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cozy-the-overlord · 3 years

Text

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Part 3 of Cozy’s Fluff-To-Angst Fun and Games

@fablesrose said:

Alright, break my heart.

A lover softly combing their fingers through your hair as your head lays in their lap, quietly drifting to sleep with a hum.

Summary: She could accept this fate, did accept this fate, if it meant that he would escape safe and sound. But Loki could never let her fall alone.

Word Count: 1,663

Pairing: Loki x Sigyn

A/N: So this is based on a dream I had a while ago ... it’s weird. I know it might not make any sense, but my dreams never make any sense lol, so I was kind of trying to channel that a bit. The title is from Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”-- I debated about that for a while, because I know this story doesn’t really fit that poem thematically (like ... at all), but the atmosphere it creates is sort of what I was going for? Kind of? Idk this story is a trash fire.

Also please let me know what you think of the ending! I’m genuinely curious to see how people interpret it ...

Thanks for reading!

Warnings: Drowning? (but no death)

Tags: @lucywrites02 @silver-lupines @whatafuckingdumbass @the-emo-asgardian @imnotrevealingmyname @electroma89 @lokislittlesigyn @moumouton4 @theredrenard @justdontmindmetm

If you want to be tagged, feel free to send an ask/message :)

Read it on Ao3!

At first, she thought she was dead. That moment when she first hit the water, the icy crack that shattered her vision as millions of tiny needles pierced every sliver of skin and cut straight to her bones—surely, she must be dead. No body could survive such raw cold.

But she wasn’t. She was alive for now, alive enough to scream as freezing water rushed down her throat, up her nostrils, through her ears, ripping her apart from the inside until there was nothing left but ice.

Can’t breathe—

The surface sparkled above her with a mocking glow. She knew how to swim, but when she tried to kick her legs only dangled in the water, useless chunks of lead pulling her deeper and deeper with each failed flail. Her arms weren’t working properly. Her fingers had turned to icicles.

No, she wasn’t dead, but she was dying.

The thought electrified her, and she tried another half-hearted thrash for the surface even as her chest swelled with water. She didn’t want to die. Not like this. Somewhere, deep down, she was ashamed of her fear. She hadn’t fought the drop. She had given herself up to death’s eternal slumber. Why was she panicking now?

But this was different. She had made peace with the fall, yes, but the water did not hold the same mercy. Please. She gasped for the surface, not even sure who she was pleading with.

Please, not like this.

She wasn’t expecting an answer.

And yet one came.

In one moment, she was spiraling down into the blackness, in another, the light was flying towards her in a halo of bubbles, a familiar arm tight and firm around her waist.

Somehow, the air she heaved into her lungs was even colder than the water below, the frigid wind that whipped across her cheeks threatening to take her skin with it. She coughed out a waterfall, the panic that had been frozen in her throat finally freed from its floodgates as she sobbed and shook against his chest.

His.

Sigyn gagged on the realization.

“You—you—” But her voice only burned, too raw for speech. When she attempted to twist around to see his face, he only held her more tightly against him as he pulled her to the embankment. She pulled at his collar with numb fingers.

“You were supposed to run,” she choked. “Loki, you were supposed to run.”

Loki said nothing. He scooped her up like she weighed no more than a feather, his ruby eyes staring off at something only he could see as they trudged through the snow. She realized suddenly that she was shivering, teeth chattering like a pair of castanets, and she gulped as she tried in vain to hold her frostbitten hands still. Loki’s grip around her tightened.

“We need to get you warm,” he said. “You’ll freeze like this.”

What he needed to do was drop her and get as far away from her as possible, but Sigyn’s voice wasn’t working properly. Really, very little was working properly. Her vision was going fuzzy in the corners, the steady sound of his wet boots crunching against the ice was starting to fade into an indistinguishable buzz.

She only noticed they had stopped when the fire crackled to life—a vibrant, vigorous warmth that washed all over her, and she found herself bathing in the glow of dancing flames despite her better judgment.

“Loki!” she whispered weakly, fighting to cling to her last dregs of reason. “The smoke— he’ll find you—”

Loki lay behind her, holding her to his chest with a touch so gentle she barely felt it. His fingertips danced across her temples, stroking clumps of wet hair from her face as they went.

“You’re so beautiful.” His voice was soft and safe, a warm blanket wrapping her up and sheltering her from the world.

She inhaled. Her chest felt numb. “What’s going to happen?” She hated that she sounded so small, like a frightened child cowering at a storm. But surely what they were facing was a storm of its own? Sigyn knew very well who it was pursuing them. She knew he would stop at nothing to retrieve what he wanted.

It could only be a matter of time …

But Loki was unconcerned. “Don’t worry, darling,” he soothed. “Don’t worry. It’s all going to turn out right.”

“The tesseract—”

He hushed her gently. “Everything’s going to be just fine.” He hummed as he combed through her hair, a tune that Sigyn almost recognized, something innocent and nostalgic. It was something from a lifetime far away, dancing on the edge of her memory. She found her eyelids slipping closed, even as she fought to remain awake.

Can’t sleep now. Can’t leave him …

“It’s all right, my love,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “You can go. I promise I’ll be all right.”

And so, she gave into his words, and the world faded to black.

…

When they found him, the fire had gone out. Loki was hunched alone in the snow, watching little flecks of ice crystalize on his blue skin. He didn’t bother to stand as they surrounded his makeshift camp. Why should he? He was weary, and besides— it didn’t matter now.

The Mad-Titan loomed over him, his golden armor sparkling with frost as he regarded Loki with a kind of patronizing amusement.

“And so the Jotun blesses us with his true colors.”

Loki fixed him with a heavy-lidded stare, breath whistling through his lips in a silver vapor. He was too exhausted for words. Besides, what was there to say? Everyone here knew how this was going to end.

At least, they thought they did.

“I’m surprised at your choice,” Thanos grinned. It was a spider’s smile, one that said he wasn’t surprised at all. Loki pressed his nails into the palms of his hands. “I thought for sure you had chosen to run.”

Yes. Sigyn had thought so too, had wanted him to flee. He had seen in her eyes, that peaceful resignation as she accepted her fate.

As if he could ever let her fall alone.

Thanos knew it. That was the frustrating part. He knew Loki would jump in to save her or die trying. He knew he’d give up his life, give up the tesseract, give up every living creature in the universe if it meant keeping her safe …

It didn’t matter now. Sigyn was free from harm, far outside the Titan’s reach, and the tesseract …

“Hand it over, princeling.”

Loki only smirked. History may call him Silvertongue, but oh, sometimes silence tasted so sweet.

Thanos’ eyes narrowed.

They dragged him to his feet in an instant. Loki didn’t fight it. It was only a matter of seconds before the realization would strike, and he for one was enjoying the anticipation.

The Titan towered over him. Loki fought the urge to laugh. He clearly thought himself intimidating, but his tiny eyes glaring out from beneath his helmet only made Loki think of an overgrown cockroach wearing armor.

Still, he bit his tongue.

“I’ll ask only once more,” Thanos leaned towards him, practically spitting in his face. “The tesseract. Hand it over.”

Loki didn’t flinch.

“My lord—” It was one of his Children, hunched over a datapad with a molded tension in his shoulders.

Here we go.

“What?”

“It’s not here.”

“What do you mean it’s not here?” Thanos snapped. “He has it!”

The man inhaled a shaky breath. “Forgive me sir, but he doesn’t. Here—” He held the tablet to the Titan with trembling hands in frantic supplication. “It’s not on his person. It’s not even on this planet. There’s not even the slightest trace of its gamma signature on this side of the galaxy!”

Loki grinned.

…

She awoke in her bed, cocooned in the snug embrace of her favorite fuzzy blanket. The rain pattered on the roof outside, a soft hum that almost soothed her back into slumber. Still, she pulled herself from sleep’s clutches and yawned, stretching as she sat up.

Such a strange dream.

It seemed so distant now, all wrapped up in warmth. She could only barely recall the last dregs of icy panic, floundering in a frozen river. And the man who had pulled her out …

She chuckled to herself. If only every nightmare ended with a tall, dark stranger rushing to her rescue. Although memory of his face eluded her, she couldn’t forget the feeling of his arm around her waist, so strong yet so gentle at the same time, clutching her to his chest like it was his sole purpose in life to hold her close. She sighed. Her subconscious had been kind to her last night.

A loud yowling from down the hall startled her from her reverie—the cat, demanding his breakfast. She frowned at the clock and jumped when she realized how late it was. Oh well. Can’t spend all morning fantasizing about handsome dream-men. Time to get up.

There was a song stuck in her head, she realized suddenly. It took her a moment to place it. Some silly jump rope chant from elementary school that she hadn’t thought of in years.

She giggled. How obscure is that?

Another meow reverberated through the apartment, an impatient edge to the cry. She groaned, throwing back the covers.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!” One of her slippers was missing from its usual spot. She frowned. “Tigger, did you steal my slipper?”

Tigger only let out another screech, and she huffed. That damn cat was always snatching everything she left out and stashing them under something—he was a veritable hoarder.

“Fine,” she yelled, making her way to the kitchen slipperless. “Be like that, you little thief—”

So distracted was she by the cat, she didn’t notice the faint blue glow emanating from the tangled mess of her bedsheets.

#loki marvel #loki fanfic #loki angst #loki x sigyn #loki x ofc #logyn #miles to go before i sleep #cozys fluff-to-angst fun and games #cozy writes

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sortasirius · 4 years

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Baby’s

Don’t look at me I’m so fucking emo

I want this for Dean so bad

Pairing: Dean/Cas

Words: 1079

Dean never realized how much cleaning went into owning a bar.

He’s spent a lot of time in bars, and more often than not they’re greasy, crusty, smell like cigarette smoke and sweat and stale beer. But not his place. Nah, Baby’s is gonna be clean, with one of the shiny bars you always see in movies, with a ton of beers on tap. It’s a place he’s always dreamed of, obviously, since Michael stuck him there when he was in control, but he tries not to think about that. Those memories were hazy anyway.

He found this place by accident, maybe the last of Chuck’s luck, maybe the universe throwing him a bone. (He has saved it a few times, after all). The place is perfect, right in the middle of Texas, so he has the blazing summers to look forward to, but he can do without the winters in Kansas, so it’s a fair enough trade.

It’s an honest to god roadhouse, the perfect mix of bar and home, especially with the apartment situated above it. The whole place needs some serious TLC, but he doesn’t mind. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t have anywhere else to be.

He fixes up the little garage first, taking the tools he had scrounged from the bunker and from his own supply when he left and storing them carefully in the backseat when he leaves for the last time, taking a long look in the rearview before he matches Sam and Eileen’s tire tracks and turns the opposite direction. He strips the wood, sands it, clears it of debris and weeds and trash, spends his first days at the new place outside in the sun, listening to his favorite songs on Spotify from his phone.

Finally, after five days, his first of many projects is done. The garage is fit for a queen, which is, well, perfect really. Dean parks the Impala and covers her carefully in a sheet. She’s finally semi-retired.

He heads inside, hoping against hope that the pipes wouldn’t rust out on him and he can get a good shower.

“How’s it look?” Cas looks up from his place at the bar, where he’s in a ratty t shirt that’s already covered in wood stain, scrubbing the bar with so much vigor that Dean is kinda scared it’ll snap in half.

“It’s done. She’s parked.”

Cas smiles at him, and Dean can’t help but return it with everything he has.

He had thought, maybe, that Cas would want to go out on his own, being human and everything now. Looking back, that was kind of stupid, but Dean had felt like he was twenty pounds lighter when Cas had slid into the passenger seat of the Impala saying nothing but,

“Where to?”

They spend the next six months fixing the place up from seam to seam, from the rotted floors to the dingy bathroom, to the apartment upstairs. With their sweat and blood and ten thousand trips to Home Depot, they make the place into something that has only ever lived in Dean’s dreams.

And as they clean and repair and replace and build, that thing that he had always tried his best to force into the lowest, darkest part of himself. That thing with Cas. That was allowed to grow. It was more natural than anything else. More natural to lean over a beer and kiss Cas than it was to start the engine of the Impala. Something that was a given, never to be questioned again.

“What’s the name?” Sam asks over the phone one Sunday morning, while Dean organizes their first ever liquor shipment and Cas tries to figure out how to put a tap together.

“I was thinking Baby’s.”

“For the Impala?” he can hear Sam’s smirk through the phone.

“Yeah...and for Dirty Dancing too.”

One last homage to Lee, even after everything.

“Wow, chick flick king over here,” Sam laughs, “Well, Eileen and I found a great little place up in Montana, you and Cas should come visit when you get a break.”

“We won’t ever get a break,” Cas cuts in, rolling his eyes and huffing in frustration, “He’s already got us working eighteen hour days.”

“What can I say, I’m a business owner now,” Dean winks at Cas, who’s mouth lifts at the flirtation.

“Well whatever, you should come see the place when you get the chance.”

“Will do Sammy. I’ll talk to you next week.”

“Sure thing, bye man, bye Cas.”

Dean doesn’t really expect much business. They are a little...off the beaten path, but they’re close enough to a small town that they get a few curious locals who quickly become their regulars. And those regulars bring in people who bring in people who make Dean and Cas busier than they ever were as hunters.

Dean’s crowning achievement is the purple neon sign, with pink and deep blue accents, that they set up above the place. Baby’s. His place. He swells with pride every time he looks at it, and doesn’t even complain when Cas makes them switch sides of the bed because it bothers his eyes at four in the morning.

They have to hire two more bartenders in six months, and Dean suddenly feels like a real owner. He loves playing bartender and slinging drinks much more than the boring paperwork, but Cas helps him with that. They’ve always made a great team.

Dean feels like he spends most of his free time cleaning now. If he was downstairs, he was always armed with a bottle of disinfectant spray and a dishrag. Cas calls him a germaphobe. Dean says he’s not and then kisses Cas to prove it. Cas just shakes his head and goes back to wiping glasses.

Dean doesn’t realize it until about a year in, but he looks around at the bustling place, with pool tables and foosball and classic arcade games that Dean bought for a song and fixed up himself, with the line of craft beers he’d always wanted, with Cas by his side, throwing his head back at a joke one of the regulars is telling, Dean realizes that he might be really, truly happy for the first time in his life.

And it was all down to a roadhouse.

Dean finally gets the piece of Heaven he’s always deserved. Funny enough, maybe fitting enough, it just happened to be here on earth the whole time.

#my writing #spn #supernatural #destiel #dean winchester #dean #he deserves this and i hope they give it to him

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thebigqueer · 4 years

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Solangelo - "Never Stop, My Love" - One-Shot

Summary: Will and Nico spend a day together in the Strawberry Fields.

Word Count: 984

Read on AO3

Sunlight falls across the Strawberry Fields, offering it a golden hue in the setting sun. Slight breezes whisper through the grass. Some demigods are milling around with baskets and talking with friends, picking strawberries and laughing brightly with each other. But underneath the shade of a tree, Nico and Will are separate from everyone else, drifting alone in their own universe.

Nico’s head lies across Will’s lap, his hair billowing around him in a pure black halo, drowning his face in a dark sea. His hands flutter around with stalks of grass and small little daisies; he’s trying to make flower crowns. Will is too, but he has to be careful to make his crown away from Nico so that the petals and grass don’t fall in his face.

The weight of Nico’s head presses against Will’s thigh, and Will has to force himself not to laugh. He’s always been ticklish, and with Nico lying against him like this, every shift he makes has Will bursting at the seams from trying to keep his giggles aside. He’ll have to tell Nico to get off soon, but for now, he looks so peaceful. It would be a shame to take his head off and ruin the tranquil set of his features.

Nico’s eyes glance up at Will’s, and for a moment, they stare at each other. Blue eyes on brown ones, connected by some kind of magnetic force, unable to shift their gazes from each other. They’re paralyzed with passion.

Then Nico’s rosy lips slip into a soft smile, and Will loses his breath. “You know,” Nico says quietly, “it was probably a mistake trying to make flower crowns while lying down. It’s getting all over my shirt.”

Will smiles back in amusement. He brushes some leaves off Nico’s shirt as he says, “It really does not match your emo look.”

“Oh, like you’re some fashion expert.” Nico swats Will’s hand away and raises an eyebrow at him. “You’re wearing ripped jeans with a printed shirt.”

“Yeah, but I make it look hot.”

“No, it makes you look like an eyesore.”

“A hot eyesore.”

Nico glares at him for a second, but then his annoyance gives way to soft laughter. It spills from his lips and falls onto the ground, planting seedlings of happiness into the earth. He doesn’t say anything more, and soon silence falls over the boys again, setting a blanket of calm over their shoulders.

Will tries to focus on making his own flower crown, but he can’t with Nico’s face right there. The golden sunlight pours over his features, offering Nico’s olive skin a glowing effect. His dark eyes absorb the golden hue of the sun, becoming a milky chocolate color. They look sweet, soft, beautiful. As another brush of wind flows over them, dark locks of hair kiss Nico’s cheek, whisper sweet nothings against his face.

Nico’s absorbing the sunlight, taking it and spreading his own warmth. He looks ethereal, absolutely radiant.

He doesn’t look human. He is a godly entity, brimming with power, bursting with beauty.

Nico always says that he looks better in the darkness, when the moonlight spills over his body and provides him with a ghostly, luminescent glow - but Will begs to differ. Nico looks like a deity no matter what time of day it is. His skin absorbs all the light, leeches all the color from the world. He’s the sun on a rainy day; he’s the spotlight in the darkness; he’s the purity in the impurity. He’s always ethereal, always radiant.

He’s always just Nico. No different at any other time of the day.

Will’s fingers are still fidgeting with the flowers in his hands, but he can barely focus on making a crown anymore. Nico’s distracting him too much, just by breathing and existing and smiling. He grabs Will’s attention at the worst times, makes his breath hitch at every glance.

So Will stops his project and throws it on the ground. His fingers itch to touch Nico, to make sure that he’s real and alive and very much Will’s.

His hand glides over Nico’s face, over the skin on his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, over the splash of freckles on his cheeks. His fingers brush against Nico’s cheek and down to his chin, traveling over the map of scars that line his face. Nico is a reserved being who never gives up too much about himself. But as Will journeys down his face, he uncovers so many secrets, so much information. He has uneven eyebrows, and his nose is curved. One eye looks a little bigger than the other. Will’s mesmerized by the way Nico’s eyelashes flutter against his face, the way his skin glows in the sunlight.

Nico looks up at him, his dark eyes glimmering with admiration. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even give Will a confused stare. Only watches at him as if wondering how far he’ll go down the map of his face, wondering how many more secrets he’ll uncover. Almost daring him to reveal more about Nico.

Will’s fingers flutter over Nico’s lips, brush against his chin. Silence still encompasses them, but Will’s tired of the quietness. He wants to tell Nico something, something important, something to break this silence between them.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers. He means it more to himself, but Nico hears it anyway. He breaks out into a bright smile, bright enough to rival even Apollo.

“And you’re golden,” Nico responds, his voice soft and velvety. It sweeps through Will’s ears and travels down his body, resonates in his bones, warms his toes. “You’re my light in the darkness.”

“Can I keep being the light in your darkness?”

“Only if you let me be the darkness that lets you glow.”

“I’m always glowing with you.”

Nico entangles his fingers with Will’s and squeezes gently. “Then never stop, my love.”

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words-with-wren · 4 years

Text

what is grief if not love enduring?

not me blasting sad songs and writing for an hour before retreating to youtube to watch animatics of funny bits to Cope.

The last part was written very soon after Tommy’s stream, the rest was written after the streams yesterday/before Tubbo’s one today.

