#platonic relationship intended!!

[iicomet]

(pre-reincarnation!chung myung & reader)

(In which you meet him for several times.)

The first time you met him, you remember thinking one thing.

‘What a small child.’

Cold autumn air pricks at your skin, puffs of condensed air surrounding your lips, your warmth sourced from the bundles of scarves you had wrapped around yourself. Curious eyes watched the wrapped child being held in your elder’s arms; small hands, already so beaten and bruised at a young age, held back the temptation to hold him and fascinate in awe over the smaller being.

Despite being one of the older children, bearing witness to the numerous people who had joined the sect, you were still so fascinated at the younger ones being brought in. Even as you grew up in the walls of the esteemed sect, hearing people come and go through the wide doors, red painted wood opening and closing with a loud creak— You always seemed to miss the exact moment of their entry and departure, always so caught up in the swings of your wooden sword; each swing harsher than the rest, each stroke softer than before. Gaze boring into the tip of the blunt weapon as if it had wronged your entire bloodline; your mind dazed as you watched your own body be controlled by the memories of a practiced dance, over and over again. It was like you only had eyes for the sword, and nothing else. 

Yet this time, you caught a sight of something else for the first time.

And that just so happens to be the first time you met that child, on October 10. Blue skies tinted with a yellowish hue, the clouds passing through the gates of the sect, watching the newest addition to the family you had grown to love over the years. Hiding above the tall pink trees that decorated the grounds, you didn’t dare to reveal yourself despite the waging curiosity and interest in your heart.

Perhaps you were afraid of dealing with a younger child, afraid of hearing it cry so suddenly in your presence; or perhaps you were afraid of being found by your seniors for slacking off, the height of your rebellious stage beginning to peek through the cracks of your innocent exterior despite being years away from reaching the peak of your adolescent adventures. They had always said that the quieter ones were the most unexpected ones, after all.

So, you continued to watch from afar, the scent of plum blossoms beginning to feel overwhelming as you surrounded yourself in it, drowning your shadows in a pink sea.

–

The second time you had met him, it was when you were assigned to take care of him, when he could barely even walk. You had wondered what kind of person he will grow into, holding chubby little hands in your bigger ones, squishing the flesh with an amused smile. He was so weak, so defenseless. Even though you were the same, merely a few years difference between the both of you, you still felt a sense of protectiveness over the boy, wanting to shield him from the harm the world could ever bring him.

At that moment, you allowed a promise to be made, to swear by a self-inflicted oath to protect the child before you. Why would you do something for someone you had just met? A child, whose only life was behind the guarded walls of the sect and surrounded with the warmth of a family, had no idea how valuable a life was.

Even so, you gave yours to him. 

You gave yours to them.

A sudden tight pinch alerts you from your thoughts, flinching slightly from the death grip this child has. You tried prying off your fingers, fearing it might break, but his grip was too strong, and you didn’t want to hurt the child.

You sighed. You were never expecting a younger child to have such a monstrocious grip strength. 

Maybe, you didn’t need to protect him after all. Maybe, this child was someone who might be the one to protect you in the future, instead. 

You chuckled. 

As if. 

Even if this child grows up to be the savior of the world, you were still his senior. As his older senior, you would do your best to accompany him, so he wouldn’t be lonely. As his older senior, you had a duty to guide and protect your younger sect members. Just like how your seniors did to you, and just like how their seniors did to them.

You were his senior. You had a duty to fulfill.

–

The one hundred sixty-eighth time you had met him, he was running from his sect brother. You, who remained diligent in your training, bumped into him after a long time. Or, well, he bumped into you, causing the little findings in his hands to drop and spill onto the ground.

“Ah– There you are.”

You picked him up like a stray cat, his expression morphing from a mischievous glee to a nervous smile. He still greeted you as always, his voice abnormally innocent and kind. Cheeky little one, you bemused. As an expert is able to discern an amateur's lies, you weren’t a fool to trust his facade, having experienced the same scene that played before them over and over again while still in their youth.

It was like you could hear the sighs of your fellow sect members, shaking their heads as they hear you speak like an elder despite your young age. They would joke that perhaps an older spirit had possessed your body, causing you to act like a matured grandpa whilst adorning a teenage face. You, in turn would just solemnly nod and bemoan out loud whenever it rains, complaining about your aching knees and tired back to run from training. At first, it would work, but people soon stopped believing your act of compliance towards their jokes and forced you to return to sword swingings. What a pity.

