#the potential of being scared scares me more than the movies half the time lol

[napping-sapphic]

Need an emotional support gf for horror movies because i really like horror stuff but i’m too anxious about the idea of getting scared to start it when i’m by myself

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Cowboy - Part 3

Summary: Leaving the city for a rural area called Blayne seemed simple enough. Your task was to convince the people to agree with selling their land for a resort redevelopment. But once there, you soon realise that your city ways are entirely different to theirs. Winning their trust was going to take some effort, and when you start to fall for a local cowboy, you wonder if you really needed Blayne more than the city life after all.

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x female reader

Genre: cowboy au / drama / romance / if you squint there’s some enemies to lovers up in here.

Warnings: Jung Jaehyun is a cowboy, need I say more? (a bit of angst and drama, and it sometimes might feel like you’re reading a Nicolas Sparks book, so I’m told lol)

Word count: 2054

This series will be updated every Thursday and Friday.

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

“What are you handing me those for?” you asked when the man you had arranged to meet with at eleven shook your hand in greeting and then placed a pair of gumboots up on the hood of your car. You eyed the footwear and then looked back at Avery McConnell with interest.

Avery chuckled. “I know how expensive those boots are.”

“It’s not muddy, though. I’ve come at the end of spring.”

“You’re in for an awakening, Y/N. Trust me, put them on.”

You took Avery’s advice and followed him over to his truck. Climbing inside, you then glanced at your guide. “Thank you for meeting with me today.”

“Hey, it’s my pleasure. Always nice to see a new face once every three or so years,” he teased, and you laughed with him.

“So I’m learning. Not many venture out here.”

“It would be nice if people did.”

“Right?!” you enthused instantly, gesturing to the mountain ranges in the distance. “This place has so much untapped potential.”

“You won’t get to un-tap it, Y/N,” Avery told you upfront as he swung the vehicle out onto the main road. “But I wish there was a happy medium. If we could create more jobs and better housing, it would improve our farming. It’s hard to get help to come out here when services like Amazon don’t.”

“Wait, they don’t?!” you groaned heavily at the concept of not being able to order coffee pods in bulk.

“You’ll have to set up a PO Box in the township over. And if you need to have any internet meetings, it’ll be best to do them there too. The internet reaches out here, but the signal drops so frequently that no one bothers.”

“Why hasn’t anyone asked for services to be improved?” you asked and Avery smiled at you knowingly. “What? You can request cables to be laid, and I’m sure if you pay half the cost-”

“There’s not a huge focus on the internet out here when the sun rises in the morning for outdoor productivity. Most of us just have mobile phones to ring one another when we’re out on our property. And even then, the signal can be dodgy.”

“But there could be improvements,” you insisted, and Avery nodded.

“You’re persistent.”

“Well, it’s not the primitive age. I appreciate there’s a historical factor and a tight-knit community here, but this land is capital, and you could all win from some modern intervention.”

“I’m not your enemy,” Avery admitted, parking the car up on the side of a country lane. “I went to the city to escape how plain Blayne is.”

“You did?”

Avery nodded.

“Then how come you’re back?”

“It’s my home. It’s strange. Not a lot of people get why we live like this, but to us, it makes the most sense. Plus my old man got sick and needed me to help take care of the steer.”

“Okay, I’m going to sound really ignorant for a moment, but is a steer some kind of deer?”

“You came out here without knowing your basic farm animals, Y/N?” he asked with a laugh, and you rolled your eyes. “Come on I’ll show you why we need gumboots around here.”

Holding your nose, you attempted to listen to Avery’s speech about how the pigs of Blayne were some of the best meat pigs in the country. However, you were overstimulated by the smells and the sounds of the barn that you couldn’t quite keep up with the knowledge he was passing on to you.

“Ah, so this is where you were,” a voice mentioned, and you spun around, letting go of your nose and gasped for air. The newcomer smirked, his dimples deepening.

God, you wanted to hate him for being so attractive.

“You know me. I’ve got to help any damsel in distress out.”

“Where is she?” he teased, and you rolled your eyes. “Oh! Miss City, are you getting snippy with me?”

“Thank you for the warning about the owl.”

He grinned. “You’re welcome. So, seen enough pigs and want to go back to the city yet?”

“Not a chance.”

“That’s a pity, should we take her out into the cattle fields, Avery?”