Basically me just being emo and writing everyone’s pain!

______

The corridor of the prison stretched into darkness but Sam didn’t stop moving. His grip was tight around the trident he held, his pace brisk and quick and sharp. He moved down one long, endless hall, and then another, and then another.

How long he had paced through the cold, dark halls he wasn’t sure. Again and again, looking for clues he knew he wasn’t going to find. Sometimes he dove into the dark depths of the water surrounding the prison (the tomb). Sometimes he ventured into the painfully bright of outside, stood on top of the prison, covered every inch of it again and again and again.

“Sam - Sam please!”

The ghost of a boy’s voice chased him endlessly. The desperate pleas of his final moments. The words Sam had ignored.

“You’re going to have to trust me.”

He had asked for trust. Asked for faith. Asked for so many things and he had failed. Failed. Failed. Failed.

And Tommy had paid the price.

“You remember when you visited me in exile? This is worse than that.”

Tommy had been desperate. Afraid. So, so very afraid.

Sam knew why. And yet he had stilled ignored Tommy’s frantic attempts at help. He had ignored Tommy’s lowered guard, a guard he only lowered when he was desperate.

“He was mine! He obeyed me immediately. I didn’t even have to ask him to destroy his armour by the end. It was almost too easy. Too fun.”

Dream’s laughter echoed through the corridors.

No matter how much he tried to convince himself it had been necessary, Sam couldn’t rid himself of the guilt that ate him alive.

The halls were cold.

Sam kept walking, searching for a culprit even though he knew who was really to blame.

~*~

His cheeks were burning. A fire that still wasn’t as bad as the ache in his chest, a stinging that was worse than any physical pain he’d felt in a long time.

It hurt, but he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, even when he pressed his sleeve to his face to try and dry them, to relieve the pain even a little.

Ranboo trudged through the snow, a few flowers still hanging limp from one hand, the other pressed his sleeve to his face.

He felt… numb, in many ways. The ache was strong, threatening to overwhelm, but so was the desire to just sleep.

He should have done more.

The cottage came into view and Ranboo looked up, blinking his eyes, and taking a shaky breath to keep back the rest of his tears.

He’d forgotten how much it hurt.

Fitting, really.

He’d almost made it past the house when the opening of a door caught his attention. He dabbed at his cheeks again, trying to stop them stinging, to hide the fresh scars that were no doubt noticeable.

“Hey mate!” Phil called, stepping out of his house and leaning on the edge of the bridge between buildings with a grin that Ranboo suddenly wanted to punch. He balled his fist, the flowers in his hand drooping. When he didn’t respond, Phil’s expression flickered. “Everything alright?”

“No,” Ranboo said, his voice catching slightly. “No, not really.”

How could he explain?

“What’s up?”

Phil’s concern seemed so genuine and Ranboo couldn’t help but feel so angry. Angry at everyone who only cared after it was too late. Angry at everyone who hadn’t done anything, himself included, who had let this happen.

“Tommy’s dead,” he said, and the words felt heavy as he spoke them, like a finality.

(The flower sat on the path, limp and forlorn and nobody came).

“What?” Phil’s voice was almost amused, as though he were holding back a laugh. Ranboo balled his fists tighter, not caring that he was probably cutting into his palms.

“He’s gone,” he said. “He was trapped in the prison and Dream…” He bit his lip. It was better than the burning cheeks.

“Oh.”

Phil’s expression barely changed. He was silent for a long moment, knuckles white on the railing the only sign of his emotion. “I see.”

Then he turned abruptly and returned inside, shutting the door behind him. Ranboo swallowed thickly, determined not to cry anymore.

He hurt enough already.

“So Theseus finally fell.”

He started, turning to see Techno standing behind him, arms crossed, axe in one hand, Steve’s lead in the other. Ranboo nodded, swallowing again and taking a shaky breath.

“What happened to your face?” Techno’s voice didn’t change, still as steady and monotone as always. Ranboo blinked.

“When… when I cry. My tears…” It felt silly to say.

Techno didn’t answer, just gestured with one hand for Ranboo to follow him. He did, suddenly wanting to bury his face in the polar bear’s fur and cry without it hurting.

It wasn’t fair.

“I don’t even know why,” he said quietly, barely aware he was speaking. “I mean… he was always mean to me… I…” he trailed off, realizing Techno wouldn’t want to hear his rambling.

Techno didn’t answer for a while, setting Steve up beside the fire before opening a chest. Ranboo stood near the door, fidgeting nervously, spinning the flowers in his hand.

“Loss is funny like that,” Techno said finally. He glanced up from the chest, withdrawing a potion and holding it out to Ranboo. Ranboo took it, offering him a small smile.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. Techno grunted, and Ranboo took that as his cue to leave.

As he did, he heard Techno muttering something under his breath. He wasn’t sure exactly, but it sounded like “... I know… be patient. I won’t let him get away with this.”

The door to Phil’s house was closed and his windows dark.

~*~

It felt almost wrong to sleep in a room that he had effectively stolen from a dead man. Jack couldn’t sleep, staring at the ceiling, trying to stop thinking.

Somehow, he kept thinking of L’manberg. Specifically, a day a few weeks after he had joined the country, while he and Tommy were standing on top of the wall and they were laughing.

He couldn’t even remember why - maybe it had something to do with something Tubbo had said or done.

He just remembered laughing. Remembered the sun on his back and Tommy’s eyes sparkling with mirth and his loud, obnoxious cackle and laughing so hard his sides ached and he had tears running down his cheeks and he couldn’t breathe.

He curled onto his side, shutting his eyes tightly.

He remembered lying on the van with Tubbo and Niki and Tommy, pointing out stars and making up constellations.

He remembered standing over a cold crater, annoyance mingling with simmering anger and Niki’s frustrated and furious expression.

When had it all gone so wrong?

Finally, he threw the blankets aside and stepped outside onto the balcony, looking out over the land. It all felt so… empty. Just yesterday he looked out here with pride and excitement - part of him was looking forward to the challenge of keeping this hotel from Tommy’s grasp when he returned.

And now he was never going to return.

A glint of light caught his attention and he glanced down to see a figure standing in the moonlight.

Sam Nook. A silent sentry.

Jack wondered how long he would stay there, waiting for a boy who would never return home.

He gripped the edge of the balcony, feeling the cold wind and stared at the tree and the bench just across the way.

He didn’t care anymore.

He just wanted his friend back.

~*~

“I’m sorry.”

Puffy sat on the edge of the crater, staring down at the glass that reflected the stars and the pit that lay underneath.

“We all really let you down, huh?”

L’manberg was so quiet now. It had been for a long time, but Puffy refused to let its memory fully die.

Now, she felt like it had for good this time.

“You shouldn’t have had to go through that alone. You shouldn’t have had to go through that at all.”

She held a bundle of flowers - white and red, like the ones Ranboo had been collecting. Somehow it felt fitting to sit here, over the land he had created.

“I let you down. I failed you. Even before you went into the prison. I should have visited you more in exile. I’m sorry.”

She pressed the heel of her hand to her eyes, taking a shaky breath and shaking her head.

The words felt empty.

Nothing she could do could make up for what had happened to him.

She just had to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else.

Taking a deep breath, she stood. Carefully, she held out her arm, opening her hand to let the flowers drift down to the glass that covered L’manberg.

“I heard there was a special place,” she began softly. “Where men could go and emancipate.”

The moon was cold as it shone on the lone woman, singing softly in the rubble of a home.

~*~

He paced the halls, the halls that felt more empty than ever. He’d barely unpacked from his travels, barely settled back in and now all he could think about was the pit in his chest and the ache in his bones and the lingering guilt he had carried for months.

Eret ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath, stopping in front of his throne.

Realistically, he knew he couldn’t have done anything.

Part of him wondered if this would have happened if he’d come home just a little earlier.

Part of him wondered how different things would be if he hadn’t let greed and naive foolishness blind him a long time ago.

He began pacing again, aimlessly moving through the halls of his castle. He missed them. He had missed them all for such a long time and he had only just been starting to rebuild those relationships.

Without meaning to, he found himself leaving his castle, walking the prime path, feet leading him aimlessly up the path.

He stopped in front of the shrine Puffy had made earlier that day.

Tommy had forgiven him. Tommy had been the first to forgive him, when Eret had long ago given up on any chance of that happening.

Tommy had given him hope he could be forgiven. Given him hope he could redeem himself, could rebuild the relationships he had broken.

With a long sigh, Eret reached up and took off his crown, glasses slipping down his face to reveal his white, white eyes.

Clutching both to his chest, he lowered his head, closing his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

~*~

Snowchester was cold.

Tubbo pulled a blanket over his shoulders and sat in the corner of the room, Micheal’s chicken sleeping on his lap. Micheal was asleep as well, curled in his boat across the room and Tubbo couldn’t help but be glad.

It was cold, and no matter how many blankets he pulled around himself, no matter how hot he cranked up the fire he knew he couldn’t drive all the cold away.

Part of him wondered if he’d be cold even in the depths of the Nether.

Part of him didn’t care.

It wasn’t true, surely.

Sam was just playing another prank on them. A cruel one, one that was Tubbo’s biggest fear, but that had to be it.

Right?

But Sam’s voice had been shaky and his eyes wet and deep down Tubbo knew.

This was worse than last time, somehow. Last time they hadn’t had a proper goodbye, last time Tubbo blamed himself, last time it hurt so, so much.

But Tubbo had had L’manberg. He had had to keep pushing forward. He had things to distract him.

Now he had nothing. Nothing but the cold shell of a house that had no heart, no soul.

Because that was always Tommy’s job, wasn’t it?

It was always Tommy who made a house a home. A nation a place to be proud of.

They had won and somehow that made it all so, so much worse.

They had won, and Dream had been locked up, and they had been able to go about their lives how they wanted to. They had won, and that should have been the end of the story. The book should have closed, the song should have finished.

Happily ever after, right?

Tubbo pressed himself into the corner, burying his face into the feathers of the chicken in his lap and fighting down tears.

He couldn’t do this.

Not again.

Why did Death favour Tommy?

~*~

Tommy woke with a chocked gasp, one hand flung above his head, shaking violently, a plea still on his tongue.

He shuddered, breathing deeply, shutting his eyes and regaining his breath as he slowly realized he wasn't in immediate danger.

It was warm, but not the blistering heat of the Nether, or the wet, unpleasant heat of Dream's cell. It was a pleasant warmth, like sun shining down on him.

The ground was soft as well. Not hard and uneven like the floor of the cell, but soft and comfortable, what felt like grass tickling his arms. And wind blew softly over his face, a slow, lazy breeze that made Tommy relax more.

Then he opened his eyes and stared up at the blue sky above him. A few stray clouds drifted across the sky and despite the still aching of his arms and head, Tommy smiled softly.

He was out. He wasn't trapped any more. He could feel the wind, could see the sun, could hear the trees rustling nearby. He was out and he was finally free.

(What had happened? It had been dark and hot and terrifying and Dream had been there and he had been violent and harsh and…)

He didn't want to think about that. With arms that were still shaking slightly, he pushed himself up and looked around.

A few trees dotted the area, a river flowing lazily past. Hills rose around them and standing a few meters away, his back to Tommy, was a figure.

He was tall, wearing a coat that flapped slightly in the wind. A beanie was pulled firmly over his hair, and his shoulders were more relaxed that Tommy ever remembered them being.

"Wilbur?" he called, unease and excitement mingling, together. His voice shook slightly, the panic not fully faded.

The figured turned, revealing a familiar soft smile. It was strange, seeing Wilbur like this. Wearing the clothes he died in (he was dead how was he here?), a bloodstain across his chest, but smiling. Eyes soft, proud, sorrowful.

He looked at Tommy the same way he had when Tommy claimed independence.

"Welcome home," he said softly.

Tommy blinked up at him, suddenly aware of the hand Wilbur stretched out to him. He took it, letting Wilbur pull him to his feet and swaying slightly.

Everything felt off. He was aching, pain pounding through him, but it didn't feel real. It felt as though someone else was hurting, but when he looked down at his arms he could see the bruises, could feel dry blood in his head.

"What happened to you," Wilbur said softly, cupping his chin and lifting his face. Tommy felt a lump in his throat at the softness of the touch, despite the involuntary flinch the action drew from him.

What had happened. He didn't remember exactly, everything felt like a dream. One that he didn't want to wake up from. This open field and Wilbur soft expression were far better than the nightmare of the last week.

"I-" he began, looking down. Wilbur's hand drifted down to his arm, gently holding his elbow. Tommy followed the movement, seeing the bruises that littered his arms.

(Dream standing over him, eyes blazing. Fists clenched, bloodied with Tommy's blood. He was holding his arms above his face, tears in his eyes, blood running down his cheek.)

He shuddered, despite the warmth of the afternoon. Wilbur lifted his hand hesitantly, pausing a moment before returning it.

"Take your time," he said quietly. "It takes time to adjust."

"Adjust to what?" Tommy asked, and he hated how small his voice was. "Wilbur where - where am I?"

Wilbur glanced up, and Tommy did as well. His heart skipped a beat, his breath caught suddenly in his throat.

He knew where they were. This was home. This was L'manberg's land, the foundations she was built upon before war and death had stained her soil.

If L'manberg was here, unbroken, unspoiled. And if Wilbur was here, alive…

Was Tommy?

"Wil- am…" He trailed off, breath catching. "Am I?"

(Dream was angry, more angry than Tommy had ever seen him. And the lava seemed to be laughing at him and the walls were closing in around him and -)

He was breathing quickly, shaking his head, heart bounding.

"No," he said softly.

"Tommy-" Wilbur began but Tommy stepped back, pushing Wilbur's hand away.

"No. No. I - I can't… what about my hotel? What about Tubbo. I can't leave I can't be… I was going to leave him behind, I was going to be done with him this was going to be the last time."

He couldn't breathe. He shuddered, wrapping his arms around his chest and collapsing to his knees. The ground was hard underneath him and his breath was short, sharp, panicked.

"I'm not dead," he whispered. "I - I won. I can't let him… I left him behind. I - I'm finished with him he can't… he can't win."

"Tommy." Wilbur's voice was soft, even, full of hurt. A hand lay gently on Tommy's back and he stiffened, remembering the past week of Dream's casual punches. But Wilbur's hand was steady, comforting and Tommy leaned into it despite himself. "I'm sorry."

Wilbur's voice was so genuine, so full of regret that Tommy felt tears prick his eyes again.

He was so tired.

"Wilby, I-"

He was tired. Tired of being afraid, tired of nightmares. Tired of not being normal, of freaking out over the smallest things. He was tired of Dream's shadow that never seemed to leave. Tired of losing again and again and again.

"I know," Wilbur said softly and drew Tommy into a tight hug. Tommy didn't resist, curling into Wilbur's embrace, sobbing softly.

"There - I had a hotel," he whispered. He wanted to do so much. He wanted to prove he could. He wanted to become someone, to prove that Dream didn't control him. Didn't own him.

He wanted to do so much.

He buried his face in Wilbur's chest, shoulders shaking, weeping for his lost childhood.

At least here, maybe he could rest.

#dream smp #dsmp #tommyinnit #awesamdude #ranboo #eret #captain puffy #tubbo #i was editing this and then sam got paralizationisditated #and i got very distracted by ranboo pushing him to safety and failing #safe to say it was not the vibe of this story #uuuuh #tw death #tw child death #wandavision gave me a pain quote and i am going to completely and utterly abuse it

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dramapic · 4 years

Text

MASTERLIST

I update this list everytime I watch and review a show.

Disclaimer: These reviews are subjective and only reflect my opinions. There are no drama on that list that I’ve turned off and all are worthy of a watch.

Recs welcome!

#1 Crash landing on you

(사랑의 불시착)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Son Ye-jin (who plays Yoon Se-ri) and Hyun Bin (Ri Jeong-hyeok) have amazing chemistry and every episode plays out like the chapters of an excellent fanfiction. Classic romantic tropes, humour, angst, action, CLOY has it all. Moreover, if you’ve never watched a Kdrama in your life, CLOY is a great starting point—not only will it introduce you to Korean culture but also to popular tropes and codes of the genre.

#2 Rookie historian Goo Hae-ryung

(신입사관 구해령)

Grade: A++

Genre: Historical, Age gap

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Delightful from end to end, with lots of humour and an engaging story. The romance between Goo Hae-ryung and himbo-prince Dowon will make your heart go soft, especially if you’re into reverse gender dynamics (she’s older and kisses him first *le gasp*)

#3 Memories of the Alhambra

(알함브라 궁전의 추억)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Sci-fi; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Intriguing premise, great cast and tons of special effects but the romance between Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) and Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye) won't go down in history. On top of that, the ending is a bit wishy-washy in that annoying “maybe there’s more to come” kind of way. Give us a clear cut ending, damnit!

#4 Good doctor

(굿 닥터)

Grade: B-

Genre: Modern, Medical drama

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Good heart but the writing is really clumsy at times and the hospital politics don’t make an awful lot of sense. On the bright side, Joo Won is great in the role of Park Si-on.

Note: I haven’t watched the American remake so can’t compare.

#5 My love from the star/ You from the stars

(별에서 온 그대)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi, fantasy, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 21

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Jun Ji-hyun is absolutely stellar in the role of Cheon Seong-yi, a ditzy Hallyu* star whose career is going south while Kim Soo-hyun plays the emotionally closed-off alien to perfection. Lots of pinning, a dose of angst mixed with a pinch of wacky humor.

*Hallyu means “Korean wave” in Chinese and refers to the popularity and spreading of Korean pop-culture outside of Korea.

#6 Hwarang The Poet Warrior Youth

(화랑)

Grade: B

Genre: Historical, Coming of age, fake siblings who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute boys and interesting lore rooted in true facts (the bone rank system and the real Hwarang, the “Flowering Knights” of the Silla kingdom) but the story drags. I guess I expected more bromance and frolicking and less angst. Lastly, the main girl starts off quirky and fun but they quickly transform her into a sobbing mess which becomes real annoying real fast.

#7 Love in the Moonlight / Moonlight Drawn by Clouds (구르미 그린 달빛)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Romance, Coming of age, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 18

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A classic tale of a girl raised as a boy who ends up in a situation where she needs to do her best to not blow her cover while catching feels (As someone raised on Versailles no bara and Ribbon no Kishi, it remains one of my favourite tropes)

Sweet romance and good characters. The fact that Crown prince Lee Yeong doesn't turn emo when he starts developing feelings for Eunuch Ra-on before discovering she's a girl is the cherry on top of the cake.

#8 Something in the rain

(밥 잘 사주는 예쁜 누나)

Grade: C

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes, but it still doesn't make you happy

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Wasted potential!

Great start but the characterization falls apart quickly and you end up wondering why the main characters keep sabotaging their lives. By the end, despite their reunion, you're left with the impression they've learned nothing and that their relationship is doomed to fall apart.

On top of it all, watching Jin-ah fight sexism in the workplace and gaining nothing is depressing af (I don’t need realism in my escapism, thank you very much).

Too bad because Son Ye-jin and Jung Hae-in look really good together and the acting is top-notch. My advice is to watch the first 8 episodes then make up your own ending in your head.

#9 Moon embracing the sun

(해를 품은 달)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical,Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 22

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A traditional historical drama with all the tropes that go with the genre + a hint of esoterism.

If you love ill-fated relationships, tragic love triangle, evil queens, and amnesia, this is the show for you. Beware, the interrogation/torture scenes are rather brutal.