Of course, as the kind and mature senior you were, you were about to give him advice on how to act better and let him off if he were to share with you his findings, but was unfortunately disrupted by the voice of another sect brother who came running towards the both of you, obviously exhausted. You pitied him, for a moment, deciding to continue your mask as the reliable senior instead.

To be honest, you pitied yourself more; for losing the opportunity to share a drink underneath the moonlight with your fellow disciples. 

You smiled at him as he spoke words that flew from one ear to another, your mind too occupied with the devastating fates that separated you and your beloved wine. Disappointment leaks through your expression, causing your juniors to freeze.

Chung Myung-ah, you should’ve ran faster.

Placing him down, you acted as nonchalant as possible, seeing another opportunity to grab and pick up the bottles, leaving the both of them behind. You silently applauded yourself for the genius idea that appeared in your mind in the spur of the moment as you walked away, promising yourself to pay your junior back for giving you such a wonderful chance.

–

The five hundred and twelfth time you had met him, he was working hard in the training grounds you once found yourself in nearly every day, taking your place in his diligent training. You were merely passing through, taking a break from your own practices when your eyes caught the familiar tuff of black hair, standing amidst the neatly arranged crowd of disciples. Wooden sword in his hand, it reminds you of the ones you broke countless times during your past, before you were sentenced to cleaning the halls because of one too many losses.

It’s not your fault the wooden sword couldn’t handle your strength, you thought, pouting slightly as you mopped the floors clean. Unfortunately for you, the elders thought otherwise. Maybe that’s why they had you banned from using the wooden swords for a short period of time, and why they decided to exclude you from the practices right now.

…No, that’s not it. You were clearly just slacking off by telling your instructor that you had to grab the specialized sword that the sect elders made for you just to stop you from continuing to cause any more losses to their savings. Obviously, you did grab it, but you just went for the longer route to go back to your training. If they asked, you would just blame it on your weak knees.

Your attention returned to the shouts of your junior brothers as they swung their swords, eyes filled with determination to perform the best in their group. You smiled, watching the younger ones repeat the same dance you had forced yourself to do a few years back, the same fire burning their limbs underneath the sun after hours and hours of non-stop swinging.

As you walked away, footsteps softly resounding across the cobblestone pathway, the already quiet paddings underneath your feet deafened by the passionate yells from your juniors, you wondered how long it would take for him to grow stronger and become like you. 

You silently hoped that it would never come. 

—

The five hundred twentieth time you had met him, it was night. The moon shone above the both of you, the birds long returned to their homes and quietly entered their slumber, just like everyone else in the sect. So, why were the both of you staring at each other wide-eyed, hands holding something the both of you shouldn’t be holding?

A look of recognition was passed between the two, a silent nod and approval of each other’s action. Who would’ve thought that the senior that everyone thought was a stickler for rules was such a troublemaker? Who would’ve thought that the growing prodigy in the sect was such a troublemaker? (The latter was quite a known case, but the former was still quite a surprise to those who were not of the same generation. What a well-kept secret, indeed.)

Before the two could even do anything, a sudden flicker of light appeared from a corner, causing them to bolt into different directions, the shouts of an elder close behind them. The younger one, who was nearly caught, found himself being grabbed by the back of his neck and pulled towards a secluded place, where another senior looked at him in surprise.

Three of them stayed quiet behind the walls, their breathing soft and quiet despite the harsh beatings in their heart, the bottles in their hands nearly breaking from the sheer pressure. The seconds felt like years, the stress from being caught causing them to age several years, but it was by luck that the elder was too tired to look closer. Perhaps if he did, he would catch three delinquents with one too many bottles of wine in their possessions, staring right back at him.

‘Maybe this is why senior was always complaining about having grey hair,’ Chung Myung thought.

A soft sigh escapes your lips, the feeling of relief flooding your veins as you slowly slide down the walls and sit on the floor. Nervous hearts pounded with blood, before the adrenaline rush dies down and you find yourself chuckling, giggling softly at the excitement this brings.

