! Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie were on a mission after fans brought up a potential team up and after that, those two found every excuse to bring up a potential movie in interviews for YEARS until finally *boom* 🇺🇸🦅 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Show 🦅🇺🇸 was born. Miracles do happen everyday rofl [I know these two examples have nothing to do with one another but let me have this lol]

ALSO: I only trust these characters in Ryan's hands so I'm hoping he's the first in line to direct whatever this future dynamic ends up being.

It was cool seeing what other protagonists this fandom is drawn to outside of Shuri/Black Panther. I’m curious to know what other ships y’all also enjoy [feel free to drop them in the comments if you care to share]. I feel like a lot of the top picks in this poll I also resonated with, like Iron man for example. I don’t know what it is but there is just something about a genius character with a mix of charisma/ big softy + sarcastic energy that will do it for me every 👏🏾single👏🏾 time 👏🏾

ALSO: Not everyone sleeping on Thor and Hulk?! 😭 I feel bad that I left out Ant-man [especially with Quantumania just coming out] but you can only do 10 options on Tumblr polls and it was between him and Captain Marvel so….a choice was made…..

This one cracks me up [and yes I had too much fun making these summaries which I find highly accurate] Also, I have no beef with any of these characters btw 😅 I truly believe that a hero is only as interesting as their counterpart. If your villain isn't captivating, it takes away from the hero + their storytelling potential and vice versa. The poll was split between Killmonger and Namor at one point [which if these two ever met/ were on screen together like ??? They have free reign to completely destroy my life. I welcome all calamity that ensues.] I'm not going to survive Namor and Kang in the same film this coming Avengers: Kang Dynasty movie.

ALSO: I didn't choose him but Thanos has been one of the most impactful/ compelling villains we’ve seen in the mcu thus far. I mean, he’s literally responsible for like 3 major films in the mcu + Josh Brolin is just amazing at what he does in general. This is brave to say but it was lowkey bittersweet to see his character's arc come to an end [obviously it was a huge relief but yeah]. Don't come for me.

This one was just for fun since I recently made that tenitia rant post but it was cool seeing some of you come back with your own film ideas of what Letitia and Tenoch could act in together. I'm so down bad for them that I'm game for absolutely anything. Romcom? Let's do it. A Podcast of them reviewing their favorite foods from their cultures? I'll eat with yall. Music video? Where's the link? I don't care what it is. Someone brought this up but I really wish we got more game interviews with them like them reading thirst tweets, answering the web's most searched questions, a joint hot ones interview, something! They would have killed those! Bring them back!🗣️ Bring them back! 🗣️ Bring them back! 🗣️

ALSO: Letitia has already voiced a character [Nooshy in "Sing 2"] so now I need Tenoch to do the same. I would love to hear his voice in something. It would realistically be in Spanish since I know the majority of his projects have been thus far but idgaf, I’m still showing up *turns on closed captions* [shout out to everyone who also started to learn spanish after this beautiful man came into our lives]

And last but not least, your blog feedback <3 Thanks again for giving your input on this. My blog is slowly starting to grow and I'm having a lot of new people interact with my page so I wanted to do a quick temperature check of what people are feeling. At the end of the day, I'm aways going to stick to what feels authentic to me and what I want to post because if you're not liking what you're doing, what are you doing it all for? But I will definitely keep this feedback in mind. For the people who are new or just coming across my blog, here are some examples of what I'm referencing in this poll: fan edits [1, 2, 3] rants [1, 2, 3] song recs [1, 2, 3] Tenitia [1, 2, 3].

ALSO: I thought I was doing the most with the amount of Tenoch posts I was blogging already but maybe not. Don’t worry, I'll find more ways to post our baby girl (:

: : : : : : : : : : :::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : : : : : : : :

WOW, YOU'RE STILL HERE!? Nice 🥰 Seriously, thanks again to everyone who participated in this completely unserious poll. I've never done one of these before but now that I know what to do and not do, I may make another one in the future. We'll see. Continue to stay tuned for future Namor/Shuri + Tenoch/Letitia shenanigans 💫

[snow-and-saltea]

People I'd like to know better

Tagged by @paleasamoon (hi tex i love you tex sorry this took a year) (HEH. get it. cus you tagged me last year. heh.)

Last song: just putting on yt music as im reading manga and talking to muwi, and now its playing burn for you, from the bridgerton musical! (i don't know watch or follow it) (it's just a nice song) but i'd also like to recommend this song

Favourite colour: YELLOW!!!! 💛💛💛💛💛💛

Currently watching: my computer screen writing this up

Last movie / TV show: skip to loafer! i was screaming with muwi the entire time bc the story was so sweet and healing and everyone is so sympathetic and cute and we kept being like AAAAAAAAAA I LOVE WOMEN FRIENDSHIPS SO MUCHHHHHH

Spicy/savoury/sweet: sweet! if i could choose a combo, i like savoury-sweet. i like spice but only if i like the flavour! i'm not keen on the actual pain sensation of spice!!

