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#like there's been so much shipping drama but when you can look at the patterns in storytelling and anticipate what will happen
audreyscribes · 5 months
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Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS:
💖 APHRODITE: Goddess of Love and Beauty 🕊
author's note: I had a sudden idea about writing some headcanons Camp Halfblood demigods being claimed and what it's like for each respective god and cabin, followed by a small blurb afterwards. Thank you for reading and please like and reblog! The order is not in order of the cabin numbers. [PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS MASTERLIST]
When you arrive at camp, you’re already got eyes following you. There’s something about you that draws people’s eyes to you. It could be your face, your hair, your eyes, your hands when they move, how you walk, how you move. So when you get claimed by Aphrodite, your fanfare is totally expected by others and unexpected when you get a magical makeover by your godly mother’s blessing. You’re dressed to the nines, your look done up perfectly like you're a movie star walking on the red carpet. People stare at you with awe and you can feel it.
The moment you are shown the Cabin, all you can think of is “Oh god it’s a god dang barbie mansion”; this may either fulfill your deepest childhood dream or your worst nightmare.
There’s gossip everywhere in the cabin. You’re hearing about people’s love lives, social interactions, and everything about the people in camp. Even if you’re not as romantically inclined yourself, you’re practically spoiled for choice for hearing about drama. There may be no TV or shows for you to watch, but this is the next best thing. It’s like the Kardashians, House Wives, and Golden Girls all the same.  
Shipping. So much shipping. Shipping between campers in your cabin and outside the cabin. Shipping between movie stars to literal characters. Heck, even self-shipping is encouraged! It’s a shipper's galore. 
The Aphrodite cabin likes to have fashion runs. A lot of the Aphrodite demigods become models and do a catwalk. But if you’re not that interested in being a model, there are still ways to participate. 
If you like to design and make your own clothes, the Aphrodite cabin has your back. You have access to all types of fabrics, patterns, and materials you could need. You have no shortage of models for you to work with. If you’re interested in doing make-up, cosmetic or movie makeup,  you have plenty of people to practise on. Even if children of Aphrodite have the ability to have permanent makeup and whatnot, it doesn’t mean you still can’t use your skills to be on fleek. 
You know the meme where you see a woman putting eyeliner with the sword to make sure it's sharp? You see that way too often.
You're swiftly proven that functionality being sacrificed for fashion is a myth. It can be done and it has been done, but it's just some outweigh functionality with AESTHETICS
Stans. Stans everywhere. People don’t usually see the Aphrodite kids fight and break character unless it comes to their stan. If you haven’t seen them fight before, you do now. You’re still reeling from the BTS stans.
K-dramas. K-pop. Enough said. 
You look at yourself as best as you could, it was both familiar yet foreign.  It was like looking at the mirror, seeing yourself and all the positives of your body. Even if you had a negative view of yourself, it was gone and changed.  
A girl stepped up, her black hair swaying, and you looked at her in awe as she smiled at you. “Hi! My name is Silena Beauregard, welcome to Cabin 10!” 
“Oh hi” you said lamely, but before you could say anything further, you saw a large amount of pink in your vision. “Oh my god” you couldn’t help uttering as soon as your eyes laid on the Aphrodite cabin. It was pink in glory, and all you can think was that it was a true to god barbie house. 
“Ah yeah,” said Selina, “Welcome to the Barbie house.”
“Wait it’s really called that?” 
“Well, we really shouldn’t be calling it a Barbie house, but ... .I do admit it is pretty much a barbie house” Selina whispered in the last part. 
You couldn’t help snicker and Selina gave you a knowing smile and wink, before she led you to the door.
“You ready?” she asked. 
“Ready as I’ll ever be” you replied after taking a deep breath. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here for every step of the way” she reassured and you smiled back. As soon the door opened, there was a waft of perfume. It wasn’t particularly strong or particularly bad, in fact it made you happy, but you could smell it anyways. There was a twinge of emotion that stirred up in you; it reminded you of smelling a perfume that reminded you of home and love…for some reason, you had a flash of a woman holding you to her chest and you burying your nose into her, your eyes closing with warmth.
“Hey everyone, let me introduce you to our new half-sibling!” introduced Selina, gently putting a hand on your shoulder. You raised your hand and waved, introducing yourself. That was all it took before the flood work came. Immediately, all the inhabitants in the cabin begun to interview you from where you were from, your favourite colour, your favourite colour, band, and etc-
Your head was absolutely swimming but as you all talked to each other, sharing your likes and dislikes, you had a feeling you were going to be alright.
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d-andilion · 1 year
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sing me a tragedy
(geraskier, E, canon compliant, blood origin spoilers, getting together, angst with a happy ending, vague and handwavy smut, it barely counts tbh, 2.6k)
read on ao3
Hidden in the underground, far from the beaten path, Geralt watches his bard whip a crowd of humanity’s most despised into a beer-fueled frenzy. Not to earn their supper or their lodgings this time; the elf who owns this worn but well-loved waystation refused to accept coin for either after what the Sandpiper did for her grandson, seeing the boy on a ship to her arms. Right now, Jaskier plays because their fellow patrons chanted his name until he obliged. 
Geralt has to admit that Jaskier has more than proven himself as a travel companion these past few weeks. Since leaving the safety of Kaer Morhen, Ciri in Yennefer’s care for the season, finding places to keep their heads low has been a challenge. A challenge, at least, among humans. The Sandpiper, however, has won great favor with elves, dwarves, halflings, and just about every other intelligent species on the Continent. In their carefully concealed taverns and speakeasies, Jaskier is received like royalty.
“Sing loud and proud
The Song of the Seven
Be you halfling or gnome,
Or Dwarven or Elven”
This song is a new one. In fairness, most of Jaskier’s tunes are new to Geralt these days. Jaskier hasn’t abandoned his older repertoire, but he avoids large swathes of it to ward off any unwelcome attention. This one, though, feels different than the other additions to Jaskier’s catalog since their parting. More heroics than heartbreak, and a fiery call to action that sets it apart from his typical drama and sensation.
So much about Jaskier is different than Geralt remembers, his songs being the least of it. A few years is nothing in the grand scheme of their history, even less compared to all the years Geralt has lived, but it feels as though decades have slipped between his fingers. So many things have changed, things that Geralt didn’t realize he’d come to see as fixtures in his world until they disappeared, some of them forever. 
There’s the lute, for one thing. Jaskier has been cagey about how exactly a brand new elven lute came to be in his possession after the first one was destroyed against the side of his head, but it plays as beautifully for him as Filavandrel’s ever did. It’s nearly identical in style, too, with dark wood and golden patterns etched into it. Anyone who didn’t spend half a lifetime watching Jaskier’s long fingers dance along the strings would never be able to tell that this lute’s pattern of markings is different from its predecessor’s.
There’s the outfit, too. The waistcoat is similar enough to patterns and styles that Jaskier has worn before, but the hat and jacket make him look like a third-rate imitation of a storybook pirate. It’s nothing at all like the bright-colored matching ensembles he used to wear, though it’s nearly as impractical if not more so. Geralt honestly can’t tell if he hates it because it’s ridiculous or because it doesn’t fit into the gallery of bold greens and soft blues and glaring reds that roll through his mind when he thinks of his bard.
And there’s the bard himself, of course. Not really Geralt’s anymore if he ever was. He’s still loud and dramatic and filled to the brim with useless romantic notions about what the world is or ought to be. But there’s something lurking underneath it all now, something harder and fiercer behind his eyes than anything Geralt has seen in him before. The harshness of a man who’s seen the senseless death and darkness of war. The bitterness of one who’s been left behind and expects to be again.
There’s none of that in him when he performs, though. Or else he hides it far more efficiently. Even to Geralt’s honed eye, Jaskier exudes only joy when he sings.
“No oppressor can hide them
Carry their glories and rise!”
Jaskier finishes with a roaring flourish and the crowd chants his words back to him twice as loud. This Song of the Seven may be more popular than Toss a coin ever was. Geralt has never seen an audience warm so quickly to a new tune, much less poor folk in a war-torn country. These people need hope now more than anything.
The barkeep pushes a pair of ales at Jaskier as he passes by and refuses to take a cent for them despite Jaskier’s best efforts. He finally gives up when she threatens him with a broom, turning to Geralt’s dark corner of the room. 
“That’s new,” says Geralt as Jaskier sits down, passing a stein to his side of the table.
Jaskier crooks an eyebrow at him and smirks. “I’m surprised you noticed.”
Geralt doesn’t know what to say to that. Before, he might not have thought twice about teasing so light as that, but this, too, has changed. Sometimes there’s banter and sometimes there are digs from that snarl of discontent that still rears up between them, and Geralt can never really be sure which he’s getting.
Jaskier takes pity on him, smiling easily. “It came from a story I heard in Temeria,” he says. “There’s a bard in it, you know. And a witcher.”
He looks for a moment like he means to say more, but then the corner of his mouth twists sharply and he snaps it shut with an audible click. Jaskier smiles again, this time cruel and close-lipped. 
“It doesn’t matter,” he says.
Before Geralt can think of anything to say, any comfort or correction to whatever it is he’s done wrong this time, Jaskier stands up and flees to a nearby table of dwarves. He doesn’t look back.
An hour or so later, the revelry dies down and the bar room clears out but for a few stragglers. Jaskier is among them, across the room now from Geralt at an empty table with a drink Geralt knows is almost completely full. Geralt watched the bard carefully while he made round after round of the room, soaking up the occupants’ stories and sharing his own entirely fabricated ones. Half a dozen rounds were shoved into Jaskier’s hands, and he took them gratefully with bright smiles, but he abandoned them just as quickly when their givers were occupied.
When Geralt found Jaskier in Oxenfurt, he couldn’t be parted from a bottle for his life. Now his drinking comes and goes. Some days he dulls his senses with wine from dusk till dawn. Some days are like this: feigning all the trappings of a man in his cups without downing more than a mouthful. 
Geralt leaves his own stein half-full with a few coins beside it and turns for Jaskier’s table. Another Geralt might have left his friend to sulk, but that Geralt wouldn’t have used the word ‘friend’ to describe Jaskier, not even in his head. This one is trying to make amends, still, all these many months later. 
If Jaskier hears him coming, he doesn’t show it. Geralt sits on the bench beside him, facing out towards the room with his back against the table, and Jaskier doesn’t give him so much as a glance. Their shoulders just barely brush.
“Tell me your story,” says Geralt. “About the bard and the witcher.”
Jaskier fixes him with a confused frown. “It doesn’t—”
“Tell me anyway.”
Geralt watches Jaskier watch him through a long, pregnant pause. Blue eyes, still so bright in the low light, search Geralt’s face and he can’t tell whether they find what they’re looking for or not. Either way, Jaskier huffs a humorless laugh to himself and speaks.
“It was a long time ago, just before the Conjunction.”
Jaskier pauses again like he’s waiting for Geralt to correct him. There were no witchers before the Conjunction; there was no need for them. Geralt doesn’t say so, though. Instead, he waits patiently for Jaskier to continue.
“The witcher was a warrior,” he says. “A protector, wrongfully exiled for defiling a princess.”
Jaskier eyes Geralt again, warier this time. Geralt feels that twist in his gut the way he always does, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“The bard was a runaway, fleeing a life that was chosen for her.” Jaskier grins at that, small and wistful. “Fate brought them together, but they chose to walk side by side.”
It’s not a pretty story, exactly, but it’s the kind of story that has always caught Jaskier’s attention. A ragtag group of heroes, an indomitable foe, magic, monsters, and romance to tie it all together. It might even be true for all Geralt knows. The way Jaskier tells it, his voice soft and his phrases unembellished, so unlike his usual way of weaving tales, makes the whole thing almost believable. They’ve all seen stranger things.
Geralt doesn’t miss the shift in the air around Jaskier when he talks about the Lark and her witcher. His heart beats just the slightest bit faster and his scent deepens imperceptibly to anyone who doesn’t know it better than their own. Geralt isn’t blind to his own reaction either, the heaviness in his chest that grows and grows.
Contrary to popular belief, Geralt isn’t stupid. It’s not that he doesn’t know how much he wants Jaskier. The depths of that desire plunge too deep to go unnoticed, and it has holed up inside him for so long, he doesn’t know who he would be without it. It’s not that he doesn’t know how Jaskier feels either. The bard isn’t subtle and he has never insulted either of their intelligence by pretending to be.
What Geralt doesn’t know has never been the problem. It’s what he does know. And what he knows, has always known, is that acting on his wants would be a singularly terrible idea.
But that was before. Before Geralt’s own Child Surprise foretold the end of the world and all of them with it. Before he landed with his own feet in another sphere of demons and monsters beyond his wildest imaginings. Before all of them wound up tangled in a war with nightmares, more terrifying than any foolish mistake, hidden around every corner.
Before Geralt knew what it felt like to lose Jaskier. And before he knew with crushing certainty that to have done so without ever knowing what it felt like to have Jaskier, really have him, is worse than any fear Geralt has ever felt.
“She killed him, in the end, to end his suffering,” says Jaskier softly.
“Not a very happy story,” Geralt replies.
“Some of the best stories are tragedies. It’s romantic.”
Geralt frowns. “But he dies at the end.”
Jaskier smiles miserably. “I think you and I both know that love doesn’t always have a happy ending.”
That plucks something sharp in Geralt’s chest, something that twists at the bitter shadow in Jaskier’s eyes. Fuck it, Geralt thinks, fuck all of it. He takes Jaskier's chin between his thumb and his forefinger and kisses him before good sense can frighten either of them away again. 
There’s a gut-wrenching fraction of a second where Jaskier’s mouth is still against Geralt’s, but within the same heartbeat, he’s kissing back and back and back. Jaskier’s hand curls around Geralt’s wrist, holding himself in place as if Geralt would ever let him go now. His lips part for Geralt’s tongue with a soft groan and he tastes like his last sip of ale. Geralt feels drunk on it, on Jaskier, the plush warmth of his mouth, and the scent of his growing arousal filling Geralt’s nose. 
The harsh scrape of chair legs on a wooden floor startles them apart. Geralt’s head snaps up to find the barkeep straightening her stools, eyes focused downward but a knowing grin on her lips.
When he turns back, Jaskier hasn’t pulled away but his uneasy expression says that the thought is playing on his mind. He looks at Geralt like he’s waiting to be pushed away, even as he clutches Geralt’s wrist. Geralt pulls Jaskier back to him, fingers still cradling the bard’s chin, until their noses brush. 
“What are you doing?” Jaskier asks and his hot breath rolls over Geralt’s lips carrying the taste of his mouth to Geralt’s tongue, and even that faint echo makes Geralt’s heart stutter.
“Kicking off another tragedy, I expect.”
Jaskier pushes their foreheads together. “You can still stop this one.”
“No,” says Geralt and it feels like surrender. “No, I can’t.”
The small hearth in their room is dark and cold when they stumble inside. Geralt can see well enough to guide them both, but he tears himself away from Jaskier’s hungry kisses to light the fire. When it’s finally ablaze and he turns to find the bard sprawled out on their bed, discarding the last of his clothing, Geralt is glad he took the time. 
Even if only in the dim red light, cast over with long and flickering shadows, he wants to see this.
This—miles of bare skin, calloused and scarred in places it wasn’t when last Geralt laid eyes on it, and quivering as he presses his lips to every place he should have been there to protect. Jaskier is so warm to touch, so much warmer than Geralt, his emphatically human heart hammering away in his chest for both of them.
This—achingly familiar hands with long fingers and soft palms, gliding over the shine of sweat on Geralt’s chest and his arms and his back. Jaskier is so gentle with his touches, as though Geralt could break beneath them, as though Jaskier would ever break him even if he could. But then Geralt touches just so and nails bite into his skin and he longs to see their matching bruises side by side. 
This—a hungry mouth that kisses wherever it can and urges Geralt to give, to take. Every graze of his fingers, his lips, his tongue, draws the sweetest sounds. Jaskier is so liberal with his voice, utterly without shame as he tells Geralt exactly what he needs and how good he feels, as he begs him to touch me darling, there, again, more, more, please, please, please…
Every sense, every synapse, every nerve is straining to capture this moment because if their world ends tomorrow, Geralt wants his last memory to be the way Jaskier clings to him, sings to him, as he pushes inside.
Each second stretches into a thousand and disappears in an instant all at once. An eternity is lived in the space between each of Jaskier’s gorgeous moans and breathless cries, but too soon, Geralt feels himself hurtling over the edge. He comes with Jaskier’s name on his lips and the hot burn of tears behind his eyes.
They lie there, silent but for their breath, while their sweat dries and the fire burns to embers. Geralt fits himself to Jaskier’s back, a knee between his, an arm circling his waist, and his face tucked into the crook of Jaskier’s neck. The bard reaches back to tangle his fingers in Geralt’s hair and begins to hum an unfamiliar tune.
“That’s new,” Geralt rumbles, muffled by Jaskier’s skin.
Jaskier hums in agreement. “I think it’s about a bard and a witcher.”
Geralt takes a few long, slow breaths before he replies. “Another tragedy?”
Jaskier presses the tips of his fingers against Geralt’s scalp and massages along the back of his head until he finds a spot he discovered years ago while scrubbing drowner brains from Geralt’s hair, the one that elicits a sound very near purring. Geralt no longer expects an answer, but he gets one after his eyes have long fallen shut, whispered into the gathering darkness.
“Not this time.”
~~
my masterlist
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dollywheeler · 11 months
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September 16th, 1996
Dear diary,
Nothing much happened today, but I felt like journalling so I'm just going to anyway.
During fourth period art, I tried to restart the art assignment with the adjustments I wanted to make. I'd practiced over the weekend, so the actual drawing of the hand and tear went very smoothly and I was happy with how it looked - even the fingers and nails - so I could just relax and listen to the music as I tried to work on the wallpaper. I don't remember if the wallpaper had a pattern, but the drawing would be too empty otherwise and I think it adds more depth and drama, and makes it more clear that it's a wall to begin with.
Plus, I found a picture in the basement of Mike and Will in Will's old bedroom, with its old boat and train wallpaper, so I wanted to incorporate that. It tells more of a story in my opinion, makes the drawing feel more juvenile or childish. Innocent. Simple fleur-de-lis or something similar would have been too old-fashioned and cliché. I like the childlike essence - especially because it comes from a childhood dream - and the added difficulty of consistently drawing the trains and ships. I've never drawn something like that before so it's a bit of challenge, but exciting nonetheless.
I was practicing the trains when Will, who'd been stalking through the classroom and talking to students that needed help or advice, stopped by my table.
"Hey!" he said with a bright voice, a sense of pleasant surprise in his tone. But it wasn't the drawing he was looking at, but my arm. "Where did you find that?
Realizing he was talking about my bracelet, I smiled and held it up for him to see better. "Oh, it's Nancy's. I found it in the basement."
He smiled but shook his head, reaching out to trace his fingers over the beads. "It's Mike's actually. We made it sometime in elementary school. I have the one Mike made me in an old shoe box somewhere. Pretty sure it's older than you are."
"Oh," I said, staring dumbly at the bracelet. It felt strange to be wearing it all of a sudden - both because it's Mike's, and it felt different being tied to him than Nancy, who at least tries to be a sister. And because it wouldn't surprise me if Mike cared more about this bracelet than me.
Mike has always been a sentimental person, hard to let go of things, though he doesn't seem to have the same problem when it comes to letting go of people. Will has always ranked higher on his list than me, because he was there first, which means this bracelet probably does too - both for having belonged to his life longer than I have, and because Will made it for him. And by virtue of it being a 'thing' rather than 'people', which makes it low maintenance.
"Sorry." I said, already scrambling to take it off. "I can give it back," I offered, but he chuckled and held up his hand to stop me.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I think it looks great on you." He said and sounded genuine. "Might have to hide it from Mike though as he'll probably fight you for it once he sees it."
At first my stomach dropped at the confirmation of my earlier thought, by someone who knows Mike better than me, but then the thought of hiding it from him, of denying him his bracelet, made me smile. Will's eyes gleamed as if he'd caught my train of thought, as if it was what he'd intended all along - their little secret, an enabled rebellion.
And yet, his expression fell more serious as he lowered his voice, reminding me that we were in a class full of people.
"May I ask, Holz? Why you're upset with him?"
"I'm not." I lied, because being upset means you care, and I won't give Mike the satisfaction. I'm not delusional enough not to notice that on some level I do, but it is the way it is. My only problem now is that he's putting my face in it every single day.
Will nodded though he didn't seem happy with my answer. I knew he wasn't going to let it go just quite yet, so I quickly redirected his attention by pulling out my drawing and asking if he could help me with the lighting.
Instead of reluctantly following my change of subject, as I'd expected him to do, he froze, staring at my drawing. He shook himself out of it in only a second, but I still caught it - a moment of recognition as his eyes slid over the charcoal. Which, now I think about it, was strange because I hadn't even added his wallpaper yet so it couldn't have been that.
He just looked at it for a moment before looking over at me - again that same look his mother had over the previous weekend, which was strangely uncanny. As if I was a child admiring bloodsplatter, unaware of the world, unaware of anything.
Will seemed more concerned than his mother had though, which was definitely an accomplishment, as he asked where I'd seen this. I thought it was a strange question - I've seen him drawing dragons before, surely he hadn't seen those in real life - but I just shrugged and explained the dream thing. He seemed more at ease after, though there was still this unnerved air to him, as if I'd just dodged a bullet.
He distractedly gave me some advice about the lighting - good advice, still, mind you - before leaving me to it and moving on to talk to Jessica Kernel. It was definitely strange, but I didn't have much time to ask anything else, anyway, because the bell rang, releasing us for lunch.
It was still on my mind when I got to our usual table, but Daniel joined us today and sat down next to me so it quickly left my thoughts after that. Jackson and Ben were with him, and for some reason Jackson immediately turned to me with this inquisitive look, sly as he asked about Mike. He sounded like he was trying to be subtle, but it was anything but - it was clear he'd singled me out to ask about this in particular.
He said something about seeing "your brother and Mr. Byers" - which is still weird btw, having people refer to them as such - at the supermarket over the weekend, and then mentioned Nadine seeing them arrive at school in the same car.