It’s true when they said that laughter was contagious, for the small corner was soon filled with childish sniggerings, three unruly disciples enjoying the stolen fruits of their labor in the night together. Underneath the moonlit gleam, you shared a drink with your fellow disciples, raising your glass high in the air, cheeks red from both the alcohol and joy.

-

[offonaherosjourney]

At some point Kazuki is going to vent to a mom from daycare about how hard parenting is and how he wished Rei helped more around the house and the woman is going to nod understandingly and ask Kazuki how long he and Rei have been married and Kazuki is going to give her a puzzled look and say "married? we're not even dating??", and that woman is going to laugh because haha turns out that Kazuki the failed stand-up comedian does have some good jokes after all.

[paperglader]

Jackie and Shauna are definitely winning at most fucked up canon wlw pairing at the moment... Just watched heavenly creatures for the first time and some things are clicking.

Once you realize that Jennifer's body and heavenly creatures set the tone for those two from the start everything sort of makes sense.

[nunyverse-scribe]

I think once we, as a (western, could be different for other) society, move past the idea of lip-kissing being restricted for ONLY romantic relationships, and allow it to be something friends can do, we will be able to move forward.

And, by extension, once we as a (western) society recognize that being romantically affiliated doesn’t mean you can just expect your partner to want to do lip-kissing (or other forms of physical contact) just bc you’re romantically attracted to one another, we will be able to move forward.

[jerreeeeeee]

the thing is i very much understand the appeal of lupcretia narratively bc they are foils who betray each other and then forgive each other because the force of their grief and guilt brings them to an understanding and i also understand the appeal of blupcretia bc its a three person relationship who disagree on something major and split apart leaving one party feeling abandoned when the other two agree against her and what does that mean for the fact that the rest of their lives outside a horrible timeloop are supposed to start soon Because of that decision and disagreement like i get it narratively its interesting!! but here’s the thing: i just have an unshakeable belief that lup is straight

[millenianthemums]

the idea of a creator getting mad that their fans ship something they don’t intend to make canon is baffling to me. i cannot empathize with that mindset at all. “oh no there are too many people deeply invested in this fictional relationship i wrote. they’re making too much fan content about how complex and compelling and well-written their dynamic is.” cry me a fucking river.

[evilhasnever]

Would you ever write sangyao (romantic or platonic)?

Not romantic, no, but I’m very invested in NHS and JGY friendship! This obviously works best in modern AU, where they can be two very different but complementary types of manipulators AND best friends without anyone ending up dead. I do try to always sprinkle some of this in my modern AUs while trying to also give a nod to how canonically imbalanced their relationship is in the story (they were always master and servant, not friends!)

One is a neurotic, ambitious overachiever (praise) and the other is a chronic, selfish underachiever (also praise!) and they couldn’t be more different, though they have a similar set of skills/ potential. It’s great! And who else will Huaisang talk about boys with? (Only meng yao fulfills the two prerequisites of being 1) queer 2) too polite to shut him up or leave)

Oh, but for all this talk of modern AU, I have actually written one canonverse NHS & Meng Yao ficlet, and I’m very fond of it: Childhood Cipher!

[noneuclideanwhimsy]

Every time I see a really cute writing prompt that lists its primary characters as close friends and someone comments “But what if… they were LOVERS???” I don’t reply but I am mentally slapping their hand and going “NO! Stay away from my precious platonic prompt with your amatonornativity!”

[imminent-danger-came]

thinking about the song I Don't Wanna Cryin' Anymore with MK and Wukong

So, I'm assuming you mean the song "I Don't Wanna See You Cryin' Anymore" by Adam Melchor (I'm hopin' I found the right one), but yeah yes.

Are my mistakes worth the toll that it takes I can see it written on your face You've seen me make every mask I create To keep you out until it's just too late I've made a mess like I've never cleaned before I don't wanna see you cryin' anymore

Very "I'm sorry for being a bad mentor and making you clean up after my mess", and Wukong struggling to let MK fully help.

[girlwithfish]

i find safety and peace within myself when i feel like there is no place for me with any other person 🫶🫶

[cogentranting]

Caitlin's ending is what I like to call "open to interpretation!"

and she's NOT in the future storyline's team Flash so I take that as a sign that she went to go live in Star City to be with Cisco and had a thriving career and full and fulfilled personal life and became close friends with Dinah and Felicity and Emiko and Thea and Laurel.