“No need to be that eager to get rid of me,” you bit back and Avery, who had been watching the two of you, started to laugh heartily. You realised then how similar it sounded to May’s laugh. You pointed at him. “Wait, are you two-”

“Sadly, I’m related to him,” Avery admitted dramatically, and you glanced at the scowl on the other man’s face. “Come on Jaehyun, who wants to be your cousin anyway?”

“I never asked to be related to you either but here we are!”

“Jaehyun,” you breathed, and the man in question blinked at you curiously. “Oh, I didn’t get your name last night, you see.”

“I thought you had,” he answered back, grinning again. “Mr Cowboy, isn’t it?”

“Well, you do look like the typical cowboy in the movies when you go around in your boots and hat,” Avery defended, which you couldn’t help but snort a little at.

Jaehyun folded his arms across his chest. “Cattle fields, next. Right?”

You followed them out onto the field, watching where you stepped. Now you knew the reason for the boots. If there hadn’t been enough dung and muck in the pig barn, you certainly had seen more than enough of it out in this field. Climbing up the hill after the two men, you huffed at how easy it was for them.

“I guess there’s no need for a gym membership out here,” you muttered, sucking in a deep breath.

Jaehyun turned and looked at you then. “Come on, Miss City. The cows are over here.”

“I never wanted to see a damn cow, I came to survey the land for suitable resort spots,” you grumbled out of earshot, grateful when the slope evened out, and you reached the top of the field.

Stopping to catch your breath, you blinked at the view. In every direction you looked, the mountain range was so beautiful. All you could see was an expanse of land, which held a lot of possibilities. A golf course, a swimming and spa resort were merely two of the possibilities for Blayne’s development. Being close to nature whilst enjoying leisure pursuits could really put this place on the map.

You turned again, smiling at the wondrous thought of redevelopment until you saw what had come upon you. Backing up from the impossibly large beast, you raised your hands in defence.

“Nice cow.”

“She sure is a beaut, isn’t she?” a voice mentioned at your side, and you yelped in surprise, slipping on a cow patty.

Strong arms reached out to balance you before you hit the ground and you looked up into the face of your saviour, Jaehyun washing his gaze over you momentarily.

And then he started to laugh. “Wow, Miss City, you sure are jumpy! Feeling a little scared, are we?”

“You scared me first!”

“Was it me or the cow?” he questioned with a chuckle, and you yanked yourself free from Jaehyun’s grip, skirting around the curious animal and dashing over to Avery’s side.

He seemed equally amused. “You sure this is a place for you?”

“I’m adaptable,” you muttered, blinking rapidly.

Even you didn’t believe your words now.

“Wow, I’m exhausted,” you mentioned when you arrived back at your residence, falling down onto the couch with a groan.

Jaehyun had joined you for the rest of your exploration with Avery, much to your disdain. Every time you got close to discussing some sort of loose plan with the man, Jaehyun would distract you or shoot down your ideas entirely.

You glared up at the ceiling. “Stupid Cowboy. What would he know?”

The phone rang then, and you whined childishly, hauling yourself up from the couch and going over to answer it. “Oh good, you’re there!”

“Ah, yes. You have a nice home here, June.”

“You think so? It was once the home I raised my children in until we built the one we’re in now. Ah, that’s why I called you. I’ve made extra food and wanted to invite you around for dinner.”

“That’s too generous of you.”

“It’s the least I can do after knowing how long the boys had you out for. I told them to take it slow since you weren’t used to our ways yet. I bet your feet hurt.”

“They do, I’ll admit it,” you confessed and June giggled down the line with you.

“That’s it then! I’ll send Jaehyun around to fetch you!”

“Oh, it’s fine. I can drive myself there if you give me directions.”

“He’ll be there shortly, dearie. I pushed him out the door long before making this call.”

“Well, he should be here then,” you mentioned, glancing outside the house with some unease. “I’ll get ready!”

“See you soon, Y/N.”

After placing down the phone, you dashed upstairs to freshen up your appearance, pulling out a floral boho styled maxi dress that you had bought specifically for your country adventure. Picking up a straw hat and accessorising your middle with a woven belt, you laughed at how carefree you looked out of your usual business attire.

“He should be here by now,” you guessed, looking down the drive for Jaehyun’s truck. Collecting your bag, you stepped out of the house and locked it, slipping the keys into your purse and then jumped when you heard a loud whinny.

Turning to the field adjacent to the drive, you gaped at the sight before you. Jaehyun watched you for a moment before leaping down from the wagon. “It’s a good thing I had to run errands for Dad and didn’t bring a horse for you to ride instead, huh?”