#10 My sassy girl

(엽기적인 그녀)

Grade: B-

Genre: Historical, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute and lighthearted but easily forgettable. Still worth a watch thanks to Joo Won & Oh Yeon-seo's chemistry.

#11 Coffee Prince

(커피프린스 1호점)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Solid story, great cast but be ready for a lot of bickering.

Yoon Eun-hye is a precious bean who manages to sell the story of Eun-chan, a struggling androgynous working-class girl who mistakenly gets hired by a rich guy to play his boyfriend, then becomes his employee, then falls for him while not correcting his assumptions about her gender. Opposite her, Gong Yoo (from Train to Busan fame) is 🥰🥰🥰

Sidenote: Despite Han-kyul's struggle to accept his feelings for Eun-chan, homosexuality isn't treated as a joke or a shameful thing. The one time he goes seek “medical help”, the doctor is depicted as an old, clueless idiot. And honestly, the story would work too if Eun-chan was a guy.

#12 My girlfriend is a Gumiho/My girlfriend is a Nine-tailed fox

(내 여자친구는 구미호)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Campy and goofy. It does look a bit dated (it’s from 2010) and the story is a little predictable but Lee Seung-gi as Cha Dae-woong, an aspiring action film actor and Shin Min-ah as “Gu Mi-ho” the nine-tailed fox looking for a mate are super cute. The show is also a good introduction to Korean folklore.

#13 Goblin / Guardian: The Lonely and Great God / The Lonely and Great God – Goblin

(쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비)

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Historical, Fantasy, bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Viki

Unpopular opinion but since I’m not into older guys, I wasn’t invested in the romance between Bride and Goblin until late in the series. I loved everything else though. The show has such a unique tone and atmosphere. It goes from super serious to goofy in no time. The cinematography is gorgeous (especially the historical sets) and you'll cry your eyes out.

#14 Healer

(힐러)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

If you're into toll broody guys and fearless smoll girls, you’ll love Healer. The story is great, the characters are great and the way Jung-hu (played by Ji Chang-wook) and Ji-an (Park Min-young) are horny for each other is peak drama! *chef kiss*

#15 Kangchi the beginning/Gu family book

(구가의 서)

Grade: B-

Genre: Historical, Fantasy

Episodes:

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Engaging coming of age story of a half-human half-gumiho looking for his place in this world. If it wasn't for the wishy-washy ending it could have been the perfect mix of action fantasy and romance.

Special mention for Dam Yeo-wool (played by Suzie Bae) who is a female character who's allowed to be a bit of everything at the same time (strong, kick-ass, funny, cute, romantic)

#16 Queen for seven days

(7일의 왕비)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Romance, Villainous crush

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

With that title don’t expect a HEA but there are plenty of sweet moments along the way to make you appreciate the journey.

Chae-kyung loves the Prince and the Prince loves Chae-kyung but the King wants to kill the Prince and Chae-kyung is loyal to the King but the King is a tyrant and everyone wants the Prince to take his throne. On top of that the King wants Chae-kyung. Big mess. Lots of feels.

The story is (very) loosely based on real-life Queen Dangyeong, which makes it even more poignant. I cried my eyes out at the end because I’m a big softy.

#17 Korean Odyssey

(화유기)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The show (very loosely based on Journey to the West) has its faults including the wishy-washy ending and the fact that Jin Seon-mi/Sam-jang starts off as a doormat but I ended up liking the relationship developing between the assholish Monkey god and the naive human girl more than I expected.

The side characters are compelling, and the banter and bickering between the deities work really well. If you grew up with Dragon ball, you’ll have a blast trying to match-up the Japanese and Korean names of everyone without looking up Wikipedia.

Lastly, not something I imagined saying after seeing him in Gumiho and Gu family book but Lee Seung-gi as Son Oh-gong = BDE *fans herself* 🥵

#18 Strong Girl Bong-soon

(힘쎈여자 도봉순)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Super-Heroine

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Graphic depiction of violence against women

A++ super-heroine story, bad side characters

First, every girl should aspire to find a Min-hyuk in their life. Someone who'll love them because of their strength, and support them unconditionally. Someone who won't ask them to change or pretend to be somebody else.

Second, western media should learn that a super-heroine can HAVE IT ALL—the superpowers AND the love AND the family.

My only complaint with the show (and that's why I gave A- instead of A++) is the inclusion of many cringy side characters/situations that spoiled my overall enjoyment (see the caricatural flamboyant gay co-worker, Bong-soon’s mom hitting her dad, the mobsters...)

#19 The K2

(더 케이투)

Grade: B-

Genre: Modern, Political

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The romance is bad and the political story far-fetched but Ji Chang-wook is 🔥🔥PEAK HOTTIE🔥🔥

That being said, I didn’t completely dislike the political intrigue and it was interesting to see the good guy working for the villains (sort of).

#20 Weightlifting fairy Kim Bok-joo

(역도요정 김복주)

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Uplifting coming of age story and super sweet romance. Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) & Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk) are precious children on top of being cutie-patooties. Bok-joo’s insecurities hit hard, especially if you’ve ever been outside the norm of beauty standards.

I liked how the show normalizes therapy and taking care of your mental health.

In one word…

SWAG!

#21 The scholar who walks the night

(밤을 걷는 선비)

Grade: B

Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Vampire, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Guilty pleasure.

Don’t ask me about the details of the main storyline, I’ve already forgotten most of it. Sometimes all you need is a show where a hundred-something years old good vampire with a sad backstory and the main girl who is thirsty for the good vampire are fighting a sexy evil vampire.

PS: Did I mention the sexy evil vampire?

#22 Romance is a bonus book

(로맨스는 별책부록)

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imagine reading a relaxing book under a cozy blanket while sipping hot cocoa. That’s how that series made me feel.

Everything is sweet and soft from the characters' fluffy jumpers to the soft palette of color used for the sets. People make books and love books. There’s a mystery but no unnecessary angst. If you need a break from everything, jump in that ship.

#23 Hotel Del Luna

(호텔 델루나)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Sorta

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Interesting world-building and a good cast of side characters but the romance lacks a bit of oomph.

On the + side, the hotel sets are gorgeous and Man-wol's wardrobe is to kill for.

#24 Suspicious Partner

(수상한 파트너)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Star-crossed lovers in an office

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Toll serious who hates criminal falls for smoll weirdo falsely accused of murder. A must watch for anyone in search of a quirky romance.

#25 Touch your heart

(진심이 닿다)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Tooth rotting sweetness. The series is just a pretext to watch two good looking people (Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na) being nice and awkward around each other. What do you need more? 0

Note: If you watched Goblin you can also pretend it's a spin-off series about the reincarnations of Grim Reaper and Sunny. 💡

#26 Because this is my first life

(이번 생은 처음이라)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Fake marriage

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The Fake Marriage AU you’re looking for, mixed with slices of modern, messy, complicated life.

The main storyline revolves around Ji-ho an assistant drama screenwriter who struggles to find her place within the patriarchal structure of Korean society, and Se-hee, a socially incompetent computer designer who only cares for his cat and his mortgage. The way they end up in a fake marriage as well as the development of their relationship feels organic and doesn’t rely too heavily on comedy like it’s often the case with that trope.

The show also follows the stories of Ji-ho’s friends, Su-ji and Ho-rang who have different aspirations in life—Su-ji’s goal is to become CEO while Ho-rang only cares about becoming a housewife. I loved that the show makes a point to not pit women against each other and advocate living your life the way YOU want rather than trying to follow societal expectations of what love, work and marriage should look like.

Also they have the cutest cat.

#27 What's wrong with Secretary Kim?

(김비서가 왜 그럴까 )

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

I wish Secretary Kim had more agency in certain situations but the romance develops well and the horny moments are caliente 🥵🔥

#28 Where your eyes linger

(너의 시선이 머무는 곳에)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern, BL, Coming of age, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 8

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Bite-size BL gem to devour in one sitting.

Stellar acting from the two leads and the balance between fluff and angst is just right. There's no graphic violence that sometimes plagues yaoi and BL and the story is believable. I got emo remembering my first love.

#29 Live up to your name

(명불허전)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Historical, Time travel, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for graphic depiction of violence

Big surprise. I was looking for a cheesy comedy but it was actually a thoughtful story about humanism. I even teared up a little.

Trigger warning for needles. They do some pretty impressive procedures with those acupuncture needles.

#30 W - Two Worlds Apart

(더블유)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk. Nuf’ said.

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk.

The silly premise hides a solid story that keeps you on your toes and I was suprised by the rollercoaster of emotions I went through.

“Option 3″

“That’s 4 fingers”

#31 Life

(라이프)

Grade: C

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Unless you want to learn how fucked up the private health sector is becoming in Korea, there's not much to gain watching this show.

The story starts off well though. The problem is that by the middle of the series the writers have dropped the main mystery (the circumstances surrounding the death of the director) to deliver an exposé on the political machinations of big corporations, and then shoehorn an explanation at the last minute (“it was all but a misunderstanding”). Very underwhelming.

The relationship between the two brothers played by Lee Dong-wook and Lee Kyu-hyung is the only bright spot.

#32 Pinocchio

(피노키오)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Fake family members who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

On paper, the story sounds a little crazy but it all comes together nicely.

Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye have great chemistry and deliver a stellar performance as “uncle” and “niece” (not related by blood) who can’t fight the romantic feelings they harbor for one another. The main storyline has enough twists to keep you entertained and surprised.

My only complaint is that it drags a little. 16 episodes would have been enough.

#33 My Holo Love

(나 홀로 그대)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Fake men > Real men

Imagine a Black Mirror episode about a love triangle between a woman suffering from face blindness, an emotionally supportive AI boyfriend and the disenchanted creator of said AI, minus the nihilism. *chef kiss*

#34 Legend of the blue sea

(푸른 바다의 전설)

Grade: B++

Genre: Modern, Fantasy, Fairy tale, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Park Ji-eu (the writer) read the little mermaid and decided to give her a happy ending. Great chemistry between Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun but the spark is missing for me.

The antics of modern-day mermaid Shim Cheong are a little predictable and Joon-jae needs to be less of a control freak at times but the story remains enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised to see Shim Cheong’s character grow, making the power imbalance between the clueless mermaid and the con-artist less pronounced by the end of the series.

The side characters are interesting but underused, and I wish Tae-oh was more developed. On the other hand, the Joseon area sets and costumes are absolutely gorgeous (Don’t tell anyone but Joseon!Lee Min-ho is hotter than Modern!Lee Min-ho 🥵)

#35 Tale of Arang / Arang and the Magistrate

(아랑사또전)

Grade: B

Genre: Historical, Fantasy,

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

One word: Campy.

Interesting lore but the pacing is a little off—there’s a lot of back and forth between the characters and the locations and the love triangle doesn't add much.

#36 My ID is Gangnam Beauty / Gangnam Beauty

(내 아이디는 강남미인)

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

If you’ve ever been bullied for your looks, you’re gonna bawl your eyes out.

The show does a great job of calling out the unhealthy beauty standards imposed on Korean women but the topic is universal enough for the story to resonate with everyone. I love that you never see Mi-rae’s old face because it’s not our perception of her lack of beauty that matters but the fact she suffers greatly. Don’t you hate in western shows when they take a beautiful actress, give her a pair of glasses or a fat suit and call her ugly, making sure the audience feels shittier about themselves? Here, the writers concentrate on Mi-rae’s transformation and her coping with the consequences of her decision to do plastic surgery.

It’s also not a revenge fantasy where the ugly duckling suddenly becomes the most popular girl at school. Being a “Gangnam beauty” leads to a new form of suffering.

Romance-wise, it’s the slowest burn of slow burns because Mi-rae and Do Kyung-seok are the most socially awkward beans on the planet. I love them, Your Honor.

#37 Tale of Nokdu

(조선로코-녹두전)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 32 x 30mns

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Now available on Netflix (FR)

Fun and lighthearted all the way through.

The story of a guy who puts on a dress to investigate a village of widows could have gone very wrong but it was well handled. It’s refreshing to see the classic trope of posing as the opposite sex reversed and Jang Dong-yoon is never cringy when he’s pretending to be Lady Kim Nok-soon.

#38 Bride of Habaek / Bride of the Water God

(하백의 신부 2017)

Grade: B

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Crime against fashion

Promising premise and lore (I'm interested in reading the original comics now) but the writing fails to deliver an epic romance and a cathartic ending. Moreover, the sets lack imagination (or money?) and in the end I failed to ever feel immersed in a fantasy world.

The unfortunate consequence of the clumsy writing is that the male characters who are meant to be arrogant/confident Gods (Habaek and By-ryeom) sound like they're negging their love interests more than wooing them, and the relationship between Mu-ra and By-ryeom particularly irked me.

#39 Strangers from Hell / Hell is other people

(타인은 지옥이다)

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Psychological Thriller

Episodes: 10

Happy Ending: Spoiler

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Violence

What a departure from everything else in that list! Absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy thrillers and shows like Hannibal. If psychological horror isn’t your cup of tea though, you might give it a pass.

The storyline and the characters are a little cliché (it goes with the genre) but the cinematography and photography are fantastic. You can notice how the pension becomes more and more sinister throughout the series via the use of dark greens and browns and pale yellows, as opposed to the mundanity and coldness of the city (greys, and cold blues).

Last but not least, the acting is top-tiers. Im Siwan does a great job at portraying Jong-woo, an aspiring crime novelist who slowly loses his marbles but the true revelation for me is Lee Dong-wook. After seeing him so many times in roles where he plays awkward yet charming men who can barely express emotions, I was intrigued to see him take on the role of a serial killer, and holy cow, he's the perfect mix of sinister and alluring. Towards the end of the series, his character Moon-jo acts like a black-hole whenever he appears in a scene—a towering, dark presence who sucks the light out of the room (If he carries any of that darkness in the upcoming Tale of Gumiho, it’s gonna be *chef kiss*).

#40 Empress Ki

(기황후)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 51

Happy Ending: From a certain point of view

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for violence against women (not graphic but implied)

51 episodes.

Fifty.One.Episodes.

That's a lot of episodes considering the story starts with the ending.

Did I enjoy this show? Yes, very much so. Do I think it's for everyone? Nope.

You'll enjoy Empress Ki if you're into old-school historical sagas or you wished Game of thrones had no gratuitous nudity and violence. If you’re looking for an historically accurate biography of the real empress Ki though, then look away because Empress Ki is basically a lengthy fanfiction trying to justify how the Goryeo native Seung-nyang married the wimpy Emperor of the Yuan dynasty whilst trying to portray her as loyal to her motherland and to her first love, the Crown Prince of Goryeo.

Personally, I didn’t care for the love triangle formed by Seung-nyang (Ha Ji-won), Wang-yoo (Joo Jin-mo) and Toghon Temür (Ji Chang-wook) but I liked the politics and the backstabbing. Also, contrary to GoT, the bad guys get their comeuppance at the end so it makes watching the side characters die less painful.

#41 Meow, the secret boy / Welcome

(어서와)

Grade: B-

Genre: Modern, Modern fantasy

Episodes: 24 x 35mns

Happy Ending: I guess

Watched on: Viki

How do I put it? It's not *terribad* but it's not *good* either.

I was super on board with the concept—if Lee Seung-gi can bang a nine-tailed fox in My girlfriend is a gumiho, I have zero issues with Sol ah, our heroine, falling in love with Hong-jo the cat-person after being dumped for no reason by Jae-sun her boyfriend—but it didn’t exactly develop that way, and as soon as they explained why Jae-sun had broken up with Sol-ah, the writers lost me because I like when things happen for a reason.

#42 Clean with a passion for now

(일단 뜨겁게 청소하라!!)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Super zany and tropey but that’s why it works so well. The only reason I’m giving it a minus is because it’s trying to be woke but in the end there’s still a lot of unsolicited grabbing and some iffy remarks/pick-up lines said by every male characters (IRL that’s the kind of story that ends up with a restraining order and a lawsuit for sexual harassment).

#43 Mystic pop-up bar

(쌍갑포차)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Heavy themes (miscarriage, pregnancy, loss of a child, death of loved ones)

You know how the meme goes... Sometimes a family is a hot-tempered bar owner, a cursed kid and an ex-Afterlife-Police officer with a secret past.

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but once the characters were established it became really enjoyable.

The tone of the series leans toward wacky but the core of the story is actually pretty dark if you look into it. Every grudge they solve for their “clients” gives a clue about Wol-joo’s personal story and by the last episode I was crying my eyes out.

Last but not least, Wol-joo’s collection of modernized hanboks is *chef kiss*

#44 My secret Terrius

(내 뒤에 테리우스)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Action, Comedy, Bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

An enjoyable action drama to watch with your family or your significant other.

Koreans prove that you can write a story about a black ops agent on the run who becomes a childminder without reeking of toxic masculinity. Contrary to American comedies where the manly-man-hero working undercover is incompetent and believes that working with children is a woman’s job and a waste of his manly-man talents until he has an epiphany of some sorts, Kim Bon (played by So Ji-sub) never once expresses discomfort to the idea of looking after two kids. In spite of his sober demeanor, he’s a caring and attentive person from the start and watching him gradually becoming a part of this spunky family while investigating a national security threat made my heart go awww.

Opposite him, fearless and resourceful mom Go Ae-rin (played Jung In-sun) brings a lot of energy, and the twins are absolutely adorable.

#45 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

(달의 연인 - 보보경심 려)

Grade: A--

Genre: Historical

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Random streaming site

Don’t get attached—Moon Lovers is the missing link between Empress Ki and Boys over flowers, but with a sad ending.

I did binge watch the series but there are some frustrating aspects to it that prevented me from giving a perfect score, notably the fact that Wang So remains possessive and demanding with Hae Soo throughout the years—for instance “You’re my person” is a romantic statement until it evolves into “You can never leave me.”

The other problem of the series is that Lee Ji-eun (UI) does cute and goofy really well, but she doesn’t have the emotional range needed to portray a character who goes through many heartbreaks and betrayals. As a result, Hae Soo appears a little fickle in her infatuations with the princes.

That being said if you’re a sucker for tragic romance and you believe that power corrupts even the purest of love, you’ll have a blast.

#46 Forest

(포레스트)

Grade: B++

Genre: Modern, Romance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

UST in the woods (Dat first kiss 🥵🥵🥵)

The characters and the story are a little cliché but who doesn’t love a story where the protagonists are clearly attracted to each other but can’t act on their desires because their moral values are opposite?

*slams fist*

San Hyeok is your typical heartless businessman who refuses to confront his childhood trauma, and Yeong Jae is a surgeon who suffers from panic attacks and cares too much about other people. They’re both good looking and fate brings them to a remote village in the middle of the forest where they have to share a house. Really, I wonder what’s gonna happen?

#47 100 Days My Prince / Hundred days husband

(백일의 낭군님)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Trigger warning: Important character death.

Cute and charming but also very annoying at times. Obviously, the story is tropey af (fake marriage doubled with amnesia, you can’t really beat that) but it also includes elements I’ve never seen in any other dramas like the fact that the Crown Princess is pregnant with another man’s child (le gasp!). The things that annoy me the most were the unnecessary flip-flopping of the heroine towards the end of the show for the sake of creating artificial drama (just let them be together FFS!) and the fact that the male characters take a lot of decisions for Yeon Hong-shim.

Romance wise, Do Kyung-soo and Nam Ji-hyun are really cute together but in the end I found myself more interested in the political intrigue and the side characters than the main romance because slow burn has its limit. In essence, it’s the perfect drama to watch with your conservative family because whilst the main couple is living under the same roof and is technically married they don’t get frisky.

#48 I Am Not A Robot (로봇이 아니야)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Angsty with a good pay-off.