I didn't understand what he was getting at so I just shrugged and gave him a confused look for pointing out the obvious, making it clear I could tell he was trying to gossip and didn't approve. "Yeah, they live together. It's not a secret."
"They do?" Dylan asked, frowning as if it was a shame they hadn't found the loves of their lives yet. She's always been a romantic, so the thought of not having found your person at 25 sounds like torture to her. I can't say I disagree.
I explained they'd known each other for 20 years and that they were both single so it just made sense. I didn't mention that I'd had no stake in the conversation that preceded this idea, or that I actually had no idea what their reasoning was other than my own assumptions. Not their business, as it clearly isn't mine either.
When I looked at Jackson again, he'd seemed disappointed with the information he'd gained - it was definitely less intriguing or scandalous or whatever than he'd hoped. Honestly, I don't know why he would have been interested in the first place, what he'd thought to have discovered.
Good, because he is such an asshole sometimes that anything that doesn't go as he wants it to is probably the better option. I'm glad Daniel only hangs out with him because of basketball - I wouldn't have liked what it says about him if they'd actually been friends. Then again, if they were, I doubt I would have liked Daniel to begin with.
Daniel and I talked for the rest of lunch period and I can tell he's warming up to me. He takes more initiative and is more comfortable in conversation. Whenever we talk about something that interests him his eyes just light up and it's like he lets more of his personality show than he otherwise would. I really didn't think I could like him more than I already did, but he keeps surprising me. I never knew liking anyone could be so thrilling. It's like I'm always itching to learn more.
I'm thinking of going to the diner after school tomorrow so I can see him. I know he has to work, but I just like being in his presence, and if I have to do homework I might as well get something out of it.
Speaking of, I should probably get back to it.
Love, Holly
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olderthannetfic · 1 year
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Okay so, I think something is really really weird, I can't help but twitch my eye whenever I see discourse around certain ships in the in-progress Across the Spider-verse fandom. Usually I don't send anon asks but RN I don't want people harassing me or something.
My eye twitch because... Is really weird how so many people is like, throwing fists at ships that are exclusive between characters of color???? And M/M too???? It feels like people are just... looking into a trash can to find whatever excuse applicable to M/M ships so they can apply it ONLY to these COCs (loving you anon that suggested Character of Color = COC) and the ships between them. No drama with Gwen/Miles. Almost not drama with Peter B./Miguel. Fucking hell, the damned (and good) crackship between LEGO Spiderman/Miguel is receiving LESS HATE than the non-white ships. And I find it weird and sus. Why all the hate is targeted at ships between black charac/black charac or black charac/hindu charac.
For the love of god, stop and get a life. So much crying for the lack of ships that include non-white characters and when you all see a fandom that REVOLVES around SO MANY non-white characters, you try to take that down with the most dumb stupid ass arguments that have been equally dumb stupid ass arguments for the past decade in fandom.
--
Ah, I see the pattern is repeating, as usual.
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woodsfae · 8 months
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B5 s03e03: A Day In The Strife previous episode • table of contents
Transport Dionysius has been waiting over an hour to dock! With how much foreshadowing is done by the names of ships in this, the B5 crew are probably battening down all the hatches and hiding all the wine and sundry other intoxicants. 
Sheridan's tactic of cooling off violently angry people by freaking them out is a great tactic. I've used it myself from time to time! When it works, it's always a rush. 
Ohhhhh, dang!! Someone's here to replace G'Kar as Ambassador! I wonder if they're collaborators, or if they're pretending to be collaborators. They could be great allies or a great torment for G'Kar.
The new opening is so dramatic. I would say cheesy, except it grips me, and I like cheese anyway. I notice that all the main B5 crew, and Delenn and Lennier all look firmly into the camera and give a little nod. Then Zack Allen and Londo stare dead into the camera. But! Interestingly! Vir and G'Kar both come into frame looking away from the camera, then turning their heads to stare directly into it. The movements are so distinct and patterned, it's got to be intentional. I wonder if Vir will work with G'Kar this season. And if Zack Allen with with Londo, or they'll have related arcs in some way.
Ambassador Na'Far draws a terrifying and brutal day to day life on Narn. The resistance is active and killing Centauri regularly, and for every Centauri killed, five hundred Narn are executed. There must be just...mass slaughter. Every day. I'm sure Na'Far does want to save as many Narn lives as possible, and I'm also sure that he was instructed to request G'Kar's extradition. This meeting was a good way of serving both goals: alert the Captain to ongoing ground conditions on Narn, and officially request G'Kar's sanctuary be terminated, on behalf of the Centauri warlords. 
Happy and charmed to see Garibaldi and Franklin continue to hang out and be friendly! Having regular, quiet dinners together, as bros do. And it's good to see the senior staff hanging out! Ivanova joining them to swap gossip intel, and then actually listening to the classified information from Sheridan's file that Garibaldi hacked is too good. 
Franklin returns from the bathroom to flirt with Garibaldi before heterosexually dancing away. 
Ambassador Na'Far reporting as ordered to Londo Mollari is so horrible. What is wrooooong with him treating and talking to Na'Far this way, fuuuuck. Vir has the sense to be obviously horrified. And he's gotten quite comfortable with confronting his boss - good for him. Horrifying subject content. 
New ship! First Contact, presumably. Interesting! A fun, sci-fi moment amidst the war drama. 
Londo complaining about Delenn and everyone disapproving of him, and also calling in the favor Delenn owes him. And hah! What a favor! He wants Vir to be appointed to Minbar as Ambassador from Centauri and described him with such ringing terms as "most inoffensive," "keeps to himself," and "wouldn't even spy on your government." lmaoooooo. Londo is right that Vir is liable to get himself yoinked home in an unpleasant fashion if he opposes the Narn genocide too loudly. 
If Londo seeing his own youth in Vir is in any way accurate, then he changed dramatically and horribly over the course of his life. A good reminder that life really is all about choices, and you can make new ones anytime. If only Londo would make some new choices! He seems blind to his own opportunities, deep in the Sunk Cost Fallacy.
"Sometimes I miss that we don't talk anymore, Delenn." "We never really talked, Londo." "No, I suppose not."
wow. So darkly sad. There is something sad (although mostly pathetic) about how Londo is so desperately lonely now that no one will hang out with him anymore. He is the architect of all his own woes.
Another totally heterosexual dinner date between Garibaldi and Franklin. This time, Garibaldi cooked and had Dr Franklin over! Slash mental health intervention? Steven has a legal prescription for stims because he has to work 36 hour shifts. And Garibaldi has feelings. And Steven has very defensive feelings, so Garibaldi's probably onto something.
This is an extraordinary level of kind, gentle, thoughtful, concern between men. I love the tenderness. What an excellent plot to put in. Love seeing people try to be good to each other and build bonds and reach out. Funny that the concern is that Dr Franklin is doing too much space coke, though.
We have now seen Na'Far twice, and now his assistant. And!! I didn't realize! But he's Narn that Sheridan met while kidnapped onto the fight-to-the-death alien ship! I also love his and Sheridan's friendship. He wants to repay Sheridan for rescuing him, by being his bodyguard.  "Here is a man who will live to be a hundred and fifty." Hah!
The alien ship is indeed a probe, and it's running an intelligence test on the B5-ers. They provide correct answers, or the probe with blow up and take B5 with it. That's a high stakes first contact! And! One of the things they're offering to induce the humans to want to try to answer the questions, is another panacea. There were two or three panacea episodes so far, I was wondering if the theme would come back.
So far they seem to be saying "Panaceas are always sought after, but in reality there is no magical elixir for all medical ills."
Oh, Na'Far really did come here argue with G'Kar! no thank you!! G'Kar has been up to a lot. He is organizing a lot of resistance. He is organizing food drops -- the Centauri are not importing enough for everyone. 
Both Na'Far and G'Kar are being relatively reasonable. Except for Na'Far seemingly genuinely thinking that if G'Kar were to return to Narn, that he wouldn't be harmed. 
Dr Franklin is doing space coke! but as he said - he has to be alert on long shifts and he has to do emergency surgery. Unhealthy? Probably. Necessary to work those long hours? Definitely. Bad situation with no good choices. 
Vir, while unhappy about Londo arranging his promotion and transfer, but perks up when Londo says "In time women may even come to find you attractive." 
Oof, Na'Far is not finding the B5 Narn to be friendly. I hope G'Kar doesn't actually end up imprisoned on Narn! I'd rather hang with him on B5. 
Dang! Sheridan! Rude! Ivanova is not to be insulted, she is to be cherished. 
Garibaldi is being very decent. And rationally clear-eyed. He does not want G'Kar to return. 
"My fate is in the hands of G'Quan. What must happen, will happen. Thank you for your concern Mr Garibaldi. Good night."
Well, now I think he has some sort of plan! I don't want to think that he would be giving up, so I must believe he has a plan. 
Dr Franklin! Another round of space coke?! He's just reamed out a respected colleague on earth, and now he's got a surgery to perform. Uhhh, personally I'd rather my surgeon nap a little first. 
Huh, odd sequence of events here. I do think that it's an odd set-up for a technologically advanced species to go around threatening species and blowing them up if they aren't advanced enough. But it did blow up  like it was charging weapons to attack B5 and the data transfer made it....self-destruct instead? Anyway. peculiar! I hope there's follow-up! 
Na'Far did not persuade the B5 Narnuan people that G'Kar should be sacrificed for the faint hope that their families might not be harmed, and they want G'Kar to stay. Including the bodyguard guy! Good on them. I'm very glad G'Kar is staying. 
Garibaldi and Dr Franklin are having their third dinner date in this episode alone. Partner says "of course there's an AA episode in a 90s tv show," which I guess seems like it could be. I'll take some genuine-seeming friendships with male support networks where I can find 'em, though.
Bye, Vir! He really is leaving! I hope he'll be back more, too. Would he be in the title sequence if he was leaving the show after the third episode??
Overall, a lot happened! I wonder how Na'Far will fit into future episodes. I hope Vir comes back! And as always, I hope that Londo will get a fucking grip on himself and start making some baby steps towards doing the right thing. Because his current rational of "If I don't do the wrong thing, someone else will, and get the credit for it, while I lose out," is terrible. And he's been mired in it for awhile.
on to religious metaphor
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lolexjpg · 4 months
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dts s4 e9-10
e9: -another 4433 episode frothing at the mouth for it -if lewis had said 'thats what you get when you dont leave the space' after silverstone could you IMAGINE the things christian horner would've said. but max can say it after running over lewis' head. i guess -anyway i NEED another max/lewis championship fight yall dont understand -'christian is a bit like a jack russell terrier who likes to snap at your heels' no one does reads like toto jfc kaldjfasjdfalksjdf -'i don't believe to be successful you need to be an asshole.' SUSIE I LOVE U MWAH -the way lewis's voice gets high pitched when hes passionate abt something i love him i'm putting him in my pocket -not dts giving michael masi a whole introduction one episode before he gets murdered by public opinion -the shots of jeddah at night are So Pretty i actually really do like this track -the way rb talk about max's ruined quali lap is how i talk abt logan's deleted quali lap in jeddah. btw -the way they use mick's crash to set up "oh theres a safety car all the cars are gonna bunch up now~ wonder if anyone will use this opportunity for new tires :)" just setting up all this information for us to know NOW. for no particular reason :) -not max complaining that the SAFETY CAR is going TOO SLOW hes such a BRAT -god i need to see this race. aus23 levels of chaos it seems -i'm sorry but rb being like 'idk why max is being investigated 🥺 hamilton's the one that drove into the back of HIM 🥺🥺' like omg like max didnt do this EXACT thing to daniel baku 2018. its a PATTERN babes -when will my mans win again :( i'm sad :(
e10: -havent even started but i'm gonna CRY watching this episode i swear i am so serious -i'm already just so stressed out. being a max AND lewis girlie is only for god's strongest soldiers fr -'they like all this drama, but when we actually start racing they dont like it' max is so REAL for this -lewis hamilton rainbow helmet u will always be famous 2 me 😍 -checo max underrated ship btw. that cockwarming fic abt them *chefs kiss* -music is just making my stress worse (phenomenal) -part of me wishes i spent this winter break watching old races instead of watching dts, and this is a moment i'm really feeling it. i'm looking forward to at some point being able to watch this race and form my own opinions -( the end of the day i think regardless this result is never getting overturned and i'm at peace with that and i think other lewis girlies should work on that too~) -i will say. and maybe i'm missing something. i do understand the discourse abt only the lapped cars between max n lewis being allowed to unlap. BUT. if every car got to unlap themselves instead. would the result have been any different. how much does that particular detail matter. -ok now i'm just JEALOUS of u bitches who got to watch this live. i could've been there instead i was experiencing such intense trauma that i've forgotten most of 2021 (also i didnt know f1 existed) -OH I SAID I WAS GONNA CRY I KNEW I WAS GONNA CRY -i love lewis. i will always pick lewis over max. THAT BEING SAID -i watch this and i just feel relief. knowing the pressure he's been under his whole life from his father. for the first time in his life since he was little he gets to lift that pressure off his shoulders. i'm so happy for him. and like. you can TELL. how easier it is for him after this win. no matter the technicalities of this win, i find it impossible to be upset with all that context. i just feel overwhelmed with love
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runemyth0 · 1 year
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Aight, not tagging this to avoid drama. Anyways, from what I’ve heard, my decision to sit out Mando S3 has been a good one. And looking at a lot of the reactions to it all, plus my own reaction to BoBF, I kinda want to posit a potential way this season could have gone. Had I been in charge of writing it.
Okay, so, to start, I’m reaching back into the past and slapping Fettuccine and Foi Gras in the face and ignoring everything Grogu that happened in BoBF. Mando still showed up as backup, he still had his whole cast out of the Watch scene.
We start off with the building the N-1 starfighter episode, set after the events of BoBF. Mando spends most of the episode running around looking for rare parts and negotiating for them, as well as bonding with Pelli and just generally being kinda sad Grogu’s not around anymore.
Then everything goes to heck when a Gozanti shows up and starts carpet bombing the city. Din makes a run for it in his new ship and there’s a brief dogfight scene between some Fang fighters and Din, culminating in him getting a call from Bo-Katan telling him to surrender so she can kick his ass and take the darksaber.
This is more or less the pattern for the season, with Din hopping from planet to planet, getting into wacky adventures with the locals, then having a fight with Bo-Katan or one of her lackeys and narrowly escaping. The whole time he’s moving towards Mandalore so he can fulfill the whole bathe in the waters goal.
Along the way, pretty much every episode, he’ll meet other Mandalorians and learn a bit about how they see the whole deal of ‘being Mandalorian’. Like he’ll meet an ex-Death Watch assassin, who betrayed his friends when they sided with Maul and he didn’t. A family of artists and architects, who still believe a future of peace is possible. A Protector, who once served at the side of Duchess Satine but has now been forced into mercenary work to survive. The son of Pre Vizsla, who wants nothing more than to reclaim what he sees as his family’s legacy. A Clone who sought out his gene-father’s culture after the war and found it unwelcome to him.
And through all these, Din grows and changes as a person, gradually realizing that there is so much more to Mandalorian culture than what he was taught in the Watch. And also he’s gradually working through his issues with not having Grogu with him (his empty nest syndrome).
The finale takes place on Mandalore, as Din fights to get to the waters and he and Bo-Katan end up being the only ones left after a giant monster attack. They’re beaten and bruised and their armor is broken.
Bo-Katan picks up the Darksaber and prepares to strike down Din with it. While Din just sits on a rock, looking at the devastation their battle wrought, further despoiling this dead world. Bo-Katan sits with him and they talk for a bit about whether or not Mandalorians are warlike in their nature, or if it’s a product of the suffering they’ve gone through over generations.
At the end, Din stands above the waters, ready to do the thing to make remake him into a proper Mandalorian. But instead he throws the Darksaber in, declaring that Mandalore should not be ruled by martial might, since, you know, they’ve been doing that for years and look where they are now.
And with this, he also is finally able to let go of Grogu, trusting that if the stars align they will reunite. And if they don’t... at least they’ll always have the memories.
And Bo-Katan invites him to help her rebuild Mandalore, setting up the hook for S4, if you want to go there.
For the credits, we follow the saber as it falls through the waters, until it hits the bottom and comes to a rest at the end and the eye of the mythosaur blinks open.
Maybe as an after credits scene, we can have Grogu show up doing some training on his own and then Luke comes in with a sack of Jedi artefacts he collected from his most recent expedition.
So, yeah, that’s what I would have written. Focus in on Din and Bo-Katan, make their conflict the core of the season.
As for S4, I guess I would probably have it be based around Din joining up with Bo-Katan and trying to convince Mandalorians to come back to Mandalore.  But the main conflict would most likely be Moff Gideon showing up to get his revenge on Din and co, and the Mandalorians deciding to become protectors instead of conquerors. You could probably seed a few hints towards the Gideon plot in S3.
The ultimate finale of this would be basically a dark twist on S2 ending, where Gideon’s real goal was to draw out the Jedi so he could get his actual revenge on them. If we want to end it there (feels like a natural stopping point), you can have Din sacrifice himself to save Grogu. Have a real tearful goodbye scene.
And then in the epilogue you can have Bo-Katan watching a statue of Din getting built on Mandalore. And maybe Grogu studies there to connect with Din’s culture.
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bookwyrminspiration · 3 years
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Now that it’s official we only have two books to go, I don’t think I could see sokeefe becoming canon and sorting all their problems in that time, but I do believe that they’re going to be the endgame ship, and now I’m waiting in worried anticipation of how shannon is gonna pull this off. I know you’ve talked Sophie/keefe’s chances of being canon before, but do you have any idea how that could work out now that we know we’ve got two books left?
I do have an idea! Not sure how realistic it is, but given the format of the story and how things have gone, it's how I expect everything to work out, more or less (I don't think I'm exact though)
I've anticipated sokeefe being the endgame ship for a while (not that this is necessarily what I ship. I actually don't really ship anything), and I 100% see what you mean! It feels inevitable at this point and with all the pressure from readers, as the majority of the fandom is middle schoolers and younger who haven't all learned what an appropriate and respectful boundary is with creators (not meant to be mean! I think we've all been there and can learn from our past mistakes), I wonder if it has been guided by the audience as well.
but even if sokeefe becomes official, it's been building up for far too long to be resolved in only two books--less than that! I highly doubt they'll become official in the next one. There's too much drama going on in the elven world and neither Keefe nor Sophie are ready for a relationship at the moment--something Sophie has even vocalized about herself. So were sokeefe to come to fruition soon it would feel...off. And forced, as that's not something she wants right now. It'd be out of character for a while without some personal growth, but that growth would be taking up the time left in the last two books. There's only so much she can fit in, and kotlc isn't the fastest paced book you'll ever read.
So how can she balance the growth needed while also giving that closure to the love triangle that feels like it'll inevitably end in sokeefe?
It may just be me, but I think it'll be the kind of relationship you see in Disney movies where there's the whole drama of the story and then the characters triumph and are finally allowed to be happy and they walk off into the sunset together and we don't actually see what happens next, but we know they're now official and cemented in stone. If that makes sense.
We won't get those casual, exploratory couple moments between them or really know how they interact as a couple, but we'll get the briefest introduction to that. Maybe a kiss between the two of them as they realize they're a different person to each other now, not just a friend but more than that (not that friendship is a “just” and unequal to romance. don’t take this wording seriously). Wondering about what the future will bring, perhaps a cheesy line about not caring as long as they have the other by their side. It leaves their relationship really open without Shannon having to make a bunch of the minor details and decisions while also giving that ending. The readers would be satisfied and enjoy the ending, which is something authors want! Yes, the story is their own to write, but storytelling is also entertainment; we want readers to like the story and have fun!
This way, Shannon can use the rest of the now-limited time she has left to tell her story to conclude the plot and resolve the issue with the Neverseen and finish the character arcs without romance interfering the way it has been for like the entire series. She can focus on friendships and individuals, but at the end of it we can come back to the romance once their arcs are finished, once they're new people who are appropriate for each other.
At least, that's how I'm anticipating it will happen! Shannon might pull something completely different and leave me reeling, but I'll trust her with her characters and their story. Shipping isn't something I'm very invested in, so I'm most interested in how the rest of the plot will work itself out and the romance is like a side thing, but it does hold a lot of intrigue!
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captnjacksparrow · 3 years
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I just got into the fandom and I love it so much. However, there are parts where I just cringe. I’m going to be completely honest when I say I can’t see SS being a thing, a healthy one at that. A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him. I just... find it utterly bullshit. Hell, even I do ship narusasu, I tried to be open minded and not fall too far off canon or the characters. I don’t understand how Sasuke had those feelings for her when all he did was shown the opposite and it felt genuine. He seem always annoyed and pushes her away. She kept forcing her feelings on him when he makes it clear that he’s not interested. I don’t hate the ship because it’s not my ship but because it’s extremely toxic. It feels one-sided (Sakura’s side) more than anything and it’s makes it hard to believe he had those feelings for her. I mean, on the second episode of season five, she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive. She’s just like every other fangirl expect she’s on his team. I’m trying my best not to hate her but Damn she’s really pushing it. Anything that annoyed me was that she made it seem like they were dating, again making it about herself and her feelings. She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.” I just can’t with this ship. I’m still wondering why the hell is it even a thing? Also find it beyond pitiful how she stayed with Sasuke in Boruto when he left for 12-13 years?! No note. No checking up. Nothing. Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP. If that’s what true love looks like (good thing it’s not), then I’d die single. I can’t be the only one who thinks this ship is just as bad as Harley Quinn x Joker.
First off, Thanks for this lovely ask @larrycherry04 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I've always wanted to write about this and your ask is the perfect timing.
Disclaimer: SS shippers, Sakura fans!!! Don’t read  this post!!
Me being an SNS shipper, I am just going to write this from a non-SNS perspective. Meaning, I am going to consider Naruto and Sasuke are just friends or rivals. 
Bear with my lengthy answer.
Where do I even begin?
A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.