“You didn’t bring the truck?”

“You asked if it was legal yesterday. I doubt you would have gotten in it.”

You eyed the large animal warily. “And you expect me to get up there?”

“Miss City, don’t tell me you’re scared of a mere horse. Back before any car, they were man’s best friend.”

“I thought that was a dog,” you murmured as Jaehyun leapt back up onto the cushioned seat of the wagon, his hand reaching down for yours.

“Ever seen a dog plough a field for crops?” Jaehyun asked with a chuckle, his grip firm around your wrist as he helped you up.

You sat down and looked around yourself hopelessly. “Do I need a seatbelt?”

“You really haven’t experienced much in life, have you, Miss-”

“Y/N,” you interjected, smiling nervously. “Please, call me Y/N.”

Jaehyun stared at you again and then smiled, picking up the reins. “You can hold onto me if you get scared, Y/N. I won’t tell anyone that our city slicker is frightened to ride on a horse wagon.”

“Why did I agree to go out tonight?” you wondered with a groan, shrieking and grabbing onto the front of the wagon when it started to move. Jaehyun laughed at you before eagerly asking the animal to move faster, your hands gripping on more tightly to the bar. “You’re working too hard to get rid of me, Jaehyun.”

“Really? Is it that noticeable?” he wondered and smiled when he watched you loosen your grip. “You’re adapting to this pretty well, though.”

It was your turn to look at him, a smile forming on your lips. “I am, huh.”

He glanced at you and nodded. “Who knows, maybe you’ll last more than a week.”

“Talk to me again when I make it to a month.”

“You’ll be riding a horse by that time,” he suggested, and you scoffed loudly.

“No, thank you. I’m not here to play farm. I’m here to work.”

“Farming is one of the hardest jobs out there. I thought you were here to see how us Blayners tick?”

“Well…”

“I guess you better think about what you’ll wear for a horse riding lesson tomorrow then.”

“I never agreed to it,” you objected and then sat back in your seat when Jaehyun leaned towards you.

“I like your dress by the way. It’s pretty.”

“Still full of yourself,” you mumbled, fanning your cheeks with how hot they grew with his compliment.

Jaehyun grinned. “Still enjoying it, aren’t we?”

_________________

Part 4

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[thattimdrakeguy]

Prompt: Bruce hugs Tim after Tim fought with Jack

Alright, fellas, gonna be honest. Got way into the whys and hows of the actual fight with Jack over the actual comforting hug with Bruce.

It’s in there, oh boy it’s there, but I’m curious to see if this thing even fits into a Tumblr post cause I don’t know what the limits are actually.

So uh,

Trigger Warnings for: Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Mentions of Drugs, Threats of the Police (is that a trigger warning? cause I feel like it should be nowadays), traumatization, and potentially more. Oh, and Alfred has a gun but idk if that falls into any triggers.

It’s not a “Jack is evil” fiction. I tried to stay away from that. But I didn’t try to not make him do something I did feel like he’d do at the same time. He never hits Tim, I’ll say that.

Hoping it’s not too bad. I feel it’s half decent. So ayy.

Wasn’t sure what to call it.

Maybe “Assumptions and Consequences” idk.

Also probably has lots of typos and grammar mistakes so sorry for that lol.

--

Tim Drake loved his dad. His biological mother had already died, and Jack was all Tim had. Dana Winters was only Jack’s girlfriend who was wanting to become Tim’s mother, but it hadn't happened quite yet. So Tim only had one parent left, and man, did it suck to have a parent sometimes when you’re Robin. All the lying from having to be Robin drove Tim mad some days. Plus neither of them were quite compatible with one another. Honestly how were they even related?

Jack thought Tim was a bad kid. Well, he didn’t, but look at the evidence. Tim kept sneaking out, leaving school early, getting into fights. That was a kid acting out if Jack ever knew, and Jack would blame himself, until he couldn’t be bothered about it. Was it Jack’s fault? Jack had a habit of forgetting it a day or two after an accident. So he never really did improve yet, despite saying he would.

But the thing was, Tim wasn’t a bad kid. He was a great kid; a really great kid. Tim Drake was Robin the Boy Wonder. Not that he was the most talented, or most efficient at being Robin, but Tim filled the job out well. Being a good kid as Robin, meant having to be a bad kid as Tim though. When Tim saw bad things happening, Tim had to disappear, for Robin to take a beating, and for Tim to keep the bruises.