With a premise like that, things could have gone wrong really quickly but the writers managed to write a story that isn’t a man wanting to fuck a robot because real women are scary so big kudos for them. Seeing Min-kyu celebrating his Roomba’s birthday because he has no other friends will instantly melt your heart and from that point on you’ll cheer for his recovery. The show has the right amount of angst without becoming a mess and they handle the big reveal very well, making sure to show how hurt both Min-kyu and Ji-ah are by the situation, without making you doubt that they can find each other again. The other strong point of the show is that it’s not just about romance, it’s also about friendship and learning to let other people in your life.

The acting is incredible to the point that by the end I wondered if Yoo Seung-ho and Chae Soo-bin were making out in front of my salad or if I was still watching the characters Min-kyu and Ji-ah being lovey dovey.

#49 Sungkyunkwan Scandal (성균관 스캔들)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite gender

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Hana zakari no kimi tachi he with gats.

This show checks so many boxes when it comes to my favourite tropes story-wise and character-wise that I instantly fell in love with it. It might feel a little dated for a younger audience and it definitely suffers from the second male lead syndrome (who wants unseasoned boiled chicken when there are not just one but two juicy rotisserie chickens on the table next to you?!) but it’s still very much enjoyable. Also, they don’t shy away from using the word “homosexuality” and having one of the second lead confessing to having romantic feelings for his friend (I’ll take any scrap of bi-representation, okay?)

#50 It’s Okay to not be okay (사이코지만 괜찮아)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Found family.

In spite of one ridiculous plot twist (that I was aware of when I started the show) this show has made me feel all the feelz. The three main actors all did a phenomenal job portraying their characters in all their complexity and fragility and I ended up crying so many cathartic tears in the second to last & the last episodes.The relationship between Sang-tae and Gang-tae is one of the best sibling relationships I’ve seen on-screen in a long time while the romance between Moon-yeong and Gang-tae blends perfectly elements of comedy and melodrama. Mental illness isn’t treated as something to be ashamed of, whilst showing that you can grow and recover from trauma and finding your own happiness.

PSA from my boyfriend, who dropped the show before the end:

The plot twist is so stupid that it takes away from the rest of the series. In my opinion it negated the positive portrayal of mental illness built up until then. They completely lost me.

^ We discussed a lot about it which is why I wanted to share his POV to balance my own review.

#51 coming soon

#k-drama #kdrama

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cyberneticlagomorph · 4 years

Text

And on the first day of the Apocalypse.

The sun refused to rise.

The blackened, bruised sky stayed dark and starless well past what should have been dawn, haunted by a full crimson moon that glared down at the world like an angry bloodshot eye, and washed everything in an eerie, rusty-red glow.

People stared up at the sky, numb with creeping cold, panic new in their hearts. They looked to the news for comfort, to science, to their leaders, and their gods, but found nothing but their own fears and confusion mirrored back at them.

The air grew slick and cold, somehow leaving a waxy residue in the lungs of those who breathed it.

Anywhere and everywhere, snow fell; as thick, and black as ash. Towns were buried and roads were closed, and watersheds were tainted, running red and caustic.

By late afternoon when the sun still hadn't shown, panic set in and there were riots in the streets. People looted, stole, and set fires in a feeble attempt to remember what warmth was. Cities burned, black snow hissing as it hit the flames and let off a putrid steam that scarred the airways of anybody unfortunate enough to breathe it.

High in their towers of glass and steel, the Conglomerate watched their kingdom BURN like the biblical rulers of old, and for the first time in uncountable, unnatural years

They.

Felt.

Afraid.

Confused.

Angry.

They watched as all they'd built, cheated, and killed to get was buried under a thick black blanket of ash and snow, and it scared them. Try as they might to capitalize on this ordeal, it seemed like some divine hand kept coming down to stop their plans from the moment they'd been formed.

And they were right of course.

With the Writer missing, and the End loose, the Narrative shuddered and wheezed like a dying thing and tried desperately to swat any and all significant Plot Twists out of the hands of anybody that couldn't be trusted.

Which is most people.

The Narrative keened and cried and begged and looked for its Protagonist. He'd save them, he'd fix this… he had to… this was what he was FOR.

Right?

Somewhere, deep in the ruins of what used to be Chicago, Jack stood. Gazing up at the red moon, up to his knees in black snow. It burned to touch, but not like fire does, more like drain cleaner or acetone, or acid.

It smelled that way too, like flakes of frozen pollution had come back to earth to wreak their vengeance upon their creators. The harsh chemical odor was almost as pervasive as the waxy winds that tore through town and left everything feeling greasy and slick.

Prolonged exposure made it hard to swallow and taste.

But still, Jack stood there, gaining a mix of chemical burns and frostbite as the temperatures outside continued to plummet.

This was all his fault.

And not in any, 'oh woe is me', emo bullshit guilt trippy way either.

This was LEGITIMATELY all his fault.

He willingly Named, and thus released, the most dangerous being in his universe, naively hoping that She'd be on his side for some stupid reason.

So he stood there, feeling the snow eat away at his fake flesh, gnawing hungrily on the plating beneath, and told himself that he deserved the pain.

Kay, his symbiote, smacked him in the back of the head… from the inside, and took control of their mutual body, marching this one rabbit pity party back into the Warren where it was still warm and dry and safe.

Kay plunked Jack down in front of the kitchen hearth and let him thaw, slithering across their wounds and doing her best to heal them. Jack just sat there, limp, caught in a self hate spiral, a few seconds from disassociating completely. Kay wrapped them both in a thick quilt and poured a mug of warm milk, with honey and sat close to the fire.

Gooey black hands formed themselves out of Jack's brown skin and gently stroked his ears, mopping his tears when he finally broke from the weight of it all.

But enough about him, and Kay, and numerous unnamed side characters that nobody really cares about.

Let's talk about the End, or Revolution, or Lucifer, or Eaten, or whichever of Her 50 alternative nicknames that She's gathered over the millennia.

The Narrative is Hers now, clutched tight in greedy, iron jaws.

The world is Hers now, and innumerable worlds beyond.

She has, for all intents and purposes, won.

We could End the story here if we wanted, but that isn't very fun, so we'll keep going and see how this all plays out.

There, gliding atop the snow in faraway Europe with unparalleled grace and malice, was the End of Everything. She'd Spoken Herself a new Shape, with seven glittering green eyes, seven horns and fourteen powerful wings. Where She stepped plants bloomed and withered in the span of a heartbeat.

Frightened humans watched Her pass and began to pray and wail, falling at Her feet, begging for mercy. When She touched them, their skin turned a sickly pale green, then steadily darker. Brown scaly patches bloomed like rashes, spreading across their bodies, fusing their faces shut, stiffening their joints, until all that was left was a wretched topiary in the shape of the victim. Their wooden eyes cried green sap, as they froze in the cold.

The End smiled at Her own cruelty, drank in the fear of those around Her. The world was a nightmare, Her nightmare. She'd shattered the boundaries between dreams and waking and covered the world in a blanket of FEAR.

It was beautiful.

She found a rat, shivering, half dead in a nearby gutter and kissed its little head. The rat sprang back to life and gazed up at Her with tiny red eyes, and then it screamed.

And screamed.

And something shattered with a sound like the wet cough of someone sick and slowly dying.

More rats poured from storm drains and trash cans, dumpsters, and every filthy shadowed place for miles around. The coalesced into a writhing heap that pulsated and churned, becoming the vague shape of a person before all the rats seemed to liquify and meld together.

As the figure made of rats finally started to solidify, any unfortunate human person still around started to hack and cough. Blood and bile poured from their faces, their skin blistered and split, soaking them in pus and who knows what else.

Their deaths were slow, so very very slow.

They spasmed and wheezed until their lungs stopped working and they were finally allowed to die in a puddle of their own mess.

The rat-thing donned a crown made of polished bone, silver scalpels, and empty syringes. It covered its face in a plague doctor's mask and climbed onto the back of something like a huge white lab rat with three tails twisted into a braid, and too many heads, each sicker than the last.

One head, foaming with rabies, snarled and hissed, and screeched as the reins were pulled. It gazed at the End and drooled deliriously, but did not bite when She scratched it behind the ears. She looked at the rat's rider and said, "Hello Pestilence, welcome to the apocalypse."

With the first of seven seals broken, Pestilence smiled behind their mask and spoke in a voice like mucus and pain, "We have long awaited this day, we have much work to do, the cold makes them weak… this is almost too easy." It chuckled then, a horrible rasping sound, and rode off into the snowy darkness leaving the sounds of coughing in its wake.

#action post #ic #the end is nigh #long post #body horror #religious imagery #blasphemy #death #dissasociation #disease #ask to tag #self harm

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shigarakis-fifth-hand · 4 years

Text

Class of 1-A Imagine

The entire 1-A class got hit by a quirk swapping villain! It’s all randomized and I spent a bunch of time on this! Please draw what they would look like and dm me!

Lida

- He was lucky enough to get Denki’s quirk

- Didn't even notice for a few seconds

- Only realized when he couldn’t run anymore

- His engines were simply gone ~ POOF!

- It was only when he looked at his hair and saw bright yellow

- Immediately runs away as fast as his weak, human legs can take him

- When they tell him what happens, he forces Kaminari to tell him how to use it

- “I don’t know, you just... do the thing.”

- “Well what thing because on page four of using your quirk, it says that...”

- When Iida gets the hang of it, he doesn’t like to use it

- He’s terrified of hurting someone, and since he isn’t experienced, he doesn’t want to go brain-dead either

Asui

- She got Deku’s quirk

- She doesn’t like how big her arms get

- All Might immediately helps her since he doesn’t want her to break any bones

- She doesn’t fully grasp the concept and chooses not to use the quirk

- She’s seen how bad Deku can get

- She is overjoyed at something else though

- “My tongue Mina! Look at my tongue!”

- Everyone finds out Asui has a beautiful singing voice

- She’s almost sad to get her own quirk back

- But it’s okay

- She can’t hurt herself with her own quirk ~ribbit

Aoyama

- He was able to get Sero’s quirk

- “Well you didn’t hear this from me but it’s truly unfashionable.”

- “Look at me, the human tape dispenser of 1-A.”

- “Ugh, I can’t even wear my fur jacket because my elbows are too thick.”

- “Sero, how do you wear long sleeves with this thing?!”

- Aoyama doesn’t want to use the quirk, it’s just not “flowing with his vibe”

- He wears his fancy jackets for the entire month after the quirk wears off

( a picture of Bakugo trying to help Kirishima learn about molecules ^^^^)

Kirishima

- He got Momo’s quirk

- At first he’s sad, his unmanly quirk is gone for an entire week!

- But then he realizes that he can walk around shirtless for an entire week

- “It’s for my quirk!”

- He likes being able to make food in an instant, he just doesn’t like it when Aizawa insists that he know the basic molecules of certain things

- “When am I going to use this? I will never have to make an umbrella in my life!”

- He likes to stick to food, especially liking that he can make any meal better than Bakugo

- “Dude! I could solve world hunger from my abs!”

- “Woah, imagine if I could make a car from my abs.”

- “Can I make wings like Hawks?!

- When the week ends, Kirishima is kinda disappointed

- But Bakugo is happy he got his cooking buddy back

Koda

- He got Uraraka’s quirk

- He’s super excited honestly, he likes being able to fly

- “I feel like a feather.”

- Ochako is happy to be able to teach him how

- “Let’s just stay indoors. We don’t need you floating off to space.”

- Koda almost wants to go to space

- Once he learns how to use it, he uses all his time zooming around the dorms

- Once Aizawa takes them outside to train, he just floats around in the air

- Aizawa lets him

- He knows this precious baby needs some relaxation with the clouds

- He also likes the birds

- He can’t speak to them though, which is frustrating for him

- “How do you not remember me? I fed you dinner last night!”

Ojiro

- He got Tokoyami’s quirk

- One second his tail was there, the next second it was a mean looking bird

- Ojiro likes taking his bird on walks, he doesn’t really know what to do with it

- He talks to the bird sometimes, and for some reason he can understand it

- “Dark Shadow seems too emo. Let’s try Gregory.”

- The bird agrees 100%

- When Ojiro is training, Gregory is too powerful sometimes

- “How do you control your own shadow?!”

- Training sessions with Aizawa is just one big mess for Ojiro

- Nothing gets accomplished accept Ojiro talking to Thompson and Thompson trying to attack anyone who gets close

- Ojiro is so excited to get his tail back, but it sad that Tokoyami won’t take the same request

- rip Gregory

( Sato’s reaction to getting Mineta’s quirk^^ )

Sato

- Sato has Mineta’s quirk

- Sato doesn’t come out of his room for the entire week

- Everyone understands

Hagakure

- She got Sato’s quirk

- She makes a bunch of sweets as an excuse to eat all of it

- But that’s not a big deal at all to her

- She’s not invisible anymore!

- The moment she realizes that she isn’t invisible, she goes crazy

- She’s actually kind of tan

- Not only that but she’s gorgeous!

- Thick brown hair, green eyes, and she’s so skinny

- Her face alone has everyone in 1-A dropping dead

- Some of the guys can’t believe it

- They’ve chatted with this girl for months and had no idea

- She wants to ask Ojiro on a date, but what happens when the quirk wears off

- It does wear off, but nobody cares

- They always knew she was pretty, and this just confirmed it for sure

Shoji

- He got Hagakure’s quirk

- What’s not to love about being invisible?

- The strange part to him is that he can still see himself

- All of his extra arms are gone!

- That’s sad, all of his shirts were custom for those arms

- He borrows clothes from his friends

- It’s funny to see a robe and bunny slippers walking around at midnight though

Deku

- He got Todoroki’s quirk

- It’s okay though! He’s got his creepy notebook!

- Todoroki gladly give him teaching on how to use it

- “Remember, flames do damage and ice can be used to capture things.”

- Deku knows all of this from his “research”

- But that doesn’t stop them from spending everyday training together

- It’s fun... and “helpful”

- Deku loves being his own microwave and freezer

- He accidently catches things on fire from time to time

- He got scared by a movie and froze half the couch

- Todoroki kissed him and he burned half his shirt off

- “How do you control this thing?!”

Ururaka

- She got Mina’s quirk

- “Yay! I got acid hands! I got acid hands!”

- Mina makes her wear oven mitts

- She accidently burns a hole through her bed while having nightmares

- “High five! Wait... never mind.”

- “Mina, teach me how to do the thing!”

- Also let’s not forget that Ochako has pink skin, horns, and alien eyes

- “Ooh, I look so cute!”

- Ochako spends most of her time posing in front of the mirror

- “Look at my horns Kirishima!”

- “Mina, look at my eyes!”

Denki

- He got Iida’s quirk

- Whenever he runs, he ends up going sonic on people

- “Denki, take a lap!”

- “I don't think you want that Mr. Aizawa.”

- Whenever Denki tries to use Iida’s quirk, it’s always a quick fail

- So far Denki has taken out a trash can, Present Mic, tripped on a basketball, run into a tree, faceplant into dirt, and accidently swallow a bug

- The worst part is that Denki sleep walks

- Running into stuff, tripping over a potted plant, falling down a flight of stairs

- “This is better than being brain dead I guess.”

- Denki spends most of his time making fun of Iida by waving his arms like a robot and trying on multiple pairs of glasses at once

- Iida demands that Kaminari trains

- “Kaminari, you will read all of these books on how to operate engine legs or else!”

- Kaminari must admit the engine legs are cool

- Except when Kirishima put hot dogs in them

- The entire class room smelled like burnt meat

Jiro

- “Cool! I look like a frog!”

- She got Asui’s quirk

- Her hair turned green, her tongue grew, and her pupils dialated

- “Asui, look at this!”

- She uses her tongue to swing off the dusty chandelier when Iida isn’t looking

- “Ew! They should make tongue condoms!”

- Jiro and Ochako have a blast teasing Mina and Asui

- “Ribbit bitch! Your frog queen has arrived!”

- Denki gets Jiro a crown to wear around the dorms

- Ochako buys the four girls frog onesies

- “So kawaii!”

- Jiro never was into swimming until now

- She likes that her fingers don’t get wrinkly

Sero

- He got Ojiro’s quirk

- “Dude, look at my tail!”

- Bakugo makes fun of his “backwards dick”

- It’s funny, but not that funny

- In return Sero whips him with it

- “I feel like a monkey!”

- Sero hangs from everything he can

- “This thing has more muscles than I do!”

- He goes to a playground nearby with Denki and swings off the monkey bars

Tokayami

- He got Koda’s quirk

- “I’ve never been much about nature. Too much light, not enough darkness.”

- Bakugo jokes that he can finally talk to his pigeon brothers

- “Dude! The birds love you!”

- And everyone is right

- As soon as Tokoyami walks outside, a pigeon lands on his head

- “Why did that pigeon just speak to me?!”

- Tokoyami is scared of the outside now

- “I can hear their voices still!”

- Tokoyami has a panic attack over being able to hear the animal voices

- “Why do ants sound so manly?”

Todoroki

- He got Bakugo’s quirk

- “I’m not asking that bastard for help.”

- Instead, he goes to Deku for training

- “Deku, you have that stalker notebook still?”

- Bakugo’s quirk is like his own quirk

- “Seriosuly? Just heat?”

- “Kind of basic if you ask me.”

- Once Bakugo hears that, he goes beserk

- “Icyhot!”

- “Oh no no, you can’t call me that anymore.”

- Todoroki likes propelling himself in the air with explosions

- Bakugo’s quirk is too loud, like his personality

- He doesn’t like using the quirk honestly

- “It's not very good, very violent, and I don’t like getting sweaty.”

Bakugo

- He got Kirishima’s quirk

- “Yea bro, you can get hard too now!”

- Mina tries to stop him from saying that

- Poor bby doesn't understand

- Kirishima tries to help, but Bakugo is having no part in that

- “How difficult can your quirk be Shitty Hair?”

- It isn’t easy though, especially when Bakugo is forced to be shirtless.

- He’s used to his hero outfit covering his chest

- Bby is a little self conscious

- The best part is that he doesn’t sweat that much

- “Fuck yea! I don’t smell like fucking cinnamon and caramel!”

- Bakugo does miss his explosions and hand grenades

- Your quirk is too boring Kirishima, and it’s not loud at all

Momo

- She got Aoyama’s quirk

- Her immediate reaction is to read a bunch

- “Aoyama! Wait up, I have so many questions!”

- Next though, she has fun with it

- “It’s so pretty!”

- Along the way her and Aoyama become friends

- He brings her pain releivers to help with the stomach pains

- “It sucks but at least it’s pretty.”

Mina

- She got Jiro’s quirk!

- Immediately her skin isn’t pink, her horns are gone, and her eyes turn bright blue

- She’s still as spunky as ever though

- “Dude! Imagine all the hot gossip I can listen to!”

- Mina tries the teacher’s lounge with Asui and Ochako, only to hear Aizawa and Present Mic planning a date night

- “We should totally go as well!” Mina offers

- They go on all sorts of “spy missions”

- Mina also likes being able to tan with Momo from time to time

- She does miss her horns though

- She realizes quickly that Jiro’s earphone jacks are also Bluetooth

- Jiro just never told anyone before

- When Mina gets her quirk back, she is so happy to look “normal” again

Omg this took all day! Please comment down below your favorite combo and if I should do another one! Love you all! Stay safe! <3333

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a-town-called-hometown · 5 years

Text

"I didn't think," you say softly. Your voice rasps, disused, against your throat and tongue, and you swallow to clear the rough edges away. "I didn't think my birth parents wanted me."

