#rereading Semi charming kind of life

[rebellore]

I absolutely love the charming siblings

[kaatiba]

The Bone Orchard: A Book Response

I picked this book up on a whim -- or rather, downloaded it from Libby on a whim. I was attracted first by the cover and then by the blurb: psychics, necromancy, magic and alchemy, an Empire on the brink of civil war, and a murder-mystery all in one! Colour me intrigued!

I was even more surprised to find that the book is set in a vaguely Victorian-esque? Regency-esque? era rather than a pseudo-medieval one, although definitely in its own world rather than ours!

As ever, spoilers ahead!

This is a dark book, and rather slow paced until we get closer to the end, when several things happen in quick succession. It deals with trauma, rape, pedophilia, murder, torture, oppression, mental health issues, enslavement, body horror, human experimentation, free will, imperialism, and more...but none of it felt grim for the sake of grimness.

I was deeply drawn into Charm and her boneghosts' lives, their personalities and idiosyncrasies and complexities, their pains and their loves. When I realized that the women of the Orchard House where all facets of one person given form, I was blown away. What a fascinating depiction of dissociative identity disorder! What a heart-breaking coping method! What a cruel, and yet merciful, way to manage, survive, and heal from harrowing suffering!

I especially loved the boneghosts Pride and Pain and their distinct personalities and ways of interacting with the world. Pain-turned-Mercy was a deft conclusion to her story and growth, a beautiful semi-sanctification of a character whose pain only made her kind. It doesn't erase or invalidate or make acceptable her suffering, but it does allow something beautiful to flourish from all that misery. I ached so much for Desire and young Justice. Shame being the first of them to die -- in fact, being introduced to us  as she's dying -- was very clever writing and characterization. And Charm herself was ruthlessly, understandably pragmatic. Her goal was always and ever to survive long enough to be free.

I was also captivated by Charm's relationship with her Emperor - the man who enslaved her but also saved her on some level. The man who promised to give her her freedom and agency, which he'd always had the ability to give back to her and no right to steal from her, in exchange for one last life-threatening task. I wanted to loathe him. On some level I did. And yet Charm thinks fondly of him, and we read from Charm's point-of-view, and it's baffling that she's fond of him, horrifying that she is, but understandable too. It's not just Stockholm syndrome, or rather if it is, it's not only that.

On simpler terms, I adored the Emperor's (latest) wife and the Firedrinkers; they stole my heart and kept it. They are trapped in different ways politically and literally, and they do the best they can with the agency they are permitted to have, and their dignity was profound. The villains were awful and awfully sympathetic, the sundry minor characters felt real and tragic and ultimately human. My only gripe is that some characters -- Major Nathair in particular -- were presented as though they would be pivotal to the plot and then...vanished until the last few pages; the weight of their introduction to the story thus felt unfulfilled.

The only character who irritated me deeply was Lady; she was so cringing, so cowardly, so moralistic! But oh, she was meant to be. I liked Charm so much better than her, and the idea that she was who Charm really was was insupportable, but I was supposed to feel that way. And that was a brilliant stroke of characterization; a wonderful red-herring.

Plot-wise...this book was, as I mentioned, slow going. I wouldn't have minded, as it seemed to me this was a book about the characters more than the events, but certain plot twists were telegraphed pretty early so I got impatient for the reveals, while other plot twists were slipped in so subtly I had to reread some chapters or even lines to make sure I'd caught the implication of a few words.

The courtly intrigues also felt a bit...murky? They were there, but they seemed less complex and more...muddy. As though they wanted to be more layered and fine-drawn, but instead just became a bit muddled and confusing. I powered through, and things became clearer eventually, but that seems like a lot of effort for a reader to be taking. (Even though I'm definitely not one for spelling things out for the reader either).

Finally, the resolution was a bit of a letdown in some ways. While some characters' arcs were concluded in a deeply satisfactory way, others' were -- as I mentioned -- anticipated early on, so I didn't feel that fulfilled by them. But that may have been largely because I wanted...more. More out of this world that offered such fascinating glimpses into it, more out of this horrible empire, more out of the implications of the empire's awfulness and psychic powers and empathy fluid and the bone tree.

​Still, that's beyond the scope of the book which was, in the end, really about Charm healing through the vehicle of her task and gaining her freedom to make her choices. 

[4rainynite]

Ever After High Headcanons

Hi, these are a few of my headcanons for the series Ever After High. After rereading the books and rewatching the web show I have a lot of headcanons to go around and I'll probably post some more later. Enjoy! (Warning! Some of these will be long and have dark subjects in them)

Raven's first year (freedom year) of Ever After High was very lonely. She wasn't assigned a roommate, she ate lunch alone, and the school year started after the Evil Queen was captured and executed (or so everyone heard) so Raven was isolated from her classmates. One day our favorite Hatter noticed how sad and lonely Raven was and tried to befriend her. At first Raven thought Maddie was trying to prank her or lure her into a false sense of security because; why the heck would a Wonderlander want to be friends with the daughter of the villain who destroyed her home? One day, Raven explodes on Maddie and demands why she's trying to be her friend after what her mother did to Wonderland. Maddie tells Raven that she noticed how sad and lonely she knew that what the Evil Queen did to her was horrible, but Raven is not her mother. That is the first time someone hasn't compared her to her mom and Raven breaks down and ask Maddie for forgiveness. Being the sugar cube that she is Maddie forgives her and they become best friends. Maddie then introduces Raven to her roommate Cedar and eventually befriend Cerise.

All their lives the Charming kids thought Daring would be the prince Snow White, Dexter would be the beast in Beauty in the Beast, and Darling would be a generic damsel-in-distress. But it's Darling the princess charming, Daring the beast, and Dexter the damsel-in-distress. When Dexter finds out the destiny he was suppose to have he's disheartened because of years of being overshadowed by his siblings he gets the worst destiny.

Faybelle dyes her hair blonde. In the book 'Unfairest of Them All' she had midnight blue hair, but in the web series she's a blonde with a streak of blue in her hair. When she was little her mother told her that 'light has no moral compass, and to never live in the shadows', so Faybelle dyed her hair, and the blue streak is all that remains of the midnight blue hair.

In their youth Gennedy (The Good King), Dashing (King Charming), and Pine Oak (Pinocchio) were the best of friends. Once, it was revealed Gennedy would be the future husband of the Evil Queen, Dashing broke off their friendship because he didn't want to be associated with someone with an evil destiny. Pine Oak remained by Gennedy's side and was one of his few remaining friends to adulthood.

After, almost drowning as a child Apple became a shower person. Snow White removed the tub from Apple's bedroom after the incident. Baths, pools, and beaches freak her out.

Out of all the king/queendoms the Beauty Queendom is behind on technology, fashion, and etc, due when the Sleeping Beauty goes to sleep for a hundred years everyone else does. When the Evil Queen cursed Sleeping Beauty instead of the Dark Fairy, Headmaster Grimm put them in a bubble and did that 'years inside minutes outside trope' to not over curse Sleeping Beauty and ruin the story. That was the first time the Beauty Queendom was in sync with the modern world.

Magical beings, those with destines similar to Briar, or powers have a longer life span then no-magics. For example - if Briar does do the hundred years sleep her, Raven, Cupid, Faybelle, Ginger, Farrah, and maybe Rosabella, will be around while the others will be dead or old.

I don't care what 'Class of Classics' said I don't thing teen King Charming wore glasses since in ' A Semi-Charming Kind of Life' Dexter's the only Charming with glasses. I can see teen King Charming being clumsy and trying to covering it up.

In the Twelve Dancing Princesses story whichever princess the soldier picks is the one who has twelve daughters. Not saying that the others can't have kids they do - it's just they usually have 1-3.

When Hunter's father found out that the Hoods thought that he was Cerise's father he was furious (Mrs. Huntsman even more) and for years told them Cerise wasn't his daughter. After, 'Unfairest of them all' they told Mr. Huntsman he was right and how they wished he was Cerise's father. Mr. Huntsman gets suspicious and worries for Red and ask if Cerise father did anything to harm her or Cerise. Red tells him that her family just didn't approve of him. Knowing the Hoods are secretive people and he trust Red he drops it. When Cerise's secret is revealed, Mr. Huntsman vows to protect Cerise and her parents (after he accepts Hunter is a vegan and hanging out more with Mr.Badwolf).

We all know the Mad Hatter was the marriage officiant for Red and Mr. Badwolf, but who were the witnesses? In certain states they require that at least two people must be witnesses. My guesses are the Cheshire Cat and Maddie's mother. I can see them having the Cheshire Cat since she's a trickster and no one would believe her if she said that Red Riding Hood Married the Big Bad Wolf; too bad they didn't think of her telling Kitty.

Since Maddie got her mint green hair from her father, she gets her violet hair from her mother.

If I could rewrite Ginger in the BreadHouse I would have Raven, Cupid, and Cerise help Ginger prove she just wanted to bake sweets for everyone. I found it weird that Cupid believed Gus and Helga's lies (GIRL! You went to Monster High and the cooking teacher was a witch) and Cerise is Ginger's childhood friend. Cupid would advertise Ginger's sweets on her show, Cerise would help baking sweets, and Raven could get her fellow Rebels to try Ginger's snacks. Word reaches Jack Horner and he approves of the Giger's culinary skills. Ginger still lets Gus and Helga enjoy her treats and they become her best customers.

[z3gler]

okay, just finished rereading a semi charming kind of life (hands down my favorite eah book) and i’d just like to say darling’s relationship with dexter is very very pure.

not to mention i do know a lot of people dislike dex because of his lack of characterization especially in the webisodes and specials but this specific book really does give another perspective to his character— and he’s so hard on himself. it’s easy to see why, considering even with his dad insisting all charming’s must be perfect, his dad always was very backhanded to him and always wanted dexter to be second best, never first best, even when he heard of “dexter” (darling in disguise)’s improvement in jousting, his first instinct was to tell dexter he had to throw the match because he couldn’t let dexter be better than daring, dex always had to be “second best” (or, in his mind after he found out darling was an amazing jouster, third best.)

of course, he does have a criminal lack of characterization and a lack of a good character arc in the web series and the specials but i just love how, even though the focus is mostly on darling, it really does show another side to dex too that we also don’t really see too much of in the show.

now i just wish the show (and book) would have shown more of his nerdy side and explored his interests a bit more because he does have interests outside of raven! mattel just didn’t care to explore him as a character unfortunately ☹️

idk i just think aside from daring the book gives a lot more characterization to dexter and shows us a lot more about darling that the show and webisodes never showed us (she does mention in dragon games when speaking to daring that she doesn’t want to be a damsel, but that’s as far as it really goes in the show)

anyway. long post but i just wanted to talk about the book since it was a while since i’d reread it and i figured this was the best place to talk about it :]

[h0neyd3w-tea]

Your Orange Light fan-fiction is fantastic. 10/10. I’m hooked, and I’m so excited for the next chapter now that there are new characters introduced in the storyline.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you already have a specific kind of vampire in mind for your Orange Light universe? Did you have any inspiration for your version of vampires? Your vampires seem quite feline-like, especially with the slitted eyes, which is a super cool addition to them. I’ve noticed so far that they have heightened senses, they can smell other vampires, they’re immortal, they have venom, they’re possessive and territorial, they have increased abilities such as inhuman speed, strength, grace/reflexes, etc., they can’t be out in the sunlight for too long, they can drink other liquids besides blood yet can’t digest food, their hearts stop beating after some time, some have their own unique abilities such as Wilbur’s mind controlling, their bodies run colder…they seem to have a hierarchy and familial bond in each Coven, similar to a pack of wolves, and silver can harm them…

I’m assuming they’re nocturnal as well? And that they can sniff out their prey? Do they have vampiric beauty to lure in their prey? How far away do they have to be to catch the scent of/hear someone or something? Are certain vampires far more…unhinged when it comes to the sight or scent of blood? Stuff like that. Or are these traits something we have to discover for ourselves and you’d rather not spill the beans?

I apologize if this comes off as an inconvenience. I’ve always been into vampires and each author’s version of their own vampires, so I’m, like, all into it. But once again, 10/10! You’re very talented! I never get disinterested in rereading each chapter and I’m excited to see what you have in store for it.

Aaaa, thank you!! ^^

I'll be completely honest with you, I had only the barest of ideas of what kind of vampires I wanted when I started.

I won't lie, while I was a big twilight fan when that came out, one thing I remember being disappointed about was the non-existent focus on vampires and their typical behavior beyond feeding and such. I wish I got to know more about their lifestyles, how they've lived alongside humans throughout history, and how that's affected their lives.

Therefore, I base a lot of my vampires' history and tendencies on what I feel is reasonable. Humans were originally nomadic, therefore I assume vampires must've originally been so as well, following the early humans from a distance either alone or with a Changeling. Then humans began to settle down, presumably, vampires would have to do the same.

And so on so forth.

I make a point to say that things changed during the first human and vampire war that occurred about 200 years ago in the story. Bigger Covens were unheard of before then, and Techno even says in the apartment that most vampire terms were made up by humans that vampires just rolled with, because there were no general terms to describe them and their behavior before then.