I think this rumor is from a light novel called Akatsuki Hiden or whatever shit. But for me, it looks like a pathetic attempt to convince those horny women shippers who would pay any money to read a romance which mirrors their own love life where they desire an ‘unreachable & handsome’ man who has this ‘cool & overbearing’ aura and carries this ‘bad boy badass’ vibe. They would do anything to get the attention from this boy. Until this point is where the reality ends. 
What they really wants to happen and fantasize is somehow that handsome man, one day, will look only them and recognize their love and becomes a ‘soft’ guy who would bring the heavens for them and treats her like a princess. That fantasy led them to buy these novels and believe everything while completely disregarding the canon material. And those novels are aimed at these type of women.
You must have been wondering now, ‘I have seen these type of shit somewhere’!!!!!
That’s right.
50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, Beauty and the Beast, 100′s of K-Drama, C-Drama follow this shit romance trope and it’s regrettably fucking popular. 
In other words, Don’t believe anything apart from the canonic resources. 
Let’s dissect the canon materials about SS.
TEAM 7 
This is how it all started
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Does anyone see anything positive here???? 
Well, I am not.
Sakura wanted to impress Sasuke. Since, Naruto always picks fight with Sasuke, she badmouthed Naruto in the hopes that Sasuke will recognize some common ground with her which may develop into a friendship. But she shot her own foot. 
[Regardless, I hated her here and she never redeemed herself, for her being completely insensitive & oblivious towards Sasuke’s life, the boy she loves]
Technically, Sasuke should have said ‘You’re Annoying’ towards Naruto for kissing him before the class and tying him up later. Here, Sakura is simply badmouthing another guy. He, somehow, find this very annoying than anything Naruto did earlier. 
Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.
Am definitely not seeing any feelings here.  
ZABUZA ARC
Alright, much later, somehow Sasuke started to integrate into team 7 and started to see them as a Family. No denial here. He started to care about everyone in his team at some point. Which was evident from the way he thought to himself, ‘That was Sakura’s voice... What is Kakashi doing?’
But does it means he hopelessly fell in love with her??? Nope. 
It’s just a team camaraderie where he was worried about his teammate. If he has special feelings towards her, he should have said ‘I must go save Sakura’ or something along the line. 
But, later in that episode, he went on to die for Naruto and even at his dying moments he didn’t think about Sakura or Team 7. It was all about someone else.
Even seconds before falling into Naruto’s arms, Sasuke was smiling with no regrets. 
It was funny very later that after he got up from his temporary death, rather than consoling her like ‘Sakura, Don’t cry. Am alright’ or anything, he was asking ‘Where’s Naruto?’. LOL.
Even much later, when Sakura was asking him about a date, he bluntly said ‘I refuse’.
So, you’re telling me, throughout this arc, a boy blinded with hatred can able to pout, play childish games, train and die for a boy but when it comes to Sakura he can’t show his feelings???
Sorry, I don’t see romance here. Not in this arc.
Whether you agree or not, every parent has their favorite child, every child has their favorite parent. Even within your family, you always have a special person.
For Sasuke, Itachi was that person in his real family. Sakura was not that person in his Team 7 family. It was Naruto.
CHUNIN EXAMS ARC
This arc is where those SS shippers celebrates a lot and I know why. Remember earlier I talked about that shitty 50 Shades of Grey romantic trope??? The following scene vaguely falls under that pattern.
A guy loses his control because of a cursed seal and beats up the guys who hurt one of his teammates which happens to be a girl and calms down after seeing the girl. 
That Infamous back hug. 
I understand why SS people lose their mind with that scene. And I don’t blame them. I am going to throw their own proof at them.
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So, this First databook, tells us that he finally sees both Naruto and Sakura as comrades and his heart softens from the path of revenge, a little bit.
Definitely, Sakura’s tears or love towards him stopped his rampage. But nothing says about whether Sasuke loves her back.  
Much later, Sasuke also stops his cursed seal on his own after thinking about worried Sakura and a screaming Naruto (Who don’t know about this seal thingy at that time). 
Well, whatever. That databook has another funny fact, that too in the same page. 
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LOL. Weird!!!! This accidental kiss unravels Sasuke’s heart ❤️❤️???? 🤣🤣🤣
So, influencing Sasuke’s heart can be attributed to both his teammates,according to this databook. Atleast upto this arc. There are no special feelings for Sakura alone, guys. 
Proof?
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If Sasuke really considers her in a romantic light (this is after that back hug), he doesn’t have to do this at all. Believe me, Love is all about subconsciously or purposefully enjoying or feeling little touches. Those touches can be through eyes, memories or physical. Sakura is delighted with his touch because she loves him but Sasuke just see her as a comrade and keeping his distance but this time very politely.
If Kishi really likes these couple, he doesn’t have to make this scene at all. It’s not just this one instance, he rejected her twice very bluntly before this saying ‘Don’t cling to me!!!’, ‘Sakura, you’re heavy!!!’. 
If you say her back hug is a token of romance, then I can say ‘this’ kiss is also a token of romance. You can’t ignore one while keeping the other.
Anyways, at the end of the arc, Orochimaru is the best judge to identify who can change Sasuke’s heart. And that person is not Sakura.
DEPARTURE
she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive.
You know what, Larry??? You are 1000% right. 
But, atleast, I thought she was genuine in the first part of the proposal, like saying ‘Revenge is not good’.....bla bla.. Because, Revenge will never satisfy a person completely and I agree. Then she took a 180 degree by saying ‘Take me with you, Sasuke-Kun. I’ll make you happy’. This is where I lost it entirely. ‘Alright Bitch, So you really don’t care about his revenge or health. As long as you have the chance to get inside his pants, you are okay with it. So you are okay with Sasuke going to Orochimaru as long as you are with him..... Fucking Shit!!!!’  This is not okay at all. 
How did Sasuke respond?
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“Why should I have to tell you anything”
“I’m telling you to keep your nose out of my business”
“Stop bothering me over everything I do”
Ummm..... where I come from, this screams ‘Irritation’ to me. Added to it, throughout the whole conversation he never saw her face. There was evidently no pain or anything from his face. On top the cake, here comes the cherry
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“You really are...annoying”
This is where he saw her face throughout that painful confession before knocking her out. Umm... When you love someone or atleast feel for someone, you will look in their eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave. Or atleast show some pain??? There’s visibly nothing from Sasuke’s face. 
Alright, I know what SS wankers will pull out here. That Databook 2 with some vague words. I am going to throw this at them. 
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Again, like I acknowledged before, he considers her as a comrade and part of a family. So, her existence also eased his loneliness. But you have to look at the word choice here. “The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura”. It’s not the ‘Only’ person. Before he left he said ‘Thanks’. Meaning, Thanks for all these days. That’s all between us. 
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This piece was about the Team 7 picture. So he acknowledges, he was not alone during his genin days because of his companions and Kakashi (so it’s not just Sakura to ease his loneliness). Whatever he said to Sakura was real. 
So can we safely confirm “You’re annoying” is real????
But what’s really interesting is the way Sasuke projects himself before Naruto. I am going to refrain myself from attaching all those rollercoaster of emotions flowed throughout the fight in VoTE 1. Otherwise, it will become an SNS post. 
However, this particular scene caught my attention.
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Ummm.... Initially Sasuke walks without looking at Naruto. Then he looks back and answers him. 
Naruto was pretty much asking the same question as Sakura. “Why does it come to this?”
But Sasuke pauses and surprised for a moment and asks him pretty much “Why do you care about me?”
Why couldn’t Sasuke do the same with Sakura???? Kishi can pretty much make a panel or two rather than making some insulting panels.
Anyways, If they throw the databook, then I can also throw the same.
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Alright, can someone explain the highlighted sentence for me???? Because I want to confirm whether I have a blurry vision.
Here, Sasuke is trying to punctuate Naruto as a different person from the rest of his companions. ‘his companions as well as that with Naruto’, I mean, Come on!!!! Naruto is also one of your companions along with Sakura. Why differentiate????
‘The village, companions, Naruto,....’ . Again....He is differentiating his home (village), companions (his friends), and Naruto. So who is Naruto for him? What is the need to make exception for Naruto? It’s very clear he is placing Naruto at a high pedestal for some unknown reasons.
Before this Databook dissection, remember I said something about saying Goodbye, ‘ When you love someone or at least feel for someone, you will look into that person’s eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave‘
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Sasuke is doing exactly that here in this scene without saying anything.
Am sorry SS shippers, you can scream all you want about Sasuke knocked her out and left her on the bench. But there was no emotional distraught when he left her. Sasuke seemingly spent a longer time staring at Naruto than looking at Sakura when she confessed. 
OROCHIMARU HIDEOUT
Well, there is nothing I can say about here for SS. He pretty much saw her and said, “Sakura, huh?”.. And that’s all. He didn’t give two shits about her. 
His attention was completely on someone else. 
UNDER THE BRIDGE
She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.”
Naruto pretty much said the same thing in this arc, Larry. Naruto, in part 1, was happy for Sakura feeling the same about Sasuke as him, that is ‘To bring him back’. And also sad that his crush really loves someone else. But after Sakura gave up on Sasuke and faking her confession, Naruto decided, ‘Alright, I want to save him personally. I don’t care about our promise anymore”. 
This is where, SS ship goes into a crazy ride and it’s not a positive one.
Sasuke was on a rampage. He lost the ability to differentiate between his friends and foes. He stabbed Karin. And when he find her alive, he was about to Chidori her. 
And then comes the pink princess, full of lies and deceit. And Sasuke being impatient and disgusted with her lies, he does this
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Well, in part 1, she had a degree of power to change his heart. But not here. He, instead, got riled up more and even tried to kill her without a warning and that too by not looking at her face. Pathetic!!!!
This scene screams ‘Trust issues’ from both sides. 
Did it stop here???
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Fucking Shit!!!!!! Is there any people who still ship this nonsense?. If you are a Sakura fan, you should hate her for the lack of trust and backstabbing the person she loves, 
If you are a Sasuke fan, errrrmmm.....I have nothing to say. You know what to do. 
There is nothing positive here, that can make me ship them. He is killing her like a Mosquito.
If you truly loved someone in the past, even in your darkest moments, you will be honest and you cannot fake before that person.   
Proof??
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Here, Sasuke had a clear resolve to kill his brother, Itachi. He lived for this moment for about 8 years and immersed himself in Darkness for 3 years with Orochimaru. He could have run away, dodge or look away from Itachi. But Sasuke simply couldn’t!!! You know why?? Sasuke loved Itachi once more than anything in this world. At this moment, he is letting all those defense loose and embracing the moment and see what Itachi was about to do. Because somewhere in his heart he trusts Itachi. 
But killing Sakura doesn’t make Sasuke feel anything. She is just another victim like Danzo or Karin or all those Samurais or a fucking mosquito!!!!
So you are telling me that Sasuke had feelings for her but kept it hidden all along and still tried to kill her like a pest???
Give me a fucking break!!!!
And you all know, who changed Sasuke’s heart here in this scene. It was not Sakura. There’s absolutely no reason for Sasuke to listen to that person and what’s more, Sasuke even made a promise (despite being in darkness, he had it in his heart to listen to that person) to destroy Konoha only after killing that person .. 
WAR ARC
Well, this is the arc where Sakura behaves like a rabid dog on heat waiting for Sasuke and shamelessly trying to wag her tails. But Sasuke didn’t give two shits about her, not once or twice but multiple times.
MOMENT 1
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An explosion was about to kill the whole shinobi alliance and this dude wants to save Jugo, his companion and Naruto, the person who will challenge his Revolution, his rival and the one whom he wants to kill. Why only Naruto??? Why not Naruto and Sakura???
Pink cherry Queen doesn’t even crossed Sasuke’s mind.  Because he already threw her away in part 1. 
MOMENT 2
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Alright Bitch!!! The entire shinobi alliance was dying on the other side of the battlefield. And this asshole is doing a clownshow before Madara just to get inside Sasuke’s pants????
I mean, Come On!!!! 
Well, if Sasuke truly likes her, he should be the one to have catched her or atleast should have asked her, ‘are you alright??’ 
I am sorry, where are the romantic feelings???
MOMENT 3
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ROFLLLL🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
For the first time, Kishimoto is trolling those Sakutards through Sasuke’s words, what we, readers were right about all along. He is calling her useless here. And still these fake feminazis trying to ship her with him???
Don’t you guys have any self respect??? If so, this should be the moment to jump out of this trash ship.
MOMENT 4
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Geez!!! You are still on this ship????? 
He clearly doesn’t want to save her at all. The hawk can clearly lift 3 people. Sasuke is not even making an effort here. 
And you are still yapping that he is blinded by darkness??? 
MOMENT 5
This is the moment SS calls it as ‘eyesmex’... While in reality, he was just looking at her and silently thanking her for helping him out. Do you know what is a real ‘eyesmex’??? I will attach it at the end.
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If you guys pull this as true love, then he should have stayed in the same love till the end. But Sasuke has other ideas. 
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This is the one of the funniest thing in this arc. LOLLLLL
Instead of being relieved that Sakura was saved, Sasuke was wondering about Kakashi’s Susanoo.....and Sharingan. 
Do people still think he cares about her????
MOMENT 6
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Am cackling here, while dissecting the sorry state of this ship guys 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!! If something good happens to me because of SS , it’s just the way you guys are making me laugh by making a clown out of yourself!!!!
Do you guys know something? There was a man named Itachi. Before massacring his clan, the very first person he killed was his ‘supposed’ Girlfriend, named Izumi. I wouldn’t say Itachi loved her like a lover boy. It was just one sided on her part. He just talks to her when he finds a spare time and considers her a good friend. 
Do you know how he killed her? 
By putting her in a ‘Tsukuyomi’. And what kind of Tsukuyomi, you ask?
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Can you see how he fulfilled her dreams gracefully before he was going to kill her???
Why didn’t Sasuke do this???? Why particularly select a murdering genjutsu????
MOMENT 7
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He said it, finally.
He don’t love her at all. There was no hidden feelings. He admitted from his own mouth. 
One day later, after the final VoTE battle ends.... After exchanging some intense feelings and even crying tears of happiness with Naruto....
Sasuke tells Sakura, ‘Sorry’....
Ummm.... That’s all???
All those negative shits happened before cannot be solved by just simply saying ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thank you’. If someone has an ounce of self-respect, they should know this is not OKAY at all...🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️
Am Sorry, but Sasuke was just being politely blunt, kind of insincere towards Sakura and turned his attention somewhere else in a matter of minutes. He was not even bothered by Sakura’s tears here. Instead staring at someone on his left. Remember I talked about touching the person physically and visually?
Sasuke is subconsciously or purposefully touching someone on his left through his eyes. Definitely it’s not Sakura. You know who it is. Remember SStards’ infamous ‘eyesmex’... I seriously believe this is a perfect example of ‘eyesmex’.
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All these intense looks and feeling pain still doesn’t serve Sakura, even after pulled out of darkness. If there is a moment, where SS wants to shine, then this is where it should be. He should have told her, how he missed her all along, how he felt about hurting her, should have wiped her tears and some corny shit. But instead, Sasuke went for a long ass monologue for his friend and talking about sharing his pain. 
What about your kween’s pain???? 
You don’t have to ship SNS. But you should know where Sasuke’s priorities are. 
It’s not Sakura. 
Sasuke said ‘Sorry’ to Karin too. ‘Thank you’ to Kakashi as well. 
And what’s even more pathetic is, still Sakura wants to get inside Sasuke’s pants by accompanying him. Bitch, you can help your village, console your best friend Ino who lost her father, try to surpass Tsunade, improve your skills or whatever... Why bother him???
So, if you really think ‘Thank you’ as a token of love, then I can’t help it but term Sakura as a rabid dog who waits for her master to come home and throw some bones whenever he finds time. Your standards for a romantic love is piss poor and you will suffer just like Sakura in Boruto with just emptiness. All Sasuke did was poke her forehead just like Itachi which symbolizes keeping someone at a distance. He also said the same words to her just like Itachi said to him many times ‘Mata kondo da’ meaning ‘Maybe next time’. And we all knew that next time never came for Sasuke. 
Now all we see is a Sasuke as an absentee father in Boruto for which I don’t blame him. He was never a marriage material in the first place. Sakura and the Manga Editors forced him and she is paying for it. 
Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP.
All I want to say to SS shippers is, Your Ship Has Sailed Already. You cannot expect Sasuke to go lovey dovey towards Sakura with a 12 year old daughter around and for fuck’s sake, this is not a romance manga, it’s a battle manga. So stop dreaming about this kind of non-existential romance and pull yourself altogether.
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joshuas · 3 years
Text
facts
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♫ pairing: hwang hyunjin x female reader
♫ genre: fluff, crack (seriously, do not question how i came up with this), domestic au, established relationship au
♫ warnings: mentions spiders, and mentions use of alcohol?
♫ word count: 1.5k
♫ prompt: “are you drunk?” “not nearly enough” from this prompt list !
♫ a/n: this was actually a request from @starteez and dedicated to her as a very very belated birthday present <33 hope you like it :)))
♫ summary: hyunjin gets super drunk and has a Crisis, meanwhile you just wanted to watch the latest episode of your favourite drama.
♫ tagging: @jadezircon @mostlikelynotmelissa and @potato2earth - let me know if you would like to be part of the tag list !
You sighed, settling into the couch, tub of ice cream, and tv remote in hand.
It was Friday night. Otherwise known as you and Hyunjin’s drama night, in which you’d watch the latest episode of the most recent drama the two of you were hooked on. However, today, Hyunjin had decided to go out for drinks with Felix, ditching you and your drama night. Initially, you were annoyed (not that he was hanging out with his friends but more so that he messed with your tradition), but you realised that you could just watch it without him. I mean... he was going out and having fun, who’s to say that you can’t do the same by chilling with your favourite characters and finding out about whatever dark secrets they had been just about to reveal in the previous episode. Okay... the latter of that was your main motivation for it. You’re not that lonely or sad.
Nodding resolutely, you scooped your ice cream, settling into the couch as the drama played, your attention fixated on the screen.
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The sharp buzz of your phone startled you out of your immense concentration, the caller ID flashing to reveal your boyfriend, Hyunjin.
Your eyes widened in panic, your hands knocking the ice cream off of your lap as you reached around for the TV remote. The phone buzzed continuously, ringing as you fumbled around for the off button, leaving you breathless as you picked up the phone on the final ring,
“He—“
“Y/NNNN~” Hyunjin whined into the phone, his breathing heavy.
“Hyunjin? What’s wrong? Are you crying? ...Are you drunk?” You closed your eyes, only to open them again in confusion as you heard sniffling on the other end of the phone.
“Not nearly e-enough! I-I don’t w-want to be e-eaten.” He sobbed into the phone.
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion,
“What?” Your tone coming out sharper than expected, eliciting more sobs from Hyunjin.
“F-felix w-was telling me about how f-female s-spiders e-eat their m-mates, and now I’m scared and I’m n-never coming h-home because y-you’re going to e-eat me.” Hyunjin breathed, between sobs.
...What?
“Excuse me? Why would I eat you. Felix was talking about spiders.” You said, slightly offended by his drunk comparisons.
He breathed deeply,
“Y-you know how the other day we were watching a Marvel movie and y-you k-know what you s-said? You said that the c-character you r-relate with t-the m-most with is Black Widow!” He exclaimed, almost hysterical.
You pinched the bridge of your nose, as he spoke incoherently at the phone, sobs heaving out of him as if he had just witnessed something deeply distressing. Well... what his drunk mind was picturing was slightly distressing, so it made sense.
“Well yes, because she’s a strong, independent female lead. Anyway, you’re too drunk to understand any of that. Hyunjin. Where are you?”
“I’m not telling you! Y-you can’t come to Felix’s house!” Hyunjin attempted to ward you off before realising his mistake a second later. “FELIX! Y/N’s COMING! She’s going to eat us—“
You hung up on him, grabbing your keys and heading out the door... ignoring the melting ice cream on the floor.
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As soon as you reached Felix’s apartment you flung the door wide open, apologising profusely as a wincing Felix came out from behind, guiding you to your extremely drunk boyfriend.
Not noticing your entrance, Hyunjin had positioned himself quite... oddly, so that his head was on the rug on the floor but his legs were on the couch, a hand flung dramatically on his forehead, and another hand on the floor, not too dissimilar to someone doing a one-handed snow angel.
He looks like a four-year-old...
You cleared your throat behind him, approaching him tentatively. Whipping around, his eyes widened when they landed on you, panic flashing through them as he scrambled to sit upright.
“What are you doing here?” His words, although slightly slurred, still portrayed fear that was not well-founded at all. How his drunken state got to thinking you were a spider was beyond you, but then again, he was drinking with Felix, so who knows what went down there.
“I came to pick you up since you’re um. Drunk.” You raised your eyebrows, stating the obvious.
“No! You’re not allowed to take me back to your web.” He stumbled forward, couch cushion in hand in an attempt to ward you off.
Web? Oh my god...
“Can you— ugh. I’m not a spider! I’m not going to eat you! You’re my boyfriend, for God’s sake, and I love you, and I’m not a cannibal. Besides, you wouldn’t be very delicious, you’re mostly just muscle.” You sighed, raising your arms in frustration and defeat.
Hyunjin’s eyes widened in offence, placing a hand on his chest and stepping back, tears started to well in his eyes.
“I— oh no. What? Why are you crying again?” You panicked, settling him on the couch, rubbing his back soothingly as you mentally cursed his current over sensitive state.
“Y-you really t-think I w-wouldn’t be d-delicious?” He sobbed louder into your shoulder, as you rubbed soothing patterns on his back.
You rolled your eyes,
He’s so drunk.
“This conversation is so concerning, and one that I want to discontinue at all costs. I'm not a spider, and I'm not going to eat you. I don't want to comment on... that.” You deadpanned.
“How did you guys even get this drunk?” You glanced between Hyunjin and Felix who had emerged from the kitchen, ice pack on his slightly bruised face.
“It was all him. I asked him if he wanted to come over and watch the latest episode of this drama we’re both really into. He started drinking as soon as we started watching because he didn’t want to remember any of it so that when he watches it with you his reactions are genuine. Eventually, he got too drunk to even sit still, so we turned it off and started talking about stuff.” Felix shrugged.