Asriel turns to look at you. His hands are still full of wildflowers, the braided crown half-done. Your statement had disrupted the stillness. The two of you had been sitting at the lake's edge, turning flowers into crowns, peaceful with your own thoughts. You've had a lot of companionable silences together this spring. It's rare that you have the will to speak these days.

"I--" You swallow. You don't quite know where this train of thought is coming from, nor where it leads. It just seems important for you to say. "I thought for a long time they, you know. The reason they abandoned me was because I was-- defective. And they didn't want me."

"When did you start thinking this?" His face is concerned. You're starting to see that anxiety that lurks under all his masks. It makes you sad that you didn't realize it before this year. He's crushing the flowers in his grip without even realizing it.

"The second time I was possessed. When I was ten." Your words are slow. Coming back hasn't been easy. You're cold all the time, even though you're wearing two sweaters right now, and sometimes that cold makes you ache so much you can't even move. You rarely speak to anyone other than your brother. You often stumble over small obstacles. Many days, your limbs feel too heavy to bear. Even braiding these flower crowns feels impossibly difficult to your clumsy hands.

Mom hasn't noticed the changes. She hasn't asked about the wagon either. You think the soul inside still emits some kind of distraction field, but you aren't sure. She certainly isn't the kind but strict mother you grew up with, anymore. The thought is painful.

"I remember."

"I thought, they'd seen what I was. How-- weird I am. That they left me cause I was dumb."

"That isn't true. You're not weird."

"I'm myself," you say, and you relish it. "But myself isn't a person people like. A weird person. Maybe not wrong. But strange."

"Maybe," he says. He's unwilling to concede entirely. "But I've never seen you that way."

"I know. That's not the point."

You don't say he's the only one who never has. You especially don't point out that his self-image isn't great either. That's the move the Player would make, and you aren't the Player. Asriel's happier when his self-hate is kept in the dark, where even he can ignore it. You simply hope time will heal over his wounds.

"The point is," you say. "I thought it was my fault. I don't think that's true anymore."

He motions for you to go on. The flowers have fallen from his hands. A few stems tumble from his lap into the lake. The water folds around them.

"The Player made me tear Mom and Dad apart. Bully you. Do awful things." Saying that makes the pain in your chest worse. You tug down the sleeves of your outer sweater. "I don't think it would be unlikely for my birth parents to abandon me if their Players made them do it."

"You think they had Players?"

"Yeah. I don't know how many humans have them. Maybe all. Maybe just a few. But more than just me. I'm certain of it."

"You're certain."

You think of the few humans you've seen in your life and nod. "It's more of a gut feeling. But I don't doubt it. I trust all of my guts, except the one gut part I yeeted into the cage."

He cracks a smile. "I don't think the soul counts as a gut part."

"You didn't feel all the writhing, squirmy, wormy bits I plunged my hands past to get to it. It hurt enough to count."

"You have wormy bits in your body? I'm pretty sure that isn't normal."

"It's none of your business what is or isn't normal about my body. I might just eat worms in my spare time, and that's why my guts are so weird. Worm diet."

He pokes your side. You squirm. "Ah, yes. I can see you're metamorphosing into a worm now."

"You are what you eat," you smile.

"Exactly. And you, sib, are turning into a worm. It's horrible. We need to get you off the worm diet before you start burrowing underground. I can't stand the unpopularity a worm sibling would bring me."

You giggle. It's a rusty sound. "Hey. If I'm part worm--"

"I think you're at least three-quarters worm."

"Fine. If I'm three-quarters worm now, because I ate so many worms, would that make me a three-quarters cannibal, if I keep eating worms?"

He laughs. "Dunno. Three-quarters cannibal sounds like a band title, though."

"Like the ones you listened to in your emo days?"

"God, don't remind me."

You smile. You lean against his side. He's warm. The sound of his heartbeat is a little faster than yours. He's always run a little faster than you.

You watch the water. Your fingers begin slowly wrapping flowers together again. The silence is a blanket wrapping around you. You're safe.

"So," Asriel finally says. "You think they left you because they were made to do it."

"I don't know. But I don't blame myself. And I don't blame them. It's just a thing that happened. There's no point in me really thinking about it anymore. I can't reset it."

"I'm glad it happened. I'm glad I got to have you for a sibling."

"Even though Mom and Dad…?"

"Even though they divorced, yeah. I don't blame you for it. I'm just happy you're with me."

You have many things to say about the situation, most of them things he wouldn't want to hear. You let the silence wrap around you again.

Finally, you reach up and set the completed daisy crown on his head. "There."

"Do I look pretty?"

"You look like a goat boy in a flower crown. I don't know whether or not that's what pretty is."

He smiles at you. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. We should go home soon. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"I'm always hungry," you agree. You get up and wrap your fingers around the handle of your wagon. The birdcage inside makes no motion this time. "Hungry for worms."

He laughs at you. "Fine, worm. Let's make you some spaghetti worms."

You make a slurping noise. "Delicious."

He laughs, knocking your shoulder as he rises. His hand envelops your free hand. You hold on. Neither of you say more on the familiar road home.

You're a little warmer. Not by much, not enough to be very significant. Your layers of sweaters still feel necessary. But under the clothing, under the fabric, under the skin and sinew and bone that make your body what it is, your heart is beating more certainly. You aren't quite so cold anymore. It's nice, nice enough that you close your eyes to take it in. Nothing feels more real than your brother's hand guiding you home.

You'd like to stay like this, just a little longer.

#nic fic

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iambuckyrogers · 5 years

Text

3 Nights... (Chapter 5/7)

Summary: After your friend bails on your trip to Australia a week before you were due to fly out, your best friend Steve swoops in and saves the day. Unbeknown to you, he’s harbouring the biggest crush on you, but will it get in the way of your holiday?

Word Count: 1688

Chapter Warnings: none

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Authors Note: sorry its a bit lateeee I had a heap of mids semester exams to study for and assignments to finish! I apologise for any spelling errors its 12am and I’m too lazy to get my glasses. Its also kind of short bUT I promise there is some good shit ™ coming in the next chapter xxx as always likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated!!!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Steve blinked his eyes open, stretching out and reaching for your side of the bed. He was met with cold sheets and his heart stopped.

“Y/N/N?” he called out, voice wavering as he feared the worst.

“Out here,” you voice floated through the open window from the balcony. Steve let out a sigh of relief, getting up to join you outside.

“Morning,” he greeted, voice still thick with sleep. You looked up from your coffee, tears already brimming in your eyes.

“Morning,” you whispered taking a sip from your steaming cup. Steve offered you a weak smile as he sat down next to you, too scared to say anything fearing he’d make the situation worse. After what felt like an eternity of silence you spoke up.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” you sniffled, putting your mug down on the floor and pulling your knees up to your chest, “I thought I knew better. I’m sorry I yelled at you.” Steve felt helpless seeing you so vulnerable, with your tear stained cheeks and messy hair, drowning in one of his sweatshirts. He held his arms out to you in a welcoming embrace which you gladly fell into, fisting your hands into his shirt as you cried. “You mean the world to me Stevie and -“ the rest of your words were muffled as you buried your head into his chest. Steve’s own eyes were becoming misty as you kept repeating how sorry you were.

“Please stop apologising. As long as you’re safe that's all that matters,” he soothed wrapping his arms tighter around your body, “you’re my everything,” he whispered.

Eventually, you composed yourself and went to get ready for the day’s activities, but Steve could tell that you were in no state to be going out, at least not today.

“Hey, Y/N just hold up for a second,” he interrupted as you were rifling through your bag looking for something to wear, “why don’t we just stay in? Watch some tv? See how many times we can cry in an episode of Queer Eye?” You laughed softly at his suggestions.

“That would mean the world to me, Steve. I’m sorry but I don’t think I can go o-,” Steve held up a finger stopping you mid-sentence and tutted disapprovingly.

“No apologising, only Netflix, ok?”

“Ok,” you smile, a real genuine Y/N smile that he’s come to know and love. One that can light up a room and set off a storm in Steve’s heart that he just can’t seem to stop, no matter how many times he sees you or that smile. Still, in Steve’s shirt, you flopped onto your side of the bed as Steve settled on his, a respectable amount of distance between the two of you. Picking up the remote he flicked through the suggested shows on Netflix before finding one that you could both agree on. You spent the day binging on snacks and laughing at the odd things you found on the TV, including an Australian musical about Emos which had Steve in fits of giggles every time they broke out into song. As day turned into night the distance between the two of you slowly began to close and before long you ended up in Steve’s arms, feeding him Pringles while ‘Summer Heights High’ played on the TV. He toyed with your hair as your head lay in his lap, eyes glued to the TV, he relished in the way your eyes crinkled when you laughed at the stupid jokes, the look of unbridled joy on your face a stark contrast to the fear he saw in your eyes last night. You turned your attention from the TV to Steve, looking up at him quizzically.

“What?” you laughed a smirk dancing across your lips.

“Nothing,” he replied whimsically, looking back to the TV, but he could still feel your gaze on him.

*****

Steve didn’t remember falling asleep but he must have because as he opened his eyes he was met by the soft morning sunlight that had begun streaming through the curtains. He also became aware of you sleeping soundly across his lap. He pressed a kiss to your crown before moving you gently onto the bed next to him, allowing him to slip away. You’d been through hell in just a few days, today was your last in Byron and Steve wanted to make it one to remember, for the right reasons this time. He had a friend back in New York, Tony, that knew a guy who owned one of the surf schools in Byron. As it turned out, that guy owed Tony a favour and Steve was hoping that he would be able to call it in. You had always wanted to learn to surf and if he could set up a private lesson he was sure to make the trip unforgettable.

He set out to do just that, making numerous phone calls to get the day’s plans in order, making sure they were perfect before crawling back into his side of the bed. He heard you move before your warm body was pressed against his, you sighed contentedly.

“Make the most of it Y/N, because it isn’t going to last,” you whispered to yourself leaving Steve thoroughly confused. Not wanting this moment to end either he laid there and took it all in, the feel of your body against his, the softness of your skin, the way the scent of your shampoo tickled his nose. It was all perfect. As much as he’d happily lay in bed all day, the plans he’d just made were in the back of his mind. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes again and whispered your name.

“Morning,” you replied smiling up at him.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he explained, directing you on what to wear but never giving away the plans. Once you were both ready to go, coated in suncream and ready for the beach, he tied a bandanna over your eyes, lead you out of the house and into a car waiting at the bottom of the drive way.

“This is how I die, isn’t it,” you giggled, holding his hand.

“You know I wouldn’t survive without you,” he replied, kissing your hand and watching your cheeks flush. Maybe, just maybe, he thought to himself.

After a short drive, you arrived at your destination. Steve got out first, before helping you out of the car and down a narrow sandy track to the secluded Tallows Beach.

“Ok, so I’m walking in sand and I hear the ocean,” you said slowly, “are we going to build sand castles?”

“Just wait,” Steve implored, leading you the last couple steps to where the surf instructor, Jamie, was waiting with 2 brightly coloured surfboards. Steve untied the bandanna and slowly pulled it away. “Surprise!” he announced. You didn’t react for a moment and Steve’s heart dropped, but once your eyes adjusted to the light you slapped your hand to your mouth as you took in the sight before you. You launched yourself into Steve’s arms, catching him off guard causing him to stumble back a few steps before he regained his footing and span you around in a circle. He gently put you back on your feet, feeling giddy as he held you in his arms and looked into your e/c eyes. Jamie cleared his throat and broke the trance.

“Hey mate I’m Jamie,” he held his hand out to Steve.

“Steve,” he shook the other man’s hand, “and this is Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you both. Now how about we learn to surf,” he gestured over his shoulder with a jab of this thumb at the boards sticking out of the sand.

“Yes!” you squealed, jumping up and down. Jamie handed you the smaller green board before giving the bigger orange one to Steve. He quickly ran through the basics of the pop up and the different ways of getting to your feet, letting you practice on dry land until you felt comfortable.

“Alright, guys lets hit the waves!” You and Steve ran side by side to the water, boards under your arms looking like real pros, which is about where the similarities between the two of you and Kelly Slater ended. Once in the water, it’s was free for all. Steve’s technique went out the window as he tires to focus on not dying. Maybe he’s exaggerating but he got dumped on the first wave and was held under the water for what felt like 5 minutes. You quickly informed him that it was more like 10 seconds and his crash style was impeccable, to which he responded by splashing you with water. You both tried and failed multiple times to stand up, sometimes getting to your knees, other times nose-diving and flying off the front of the board. Eventually, the success rate increased until only every 5th or 6th attempt was a fail. The next hour was spent trying your hardest to get onto the same wave as each other, a ‘party wave’ as Jamie called it. It took a lot of timing and co-ordination that Steve lacked in the water, on more than one occasion he almost t-boned you with his board. With perseverance and a little help from Jamie you were able to catch the same wave, your movements almost synchronised perfectly until you were both stood on your respective boards, riding the wave in towards shore side by side. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and party waves were no different. Steve leant too far to the left of his board as he tried to get a high five from you, causing him to lose balance and topple into the ocean. You managed to make it through the carnage but self-sabotage marked the end of your ride when you fell off from laughing too hard.

“Thank you, Stevie,” you said when you recovered from your wipe out.

“Oh sweetheart, the surprises aren’t done yet,” he winked as you trekked back up the beach.

NEXT CHAPTER

Taglist

@njayfbi

@bloodyproudpotterhead

#Steve Rogers #Steve Rogers x Reader #steve rogers marvel #marvel #marvel fic #marvel imagine #steven grant rogers #steven grant rogers au #steven grant rogers x reader #steve rogers au #marvel x reader #3 nights

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always-la-belle-epoque · 6 years

Note

Hi! This isn't from a meme but I find your writing quite unique and compelling and I was wondering if you could share your literary influences like authors, books, etc.

So…last night i wrote out a whole long answer to this….then i went to check something on GoodReads….and then i remembered The Crush™ said she loves GoodReads….and i looked her up….AND I FOUND THAT SHE DEF READS REALLY BAD, REALLY STEAMY LESBIAN EROTICAAAAAA.

Understandably, I had a massive scream and shut all my browser tabs on accident and lost this post. So, thank you, sweet anon, who ever you are….you have given me….such….a….gift. omggggg.

So I’m sorry if this is a bit less organized, I think my brain is like….gone now.

BUT to answer your question (and thank you, that is the nicest comment!!!), first, I’m a HUGE book re-reader. On a yearly basis I reread the following (often more than once) and I think they’re very engrained into who I am and how I write:

1) Harry Potter (whole series yearly reread, but that’s a duh! like many of us, its foundational.)2) Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine (something about this book just…ugh. I think it’s very Gay Experience? Like at the end where she’s trying to break the spell, especially, I think that had a lot of influence on me). 3) Crown Duel, Sherwood Smith (I’m on my 8th copy of this book because I’ve worn it out. I have such strong feelings for this protagonist, I just understand her and I cry through the whole book)4) Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente & also her Fairyland Series (The Crush™ rated lesbian erotica higher than Fairyland and I’m SHOOK). If I could write like anyone in the world, it would be CMV. She also has this short story in a wlw anthology all about how Gretel fell in love with the witch, and pushed her into the fire all the same. Now her brother dominates her life and she goes back in the nights and sits among the burnt out gingerbread house with the witch’s bones and like…oh my wowww, ok, yes I want to write like her. 5) Connie Willis’s time travel series. My current fic is super influenced by Black Out and All Clear, probably the best researched historical I’ve ever read. I literally get confused on the subway and will not remember I’m not in wwii London. And my other fic, ‘i wanna grow up from the rhythm of a younger heart’ was very much inspired by her book To Say Nothing of the Dog. 6) For plot twists, all books by Kate Morton and The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield (I’m still GASPING. That level of didn’t see it coming, but all the clues were there, is everything I aspire to). 7) The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede (this series is also super foundation to me. they’re just amazing).

I also grew up obsessed with fairytales (and def not Disney, was DEF not a Disney kid). I liked them dark and mysterious. I was obsessed with illustrations, like my mom had old anthology of My Bookhouse books from the 1920s with the original Beaupré Miller illustrations. The stories were from all over and I think they really had an impact on me. and I had really beautifully illustrated Eugene Field poetry book and of course all the Cicely Mary Barker Flower Books, and my grandmother’s original Raggedy Anne books which had really beautiful fairies. I feel like when I write, I’m always trying to bring those visual back because to me they just had a very specific, magical feeling for me.

Also, and maybe this sounds weird, but growing up I watched a LOT of old movie musicals. And I think something of the heightened drama and manner of dialogue rubbed off on me in some way. Like Katharine Hepburn in the Philadelphia Story and anything with Judy Garland (I cry through like everything with her) and Fred and Ginger movies that are like….absurdist but also weirdly emotional?

And I think I’ve always been attracted to like, pining and longing…like I memorized the entirety of The Lady of Shalott and would recite it to my class when i was like 10 years old and I would be SO EMOTIONAL. LOL.

this was longer than it should have been ahhhh! sorry! but thanks for asking, I’m not sure how I got to be such a emo magic obsessed lil bean but those are def all factors.

Happy New Year!