One day it got too much for Jack to handle. Tim wasn’t even home yet, and Jack’s face was red. The man of the house kept pacing back and forth really considering what he had to do to contain Tim this time. In his sea of tension he started biting down on his fist to get out some of the anger but it wasn’t stopping. What would Tim’s mother think of Tim right now? All those years of Janet protecting Tim and coddling him, and all it took was--what a few years for Tim to turn into this? Janet would’ve been so disappointed in him.

Jack sat down in his recliner past midnight to wait for his son, and only seconds after the creaking sound of his chair did he hear the doorknob twisting on the opening door that must’ve been his son. Must’ve been a lazy day for Tim. Normally Tim would come in through the window of his bedroom. Jack was actually listening for a creak on the walls. After a quick sigh that came deep within the chest, Jack tossed down his remote swiftly onto the table making a loud smacking sound, as he stood up and turned around.

It was darkly lit like a shadowy alley way in the house. All Jack wanted to do was scare the crap out of Tim. He didn’t care how small Tim was, or how young he was, if Tim was so willing to let Jack be scared, Jack thought it only made sense for him to scare Tim right back to make it only fair. Jack grabbed a flashlight on the coffee table and shined it in the eyes of the small figure that stood right in his doorway. And he made sure to make himself seem as big as he possibly could. Standing up straight, broadening his shoulders, and holding his flashlight up higher.

He prepared his voice as something similar to Clint Eastwood. All he did all day was watch movies and take phone calls, and it really showed. “Tim, do you mind telling me, why in God’s green hell are you so damn f--” Jack quickly squinted his eyes. This wasn’t Tim he was looking at. It was Ariana Dzerchenko, and she was shaking in her boots, while Jack seemed disappointed it wasn’t his son. “What the hell are doing in my damn house?! You’re telling me at 3 A-#@!@#-M you don’t have anything better to do, then open my door when I never even gave you a key? My son isn’t even here. You trying to steal from me?” Jack went over to grab her arm after the brash accusation. “Get over here, I’m calling your Uncle.”

Ariana moved her arm away and backed outside, still shaking. She stared at Jack scared, and concerned. Ariana could tell he was disappointed for the wrong reasons

“Look, it’s either in my house and I call your uncle, and you take another foot and it’s the police.” grunted Jack. He stopped bothering doing the gravelly voice, but he was still oh-so-damned pissed. After Ariana didn’t bother making any move of any sorts, Jack relented and tried to talk a little more normal. “Do you know where Tim is?” he asked like it was only the afternoon and he happened to pass her in the park.

“N-no.” was the only word Ariana could manage to get passed her lips.

Jack’s brow lowered, and angled. “Then why are you here, Miss?” He took a step closer to Ariana. “And be honest.”

“T-Tim, uh, he, uh, he asked me to bring back this and put it on the kitchen counter.” the girl held up the house key. “And all he said to me was that he was going to be late. Really late, and that he didn’t want his dad to worry again.”

All Ariana could see of Jack was the way the shadows contoured around his aging face. Making him not even look human. It made him look paler, with black eyes and a still face that would barely move except when it got angrier.

“He tell you where he was?” Jack asked again as he turned his head to the left. His left ear was his good ear.

“No, sir. He just sounded...swollen-y.”

“Swollen?”

“Like he just got hit in the face again.”

“Did you hear anything else?”

“A really loud engine and some gunshots later when I called him. Look, Mister, I’m really worried about him too. I didn’t even want to come over here--but I was just--I was just hoping he’d be here again maybe. Do you know what he could be doing?”

“Hell no. At this point my son doesn’t tell me anything. All I can guess is that the son of mine, I spent all that money on, is dealing drugs, like my money isn’t good enough for him.”

“Drugs? Timmy? Drugs? I’m not his parent or anything, I’m just his friend, but Tim would never do anything like that. I think he’s in trouble in another way.”

“That’s what I thought, but somehow every week I’m getting a call from the school counselor telling me that my small-fry son is dealing with a bruise of some kind. They found him passed out in school one time, and I found dirt marks on the outside of his window. What kind of normal former-board-school-student do you hear about ending up like that?”

“But Tim went on for hours one time about how he hates drugs. He saw a kid with a bag of something and wouldn’t stop ranting for what felt like an hour. He--”

“Ari--”

“--wouldn’t ever--”

“You can go home, Ariana! And thank you for your time. I won’t tell the police, or your uncle. But just go home now.”