“...and you somehow got to talking about spiders?” You asked, unimpressed.
“We were baking because he wanted to make you cookies, since he felt guilty...for basically watching nothing. I guess he still felt guilty for the action. Anyway, he freaked out after seeing a spider. Hyunjin, plus being drunk and his usual dramatic self is not fun. Especially when spiders are involved. I told him that fact because it was at the top of my head and he gave up on the cookies and started freaking out about you. Speaking of the cookies, I should probably check on them. You need to take this home before the rest of the guys come here if you want to have any of it.” He headed to the kitchen, leaving you and Hyunjin alone in the living room.
“Hyunjin, why didn’t you just stay home if you were just going to watch the drama? You know that today is drama night.” You crossed your arms, directing your attention once again to your sniffling boyfriend.
“I didn’t want to cry in front of youuu,” he sobbed. “I didn’t know what was going to happen next and I thought they might break up and I just...” he trailed off.
“You know that makes no sense right? You’re literally sobbing in front of me now. Also, you’re my boyfriend, I’m supposed to be there for you, tears and all. Besides, we’ll probably both be sobbing if the main characters broke up. We’ve shipped them too much for that to not be devastating.“ You said resolutely, your gaze softening as you looked at him, snuggling closer to you.
“I knowww.”
“Come on, let’s go home. There’s a tub of ice cream waiting for the both of us.”
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Your drama night was postponed to Saturday seeing as soon as the two of you arrived at your apartment, Hyunjin collapsed and fell into a deep sleep on the couch... and your ice cream was on the floor, melted and no longer edible.
Leading you to Saturday night, where you and Hyunjin were snuggled together on the couch, wrapped in a blanket burrito, eating the cookies he baked yesterday, alongside a new tub of ice cream, whilst bawling your eyes out.
“I told you,” he sniffed “I knew this would happen.”
Your tear-filled eyes blurred your vision as you tried to focus on the crying characters on the screen, reaching for another tissue,
“I know, but it’s not as bad when we’re watching it together, and besides, these cookies are incredible with ice cream.” You snuggled into him and gave him a watery smile.
“Hey, as long as you’re not a spider and about to eat me, I’m all for our drama nights and cuddles,” Hyunjin smirked.
You pushed him lightly,
“Oh my god... how do you even remember any of the stuff you said? You were ridiculous.”
“I don’t know but the fact still holds.”
“It’s not even a fact! I'm human!”
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💫 masterlist !
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olderthannetfic · 3 years
Note
re: racist fic, what I've mostly seen isn't single examples of horribly racist fics, but patterns in characterization over lots and lots of fics.
example: I liked winter soldier and read a fair bit of stevesam fic because they had a great dynamic in that movie. but after AOE and especially civil war, the stevesam stuff pretty well vanished in favor of stucky. and if Sam showed up at all, it was in a very mammy-ish role, where he baked cookies and played counselor for Steve and seemed to have no inner life of his own.
if it had been just a few fics, whatever. but the huge flood of them--while at the same time seeing the fandom pick apart every tiny microexpression on Steve and bucky faces while treating Sam like a prop..... it all came together into something undeniably racist.*
you can't point the finger at any one fic or fan when this happens. taken alone, no single fic might merit a "racism" tag. it's the snowball effect of all of them. and I just cannot see an easy solution to it.
*disclaimer: I'm not hating on stucky or anyone in the fandom, it's just one example of a pattern of sidelining black characters that I've seen in a lot of fandoms.
--
Yeah. I see those situations all the time.
One extra problem, on top of nobody being at fault specifically, is that the general pattern happens in all fandoms. Sam gets sidelined into the Free Therapy Friend role, and the choice of whom to sideline is undoubtedly influenced by racism. However, if he were white, it would still happen.
Look at Harry Potter fandom. In most fic shipping Harry with anybody other than Ron, Ron is either the prop best friend or the equally stock Impediment To The Ship friend, usually via cartoonish homophobia or jealousy.
I walked into TWS excited to see Bucky come back (I love characters coming back from the dead). I walked out a Sam/Steve shipper. But the things that make me like Sam are the same things I suspected would make him a less popular shipping choice. Yeah, he's also an adrenaline junkie nut when you really dig deep, but the vibe the movie gives him is the super sane, supportive friend who is just so stable he can handle the most ridiculous shit. I always go for this character. Which means that if there's a black guy in the cast, I always go for him because our casting is hella racist. Fandom's favorite broken-but-beautiful disaster who takes over everyone else's life with his drama trope is cast as a white guy time after time after time. Unless you watch Asian media or something.
What I noticed after TWS is that a lot of people were pleasantly surprised by Sam, but that at the same time, the FLOODGATES of Stucky opened. I did not stay in the fandom, but I have a feeling that it's less that these later movies made Stucky overtake Sam/Steve and more that most ships peter out after a bit, and it was only at that point that Sam/Steve fans were forced to notice just what abnormal staying power Stucky had.
If canon were about an epic, star-crossed bromance with a black guy and treated him as the woobie who gets all the humanizing closeups, that might be enough to somewhat disrupt fandom's usual pattern of not caring about black characters. But casting the black guy as the supportive friend who comes in half way through the incredibly epic loss and recovery story is not going to do it. Not even if he's massively charismatic and gets good one-liners. Big shipping trends also tend to kick off at the very beginning of a franchise. "How Steve and Bucky reunite" had already been going strong as a fic genre before TWS came out. It's hard to unseat that even when you don't add racism to the mix.
It's not nearly such a big fandom, but the closest analogy I can think of is Star Trek: Discovery. And unsurprisingly, a lot of that AO3 section is Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets. I know a lot of people still felt like the couple was sidelined too much in canon, but they're still arguably a central-to-canon epic romance with return from the dead.
So yes, the lack of Sam/Steve is racism in the sense of fans just not being into the black guy "for some reason", but it's also everything else about how canons tend to play out.
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accio-victuuri · 3 years
Note
Hi can you provide the link to read manhuas you prefer?
Hello Anon! OMG Manhua/Manhwa Rec! Here we go! I’ve only been reading for 2-3 months (consistently), so this will be pretty limited. I will link to the legit sites. A google search will direct you to others.
Most of these are WIPs and some, sadly, are discontinued. I won’t add TGCF or MDZS here cause those are already a given. 👇🏼
• Body Electric by Dong Ye ( completed, supernatural, lots of trigger warnings and plotty )
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Ba Song is the hotshot cop who’s been handed an open-and-shut case: the suicide of a young woman. Except… who commits suicide by stabbing their own body and strangling themself? There's only one man who can help him with this mystery — Bo Shan, the renowned forensic pathologist with a severe and cold personality. What's more, his body produces bioelectricity, allowing him to acutely sense bodily injury with his touch. There's an electric current between them, and each touch sizzles with energy
If you like crime dramas and stories where they solve mysterious cases then this is for you. The romance is subtle, and their relationship is not insta-love. strangers to colleagues to friends to lovers trope. This also discusses alot of issues the society has that will make you stop and think. Ba Song is really the honorable MC in here who always wants to help people and do good. While Bo Shan is the reluctant one but deep inside, he wants to make a difference too. I wish they would make a donghua or live action out of this.
• 30 year old by S-Monkey - ( ongoing, age difference, blind dates, slice of life)
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Charlie Wei is a single and handsome executive. He’s also a closeted gay guy who’s been on way too many bad blind dates with women. Charlie’s still hung up on his ex-boyfriend James and is… gasp, 30! Charlie’s family thinks he’s straight and too old to be without a wife! During another bad blind date, Charlie meets the flirty Ethan, who both annoys and intrigues him. Can Charlie finally come out and find true love with Ethan or will he continue on his streak of bad blind dates?
The cover looks melodramatic but it’s really not. This is so funny! I read this because people were saying it reminded them of BoXiao. And yes, there are moments here that remind me of them, but it’s more like an AU of BoXiao. I stayed up late trying to get caught up in the chapters and you won’t realize it cause it’s just that good. I love seeing the older MC loosening up and being more of himself. and the younger one being more responsible in his career. They just become better versions of themselves because of each other. It’s so sweet!
• I ship me and my Rival - by Pepa ( ongoing, comedy, reads like a meta )
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This follows the adventures of Wei Yanzi, a third-rate actor in the Chinese entertainment industry, stumbles onto a shipping fandom for himself and another actor (Gu Yiliang) while trying to escape from the flame wars and negativity. He's so taken with this group of fans who actually see him as a good guy instead of an enemy/rival of Gu Yiliang that he falls head-first into fandom and becomes actively involved in trying to provide shipping fuel and the fans' daily dose of fluff.
IF THERE IS ONE thing you will read here, let it be this. It is hilarious. If you are a CP fan you will relate so much and it’s a good time. It just shows how people who think are rivals can actually be really good friends in real life. What we see is not always what it seems. and people will interpret things based on their bias. The MC here is so dramatic! how his inner feelings/reactions were drawn will make you laugh.
• Path to You - by Sinran (completed, slice of life, age gap fluff and comedy )
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When almost college dropout Jensen attempts to drink away his problems, unemployed Nathaniel suddenly pukes on him and ruins his night. As an apology, Nathaniel offers to help Jensen with his studies. Despite Jensen's difficulties in getting along with people, the two become friends and something deeper begins to grow between them
The story is so soft. If you want something with mild angst/misunderstandings— then pick this. I love the progression of their relationship and how they take care of each other. There are other themes showed here other than the romance.
• Red Candy - by Hanse (completed season one with a cliffhanger, explicit scenes, assassins )
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Shihyeon, aka “Red Candy,” is a secret agent whose code name comes from bathing in the blood of his marks on dangerous missions. Shihyeon’s tasked with seducing and obtaining intel from Hajun, a hot college professor. Shihyeon can disarm enemies, but didn’t expect to be disarmed himself by Hajun’s own tight body. Now Shihyeon’s caught between loyalty to his spy agency and Hajun. Can Red Candy survive the incoming wave of enemies and still indulge in the sweet ecstasy of Hajun’s embrace?
THIS STRESSED ME OUT MAAAN. Wow. I loved this. That season one cliffhanger. It’s definitely up there as my favorite. If you think about it, the tropes are really not original. An assassin is sent to shadow a person and they develop a relationship. That simple. But NOOOOO! There are so many things going on. The Main mystery plot, Their relationship, their shared past plus you have other sketchy secondary characters. And did i mention explicit scenes? Lots of them. I want this two to have a happy ending!!!
• Lone Swan - by Chu Man (discontinued, cultivation, star crossed lovers)
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After losing his memory, Yiqiu Shen, a disciple from the decent sect meets a very special man named Luofeng Yan, who is the leader of the evil Divine Wind Cult. When escaping and conflicting with Yan, Shen gradually finds his original self as well as his previous love back. Together they rip off the facade of the martial world and reveal the hidden true
I didn’t want to add a discontinued story here, with no novel as a source material but this one made an impact on me. so. yeah. THE ART. breathtaking. The plot = layered. There are times I don’t even know who is telling the truth. It had so much potential and i hope it will get picked up again at some point. People rec this to those who enjoyed TGCF and MDZS, and they are right. 👍🏼
• Dragon in Distress by Si Wang Wen Hua - ( ongoing, dragons, past life, lost power, fantasy )
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This is a story about a little Eastern green dragon and a little Western black dragon playing together.
The synopsis is pretty simple if you look at it but this one is pretty interesting. and surprisingly funny. tinie AoAo is so cute! 🤍 the other MC has tsundere tendencies tho. Lots of lore and more truths to uncover as the story progresses. I’m not giving it enough justice with how i’m reccing it, but if you like dragons and fantasy — give this a go.
• Breaking through the clouds 2: Swallow the Sea - Huaishang (ongoing, based on a novel, crime, drama, cases)
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Wu Yu, a newcomer of the Public Security Bureau, is gentle and frail. He doesn’t care about the difficulties posed by Bu ZhongHua, his strict boss, and only wants to stay in the background to be paid on time with enough for food. However, no one knows that this young man’s head is targeted by top drug traffickers for a large bounty or that this courageous young man has once slaughtered the dragon of the abyss. With a chain of interlocking cases, a series of troubles come one after another. Can the two people work together to survive through the difficulties?
Do you see a pattern with me? lol. I like crime themes. This one is the same and by the looks of it, the cases they solve will take longer to unravel. I haven’t read the novel it’s based on yet so i’m just going with how the manhua is progressing. I like it when Wu Yu turns full on action-mode and when ZH takes care of him. Plus it helps that they are both gorgeous. I’ll get back this with a proper link.
• Where the Wind Stays - by Yusa (completed season one, curses, demons, possession, timeskip, explicit scenes)
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To break an ancient curse that plagues the royal bloodline, young Prince Tasara is destined to be sacrificed in death. Nara is enlisted as a palace servant to carry out the prince’s execution when the time comes. But he develops a soft spot for the cursed prince, and after committing an atrocious and unforgivable act against Tasara, Nara is desperate to right his wrongs. Soon, their lascivious relationship that had been kept under wraps tests his resolve. Will Nara be tempted away from his original mission? There’s no telling how far he would go to earn Tasara’s forgiveness.
This story broke my brain, in a good way. I don’t wanna say much cause it will spoil the story. It’s the type that you gave to see and suffer through yourself. I am excited for what happens in season II!!!
Honorable Mentions:
I’m placing these here cause I have only read a few chapters and tho I liked them, I wanna read more before reccing it in full. 👍🏼
• I accidentally saved the Jinghu’s enemy
• Global Examination
• Monster entertainment
• Demon Apartment
And that’s it! Hope enjoy Anon! 😊
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let-them-read-fics · 3 years
Text
Blackpink Reaction To Their S/O Surprising Them W/ Dyed Hair
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A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! Thank you guys for being patient with me on the requests, I really appreciate it. This is my first time writing a reaction, so let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy. Happy reading, everyone!
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Everything is under the cut :)
Jisoo
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"Say hello to everyone," Jisoo requests through the phone, looking back up to the screen in front of her with that signature smirk playing on her lips. As fate would have it, she was in the middle of doing a live when you called. The fans love you -- especially since you're so funny and chaotic when you're around -- so you're happy to greet them.
"Hi, Blinks! I'll be there in a few minutes with a special surprise." 
Jisoo lets out a shocked noise at this, considering you hadn't told her about your plans. 
"Oye! Hurry home so we can see it." She says excitedly, lightly bouncing up and down on the bed. With a smile that's evident in your voice, you tell her goodbye.
---
In one swift motion, you scoop up a cheery Dalgom in your arms, laughing at how he licks your cheeks in greeting. 
"I love you, too, buddy."
After setting your bag down on the couch, you make your way to Jisoo's room. Little do you know, she has a surprise of her own in store.
"BOO!" She shouts, keeping her phone steady to capture your reaction to the scare. You tense up and shout, nearly dropping Dalgom in the process, but you recover after a moment. Both of you break out into a fit of giggles, and you look over at the computer on the bedside table to find the fans blowing up the chat. Jisoo wipes the tears of laughter from her eyes, and looks at you again; only now does she notice your new hair. 
At first, she's speechless -- only capable of looking at you with hearts in her eyes. Eventually, though, she finds her voice again. "Y/N! Wow, it looks gorgeous!" She smiles, running her hand through the newly dyed locks. Her accent made the compliment even more special, and you don't even try to stop the grin that tugs at your lips. 
---
Now seated on the bed with Jisoo beside you and Dalgom in your lap, you flip your hair around exaggeratedly as you show it to the audience. The positive comments roll in, and you take turns reading some of them out loud. From her position against the headboard, she can see the different hues of your hair shine and shimmer brightly in the gentle lamplight; she can't help but admire you.
After half an hour or so, she decides to end the live. You pull Dalgom into your arms again and smoosh your cheek up against Jisoo's, making sure to crowd in enough to fit into frame. Something must have gotten into her, because she leans around to press a lingering kiss to the corner of your lips, right in front of the camera. You can only imagine how much harder the fans are going to ship you now.
With a final wave and goodbye to everyone, she ends it. She wraps one arm around your back as her other comes to rest on your thigh, reaching up every now and then to pet Dalgom's head. 
"I'm so happy you like it." You say after a few minutes, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over the room. She lifts her head from its place on your shoulder to look at you. "Of course I do, Y/N. Did you doubt that I would?"
"Not exactly… I was just afraid it might not turn out pretty. You know?" She nods in response, but her heart breaks a little: you have no idea how amazing you are.
"I understand, but you don't ever need to worry about that. Everything about you is beautiful because it's a part of you. You make everything pretty." She gushes, tracing little patterns on your hip. 
You attempt to dismiss her words, throwing a hand into the air while making a little "pshh" sound, but she doesn't stand for it. "I mean it, Y/N. I'm not just saying that. I'm glad to call you mine; you're so special." Her words affect you more than you thought they would, and soon tears are blurring your vision. Who knew dying your hair could lead to all this?
"I don't know what I did to deserve you, Jisoo, but I love you so much. You always know what to say." And it's true -- she does. She knows you get insecure sometimes, and she's always there to reassure you of her feelings when you need it most. 
"And I love you." She affirms, allowing her head to rest on your shoulder again now that you're happy.
Feeling left out, Dalgom lets out a little bark; he wants attention too. In an instant, the room is filled with kissy noises and the sound of your high pitched voices as you both talk to him and shower him with love.
Jennie
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"Jen, I'm home!" With a shrug of your shoulders, the warm material of your coat falls down your arms. As you hang it on the rack beside the door, a smile tugs at your lips; Jennie gave you that coat, and it's always done well in keeping you warm and comfortable when she can't be around to do so. You make a mental note to thank her properly. 
With that, you amble into the kitchen.
"Yah, jagi! What took so long? I missed you." Jennie whines, her words slipping past the cute little pout that's surely adorning her face. She's preparing a snack at the counter, her back turned to you as she struggles to open the sauce jar. 
"Here, let me help," you offer, approaching her. 
As she hands you the container, she turns to look at you for the first time tonight. Her eyes widen as she does a double take at you. You don't notice, though -- your focus is elsewhere.
"Jisoo and I saw a new gaming store when we were out today and we decided to stop in. We didn't expect to be there for so long; we just got wrapped up." You tell her, answering her previous question as you finally manage to pop the lid open. Upon sliding the jar over to her and meeting her gaze, an instant blush begins to make its way to your cheeks. Her pupils are blown wide now, and her lips are pursed as she appreciates the sight of you. You never fail to send her heart wild.
"I'm convinced you can rock any color," she flirts, smiling widely at the reaction her words garner from you. 
"Why don't you come a little closer and get a better look?" You ask, fighting the shyness that threatens to take over you. She quirks an eyebrow before sauntering over, swiftly moving to tangle her hands in your hair. "It suits you so well, babe." She compliments, toying with the soft strands that fall down into your face as you lean in closer to her. Her embrace is comforting, as always, and you sigh at the feeling of her fingers against your scalp. Before she can stop herself, Jennie leans forward and connects your lips in a sweet kiss. She tastes like fruit, and you can't get enough of the flavor. Working with a sneaking suspicion, you open your eyes and glance over at her work station. Now, with your fears confirmed, you abruptly pull away.
She groans at the loss of contact, but you're quick to speak up. "You made tanghulu without me?? Woooow, Jennie. I'm hurt." You tease, acting truly upset as you take a step away from her. She shakes her head, letting out a little chuckle; for a second, she worried you were upset about something serious.
"Shush, we can always make more." 
You don't drop the act so easily, though, and the playful glint in her eye tells you that she's enjoying the banter. 
"What else have you done without me today? If you watched that new drama without me then you're sleeping on the couch tonight." A guilty expression falls over her features, and she avoids your gaze.
"About that…" she starts, rubbing the back of her neck as a dry chuckle slips past her lips.
"JENNIE KIM!" 
"I'm messing with you, babe. That would be treason." She pulls you into her arms again, raising a hand and giving you a sort of "scout's honor" gesture to prove that she isn't lying. After narrowing your eyes at her one last time to ensure she's being truthful, you give in and kiss her again. 
"Fine. You'll just have to keep kissing me to make up for the tanghulu."
"Oh, really? I'll have to start making it without you more often, then." She laughs against your lips as you pinch her for that remark. Your mood brightens exponentially at the sound of her giggles, and you wrap your arms around her even tighter.
Rosé
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“I'm home, my love!" You shout, slipping your shoes off and setting them beside the door. A content sigh leaves your lips as you undo the top few buttons of your shirt, finally able to relax and see Rosé. Her excited footsteps carry out across the house as she makes her way downstairs, Hank following right along. You crouch down to pick him up, smiling at the precious way his ears bounce around as he runs into your arms. 
"Oww, my heart," Rosie exclaims with a grin, holding her hand against her chest in mock pain. Nothing can compare to seeing her two loves so happy and carefree. She pads her way over to you, and you kiss the top of Hank's head before setting him on the ground. Her arms wrap around your waist, and you pull her in for a warm embrace; the two of you stand like that for a minute, swaying back and forth. Eventually she pulls back to press a kiss to your lips -- something she's been dying to do all day -- and she takes your hat off in order to run her hands through your hair. 
"I missed you, babe." The words come out quietly, accompanied by a frown. You peck her lips again until her pout turns into a soft little smile, and rest your forehead against hers. 
"Me too. But now I have the next 3 days off, and I'm all yours." Her eyes look into yours lovingly, but quickly shift to look at your newly exposed hair. 
A sound of surprise stutters past her lips -- you've truly taken her breath away. She has a special twinkle in her eye as she looks at you, completely in love. Her fingers skim across your collarbone and neck as they move to play with your hair. 
"It's beautiful, just like you." You tut at her and bring your hands up to cover your face, taking refuge behind them. She's quick to pull them away, though, pressing a kiss to your knuckles and wrists before interlocking your fingers. 
"I mean it, Y/N. You're always so stunning." There's no denying the effect her words have on you; even after being together for as long as you have, her compliments never fail to set your heart aflame. 
"How'd I get so lucky, huh?" You ask her as you let your hands settle on her hips. She's clad in a crop top and jeans, and the soft skin of her abdomen against your fingertips is a wonderful contrast to the rough material of her pants. 