#sweet anons #thank you <3 #literary influences #and general #influences #pining is a big theme #so is absurdist humor #and lovely illustrations #writing #asks #my fic #book recs #recs

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teeth-guy · 7 years

Text

wow. I never realized this THIS WILL BLOW YOU MIND!

the world we live in. it's so... wonderous. mysterious. even magical. no... no no no.. not that world. i meant this one. the smartphone. each system and program app is it's own little planet of perfect. technology. all providing services so necessary, so crucial, so unbelievably profound. look who just sent me a text! addie mccallister? it must be a mistake. or a joke. or a scam! don't send her your social security number. she's right there! that's our user, alex. and, like every freshman in high school, his whole life, everything, revolves around his phone. and, because the pace of life gets, faster and faster... phones down in five. and attention spans get shorter and shorter... and... you're probably not even listening to me right now. who has the time to type out actual words? and that's where we come in. the most important invention in the history of communication! emo gees. that's my home! textopolis. here, each of us does one thing, and we have to nail it every time. christmas tree just has to stand there, all festive. merry christmas! it's still september, tim! and princesses... i am so pretty. they just gotta wear their crowns and keep their hair comb. we are so pretty. devil, poop, thumbs up, they just show up and they're good to go. but for the faces, the pressure is on. cryer always has to cry, even if he just won the lottery. hurray, i'm a millionaire! laugher's always laughing, even if he's just broken his arm. ahh!! ah! i can see the bone!! ah ah ah ah ah... and me, i'm a meh. so i gotta totally be over it all the time, you know? like meh, who cares. which is not as easy as it sounds. i gotta be mehhhhhhhhh i GOTTA! be! mehhhhhhhhh morning misses D, i see you have the little minis with ya! oh, they're so... cute! NYAH, SO ADORABLE, I CAN'T TAKE IT! I WILL NEVER GET THEM TO SLEEP! STICK TO YOUR ONE FACE, WEIRDO. OLE! OLE! OH NO! OH NO! it's hard to only act blasé. when, living in textopolis is.... just so exciting! hah low good simeans! those ah some shalp attach shays! yes, well we have business to attend to. whot kind off business? monkey business. ha ha ha ha, i sounded british. meh... Oh, that was really good.. meh ? meh ... meh ha ha... what the freak ya doing there, mate? practicing. today is my first day on the phone. oh, droit. i'm gonna be so.. meh. what are you going to do? blah! me and the boys are gonna throw ourselves on the barbie! woo! puh-zow! gooday, mate! hey, koh knee chee wah! sorry emote icons!! oh, I hate knocking over the elderly.. let me help, let me help... oh, my colon!!! ducks... hey, is that the time? HEY, my eyes are up here, pal! woo ooh hoo! woo hoo! right on time! and last week, Alex sent me next to THIS text! huh? huh? HA HA HA THAT ELEPHANT PISSED HIMSELF HA HA HA AH HAH HA HAH HAH UH HUH HUH why are YOU laughing, freak? ho ho ha ha ha! now, unlike me, my parents are total pros. gene, please tell me you weren't laughing just now. gene so help me i swear oh, he was, I remember. let's go see if you can get it right. i have some bad news, gene, and i'm afraid that you'll have the wrong reaction. ok, what's the wrong reaction? anything other than meh. come on! i don't want to be late! i'm not letting you go to work today. wait, WHAT? you're just not ready, son. come on!! working in a cube is an Emoji's whole purpose in life! everybody my age is working on the phone except for me! oh sweetie, that's not true. ow! YEAH! i'm going to work on the phone and I'm only ten! that's because I believe in you! should we wash our hands? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! we're number two! we're number two! see? i, i know i'm different, ok? but, i need to... i can be meh... i just... want to be a working emoji, you know, like... everybody else... and then... i would finally fit in, you know? ah, you fit in, honey. no I don't, mom. I never have. but I could change all that if you just let me! just give me a chance! but what if you get sent out on the phone, making the wrong face? no dad, i'll make the right face! look! maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah? you're so handsome when you make that face. i think he's ready, mel. meh. come on, dad. let me prove it to you. if you really think you're ready... YES! yes i am! i promise i won't let you down! wow! Congratulations, everyone! What an exciting day for all of you! oh, it's really her! oh, pizza! first day on the job, hi, hi! don't be nervous! i won't bite! hi, i'm smiler! ho ho ho ho ho... DON'T TOUCH ME! Hi! i mean.. hey.. as you know, i'm smiler, i'm the system supervisor here, because I was the original emoji. here's how it works. it's nothing fancy! wait a minute... it's really fancy! you each have your own cube on the emoji bar! if alex chooses you, should you be so lucky, your cube will light up! it's showtime! the scanner will scan you, and that scan will get sent right up to alex's text box. and let me tell you guys, there is nothing like getting scanned for the first time. a har, you're gonna love it. now over here is the favorites section, where you'll find all the most popular emo gees. and of course, you'll find my cube here. whoo. you are smooth. just doing my duty. ha ha ha! what did i say? come on, tell me you aren't just a little bit tempted? steven, for the last time, i don't want to buy a timeshare. come on, man, it's high five! you know me! i'm a favorite! Alex hasn't picked you in weeks. when he stops picking you, you're no longer a favorite. there's gotta be some sort of mistake, i mean, look at me, i'm an attractive, hand-giving high five! oh! fistbump! come on in! hey, ladies! FISTBUMP? he's a knucklehead! literally! look at him, I can look like that! ugh, ow, cramp.. big mistake.. oh... help me.. help up a hand.. oh... here you go... thanks mate... hey, little man, how about you create a distraction, and i'll just slip under the rope! uh, oh, is someone lost? smiler, hiya, just leaving. yeah, you know, just killing time before i go back to my cube in the far corner where Alex can't even See Me ANYMORE! you may not be a favorite anymore, but you will always have a place, in a cube! yeah, in the nosebleeds... uh, i'm standing right here? words hurt. the most important thing I can tell you is to just be yourself... basically, happy itself... i am always smiling... places, please! emo gees to your cubes! attention, we've got incoming! gotta be meh, gotta be meh. oh my gosh, my own cube! i can't believe it... oh, i could put a plant over here, and over here could go an inspirational calendar, okay, gotta be meh... look at our son get on there, i'm beaming... with pride! you don't think he'll actually get picked, do you? heiroglyphics. heiroglyphics was an ancient language of picture forms. does that remind anyone of anything. hello. a language of pictures... anyone? early heiroglyphics back in ancient... i gotta reply to addie's text! what should i write? nothing! nothing? words aren't cool. ok, be cool, be cool... alright, alex is not sure how he wants to play this... oh! i would really love it to be me! beam me up! beam me up! i need thumbs up on standby! oh yeah! thumbs up is going in! wait! alex is changing his mind! he's moving! ok, looks like it's gonna be meh... i'm so nervous, i could almost shrug. we are go for meh! initiating scan! okay, you can do this. ah! i can't do this! i can't do it! stop the scan! i can't, it's too late! oh! what's he doing? he's making the wrong face! good for him, little... wait, what? ugh. abort, abort! oh, shi... shut it down, shut it down! ah! what is that emoji? all the emo gees present, evacuate the cube! evacuate the cube! i gotta get out of here! i'm trying! oh, jeez. sorry, everybody. that is not what i meant to do! i kinda.. i kinda panicked.. are you even a meh at all? uh, who, me? like you are, is a malfunction! a malfunction? no, i can be meh, just give me one more chance? you know what would be really fun? a board meeting, where we can find out what to do with you! i just wanted to be useful, you know, fit in! now everybody's calling me a malfunction. i am a malfunction. even if you are a malfunction, gene, your mom and dad still love ya. i knew you weren't ready. let's get you out of here and take you home. one day, all of this will blow over, and everyone will almost forget about what you did. until then, you should probably stay locked up in the apartment. wait, you're gonna hide me away? you're embarrased of me. it's for your own safety. we're trying to protect you, son. gene, where are you going? i'm not going to run away from this. i'm an emoji, and, even though i'm not exactly sure which one... i've gotta have some sort of purpose here, i know it. gene, no! sweetie, please! so, how'd it go, gavel? hey, lightbulb, tell me what's going on in there. what... poop... what is it? tell me turd, tell me truth. what happened? i know it was an accident. we all have accidents you're so soft, poop. not too soft, i hope. i came up here to defend myself, but, uh, you seem pretty happy. so, good news? i'm always happy. oh, right, yeah, truth. but the only thing that could ever make me unhappy, is if one of our emo gees has made a mistake. which would cause alex to lose faith in the phone... and then, our whole gets wiped out! smiler, i devil pinky swear promise to you that i will never, ever make a mistake in the cube again. oh, we know you won't, gene. we know you won't! ha ha, you know, the first time you said it it sounded genuine, but then you repeated it, and, and then, now it's weird. we're setting you up! with our best anti virus bots! so they'll, like, uh, they'll just, they're gonna fix me? actually, delete you. but yes! wait, what? if you get deleted, you don't have to worry about department heads, or the future, or lying about being a malfunction! because you're deleted, right? right! good job! bots! no! stop, he's escaped! party time! oh, wait a minute... the air is better here! beer, tea... i'm coffee! sorry... ish... so ish e. my old cube! ugh, pinkeye. mike! my name's not mike... ah! there's AV bots coming! what, me? just because i'm in the wrong section? holy toledo! what do we do? quick! this way! let's go! don't tell anyone you're about to see this. they'll never find us down here. where are we? the basement? nope. welcome to the loser lounge, where the emo gees who never get used, hang out. go fish! fishcake with swirls sweep so you won't cry. sweep so you won't cry. sweep so you won't cry. i almost got deleted! me! high five! hey, what's up high five? they weren't trying to delete you, they were trying to delete me. you? what's so important about you that they'd send out an entire team of bots? they say... i'm a malfunction. gasp oh, you bringing malfunctions in here now, high five? for crying out loud, abandoned luggage, that had better not be my leftover chinese food... uh... what chinese food? huh ha! do you have any idea what it's like to be living large? hashtag blessed? the favorite of the favorites, and then demoted to this pit of despair? here, will you hit my callouses for me? at least you're a working emoji, that's all i ever wanted. well, if that's all it will take you to be satisfied, then just find a hacker and get reprogrammed. it's not that complicated. where would i find a hacker? in the piracy app, duh. ugh. and who took my clear nail polish? piracy app? to get there, i mean, i have to leave textopolis. so? i've done it. would you be a brother. one of the princess emo gees left the phone altogether, now she lives on the cloud... mmm... ooh, that is good. i'm sure the hacker that helped her do that could easily reprogram you. The name's jailbreak. jailbreak? that's great? reprogrammed. i just need to get reprogrammed, and then i can finally be the meh i was meh to be! help me find that hacker high five, will you? please? maybe this hacker can help you, too? like, rewrite some code? get you into the favorites sections? wait a minute! ow. i've been trying to use my charisma and sensitive entitlement to get me back on top when all I need is a hacker! today's your lucky day! let's roll! hey, can i come too? talk to the hand, bretheren. i thought i was... bye, felicia. ciao, fishcake with swirls. daddy's headed back to the VIPs where he belongs! wait, what about the bots? good point, good point. ow, ow ow, ow... hey... i shouldn't have picked the cactus. i shouldn't have picked it. you didn't even try to get the tree, it's baffling. let's go. high five? hello? high five! where are you? i'm right here! here we are! end of the text aisle. no way. come on, gene, it's perfectly safe! ah! gene, help me! high five! oh no, this is all my fault, high five, I... i'm just messing with you! it's just one of those rubber finger monster puppets from the eighties, i collected the whole set! alright, you coming? uh, what do i do? what do you mean? just take a step through the other side. this, is it. the next time i come back here, i'll be a real meh. high five? woah! are you finished? where, where are we? welcome... to the wallpaper! wow. this place is incredible! each app is a whole new world. ow, that's my face, get off my face, thank you. what is this place? WeChat! it's like a whole other world! oh, it is. what are they? they're bubble pups, they might be cute, but man, are they clean. bubble pups? they're stickers, gene, try to get with the program? this is so cool! wait, what's in that one! everybody's talking about themselves! how does he know so many people? none of these people know him, but they like him, and that's what matters in this life, popularity. uh, i, i think i'd rather just have a real friend. a real friend? how's that going to get you anywhere? what you need are fans! they give you complete and unrelenting support! as long as you're on top. poor gene, i blame myself. i blame you, too. i just wanted to be supported. you just wanted a vacation. you take that back, mel. bots, they haven't found gene by now. he must have skipped town. you mean the wallpaper? our boy's on the run. how about we find him ourselves? yeah, sure. tell those bots to follow those mehs. i'm sure they'll know about all those freaky deaky apps Gene would hide out in. i'm really good at making plans, you guys, right? here we are, the piracy app! this is where we'll find jailbreak. um, but this is, the dictionary app. that's just what alex wants his parents to think. this is called a skin. really? what could a teenage boy possibly want to hide from his parents? just try to keep up, this place can get a little rough. ahoy mateys, look who's back! high five! i'm a bit of a celebrity here, always welcome. ow! loser! come on, follow me. oh, great, emo gees! i thought the conversation just got dumber. ugh, internet trolls, just ignore them. eventually, they'll get a job, or a girlfriend, or some sort of purpose in life, and then they'll stop. virus, we'll just, we'll just walk over this way... hi! it's so great to see you again! do i know you? it's spam! just sign here and i can get you special discounts on vitamins and coupon offers that can save you up to 25 percent! 25 percent? nonono no no, don't get sucked in! back off, spam! it's the only way to do it. back off! thank you very much! you can illegally download our CD right here! hey, trojan horse, how are you? yeah, what'll it be had? i'll have a bottle of... hack, daniels, hmm? maybe with a plate of... cheese, and hackers, kapeesh? you try to buy a hacker, you can just ask, you know. oh, sorry, um, yes. we're looking for a hacker named jailbreak. oh, i know a guy who could hook you up. right over there. oh, yes. patable. no, not him. her! wait, he's a she? hey! jailbreak! mind if we join in? yes. that's the thing about the internet, is that you never know if someone's being ironic or sincere. i sincerely, unironically want you to go away. ha ha ha ha, so good... so here's the thing, my friend gene here has a little problem. well, see, i'm supposed to be a meh, but i don't really feel... yeah, yeah, and we thought that you could help... the princess, you know, off the phone... woah, hold up, that's not a meh face. bots, they're after me! how are you doing that? look, it's just something that i can do, can you help us? follow me. bots, delete my history! i need to wipe my entire hard drive! i made the most delicious cinnamon buns! maybe if there was something to uh, jog my memory? come on! move! hey trolls, wipe our mailbox wearing a tuxedo! hi, it's so great to see you again! this tunnel will get us out of here! move! get us out of here! move! did that cloud taste sweet to you? ow. ow. ow. help me. help, i'm stuck! sweet motherboard! where am i? candy crush! get me out of here! hey, cornface! try getting him out the top! already on it! hold tight, gene! woah! woah! this feels very off.. and smells. i mean, it smells delicious, but, i still don't like it! the game obviously thinks you're a candy, even though you're, weirdly misshapen, you know? what do i do? stay very still! don't worry, we've got your back! right, high five? hey, fingers! you wanna focus? for your information, i happen to have a sugar addiction, and it's a very, serious... hey, finger head, we have to get Gene out of the game without blowing him up! i don't want to blow up! we have to match up the candies so that Gene will drop to the bottom. and we can't match him with any yellows, or else... oh! don't do that, please don't do that. watch. got it? knock 3 in a row, don't blow gene up, got it. and, we have to be careful. yeah yeah yeah. careful! woo hoo! candy! yo! no no no! don't do yellow! do NOT do the yellow! i said careful! hey, addie! i... i was just wondering, if, you are... tasty. what? um... delicious. excuse me? sweet. hey addie! uh... hi nikki. see you later, alex sugar crush. ah! i'm so over this. Wireless Repair Service, how may I help you? i'd like to make an appointment. it's like this phone is playing games with me! woah! hey, what does this do? get me out of here! ooh... suck it in... stop it... stop it... ow ow ow... it's not working! well, there's one option left. we line you up with the yellows. but you said not to do that! special candies get transported to that jar. the game might think that you're a special candy. and... what if it doesn't think i'm a special candy? well... ah! jailbreak, hello? hello, jailbreak? uh, sorry. what if it doesn't think i'm a special candy? oh, i'm not too worried about it. alright, just do it. gene, gene! you're alive! you were trying to see if i had somehow turned into candy, weren't you? yes i was. and you have not! hey, looks like something popped up on alex's calender. ah, i'm sure it's nothing. uh, alex made an appointment at the phone store? calm down, everyone, calm down. don't worry, everything is fine. maybe alex just wants to buy some accessories. uh, his appointment is with techinical support. well, i'm sure we'll have plenty of time to figure this out. uh, his appointment is for tomorrow. then maybe it's just for some routine maintenance? uh, actually, it's to erase the phone. listen, gene, i'm about to become your knight in shining armor. you are? oh yeah. but first, we need to get uploaded to the cloud. that's where we'll find the source code to reprogram you. the... cloud? isn't that off the phone? ding dingding ding! you got it! mmhm, yeah, the cloud! off the phone! uh! we're in candy crush, oz, i know a shortcut to just dance, which is right next to dropbox, where we can get uploaded to the cloud. mmhm, of course, just go dive into the dropbox and vroom! hold up, here's the stinker. before they let us into the cloud, we have to get past this... firewall. the firewall uses face identification. it's really annoying, because i've already tried to get through. guessed wrong once, and now i'm locked out for life. locked out for life? you're thinking, because i can make different faces, the firewall will think i'm different emo gees! yeah, i wanted to say it, because it was my idea. you know, women are always coming up with stuff that men are taking credit for. you know what, well, let's hit the road. high five, you coming? i'm coming! why do i always think i'm going to come around on black licorice? ah! oh! my precious... move it! sudden death, here we come! let's try this one... you tube? wow, what an original treat, and i don't even need a remote. that guy is so expressive. he reminds me of gene. yes, something's really wrong here. our son is a malfunction, and you should have never let him go into that cube. don't blame me for that now, i am hopping mad at you. see? mary, i think we're being followed, but don't overreact. uh oh. i told you not to overreact. what are you doing now? i could be in there for hours. hey, where are you going. i think we should go our seperate ways, mel. i thought i knew the meh that i married, but maybe i don't. but, mary? this tunnel will help us avoid the bots. thanks for helping us. it's really, really nice of you. NPD, dude. you're helping me! move along, move it, why so slow? high five, stop, why are you getting so close? back off. i can't stop now, i'm having a sugar rush! i'm going to go around you. if i stop moving, my heart's going to explode! coming through, jailbreak! watch out! hey! watch it, knuckle butt! i can't feel my face! ha ha! jailbreak, you said back there that i'm... helping you. i've been trying to get past that firewall for months! ha ha ha ha ha, come on, come on, the faster we go, the faster I can become a favorite! ah ha ha ha ha ha! woo hoo! look at me i just want to bounce out of here, get off the phone, and live on the cloud! hee hee! ow! what just happened! you know, you don't like it here? there are so many rules here! what is up with that? the cloud's supposed to be amazing, it's full of dreams too... oh, sugar crash. i can't hold on anymore. catch me, gene, catch me! and you can be whoever you want! thanks. we're free! come on! oh, oh my gosh, my hands are sweating. you know what, come to think of it, i don't really remember there ever being a hacker emoji. oh, um, you know, you're taking too much of my brain space, let's try to keep the chit chat to a minimum. ooh, someone likes you. what are you talking about? this just like when peace sign gave me just one finger, i knew she was in love with me. let's go! ugh, i'm never eating another piece of candy ever again... high-five, don't do it! don't you do it! it's already been in there once. don't do it. wow. move it! are my fingers getting fat? i'll tell you what, this bandage wasn't so tight before. okay, we get through this app, and dropbox is right on the other side. we just need to keep it super DL in here. and no matter what, we can't, turn it, on. OMG this turned it on! what? i'm a hand, it's a big red button! woah. no no no no! what's happening! welcome to just dance! follow my moves and you get to move forward! do the wrong moves and you get an X! three strikes and you're out! out? what does she mean by out? digital death. thanks to you, fingers, now we're going to have to dance our way out. which is alright with me, because I can shake it like michael. or michael's glove, anyway. Are you ready to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnccccccee? this is bad, gene, i can't dance, i got no groove! come on, everybody can dance! not me, okay? i'm really stiff... see? you don't... understand? okay, no no. stop, stop. you have to stop. i see now what you are saying? just follow her moves. ready to dance in three! this i can't do! two! dude! just shut up and... dance! i'm just doing it! hee hee! shamon! jailbreak! i got you! look, just do the music, express yourself! dance? yeah, you got it! now throw some sauce on that dance burrito! woo hoo! i'm doing it! i'm finally nailing this dance! you got it! hee hee! oh ho ho! great job! now you're moving on to free dance! impress us with your moves to move forward! more dancing? you're killing it, gene! nice! take it gene! you can break it! wait a minute! i've never seen that dance before! what's it called? the emoji... bob? i love it! you do! everybody! do the emojiiiiiiiiiii bob! ha ha ha! woo! oh! princess! woah! you're the princess emoji! you never got off the phone! new player! who? oh no! we gotta go! no worry, they're robots, they can't dance! downloading thought protocol... can't dance, he says. heh. hey alex, you gonna dance for us? alex, that's extra homework for you. yeah, alex's getting wicked, ha ha ha... alex must be deleting the app! watch out! we gotta get out of here! come on! hoo! this song is my jam! high five! come on! let's go! hurry! gene! i got you! gene! gene... hey, wait a minute, where's high five? alex trashed the app.. and high five right along with it. wait, what? wait, trashed? high five is in the trash? he wanted to dance... but, i knew it was a bad idea... i'm so sorry... we gotta get him out of there. gene, dropbox is right here, we have to get to the cloud! and the trash is on the other side of the phone! we don't know how many other bots are out there! i'm sorry! no, wait! i can't go without high five. i don't care how far away it is. gene... that's my friend down there. i'm not going to just let him get deleted. what, what is it? i've always just thought, you've got to look out for number one... but what good is it to be number one, if there aren't any other numbers? wow, okay. i'm sorry, this is, this is my malfunction, i just, i can't be meh about anything, this is why i'm going to be reprogrammed. well, actually, it's kinda cool. wait, really? no, i think i know a shortcut. we can take the music streams in spotify. let's go give that big hand a hand. come on! now it's trashed the just dance app, and our bots are offline, and it's giving me a real headache... i am so angry! i really need to stay happy. can we please lighten the mood? no one can resist la fiesta! ole! not that happy. ow! we've only got four hours before alex's phone appointment. if they find a malfunction on the phone, we are all going to be wiped! she said wiped! aim higher, steven. i didn't want to have to do this, but it is fun to press buttons. the illegal upgrade! now that makes me happy! ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! i just want to dance.. dance... argh! quiet, you saucy gypsy. ugh, where am i? hi! it's so great to see you again! you're in the trash, fingers for brains! get away from me, troll! hi! it's so great to see you again! i've got to get out of here. you can't! and at the end of the day, the trash gets emptied, and we're all going to die! oh no, no, no! this is the last face you will ever see! this is spotify? yep, every one of those streams is a different song. is it safe? are you sure that this is a good idea? that's the point of the wave, dude! can we at least pick a... a colorless stream? okay buzzkill... alex, a bunch of people are hitting the promenade, and i think addie might be there, too... that's perfect! i have an appointment down there, anyway! i've got to get this phone fixed! hey, bubble butt! yeah. ah, much better. so, i gotta ask, is it true that when a princess whistles, birds fly down from the skies.. hello, stereotype, that is a complete and total myth! i'm sorry. did you realize that in the first emoji set, a woman can either be a princess, or a bride? that's why I need to get to the cloud, where you can be whatever you want to be! get ready! whale song coming! wait, wait, whale what? whale song! from alex's biology DVD! woah! wow! woah! ha ha ha ha. you're not going to see that sitting around in a cube. funny, you went out of the cube, and I went in. gene, that means you can't be yourself. what's the point? you know, i think you're pretty cool just the way you are. we're, we're going to need this. nobody knows, the touchscreen dramascene. nobody knows my screenshot... trash? me? i used to be somebody. here i am, in an old email Alex never sent. addie, blah blah blah blah blergh... and then there's me! high five! right there! doing my job! FYI, nobody cares about you. just leave me, troll, and let me die! in this dump alone! let me look for the world's smallest violin in here, so that you can play it! is that the hand angel of mercy? has she finally come for me? give me your hand! i mean, give me yourself! take my hand, angel! i'm ready to take my place amongst the other great hands of the past. it's me, gene! gene? the one and only. gene! i got him! take me with you! high five! let go of me! you'd leave me down here? you were wrong, troll, people do care about me! and i'm not upset, troll! do you see how not upset I am? gene! you came back for me! you saved me... it wasn't just me, jailbreak helped, too. she's a hugger. give her a squeeze. oh, nonono no. not really, nothing great. i'm not feeling your feelings, relieve me! you filthy trolls, I inhaled your stench, and I was once one of you, so I feel your pain. so now, go. be free! smooth sailing from here. huh ha ha! ugh. gene! gene... gene? are you insta gramming? oh, where is my gene... oh, mary, you've really done it this time. no, you haven't. mel? what are you doing in alex's trip to france album? i was looking for you. none of this is your fault, mary. it's mine. what do you mean? is that a tear on your cheek? it's my fault gene is the way he is. i have other expressions, too. i think they've just been buried away. but with gene going missing, and thinking i might have lost you, too... oh, mel, why didn't you tell me? i didn't know myself. right now, i'm so overwhelmed with passionate feelings for you. mary, my love for you burns with the intensity of a red hot flame. oh, i like it. let's go find our son. together. we'll always have paris, mary. so you're a princess. so you have a little tiara, very fancy. is it true when a princess whistles, birds fly that's what i said! no, guys, that's a stupid myth! what awkward virgin haven are you living in? go read an e-book! educate yourself! uh, jailbreak? what the? what is that? smiley must have upgraded her bots! let's get out of here before it... hi, do you remember me, it's smiler! i'm coming to you live from the amphitheater, why don't you come back to textopolis and we can talk through our differences, okay? my friend here will escort you, alright, i'm gonna see you soon, buddy, bye now! we're actually going to delete them in front of everyone. psst, it's still on. it's still on? oh! jiminy, attack the frauds! seperate! take a look! jailbreak! gene! this way! it's still onto me! over here! let's go! we have to make it to dropbox! yes! no! go low! woah! don't worry, it can't get in. it's illegal malware, and this app is secure. come on. welcome to dropbox! you are about to leave the phone. remain seated, please! permanecer sentados por favor! might want to hang on! why do they call it dropbox, anyway? oh, this is why! i see why now! i'd better not see that candy corn again! we made it! you guys, chill. we still have to get past... that. oh... shaw. welcome to the firewall, how may I help you? alright, here goes! what should I do? sit in the corner, and don't say a word. keep those soft fingers to yourself. yes, your majesty, princess of nightmares! now gene, step onto the password icon, and i'll feed you the passwords. okay. okay. ten, eleven, two thousand and two. ten, eleven, two thousand and two. ow. cough. access denied. okay, try a different expression. is it going to blast me every time i messed up? yeah, kind of. what do you mean kind of? ready? welcome to the firewall. his favorite food. chimichangas! chimichangas? ow. access denied. huh. this might take a while. oh boy. krav maga! krav maga. major lazer! major lazer. what did i do now? ow. skate, or die! access denied. denied. denied. denied. i don't get it! we've tried all of the important things in alex's life! his favorite pet, his sport, his favorite grandma... i'm sorry, gene. i let us all down. now, if I had to come up with a password, I'd probably use the name of a girl I like. i've been all over the phone! he's never mentioned a girl. yes he has! hi. when I was in the trash, I read a very interesting email, but, i'm just a dunce, in the corner, forbidden to speak... what email? sorry, what? what email? uh, took it out, at school, he was declaring his feelings of love for her, i guess instead of sending it he tossed it in the trash. high five, this is very important. what is her name? her name, yes! excellent question. it... was... tina. karen. marge. lint, lindsay. ack, allison. sarah, or, lupita. i want to say lupita, but that doesn't feel right, now i'm saying it out loud. ugh.. gotta find that email, i think i can access the trash. i got it! addie! yes! yes, that's it, addie! i knew i'd get there! dear addie, you and I, we are like diamonds in the sky. you're a shooting star I see. a vision, ecstacy. shining bright like a diamond. he used a high-five, see? guess now we know why he trashed it. ooh, shade. guys, should we try this? addie! access granted. oh snap. this place, is, amazing. wow, i can't believe it. woah. one little emoji could sure get lost in a place like this. i... i guess we should, make you, a meh before that bot comes back home. oh, oh, so we're gonna do that now. we had a deal, right? yeah, okay. right. i, uh, guess i'll start hacking. ha! we did it, gene! all our dreams are coming true! i'll be alex's favorite again, and you'll be a real meh! ha ha, yeah! do the hand dance. do the hand dance. and pinky. pop it with the pinky. pop it with the pinky. yeah, but this all seems kinda super fast now, doesn't it? i didn't expect to be having these feelings right now. well, maybe you should go and express them while you still can. so, uh, i've been thinking, um, ever since we. jailbreak, you're the coolest, most interesting emoji i've ever met. and, after all the adventures that we've had, i'm just not sure that i want all of that to go away. because, my feelings, right now, are, like, huge. i just think that they could be enough for me to want to stay the way that I am. if it means that i could stay here, with you, like, forever. forever and ever. and ever. maybe longer than that, even? like in the fairy tales. uh... wait, wuh, what is that? gene, if this is about you deciding not to be meh, then, i am all about that. i like you just the way you are, but i had a plan. right. i'm not just some princess, gene, waiting for my prince. i mean, uh, what you said was beautiful, but, gene... ha ha ha! you're all... meh! the source code worked! turns out I didn't need it. for the first time in life, meh is all I feel. oh! gene! i have an appointment. i'm a little early. no prob. i can take you right now. jailbreak! ah! don't do that! that freaking huge bot has got gene back inside the phone! what? he left being more meh than the meh-est meh face i've seen! what did you say to him? it's what I didn't say. we gotta go get him. how are we going to get there in time before he gets deleted? ugh.. i can't believe i'm doing this. you tell anyone you saw this and I'll crack more than those knuckles. woah. birds do like princesses! it's not a myth! it's not a myth at all! what happened with becoming a favorite? because i'd rather have one real friend. let's go get him. i can't wait to see that emoji's face! look at that expression! is that for realizing that you've put all of textopolis at risk? causing Alex to question our reliability? hmm? hey, now that's going too far, even for me! if we could delete this malfunction, before he gets dissapointed, Alex will realize there's nothing wrong with the phone. and any last words? meh. well, it's too late for that. delete him! wait! you delete gene, you'll have to delete me, too. what? i have the same malfunction gene has. dad? oh gosh, i don't know what to do! yes i do! BOTS! sorry misses meh. wow. i did not see that one coming. smiler, I think you might be making too much stink out of all this. oh really? how about you're next? i was wrong, gene. i should have believed in you all along. oh, what a touching daddy son reunion moment! it reminds me of the time I deleted you both! oh wait! that's this time! delete the two malfunctions! How's that for an entroof gasp oh, great. I can't reach! oh no! what did you do to my beautiful monst Ow my tooth! hand, button! jailbreak? oh, gene... you really are a meh... what happened to looking out for number one? being number one doesn't matter if there aren't any other numbers. alex's appointment! he's deleting the phone! nononono no no no no! show me alex. are you sure you want to delete everything? do it! red alert! alex, no! game over. fellas, i'm afraid this is the last call. dude, addie's here. you should go over. every time I try, i screwed up! i don't even know how to tell her how I feel! if we help alex connect to addie, maybe he won't delete us. i might be able to bypass the wipe and get a text through to him. but we'll only have time to send one. maybe I should go! he has love in his eyes. send me! alex looks nervous, too! he's more shy than nervous! stop! it's gene. he's all of those things! emo gees should only be one thing! oh, really? gasp the princess! linda? not now, mom! gene, you got this. that's not me anymore. but I have to try. it's starting! no! it's ending! almost in? working on it! mom? dad? no.. i'm in! last time I was in this cube I screwed everything up. gene, why do you think I came back? it's because of you. me. it's all inside of you, gene. just try to bring it back. and do you. high five! i don't want to wave goodbye! it's now or never, gene! jailbreak, now! woah! she got this emoji! no way! hey, i got your text! that's one super cool emoji! i know, right? a lot of feelings in one! i get it! i like that you're one of those guys who actually expresses feelings! yeah, that's me! so, do you think you cou yes, i'd love to go to the dance with you. we made it! oh, i could have lost you, peter pinky finger... oh, you wretchy ring finger, even you, tiberius thumb... change your mind? yeah, maybe it's weird, but i'm going to hold onto it. gene, you did it! you saved us all! oh, mel... gee hee eene! gee hee hee heene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! gene! and us! and high five! and high five! and high five! and high five! hey, what happened, gene? slap me some skin! and a little orange for the pinky! hey high five! save a little hand for later! unless you know the hamburger! back on top of the hand pile! you're not on the list! wait, what? what's going on? ha! from now on, everyone is welcome! wait, what is all this? it's for you, gene! everybody! the emoji bob! this is so jazzy... go eggplant! go eggplant! go eggplant! we are out of Alex's pocket, emo gees! this is not a butt dial! to your cubes! are we up and running? roger that. good, because we got incoming! looks like it's gonna be gene. hey gene, ready to try out your new cube? in 3, 2...