This decision was made on an assumption from the little knowledge I have from biology class, that predators can never outnumber the prey, and that the most desirable existence is a well-balanced symbiosis. The older, and therefore "superior" vampires, know this. It's the life they grew up with, it's more or less what they aspire to have, and do have in some cases. That's why enslaving and creating a global human farm, which is a semi-normal vampire troupe, would never happen in Orange Light. Like, they prefer free-range chicken over the more industrial chicken farms.

It wasn't really my intention to make my vampires big cats in humanoid bodies, but I do fully acknowledge that it's what happened.

I scored very low in science and biology, but I'm weird and have to justify every choice I make. Exhibit 1; vampires aren't actually dead. There's something in their blood that takes over both the heart's and stomach's job, keeping the blood flowing and replenishing. Which is the reason to why my vampires can't eat anything too rich in fiber and nutrition, there's nothing that can break it down anymore. The vampire blood can only get what it needs from human blood, taking all the necessary stuff from it.

As for what they can do... Well. I've made them quite overpowered. Your recollection of their abilities is accurate, however, it doesn't mean that they're omniscient. I haven't explicitly said so, but I personally think that they enter some kind of feeding frenzy they hunt. Having heightened senses and such can be great when hunting a human in a forest, but I can't help but think it'd be a pain to walk around in a busy city with heightened hearing and sense of smell and such. Therefore, I imagine that those are more often tuned down unless they're trying to search for something.

The abilities are rare, mostly because I have no idea how to balance it if they weren't, but also because I think superpower aus can easily get too complicated and therefore boring. My take on these powers is that vampires who might be inferior in a physical battle and with a strong talent or inclination for something, might develop a supernatural power connected to that ability or tendency.

Ex: Wilbur can charm people, because he's always been a smooth talker. And that, combined with his inferior physique and the devil's luck, gave him his ability. It's limited, and would not be effective on a battlefield, but it's still op as fuck.

Vampires are mainly nocturnal, yes, but as hinted at in the earlier chapters, some of the older ones need close to no sleep at all. I don't know about any vampiric beauty, other than I guess that people would be attracted to clear skin, healthy hair, clean clothes, and self-assuredness which most vampires have. I don't really know how to make it an enchanting thing really, it's more about how smooth the vampire in question is.

Vampires are probably more often than not crazy according to human standards, they have different priorities, different norms, and views on what is and isn't acceptable. It's like a different culture than I have just the barest of understanding of.

Thank you so much for this ask, it was incredibly lovely, even though I ended up rambling more than I wish I did. You asked a lot of great questions that I probably will and have alluded to more than said outright. I'm really happy that you took the time to write such a nice ask, and actually ask these questions. I prefer to write as if we're on the outside looking in, and while that's great for its mysteriousness, it can be a bit messy to understand fully. :)

Again, thank you so much, I hope I didn't forget to answer something but feel free to yell at me if I did! :D<3

[midnightmuffingay]

Okay, so I love the angst of King & Queen Charming being bad parents as much as the next person, but I recently reread A Semi-Charming Kind of Life and I’m going to talk about it. 

Basically, King Charming? Actually still gross, not as bad as I thought, but gross. When he thinks Dexter is better at jousting than Daring,(It was actually Darling) he makes him throw the match so that Daring can be the champion. 

Queen Charming however, like Darling, pretends to be the perfect picture of what royalty should be, but lived a life which she described as ‘thrilling’ near the end of the book. She silently promoted the idea to Darling that princess’s could be adventurous, and she’s still probably still living like that since, like Darling, her hands have callouses!

She was also roommates and friends with Maid Marian, who joined Robin Hood’s Merry Men, so who knows what she’s done.

In conclusion, King Charming’s trash, stan Queen Charming.

[lepertamar]

paraphrased from discord:

i’m getting more charmed by the new adult-y writing style of sehhinah than i used to be even though i feel a frustrating level of [i could fix this] on flipping through/rereading scenes, but i almost wish it was.....either less like that OR more like that. more like that would be easier AND maybe better. like the tension between the content and style is legitimately a fun feature and it’s growing on me. a lot of the stuff i liked about the first book (the stars that rise at dawn) was in conversation with the genre(s) it’s in was really idk.....meaty in it’s categorical subversion of tropes, even though the execution was very uneven. and i think i’m more and more strongly convinced that what it was in conversation with WAS in fact manga/anime and/or jrpgs, not anglosphere stuff. 

(ok it might have been in conversation with homestuck, but not as much/i’m not as sure)

i mostly i don’t care for the second book (the birds that fly at dusk) as much as the first. i really enjoyed the bits of great conceptual stuff regarding the magic system and underlying philosophy/metaphysics, and big plot setup for the third book that comes up which i LOVED. but the characters/situation/setting ehhhhh not so much. no real oomph. in part because it is more anglo NA-ish (or even a little YA-ish, ugh) rather than manga/anime-ish? like its cast feels more suited to a Typical Fantasy PlotTM than to this series’s MO.

like the first book does a manga/anime type of Thing that’s almost very good, not quite very good, but thick and rich enough to take root and be a whole THING that lives in one’s brain. you know? how there’s stories that do that, a setting, a sequence of scenes and relationships, a time-space chunk from it, becomes a Place In One’s Brain that one can visit again and again. even sloppy ones pull this feat off sometimes, and manga/anime is so extra good at it i think but also do it in an extra specific/recognizable mouthfeel. 

anyway the first book does it, and does it in that mouthfeel! starting from the prologue’s vivid in medias res 20th century-modernity levant desert city setting, then the slice-of-life-ish/casually normalized fantasy elements, and the domino line of casual subversions of slice-of-life and supernatural/paranormal (and some shoujo and shonen) manga/anime tropes but subverted in casual anime-ish ways, close to the way actual anime will subvert it. like the core concept of: “the cool loner member of your childhood friend group who got seduced by a powerful being and ran away to do fucked-up magical stuff cannot be, should not be, and will not benefit herself or anyone else by being, gentled and friended-at and brought back into line and into your group by the Power Of Friendship and childhood promises—in fact the semi-utopian inertness and twee normalization of all the interesting magical elements of your society and of your group’s lifestyle is kind of miserable and deadening, also you were never great friends or knew each other at all in the first place”

 ........the second book is really lacking in place-mind-rooting and vibes like that i think, but the new worldbuilding ideas make up for it some! at least they definitely enrich the first book a lot!

[hunnybel]

Eridan reading light novels to Tegiri because of a headcanon I have~ Which has manifested into a fic that can be found under the cut

It was a part of himself Tegiri was ashamed of. How could one such as himself, one whose very existence was so entangled with words and reading, have that as his biggest weakness? A burden, a flaw, something that made his already uphill climb to recognition ever more treacherous. Yes, he passed it off as slow and methodical, but few knew the truth that it wasn't him over-preparing and aiming for perfection. No; shamefully he was forced to take that time to even fully read through a passage a single time. Words and compositions had a tendency to get jumbled in his head, letters mocking him as he fought to grasp the meaning behind them. He could do it; it was a tedious effort, but he was capable. 

Whether it was related to his future work or to his all-consuming hobby, the battle with literacy was a constant. Even those who, like him, were connoisseurs of the Eastern Alternian Animated Fine Arts, had gone so far as to mock his preference for the dubbed versions of that which they loved and shared. Of course they wouldn't understand, but dubs were severely underestimated regardless of it being the only real way for him to be able to watch shows without his curse bringing him untold aggravation.

The curse which he hated to name, in fear that recognising it would give more power, more credence to it. Dyslexia.

Because of the struggle, many works he had interest in tended to fall by the wayside. The original novelizations of the shows he enjoyed being one of the prime victims. And it was only recently that he had finally found a cure for that. His struggle may have been disheartening, but it ultimately led to the opportunity he had now been presented with and was even currently taking advantage of.

His matesprit reading to him.

Sure it had taken a while for him to open up about this particular fact to Eridan, but with that vulnerability came the offer, given by Eridan himself, to have the violetblood read aloud to him. Of course he was surprised by such a thing, but he would be the last one to turn down getting to hear the other's voice and at such length. 

They were currently settled in against the futon-couch in Tegiri's hive, Eridan holding the book open in front of him as he relaxed against the back of the futon, Tegiri seated next to him, head nestled back, tilted to be able to vaguely read over Eridan's shoulder, though he wasn't actually trying to follow along that way. They were close. Close enough that Eridan didn't need to raise his voice too loudly for Tegiri to hear every word; close enough that Tegiri could feel the natural coolness of the other's body temperature radiating off him; close enough that he could feel the way the other shifted against the couch as he turned pages or adjusted his sitting position. 

It was easy to get lost in these words; nothing frustrating, just the soothing sound of Eridan's voice speaking the story that was somewhat familiar, having known the anime adapted from it already. Tegiri really was completely charmed by his voice, slight speech impediment and all; in fact, it just added to how sweet it sounded to him. The way he pronounced some words was so pleasant, it almost made Tegiri smile, refraining only because that might get noticed and called out and he would be too embarrassed if questioned about it. And he didn't know how Eridan managed to bring the right intonations and dramatic flourish to every line without having read it all before or reading ahead, but he seemed to bring life to every word as he went. Maybe that was a little strange, to make such observations, but he didn't care. Tegiri felt special, privileged, lucky to have such an intimate moment, this sort of affection shown to him.

And it was then he realised he had been so focused on how Eridan sounded, he completely missed what he’d been saying. While trying to catch a familiar word or phrase on the page, Tegiri calculated he’d spaced out for about three paragraphs worth of words while listening to his voice. And now he was faced with a dilemma. Did he tell him and have to explain himself? Or did he just have to deal with having lost that part of the story? The longer he deliberated, the more story he lost, and in a moment of panic, he said a quiet "ah-" as if to interrupt. And it seemed to have gotten Eridan's attention.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Oh, uh…" Now would be the time if he was to say something. "I just remembered how that scene played out in the animated version." So that was how this was going to go. He was lying, of course. This part hadn't been animated, so he really was just missing a whole part of the story now. 

"We should watch that together later, then." The small smile that accompanied the comment made Tegiri's pusher skip a beat. Ugh, he was going to be exposed as a liar but he couldn't say no to him.

"O-of course. When we finish the light novel series, we can watch the animated show." That seemed to satisfy Eridan and he went back to reading. Well, that had broken him out of his semi-dazed trance at least. He sat up a bit straighter to try and focus himself better. On the words this time and not just the voice saying them. 

 ーーーー

Maybe they would have to start cutting these reading sessions into shorter, more manageable snippets. Not because Tegiri got tired of listening, no, not at all. But he really was having a hard time keeping his attention on the content and words. Was he truly so hopeless that the sound of his matesprit's voice managed to entrance him more than the story that, had it been anyone else reading, would have him listening with far more than keen interest?

But he didn't want to seem unappreciative and tell Eridan to stop. He was at a bit of an impasse yet again. His determination to avoid saying or doing anything that might make Eridan feel as though he didn't love the kindness he was being given put him in a position where he didn't know what to do. 

Tegiri liked to think he was generally level headed and not at all prone to impulse. Yet another lie he told himself. So in this second burst of panic, not wanting to lose any more of the story and being too cowardly to just tell him they should take a break, he distracted him in the quickest way he knew how. Sure he was still learning how to initiate and engage in physical affection, but that didn't mean he didn't have the desire to do so. And using it as a panic-induced interruption was apparently the way it manifested. 

Pressing his lips against the soft, thin skin of the other's earfin was more pleasant than he expected. And the reaction was immediate. The reading stopped mid-word and Eridan seemed to jerk back at the sudden affection. Tegiri had a moment of fear that he had done something wrong, but the flush of violet in Eridan's cheeks and the cute way his earfin fluttered before he pressed a hand over it made the worry disappear. 

"...What are you doing?!"

"Well, you see, I… Wanted to?" There was a hesitation in his tone which earned him a skeptical frown and a scoff. 

"Were you too distracted to pay attention or somefin." Now it was Tegiri's turn to flush, his cheeks burning teal as he cleared his throat in the embarrassment of being caught. 

"That… May have been the case. Sorry, I just found myself taken by your voice and my attention was far too much on that to really…. Take in what you were saying."

He had already gotten called out, how much more embarrassing could the truth be? His voice did trail off as he spoke, though, hints of sudden uncertainty creeping in at the edges. 

"Are you serious?" It was more incredulity than annoyance in the violetblood's tone and Tegiri hoped that meant he wasn't upset. "You mean to tell me that you're too busy listenin' to my voice to pay attention to this series you've gushed about?" 

"Well, when you put it like that…" It was just as embarrassing being worded that way as the thoughts he'd had about it himself. "...Yes, that is exactly what I am saying." 

A pause. "We're just gonna have to reread it all again later then." With the book closed, it was safe to say they were done reading for the night. Tegiri still felt a bit bad, but it didn't seem as though Eridan felt any resentment for being, essentially, ignored. 

"Alright… Sorry." Tegiri hung his head a bit, eyes turned away, a bit embarrassed and slightly ashamed. At least until he felt something gently grip his chin. His eyes darted to Eridan.

"We've been interrupted already, might as well go with it. I'll give you a reason to be distracted." The accompanying smile said all he needed to know as the space between their lips vanished.

[mixelation]

1,22,25 from fun meta ask list

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

uuuh so i have five WIPs on AO3 now

Plasticity - It’s about me tricking myself into writing a long fic by writing the most self-indulgent, ego-centric thing possible. Also it’s just. Characters being petty to each other, which is my favorite thing. Also I’m having a blast writing a character who is simultaneously becoming her best possible self and also her worst possible self. 