It's her turn to blush now. "I love you to the mountains and back and to the far far hills--" your giggles interrupt her recital, and she just laughs along with you. "I love you, too, Rose. So much." She presses another kiss to your cheek before leading you up the stairs and calling out for Hank to follow.
Lisa
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As you walk down the hallway of the dance studio, destination set on Lisa's rehearsal room, you can hear the strong beat of "Candy" by Doja Cat pulsing inside. A stray staff member passes by you, looking nearly entranced as you run a hand through your hair to readjust it and smile at her. She watches you walk away, incapable of taking her eyes off of you, and that simple act boosts your confidence tenfold. You had been a little nervous to see how people would react to your new look -- Lisa, in particular -- but all of the approval you've been receiving has eased your worries so far.
With one final, steadying breath, you release your fears and open the door. 
Your girlfriend doesn't notice you come in at first, given that she's totally in her element, her body winding around as she performs the moves expertly. You lean against the doorframe now, taking in the beautiful sight. During one particular part of the song, she does a set of body rolls, putting the muscles of her abdomen on full display as she flexes them. The low lighting of the room sets the mood perfectly, creating just the right ambiance.
"Damn, baby. Am I crazy or are you somehow getting even better?" The words startle her ever so slightly, pulling her from the other world that she was just in. She glances at you from across the room, and a look of confusion crosses her face for a split second. After she registers that you're you and not some random staff member, her jaw drops to the floor. 
Totally disregarding your previous question, she's quick to replace it with her own as she runs over to you. "Y/N! Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me??" The words come out in a rush as she engulfs you in a tight embrace, and you snuggle into her warmth. 
"I wanted to surprise you. I've been wanting to switch it up for a while, and somebody told me that this is your favorite color." You say, unwrapping one of your hands from her waist and bringing it up to toy with your hair. "Do you like it?" You ask, biting your lip as the nerves begin to creep back in momentarily. Lisa hasn't said anything yet -- she's just been studying your features with the hint of a smirk on her lips. 
"No, I don't."
"Wha--"
"I love it, babe. You're so beautiful." She says as she rests her forehead against yours. 
With a sigh, you nudge her playfully. "Hey, don't do that to me! I thought you didn't like it." You pout, avoiding her now incredulous gaze.
"Look at me." She commands, cupping your cheek gently as she lifts your head to face her. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't like it? You could be bald and I'd still be just as in love with you as ever. But that color looks absolutely gorgeous on you." 
She always knows just what to say. 
"I love you, dork." You grin, pressing a kiss against her soft lips. 
"And I love you. Now, come dance with me." Her hands skim down your arms on their journey to your hands, and she interlocks your fingers. She walks backwards towards the middle of the room, doing a goofy little shimmy on the way. Her antics draw a giggle from you, and she reciprocates. Before long, the two of you are having a full on dance battle as another new song blasts through the speakers.
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tlhrfanfic · 3 years
Text
[Late] Thus With a Kiss I Die
Title: Thus With a Kiss I Die Ship: Late (Nate/Procrastination&Logan) Warnings: Idiot Gays, Kissing, Making Out, Disaster Gays, One Brain cell shared. Cuuuute. Words: 12,444 Request: So this was a Kiss AU list request that was requested by @romantichopelessly​ for a present for getting lots of stuff done with her Botwot AU: 36. we can never be together.
Summary: Logan was just cast as Juliet in the school play. He is not thrilled. Then he finds out that his crush Nate is Romeo. He's doomed.
Read on AO3
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Logan couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t believe that a senior class in an all-boys boarding school was doing a play. No, that was statistically likely, all things considered. 
 What he couldn’t believe, however, was that the school had chosen Romeo and Juliet as the play for the senior class that year. 
 Why?
 They weren’t even changing the genders of the female characters to appear pro-gay or any of the less than moral types of things private institutions did to bring in donators. 
 “Maybe our parents just thought they’d get a kick out of some of their kids dressing up in drag and talking falsetto.” Logan snorted and glanced at his best friend. 
Virgil sighed. 
 “I’m soooo glad I got the nurse. Yes! No one cares about that old hag’s lines. Smooth sailing.”
 Logan glared. 
 Virgil cleared his throat, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, and shrugged. 
 “Yeah… tough luck you got the lead.”
 Logan laughed at that and shook his head. 
 “Thank you.”
 Virgil raised a brow. “For what?”
 “Most people have been congratulating me.”
 Virgil snorted. “Oh, yeah. Well, any time dude.”
 Logan sighed and nodded. 
 “So uh… have you talked with him yet?”
 Logan, who currently had his face in his hands, could hear the slight smirk in Virgil’s carefully phrased question. He suddenly longed to glare daggers at his friend but, due to all the excitement, was too exhausted to bother. Definitely not his excitement, but it was felt nonetheless. 
 “I don’t have any idea to whom you would be referring to Virgil.”
Logan attempted to silence the other with a look but his gamble failed.
 Virgil’s smirk widened. “Oh you don’t, do you?”
 Logan mustered up the energy to actually glare daggers his way, but there still wasn’t much fire behind it. He sighed. 
 “What am I going to do?” he asked, a slight whine to his words that he generally avoided. 
 Virgil sighed as well. “Why are you asking me?”
 Logan rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses. 
 “One of us is actually in a romantic relationship and it is not me.”
 Virgil blushed and shrugged.
 “It’s all still very new though so I don’t know what you expect from me here, Lo.”
 “How do I get him to like me?”
 “Dude, you’ve liked that guy since we started high school. If anyone knows how to get him to like you, it’s you.”
 Logan groaned. 
 “Has Patton been having you listen to those self-growth tapes again?”
 Virgil shrugged but smiled softly and, for a moment, Logan smiled as well. He was very pleased to see his friend so happy. “They’re really not so bad.”
 “Good to know.”
 Logan sighed. 
 “Why don’t you just tell him?”
 Logan looked up at Virgil as if he’d grown an extra head. 
 “Right. Tell Nate Lassus, whom most of those students who identify as gay or bisexual and/or pan want, that I’ve had a crush on him for three years? Someone who I should not even want because truly, what do we have in common?”
 “You mean aside from the fact that you guys like each other and want to kiss each other and make out and do I need to keep going?”
 “That does not promote a healthy relationship, Virgil.”
 Virgil rolled his eyes. “Then you get to know him and I am certain there is something you guys have in common.”
 “Also, he does not like me. Don’t think I didn’t hear that.”
 “He does, and I hoped you would.” Virgil stuck out his tongue.
 Logan bit his tongue to keep from snapping at his friend. Virgil had been on this whole theory that Nate liked him as well. Which was absolutely absurd and held no merit whatsoever despite Virgil and Patton’s so-called evidence. 
 “Patton said he looked excited when you were chosen for Juliet. Even looked your way, hoping you were looking at him.”
 Logan looked up at Virgil. For a moment, there was a sliver of hope but reality sunk in. 
 “This is Nate Lassus we are talking about, Virgil. He’s just excited to get to kiss a guy on stage.”
 Virgil groaned but dropped the subject. Logan knew that wouldn’t be the last of it, however, he was happy for the break.
 »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate watched as his two best friends fooled around with some of the prop swords backstage. He was currently working on some backgrounds, hammering some pre-cut wood boards that would be used as trees or perhaps castle props or any number of things. 
 He didn’t do the whole painting bit, but he could definitely manage hammering support pieces of wood to the backdrops. 
 As he worked, Nate thought back to the assembly when they were informed that a play would be put on and the parts that they would perform. When he had heard his name first, announced along with the name of the play’s male lead, his only thought had been a half-hearted wish. 
 If only Logan could be my Juliet… he’d thought and then—as if his thoughts had actually held any power at all—Logan’s name had been called and Juliet’s had followed. Nate could only glance at Logan, hoping to see what the other’s reaction had been. Unfortunately, it had looked like… well, not disgust, which was good… but definitely shock and dread. Nate had tried to tell himself that the looks were more about the role he’d been given and had nothing to do with himself.
 It felt like a lie, but it made Nate feel better all the same.
 “Take that, heathen,” Janus’s crisp voice broke through his thoughts. He glanced up from his spot on the floor as he shifted to the next set of backdrops and supports. 
 “Never, you scallywag bitch!” Remus cackled and rushed at Janus, the pair’s swords clacked with every strike.
 Where Janus actually had had fencing lessons and moved with finesse and experience, Remus struck down with pure force and nothing else. With Janus’s slight frame—at five-foot-four—it would seem that Remus’s strategy could gain him the upper hand. However, it was the smaller teen’s quick and fluid footwork that secured his victory. 
 As Nate had guessed, Remus’s wood sword was soon sailing across the room, clacking onto the tiled floor. Remus cackled, rather than growing angry, and rushed to get the wooden sword. With the more chaotic of his friends distracted, Janus turned to Nate while continuing to run through different fencing patterns.
 Sharp eyes met Nate’s, one a deep brown and the other a warm gold. He said nothing, knowing that whatever it was his friend wanted to say, he would get to it when he was ready and not a moment sooner. Still, as the moments ticked on, Nate wished he would just get on with it already. 
 “Sooo… Logan Wright is your Juliet… now why does this seem so fitting.… Oh right, because you complete morons are in love with each other. Maybe even the teachers and staff know it and this is the whole damn school’s way of saying ‘Now Kiss’.”
 Nate rolled his eyes. He tried to stay chipper and upbeat but now that it was spoken, he could no longer ignore the siren call of his crush as a topic. 
 “Jan… he didn’t even look at me… what if…”
 “Hopeless…”
 “Jan, I’m serious here.”
 “And so am I, Nate.”
 Remus returned. 
 “How do you know Logan likes him anyway, babe?”
 Janus looked at his boyfriend and shrugged. 
 “I can’t really say how… just trust me on this. My instincts are solid when it comes to people’s love lives.”
 Nate wanted to argue but, since Janus was his best friend from grade school, he already knew it was pointless. Not to mention, Janus had walked into the school freshman year, spotted Remus, and pointed him out to Nate. 
 “That guy is strange and quite possibly deranged. And I’m not sure how I know this, but we are most definitely going to date.”
 Nate had snorted and moved on. Then it had happened in Junior year, long after Janus had forgotten about the fateful statement he had made two years before. So he might have been right back then, but Nate really didn't want to have to wait two years like the other had to find out if his best friend’s prediction today would come true. 
 “You really should tell ol’ Logan how you feel, dude.” Remus shrugged, grinning that almost maniacal grin of his. Nate couldn’t help but grin back. 
 Still, his friends obviously didn’t get it. 
 If Logan had any feelings, he would have looked his way at the assembly when he’d realized it was Nate who he’d be kissing. 
 Oh, fuck. That’s right.
 Not only was it that Logan would be kissing him… 
 Nate would get to kiss Logan. 
 “And this look is Nate now realizing that not only does he get to share the lead with his crush, but he also gets to kiss said crush on stage in front of everybody.” Janus murmured with a side glance at his boyfriend. Remus snickered. 
 Nate threw them the double bird and kicked them out. 
 Getting back to work, Nate put all thoughts of crushes and kisses out of his mind.
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan almost didn’t make it to the meeting with Mr. Thomas Sanders, the drama teacher who was putting the show on, and Nate. He was just going to continue on with his normal routine and that would be that. They would realize he just wasn’t going to do it and they would get someone else. 
 Then he realized that part of him wanted to go. Was it curiosity? Or was it the siren call of having a valid reason to spend more time with Nate?
 Logan blinked as he looked around, finding himself already headed in the direction of the theater. 
 It took a lot less time than he hoped to reach the two large oak doors, opening one of them and slipping inside. He was not surprised to see Mr. Sanders’s bright, welcoming smile. He was also not surprised to see that Nate was not there. 
 Nate had a habit of running late… all the time. 
 Something that would annoy him in anyone else, but with Nate, it somehow just worked.
 “Logan! Thank you for being here,” Mr. Sanders said, still smiling brightly. “Nate should be here soon.”
 Logan nodded, ignoring the heat rising up the back of his neck. 
 He jumped a moment later as the oak door opened once more, his head jerking in that direction.
 In walked Nate, looking just as attractive as he always did. It was because he was having what Roman, Patton’s friend, would call a ‘swoon moment’ that Logan didn’t notice it at first, but Nate’s gaze was on him from the moment he walked in the door. 
 Pretending that his blush was not currently seeping into his cheeks, Logan cleared his throat and turned in Nate’s direction. Standing up straight, Logan nodded at the other in greeting. While they weren’t friends, they had shared a number of classes and projects and school trips over the years. They’d talked but only in a capacity regarding those things. 
 None of which were personal or intimate. 
 Logan withheld a sigh, then remembered he should say something. 
 “Salutations, Nathan.”
 “Hey yourself, Logan. Hey, Mr. S.”
 Nate joined them and Mr. Sanders led them to the front row of seats. He had three padded fold out chairs, one in front of the other two. Logan took one of them and Nate took the other. Ignoring how close he was to Nate at that very moment, Logan focused instead on Mr. Sanders. 
 The drama teacher took the chair in front of them and beamed at them both. 
 “Thank you both for coming. I just wanted to take a moment and congratulate you both on getting the roles, even if you may not have wanted them.”
 Mr. Sanders who smiled apologetically. 
 “I had suggested we hold auditions and I was overruled.”
 Logan shrugged, a habit he had picked up from Virgil. 
 “It can’t be helped now and it’s not for any major event. I mean, I may suffer from making an absolute mockery of myself but… I have my own reasons for doing it, I suppose.”
 “Oh really? Do tell,” Nate pressed, flashing an easy grin.
 Logan flushed. He couldn’t believe he had just said what he’d said. He had felt surprisingly calm in the moment though he supposed that was just the effect Mr. Sanders had on people.
 Effective for an instructor teaching performing arts. 
 “It’s just… I’m a team player. We all have to do this. I cannot be selfish. I’d also… well, I’d kind of like to challenge myself too, I suppose.”
 And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Nate was playing Romeo and Logan would get to kiss him. 
 Logan’s heart rate increased and his eyes fell to Nate’s mouth before quickly looking away.
 “Huh. Well… that’s epic. Good for you, dude.”
 Logan nodded. 
 “Nate’s right. That is very epic!” Mr. Sanders agreed. 
 He clapped his hands.
 “Alright, I know I don’t have to tell you two that Romeo and Juliet are the two most important characters in the play. Obviously, without them, the play would not exist. But, I want you guys to forget about that.”
 Logan’s confusion must have shown on his face because Mr. Sanders elaborated. “You are to think of them as people. Think of them as your friends. Or better yet, yourselves. I want you to get into their minds and think about why they do the things they do in the way they do them.”
 He stood up, pacing back and forth as he explained, glancing at them every so often. He then returned to them, taking the chair once more.
 “By doing that, you open them up in an intimate way that allows you to become them. Does all of that make sense?”
 He looked at Logan first before glancing at Nate. 
 Logan considered the words. He wasn’t an actor. That was Roman. 
 Which reminded him to make a mental note to speak with Roman after this. Unfortunately, while that would help future him, it did not help him now. 
 “I suppose… it’s… well, if we don’t feel what they are feeling…” Logan was grasping at straws. He was hands down the worst choice for the character of Juliet he had ever seen. 
 Nate leaned toward Logan. It was subtle but Logan, constantly aware of his surroundings, noticed. Strangely, it was comforting. 
 “Let me take a stab.”
 “Go ahead, Nate.” Mr. Sanders said with a grin, pleased with the other’s enthusiasm.
 “It’s because we can’t just learn the lines and do what the movements and motions say. Anyone can do that, but in order to sell what we are doing, we have to understand the character’s struggles to better perform them on the stage. By becoming the characters, we help the audience experience what they were feeling and thinking.”
 “Very good Nate! Exactly.”
 Logan glanced at Nate and smiled his appreciation. Nate shrugged.
 And winked.
 Logan blushed and turned his attention back to Mr. Sanders who was rising to head to his bag. He pulled out what appeared to be papers and two boxes and headed back to them. Handing each boy a stapled document, he continued to talk. 
 “These are your scripts. Feel free to highlight, take notes, change directions, and—although anything you change must be approved by me—I am always open to and strongly urge suggestions.” He then handed them each a box of two highlighters. “Rehearsals will start tomorrow after school. They will run for an hour and a half during weekdays for the next four weeks. The three weeks after that will be two and a half hour practices and the week after that is show week.”
 He glanced at them both. 
 “Any questions?”
 Logan, afraid to speak, shook his head. He held his script and highlighters close, ready to bolt at the first opportunity. Nate must have agreed in some fashion because Mr. Sanders continued on. 
 “One last suggestion. You are expected to run your lines outside of rehearsals. It’s the only way to memorize the lines. However, you are not expected to run lines together. I do want to strongly urge that you do. Find a nice quiet place to run the scenes you guys have together. You both already seem pretty comfortable around each other. That will help! Especially when it comes to practicing the kiss.” 
 He glanced at Logan. “You do not have to practice the kiss but you will want to. Trust me. It’s not easy to kiss strangers on stage.” He shuddered and Logan had to wonder at his experience with such things. Perhaps it was better not to ask. 
 He ignored his flaming cheeks and cleared his throat. 
 “Thank you for all the suggestions and insight, Mr. Sanders, but if that is all, I really must go.”
 “Yes, of course. You are both good to go and I look forward to seeing you at rehearsals.”
 Logan took off and didn’t look back. 
  »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he was able to keep his disappointment and irritation off his face until he thanked Mr. Sanders and left. 
 So… that was it then. 
 Logan didn’t like him and was actually disgusted by the idea of not only kissing him but practicing kissing him too. 
 He sighed as he ignored the urge to hit the wall. Even if it would help him let out his frustration, he’d have a broken hand and that would just do no one any good. 
 Deciding to put the feelings into doing something useful, Nate made his way to the door that led backstage and headed in. Making his way past the dressing rooms and costume closets, Nate reached the main backstage floor, where he found Janus. 
 His friend was busy working, sketching backgrounds onto the backdrops that had already been assembled. Janus didn’t even bother looking up. 
 “Nice of you to join me, Nate.”
 Nate had no idea how he always knew it was him without looking, but at this point, he couldn’t be bothered to ask. Janus would likely take it to his grave anyway. 
 “Hey, dude.” Nate sighed.
 Janus immediately looked up from what he was doing, his eyes narrowing. 
 “What happened?” 
 Nate blinked, a shiver at the dangerous look in those two toned eyes running down his back. Not for the first time, he was extremely happy that Janus was his friend rather than an enemy. 
 “Nothing… exactly?”
 “Darling, it’s my job to be vague and interesting. Yours is to be strong and mmm… a little himbo-esque. Now, I’m going to ask you again. What happened?”
 Nate sighed and explained what had happened in the meeting and Logan’s sudden rush out the doors at the end. Janus kept the same unreadable expression on his face throughout the story and when Nate finished, he sighed. 
 Nate frowned. 
 “What?”
 “Nate… darling… I don’t mean to sound harsh when I say this… who the hell am I kidding, yes I do. Especially since I know you can take it. Think about what you just told me and then think about who it is you’re talking about…”
 “Logan… yeah, so what?”
 Janus tutted. 
 “Okay… I see I am going to have to spell this out for you, hon. In the years that we have attended this school with Logan, have you ever seen him date? Ever see him hold hands with anyone?” He watched Nate closely. Nate, not sure where this was going, just listened. “Ever see him hug anyone… well, I suppose he gets hugs from Patton but that definitely doesn’t count. Everyone gets hugs from Patton. But anyway… ever see him in any scenario like those I mentioned?”
 Nate didn’t really need to think about it. He had liked Logan for so long, it was as if his presence was a magnet for Nate’s gaze. 
 “No… but I don’t really see how…”
 “So gorgeous… so sweet… but so, so dumb.”
 Nate might have felt offended but the other said the insult with such fondness it almost felt like the other compliments he’d offered. 
 “Janus, just get to the point.”
 “Very well. Of course Logan ran out of there at the thought of practicing kissing you… he’s never been kissed, Nate.”
 Oh.
 Oh.
 “Oh.”
 Janus smirked and stood up, coming to stand in front of him. Nate looked down at him and sighed. 
 “I… never even considered… huh… okay… so I should definitely go find him then?”
 “Oh, most definitely.”
 Janus winked. Nate grinned at the other and nodded at the sketch. 
 “Nice trees, by the way. I think that’s what they are—”
 “Fuck you,” Janus said but grinned. 
 “You wish.”
 “Don’t I just.” 
 Nate chuckled and pointed at the hall that led to the exit with his thumb. 
 “I’ve got a cute nerd to find. Catch you later.”
 “Oh, have you learned how to catch things now?”
 Nate, who totally could not catch anything thrown his way, gasped. 
 “Low blow, my friend.”
 “It’s how you know I care. Now, go find Logan. Also, maybe consider telling him how you feel… just a thought. No pressure.”
 “Yeah… we’ll see. Later.”
 “Go get him, darling.”
 Nate snorted but headed out for the dorms.
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan reached the dorm room that he shared with Virgil and quickly buried himself in the thing that made him feel safest: homework. 
 He was so lost in his homework that he almost didn’t hear the knock on the door. It wasn’t odd to have someone knock on his door, so Logan didn’t give it much thought. It was likely Patton looking for Virgil or something. Patton often forgot that his cell phone would be a much more efficient solution to finding his boyfriend. 
 Then again, also knowing Patton pretty well by now, it was just as likely he was checking up on Logan. That boy did wear his heart on his sleeve and would want to help if he perceived someone was upset in any way. 
 Therefore, when he went to open his door, it was with great surprise, and uncalled for embarrassment, he found Nate on the other side. 
 “So… hey.”
 “... Hi.”
 Logan did not miss how Nate glanced into his dorm before looking at him once more. 
 “I was wondering if you… uh… if you had a moment.”
 Logan shifted slightly but nodded. When he said nothing, Nate continued. 
 “Do you think we can maybe take this inside?”
 “You wish to be invited into my dorm room?”
 Nate chuckled softly. Logan frowned. It almost sounded fond but that made no sense. Logan was barely a blip on Nate’s radar. There was no reason for him to be fond of anything that had to do with Logan. 