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cozy-the-overlord · 3 years

Text

Funny Little Ups and Downs

Summary: Loki is having a bad day. The love of his life is being sent away to marry some ridiculous Vanir prince, and there’s nothing he can do about it. Then her little sister shows up to give him a pep talk.

Word Count: 3,824

Pairing: Loki x Sigyn

A/N: Sound the alarms! Alert the media! Cozy wrote something happy! I actually wrote the majority of this over three months ago, then got stuck on the ending and forgot all about it until a few days ago. It’s inspired by “I Love Melvin,” a silly little musical from 1953 starring Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor that employs my favorite trope of all time: the main character’s little sibling bonding with the romantic interest. It’s fun, it’s cute, and I just had to write it. Consider it an apology for all the angst I’ve been throwing your way XD

Warnings: None

Tags: @lucywrites02 @gaitwae @whatafuckingdumbass @the-emo-asgardian @imnotrevealingmyname

If you want to be tagged, feel free to send an ask/message :)

Read it on Ao3!

Spring in Asgard was truly something to behold. The last dredges of winter melted into memory, leaving behind a crispness in the air and a radiance in the land as vibrant life bloomed across the planet. It was a kind of brilliance that one could hardly resist, and so it was no surprise that the palace gardens were alive with activity— novice warriors sparring in the field, strolling couples engaged in lively conversation, giggling children chasing each other through the labyrinth of brick and shrubbery.

It seemed the very universe was mocking him.

Loki held his head in his hands, huddled in a despondent heap at the edge of the garden bench. It was truly amazing how quickly the sweet spring air turned foul. The day had started with such promise, and now …

“Hi your Highness!” Loki jumped when the little girl plopped down next to him without a warning, crumbs spilling into her braids as she munched on a cookie.

He sighed. “Oh, hello Milla.” He couldn’t say he particularly cared for company at the moment, but he couldn’t find the energy to shoo her off.

Milla studied him, chewing intently. “Are you crying?” she asked.

“Of course not!” Loki bristled. Was he now so pathetic that he was garnering the pity of a child? He huffed in indignation.

She patted his arm as if in consolation. “It’s okay to cry, Prince Loki. I cry all the time.”

Norns.

He swallowed the temptation to shove her away and abandon the bench, electing instead to change the subject. “Did Sigyn send you?”

It wouldn’t have been the first time she delegated her little sister to the position of messenger. Perhaps Milla was here with some kind of news, that the whole thing was a misunderstanding and Sigyn wasn’t getting married after all. But deep down, Loki knew that was nothing but wishful thinking. If that were the case, Sigyn would have come herself.

“No,” Milla said, dashing what little hope he had against the brick walkway. “I saw you leaving from my window. You looked sad.” She paused, cocking her head to the side. “Was Sigyn mean to you?”

It was such a childish question that Loki laughed, although there was no humor in the sound. Sigyn didn’t have a mean bone in her body. It was something of which he was in perpetual awe. It didn’t matter how badly her day had gone, how grievously she had been wronged—she always had a kind word or a sweet gesture and an eagerness to help. There was a grace about her, a grace that Loki had never seen from anyone else in court.

The way she had broke the news to him, pushing him into the hallway outside her apartment before he even had the chance to knock … it was cruel, but it wasn’t a cruelty she had chosen. He understood that at least.

Loki heaved another sigh. “It wasn’t her fault.”

For a moment, Milla was quiet. He turned away from her. It seemed he really was that pathetic.

“Sigyn got all upset after you left,” she finally said. “She went running upstairs and hid in her room. Now Daddy’s mad because Prince Sverrir is coming over and she’s not ready.” Sverrir. Loki dug his fingernails into his palms. Milla didn’t seem to notice his tension.

“Do you know Prince Sverrir?” she asked.

Loki grit his teeth. “I’ve met him.” It was astonishing how his opinion of the Vanir Crown Prince had changed from aloof indifference to outright hatred within a matter of words. Loki had known Sverrir since they were both children, when Vanaheim’s royal family had come to Asgard for a few weeks to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the end of the Aesir-Vanir War. He had found him to be tiresome as a boy, a trait that did not improve upon adulthood. Loki had avoided him when he could.

Sverrir had only become relevant to him within the last few years, when after one royal visit he began to express an interest in Sigyn Yngvarrdóttir. At this point, Sigyn and Loki had been seeing each other in secret for quite some time, and while a public courtship was still out of the question, Loki had no intention of allowing the foreign prince to pursue what he already called his own.

The court was appalled when it discovered that Sverrir had been hiring harlots and bringing them into his chambers—his guest chambers, the very rooms in which the Asgardian royal family had so kindly allowed him to stay! His insistence that he had never even interacted with the ladies of the night, let alone allowed one on to palace grounds, fell upon deaf ears and Sverrir was forced to return home to avoid further scandal. Loki remembered watching him cross the Bifrost, with his unnatural posture and his idiotic attempt at regality, certain that they’d seen the last of him.

But now here he was again, back with a few years distance and an ailing father, and suddenly every woman in Asgard was ready to fall at his feet. Which would’ve been fine, except for the fact that he decided upon the only woman who didn’t want him in return.

Loki groaned, rubbing his temples. Besides him, Milla prattled on.

“He’s very dull, isn’t he?” she was saying, brushing the cookie crumbs off the front of her dress. “The last time he came over he just sat in the parlor and talked about how much Sigyn would like Vanaheim. I don’t think she was all that interested. And he kept calling me Mina!” She scowled at the ground, as if Sverrir was there, sitting at her feet, before turning back to Loki. “I like you better. You’re nice to me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Am I?”

“Yeah!” she grinned, tapping his shoulder enthusiastically. “You know my name, at least. And you gave me my good-luck charm!”

She pulled the charm out from under her top, fastened to her neck by thin strip of leather. It was nothing special, just a simple wooden carving of a cat’s head that he had whittled himself during his time serving as diplomat in Alfheim. He didn’t have near the talent for woodworking of the Elven carvers, but he was patient in his practice. By the end of the trip, he had spent hours upon hours working on the carving of a wolf’s head, Sigyn’s favorite animal, to give to her upon his return. Milla’s cat had been something of an afterthought. Still, he hadn’t been able to hide his smile at the way she squealed in delight when he presented it to her, and Sigyn had seemed more touched by the fact that he thought of her sister than at her own gift.

“Has it worked for you?” he asked.

“I think so,” Milla said, running her finger across the cat’s ear. “Good things happen when I wear it.”

Loki laughed bitterly. He could use a bit of that now. “Have good things happened today?”

She didn’t look up. “I’m still waiting to find out.”

A silence fell over the two of them, heavy and stiff. He wondered what Sigyn was doing, if she was still hiding in her room as her sister claimed. She had been waiting for him that morning, ready to push him out into the hall with shaking hands the moment he arrived at her doorstep. He knew immediately that she had been crying—if her swollen eyes weren’t enough of a giveaway, then the little hiccupping gasps that peppered her words certainly were.

“You can’t be here right now,” she had hissed. “If Father sees you, he’ll lose his mind!”

“What happened?”

“Sverrir made an offer for my hand. My father—Loki, he accepted.”

It had taken a moment for those words to sink in. When they had, he had demanded to speak with her father.

“Loki—”

“He can’t do this! He can’t sell you off like cattle—”

Only he could, and they both knew it.

“Prince Loki?” He turned away from his thoughts and back to Milla. She was looking up at him with wide eyes, her voice suddenly very small. “Is Sigyn going to marry Sverrir?”

Loki found he couldn’t answer. There was a threatening lump in the back of his throat, making him unwilling to trust his voice. Sigyn … she was always supposed to marry him. He had been sure of it from the moment he met her, back when they were taking their lessons together. He had pretended to trip when walking by her desk and spilled his potion all over the floor just to have an excuse to talk to her. Thor had rolled his eyes when he heard of it (“could you not just speak to her like a normal person?”), but Sigyn had laughed and offered to help him clean it up, just like the angel she was. And when class ended, he offered to walk her back to her apartment.