Homemade Dynamite is about a completely different sort of self-indulgence, which is “time travel fix-it but make it deeply selfish and fix all your problems with illusions and fire.” One of those fics where I was like “why do I have to do everything myself!!” because there’s not enough ItaDei fic out there. :( My favorite part of this fic is Deidara just.... doing Deidara things. God. I love him. OH BUT ALSO-- this fic has some of my favorite reader responses ever?? Like I did not in anyway anticipate how many people showed up to share cool bug facts!! Someone sent me a scientific paper on parasitoids!! I love them. 

Fun and Games - I just really wanted to write one of those “another character shows up and parents/mentors Harry” but also I’m a slut for YuGiOh. This fic is revisiting a lot of nostalgia for for me, which is... nice. Comforting. 

Do A Science - It’s about the collaborative nature of science and also about how ninja science is bullshit and also about Sasuke having completely missed one of Orocimaru’s skillsets and also also about me wanting to write SakuKarin. I thought I could make one little one shot but I was wrong. :( I like that I have a place to put my pipet tip headcanons. u.u

Semi-Charmed Kind of Life - It’s about Karin gradually and comedically having her life ruined by assholes. :) My favorite thing about it is how shameless Karin is. She’s a fun POV character that way. 

everything is sort of on hiatus now because.... 2020 had a lot of “sit on your hands because you’re banned from lab” so I started a bunch of creative projects but spring 2021 features too many fucking deadlines. I do keep writing random scenes of Homemade Dynamite this month, and I.... started a new WIP that’s Tobirama/OC because I hate myself? 

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

I do! I mostly just write for my own entertainment so I do like to go back and reread stuff because it’s content perfectly tailored to my tastes.... except sometimes I do get to a scene and go “ew, I hated how this turned out” and then I scroll by. :^)

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

The part where the idea gets out of my brain!! A lot of my motivation is just “I keep thinking about this and I would like to stop,” and then the act of writing helps me hammer out the details and figure out where it would go. 

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 29 of 26

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020)

Author: TJ Klune

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Found Family, LGBT Protagonist, Third-Person 

Rating: 10/10

Date Began: 10/13/2020

Date Finished: 10/18/2020

Linus Baker, a forty-year-old caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), lives a solitary and mundane life. But when he’s summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a top-secret case, everything changes. Linus is sent to the classified Marsyas Island and tasked with investigating an orphanage housing six dangerous magical children-- including the Antichrist. He is to live among the residents for one month, record his observations, and report back to the organization. No more, no less. 

The master of the house, Arthur Parnassus, is a mysterious and enigmatic man. But Linus soon learns that Arthur will do anything to protect his wards. As Linus grows closer to Arthur and the children, a secret from the past and prejudice of the present threaten to destroy the orphanage and their way of life. Linus must decide if he can abandon the world he knows in order to help the ones that need it the most. 

"Fire and ash!” Lucy bellowed as he paced back and forth. “Death and destruction! I, the harbinger of calamity will bring pestilence and plague to the people of this world. The blood of the innocents will sustain me, and you will all fall to your knees in benediction as I am your god.” 

He bowed. 

The children and Mr. Parnassus clapped politely. Theodore chirped and spun in a circle. 

Linus gaped. 

“That was a lovely story, Lucy,” Mr. Parnassus said. “I especially liked your use of metaphors. Keep in mind that pestilence and plague are technically the same thing, so it did get a little repetitious at the end, but other than that, quite impressive. Well done.” 

Minor spoilers and content warning(s) under the cut. 

Content warnings for the book: Semi-detailed discussions of child abuse and trauma. Internalized fatphobia (challenged). Structural discrimination, and hatred/prejudice associated with that, some of it internalized. 

I'm going to have a hard time reviewing this book, because it was so goddamn good I don’t think I’ll do it justice in a few short paragraphs. So here’s the fast version: The House in the Cerulean Sea was a fucking delight to read from the first page. It’s full of genuine humor, magic, and charm, while being just this side of heart-wrenching. Though geared toward adults, it’s the first novel I’ve read in a long time that captures that childlike enthusiasm I used to have when reading a good fantasy book. It takes place in a world with magic (obviously), but it’s 98% character-driven. Both the main plot and the (queer!) romantic subplot are woven together so well that neither feel tacked on or lacking. The found family hit me in the emotions again and again and again. I read books out loud, and I spent the last third of this book struggling because I kept fucking crying and having to take regular breaks before continuing. And then I went through the whole book to find a good quote for this review and ended up fucking crying again. So yeah. 

Ok. Got that off my chest. Usually in these reviews I talk about what I liked and then what didn't work for me or confused me. The good news (?) is I have zero complaints or critiques on this one. So you just get to hear me gushing about it for a while.  

Since this is a character-driven book that’s where I’ll start. Linus Baker, the protagonist, is great. Let me just say I love speculative fiction books starring older characters. At forty, Linus isn’t old, but it feels like the majority of spec fic stars people under thirty. Linus is also a conspicuously ordinary guy; prim and proper to a fault, no magic, oblivious in many ways (including to his own loneliness), but with a hidden sense of justice and protectiveness for people that comes out more and more. His development over the course of the novel and how much he grows to love and care for the other characters is just so good. The writing draws attention to this through repeated phrases and jokes one doesn’t expect to make a comeback (more on that later). Seeing him come out of his shell and stand up for what’s right is cathartic as hell. As a side note, it’s also nice to have a fat protagonist who struggles with his self-image but gets warm affirmation and support from his family and love interest. 

Arthur Parnassus, the deuteragonist and said love interest, is more of an enigma. A lot of his motivation and behavior makes sense once you get his Tragic Backstory (TM), and I think this will be a fun book to reread based on that. I picked up on some of it before the reveal, but not everything. But without spoiling it, I do love seeing an older (mid-forties) father figure who would do literally anything to make sure the children on the island have the care and love they need. Seeing his patient love and acceptance of them tugs my heartstrings. Maybe I’m a bit of a sap. Linus and Arthur’s obvious mutual crush on each other is also really cute, okay. There’s something about older queer people finding love that makes me smile. 

And the children are great too, of course. I really liked each of them and thought they were all unique and interesting. My favorites are probably Lucy the six-year-old Antichrist, Sal the were-Pomeranian (his arc just really hit home for me), and Talia the gnome. They all have such distinct and fun personalities, and seeing them interact is great and often hilarious. I’m not very paternal, but I love seeing children with sad/abusive pasts blossom into their best selves with love, guidance, and support. It’s uh, a little personal. I’d be remiss not to mention Zoe, the resident island sprite, who brings a whole lot of personality and rounds off the group. 

When I say the story is character-driven, I mean it. While a fantasy novel, there’s not any significant violence or action in the story (except for maybe one scene if you squint). The House in the Cerulean Sea is carried by its characters, interactions, and worldbuilding. The humor and inherent charm helps too -- and manages to do so without ever feeling trite. I can’t help but admire that. I was never bored; I honestly enjoyed every page because I liked the characters so much. Not to say there isn’t an overarching conflict with the whole DICOMY thing, but most of the focus is Linus struggling and coming to terms with his discoveries-- about the others and himself, and how he can make a difference on a grand scale. To me that kind of stuff is captivating. And boy does seeing someone find the place they belong get me. As I said, found family is a big thing in this book. 

Aside from that, the writing is just super; it literally had me laughing from the first page. I can’t believe the fucking lemur joke came back at the end, too. But on that subject, I love that this book utilizes recurring jokes and phrases to show Linus’ character development. In particular, “see something, say something” and “don’t you wish you were here?” have VERY specific meanings to Linus at the beginning of the story, and over time transform into the polar opposite. I’m  holding myself back because I don’t want to spoil shit, but if you read it you’ll see what I mean. There’s also a lot of meaningful callbacks to certain dialogue earlier in the story and I eat that kind of stuff up. But even small details, like the early quip about Linus forgetting his umbrella, come back to deliver an emotional gutpunch near the end. So thanks for that, Mr. Klune. 

The book really takes a turn in the second half of the story, which is a tad darker. Avoiding the Actual Spoilers, this is where prejudice and hatred of the outside world become a bigger part of the story. We learn what’s really at stake, and that this wonderful found family in the first half is threatened by a world that hates and fears them. Boy does that shit get emotional REAL quick. Yes the allegory is obvious. No, that’s not a bad thing. Ultimately, The House in the Cerulean Sea becomes a story about love, hope, and change; and boy does that shit strike my gay little heart right where it hurts. 

If you’re looking for a (literal) magical pick-me-up (ignore my comment about crying a whole lot) with INTENSE found family vibes and a side helping of queer mlm romance, dear God read The House in the Cerulean Sea. I don’t think I did it justice in this review; just trust me, it’s real good. My only complaint is that it ends; I want more, damn it! 

[aqvarius]

[WALKTHROUGH + REVIEW] Masquerade Kiss: Yuzuru Shiba Season 2

Expectations:

I just want to start off by saying that the prologue is absolutely outrageous. There are probably so many targets that hang around the EAC headquarters, especially since HQ is presumably 3 miles within the UN Headquarters and let’s not pretend that there isn’t at least one target going to work there everyday. I actually spent 30 mins on google maps street view trying to find exactly where this location is supposed to be modelled after so I could find all the companies and buildings that have potential targets and then just gave up lol. BUT either way, I refuse to believe that a top international intelligence agency would just go WARNING WARNING and go into emergency lockdown because a target entered a 3 mile radius of HQ. Ridiculous. Also, the letter from the EAC even in the Yuzuru prologue also calls her Arisa Mifune which is her Kazuomi alias lol.

EDIT: I found the location of that background which implies that EAC HQ is modelled after 2 Hammarskjold Plaza or somewhere near (which is right next to the British Consulate btw, how did MC not see that on her way to the building. Also conveniently near something called Japan Society.). Note the octagonal-roofed thing on the bottom left, the general shape of the building, the covered part of the building lobby, the blue sign (afaik street signs in NYC are green) and the position and shape of the building down the road. And I know I’m taking this whole thing way too seriously, but Jeffrey Epstein had a mansion about 2 miles away from here so this whole 3 mile emergency alert thing is just ridiculous. Sure, Epstein probably never existed in the world of Masquerade Kiss but come on, it is highly unlikely that not a single target lives, works or passes by for a kebab within a 3 mile radius of the EAC HQ.

With that out of the way, let’s talk Yuzuru. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even play Masquerade Kiss ever again. I like most things about the game but Love Choice is honestly just a turn off and the only LC game that I am genuinely drawn to is actually Destind. But then I had 287 unused hearts because I bought a bunch of hearts with the intent of playing Kyogoku’s route in Romance MD (and then I didn’t because I actually just don’t like that game) so I decided to give it a shot. I actually (surprisingly?) prefer Kazuomi to Yuzuru as a character, but I like Yuzuru’s MC more than Kazuomi’s MC and I was intrigued that Voltage would push this whole love quadrangle thing. We’ve seen hyper-jealous Yuzuru before in a substory so I think I went into this route more interested in the plot aspect and to see how they would develop the kind of strange relationship between Yuzuru and his MC. I genuinely enjoyed Yuzuru’s S1 MS a lot and wanted to see how he and his MC would grow as a couple. Also I wanted to play it in order to write a review to bring some traffic back to my semi-hiatus stagnant blog lol. Please give this a like/reblog please I’m begging you please :’(

Keep reading to the walkthrough and review. I’ve calculated a way for you to get to EE with all CGs (50 hearts saved), SHE with CGs (83 hearts saved), or a cheapest overall option to SHE (107 hearts saved).

Stop scrolling after the walkthrough and guide if you haven’t yet played and don’t want the route to be spoiled.

Walkthrough:

Story 1:

Yes, we should keep an eye on him.

No, it’s not necessary

Story 2:

“You came to be with me.” (Love Meter +1) (6 hearts)

I can’t say.

Story 3:

I sign without hesitating.

I hesitate for a moment.

Story 4:

Text Yuzuru.

Don’t text him.

Story 5:

I’ll sign it. (Love Meter +1, CG) (13 hearts)

I’m not going to sign a New York contract.

 Story 6:

Casually intervene. (Love Meter +2) (11 hearts)

Pretend not to notice.

Story 7:

See him out without asking what’s wrong.

Ask what’s going on.

Story 8:

It’s payback time. (Love Meter +1, CG) (16 hearts)

Don’t do anything.

Story 9:

Start touching him. (Love Meter +2) (12 hearts)

I can’t interrupt.

Story 10:

Seduce the info out of him. (Love Meter +1) (8 hearts)

Try to force it out of him.

Story 11: (second chance)

Gently ask about it. (Love Meter +3) (18 hearts)

Now is not the time.

Story 12:

“I’m thinking about you.” (Love Meter +3) (13 hearts)

“Nothin’.”

Story 13:

“It was fun.”

“It was relaxing.”

 Story 14:

Apologize and keep talking. (Love Meter +1) (7 hearts)

Ouch. I have nothing to say for myself…

Story 15:

Play dumb: “What are you talking about?”

Ask: “What if I am?”

Story 16:

Find out if he’s jealous. (Love Meter +2) (18 hearts)

Don’t ask any questions.

Story 17:

“I’ll stay ten more minutes.” (Love Meter +2) (14 hearts)

I have nothing to say.