“I--” Ariana closed her eyes and realized she better just go. “Okay. Okay, I’ll...go. Just tell me Tim’s okay when he comes back. And--if it actually ends up being drugs...tell him--tell him we’re over.” she fled the scene not being able to handle it anymore.

Jack didn’t answer back, but he knew that she knew he wasn’t going to tell her anything that was going to happen. Once he heard a ruffling in the bush right where Tim’s room would be, he knew that the boy came home. Taking another chest deep breath he slowly walked to that wall where he saw Tim, and he used the flashlight on him for real this time.

That middle parted bowl cut, and baby-face were impossible to misidentify. His already large eyes grew larger and he looked like he saw an entire army of ghosts coming for his head. Sneaking into his own house was something he’s done dozens of times. Tim loved sneaky time, but this time he thought he really messed it up. His Robin career and life flashed right in front of his eyes.

Nothing in Jack’s mind resembled pleasant. Everything was fire and disappointment. Actually seeing his son in the act of sneaking around outside, when he should be in bed made everything he thought felt true as the solution to a math problem. Just like the outlaws in the westerns he watched, Jack narrowed his eyes as he paid attention to his target. He really needed to get outside himself fast.

Tim gasped, as his mind had no thoughts besides a realization that his dad finally caught him sneaking in. “Dad?!” he uttered before being grabbed by the collar of his sweater.

“So you finally decided that my house is better than whatever alley you've been laying in every night?” pushing himself closer to Tim, Jack made it so the only thing he could see of Tim was the panic in his baby blue eyes.

Meanwhile, all Tim could see was the anger in his dad’s face. “W-what are you talking about?!” Tim’s voice cracked. He knew his dad thought something was going on, but he never imagined it’d be this intense. He could break the grip on Jack at any time, but would Jack find that even more suspicious? Tim still had Dana thinking he was too small to play football. Could Jack believe Tim would be able to take down someone over a foot his own size?

“The drugs, Tim. The drugs.” The hoarseness to Jack’s voice was painful. If his hand was around Tim’s neck and not just his collar, he’d be strangling the kid. “I've been staying up each night for the past three days waiting for you to come home. To have a fatherly chat, but all I ever hear is you sneaking up the wall, and I’ve had enough of that. I try to be a father, and you just try to treat me like an obstacle. Is all I am to you, is in your way, Tim? I paid for your freaking ninja camp, and it ends within a week of you being there. If the people running the camp didn’t end up in jail, I’d have the mind to ask them what you exactly did there. A fake piercing, and fake stubble to look tougher? I’d be real curious to know where exactly a 14-year-old kid can buy a fake stubble.”

Tim was really doing his best to try and seem calm. If he didn’t everything would get much worse. Then it donned on him that he was treating his own dad like he would a master criminal in the middle of a breakdown. “Dad, I really know this looks bad. I really do. Trust me. But this isn’t at all like what it seems.”

“Answer me immediately: If I searched your room would I find drugs? Narcotics? Booze?”

Booze. Tim could smell the booze in his dad’s breath. If Tim showed up just a bit earlier it wouldn’t have been this bad. And you know Tim would beat himself up over that when he shouldn’t.

“No, you wouldn’t find anything of the sort. I need you to listen,  I’m going to need you to let go of me, and put down the light. It’s hurting me.” Another half second passed where Tim’s brain suddenly tried to process this. And like someone running away from the scene, it hurt too bad to stay on it. “I don’t deal drugs...I--I stop people from selling drugs!” Even in a moment like this, not having to lie for once felt like a weight off of Tim’s shoulders.

The man standing above Tim was about to blind him with that flashlight, but he eventually dropped Tim down onto the wet and muddy grass below them. Where he left him lay and to get mud all over his clothes without any sense of regret. Jack could only think of his late wife. Which seemed rare ever since he got to know Dana better. Strangely, this Janet that Jack was remembering seemed to be a lot more on his side than anyone that knew them back then would remember.

“Don’t talk down to me.” said Jack in an uncomfortably soft voice. “I let you stay in my house because I loved you enough to let you. Your room is my property, everything in there was bought with my money.” The pace he spoke was slow and methodical. His mind was quiet and released. “I am going to look in your room. You’re going to stay here, and when I come back to you. I’ll decide then what’s going to happen to you.”