 Deciding it was obviously projections of his own feelings—why did he have them again?—Logan pushed any thoughts and inquiries on fondness from his mind. 
 “Yeah, if that’s alright with you.”
 Logan considered before nodding, opening the door and stepping away to let Nate pass. He closed the door behind him, trying to ignore the twisting of his insides from having his crush in his room. 
 Not sure what to do with himself, Logan returned to his desk and leaned against it, watching Nate and ignoring the heat rising up the back of his neck. 
 “Alright… we’re inside. What did you wish to speak to me about?”
 Nate, who had been checking out the room, seemed to focus on Logan’s side. 
 Interesting. 
 He grinned at Logan now and crossed from the book shelf he had been perusing to stand in front of him. 
 “Yeah, so… I just wanted to talk about the play…”
 Logan sighed. 
 “Obviously. There is no other reason that could have brought you here. I know we don’t talk too much and we aren’t friends so there would be no reason to hang out, but surely, after years of school with me, you would know that I am pretty observant.”
 Nate chuckled that same fond laugh again. The sound had heat slipping into Logan’s cheeks and he cleared his throat. 
 “What about the play, Nathan?”
 Nate sighed. “Janus told me you’ve uh… you’ve never been kissed…”
 Oh.
 Right, the kiss in the play.
 Even though this was obviously about kissing each other in the play, Logan couldn’t get past the fact that he would have to kiss Nate. If it had been anyone else, he was certain he could manage. But with Nate… 
 What if he was horrible? What if Nate told everyone?
 No… Nathan Lasses could be a dick but to most people, he was kind and fair and nice. Besides, in Logan’s humble opinion, Remy—Nate’s twin—was much worse. 
 Nate wouldn’t tell anyone. Knowing Nate, he’d offer to help him practice and—
 Suddenly it clicked. He knew exactly why Nate was there. 
 “Ah. You wish to practice the kiss,” he said simply. 
 Nate’s eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before the look was replaced with something else. Something softer. 
 Do not even think of that word, Logan, or so help me.
 “Correct, as always, scholar.”
 Logan blinked. Huh, a nickname. 
 As far as Logan had been informed by Patton, nicknames were things people gave to other people they really liked and wanted to be friends with. 
 Logan held back a sigh. 
 Friendship… well, I suppose if that’s what he wants from me… it would be selfish of me to refuse.
 Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he forced a smile. 
 “That… that would be okay with me…” Logan said. 
 This was not how he wanted his first kiss—especially not with Nate—but as there was no hope for more, it would be pointless to hold out on the impossibility that there ever would be.
 Besides, it was better this way. He was far too busy for silly things like holding hands, little whispers spoken between kisses, flirting, cuddling. He wasn’t big on those things anyway. Even if he would have liked to try… with Nate.
 “Wait, really? I honestly thought I was going to have to like talk you into it or something.”
 Logan shook his head and held up a hand.
 “Not at all. Janus, though I’d love to know who his source was, is correct. I’ve never kissed or been kissed. This is an adequate solution. Completely logical.”
 Nate frowned and Logan hesitated. 
 “What’s wrong?”
 Nate had a look on his face that was hard for Logan to read. It was reserved but there was something else too. Before Logan could figure out what it could be, Nate was suddenly grinning and clapping. It was as if nothing had happened but there was still a weird charge in the air. 
 Or maybe Logan was reading too much into the situation. 
 “Nothing’s wrong, dude. Let’s get started.”
 Logan’s eyes widened at that. 
 “Now?”
 He was pained to admit to himself that he might have squeaked the word, but if any one else asked, he would take it to his grave. 
 Nate snickered. 
 “Aww, getting shy? Cute.”
 Logan blushed at that and, regretfully, flailed his embarrassment. 
 “I’m not cute!”
 “I mean, of course you don’t find yourself attractive, scholar, but you never know. Some people might.”
 “Oh, yes, and someday Patton will stop hanging out with cats even though he’s pretty severely allergic.”
 “Haha, yeah right.”
 “Exactly.”
 It seemed to hit Nate what Logan had meant and suddenly the taller teen was closing the remaining distance between them.
 “I’m serious, Logan.” He looked it too. His dark brown eyes locked with Logan’s and he smiled the same smile from earlier. The one that Logan was positive he was projecting because it made zero sense for Nate to smile at him like that unless…
 No Logan. You already ran the probability of a guy like him liking a guy like you. He doesn’t like you in the same way you like him.
 “Hey, Logan…” Nate said, voice lower. Softer.
 Logan looked up, unsure of when he looked away. His grey eyes met brown once more and suddenly the atmosphere changed. 
 He could no longer hear the world outside his dorm room and time felt slower. He wasn’t sure what was happening and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Clearing his throat, he swallowed. 
 “Yes, Nathan…” he whispered. 
 Why was he whispering?
 “Can I kiss you?”
 Logan swallowed again but nodded. 
 Nate smiled and Logan was shocked again to find it seemed kind of… disappointed. Sad, even. Then Nate was closing his eyes and Logan, completely out of his element, did the same. 
 The first contact was soft… almost as if it hadn’t been there at all. Logan found himself leaning into it and his lips found Nate’s. He gasped and pulled away, bringing a hand to his mouth. 
 “Very good, for your first kiss,” Nate said, grinning teasingly. Logan blushed. 
 “Shut up.”
 “No, no. None of that. I’m serious. You did good.”
 “Right.” 
 Logan had no reason to believe him, of course, but it was nice to hear. Then again, unlike Logan, Nate had kissed many people. Maybe he knew what he was talking about. He cleared his throat.
 “Should we… keep practicing?”
 Nate seemed surprised by the question but laughed and nodded. 
 “We absolutely should keep practicing. Definitely should. One hundred percent.”
 Logan rolled his eyes but snorted. 
 “Very well. Kiss me again.”
 Nate smirked. 
 “Yes, sir.”
 With that, he placed his hands on Logan’s hips and tugged him against his body, leaning down to kiss him deeply on the mouth.
  »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate couldn’t help the pleased sound that escaped him as he kissed Logan deeply. His eyes were closed, brows furrowed, lips moving against Logan’s. 
 Never in all his wildest dreams had he ever thought he would get the chance to kiss Logan. Now that he had, however, he felt as if the universe was laughing in his face. 
 Like, yeah you get to kiss him but you ain’t never gonna have him. Not how you so desperately desire.
 Fuck the universe. 
 If he couldn’t find the words to tell Logan…
 If he couldn’t trust himself to say the right things…
 Well, he’d just have to tell him through his kisses. 
 He could do that.
 Logan’s arms wrapped around him and Nate took that as all the permission he needed to hold Logan closer. He moved one hand to the small of Logan’s back as his other hand came up to frame the intelligent teen’s face. 
 Nate was the one who had to pull away, inhaling sharply as he tried to catch his breath and chuckling as Logan chased after his retreating mouth. 
 “So…” Nate asked, the word low and still a little breathless. “How was that?”
 Logan just blinked up at Nate. “H-huh, what, I’m sorry?”
 Nate laughed deeply at that and, before he could talk himself out of it, he quickly leaned down to kiss the other’s forehead. 
 “Cute…” he said, voice low and fond. 
 Logan blushed but said nothing. Silence fell between them, neither knowing what to say or what to do. Logan seemed to want to say something—maybe ask something—but it was clear to Nate that he was nervous. Nate wished he could think of just the right thing to say that would reassure the other that he wasn’t ever going to judge him. 
 If he only knew how much I care…
 Then maybe you should tell him. That voice sounded far more like Janus’s than it did Nate’s.
 Yeah right.
 Nate smiled down at Logan and was about to ask him if it would be okay if they practiced again tomorrow but in the next moment Logan was pressing closer and kissing him. Having absolutely no problem with this change in plans, Nate wrapped both arms tight around Logan, embracing him completely as he kissed back hungrily. 
 It was Logan’s turn to make pleased sorts of sounds, the other teen obviously getting lost in the feelings and sensations. That was all well and good, of course, but the sounds did things to Nate and if he allowed those sounds to keep doing those things to him, well… 
 He wouldn’t need words to tell Logan how he felt because Logan would be able to feel it.
 Pulling away quickly, Nate worked hard to catch his breath. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. 
 “Okay! So, I think this is a great place to stop. We can totally practice some more tomorrow, if you’re okay with that—”
 “Yes.” Logan said it so quickly he seemed to surprise even himself. 
 Nate’s brows rose as Logan cleared his throat and spoke up again, more reserved. 
 “I mean, that would be agreeable.”
 Nate smirked at that.
 “Great. Same time after classes? Back here?”
 Logan nodded but then stopped. 
 “Yes… but can we go to your room? I just… if Virgil’s here I’m not going to be able to… you know… it’ll be too embarrassing.”
 “You do realize that we are going to be kissing in front of a whole lot more than just one student, right?”
 Logan nodded, pulling off his glasses. He pulled out a little handkerchief, wiping gently at the lenses. 
 “Of course… but that’s a little different. We’ll be on stage and the audience will mostly be in shadow. Not to mention, the audience will be one collective group. I won’t know where my friends are sitting—well, most of them will be in the play but that is beside the point—and so I won’t see them. If it were just Virgil there though… it just seems too…”
 “Intimate,” Nate asked, hopeful. 
 Logan considered the word and finally nodded.
 “Yes, exactly. Too intimate.”
 “Well, I mean I have a roommate too, so I’m not sure I can promise Janus won’t be there.”
 That was a bold face lie. He could and would make sure Janus would not be there. 
 He grinned. “But if that’s cool with you, then I am more than happy to sacrifice my room for our kissing practices.”
 Logan blushed but smiled gently, nodding. 
 “Thank you.”
 Nate nodded. 
 He glanced at the door and then back at Logan. 
 “So… I have to be honest… kissing you is kinda fun…”
 That’s the understatement of the century.
 Still, he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare the other. The blush this pulled from Logan also made the light confession so very worth it.
 “Mind if I take one for the road?”
 Logan’s eyes brightened and Nate watched as the other’s eyes darted to Nate’s mouth and back while licking his lips. He nodded slowly. 
 “I would not be opposed.”
 “Good.”
 Nate moved in close once more, hands on Logan’s hips as he guided him in closer. His brown eyes met gray and he grinned warmly. 
 “Cute,” he said as the other blushed a little deeper.
 Before Logan could argue his point, Nate closed his eyes and kissed Logan hard. Logan gasped into the kiss, perhaps surprised by the sudden intensity. Nate took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Logan’s mouth, exploring it and caressing Logan’s tongue with his own. 
 Logan let out an almost whimpering sound and Nate groaned in response. It was Logan who ended the kiss this time and Nate couldn’t deny that he had definitely chased after his mouth. Logan was panting and pulled out of Nate’s hold, the taller teen letting him. 
 “Wow…” Logan breathed, bringing his fingers to press at kiss swollen lips. 
 “Yeah,” Nate agreed, catching his own breath. Silence fell between them again but it was almost comfortable this time. Nate grinned. 
 “Well, I guess I’ll see you in class and kissing practice after.”
 Logan nodded. When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Nate moved close once more and kissed the top of his head. 
 “See you tomorrow, scholar.”
 “See you tomorrow, Nathan.”
 Nate had the walk back to his own dorm to consider everything that had just happened. He couldn’t believe how well Logan had taken to kissing him. Then again, Nate had it so bad even if Logan couldn’t kiss, he’d still enjoy it… but there was also the fact that Logan was intelligent and smart and capable and it was no surprise at all that he had picked up kissing just as well as any other subject or skill. 
 But Logan had enjoyed it… and had wanted to keep doing it. 
 Just like that, hope returned in Nate’s heart. 
 Maybe, just maybe, his hopeless crush on Logan Wright wasn’t so hopeless after all. 
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan continued to press his fingers against his lips throughout the night. He did it so much that it almost became something of a fixation. He would remember the feeling of Nate’s lips pressed against his own and brush against his own lips, still sore from all the kissing. 
 He would then smile and sigh as his insides fluttered until he reminded himself that the kissing was just Nate being a good friend and one would assume a good actor. Logan was pretty certain that Roman went on often about something he called ‘method acting’. 
 His and Nate’s kissing was simply that. 
 Logan longed for so much more. 
 Still, Nate had obviously enjoyed kissing him so maybe this kissing practice would prove to be a good thing. 
 Logan brought his hand up to his lips once more, smiling softly as he brushed against them idly. 
 It was at that moment the door opened and Virgil shuffled in, tossing his bag by the little couch in the middle of the room. He collapsed onto it, only then glancing Logan’s way. 
 Logan, still lost in the memory of kissing Nate, had registered Virgil’s arrival but said nothing, still sliding his fingers gently across his lips. 
 “Hello~ Earth to Logan? Dude, what’s going on with you?”
 Logan blinked and looked at Virgil.
 “Oh, hey there, Virgil. Did you hang out with Patton?”
 Virgil nodded before shaking his head. 
 “Nope. We’re talking about you… you’re acting very… uh… Roman-y and Patton-y today.”
 Logan blushed because what that meant was that he was being very feelings-y. Logan usually was not a very feelings-y person. His best friend knew this well. 
 There were, however, some things he was not yet aware of. 
 “I kissed Nate today!” Logan said. Then he added, as an afterthought, “a lot.”
 Virgil’s eyes widened almost comically. 
 “You did what? When?”
 “While you were out…”
 “So, what? Did he ask you out? Are you two dating? Do I have to give him the best friend talk where I threaten his life if he hurts you?”
 Logan’s brows rose and he stared at Virgil waiting for him to end his tirade. He didn’t respond until Virgil grinned sheepishly and gestured in a go-right-ahead sort of manner. 
 “Okay, first… you have the wrong impression but, considering I blurted out that I kissed him with no other context, that’s not your fault. He sought me out here and I realized that he was offering to practice with me and well… I accepted.”
 “So…” Virgil bit his lip. “Look, I know when we’re younger and they tell you your first kiss is a big deal and all and it’s best with someone you really like and that likes you too but… it’s not like it is on tv.”
 Logan shrugged and smiled at Virgil. He knew it wasn’t a fully happy smile, but honestly, Virgil was a good friend. He tried his very best to help Logan any time he needed to feel better. 
 “So… even though you have to kiss him in the play when doesn’t like you—which, I’m still positive he does, that’s not the point here—how was it?”
 Logan laughed as he watched Virgil shift to the edge of the couch, leaning forward in Logan’s direction, obviously invested in whatever it was Logan would say next. 
 The intelligent teen blushed but smiled slowly, biting his lip. 
 “It was so much better than I could ever imagine.”
 Virgil chuckled at that and nodded. 
 “Yeah. Yeah, I feel that. Remember when we were younger and we were grossed out by even the thought.”
 Logan nodded. In fact, until that first kiss, Logan had still very much thought that. But now… 
 “I want to kiss him again.”
 Virgil laughed again. 
 “Damn, L.” 
 Logan blushed. “Shut up.”
 Virgil snorted. “Nope. Never. Besides, it's my job to keep you on your toes.”
 Logan shook his head. Idly, he brought his hand up to brush at his lips again. 
 “I’m a little worried though… it’s obvious that you like kissing him so much because of your feelings for him, L.”
 Logan nodded. He too had come to the conclusion. 
 “Okay… maybe don’t have so many practices?”
 Logan considered and nodded. 
 “Yeah… yeah, maybe.”
 Virgil seemed happy to have helped and went off to shuffle in his backpack for his homework. Logan sighed. 
 Virgil had a point. A very valid and logical point. 
 Unfortunately, Logan was not sure how well he would be able to resist now that he’d had just a taste of what could never be.
 Pushing the problem out of his mind, Logan turned his attention back to the problems that were within his ability to solve. 
  »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate honestly felt like he was floating as he walked through the dorms, heading for his own room. He headed inside, making his way to his bed and tossed himself onto it. As he looked up at the ceiling, he brought a hand to his mouth and slid his fingers against his lower lip. 
 A smile slowly slipped onto his face as he pulled his hand away and bit his lip. He couldn’t believe how readily Logan had agreed to ‘kiss practice’. He had even agreed to continue it. 
 Nate found himself torn. 
 As much as he had so very loved kissing the intelligent teen, he also knew that he was only setting himself up for heartbreak. The play—and so the kissing—would come to an end and things would go back to the way they had been. 
 Still, Nate didn’t see why that meant he couldn’t enjoy it while he had the chance. If it had never been for the powers-that-be choosing himself and Logan for Romeo and Juliet, he would never have gotten the chance to feel what it was like to kiss the boy he had liked for so long. 
 The door opened and Nate, a soft, warm smile on his face and insides toasty, looked up to meet Janus’s gaze. Janus, apparently noting the love-sick look on his face, sighed and tugged Remus in by their linked hands before closing the door. 
 “I take it from the revolting look on your face that you talked to Logan?” Nate noted how eager the other sounded. 
 He cleared his throat. 
 “Oh, yeah… yeah, we talked a bit…”
 Nate looked away as Janus narrowed his eyes. 
 “And…?”
 “Ah, and nothing… I just told him I completely understood he was nervous.”
 “Did you tell him how you feel, Nate?”
 Nate had the decency to look sheepish. 
 “Not… exactly…”
 Janus gave him the look that meant he should continue. 
 “But he was very responsive to my kisses.”
 Janus’s eyes widened and Nate felt a rush of pride at causing such a rare phenomenon. It was not often that one surprised Janus Trompeur. 
 “You kissed him?”
 Nate could hear the excitement in his voice. Not wanting a misunderstanding, Nate cleared his throat. 
 “Yeah… I told him it was understandable he was nervous since he’d never been kissed and he came to the conclusion that I was offering to practice with him and so he agreed and we kissed… a lot… and it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.”
 Janus crossed his arms. “Uh huh.”
 “You should have seen Logan too… I’ve… I’ve never seen him like that before… I can safely guarantee it was enjoyed by both parties. He’s also agreed to continue. We’ll have another practice tomorrow.”
 He glanced up at Janus, hoping he would see where he was going with this. 
 The other sighed and winced. 
 “Oh, Nate… you beautiful, dumb idiot… you’re going to try to kiss him in love with you, aren’t you.”
 Nate flashed a grin. 
 “I’m going to kiss him in love with me, Janus!”
 Janus sighed, bringing a hand up to palm his face before he shook his head. 
 “Oh, darling. That’s not going to work if you don’t tell him how you feel.”
 Nate sighed. 
 “Yeah, you should lick his juicy butthole as well!”
 Janus and Nate both glared at Remus, who just cackled and continued to listen. 
 “Nate…”
 Nate threw up his hands in frustration. 
 “Okay, okay! Damn it, I know, Janus. I know.”
 Janus smiled and nodded. 
 “Very good… and….”
 Nate sighed and rolled his eyes but answered dutifully, as expected. 
 “And I promise I will find some time before the play is over to tell him how I feel.”
 Janus flashed a victory smile. 
 “Good. Now, all this dabbling into your love life has made me hungry. Let’s go get dinner.”
 Nate grinned and nodded. Ignoring the return of the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Nate pulled on his coat and joined the other two for dinner.
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan wouldn’t say he had grown used to kissing Nate three days into practice, but he would definitely say he had grown comfortable with it. Unfortunately, as Monday came and classes began once more, Logan realized that today would be the first rehearsal. 
 He would have to kiss Nate… but on stage. 
 “I can’t do this, Nate,” he said, his words a little sharp from nerves. Nate just shrugged and nodded at the audience that was currently made up of the rest of their senior class. Unfortunately, that meant the seats were nearly packed and quite a lot of people would be watching. 
 Unlike their parents and faculty, the other students wouldn’t hold back if he were to make an absolute mockery of himself. 
 Suddenly, hands were on his shoulders and he could feel the tightness deep in his bones melting away as strong fingers rubbed into his muscles. 
 “Sorry… I should have asked first… I can stop, if you want me to…”
 Logan shook his head, letting out a little moan of pleasure as his eyes closed. 
 “No… this is… this is acceptable.”
 Logan sighed as he focused on Nate’s hands and the way his muscles relaxed under his touch. By the time his body was completely relaxed, Logan realized he was pressed into Nate in a very intimate way. Stepping forward, he turned to look at Nate, clearing his throat. 
 “Thank you for the massage. I appreciate it.”
 Nate smiled. 
 “Anytime.”
 Logan, noting how amazing his body felt, nodded. “Noted. I might actually take you up on that offer in the future. Now, let’s run the lines once more before we—”
 “Logan. Nate. You two are up.” Remy called, as if bored out of his mind.
 Logan stiffened but gave a sharp nod. Nate returned his hands to Logan’s shoulders as he nodded to his twin. Remy walked off and Nate turned Logan to look at him. 
 “You’ve got this, Logan. You already have all your lines memorized. Literally. Which by the way, think you can help me with that, because I totally do not…”
 Logan laughed, feeling the worry and stress melting away. 
 He turned to look at Nate and smiled. 
 “I have this theory.”
 Nate grinned. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
 “That you’re going to do a really good job.”
 Nate’s eyes warmed and his smile went soft. Once again, Logan was projecting onto this poor teenager who had no idea what he did to Logan. 
 “Let’s go break some legs, yeah.”
 “I prefer the phrase ‘fracture a femur’ but yes, let’s.”
 Nate laughed deeply and Logan couldn’t help but grin, a little proud of himself for causing such a reaction. 
 »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate, in character, made his way to his love, tears lingering on his cheeks. He swallowed hard as he took in his ‘dead’ Juliet, rushing to the ‘concrete’ dias where her body lay. Pulling Logan into his arms, he tried his hardest not to look directly at Logan’s face. He didn’t want to cause the other to crack up or break character. 
 Vowing that he would love Juliet and Juliet alone forever, Nate as Romeo took the colored-water ‘poison’ and began to choke. He shuddered and moved to lay beside his lover on the dias. He choked a few more times for good measure, causing students in the audience to laugh before he collapsed once more on the structure and closed his eyes.
 Nate did his very best to look dead. Considering that Nate was lazy by nature and often lounged around, and he was pretty certain Janus would happily tell him to his face he looked like a dead man walking, that was the easiest part of the play. 