Story 18:

Ask about his Texas accent.

Don’t ask about it now.

Story 19:

Call out to Yuzuru.

Let him go.

Story 20:

Put up a strong front: “I’m okay.”

Tell the truth: “I’m not okay.”

Story 21: (second chance)

Ask Yuzuru why he did it. (Love Meter +3, CG) (25 hearts)

Don’t ask any questions.

Story 22:

“Not as stubborn as you.”

“You already knew that.”

Story 23 (useless):

Trust Yuzuru and don’t go. (Love Meter +1) (13 hearts)

Right now, I have to go to Jeremy.

Story 24: (second chance but she saves him either way)

Rush over to protect Yuzuru. (Love Meter +3) (19 hearts)

I can’t get there quickly enough.

Guides:

I calculated the cheapest ways to get to Eden End and Super Happy End with CGs and without CGs. Just opt for the heart scenes that I’ve highlighted in each guide below.

Click the read more below for my review. Stop here if you haven’t yet read the route because there are spoilers galore.

Review:

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this route. As I read through, I thought the pacing was excellent and I was really drawn in by everything about it, especially the relationship between Yuzuru and his MC. It has definitely been a while since a LC route really captured my full attention. However, upon rereading my notes and writing this review, I do have quite a few issues with it, particularly the plot. I’ll go through the things I enjoyed about the route first and then discuss what I find to be its limitations.  

So Yuzuru is great in this route. We get a far more expressive and soft Yuzuru. We get to see the most charming side of Yuzuru again, his childlike passion for engineering and innovation. This, in my opinion, is Yuzuru at his softest and most appealing, when he is genuinely passionate and not just doing the hyper-organised scheduling thing (although naturally most of this is hidden behind a heart scene). Sometimes it’s nice to remember that Yuzuru is human.

He’s definitely more playful with his MC in this route, even going as far as to blur the lines between work and personal life a little bit in a way that I found quite unexpected. There’s a lot of flirty banter between them, as well as just little suggestions of flirtations here and there in their body language – in front of people too! Scandalous. It almost reminds me a bit of Kazuomi and his MC, which is definitely a pleasant surprise. A lot of these scenes are hidden behind heart scenes, which I’ll get into later, but I will say that these cute and suggestive moments between the two are probably some of the best moments of the route, and part of the reason why it was so easy to keep reading.

I’ve mentioned this before but Yuzuru’s MC is my favourite version of the Masquerade Kiss MC. She’s great in this route too – cool, calm, great at her job. I also love that she likes Night at the Museum? Lmao me too girl. She has such trashy taste in movies and it’s a cute quirk that definitely makes her more relatable within the sensational premise of the game. Personality-wise, I think they did a good job at bridging the professional and personal aspects of her personality too, making her read like someone who has different personas that are different aspects of the same person. You definitely get a sense of the conflict within the MC when she has to extract information by using her sExUaLiTy when her boyfriend is watching on lol, even when they kind of make it out like a game. It is interesting and quite novel to see a Voltage MC successfully pull off a honey trap on a guy who kind of repulses her. We get snippets of it in other games such as Her Love in the Force but HLITF MC is always careful to keep boundaries so we never get to explore the full potential of the jealousy that can crop up in such situations. MK MC goes above and beyond to give us (and Yuzuru) a show. With that being said, I do feel like they kind of drew back from it a little by having Jeremy be super forward with his affection so the MC just has to respond, keep him on the hook and pull back every now and again, rather than actively needing to pursue someone to obtain information.

I also really enjoyed that moment when Yuzuru tells her to shower before going to his bed to wash off “Mia.” It solidifies that he’s really in love with her and not her charismatic, flirtatious hostess alias. Throughout the route, the blurring of the personal and the professional is definitely a theme that we see cropping up in the lives of both the MC and Yuzuru. It’s something that I find particularly interesting and I’m glad they picked this developmental direction since both Yuzuru and his MC are notoriously bad at mixing those two worlds, with both of them consistently and repeatedly picking work over love. We also get to see Yuruzu and his MC almost working together at times, which I adored. At times, they feel like a team. As always, they have tons of sexual and physical chemistry but they are slowly building up on the emotional chemistry and communication issues which is so crucial for character and relationship development. 

The SHE and EE in particular has some incredibly cute moments. Yuzu’s MC describing them as part of a machine is *chefs kiss* incredible. Their sex scenes are intimate, loving and incredibly romantic. Yuzu preparing his NYC home for MC? Adorable. And, most importantly, him not only tolerating but welcoming his MC’s “bugs” in their relationship? That’s character growth babey. 

With super long LC routes, I always get tired about 7 chapters in and give up and then have to come back and finish it later. However, this route sped along. The pacing of this route is pretty quick and snappy – in fact, I wouldn’t have minded if it was actually longer? Developments tend to happen pretty quickly, there are plenty of moments between Yuzuru and the MC that keep the story moving, and there’s basically very little, if any, ‘downtime’ in this route. Because they are constantly in the club or at Yuzuru’s place lol.

The writing/language quality is great. I felt genuinely tense every time Yuzuru and the MC almost got caught in the club and even more so when the MC went to Jeremy’s home. I couldn’t spot any significant typos or coding errors. The readability of this route is definitely top quality.

Moving onto my gripes with this route, I would say that they have to do mostly with flimsy plot, characters being reduced to plot devices, and lack of relationship conflict.

Firstly, something that I always find a bit off about the premise of EAC is how public their relationships sometimes are and how the MC’s private life even works. Yuzuru literally gets swarmed with people in the prologue asking for autographs and photos and yet later in the route can somehow go on a public date to busy tourist spots in central NYC with a spy? (That being said, I refuse to take that prologue as canon because of how sensationally ridiculous it is.) Let’s not pretend the EAC isn’t watching them lol (they even imply multiple times that this is the case). Is she not worried that Jeremy or Grace or any SHIBA or Space Crystal employees or any of the numerous powerful and dangerous people who frequent Freja will spot them together? There is no way she looks significantly different as Mia than as herself unless she’s wearing prosthetics or can turn off her star aura like Britney Spears can.  Also, is the MC supposed to be mixed? No one has any questions about how a native Japanese woman can get away with being called Mia Knightley?

They also set up this tension of something happening to the MC without Yuzuru ever knowing which never really plays out. There’s a brief callback to it but it’s more about the MC finding an excuse to see Yuzu. I thought the drama would have more to do with the MC having to keep secrets from Yuzu and disappearing but that never happens and so the repeated mentions of this particular source of anxiety don’t really amount to anything. I also wish they made better use of the stun bracelet! I think it would have been cool if that was what took Jeremy out. Symbolically, it could have worked as a physical manifestation of Yuzu’s trust and support of his MC and her job helping to protect her against the Big Bad.

Okay so my main issue is about the villains and the flimsy plot. Jeremy and Grace were such wasted villains!! If this guy went crazy and murdered 3 people… how did he manage to not only reinvent himself but in fact become a very high profile tech executive with more or less the same name? Imagine if Elon Musk was actually a crazy murderer who used to be called Elon Avrevic… there’s no way that he would be able to bury this, especially if he came from nothing and had no connections during the time in his life when he committed these murders. If there are actual criminal reports about his crimes that can be accessed by the EAC and SHIBA, how did he not get taken in for life after murdering 3 people? Why is he even free in the world? It’s such a big plot hole to me… doesn’t have the same fingerprints? Did he get such extensive plastic surgery that he’s not recognisable and also burn off his fingerprints? Evidently not, since the MC can recognise both him and Grace from childhood photos!

I also didn’t think his motivations were really that convincing. We get a throwaway line about his alcoholic father killing his mother because she tried to leave him, but in general they set Jeremy up with so much potential as this psychopath who hunts a very specific type of woman but then they just kind of throw it away with him just going crazy and shooting people because he just wants “girls and money”. Nooo Jeremy they did you so dirty!!!

I just think they built him up as this incredibly dangerous and manipulative predator but then just made him a standard alcoholic incel. He could have been such a good villain. He could have maybe drawn the MC in with sob stories about his mother and actually made her doubt her instincts with his charisma and vulnerability, with it turning out that the whole time he was just luring her in, instead of just relentlessly hitting on her and then getting carelessly drunk and going crazy. He spends so much of the route attempting to play and get with the MC and then just throws it all away by getting pissed and letting her basically have free reign of his apartment? I just don’t buy that a co-founder of Space Crystal would get to the top without being more clever, suspicious and manipulative – especially since he murdered 3 women and still is somehow a free man, ‘disguised’ as a very successful CEO?  Also, if he really just wanted girls and money, there were a thousand other ways of doing it. He could have been so clever and instead they just made him have occasional psychotic breaks with no discernible trigger. Disappointing.

(On a side note, they made his house look weirdly similar to Epstein’s manor. Or maybe all Upper East Side homes look like this, I have no idea. I did look around on Google Maps and I guess a lot of the homes in this area are kind of similar.)

Grace is also a wasted character. She kind of feels like a MacGuffin just to have this love quadrangle in order to play out the jealousy plot but ultimately plays no significant role. Actually, both Grace and Jeremy basically just act as jealousy plot devices, only the jealousy plot isn’t strong enough to actually threaten Yuzu and his MC’s relationship (except for one moment which to be honest doesn’t even play out like that because of jealousy and rather because Yuzu is trying to protect his girl).

Speaking of that moment, I thought that Yuzuru’s “push the MC away plan” could have been stronger. I feel like it’s not like him to do make such a basic attempt at fooling his MC. It might have worked in a different game but all of the MK guys usually know that they can’t trick their MC with cheap Harry and the Hendersons plots and they tend to not disrespect her enough to try. I know that as readers, we enjoy not knowing what the love interest is up to because it ups the tension and drama but I feel like there was a way of having that insecurity and conflict play out while keeping everything a mystery and making better use of the characters. Like maybe it could seem like Yuzuru is running into Grace’s arms after finding his MC in a compromising position with Jeremy when he’s actually doing his own covert investigations and making plans to foil their ultimate plans. Or maybe even working with Grace to take Jeremy’s wild country-bombing plans out. That way, we would prolong the jealousy/love quadrangle plot with the MC stressing about Yuzuru and Grace’s relationship, especially when she already doesn’t trust Grace. It would also make better use of Grace as a character and her position as both someone with a ginormous crush on Yuzuru and as Jeremy’s ‘partner’. If Grace also ended up betraying Jeremy to help Yuzuru and the MC, we could also have had some extra heartbreak about Grace having to betray the one person she has always had in her life (and maybe some extra backstory about Jeremy going nuts as part of having to protect himself and Grace from their parents and the world). #voltagehireme lol. I also find it highly unlikely that Jeremy managed to set up this whole missile-launching phone app business under Grace’s nose, especially when Yuzuru knew about it. Also, the idea of an American attempting to launch a missile to destroy the whole of Japan is a bit… on the nose lol.

The season isn’t really driven by relationship conflict even though they were pushing the whole jealousy line in the marketing. In the end, I don’t think the route is as much about jealousy as it is about trust – but then again, Yuzuru has always placed ultimate trust in his MC even in S1. I can see this being an issue for people who went into this route wanting genuine conflict in their relationship so that they can overcome and work through it to develop. There’s only a little bit of conflict towards the end when the MC goes to Jeremy’s home, and then that kind of gets discarded pretty quickly anyway. They just happen to be better at communication this season, and a lot of that is because of Yuzuru going out of his way to keep tabs on his MC. This is probably what makes the route so easy to read, because Yuzu is more open. However, because of this, while it is great that their communication as a couple improves, it may not necessarily feel that earned? With that said, credit to the writers for making Yuzu more open without making it feel jarring or like he’s had a sudden personality change.

And on another note entirely, I wish there was a bit more detail about the three “S”es and more involvement from Kazu and Kei, who basically just make gratuitous appearances in this route. Learning about them making Takoyaki together at Oxford is such a cute detail and also such an international student in the UK thing to do. Find me one Asian student studying abroad in the UK who hasn’t collectively cooked home food in halls with friends from their country (it’s always hotpot for me lol). I wish there were more moment with them actively involved in helping the MC.

Finally, I have my usual issues about the Love Choice system. If you play the route for free, you get very few cute scenes between Yuzu and his MC, miss out on some major character development moments (esp that planetarium scene) and you get a fade to black ending in the Normal End. Personally, I started playing Voltage in the early 2010s so I don’t mind fade to black endings, but I think the mature/sex scenes are what a lot of MK readers are here for, so it’s a shame that there isn’t even a kiss scene in the NE.

Overall, I would say that the chemistry between Yuzuru and his MC is what keeps this route going and flowing. I would recommend it if you just adore Yuzuru, want to maximise time with him and don’t really care much about plot. Otherwise, while their relationship is brought to new levels, it does not happen because of the plot as much as Yuzu’s response to events we don’t necessarily see, and it does not necessarily feel that earned because the plot doesn’t really put their relationship in that much jeopardy.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed reading this route – I found it super easy to keep reading, and Yuzu kept me hooked. I also love Yuzu more than ever. I think it’s a similar situation to Takane’s route, where the route made me love the love interest more, but has an average/flimsy plot. I imagine that his PoV will reveal more about those events that make him go out of his way to keep an eye on his MC, but as a standalone route, I wish there was more actual relationship conflict leading to more development.