Sigyn had smiled, that shy little smile she seemed to reserve for only him. “I’d be honored, my prince.”

Loki was smitten.

And now he was heartbroken.

“You know she doesn’t want to marry him, right?” Milla asked, tugging at his sleeve. “She doesn’t even like him.”

Loki inhaled. “Marriage isn’t just about who you like.” Sigyn had explained this to him just now in the hallway. Her family may have been prestigious in her great-grandfather’s heyday, but a series of poor investments and bad choices had set them on a steady decline. Her marriage to Sverrir would secure their position permanently. Her father would condemn her to a life of loneliness to maintain their status. And Sigyn would accept it, because she was far too good a person to refuse. “You have to think about your future, and your family, and Sverrir is a prince—”

“But you’re a prince too!”

“I don’t have a throne.” Loki sighed. He had never been jealous of Thor’s position as Crown Prince, not really—kingship came with hundreds of little hinderances and headaches that Loki was perfectly content to live without. But if he could stand before Sigyn’s father, not as Odin’s forgotten son but as Asgard’s future ruler … well, he wouldn’t be having to stomach discussion about some Vanir prince, that was for sure.

Milla yanked on his sleeve even harder. “But Sigyn loves you.”

Loki’s eyes widened. “She told you that?”

“No.” She said. “But I know she does. She reads your poems every night before she goes to bed.”

He flushed crimson. “Does she?” Oh, those poems. He had never considered himself to be much of a poet, but there was a soft sense of familiarity in words that he had never found anywhere else. And Sigyn … how could one not write about Sigyn?

He never had the courage to read them to her in person, silly, romantic things that they were. Instead he kept to leaving them hidden in spots where only she would find them—wrapped up in her napkin at dinner, buried in her bag at the healing ward, slipped into her dress pocket as they danced. She never said anything about them to him, but he lived for the way she’d squeeze his hand after he passed one to her.

Milla nodded, grinning. “She has them all in a little book, and she keeps it under her pillow.” Loki smiled too at the image, just for a moment, but then reality came crashing back down. She could hold on to as many poems as he could write—it still wouldn’t change anything. He buried his face in his hands once more.

He felt another tug at his sleeve, and he turned to find himself face-to-face with a creased brow. “You love her too, don’t you?” Milla asked. “That’s why you’re so upset.”

Loki huffed. “What I want doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does! It has too!” she insisted, shaking his arm. “You can make it matter.”

“Make it matter?” Suddenly, looking at her there, with her braids and her “good luck” charms and her childish hope was too much to bear. “What would you have me do?” he snapped. “Kidnap your sister?”

Milla flinched. “No … But—”

“There isn’t any ‘but.’ Your father will never allow her to settle for me when there’s a superior option. My father will never care enough to intervene on my behalf.” Norns knew he had tried. But Odin had nothing to gain from a marriage between Loki and Sigyn, and if Odin had nothing to gain, he saw no reason to act. “It’s useless to pretend otherwise. Now are you just going to sit here and bother me all day or do you have somewhere else to be?”

She gulped, abandoning her place besides him on the bench. “I’m sorry, your Highness. I’ll go.” Loki watched her slink off back towards the palace, head down like a whipped pup. Somehow, he felt even worse.

…

Dinner was miserable.

Loki picked at his food out of a sense of courtesy, with no real appetite to be found. How could he eat, when four seats to his right Sverrir was regaling his audience with descriptions of his perfect bride-to-be? The prince hadn’t yet mentioned Sigyn by name, but he didn’t have to. Loki could see the way his gaze lingered on her table as he described her “perfect form.”

It made him sick.

He had still barely touched his meal by the time many of the merrymakers had moved to the dance floor. Sverrir had gone, too—Loki watched him practically slither across the room to Sigyn’s side to ask her for a dance, watched Sigyn’s nearly imperceptible nod in assent. Now, they commanded the whole of the floor, gliding through the steps as flawlessly as a couple could, Sverrir grinning ear to ear and Sigyn the epitome of quiet repose.

Loki wished he could return to his rooms. He didn’t want to sit there, watching his heart spin and twirl in the hands of another man. But he couldn’t seem to rip his gaze away from her. Her sea-blue skirt matched Sverrir’s cape as it twisted about her, giving her the appearance of some sort of oceanic goddess. He wanted to hate the color, but of course it was beautiful on her. Everything was beautiful on her.

“Prince Loki!”

He was startled out of his despondent silence by the child shrieking his name. Loki barely had the chance to turn around before Milla was upon him, grabbing at his arm and trying to pull him to his feet.

He frowned. “What are you doing up here?”

“Come on!” She yanked at his cape. “You have to dance with Sigyn.”

Wary of making a scene, and too flustered to push her away, Loki stood. “Milla, I—”

“You have to,” she insisted, giving him a push towards the dance floor. “Go! Dance with her!”

He stumbled forward, but the little girl kept corralling him down the podium stairs, towards Sigyn and her aggravating prince.

“Milla!” he hissed. “Can’t you see she’s already dancing with someone?”

“Who cares?” she hissed back, shoving him again. “Dance with her!”

And so Loki made his way down to the dance floor, cheeks burning, holding himself with as much dignity as one could after a literal child herded them like a sheep away from their meal. Luckily, few in the the ballroom seemed to be paying him any mind.

One of the positives of being the forgotten son, he supposed.

Sverrir and Sigyn were in the middle of the floor, still wrapped up in the music. At least, Sverrir was. Sigyn was holding herself as if someone had strapped a wooden board down her back. He couldn’t remember a time where he had seen her so tense. The sight made Loki stiffen.

With a sudden burst of confidence, he tapped on the Vanir prince’s shoulder. “Excuse me,” he said, not bothering to hide the tightness in his voice. “Would you mind if I cut in?”

Sverrir started. “Oh. Uh—” he glanced back at Sigyn. “Do you mind, darling?”

She shook her head, features still perfectly neutral. Only then did Loki notice that, while she was wearing blue, the ribbons weaved through her braids were emerald green.

“Oh!” Sverrir seemed surprised, but quickly shook it off. “Well, then, of course not!” He stepped aside, making a grand gesture towards Sigyn as Loki took his place in her arms with a rigid nod.

For a moment, they only stared at each other, slowly swaying to the notes of the waltz in silence. Sigyn looked away first, turning to watch her feet on floor as if she were a girl in pigtails still learning to dance.

Loki swallowed the desert on his tongue. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Well enough, I suppose,” she murmured. When she looked up again, her eyes were glossy, her features twisted in an attempt to hold back the tears. “Loki—I’m sorry.”

There was a lump in the back of his throat. He wished he could hold her to his chest, cup her cheek and promise her that everything was fine. Instead, he only shook his head. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“I just …” She inhaled. “I wish things were different.”

Don’t we both?

“Is he kind to you at least?” he asked. He would at least be able to rest easier knowing that Sigyn was well cared for, and as irritating as Sverrir was, Loki had never seen anything to suggest that he was cruel. Although … he almost wished Sverrir was a beast of a man—horrible, vicious, barbarous— just so he could have another reason to despise him.

Sigyn shrugged. “He talks a lot.”

“Oh? About what?”

“Absolutely nothing!” she cried. “I’ve never heard of a man who could go on so long without a single thing to say. It makes my head ache.” Sigyn sighed. “But Father finds him interesting.”

Loki scoffed. “Your father would be fascinated by grass growing.”

She laughed. “Probably.”

They danced in silence for a while longer. He liked the silence—the soft, soothing movement was almost enough to make him forget why this night was different from every other he had spent dancing with her. But soon enough, the song came to an end, and he made ready to bid her farewell.

A familiar voice cleared his throat, rasping across the hall. The hum of conversation stopped as everyone turned to face the royal podium, where Prince Sverrir stood, smiling over the masses.

“Ladies and gentleman, if I may have your attention!” he called. “I would like to make an announcement.”

“Here we go,” whispered Sigyn. She reached out to grasp Loki’s hand.

When the crowd thronged around the podium had appeared to reach a size to his liking, Sverrir continued.

“As many of you know,” he said. “My father’s health has been failing for the past several months, and he has voiced that it is his greatest wish to see me married before he passes. Therefore, I am overjoyed to announce my engagement to one of your very own Asgardian ladies—” He stretched his hand out towards Sigyn, grinning widely as the rest of the nobles whipped around to follow his gaze. “The lovely Lady Sigyn Yngvarrdóttir!”

The ballroom erupted into applause. Sigyn sighed, but quickly masked it with a gracious smile, letting go of Loki’s hand in order to make her way to the podium.

To her fiancé.

Loki didn’t even think. When he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to his side, he was acting off pure instinct.

“That’s impossible!” he cried to the crowd, to Sverrir. “Completely impossible, your Highness. She can’t marry you.”

The applause fizzled out as quickly as it begun. Confused whispers began skating through the onlookers.

“Loki!” Sigyn hissed. “What are you doing?”

Above them all, Sverrir frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Prince Loki,” he said. “Lord Yngvarr had given me his permission, and Lady Sigyn has accepted. Why can I not marry her?”

Loki didn’t blink. “Because she’s already married to me.”

The crowd exploded into outraged gasps.

Besides him, a wicked grin was blooming across Sigyn’s face.

Sverrir seemed to have been rendered incapable of response. He stood stuttering on the podium, any words he did manage drowned out by the commotion of the entire court processing what was turning out to be even more of a scandal than the last time the Vanir prince came to visit.

Until finally one voice cut through the chaos.

“Liar!” yelled Yngvarr, pushing his way through the crowd. “My daughter would not betray her family in such a manner.” He turned back to Sverrir, fuming. “Your Highness, I’m afraid Prince Loki seems to be playing a prank, and a decidedly unfunny one at that, at the expense of my daughter’s reputation.”

Loki opened his mouth to protest his offense, but before he could find the words, yet another voice joined the foray of madness.

“It’s not a prank, Daddy!” Milla grinned, materializing seemingly out of thin air to pull at her father’s sleeve. “It’s real! I heard them talking about it a week ago.”

Yngvarr whipped around so quickly that one of his whiskers caught on his shoulder plate. “What?”

“Uh huh,” she nodded. “Prince Loki came through the window! They were talking about how they were going to get married as soon as possible, because they love each other so much and they’re soulmates and … and …” she trailed off, seeming to only just be realizing that every pair of eyes in the ballroom was on her.

“And what?” snapped Yngvarr.

Sigyn stepped forward. “And I’m pregnant!”

The roar was deafening.

She turned back towards Loki with a smirk. He could only gape at her.

“What?” she asked. “Did you think I was going to let you have all the fun?”

Loki didn’t bother trying to find words. He just planted his lips on to hers. “I love you,” he whispered when he pulled away. He had never meant anything more in his life.

She laughed. “What now?”

“Well,” he said, grinning as he offered her his arm. “It seems we have to get married. After that—” he stopped abruptly. There was something in his pocket, something that he knew hadn’t been there before, bulky and solid. Frowning, he pulled it out to find the rough carving of a cat’s head tied to a loop of worn leather.

He looked up again in confusion. His eyes landed on Milla, beaming at him from across the room. She winked.

Good things happen when I wear it.

Loki smiled, slipping the charm back into his pocket. Next to him, Sigyn tugged at his arm.

“After that?” she repeated.

“After that?” he shrugged, smirking. “We improvise.”

#loki marvel #loki fanfic #loki x sigyn #funny little ups and downs #cozy writes

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you-just-got-wormed · 7 years

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#the entire emoji movie script #here you go #long post ;)#somehow i think its shorter than the bee movie #i havent seen this honestly #the emoji movie #trash

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shawwillsuffice · 7 years

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Every album and song referenced in every book by Hanif Abdurraqib

I decided to put together this list after finishing Hanif’s latest full-length book, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us: Essays. For those not familiar with Hanif, he’s a poet and essayist who really loves to talk about music. He writes a lot about hip hop, punk, and emo, but I also once texted him out of the blue to ask his opinion of the largely forgotten 90′s boy band O-Town and he had a number of clearly well-thought-out observations ready to go immediately. He writes about music in ways that are simultaneously about other very big things in his life and the society and communities that shaped it. It’s something I deeply appreciate, as a person for whom narrative storytelling is often the only way for me to express the things I’m thinking and feeling, for which simpler words just won’t cut it. His books are about fear, or heartbreak, or gentrification, or religion, or death and mourning, or hope, but they’re also pretty much all about music.

With that in mind, I decided to make it my 2018 New Year’s Resolution to listen to every album and song referenced in his books, and since I had to make this list anyway, I figure I’ll share it in case anyone else wants to do the same, or just wants an exhaustive list of Hanif’s music references for some other reason.

For clarity’s sake, this list includes songs and albums, but not instances where musical artists are named without reference to any of their actual material. I’ve omitted names of individual songs in cases where the albums they appear on are referenced in the same poem or essay. I’ve also tried to include indirect references that rely on context cues without identifying actual titles or song lyrics, though I’m sure I’ve missed some.

Of course, if any of this sounds at all interesting, I’d recommend buying the books themselves. The chapbooks are quite hard to find, unfortunately. Vintage Sadness famously sold out in pre-sale, even after the publisher more than doubled the print run due to overwhelming demand, and if there are any copies of Three Crosses or To Ex-Girlfriends to be had anywhere besides my bookshelf, I sure as hell can’t find them. However, both of the full-length books, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much and They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us are still very much available.

Three Crosses (2012)

- The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death (”And it’s full. Been full. Stays full. Full since that ‘97 summer / When Biggie blared out of everything with windows. Everything that could breathe.”) - Johnny Cash, “Oh Bury Me Not” - Taylor Swift, “Last Kiss” - Michael Jackson, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” - Stevie Wonder, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” (”Michelle Obama loves punk rock music. / Rolls her eyes backstage when Barack picks yet another Stevie Wonder standard to stroll out to during campaign stops.”) - The Clash, “I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.” - The Pogues, Red Roses for Me - Nirvana, In Utero

To Ex-Girlfriends (2014, I think?)

- The Who, “My Generation” - Johnny Cash, “John Henry’s Hammer” - Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues” (”In Folsom, they banged on metal tables / when you talked about that .44 you kept under your pillow”) - Jay-Z, Big Pimpin’ - The Notorious B.I.G., “Mo Money Mo Problems” - Diana Ross, “I’m Coming Out” - Johnny Cash, “I Never Picked Cotton” - Jay-Z and Kanye West, “No Church in the Wild” - Against Me!, “Thrash Unreal” - Van Morrison, “Sweet Thing” - Hall & Oates, “Sara Smile” - Hall & Oates, “Rich Girl”

The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016)

- Jay-Z, “Where I’m From” - Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin’” - Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On” (”& he starts in on some marvin & the words ‘brother, brother, brother / there’s far too many of you dying’ crawl from his lips) - Fall Out Boy, “Saturday” - Jay-Z, “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” (”& Jay-Z called himself Hova / twelve times in one song”) - The Notorious B.I.G., “Mo Money Mo Problems” - Taking Back Sunday, Tell All Your Friends - Nick Drake, “Pink Moon” - The Notorious B.I.G., “N****s Bleed” - Something Corporate, “Konstantine” - Fall Out Boy, “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down” (”We wrote ‘IGNORE YOUR GOD COMPLEX’ in every bathroom stall on campus one of those years even though we knew the right lyrics”) - Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city - Whitney Houston, “How Will I Know” - Third Eye Blind, “Semi-Charmed Life” - The Temptations, “I Wish It Would Rain” - Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddamn” - Nina Simone, “Sinnerman” - Nirvana, “Lithium”

Vintage Sadness (2017)

- Blood Orange ft. Carly Rae Jepsen, “Better Than Me” - Kanye West, “Only One” - Jay-Z and Kanye West, “No Church in the Wild” - Duran Duran, “Girls On Film” - Carly Rae Jepsen, “E*Mo*Tion” - Ginuwine, “Pony” - The Four Seasons, “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)” - Jay-Z and Kanye West, “Illest Motherfucker Alive” - Aaliyah, “Rock the Boat” - Soul Decision, “Faded” - Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” - Guns N’ Roses, “Welcome to the Jungle” - Kelis, “Milkshake” - Jay-Z, “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” - Bone Thugs N Harmony, “Crossroads” - Next, “Too Close” - Olivia Newton John, “Let’s Get Physical” - Cutting Crew, “(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight” - Soul II Soul, “However Do You Want Me” - Jay-Z and Kanye West, “N****s in Paris”

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us (2017)

- The U.S. National Anthem - Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.” - Lil Uzi Vert, “XO TOUR Llif3″ - Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen” - Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book - The Social Experiment, “Sunday Candy” - Chance the Rapper, Acid Rap - Drake, Views - Bruce Springsteen, The River - Carly Rae Jepsen, E*Mo*Tion - Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe” - Semisonic, “Closing Time” - Marcy Playground, “Sex and Candy” - Prince, “Baby, I’m a Star” - Bob Dylan, “All Along the Watchtower” - Foo Fighters, “Best of You” - Prince, “Purple Rain” - ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron - The Notorious B.I.G., “N****s Bleed” - The Weeknd, Kiss Land - The Weeknd, House of Balloons - The Weeknd, Thursday - The Weeknd, Echoes of Silence - Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On - NOFX, “Don’t Call Me White” - Brand New, “Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades” - The Wonder Years, Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing - The Wonder Years, The Greatest Generation - The Wonder Years, No Closer to Heaven - Constellations, Alpha - Twenty One Pilots, Regional At Best - Rihanna, “Work” - Cute Is What We Aim For, The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch - Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Blank Generation - My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance, May Death Never Stop You - My Chemical Romance, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - Defiance, Ohio, Share What Ya Got - Defiance, Ohio, The Great Depression - Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux - Fall Out Boy, “Saturday” - Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High - Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree - Bobby Womack, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” - Fall Out Boy, “Dead On Arrival” - Three 6 Mafia, “Star Fly” - Willie Hutch, “Tell Me Why Has Our Love Turned Cold” - Michael Jackson, Thriller - Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted - Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly - The Impressions, “People Get Ready” - “The Gospel Train” - “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” - Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come” - “Wade in the Water” - Foxx, “Wipe Me Down” - Webbie, Savage Life 2 - Lil Boosie, Incarcerated - Boosie Badazz, Touch Down 2 Cause Hell - Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac, Rumours - Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold - The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death - Diana Ross, “I’m Coming Out” - Big Pun, “Still Not a Player” - Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann, The Threepenny Opera - Nina Simone, Nina Simone In Concert - Nina Simone, “Baltimore” - Nina Simone, “Sinnerman” - Lupe Fiasco, Food and Liquor - Migos, Culture - Migos, Juug Season - Migos, “Versace” - “When the Saints Go Marching In” - Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues” - Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash, “Hurt” - N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton - Ice Cube, “No Vaseline” - 3rd Bass, “Pop Goes the Weasel” - Bone Thugs N Harmony, “Thug Love” - Bubba Sparxxx, Deliverance - Asher Roth, RetroHash - Asher Roth, “I Love College” (”Saw him in 2015 at some festival and a drunk white woman kept yelling at him to play the college song.”) - Macklemore, The Heist - Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d. city - Macklemore, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made - Future, Honest - Future, Dirty Sprite 2 - Future and Drake, What a Time to Be Alive - Future, Evol - Future, Beast Mode - Future, 56 Nights - Future, Purple Reign - Future, Future - Future, HNDRXX

#Hanif Abdurraqib #Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib #the crown ain't worth much #vintage sadness #They can't kill us until they kill us

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