Last thing I googled: hummmm i don't remember... i think a marinade recipe i made yesterday night? i made a korean base marinade for some lamb chops!! i cooked them today and invited my sister to eat with us, it was rlly yummy!

Relationship status: single! waves my aroace flag!!! i'm curious about how it feels to be in a relationship but it's not smth i try to actualize LOL i'm content w reading my shoujosei man-ga/hwa/huas <33

Current obsession: idk if i could call them obsessions yet but right now i'm really invested in sousou no frieren (anime only, havent caught up to the manga), skip to loafer (same there), and i'm looking for more wholesome healing stories. although now that i'm going through my reading lists for stories i've dropped, i'm laughing at them fjaksfjkasfj

(i promise this one has proper context bc i usually like pacifist mcs just bc i like politics and connection seeking to be based on a foundation of empathy and kindness. but this one was just so stupid and just a way to establish how good the mc was to the point that i couldn't get immersed in the story bc it was that nonsensical and i wanted to die)

i'm typically fine w mary sues / jane(?) FLs and i even tend to be biased for them just bc there's a lot of misogyny about the subject matter, so i normally don't bat an eye unless it's a writing choice i find unsuitable / doesn't fulfill the potential it could've achieved with an interesting plot.

(btw the context is that the first screenie which this rant also applies to was when some guy caught the baddies and the FL is like "No let's reward them for trying to kill us. they're just misunderstood!! i bet if we try really hard we can all get along!!")

but! i only really like it when it actually does something useful, like thematically or symbolically. like tohru's innate goodness for furuba inline with the sohma's family curse and mitsumi's unending positivity and earnestness that helps the people around her heal from emotional wounds. not that they're mary sues in any way, but since people understand mary sues as "female protagonists who can do no wrong and will be liked no matter what" (even thought their psychology and personality is just genuinely likeable), i think it makes my point clear. there's a way to write a character who is Good and Kind without cheapening them to a naivete that at best, makes the mc pitiable, or worst, is treated like the mc's totally unique worldview of "lets be nice to people and never hurt anyone ever :)" is the end all be all of the story and the solution to the plot. kindness and empathy is a coiled spring that projects you forward, a motivator. it's how you guide your hand and where it goes, not that the hand is never raised. i don't agree that cowardice towards change and the potential promise of conflict is any kind of wisdom >:T plus it kinda puts the shame to the idea of kindness as a legitimate basis for political strategy, and that leads to some set up for a lot of zero sum games i don't care for in this specific story. there is a good story where each character is trying to one up each other politically, psychologically, at all times, but this is not that story and so the tone feels very off kilter.

but yeah!! sometimes a character is just OP and the story is not even having fun with it (aka its not satire or irony), which makes me think they want to take it seriously. and my serious thoughts was that it sucked.

(i just realised this also applies to the first screenie LMFAO it just loops back huh!!)

not gonna comment about the others bc i think they speak for themselves <33 but also the first one of these three is fucked up in the sense that i dont even get where they're going w the story. its a revenge story and the FL uses the ML from childhood to achieve her revenge, but then suddenly when he's an adult she has Feelings for Him and now im like.... okay....? belief no longer suspended. beliefs are like those garter straps that snapped. my socks are like my beliefs. fallen to my feet. they are no longer suspended.

sorry that got off track </33 i enjoy looking into why i dont like things, im in this stage of life where i realise i actually have specific ass tastes!! i always have, but i just realised it very recently a few years back fjskfjskjf

People I'd like to know better (i also wanna include some mutuals who i haven't talked to but i like to see on my dash):

@snickerdoodlles

@fflewddurfflam7

@00uroboros

@perpetualstateofcrying

@pirate-with-internet-connection

💛🐢😤💪

[burning-thistles-bt]

Alder's Ship Tier List

AT LAST. I HAVE FINISHED IT.

See undercut for names in categories/little blurbs i put in some. Not all have my thoughts at the moment because BRAINDEAD but yeah.

at last!

I would DIE for them:

DarkCherry

Ship Ship &lt;;3:

FireSand

CopperDawn

DawnReed

CinderLizard

NightScraps

SwiftAdder

LongCreek

RavenBarley

SpottedFrost

SilverLightning

CricketGremlin

GrayGremlin

GrayMille

StormRobin

SwiftSwamp

SwiftSwampLynx

SwiftTulip

TallBubbles

TallWet

TallWetBubbles

TallJake

WhiteWillow

ShortStorm

Lowkey ship/Side ship:

BrightCloud

RunningFire

BlueThrushOak

DeadCloud

What Lolling said about them being boyfriends as apprentices and then being awkward deputies has brought them up here lmao

YellowBlue

This is definetely heavily influenced by the OG canon, but sue me! I love old moms with their adoptive son <3

FernCliff

Cute:

BadgerBlossom

RedSoot

BrightCloudSwift

I also see this as a BroTP

SnowCliff

MorningAir

Also BroTP because they are Queer-Platonic <3

ElderMistle

BadgerBlossomRavenBarley

FeatherRaven

RunningRed

BrindleWhiteWillow

BrackenSorrel

LynxSwamp

FeatherShips

FeatherRavenBarley

FeatherBrackenRavenBarley

FeatherBrackenSorrel

PrimroseWood

CinderAsh

ShadeVixen

SwiftTulipSwamp

MudSorrel

FernDust

One-Half

SnowTawny

SoftOwl

TawnyMistle

RowanTawny

BroTP

DarkFire

It's also Complicated TM

ElderReed

CopperCinder

OatSmoke

CopperDawnCinderAsh

PerchLizard

SnowTulip

SnowBramble

SpottedWhite

LongFire

Don't ship in BT context, but I can see it in canon :3

Friends :D

look at me over here friendzoning so many ships lmao XD

DarkRunningFire

It's still Complicated TM

BrambleMistle

ElderCliff

FireCherry

Cherry did have a brief unrequited crush on Fire as a kit

Got over it fast though lol

OakReed

Reedwhisker just likes collecting half-clan friends lmao

MistyFire

FangTawny

Cute, but I mainly see them as friends - although I could get on board the ship :D

RedBrindle

BrindleWhite

CherrySand

CloudElder

CloudFern

CopperAsh

BadgerRaven

FeatherBarley

SwiftAsh

NightPrimrose

RunningBarley

TurtleTawny

OneAir

TallDawn

TallSand

Frenemies

DarkRunning

CloudSwift

MouseLightning

SandCreek

By Frenemies I mean they butt heads at times hehe

It's Complicated

CreekOliver

BrambleSquirrel

BlueOak

TawnyGorse

No spoilers but...it's complicated 👀

FeatherGray

CricketLynx

RedTiger

FT Apprentice Group

CreekOliverLong

PPKK Apprentice Group

GraySilver

SmallSpeckle

Justice for Speckletail 2k23

NightSwamp

WillowAsh

ShortOscar

FuzzyRobin

FuzzyRobinPatch

RaggedYellow

RippleGray

TigerSasha

GoldenTiger

Toxic but Intriguing

BrindleBeach

BrownApple

CindersLightning

CindersWhispersLightning

BlackMisty

Lolling hit it on the nail

All about the divorce couple vibes here

OneWhite

OneSmoke

FuryLightning

SnowThistle

In Lolling's video, she says that she sees their relationship as not "Snow making Thistle a better guy" but "Thistle making Snow a worse person" and I'm in that same boat :)

Also Burn in Hell because Thistle deserves nobody <3

Also also yes I agree Lolling Snow bitch-slapped Thistle at his nine lives ceremony it's canon we don't make the rules (yes we do-)

DarkTiger

BlackTiger

FrostLion

The flavor Lolling has been throwing at us specifically :)))

LightningShips

GrassLightning

OakThistle

Oakheart is ThunderClansexual and we don't make the rules lmao

though it's also Burn in Hell because again, Thistle deserves nobody :)

TigerLeopard

Unrequited Beloved

OneFire

CherryCreek

FeatherBracken

RobinLizard

SedgeLightning

RedFrost

BlueThrush

WhiteTiger

Tiger got brother-zoned so hard it's funny XD

WhiteSilver

LizardPrimrose

RedWhite

SilverAir

DustLynx

Crack

BrachioMisty

LeopardLightning

WhiteAir

SilverCinders

SilverCindersLightning

SilverLightningGray

BellCreek

TigerScourge

ThrushOak

GrayWhite

ShortStormOscar

No Opinion

CindersWhispers

CopperRunning

BlueSpotted

BrightSwift

GrassAir

FernWolf

Fernshade beloved <3 but we barely see her and Wolf's relationship, even though we can conclude they are probably very cute together <3

AshThorn

FeatherRobin

FernThorn

RedBrindleWhite

FeatherRavenGray

FeatherGraySilver

PikeRobin

PerchRobin

SpottedBrindle

SpottedScourge

SpottedTiger

SpottedDead

CloudSpotted

BrokenBlack

OneBrush

I haven't read Onestar's super edition so I have zero clue who Brushpaw is lmao

WhiteLeopard

TornScorch

ThornCliff

SmallFuzzy

RunningStone

MoonPatch

WillowAshWhite

LittleOak

CedarNight

FuryMinty

FuzzyPatch

DeadAsh

DeadAshAir

RobinSpeckle

MallowVole

GoldenPatch

Burn in Hell

like Lolling, I like these ships as they're supposed to be - toxic - but also i want them to burn in hell <3

you can guess who they all entail probably lol

BlueThistle

GrassThistle

PerchThistle

FinchDawn

FinchBubbles

FrostThistle

SpottedThistle

ThistleVixen

ThistleShade

ThistleShips

WhispersLightning

QuinceThistle

MapleThistle

WillowTawny

RippleFinch

RippleLightning

WillieMinty

Minty deserved better tbh <-says one of the two people who screwed up her life