[notcanoncompliant]

Luckier

(an unofficial continuation/work inspired by @my-favorite-young-adult's text au: 💙💙💙 )

(read and share their post first!)

******************************************************

Tony should be resting. That's what Strange keeps telling him, and he knows the doctor's right. It’s only been a few days since Tony woke up, he needs it.

He ignores Strange. Doesn't sleep. Sits up in the hospital bed, reads and rereads the texts.

You're my one true love.

Goodbye.

Goodbye. Over and over and over again.

Tony's body still hurts, the nanites doing their job quickly, but still painfully slow.

Just a little longer.

***

"Looks good."

Tony pauses in what he's doing, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he glances at Barnes in the mirror. "Yeah?"

Barnes gives him a warm look. "Yeah."

It's been weeks. Months. The soldier's been patient with him in his recovery, stuck around through everything, so far. Even the stage that was Tony feeling trapped and overwhelmed and angry, throwing things and yelling at anyone who walked in the room.

(Tony still throws things, sometimes, if only to watch how quickly or--needlessly creatively--the soldier dodges a lobbed Jell-O or pudding cup.

The ammo usually gets returned to him, because Barnes knows Tony's only real joy some days is the universally semi-shitty hospital dessert. But, sometimes, Barnes just arches a brow and eats it in front of him.)

The soft, sympathetic pride would’ve stung before, coming from anyone else (and it still does, just a little), but it’s nice to see it on Barnes' face as Tony acquaints himself with his shiny new limb.

"If I'd lost the left one instead, we could have arm-wrestled," Tony says.

Barnes just sighs at him, but he looks amused, so Tony counts it as a victory.

***

Peter.

Tony thinks about Peter all the time. Everything about him.

Sometimes he goes back through the texts he sent over those five years, feels both mortified and achingly pleased that Peter got to read all of them, that Peter's alive to have read them.

He wonders how Peter's doing, how he's coping. It's been six months since Tony's death, five since he's been back, and no one will tell him anything about the kid. It's both understandable and infuriating.

He can't even get FRIDAY to work with him, because she's a traitor who finds Barnes charming, and Barnes wants Tony to 'recover more, emotionally'.

Okay, so Tony's having a hard time holding it against Barnes.

He does, but it's still hard.

***

James.

Barnes is James, now. Not 'Bucky', not 'soldier'.

James.

World-weary, a little scruffy most of the time. Stormy-blue eyes that are almost always soft when they're on Tony, but sometimes there's a spark--of humor, of curiosity.

Never frustration. Never irritation (at least not the cold 'I don't know why I put up with you' kind). Not even when Tony had been at his worst, flinging insults and cruelties as liberally as he had whatever objects were within reach and not nailed down.

After a while, James’ stoicism turned into empathetic calm (or maybe it always had been, but Tony had been too ruined to see it) with tough but understanding reality checks sprinkled throughout. And, when Tony was past the very, very worst, there’d been the start of gentle ribbing and encouragement from his fellow amputee.

Now, when James smiles at Tony, it makes something in Tony's chest go loose.

He might be in trouble.

***

"No one! No one told me--you--why?! Why wouldn't you--"

Peter's beautiful. His eyes are damp and red-rimmed, his hands in fists at his sides, the tension in his body making the muscles of his arms stand out in strong relief.

Tony can't stop staring at him, can't stop smiling.

It's not making Peter less upset.

"This isn't funny, Mr. Stark, I'm--it's been a year, a year you've been dead, and now you're not, and--you didn't say anything!" He makes a frustrated noise. "I saw you die! And you're back now and you didn't reach out, you didn't--Would you stop smiling at me like that?! Stop acting like this is fine--"

"I love you, kid."

"--that's not--Stop trying to distract me--"

"Your ass looks good in those jeans."

"Mr. Stark--"

"Call me Tony, kid; please."

Peter scowls at him, sniffling hard.

"I'm so mad at you, Tony."

"I know."

"It sucked."

Tony feels his smile wobble, his vision going liquid at the edges. "I know, baby."

Peter flinches, eyes going round for a moment, cheeks turning pink from something other than his anger. His mouth opens and closes a couple times.

After it becomes apparent Peter's experiencing technical difficulties, Tony gives his own hard, wet sniff and closes the distance between them.

Peter is warm, fits in Tony's arms so perfectly (Tony can feel him with the prosthetic, can still touch and feel and wow, he’s never been so grateful for anything in his life). Tony doesn't try to kiss him, not now, not yet. There's too much that needs to be said, too many things between them that are still raw and unknown.

Past Peter's shoulder, James appears in the doorway, leans a shoulder against the jam, hands in his pockets. His smile is small and close-lipped, as usual, his eyes soft as he takes in the moment.

Tony has envisioned his reunion with Peter a thousand times, and it's honestly pretty true to his imagination.

The gentle resignation on James' face, though, that's not something Tony had anticipated.

And he certainly hadn't anticipated the responding tug of quiet but insistent need, of regret, in his chest on seeing it.

James nods at him once, and leaves.

Tony closes his eyes and hugs Peter a little tighter, shivers at the thick mumble of ‘I love you, too’ pressed into the crook of his neck.

***

“Thank you. For taking care of him.”

The kid’s gratitude is genuine, heartfelt, sweet and serious, all spelled out on his face as he looks at James. It’s beyond anything Tony would have expected from himself at Peter’s age, but then again, Peter’s gone through a lot more than Tony had by that time.

He’s not sure how he got so lucky, knowing (getting to keep) someone as genuinely good as Peter Parker.

James seems unsure of how to react, his eyes flickering past Peter to Tony in slightly awkward panic. Tony just shrugs minutely, fighting a smirk (and failing, if the amused sharpening of James’ eyes is anything to go by).

He gets it; he and James had never really discussed the whole ‘bonding over Tony being a jackass during recovery and maybe sort of falling for each other’ thing, and when Tony got Peter back, that conversation had been put on indefinite hold. He’s made sure Peter knows about it (because he wasn’t about to start their relationship with anything but total honesty), but Tony may have neglected to let James in on that little detail.

(Tony’s been busy with Peter the last few weeks, what can he say; had--has--to make good on all those texts...)

After another moment, the soldier shifts a little where he stands, nods at Peter. “It wasn’t any trouble.”

When a huff of laughter escapes past Tony’s lips, both Peter and James give him a look, but he’s not bothered. He’s too busy thinking about the faint pink flush across both his boy’s cheeks, and deciding he’s maybe luckier than he’d originally thought.

*******************************************************

Everything Tag List: @the-amazing-spidertwink @silkystark @starkercrossedlovers @hoeforthegays @problematic-sofatini @starkeroverlord @starker-reader @mrstark-please

[getalittleclosey]

under 25k larry fic rec

hi! i’m becca and i read...so much fic. these rec lists are an accumulation of fic that i’ve read or reread and extra loved from 2016-now. there’s a wide range of stuff here and i think there’s definitely something for everyone!! i divided them up by length so you can check out all those categories below!

please make sure to read tags and warnings on all these fics!! the only things i think i can guarantee is that these are all larry, there’s no non-con, no age play, no eating disorders, no mentions of bg, they end happy, and they’re mostly aus. oh and they’re all on ao3 and some are locked so you’ll need an account! anyway i hope y’all enjoy!!!

under 5k

under 10k

under 50k

under 100k

100k+

☆ watching the world fall by whoknows 12k

This segment has been going on long enough that Louis knows what’s coming before James starts in on it, trying to sell him on something he knows that Louis wouldn’t normally be buying. But there’s four cameras surrounding him, and an audience watching him expectantly, so if Louis wants to continue convincing people that he’s doing just fine, he’s going to have to go along with it.

“We have a whole host of single men backstage waiting to meet you, Louis,” James tells him. “We want to help you find love tonight, on Late Late Live Tinder. Is this okay? Do you want to play?”

It actually kind of makes sense that his first date after the break-up is going to be just as public as said break-up. Something like coming full circle.

“Alright, James,” Louis agrees, hopping down off his stool.

“Okay, come down to the stage,” James says. Louis can’t even tell whether the excitement in his voice is genuine or not. “Right now, come on down!”

☆ enjoy the ride by 2tiedships2 11k

“Stop sulking and get up. I have a proposition to make.”

“Niall?” Louis questioned. “Do you think I should put glow in the dark stars on my ceiling?”

He looked over and found Niall giving him an unimpressed look.

“So, no?” Louis asked. “No stars?”

“We’re going on a road trip,” Niall stated.

Louis looked back at his starless ceiling and waved farewell to Niall. “Cool. Have fun!”

“No, you idiot.” Niall let out a frustrated sigh. “You, me, Liam, and Harry.”

Louis glanced over to Niall and back to the ceiling. “Who’s Harry?”

Or the one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.

☆ like to keep you laughing by kikikryslee 13k

Louis gasped. “Are you straight? Oh, I'm sorry, man. You should’ve just told me; I would’ve left you alone.” “No, no, that’s not it," Harry said. "I like guys. I definitely like guys.” “OK…” “Louis, I’m ace.” Louis snorted. “Kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?” --- Or, the one where Louis is a frat boy who likes to hook up and Harry is someone who doesn't hook up ever.

note: ace and aro rep bless

☆ say that you can see me (i’ll speak up i swear) by coffeelouis (streamtpwk) 20k

“Well, it’s not like anyone really RSVPs,” Liam defends when Harry turns back to him, “No one takes Facebook events seriously.” Harry rolls his eyes, still finding it within himself to get annoyed in his moment of panic. Liam has been complaining about the lack of accountability Facebook events have bred in their generation since their freshman year. Harry glances back to the gallery entrance. Yep, still there and moving closer.

“But aren’t you guys friends?” Harry asks, trying to convey the urgency in his tone.

“Well, I mean, I talk to him when he stops by the office for supplies sometimes,” Liam reasons, “But I wouldn’t say we’re friends, exactly. Maybe more like, friendly acquaintances?”

Harry groans. “You’re the fucking worst.”

[or, the liberal arts COLLEGE AU where Harry knows Louis as the best friend of the boy he has been hopelessly in love with for years now and Louis knows Harry as the boy he wished would look away from Zayn long enough to notice him.]

☆ a fire in us by hereforlou 12k

Louis had always thought it wouldn’t catch him off-guard. If he ever got his Time, he would be ready, and he would be calm, and he would make his way to wherever his soulmate waited for him and blow them away with how ready and calm he was.

When he got his Time on that Monday, years after he had stopped fantasizing about meeting his soulmate, Louis was not ready, and he was not calm. What he was was late.

(Or, the one where Harry waits and Louis worries.)

☆ just like the wolf before he bites by whoknows 11k

He’s loud, Louis is, and that’s far from unusual for him, but the volume of it still has Harry pulling back the curtain. There’s a half-formed thought in the back of his brain about telling Louis off, because it’s fucking half three in the morning, but then.

But then Harry’s eyes get stuck on the soft glint of Louis’ stubble in the light, and he’s making his way across the room before he even realizes it.

Louis, for his part, just tips his chin up to give Harry space and keeps talking, waving the joint in his hand around for emphasis. He doesn’t even bother to greet Harry, going on with his story to his semi-rapt audience, just settles a hand in between Harry’s shoulder blades and pushes him down firmly.

Harry just. Relaxes. His eyes slip closed, pushing his entire face into that spot underneath Louis’ chin, where his hair is still growing, neat and prickly. The scent of Louis’ cologne drifts into Harry’s nose, light and fresh, and it’s calming. Comforting. His breathing syncs up with Louis’ quickly, and Harry feels so much better than he had five minutes ago he almost wants to cry.

note: i’m rewatching teen wolf so this hits different

☆ wine not? by multiple authors 21k

Louis’ Wine Dive is a bar run by the people for the people. Wine Styles is a boutique tasting room that caters to a more highbrow clientele. When their worlds clash on a beautiful Charleston street, one of these owners may find that an ounce of pretension doesn’t stand a chance against a pound of perseverance.

☆ ain’t that a kick in the head by multiple authors 22k

“Well.” Niall unlocks his phone. “It wasn’t getting the traction I wanted on Snapchat. So…I tweeted it.”

What.

“You tweeted it,” Harry states, nearing a state of brain dead. “To your ten thousand followers.”

Niall nods, handing Harry the phone. “You’re a meme, Harry.”

“I’m a what?”

“A meme. It’s like an internet—”

“I know what a fucking meme is, Niall! Why did you make me into one?”

Niall has the fucking balls to cackle at that while Harry looks at the mess his former friend created. Videos of him screaming at Tomlinson about Tide Pods and his ass are being quoted and combined with memes to a create a level of memeception Harry has never seen before. That isn’t even including the thousands of tweets of him falling up the stairs remixed with random Top 40 songs.

~

In which Harry’s a disaster gay who doesn’t know shit about soccer, Liam drinks too many blue raspberry Coolattas, Niall knows everyone, Zayn looks dead, and Louis is Not Happy about sharing his breakout moment with “Drunk Hawaiian Guy.”

☆ tyger! tyger! burning bright by ryanreynolds 12k

They put on the Great British Bake Off, in a house in Donny, in England, that’s maybe inhabited by two ghosts, two lovers, stuck in the house where they used to have a life, so far away from the time they were born in. // A Buzzfeed Unsolved AU in which Harry and Louis died in a fire in the late 1800's, but death isn't the end.