 But what would come mere moments later… 
 Nate felt Logan shuffle on the dias, hearing him let out a yawn, signaling to the audience Juliet had woken from her drugged sleep. Unfortunately, Nate could not see what Logan was doing lest he break character but a moment later, he gasped. 
 Logan called for ‘Romeo’ but when Romeo did not rouse—though it was hard because Nate wanted nothing more than to reassure Logan how well he was doing—Juliet cried for her dead husband. 
 Nate felt a shift on the structure and then soft, gentle hands were taking hold of his face. He bit the part of his lower lip still hidden by his closed mouth to keep from grinning. He heard as Logan professed that he would kiss Romeo so that Juliet may be with him.
 Soft but firm lips pressed against his own. Nate couldn’t deny he definitely smiled into the kiss. He could also feel Logan smiling into it. 
 That was when it happened. 
 Logan cracked up laughing and Nate opened his eyes to chuckle as well. 
 “Well, hey there, Julie, baby.”
 “Oh my god, shut up.” Logan said through his laughing.
 Mr. Sanders joined them and laughed. 
 “That was really good… we’ll need to work on the laughing but otherwise… that practice was amazing, everyone! We’ll keep working on the blocking, but just keep running your lines and memorizing them. I think this is actually going to be really, really awesome!”
 Nate glanced at Logan, who was beaming at Mr. S’s praise. 
 He’s so pretty when he smiles. Janus is right. God, I have it bad.
“Yeah, just wait til half of us have to do it in dresses.”
 Nate snorted as he glanced at Janus, who was playing Rosaline. He had a point. Janus, Logan, and Virgil—not to mention a handful of other senior boys—would be wearing dresses for the show. 
 “And I have every faith that you will all rock them,” Mr. Sanders countered, which earned him a grin from Janus. 
 Janus leaned his arm on Remus’s shoulder and shrugged. 
 “I mean, you’re not wrong, Mr. S,” Janus agreed.
 “I know I’m not. Now, you all get out of here and have a great and relaxing night. Logan, that means you.”
 Nate glanced at Logan to see his crush blushing but grinning. Virgil spoke up. 
 “I’ll hold him to it, Mr. S.” 
 Thomas beamed at that. 
 “Good man, Virgil. Alright, see you all tomorrow.”
 Rehearsal ended for the night, Nate turned to Logan. 
 “So… I’m kinda hungry and I’m assuming we’re still on for kissing practice tonight?”
 Logan glanced at him and nodded. 
 “Then let me at the very least get you some dinner. It’s the least I can do after my dumb ass got exiled and you killed yourself over it.”
 “Nathan… it’s a play.”
 “You’re so right. It’s a total power play. You deserve better.”
 Logan snorted at that and hesitated before bringing up a fist to punch him lightly in the shoulder. 
 Nate feigned bodily injury, grabbing his arm. 
 “Oh. You got me. I’m dead.”
 He then pretended to die on the dias, eyes closed, tongue sticking out. 
 It wasn’t until warmth pressed against his cheek that he opened his eyes to see Logan pulling back, face flushed. It was obvious that Logan had just kissed his cheek and Nate, grinning, sat up to look at Logan. 
 Glancing around, he noticed that everyone else had left—well, mostly everyone. Virgil, Remus, Janus, and Patton were talking at the entrance to the backstage area. None of them were looking their way and so Nate, feeling confident, turned his attention back to Logan. 
 Before he could even open his mouth to ask Logan if he could kiss him, Logan claimed his mouth with his own. Nate’s eyes closed and he quickly returned the favor, a soft, happy sound escaping him. 
 Logan placed a hand on his chest as he slid closer, his other reaching up to grip at the little hairs at the back of Nate’s neck. Nate shivered but gasped, Logan quickly taking advantage of this and slipping his tongue inside. 
 Nate moaned, teasing along Logan’s tongue with his own as he kissed back desperately. 
 “Ooooooh,” Janus teased.
 Nate’s eyes opened wide as he and Logan both jumped from the kiss. He quickly glanced toward the backstage but no one was there and all sound of talking had ceased. He would have assumed that the others—seeing what he and Logan were up to—had left but he also knew Janus very well. 
 “That was…”
 “Satisfactory.”
 Nate laughed at that. “Yes, very, very, very satisfactory.”
 He held the other’s gaze and smiled. 
 “So… dinner?”
 Logan rolled his eyes. 
 “Very well. You’re paying.”
 “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan fidgeted with his keys in his pocket as he walked with Nate to the cafeteria. The nice thing about the school was that they had little restaurants in the cafeteria, a lot like they did in colleges, instead of what most public schools offered. Unfortunately, as they allowed the students to work there for a wage, Virgil would most definitely be present. 
 He sighed as he realized the long talk Virgil would want to have with him the moment he saw Logan with Nate, already feeling exhausted. 
 “What’s wrong?”
 Logan blinked up at the other. 
 “Huh? Oh, nothing,” Logan lied. It wasn’t a complete lie, per say. Logan was used to Virgil and he never minded talking with his friend. He just didn’t want to hear the ‘I told you so’ from his friend when Virgil realized he hadn’t been limiting the kissing practices as well as he could have. 
 Nate, looking doubtful, frowned. “You sure?”
 Logan laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah… just stressed out about the play but… somehow, I know it’s going to be okay.”
 Nate laughed at that. “That’s the attitude to have, scholar!” 
 Logan smiled, ignoring the slight twinge of guilt he felt at not being completely truthful. Then again, there was no way he could be truthful without informing Nate about how he felt about him, and Logan…
 He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. 
 Maybe it was selfish but, knowing that Nate would suddenly feel awkward and uncomfortable around him once he found out, Logan wanted to enjoy a little more time with him.
 Just the two of them.
 Just like this. 
 They reached the cafeteria and Logan followed Nate to the center of the room. Logan considered the options and was about to go order from where Virgil was working when Nate called out to him. 
 “My treat, so where we eating today?” 
 Logan nodded toward the little taco hut where Virgil stood now, watching them both. Nate, noticing Virgil for the first time, gave a start before grinning. 
 “Oh! Hey, Virgil. What’s up, dude?”
 He moved over to the little taco restaurant and offered his fist, which Virgil bumped but not before snorting and rolling his eyes first. As Logan joined them, Virgil spoke up, not taking his eyes from Logan’s gaze. 
 “Hey, losers. What brings you guys down? Logan, didn’t you say your plan was to do homework tonight?”
 He eyed Logan doggedly, which the intelligent student ignored, instead glancing at the menu though he already knew it by heart. 
 “Oh, that was my fault. After rehearsal I practically begged him to go get dinner with me because I am a sad, lonely guy.”
 Logan watched Virgil closely, surprised at the slight grin slipping onto his face at Nate’s words. 
 “You’re not bad, Lassus. Your brother though… he’s a dick and he still owes me 50 bucks. Now, what can I get you losers to eat?”
 Logan ordered what he always got: the taco plate. Nate, meanwhile, ordered a taco salad. Logan would have been slightly surprised as Nate had never pegged him as a good nutrition aficionado, but then the other asked for double meat and Logan could just sigh fondy and grin. 
 Nate tried to pay but Virgil completely ignored him. Food was placed on two trays and cups added afterward. 
 “On the house,” he said slowly, holding Nate’s gaze as if just trying to goad him into objecting. Nate seemed to realize this because he grinned and held up his hands. 
 “Okay, okay. I got the message.”
 “Finally,” Virgil mumbled but he was grinning ever so slightly. 
 Logan realized that, in his own way, Virgil was approving of Nate. Once Nate took his tray to go find a great table, Logan grinned when his best friend’s eyes met his. 
 “Thank you,” he mouthed. Virgil rolled his eyes but mouthed your welcome before waving in the direction Nate had gone. 
 “He’s not such a total waste of a human, I suppose,” Virgil said finally. “But Logan… if this is something you want… you really need to tell—”
 Logan sighed, cutting off yet another tirade. “I’m aware, V. I promise… I’ll tell him by the last performance.”
 Virgil groaned softly. “You really, really should tell him before that but… fine… look, L. You don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to but… I’m afraid that if you don’t, all of this is going to hurt you a lot more than you realize.”
 Logan wanted to disagree. Unfortunately, he was definitely not an expert on feelings and since Virgil was dating one of the two experts on feelings that they knew, he suspected Virgil likely picked up a few things. 
 “I vow to tell him before the start of our last performance at the latest.”
 “I’ll drink to that compromise… you know, if I had a drink.” He sighed wistfully but Logan knew it was all for the theatrics. Though Virgil would swear up and down that he was not dramatic, Logan—friends with three dramatic people—knew better. He could be just as dramatic as Roman when he wanted to be. 
 Logan grabbed his tray, thanked Virgil once more, and headed for the table on the far side of the large, open room. Virgil called back to him, wishing him good luck, causing Logan to smile softly. 
 Gray eyes sought out his...friend. Logan, ignoring the sudden feeling of sadness, pushed such thoughts out of his head. Sure, Nate would never be his boyfriend, but it was clear he wanted to be friends. Logan would not be the kind of person who couldn’t be friends with someone who did not want to date him. 
 Nate waved his arms wildly, chuckling when Logan’s eyes met his and he corrected his course for Nate’s table. He reached him quickly enough, snorting when Nate tugged him gently to sit next to him, rather than across from him. 
 Logan had expected Nate to talk to him then but, as he quickly learned, Nate was very much an eat-now-talk-after kind of guy. 
 Laughing softly, Logan started to dig in as well. 
 »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate had eaten about half his food when he turned to Logan. 
 "I don't know about you but kissing sure does work up an appetite." His grin was flirty and eager. 
 Logan blushed and nodded. 
 "Interestingly enough, I have found that as well," Logan said. "I, too, am quite famished."
 He continued to eat as Nate became preoccupied with stuffing his face once more. 
 "Mmmm."
 Nate looked up at the sound of laughter. Logan was watching him eat, amusement in his gray gaze.
 "Adequate to your taste buds?" Logan asked with another laugh. 
 Nate looked at him and answered, a bit of food still in his mouth. 
 "Beyond adequate," he moaned. "Thank Virgil again for me later." 
 Logan laughed. 
 "Will do."
 They fell into companionable silence once more, Nate glancing at Logan every so often. Every other time he glanced, he caught Logan's gaze and both of them blushed before looking away. 
 Huh.
 Wasn't that interesting. 
 Deciding he needed more time to consider the new development, Nate cleared his throat. 
 "So… what new book are you reading? I just picked up this great Agatha Christie novel that I'm sure you've read already but it's so good."
 Logan blinked. He looked confused and even said as much. 
 "How do you know I read Agatha Christie novels?"
 Nate laughed at that. Looking fondly at Logan, he smiled. "Scholar. You've been reading those books since we all started here. I noticed them and started reading a few myself."
 Logan’s brows rose and while he didn't say anything, Nate knew exactly what that look was for. 
 "Yes. I read. Shocker, right?"
 Logan's expression took on an apologetic sort of look and Nate laughed. 
 "No no. You're fine, cutie. I'm used to people being surprised. In their defense and yours, I don't read a lot. But I can and do read."
 Logan nodded, a grin slipping onto his face as he turned to look at him better, leaning in eagerly. 
 "So which book is it that you're reading?"
 "Death on the Nile."
 Logan nodded with a grin. 
 "That one is very good but my favorite will always be—"
 "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," Nate finished for him with a warm smile. 
 Logan blinked. He stared at Nate for a few moments, questions in those gray eyes. Nate was worried that maybe he had said too much. 
 Maybe Logan realized that Nate really liked him and now it was going to be awkward because Logan didn't feel the same. 
 And then Logan blushed and nodded. A soft smile slipped onto his face.
 "Precisely."
 Nate grinned as the slight charge between them in that moment settled. He didn't know what had happened but it hadn't sent Logan running and he considered that a win on his part. 
 They finished dinner and said their goodbyes to Virgil before heading out of the cafeteria for Nate’s dorm. 
 »»———— 🕶️ ————««
 Logan was quiet on the walk to Nate’s dorm room. He knew that Nate had to be wondering at his silence but he couldn’t bring himself to speak just yet. 
 The reason for his silence...
 There had been a moment while eating with Nate that had opened his eyes to knowledge he hadn’t been aware he had lacked. 
 Logan didn’t know how he knew it but the moment Nate supplied Logan’s favorite Agatha Christie novel as fact and not a guess had been very telling and Logan was almost certain that Nate liked him. A lot. 
 Perhaps even as much as Logan liked Nate. 
 Just tell him! You know he likes you now! Tell him!
 He knew that his more logical side was right. At this point, with such a high probability of his feelings being reciprocated, the logical course of action would be to tell him. 
 And yet, Logan couldn’t. 
 He couldn’t even give a logical explanation as to why, which frustrated him more than anything. It just didn’t feel like the right time. Or the right place. 
 Logan chewed his lip. 
 He really hated relying on his feelings. 
 “Hey… half-dollar for your thoughts?”
 Logan blinked up at the other. He seemed nervous. Logan smiled at him. 
 “I’m certain the expression is ‘penny for your thoughts’.”
 Nate grinned at that, seeming to relax once more. 
 “Yeah, well. Pennies are practically worthless these days and I think more highly of the things that come out of your beautiful brain.”
 Logan blushed at that and cleared his throat. 
 “Just have a lot on my mind.”
 Nate nodded, falling silent once more. 
 Logan bit his lip before moving a little closer to the other. He tapped him with his elbow in a playful manner he’d seen Virgil do with Patton. It seemed to work because Nate grinned down at him like the sun. 
 “Hey.”
 Logan wanted to make up for the silence and since he couldn’t tell him everything… not yet...Logan said the first thing he could think of. 
 “I can’t wait for practice.”
 Then he blushed as he realized the implications of this. Nate looked at him in surprise, a slight flush to his cheeks as he slowly grinned. 
 “Uh oh…”
 Logan raised a brow. He hadn’t expected that reaction. “What?”
 “Looks like someone has an addiction to kisses.”
 Logan blushed but rolled his eyes. 
 “You are what my friend Roman would call ‘an absolute dork’.”
 Nate snorted. 
 “Roman Prince? Not surprised that’s his idea of an insult but, well, you're not wrong.”
 Logan grinned, pleased to feel the air around them grow comfortable once more. 
 “But… I concede that, perhaps, you are not wrong as well.”
 Nate grinned at him. 
 “About what?” he pressed. Logan glared at him. Nate took on a look of innocence. “I merely want to be clear about what part of what I said was not wrong.”
 Logan knew that wasn’t the case. Nate wanted to hear him say it. He decided that since he couldn’t outright tell him how he felt, the least he could do was tell him what he wanted to hear. 
 It was true, after all. 
 “I am… addicted to kisses.”
 He blushed far deeper than he expected to confess that out loud. He stopped and quickly hid his face in his hands. Nate must have glanced back and noticed he had stopped before quickly returning to him. 
 “Awww. No, no… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you… I was just teasing. Can I… can I hug you?”
 Logan nodded but did not remove his hands from his burning face. He felt as strong arms embraced him. He stayed like that, feeling safe and secure in his arms. At some point, he pulled his hands away to press his face into the other’s chest, his own arms wrapping tentatively around the taller teen’s middle. 
 “How’s that? Better, cutie?” 
 Logan nodded, trying to ignore how warm the nickname made him.
 “Do you want to postpone the practice? If you need to, then that’s totally—”
 “No!”
 Nate blinked down at the other in surprise. Logan could see that his reaction had been a bit too passionate considering Nate had no idea how he felt about him.
 “I mean, no… I very much would like to keep on schedule.” 
 Nate slowly grinned. 
 “Then what better time to start… Can I kiss you right here, Logan? Right now?”
 Logan had a feeling Nate was expecting him to laugh and playfully punch him before they continued on their course for his room. 
 That was not what happened. 
 Logan moved his arms from around him. He then threw himself at Nate, wrapping his arms around his neck, as he kissed him. Hard. 
 Nate’s eyes widened but soon fluttered closed as he tightened his hold on the slighter teen, kissing back as desperately as Logan kissed him. 
 When they finally pulled away—it was with some difficulty breathing, Logan couldn’t deny—he swallowed hard and held the other’s gaze. Nate’s gaze was curious.
 “Nate…” Logan said slowly. He saw the slight surprise on the other’s face. Logan had never called him Nate before.
 “Logan…” 
 Logan hesitated. He very much needed to tell Nate or he would always be wondering ‘what if’? As a scientific minded individual, what ifs were only useful if the question was answered. Logan needed some answers.
 “Can we… can we go somewhere quiet… your room is fine… but just somewhere with not a lot of people… please?”
 Nate, obviously confused, nodded.
 “Yeah… we’re almost to my room anyway. Come on.”
 Logan’s insides churned and tumbled as he walked at Nate’s side. He honestly had no idea what had possessed him to almost tell Nate how he felt… outside. 
 That… that definitely was not the place for such intimate talks such as that. No. One should take the person of their affections, ask to speak with them in private, and only for their ears, share what was in their heart. 
 Logan nearly made a face. 
 When had he become so sentimental?
 He glanced up at Nate and slowly, a fond smile slipped over his lips. 
 Oh, yeah. Right.
 They reached Nate’s dorm room soon after, Nate holding up a finger before walking inside, signaling Logan to wait. Logan, considering himself fairly intelligent, was sure Nate wanted to make certain Janus (and by proxy, Remus) was not around. 
 He waited as patiently as he could, rubbing his fingers against his jeans in a comforting manner. Soon enough, though it felt a lot longer to Logan, Nate returned and held the door for him. 
 “Come on in, scholar.”
 Logan did just that, almost jumping at the click of the door as Nate closed it behind them. He then led Logan into the room, making his way to the bed and taking a seat. He patted the space next to him. Logan took a deep breath, crossed the room to the bed, and took the offered seat. 
 He quickly turned to Nate just as Nate turned toward him. 
 “Logan, there’s something I need to tell you,” Nate said at the exact same time Logan said, “Nate, there’s something I wish to tell you.”
 Both of them broke out laughing, their faces flushed, gazes vulnerable. 
 Nate cleared his throat and held out his hands, palms up, to Logan. 
 “May I?” he asked, voice low. Logan nodded, placing his hands into Nate’s.
 Nate, dark eyes locked with Logan’s, bit his lip before smiling. 
 “That’s better… now… I’m sorry for jumping the gun. You… you go first.”
 Logan wanted to refuse or insist Nate go, but he decided that that wasn’t fair to Nate. He had been the one asking to talk. He should go first.
 He nodded. 
 Taking a deep breath, Logan for the first time in his life ignored his mind and spoke from his heart.
 »»———— ♞ ————««
 Nate squeezed Logan’s hands as the other seemed to search for the courage needed to say what he had to. 
 Nate knew what he hoped Logan wanted to say. He hoped more than anything that Logan had come to realize that he liked Nate too. But, that could just as easily not be what Logan wanted to tell him. Maybe he had noticed that Nate liked him and was being respectful, letting him down in private. 
 Maybe he just wanted to be friends. 
 Nate could live with that. It would hurt for a while, but he could deal. 
 As long as it wasn’t Logan never wanting to see him again, Nate could live with whatever it was the other was about to tell him. He sighed inwardly and instead focused on Logan. 
 Logan, who was struggling. 
 Nate squeezed his hands again. 
 “Hey,” he said and waited until Logan’s eyes met his. “Whatever it is, you won’t scare me away.” He paused. “Unless you dress up as a clown on the weekend… then I’d say my loyalty is questionable…”
 Logan laughed at that and it seemed to be the reassurance he needed. He cleared his throat and Nate leaned in subconsciously.
 “... You were correct earlier… when you said I was addicted to kisses… I am very much addicted to kisses…” 
 He glanced down at their hands and seemed to consider what to say next. Nate watched him closely, mesmerized by him. 
 “I am addicted to your kisses, Nate…”
 Nate blushed and a big grin slipped onto his face as it hit him. 
 Logan liked him. And Nate was him. Nate. Logan liked Nate. 
 “Are you saying-?!!”
 Logan laughed at that and nodded, blushing a little himself. 
 “I like you, Nate. I have for a very long time.”
 Nate whistled and shook his head. 
 “Well, that just sucks because I’ve liked you for a very long time too. Since we first met, now that I think about it. It feels like we’ve missed out on so much time.”
 Logan blinked at the remark and nodded a second later when it registered what Nate meant.
 “It does. But we’re here now… together...”
 Nate beamed and his excitement soon morphed into unbridled adoration. 
 “Be my Juliet… but alive… and forever?”
 Logan snorted. “There are so many things wrong with that question, Nate, but I like you, so I forgive you. I will be your boyfriend, though, if that would be agreeable with—”
 “Yes! So freaking agreeable! Totally agreeable!”
 Nate watched in wonder as Logan laughed, not holding back, his gray eyes full of happiness and fondness as he looked upon Nate. He couldn’t keep from surging forward and claiming Logan’s lips with his own. 
 Logan relaxed into the kiss with ease, his arms wrapping around Nate’s neck like they’d never stopped. Nate moaned into the kiss as Logan kissed back eagerly, sounds of enjoyment escaping him as well. 
 When they broke for air, Nate nuzzled into Logan’s hair with his nose before pressing a kiss to his temple. 
 “Boyfriend,” he said, overjoyed to use the title for Logan. 
 Logan rolled his eyes, blushing. “Dork.”
 Nate brought a hand to his heart as if he had been hurt. He then swooned and ‘collapsed’ upon his bed. Logan laughed and then shifted to hover over him. 
 “Let’s keep this between us… just until after the play… Virgil has been trying to get me to tell you forever and I really do not need to deal with any I told you so’s… and maybe, I also would not mind keeping you to myself for a little bit longer.”
 Nate snorted. “Oh. You can always have me to yourself. I don’t mind picking Janus up by the collar and tossing him out if need be… uh, but maybe don’t quote me on that. Still, keeping up a ruse sounds fun. I’m in.”
 Logan smiled down at him and Nate brought a hand up to frame his face, guiding him down to kiss him.
 If they got lost in the kisses and each other, neither minded in the slightest.
-----------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Thomas Sanders or Joan, nor the rest of their group. I do not own or make money off of these characters. I only own the story as it is written.