[torgawl]

unpopular opinion but a ship being queer coded doesn't make it compelling

[fiberglassandflowers]

im still conflicted about my placements for the little shop of horrors at the moment

[ahhh-soka]

Obi-wan and Anakin's (vaderkin's??) relationship as portrayed through this show post rots is like the highest form of separation anxiety like obi-wan is having hallucinations, anakin is quite literally going insane bc he hasn't seen obi wan in years mans you are OBSESSED like ik they've always been attached at the hip but COME ON its fucking hilarious to watch

[scarletwix]

I can't believe a meme pose is my first official post for this au

Carol & Pietro shit talking during their weird "are we/aren't we" friendship journey

[clonerightsagenda]

I'm stuck watching broth simmer for a few hours, so I am finally making a post I have been sitting on for a while because I was laughing about it again last night.

In the past, I have made posts arguing for interpreting two relationships in Wolf 359 as pseudo-parental. The writers were pretty emphatic that while they had no objections to shipping, none of the characters were written as romantically involved or interested in each other. While they didn’t say if they *were* trying to write a specific kind of dynamic, I thought I picked up on some - whether intentionally written that way or not. (I feel the need to reiterate that I am not accusing anyone who ships those pairings of being morally wrong or supporting incest, which would be ridiculous but sounds like the kind of take you would see on this website.) But anyway, today I am going to make my case that I believe there was a *third* shitty dad in this podcast, and it is Warren Kepler.

As you read this you may be asking, Kat, are you trying to make enemies of everyone in the w359 fandom. The answer to that is no, honestly, but I am burdened by a fondness for Shakespeare allusions.

I will get to the Shakespeare bit, but first, some narrative parallels. In both Maxwell and Jacobi's backstory minisodes, Kepler is introduced in a way that aligns with their relationship with their parents. Maxwell has a restraining order against her family; in "Language Mapping" she refers to Kepler's behavior as harassment, says she's trying to get him to stop, and implies she *had* been looking into legal solutions but Goddard stayed just within the limits of what was allowed. In Jacobi's backstory episode, he admits he tried to join the military because of his dad, and Kepler is the one who gets him to join Goddard.

Thin, I admit, so let's get to the Shakespeare quote. "You have that in your countenance which I would fain call master" is from King Lear. You can read the wikipedia summary, but the play is a bit portentous. Lear falls for empty ego-stroking by bad actors while alienating people who have better intentions. One of those people is the Earl of Kent, who, burdened by fatal feudal loyalty, disguises himself to get back into Lear's service and follows him around for most of the play until Lear realizes he messed up and then dies about it. Invoking this scene is a bit of a self-own on Kepler's part. It comes from when Kent is interviewing (in disguise) to rejoin Lear's retinue. While Kent is flattering Lear, he's also tricking him, albeit for his own good. You could see this as foreshadowing of Jacobi blindsiding Kepler in season 4. Most relevant for this post is that King Lear is a play very focused on the relationships between fathers and their children, and Kent at one point says he loves Lear as a father. This says nothing good about poor Kent's actual family considering Lear is a shitty dad, but most? (all? I’d have to reread) of the family relationships in this play suck, so maybe it's still a step up. Among other things King Lear is about finding out your boss/dad is kind of an fuckup and yet remaining mired in his drama anyway as it develops a body count. If the shoe fits.

My last piece of evidence is extra-canonical, but in one of the AMAs one of the writers or VAs (I do not recall which) described SI5's relationship as a tired soccer parent and his two awful children. If it's not in the text it doesn't count, but I take this as evidence I am right.

So, does this actually land? Not really imo. Longtime followers know that I do not approach media with shipping goggles glued to my face (I don't even own shipping goggles) and even I was raising my eyebrows at points. I lay most of the blame for this on Noah Masur’s performance, and if the AMAs are any indication, he did it on purpose. If my immediate takeaway had been reading Kepler as an evil dad, I would have liked him more. That being said, torpedoing your relationship because you are clinically incapable of admitting you made a mistake and then dying.... that might be the oldest Bad Parent move in the book.

If you have read this whole post I'm not sure why, but the conclusion is that it's shitty dads all the way down. Truly the Fullmetal Alchemist of podcasts.