☆ for the first time by mixedfandomfics 22k

The first Harry that Louis met was at his third school in as many years, and had shoved Louis’ head into the toilet when he walked into the mens restroom. Some slurs had been used, but the whole incident was kind of blurry thanks to the concussion he got when his head hit the tile floor.

The second Harry was a TSA agent when Louis was sixteen, returning from a trip abroad. The agent had smirked at Louis passport. “Layla, huh? Should think about dressing a little more feminine, no guy is gonna want you looking like that.”

Louis doesn’t want to see if “third time’s the charm” applies here. He’s finally secure in his life and happy, and he doesn’t want the heartbreak if his soulmate is just another bigot that wanted Layla and not Louis. Sue him for avoiding the pain.

☆ all i need is oxygen (and you) by lululawrence 12k

There are only two ways to navigate Bloomfield High School: become popular or make yourself invisible.

With the help of his best mate Niall, Harry’s introduction to high school hadn’t been half bad. Despite being a “bandie” – the lowest of the low in the ancient hierarchy of high school –Harry had somehow managed to survive freshman year relatively unscathed. So naturally, Harry would have been perfectly happy to resume his position of invisible trombone player number four for the remainder of high school. But one day something drastic happened, something that would change the course of Harry’s entire existence (probably).

It was the last football game of his freshman year, and the band was back in the stands after performing a rousing rendition of Bloomfield’s alma mater during half time. Harry was gracelessly wiping the slobber from the mouthpiece of his trombone when he saw him.

Louis Tomlinson.

Or...a High School AU where Harry is a bandie and Louis is the epitome of cool, so naturally, Harry must find a way to get his attention and win his affections.

☆ come together by bottomlinsons 11k

Harry and Louis slept together three weeks ago, and haven't talked.

Their coming group project is gonna change that.

☆ honey at seven by louiesunshine 11k

He’s in head to toe in khaki, from the oversized shorts showing off his thin and tanned legs to the buttoned-up shirt which is hiding his true form underneath. If his muscular arms have any indication, Louis easily assumes he’s fit and toned. A dark brown leather belt ties around his slim waist. And to top it all off, the man proudly wore a safari hat on his dark wavy hair.

Unfortunately from where Louis is at, he can’t get a clear view of the man’s eyes. But he’s able to see a strong jawline and a simple dimple curving his cheek. God.

Being the impatient guy that he is, he not so kindly pushes both Niall and Liam forward to speed them up.

“Welcome, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Hop on in and watch your head. If you happen to miss your step and hit your head, then lower your voice and watch your language. This is a family attraction and we’d like to keep it that way.”

Or, where Louis goes to Disneyland for his birthday and finds himself a cute Jungle Cruise skipper.

☆ the switch (love is blind) by writeroffictions 13k

A Model Behavior/Princess Switch AU: Harry Styles is a doppelganger for the new face of Gucci, runway model, Dean Rose. Harry is asked to pose as him one night for an event, because the actual Dean Rose is violently ill. This leads Harry to meeting his celeb crush, Global Superstar Louis Tomlinson. Sparks fly. But are any of them real?

☆ fiction romance by orphan_account 18k

Harry has a type.

He likes older, sophisticated, mature men. Well-educated men. Men with life experience and passion for arts and social causes. Men who are established in their careers, who've sorted their lives out.

Niall knows this.

And so Harry can't understand why he's sat here opposite Louis Tomlinson.

A punk Louis/uni Harry blind date AU.

☆ under me, you by hazzafrazza (colberry) 12k

You Won’t Believe Who Was Spotted Leaving Harry Styles’ Primrose Hill Pad! If Harry was being completely honest, it probably wasn’t the best idea to be a world-renowned popstar and an infamous vigilante.

(Especially when all the comic books said never reveal your secret identity to keep your loved ones safe – which was all well and good, until Louis.)

Or: Harry wants a lot of things – fame, glory, Louis – but that last one is particularly hard to get when everyone thinks you’re dating your secret superhero alter-ego and suddenly you’ve become your own worst cockblock.

☆ superhuman tonight by rearviewdreamer 23k

A group of young offenders doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers.

☆ sing you butterflies by objectlesson 23k

Louis stares for a moment before some primal sympathetic force in him activates. He has to help this boy. He can hardly walk, and he seems so young (yet ageless, beyond age, like a sea turtle or a parrot or a tree or something else odd and magical), and on top of all that, he has body glitter clinging to his skin, like that roll-on stuff his sisters used to use as preteens, only pink-gold and twice as thick. It’s, like, professional grade. He’s also wearing grass- and dirt-stained pink silk women’s underwear, so maybe he’s from London. Maybe he’s a drag queen who crawled all the way from a nightclub in Soho just to save Louis from his horribly mundane and woefully heterosexual neighbours out here in the middle of nowhere.

---

or, Harry’s a clumsy unicorn who accidentally stomps on a witch’s garden and is turned into a human as punishment, so he wanders into a nearby village covered in glitter, still figuring out how to walk on two feet, and meets the fairy-tale-fine Louis, who has to teach him how to live as a human and stop him from eating soap.

☆ i’ll be your love tonight by dinosaursmate 20k

“I don’t know how I’m ever going to walk away from you.” “So don’t.” Harry ran a fingertip over Louis’ thigh. “Stay with me.” - It's the summer of 1999 and Louis Tomlinson has been abandoned at a house party. A dispute over Smirnoff Ice and several night buses later, Louis is unsure how he'll ever walk away from this lovely, curly-haired boy.

☆ carried away like butterflies by dinosaursmate 17k

“Actually…” Liam said, scratching his chin absently. “I have a friend who is moving to London soon.” “Without anywhere to live? Who is it? Do I want them living in my home?!” “You met him at my birthday party. Harry, from Cheshire. Remember? Really tight jeans, curly hair down to here?” Realisation dawned on Louis, staring at Liam who was gesturing round about his nipples. Did he remember Harry? Did he remember Harry? He remembered Harry’s square front teeth biting into his collarbone, and he remembered Harry moaning, loud and obscene with no provocation. He remembered Harry dropping to his knees at the edge of the bed and roughly pulling Louis closer. He remembered, vividly, Harry’s lovely plump lips wrapping around his- “Lou?” “Uh- what?” Louis said, startled. “Oh, yeah. Um, I think I remember him.” - It was probably a huge mistake for Louis to let his former One Night Stand move into his spare room, especially when said One Night Stand doesn't seem to remember him.

☆ head head heart by turnyourankle 12k

After Dunkirk has wrapped filming, Harry struggles with his inability to reach subspace. He tries taking the matter in his own hands before Louis intervenes with a plan of his own.

☆ i got my eyes on you (you’re everything that i see) by balanceds 11k

“It’s not a secret, right, Harry? All of his friends seem to know--”

Harry slumps down and starts methodically banging his head against his newsroom desk. “Niall, it is a secret from him because I have spoken a total of ten fucking words to Louis Tomlinson and also he is incredibly out of my league and probably fucking straight as well!”

Or: Harry's a first-year on the school newspaper, assigned to cover the terrible men's first football team. Louis Tomlinson is the team's star defender. Harry pays significantly more attention to Louis's arse than to writing real columns. Pretty soon, everyone notices. It takes Louis the longest.

☆ then we kiss (all i wanna do is have a good time) by orphan_account 24k

Harry shuffles further into the room, timidly taking a seat on one of the chairs set in front of Louis’ table. He keeps his eyes on the floor, fumbling for words. “Sorry, I’m just—it’s just that I’m a bit nervous. And, uh, I wasn’t really expecting for you to look so—” he cuts himself off, just in time to keep himself from saying beautiful.

“Young?” Louis guesses, and Harry just nods, going along with it. “Yeah, don’t worry. I get that a lot, mate. People don’t really expect you to be head writer at twenty-nine. They think to get the job you have to be in your forties, or something.”

So a five-year age gap. Cool.

(harry is a potential new writer for a comedy show. louis is his kind-of boss. they flirt. stuff happens.)

☆ other habits (make your pleasure your pains) by jtsbbsps_dk 19k

Freaky Friday High School AU.

Wherein Harry just wanted to have lunch with his older sister, Cal sells ice cream, Gemma has a test, Anne thinks she knows (she really doesn’t) and Fate plays match maker, because no one puts her ship off course. Louis just tries to help out his best friend's little brother while dealing with a metaphorical butterfly invasion.

☆ the boy in the pikachu pants by mrsstylinson 20k

Louis stars as the bumbling idiot who's only a bumbling idiot around Harry. Harry stars as the charming bastard who steals his heart completely. They meet in the middle of a hallway with Louis in a state of considerable undress, singing Destiny's Child at the top of his lungs. Somehow that seals it for Harry. This is the boy he was always meant to fall in love with. Louis feels the same, only slightly more defeatist. It takes them a while to figure things out.

☆ all the small things by kitundercover 20k

AU. Harry is five inches tall and can't remember how he got that way, but maybe with Louis' help they can work it out. ---

Louis stares. “You’re five inches tall,” he says finally.

“I am about that.” The tiny man agrees.

“You’ve been making strange noises and scaring the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry.” The tiny man winces.

“You’ve been breaking my things.”

“Not on purpose.”

That voice is disconcertingly deep, and Louis keeps wanting to look up and find the fully grown person that it must surely be coming from. He takes a deep breath and moves onto the next impossible point.

“You’ve been riding my rabbit,” he says.

☆ like two softened shoes by marie24 14k

He sets his laptop on the bed, backing away and running his hands repeatedly through his curls. Okay. This is okay. This is fine. This is not real.

Will peeks his head around the door frame.

“Uh, everything okay in here?”

Harry tries to keep his breathing under control. “Yeah!” he says. “It’s, um, everything’s fine!” He can hear himself talking really loudly. Will looks doubtful.

“Are you sure? Because it really seems like -”

Harry barks out a laugh, cutting him off. “Okay! So this is going to sound really strange. But.” He looks at Will, with the same shiny fringe, blue, blue eyes, and sharp cheekbones he’d been writing about the whole last week. He worries his lip frantically between his teeth. “Um. I think I… I think I… wrote you?”

Or, Harry is a writer who gets through his writer’s block by pouring his feelings for his best friend Louis into a character. A few days later, the character lands in his bed, three dimensional and with no idea how to get back where he came from. He turns out to be very inconvenient for keeping Harry’s feelings to himself.

☆ ready to fall by whoknows 21k

“Ninety and rising,” Nick says triumphantly, as though making Harry’s heartbeat pick up by thrusting an obscenely attractive person in front of his face is any kind of success. “Louis Tomlinson has just walked into our control room and suddenly our dear Harry Styles has lost all ability to speak. Could this be some kind of strange coincidence?”

“I hate you,” Harry hisses, forcing his eyes back into Nick’s direction, uncaring that the mic must have picked it up. “I thought we agreed that you were going to play fair.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nick denies, except he’s holding up a picture of Louis’ face now, sharp cheekbones prominent, soft lashes nearly sweeping against his cheeks as he looks down, and his fucking mouth –

“A hundred and two!” Nick crows, all but clapping his hands together in glee. “The highest it’s ever been!”

“To be fair, I did bend over the desk on purpose,” Louis’ voice comes crackling in the headphones. Harry practically breaks his neck whipping his head around at the sound of it, gaping at him through the glass panel. “You can’t really blame him for getting a little excited about that, can you?”

☆ gnossienne by pukeandcry 11k

Louis sets a challenge for himself; it gets a bit out of hand.

☆ tonight’s not over (come over and stay) by louistomlinsons 17k

Zayn doesn’t say anything for a moment, pausing and worrying at his bottom lip. Finally, he asks, “Have you heard that Cox guy is coming out with a new song?” Louis freezes, fingers hovering over his keyboard where they had been typing his password. “No, I hadn’t,” Louis says truthfully. “Where did you hear that?” “Tell anyone this and I’ll kill you, but I’d consider myself a big fan,” Zayn says. His face doesn’t change in expression, completely serious as he admits this to Louis. “Big fan? Like run a blog and everything?” or, harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel

☆ a love that feels this right by dontlethimgo 14k

As always, the classic high-school rumour mill is never completely reliable. Sure, there are those stories that fly around that turn out to be true—like the one about Niall getting with a model at a party a few months ago (which Louis still struggles to believe)—but this ‘rumour’ has so many versions, and none of them are actually right.  

The Sixth Form AU where Louis is the footie team captain, Harry is head boy, and no one at school has any idea that the two of them are in love.

☆ put your head on my shoulder by wayfared 18k

Niall gives Harry until the end of marching season to either a) make a move on Louis Tomlinson or b) get the fuck over him. Either is easier said than done. Basically, your High School AU with a drum beat.

☆ some nights i’m scared you’ll forget me by pukeandcry 15k

Zayn stifles a groan. He’s not terribly surprised -- Harry’d been mooning over Louis since the day they met three years ago when Zayn had moved into the house next to him -- but he’d been hoping that Harry would eventually get over it and redirect his attention to someone else. This development does not bode well for that turn of events, though. (High School AU)

note: this is zayn’s pov and has a decent amount of ziall and a lot of zarry friendship if i remember!

☆ oh how i hate this red string of fate by calamityk 14k

Harry thought being able to see people’s strings die would be the worst thing about his gift, until at twenty-two he finally met the other end of his own. --------- Or that soulmate AU where Harry can see the red strings of fate that tie everyone together.