Super uber thanks to my beta reader for this fic @superweebside​ and the two that preread my stuff to make sure its up to par: @romantichopelessly & @sunshineandteddybears.
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pinkjiminssi · 3 years
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So.. About That Hickey..
I think I’m still processing all of this and reminding myself I’m not dreaming 🤣 I seriously only got 3 hours of sleep last night and when I woke up the first thing I did was check twitter to be sure this “drunk bridal-style spinning hickey neck biting proudly showing off” moment actually happened!! 
.. I hate the way my brain works though. I was so happy that it took me forever to fall asleep, spent all day on cloud 9 despite being tired, .. and then my old nemesis, anxiety, stepped in. Well kind of. TBH if all of the MOTS ON:E Jikook moments we got happened with Jimin/anyone else or Jungkook/anyone else.. I would seriously be sitting here saying “well fuck.. I believe they WERE a couple, but looking at all of this it seems they are no longer together.” So really, this just confirmed what I already knew about Jimin and Jungkook: they’re a couple. My anxiety is over.. why? Why show us this? If they can cover all of JK’s tattoos, a hickey/bite mark/whatever we’re calling it should be super easy to hide. Sure it was just rehearsal.. but it was rehearsal with cameras rolling with every intention of releasing what was being filmed as future content. It could have (and some might argue should have) been covered.
Guys... I’m confused. And concerned. ❗❗❗ TW for drama, hate, homophobia, the usual anti issues
That “official” explanation.. again.. why? I’m assuming Jimin and Jungkook were asked and allowed to explain because of the chance of it being spotted and armys freaking out, so BH (or possibly even Jikook) thought to get ahead of the speculation by just being up front about it all.. but THAT explanation? I suppose it works for covering up the army panic of “Jungkook has a girlfriend?! *insert fangirl sobbing*” .. but that’s literally all it does (and only barely if you go looking at some of the anti’s reactions to it all). Really, all it did was draw even more attention and speculation. I mean.. this is, essentially, what we were told: Jimin and Jungkook were together the night before drinking, apparently without the other members as they didn’t seem to know all of this already (and they would have if they had been there), somehow hanging out and having drinks turns into Jungkook picking Jimin up bridal style (random but some of the k-army reactions on twitter were translating through google into “princess style” and I just think that’s so cute 🥰), spinning ensues, Jimin gets dizzy and wants Jungkook to put him down, ... and so he proceeds to do the only logical thing that any of us would have done in that situation... biting Jungkook’s neck? And hard enough to leave a mark the next day?? And instead of being peeved about it (like most of us would have been if our friend bit the crap out of us), Jungkook looks happy?? proud even??? 
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And they arrived together the next day and continue to be cute and playful? 
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I just.. I mean.. come on. First of all.. that’s a hickey. A bite leaves teeth marks. And one would assume a wild, drunken “let me down” chomp would be something that happens suddenly and ends very quickly. I know I for sure would drop someone on their ass if they decided to take a bite out of my neck (assuming I was even picking up and spinning around with one of my friends like that to begin with.. but let’s not even get into why that was going on at this point) .. but the way this bruised? Yeah. There were no teeth involved (at least not hard enough to leave indentations) and this took more than a couple of seconds of mouth-to-neck contact to still be that visible the next day. So.. in short. Jungkook arrives with a hickey, JK decides to not cover it up (or he would have shown up with it hidden and we see him get out of the car that morning with it clearly visible), BH staff sees it and also decides to not have it covered up and actually have it explained... and the explanation is “oh yeah Jimin just bit him, you know.. no big deal hehehe isn’t that funny?” 🤯 WHAT?! Yeah.. that’s totally normal, platonic behavior between adults...
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I’m not saying Jimin and Jungkook are lying btw. I have no doubt it played out more or less exactly as they said with the exception of what they’re calling the end result. Jimin and Jungkook are fine.. I mean, what were they supposed to say? They’re not going to show up saying Jimin was sucking on Jungkook’s neck the night before. We’ll probably never know why Jungkook decided to not cover it up before arriving, but it’s his body and he gets to decide. It’s BH that has me so puzzled. Other than antis and people who refuse to see what’s literally right in front of their faces when it comes to Jikook.. who were BH expecting to believe the bite thing? Just among staff and the other members, it’s a laughable but safe “oh of course *wink wink*” explanation that allows everyone to carry on like normal. But to the public who don’t know them personally, don’t know their usual behavior and patterns, and who don’t have something like a non-disclosure agreement or professional courtesy preventing them from openly speculating.. it doesn’t fly. Pretty much everyone teen and up knows what a hickey looks like (either from having gotten/given one or at least seeing one on someone else in person or online). It’s immediately obvious what it is. And even if there was some uncertainty.. that it’s on his neck (instead of other easily accessible and less sensitive/stimulating locations) and just so happens to be right near his mole as it Jimin were aiming for it? Just another “too many coincidences” thing when it comes to Jikook.
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Even antis on twitter couldn’t deny what it was and, so, had to resort to the “well I do that with my sibling and my uncle’s pet raccoon all the time it’s just family things” excuse and/or the “yeah well someone ELSE in the group (or a girlfriend) gave him that and they’re just covering by saying it was Jimin.” Oh. And the same old “it’s just fan service” excuse (as if Jungkook would let someone bruise his neck for the purposes of fanservice which, again, BTS has never done or needed to do. Forever pissed off that so many in this fandom act like Jungkook is a puppet doing whatever the “evil company” tells him to do regardless of his personal feelings or boundaries. The man has tattoos covering nearly every inch of his arm despite that being looked down on in Korea. At this point he can do whatever the fuck he wants). So.. why?? Seriously, why? This all could have easily been avoided with simple makeup.
When they’re doing official content they’re all literally followed around by a flurry of staff fixing hair, dabbing sweat, touching up makeup, etc. Even though it was rehearsal, staff were everywhere in the footage that’s made its way online. If they were worried that it would be seen in the background and “taken the wrong way,” just have the staff occasionally touch up the makeup. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” But instead of doing the obvious, BH decides to: not cover it, draw attention to it by asking about it and letting them continue to talk about it, go out of their way to get a camera on it, and then include it in the final cut of the content they sent out?
BTS is literally the most popular group in the world right now and BH has become a behemoth of a company that runs like a well-oiled machine. They’re not stupid; this was not a mistake. For some reason they wanted us to see this and, one would assume based on the lack of a more believable explanation, they wanted us to come to the conclusion that we all have: Jimin gave Jungkook a hickey. You know they have teams dedicated to monitoring reactions to content on social media. You know they know the dialog surrounding Rosebowl, Black Swan MMA, the Memories 2020 “almost kiss,” etc. etc. All of this got “jikook,” “hickey” and variations of their names trending for HOURS (in multiple countries and worldwide). 
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Out of curiosity, I decided to check the trends at the time of writing this. As of 3 AM CST (about 24 hours AFTER the clips started showing up online), there was still a hashtag trending related to all of this: #FREEJUNGKOOK.. and the tweets being directed toward BH are.. disturbing to say the least:
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While I agree that the boys should trend more often based on their talents and music.. what’s going on right now is a homophobic 💩 show accusing BH of “scripting” interactions (rather than.. you know.. Jungkook interacting with whoever he wants however he wants.. the usual “mindless puppet JK” narrative), trying to coordinate the mass sending of angry emails, trying to get people to stop buying paid content, accusing BH of taking advantage of the members.. I mean it goes on and on. And BH know what’s going on right now. They’re seeing the reactions... the good and the extremely negative. And still they let this out. And this is all not even CONSIDERING the mountain of other moments that made the cut on MOTS ON:E. 
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(side note, the above pic just oozes happiness and it’s so cute I love it!! 😭)
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So.. even though I’ve said it dozens of times already... WHY? W H Y? I’m an anxious person by nature and not very trusting. I believe Jimin and Jungkook and I don’t think they’ve been lying and pretending for “fanservice” all of these years. I respect them both too much as individuals and artists to believe that they would stoop to such tactics just to generate a little more “interest” and revenue. I’m suspicious of BH. BTS doesn’t need fanservice to get attention; literally all of 2020 and 2021 so far has proven that beyond a doubt. Even if they suddenly made the decision to do fs.. why not go with the most popular ship (taekook) or at least one that isn’t so hotly debated on social media (remove Jimin, Jungkook and Tae from the equation and you still have four members to “play” with who have much less potential to have fs devolve into a toxic crap show all over the internet). Showing us this will do nothing to help BTS as a group or Jimin and Jungkook at this point. In fact.. all it can do is hurt. Hurt BH, hurt the group, and hurt the individual members, heck.. even potentially hurt other BH/HYBE groups. I’ve already seen people on twitter saying they’re “done” spending money on anything BH or BTS puts out because they’re “sick of jikook in their faces and just two of the seven hogging all of the screen time.” Whether or not that “spending freeze” actually materializes into anything noticeable remains to be seen of course.. but the threat is there and always has been. What is the motive? And why now? As much as my “hopeless romantic” heart would like to believe they’re preparing us for Jikook to be “out” .. I seriously don’t think that is ever going to happen. Certainly not now at the height of the group’s fame, with them being given Presidential honors and ambassador status, and with military service still looming over them all. And let’s not forget... Korea is NOT a safe place for a queer couple. Letting us see and know what they did through what was released has the potential to put Jimin and Jungkook (and the other members by proxy) in danger. Sure.. BTS has never been hardline rule followers and have been breaking molds and shattering norms from the start, so “officially” having an openly gay couple in the group wouldn’t be impossible.. just... highly highly improbable. Especially right now... and I’m concerned. I don’t want to sound like the creeps I posted a screenshot of above throwing blame at the company. The boys chose to renew their contracts with the for a reason so we have to trust their judgement as a group... but still, I’m worried and I’m questioning what the purpose was here. 
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hiccanna-tidbits · 3 years
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Autistic Hiccup x ADHD Anna Headcanons
SO I’ve been really into the whole Autistic x ADHD ship dynamic and Hiccanna...highkey fits??? Like y’all know I will die on my “Anna has ADHD” hill, but after reading this post by @hobie-brown I’m like wait, the autistic Hiccup headcanon is wonderful too??? And blends SO WELL with ADHD Anna??? And I absolutely HAD to explore it more so BOOM headcanon time! Another special thanks to @hobie-brown for writing the super lovely autistic Hiccup headcanon masterpost that inspired me to do this!
Disclaimer: I myself am not on the spectrum (part of the reason I’ve always felt a little weird about definitively HCing characters as autistic unless I see actual autistic people HC them that way too), so most of the stuff here is stuff I know secondhand from my autistic friends! I do have ADHD, so I can always promise that ADHD Anna will be 100% authentic XD
~Anna absolutely gets into Hiccup’s special interests to try and impress him. The most obvious one being, of course, dragons, but also dinosaurs (extinct dragons), lizards (tiny dragons), and Dungeons and Dragons (An RPG game that does, in fact, include dragons). Hiccup absolutely had that dragonology book as a kid and got obsessed with it beyond all reasonability. Hilariously, Anna’s wooing strategy of indulging his special interests works like a charm--mainly because a) he’s pretty flattered that someone takes THAT much of an interest in what he likes and b) half the time, ANNA finds that she genuinely gets into whatever said special interest is and finds them easy to hyperfixate on. It helps that the more she obsesses over it herself, the more she has to talk to Hiccup about XD
~Specifically, Anna definitely joins a DnD campaign at some point so that Hiccup will think she’s a “cool gamer girl”--and then gets unironically obsessed with it and starts writing 10-page backstories for all of her characters. She later tells Hiccup it started out as a ruse to win his heart via nerdiness, and he absolutely loses his shit laughing.
~One of their overlapping special interests/hyperfixations is high fantasy. Hiccup is, unsurprisingly, all about the mythical creatures while Anna is more into the magic and the zesty political drama, but you dun best believe they catch every CGI-ridden fantasy movie that ever comes out. They’ve both spent a literal fortune on fantasy movie tickets, even moreso on watching them in 3D or Imax. How embarrassing for both of them.
~Another less-obvious overlapping interest is history. Hiccup gets into it while looking into the cultural mythos of dragons (he’s pretty fascinated by the fact that so many cultures around the world thought up similar creatures independently), while Anna gets into it because she grew up cooped up bored and lonely in a big house, and entertained herself by looking into the history behind some of the family paintings. They don’t seem it at first, but they’re actually both huge medieval and ancient civilization history buffs.
~Hiccup is THE most touch-repulsed person you will ever meet. This is unfortunate, as he is also SUPER touch-starved and absolutely does not realize it (I mean, I’ve never gotten the vibe Stoic was the super huggy type, considering his and Hicc’s relationship in HTTYD 1). This means he has absolutely no fucking clue what to make of Anna when they first meet meet. Anna’s the sort of person to give physical affection pretty freely, especially if she likes you--usually in the form of hugs, arm pats or playful swats, putting her elbow on your shoulder, etc etc. Hiccup is kinda just like “this is way too much touching but like??? I kinda like having her this close to me??? What do???”
~Anna, meanwhile, notices that Hiccup kinda stiffens up whenever she touches him and seems to not be crazy about it and she’s just immediately like “yo what’s wrong???” And as SOON as he admits he’s not all that crazy about being touched randomly she’s like “OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY” and never touches him without asking again.
~As soon as she finds out touch a kind of A Whole Thing for him, Anna is like...AGGRESSIVELY respectful of Hiccup’s boundaries when it comes to physical affection. Almost annoyingly so. She gets in the habit of basically never initiating any kind of physical touch without asking first--even long after they’ve started dating, and he’s told her it’s okay to initiate touching as long as she’s not smothery about it. She still refuses out of principle.
~They come up with a kind of “consent language” so Anna can pretty quickly determine when it’s all right to touch Hiccup--because Anna still really likes being physically affectionate with him, and he does actually like receiving physical affection a lot of the time (because, again, touch-starved), he’s just choosy about who does it. They work out a system based off of small, light touches that Hiccup doesn’t mind where it’s basically 2 taps on his shoulder for “can I hug you around the neck,” 2 taps on his side for “can I hug you around the waist,” 2 taps on his arm for “can I grab/lightly slap/punch your arm,” and 1 tap on is shoulder for “can I put my arm/elbow on your shoulder.” If he’s cool with it he’ll either nod or just say “yeah go ahead.” It works a lot quicker than asking “can I do such-and-such specific touch” every single time, and allows Anna to keep some of her spontaneity. They develop this during their friendship and it ends up rolling over into their relationship, even after Hiccup has basically told her she doesn’t need to ask permission for a lot of these anymore. She adds a new one after they start dating--she taps him a couple times wherever she wants to kiss him to ask if it’s cool to give him a smooch! It usually is.
~INFODUMPING. Literally SO. MUCH. INFODUMPING. Hiccup absolutely WILL NOT SHUT UP when he gets to talking about one of his special interests. Anna just will not shut up in general, but when the topic changes to one of her hyperfixations, it’s even worse. If you try to have a conversation with these two while they’re infodumping, you WILL get talked over. Honestly, left to their own devices, they could probably infodump to each other for literal days on end.
~Despite how much they both like to infodump, they’re both pretty good about being patient and indulging the other when it’s their partner’s turn to infodump in the conversation XD They are, however, notorious about accidentally triggering a barely-related infodump in the other person. It’s not uncommon for one of them to finish a rant and then the other goes “OH THAT REMINDS ME” and sets off on a completely different, barely-related rant.
~Hiccup actually really appreciates how overexpressive--and occasionally overdramatic--Anna tends to be. He never has to try and figure out what she’s thinking because she just says everything in her brain, and her body language basically always matches how she’s feeling to a ridiculous extent, so he never has to give himself a headache trying to read her. The fact that she’s the opposite of subtle and has no filter whatsoever works great for him, because he doesn’t have to drive himself insane trying to understand her. He gets her better than he gets most people because she’s an open goddamn book. The boy’s never been the best with social cues at all, never mind the nuanced, obscure ones, so Anna’s general straightforwardness and utter inability to hide her true feelings at literally any time is a breath of fresh air. What you see is basically what you get, and Hiccup wouldn’t have it any other way.
~People think when Anna and Hiccup start dating it’s gonna be a disaster, mainly because he’s so blunt and she can be...”oversensitive” (i.e. has a REALLY bad case of RSD). Turns out they’re dead wrong--because Hiccup has RSD too! (I mean, come ON--look how BADLY he wants to get his village’s approval! And how hard he takes it when his dad or someone else is mad at him--even if he tries to hide it with snark) He’s actually one of the few people who can be blunt enough with Anna that she realizes when she’s being a dumbass but tactful enough not to hurt her feelings or set off her RSD--because god, has he been there. When Anna is being especially difficult and has worked herself into a real bad funk, Hiccup (and sometimes Elsa) is the only people who can talk to her and get through to her without getting blown up at.
~They stim in similar ways!!! They both tend to fidget or kinda bounce up in down in place as a way to comfort themselves and calm themselves down (I see them both having a lot of anxiety and generally being kind of paranoid, although Anna is MUCH better at hiding this via putting on a cheerful face). They both do the leg bounce!!! Also if they get SUPER excited they’ll do a little awkward happy dance!!! They both also tend to stim by rubbing things in small, repetitive motions--with Hiccup, it’s usually his sketching pens, his ear, his head, or the back of his neck, while with Anna, it’s usually her other hand, her arm, her clothes, or really anything with kind of a comforting, consistent texture (some favorites are rubber, felt, and velvet). After they start dating, they actually will stim with each other’s hands while holding hands--usually by squeezing the other person’s hand in kind of a repetitive pattern or doing the thumb-rub thing on the back of the other person’s hand. It’s not uncommon for them to each be doing something completely unrelated while holding hands and just stimming on each other’s hands the entire time. Anna especially really loves when she feels Hiccup stimming on her, because it’s her little indicator that he’s happy and feels at peace and content in her presence and she LOVES being able to do that for him!
~They both stim by playing with hair too! Anna likes to play with her own to stim--mainly by figeting with the end of her braids or tucking hair behind her ear. She DOES love to ruffle Hiccup’s hair too (and she LOVES how fluffy it is!), but it’s usually not a stim thing. After they start dating, Anna does occasionally stim by massaging Hiccup’s hair/scalp, but she doesn’t usually do it for very long. Hiccup really loves braiding Anna’s hair, or just playing with it when it’s down. it helps him relax and clear his mind to have something fairly repetitive and/or mindless to do.
~Even after gaining some confidence, Hiccup still has a fair bit of social anxiety, so he and Anna basically always go to parties and social events together and stick with each other the whole time to make it less intimidating for him. Hiccup generally prefers to let Anna do the talking when they chat with people, and sometimes if he’s REALLY nervous he’ll sometimes even let her kinda talk for him (not in a condescending “speaking over” kinda way, but more in like a “I can sense you’re not comfortable speaking here so I’ll help you out as best I can” kinda way). She always makes sure to leave space in the conversation for him to take over talking if he wants. She’s also incredibly prone to bragging about his accomplishments to basically everyone they know. Hiccup is both embarrassed and flattered by this.
~When Anna finds out about meltdowns (probably through Hiccup mentioning it kind of offhandedly--“Eh, sorry I went AWOL last night, I was having a bit of a meltdown. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine now.”) she lowkey gets super anxious and frustrated because she REALLY wants to help, but has no idea how. Cue literal HOURS of research on the internet and AGGRESSIVE memorizing of any and all tips that she reads that she thinks would help. Which, of course, means several MORE hours spent going over flashcards like she’s studying for a goddamn test, because Anna has never been known for her sharp, expansive memory.
~The first time Hiccup ever has a meltdown in front of her (maybe after a really bad phone fight with his dad or something? Just general sensory overload?), she takes him to a secluded room and IMMEDIATELY gets rid of anything that could be agitating sensory-wise. She dims the lights! She closes the blinds! She throws a nearby clock, an alarm, a timer, and several other objects with only the slightest potential of making an annoying noise out of a nearby window in a fit of passion! She goes on a frenzied quest to find Hiccup’s noise-cancelling headphones--and finishes it in record time! Even in a state of emotional turmoil, Hiccup realizes that Anna’s being just a little too methodical in how she goes about all this--these are the kind of things that wouldn’t ever occur naturally to her to do. So as soon as he calms down a bit and has screamed into a pillow for a while, he’s like “...did you go on the internet to look up how to help with meltdowns?” and Anna’s like “...yes?” And Hiccup is lowkey so touched he starts crying all over again...and then, naturally, makes a long string of snarky comments to try and distract from it XD
~For their anniversary Anna saves up a bunch and buys Hiccup a lizard and a terrarium!!! She gets him a crocodile skink because, I quote, “Well, they always look annoyed, they’re kinda shy, they don’t like to be touched, and they look like tiny dragons, so they reminded me of you!!!” Hiccup screams like a goddamn fangirl, he’s SO excited. As luck would have it, Hiccup’s crocodile skink is a lot less skittish and prone to hiding than they usually are, and he actually lets Hiccup pick him up and pet him without much issue. Which is honestly great, because repeatedly touching something smooth and even like lizard scales helps calm Hiccup down when he’s agitated and helps with some of his sensory issues.
~Probably goes without saying, but Hiccup basically NEVER genuinely gives Anna a hard time about her memory problems or how she’s not always the quickest on the uptake, and if anyone tries to call her annoying, dumb, or immature he will absolutely roast them into oblivion. He does sometimes like...lightly tease her about jumping into things without thinking or never shutting up, but he never pushes it if he can tell she’s genuinely bothered by it (and, again, Anna is very easy to read, so it’s not hard to tell XD)
~I’ve seen other people in the fandom HC either Hiccup, Anna, or both of them as BOTH autistic and ADHD, and honestly...fuck yes!!! I’m down for this too! I love the idea of these two disaster ND kids just vibing with each other on so many damn levels that it’s like...incomprehensible to the average human XD Like man, they fuckin GET each other!!! I’m pretty happy with most combinations of ADHD + Autistic headcanons for Anna and Hiccup, so long as they end up vibing!!!
~THEY JUST. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SO MUCH. THEY LITERALLY WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER. I AM SURE OF IT. I’M CRYING. 
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