☆ smoke dreams from smoke rings by objectlesson 18k

“When I get a craving?” Louis says, “You have to help me chase it away. Distract me”

Oh. Harry can think of about one hundred different ways to distract Louis Tomlinson. One hundred better uses for his mouth, for example. “Erm,” he squeaks, well aware of the fact that he's grinning and dimpling and blushing all at once, his whole face a suddenly mortifying warzone of transparent emotion. “How?”

“By hitting my arm as hard as you can,” Louis announces, holding out the arm in question. It bridges the gap between them, stiff and expectant, and Harry stares, not entirely sure if Louis’s being serious, if this is some prank that he isn’t clever enough to understand, or if the promise of touching Louis under any circumstances is so titillating that he just can’t process it. Louis rolls up the sleeve of his hoodie then, revealing his pale inner arm in maddening increments, pushing Harry somewhere between drooling and vomiting, he isn’t sure which. He just knows that his mouth is flooded, and the barely-there ghost of Louis’s veins through his skin is the prettiest thing that he’s ever seen. “Go on, hit me,” Louis orders. “Don’t be shy,”

--- or, Louis enlists Harry to help him with his bad habit.

☆ milkshake by speechless 13k

He's been saying it for years. He doesn't care that it makes Liam roll his eyes and Zayn sigh and Niall crack up. Lots of things he does get that kind of reaction from the boys anyway. Louis won't stop saying it, 'cause it's true. His milkshake does bring all the boys to the yard. It's a fact.

So the day he decides to get into Harry Styles' pants he says it again, when all three of his roommates are there to witness it. "I'll fuck him by the end of the month. You'll see."

☆ you drive me crazy (i just can’t sleep) by objectlesson 19k

The first time Louis ends up in Harry’s bed is a total accident.

☆ happily ever after by theneverending 19k

"It’s the Peter Pan that I work with most days. Harry got placed with us today and it’s really quite funny to watch him make starry eyes at Peter Pan from behind his camera. As if that would hide anything,” Niall claims with an eye roll, causing Harry to blush even harder.

“I didn’t think you’d notice,” Harry responds lamely, suddenly becoming interested in his food again.

“Harry, when you like someone, it’s written all over your face. You just kept staring at him.”

“That’s my job, I have to stare at him to make sure the photos come out nice.”

“You wouldn’t be getting defensive if I wasn’t right,” Niall rebukes, and Harry really can’t argue with that, so he lets Niall have the last word.

or, the one where louis and harry work at walt disney world, louis is a character performer for peter pan, and harry's the photographer that sometimes gets to work with him.

☆ like the stars that shined by butliamwhy 12k

Louis has stars in his eyes. Harry has known it since they were kids. They have their own tree, their own café booth, and so many years to fall in love. Perhaps a lifetime.

☆ green in the morning and blue afternoon by wildestdreams 14k

“Harry,” Louis whispered beside him.

Harry hummed, his hand coming up to stroke Louis’ back. Louis was still on top of him, his body sagging against Harry’s, heavy and warm, and Harry loved it.

“I don’t think it was a one off.”

“Me either, Lou.”

or

a Friends AU.

[justalittlelitnerd]

By A Thread by Lucy Score

We weren’t touching. But it felt like the space between us was charged with something. It was acting like a defibrillator on my heart.

This book had everything I want in a romance: a sassy, non-damsel heroine and a hero with soft boi vibes (I am a complete sucker for assholes covering up soft, warm centers). 

Don’t let the office romance aspect dissuade you (it’s obviously a common, but controversial trope in romance b/c power dynamics and whatnot), this is not ~in my experience~ a conventional office romance. 

First, Ally only ends up working at Dominic’s company after he gets her fired and his mom (who’s also his boss at the magazine she also owns) makes the job offer in reparation.  

Second, in addition to the two characters being completely at odds from the first meeting (he got her fired after all), Dominic is staunchly against an office romance not only because of his own values and awareness of power dynamics but because of his father’s history of sexual harrassment and assault. When they eventually fall into bed together (because duh this is a romance) he immediately offers to quit his job so the power dynamics of the office wouldn’t be an issue. 

That being said Dominic is an overbearing, and at times straight up controlling, son of a bitch (sorry as Ally would say his mother is lovely) and it made me want to throat punch him sometimes, but at the same time so did Ally’s stubbornness and pride. 

Score has a talent though for balance because any time Dominic started to get out of control, Ally wouldn’t hesitate to go head to head with him and speak her mind and the honesty and directness was refreshing. 

The ending felt a little bit rushed because clearly Dominic was trying (although in ways that were grossly overbearing and were exactly what Ally didn’t want him to do) and she made it clear that she couldn’t forgive him and I wanted more of a conversation or thought process to why she finally did aside from “that’s what love is.” 

This book was fun and funny and sarcastic and their banter made the story flow and is definitely the main reason I would consider rereading this romance.

Keep reading for some top notch quotes!

It wasn’t out of the kindness of my heart. I had neither kindness nor a heart. I considered it atonement for being an asshole.

Clearly, she wasn’t intimidated by an asshole in Hugo Boss with a haircut that cost more than her entire outfit. I basked in her disdain. It was miles more comfortable for me than the terrified glances and “Right away, Mr. Russo”s I got in the hallways at work.

It had been too long since I’d squashed a disrespectful underling. I itched to do it now. She looked not only like she could take it but that she might even enjoy it.

“Fine. But if she poisons me, I’ll sue her and her entire family. Her great-grandchildren will feel my wrath.” My mother sighed theatrically. “Who hurt you, darling?” It was a joke. But we both knew the answer wasn’t funny.

I knew he felt it, too. That unexpected jolt. Like taking a shot of whiskey or sticking a finger in a light socket. Maybe both at the same time. For one moment of pure insanity, I wondered if he intended to take me over his knee and if I’d let him.

I’d assumed they’d all get used to me. Apparently I’d assumed incorrectly. I was the beast to my mother’s beauty. The monster to the heroine. When they looked at me, they saw my father.

Her tone was steely and anger all but crackled off her. I hoped she got the guy’s balls in the divorce.

“You know, you’d be a lot prettier if you smiled once in a while,” she mused, fluttering her lashes. No wonder women hated it when men said that.

It was fucking cold. February was right around the corner, and if there was anything colder and damper than January in New York, it was fucking February. Of course, fashion didn’t heed below-freezing temperatures. No. Fashion made its own rules outside of time and space and temperature.

I, on the other hand, didn’t trust myself to survive even basic contact. Ally was only safe, my soul was only safe, as long as I didn’t touch her.

He was looming over me, but rather than threatening, it felt intimate, careful, almost safe. Like I wanted to be exactly here with exactly him.

Tell me the top five things you hate STAT. (This is the secret to finding out just how bad a person is in case you need it for interviewing future wives or human sacrifices.)

Somewhere along the line, she’d started talking to me like we were friends. As if that moment of honesty in the bar, those emails exchanged, had somehow made us friendly. And while I craved her next confession, I also couldn’t handle the intimacy. I was ripped down the middle. Torn between wanting to know everything there was to know about this woman and wanting to forget she existed.

I hated it when she walked away from me. It always felt like she took the light and heat with her. I added that to my Hate List.

Those blue eyes weren’t cold now. There was a victorious fire burning in them. And I was acutely aware that I was in immediate danger.

My heart was trying to blast its way out of my chest. I didn’t know where the organ had gotten actual sticks of dynamite, but that’s what was happening. My insides had turned to lava… or magma, whichever metaphor was most appropriate.

“Lots of people dance for money. Prima ballerinas, Jane Fonda, Laker Girls, back-up dancers, Rockettes. All women who make money by moving their bodies. There’s nothing remotely shameful about it,” Faith insisted. “You aren’t doing anything wrong. And anyone who tells you that you are is—” “Part of the patriarchy.”

I hoped to God security was up to the challenge tonight. Because if anyone laid a hand on her, one single finger on her, I was going to lose my shit.

I wondered if I was leaving a trail of body glitter behind me like I was a Questionable Life Choices Tinkerbell.

If mystery bothered him so much, this son of a bitch—wait, no. His mother was a lovely human being. This alphahole was going to suffer. I’d make sure of it.

I wanted to believe in my bones that he was doing this as some stupid mind game, that he got off on playing puppet master with my life. But deep down, I was worried that it was something much, much worse. Dominic Russo was trying to take care of me.

I was so pathetically happy that she was speaking to me in multisyllabic words I would have let her slap me across the face with the folder.

I walked back into the room feeling like Cinder-freaking-rella. If Cinderella’s fairy godmother had given her a sexy, skin-hugging gown the color of crimson or, as I liked to think of it, Dominic Russo’s crushed heart.

Everyone was hitting the open bar like it was last call, and those little appetizers were doing nothing to soak up the liquor. It was entertaining, but I had a feeling this is how bad things happened at office Christmas parties. Inhibitions lowered, tongues loosened, and shit went down.

Oh, boy. I’d heard rumors of Drunk Dominic. But they hadn’t prepared me for the reality of him. He was adorable… and in no way capable of functioning as creative director right now. I needed to get him home.

Damn it. My shattered broken heart was trying to knit itself back together just so it could fall for him all over again.

I hooked my pinky around his and tried not to fall in love with the idiot when he pressed his lips to our joined fingers.

Nights like these changed lives and were retold as stories for years to come. But I didn’t know what my story would be. Would it be the time the up-and-coming designer made me temporarily semi-famous? Or would it be the night I finally realized my heart belonged to a man I was never going to be with?

Tacos and home renovation supplies with an entrepreneur, a male exotic dancer, and a drag queen on her day off. Just another glamorous day in the life.

I spent the rest of the day on the couch, which delighted Brownie. We watched the entire first season of The Great British Baking Show and then three episodes of Queer Eye. I was inspired to order and to eat an entire sponge cake from the bakery three blocks over and pondered growing a beard. Then I pondered what Ally thought about beards. And the shame spiral began again.

“I’m not hiding this,” Dom said quietly. “I don’t think I could even if you asked me.” Okay, coming from Dominic Russo, maybe that was kind of a swoony thing to say. It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was real. These feelings felt real.

“I don’t need to be saved.” Dalessandra and I blinked at each other as the words came out of both our mouths in unison.

I wanted to take care of her. I wanted to take her worries and concerns and problems and solve every last one of them so she could focus all of her attention on me. And Brownie of course. I wasn’t a completely selfish monster.

I didn’t want her drawing lines when I wasn’t thinking clearly enough to redraw them properly. She would live here. She would have anything and everything she needed. No one would ever take advantage of her or lay a hand on her ever again. End of fucking story. I was her Prince Fucking Charming.

“Dom, of course people are going to talk. Trying to avoid being a topic of conversation is a pretty lame way to live life. Sometimes, accepting the discomfort is how good things are earned.”

It was disconcerting to wake up one day and find myself… well. Here. Making plans for two instead of one. Looking forward to sharing things like beds and weekends and closet space. I’d dated before. But I’d never gotten this deep, this fast. I’d never made space in my home for a woman before. Change was happening, and I didn’t know how I felt about it.

Ally didn’t bitch-slap, but Faith did it like it was an Olympic sport and she was a gold medalist.

“Everyone has baggage, Russo. Most of us are just smart enough not to hurl full-sized suitcases at the people we love.”

But sometimes an inch might as well be a mile. And I didn’t know how to cross it. I didn’t know how to ask him for what I needed. Because I didn’t know what I needed.

[soraegeeks]

Review: Thanks for Saving Me

It’s BEYOND obvious that I’m a Baku x Deku stan and I’d never entertained the Todo x Deku dynamic. That was until I read Esselle’s fic Thanks for Saving Me. I’m not sure how I was introduced to it but I’m so glad that I was.

TFSM is a 7 chapter TDDK fic with a Quirkless Izuku who’s a college sophomore and a little younger than our heroes. The official summary:

Midoriya Izuku is a university sophomore, a fanboy, quirkless. On the list of things he is not: a hero.

That's why he's more surprised than anyone when he rescues Todoroki Shouto, his favorite pro hero, from a deadly villain attack. His actions fling him into the media spotlight, grabbing the attention of the entire country, including Todoroki himself. But Todoroki actually wants to get to know him past the headlines.

Izuku finds himself living a story straight out of a fairy tale, one where the mysterious, handsome prince is played by the real-life superhero he has always admired. But Izuku is convinced he's the ugly duckling, not the swan; could he ever be remarkable enough to get his happily ever after?

This story is SO GOOD! There’s a villain attack at Izuku’s school and he meets Todoroki, Pro Hero Shouto, while helping a tour of high school kids escape the chemistry building. I was GEEKED when I read that one of Izuku’s majors was chemistry. I have a degree in chemistry and got all kinds of feels and started imagining my old stomping grounds as the setting. LOL So, by the power of CHEMISTRY Izuku stops Todoroki from making a misstep that would have blown up the whole building and finds the right chemical to knock the villain unconscious. Izuku saved his hero and his hero THANKED HIM!!!!! I would have died on the spot if I was Izuku. LOL I’m sure that he left a part of himself behind in the ambulance when Todoroki cleaned and bandaged a cut on his cheek. And gave him his phone number??!!! YUP. Dead. There lies Izuku Midoriya cause of death Pro Hero Shouto’s overwhelming cuteness.

The next morning Izuku is resurrected and dies again because he is awakened by Todoroki CALLING HIM ON THE PHONE!!! Evidently, the news got out about who he was (Todoroki told them in order to not take all of the credit for the rescue) and Todoroki called to warn him that the media knew and were on the way to his apartment. These goofballs didn’t get to that part of the conversation before Izuku answered the door to a mob of reporters while wearing PRO HERO SHOUTO PAJAMAS!!! Total fanboy. LOL

Todoroki uses his pull and gets them an interview so the media will stop hounding Izuku. Bless Izuku’s heart and I love Esselle for keeping him a canonically horrible dresser. LOL A pinstriped maroon suit with his sneakers. Thank goodness for Todoroki trying to help this poor walking disaster. So, the interview…..I suffer from issues with second hand embarrassment. Even though I’ve read this chapter multiple times I can’t say that I’ve read the whole interview scene. I think I threw my phone a few times and scrolled quickly by. In fact I’m quickly scrolling by now as I reread to write this review. HA! Embarrassment, you won’t catch me!!! ANYWAY, from what I did see, Izuku was his usual adorkable self and charmed everyone. Todoroki arranged a car ride for Izuku back to campus and I swear these lines were perfect to describe their interaction in the car “Izuku slowly raises his head to look at him again. Todoroki is watching him out of the corner of his eye, like he's afraid if he looks at Izuku full on, Izuku will fling himself out of the moving vehicle. Honestly, the assumption might not be that far off.” If Izuku could he would have tucked and rolled out of that car in embarrassment. LMAO Oh and Todoroki is a jerk. A jerk hiding behind that stoic demeanor. I love when he’s written like that. LOL

So, fanboy Izuku is a member of his school’s Pro Hero Fan Association. Any surprises? No? No, ok. LOL And I hate the smarmy chick who is vice president of the club. Just gonna put it out there. DO NOT LIKE! NYET! And OMG Izuku’s clubmate showing him a Twitter feed of Todoroki watching him during the interview??!! Yo! Looking back, Todoroki was sprung from day one. LOL HE EVEN RETWEETED THE TWITTER THREAD. Yup, sprung. LOL Moving on to the end of the week and Izuku takes Shouto up on his offer of a tour of his agency. Again with Jerky Shouto teasing Izuku about that god awful maroon suit. LOL To Izuku’s surprise, Shouto personally escorts him around on the tour. HIs assistant Aiko alluding to the fact that Shouto had been looking forward to it all week. Oh. Everything is going well, Izuku gets to see a lot and fanboy and then Shouto gets a call from his assistant. Enemy number one is in the building. Shouto’s dad, Endeavor. DUN DUN DUUUUNN!!! These two fools take off running and HIDE in a damn broom closet. WHAT?! LMAO All is still semi-good until the unthinkable happens. All of the excitement leads to Izuku getting a hard on. NOOOOO!!!!!!!! And he’s squished up against Shouto in the small hiding place. “his leg juts out a bit more, and his thigh slots between Izuku's, and Izuku's soul abandons his earthly body.” RIP Izuku Midoriya. AGAIN! At the end of their adventure Izuku ends up with an invite to the Hero’s Gala. An invite from Shouto to attend WITH HIM! Izuku has left this planet again. How many lives does this kid have? LOL

Poor awkward Izuku. His phone calls with Shouto are a mess. It helps that Shouto is awkward as well. As for the gala, Izuku pictures himself going as “Todoroki's friend-guest.” *snort* FRIEND-GUEST?! A guest that is a friend? LOL The things that go through this kid’s head. And what will this walking fashion disaster wear?! Now to worry when Shouto offers to get his outfitted in a suit. Oh! And Shouto wasn’t slick wanting to keep Izuku on the phone after they finished talking about the gala. “How was your day” indeed. LOL

It’s suit fitting day and this whole section is my favorite part of this chapter!! Izuku’s running late at his hero fan association meeting and his fellow club members overhear him talking on the phone with Shouto. Of course that annoying vice president immediately jumps in to say that he’s lying. BLEH! And just as Izuku’s deciding that that he’ll quit the club, who comes to his rescue? None other than Shouto showing up AT the club room to personally retrieve him. You go Shouto! Go save your wannabe bae!!! Their car ride over was adorable with Izuku admitting to liking to see Shouto for who he really is. And NOT wanting Shouto to follow his embarrassing fanboy Twitter account. HA! All of the things that Izuku knows about Shouto’s public persona never ceases to amaze Shouto. Even amazes the tailor. The tailor who’s noticed that Shouto has taken a liking to Izuku. And yeah, Shouto is practically damn drooling when Izuku shows off his tailored tux. Alright people, the TodoDeku train has left the station!! LOL

Momma Inko is a treasure. Even she thinks that Shouto likes him. Recounting all of their “dates.” Gotta pay attention to a mother’s instinct. They KNOW things. LOL When the news showed that Shouto got hurt in an overseas mission poor Izuku got so worried. When he finally talked to Shouto, he jokingly played it off that Izuku was just worried about not being able to go to the gala. JERK! LOL I thought we were about to lose Izuku again when he accidentally called Shouto by his first name and when he heard Shouto call him by his first name. How many more lives does this kid have? Is there a 1-Up mushroom anywhere nearby? LOL And it’s absolutely adorable that they stayed on the phone and Izuku fell asleep with the phone next to him. Like some high school romance when you’re not supposed to be on the phone late at night. LOL

Ooooooo, Todoroki showed up at Izuku’s apartment as soon as he flew back into town. *sings* He wanted to spend time with Izuuukkuuuu! And poor oblivious Izuku still doesn’t realize that it means that he’s interested in him. LOL An impromptu date, cause it is a date. Shouto even brought takeout to eat together. They ate, and talked, and enjoyed each other’s company.

And then IT’S GALA DAY!!!! They’re taking Shouto’s private jet to the location of the gala and the jerk that is Shouto “forgets” to tell Izuku that Ururaka, pro hero Uravity, and Hanta, pro hero Cellophane, will be flying with them. Izuku called him out though. He knows those jerkish ways. LOL Looking back on this segment and this was all a setup for his friends to get to know Izuku. To know him and see all of the wonderful things that Shouto sees in him. ANDDD Izuku’s soul left the building when the plane hit turbulence and Shouto stopped him from falling by pulling him onto his lap. “ Izuku is mentally filing away every detail regarding the entire experience of Todoroki Shouto's Warm Lap.” BWAAAAAAA. Shouto was so protective of him afterward wanting him to feel comfortable with the turbulence. Touching Izuku’s hair and shifting over so their legs almost touched. Such tiny intimate actions. I love how Shouto’s style team pampered Izuku getting him ready for the gala. Izuku deserves a nice night like this. WOOOOOO when those two saw each other in their suits it’s like electricity in the air. They are both so far gone. LOL

Shouto was amazing helping Izuku navigate the red carpet of the event. Even pointing out two girls who were fans of Izuku’s hero actions. The interview with Kaminari made me laugh. The whole time I was thinking, being friends that I know those two have talked about everything already that Kaminari was going to ask. But they had to do it on camera for sure. And when Kaminari asked who Izuku was and Shouto hesitated with “my…” I wondered if he stopped himself from saying “boyfriend” and later on thought maybe he was going to say “date.” “"I feel pretty damn lucky that you're here tonight, too."” Shouto is a goner. LOL

Inside the venue Shouto AGAIN surprised Izuku and introduced him to All Might himself!! Shouto really does enjoy seeing Izuku freak out. The jerk. LOL LIke how do you not tell him he’s going to meet his favorite hero and like Shouto’s surrogate dad??!! LOL All Might’s words of wisdom were just what Izuku needed to finally get it through his head that he had performed heroic acts and it didn’t matter if he was quirkless. All Might in his fatherly way ALSO alluded to Shouto being fond of Izuku. Does EVERYONE know how Shouto feels about Izuku? LOL The hand holding at the table SQUUEEEEEE!!!! They are so adorable. And Todorki’s acceptance speech where he purposely took time out to thank Izuku...yeah, if anyone didn’t know before, they knew then. LOL 

At Shouto’s class’ after party EVERYONE pokes fun at them. His class knows and they’ve been itching to get to meet Izuku. LOL Poor Izuku, consistent minor heart attacks. LOL And then a moment that I had been waiting for (and forgot that I was waiting for) was the introduction of Bakugo! First off, thank you Esselle for making him married to Kirishima. YES! The rival-friendship between him and Shouto. Staring each other down before smiling. Yes, YES!! But I was looking forward to how the interaction between Bakugo and Izuku would play out. Immediately like an older brother/younger brother thing. LOL And Oooooooo is Shouto a little bit jealous???!!!! Tee hee! Well, I think he got over that pretty quickly when Izuku slipped again and ended up on his lap AGAIN! Not that Shouto minded at all. LOL 

And THEN the walk back to Izuku’s hotel room and  both of their insecurities popped up. Shouto’s fault, though. While Izuku thought there were no way that a pro hero would be interested in him, Shouto was thinking that he had nothing to offer Izuku other than being a pro hero. These two disasters. LOL But Izuku acted on his feelings and shared his first kiss with Shouto. Who proceeded to then beat down his door to tongue Izuku down something filthy. LOL WOO BOY!!! These two have been dancing around each other for months and now they’re in Izuku’s hotel room losing their minds. I think that Izuku dies again, more than once. LOL And OMG!!!! Todoroki is so turned on that he can’t control his fire side. YOOO!!!! His mouth is so hot that he’s blowing steam and his jacket caught on fire. LOL Shouto blindfolded listening to Izuku jerk himself off and then watching. HOT!!! On the bed rutting together, in the shower washing each other, Izuku got his man!!!! It tickled me that Shouto was very comfortable walking around naked, not like Izuku would complain about seeing him. And he finally convinced Izuku to be mutual follows on Twitter. LOL Welp, can’t say no now.

Well, that’s it. I really enjoyed this one. And enjoyed the reread I did tonight to work on this review.

[insectbah]

Phanfic Finder Fest

Unfortunately I’ve been a bit short on time, so I wasn’t able to find and read new fics, but I tried to pick as many underrated ones as I could. Sorry authors that my comments here are basically the same as the ones I left on the fics themselves - you all deserve so much.

series with more than five parts 

QPR verse by @ineverhadmyinternetphase (beta by @mecaka)

I come back to this verse so many times when I need something calm and comforting. It’s absolutely beautiful QPR representation, which is no surprise of course since Julia writes it :)

christmas/holidays

captive audience by @callofthecurlew (beta by @insectbah)

I really like their dialogue in this fic and the gradual shift from enemy-vibes to feeling hopeful at the end is so satisfying.

fic set after 2022

I couldn’t pick between these two fics by @iihappydaysii so I’m including both of them.

as in olden days by @iihappydaysii

This one is pretty sad, but there’s a lot to love about it. There’s something really lovely about how real it feels and how much they care for each other in this difficult situation.

ours by @iihappydaysii

This one feels so real too - Ashley is great at writing difficult situations. Dan caring for sick!Phil and the ending are both beautiful.

tatinof-era

A BONCA Means They Love You by @adorkablephil (kimberly_a)

I love BONCAs fic and this one mentions TATINOF, which is definitely enough :) They feel so in tune in this fic, and Kimberly worked in Phil’s speech really well.

online romance

read between the lines (i will if you will) by Ablissa (@phanbliss)

If you somehow haven’t read this yet, you need to fix that immediately. I wasn’t online much in 2009 because I lived under a rock, but I can still tell that Monika makes their conversations feel just like 2009!phan. It’s impressive how much of the story is conveyed through text messages alone.

piano playing

The Pianist Everyone Is Talking About... Is My Husband by @natigail (writing at @secretlywritingstories)

This whole story is filed with countless references to irl Dan and Phil and that’s only one reason this story is lovely to read.

mutual pining

I automatically associate mutual pining with @leblonde so I’m listing two (kind of three) because I can’t help myself.

i'm the one who charmed the one by The_Blonde (@leblonde)

This is a companion fic to i'm half doomed and you're semi-sweet so definitely read that first if you somehow haven’t yet. Isabel’s style really accentuates the longing that Phil feels. I nearly cried rereading it this time.

just once to be lifted strong by The_Blonde (@leblonde​, beta by @insectbah)

This fic is healing. By the end I felt so comforted by living vicariously through Dan’s journey. I don’t know how else to describe it; just read it.

fic written for a big bang

Patchwork Family by @littlelionsloves (beta by @whalefairyfandom12)

This one ends sadly too, and mind the warnings, but for me it was totally worth it because the story is so gorgeous. As the title suggests, it depicts a non-traditional chosen family, which is the sort of relationship I have a soft spot for.

high school au

Shiny Things by TortiTabby (@tortitabby)

I don’t really see many fics where Dan or Phil is diagnosed with ADHD and this fic was a perfect way for me to understand a bit better what life is like with ADHD.

based on 1d song

Won't You Stay Til the AM? by realeyesrealize (@tulipau)

There aren’t a ton of fics with Dan in university, and I love the image of Dan bringing over his laundry to Phil’s apartment so much. This whole fic feels so relaxing even though Dan is pretty stressed.

nothing to be afraid of by @huphilpuffs

Not only is this fic utterly adorable, Callie portrays Phil’s feelings perfectly because the whole thing felt like a bubble that might pop.