Should Tim speak? Should he not? What was better right then? When he heard Jack talk about his room, he wasn’t worried about the punishment he’d have to deal with. All he was worried about was any proof about being Robin. That wasn’t just Tim’s own secret to keep. It was a secret he had to share, and was honored to share.

“I--I can’t let you do that, sir.” another voice crack from the kid.

“I bet I know why.” spoke Jack with full eye contact. To him he wasn’t lying to himself. It was a fact he had to find the evidence for. “Let it be known by the way, that I don’t hate you. I’m scared for you. But you also make it awfully hard to love you lately.”

That was one hit Tim couldn’t dodge.

Being 3 AM not too many people were able to witness any of this happening, except for one particular neighbor in Alfred Pennyworth. He was tidying up around the side windows on the second floor when he could see some sort of commotion at the Drake residence. Using binoculars like a bird watcher that exclusively looks for Robins, he saw Tim on the ground and Tim’s dad above him. That wasn’t going to fly past anyone in Stately Wayne Manor.

Very quickly he let Bruce know that Tim needed help and why. It’d only take a few minutes for him to return to his home, but it felt crucial. Tim needed a father figure that felt like he’d protect him, and not vilify him. In no world is Batman the best for the job of dad, but he gave it his best unlike Jack.

Outside it was wet from the harsh rain earlier in the evening. Most of the lights in the neighbors were out, signifying they had gone to sleep. A foot felt like a yard when everything was so quiet and dark.

So though the owner of the manor wouldn’t exactly appreciate it, Alfred brought a small fire-arm in the inner pocket of his suit jacket just in case things went worse. Very quickly he rushed his way over to Tim, making it just after Jack entered the Drake residence again. Tim still seemed in such a shock that he didn’t even try to get himself up.

In his head, Tim meant to go after his dad, but his mental legs just gave out on him. Leaving him to sit in the mud as he panics about what could happen next. He recounted where all of his Robin stuff was. During his messy messy thoughts he was almost certain that it was all on, wearing it under his clothes. Confidence was never Tim’s highest attribute though. Normally it was his perceptiveness, but it was failing him. He was lucky he could still recognize Alfred.

“Alfred?” said a confused Tim who was dazed more and more as the night went on.

“Young Master Timothy, are you alright?” greeted the Butler as he helped Tim up to see his feet. “I didn’t see everything, but I saw everything I needed to.” He quickly noticed a bruise on Tim’s cheek. “Young sir, did he do this to you, or was it another person?”

“Who’s ‘he’?” Tim’s eyes widened and looked past Alfred. “Dad?”

Alfred may have been an older man, but he wasn’t a man you should bother trying to stand taller than. The quiet, noble man turned around promptly and stood his ground and he saw fit. Only reaching his hand in, just in case, with no intent on striking first. When Alfred turned around to see the returning Jack, there wasn’t any cowardice within him. Former British Secret Service agent Alfred Pennyworth could get the drop on anyone if he tried hard enough, besides those with powers. Tim’s dad wasn’t someone with powers, so Alfred had his number ready just in case.

Jack on the other hand only had a vague sense of right and wrong keeping him from hurting anyone. Just sick of the lies, and obvious sneaking around. Whoever thought Jack was a good dad never really saw enough of him.

“Who--Are you--are you Wayne’s butler? Did he call you?” Jack  asked, pointing at Tim. “The kid’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s just being sensitive.”

“Jack Drake, I want to let you know that I am not a blind man, nor an easily fooled man. And that all I see when I look into the eye’s a man such as you, that all I see is an inner-pain that I’ve seen nearly everyday since my eyes could first see, and my mind could first retain thought. All you do is feel bitter, distract yourself, and in the moments where you can’t, you take it out on everyone else. If I look at the ground behind me, I can see a very brave boy have a fear so bad that he didn’t even want to get out of the mud. Either meaning he’s about to be killed, or he’s being traumatized, and I don’t see a gun in your hand. So sit down and get some rest, and think about it. While I’ll take young Timothy with me where he’ll be safe for the night, sir.”

“You know I’m not going to let you do that.” growled Jack.

“Then allow me to let you know that in my inner jacket pocket I have a firearm that you know I’ll use. Not to aim at your head, but below the waist where, if you don’t already know,  it won’t count for attempted murder.”

“I’ll call the cops on you then, you bum. You’ve freeloaded on Wayne before that man could walk. To this city you’re nobody but the guy that used to wipe Wayne’s ass.”

“I’m mighty gracious I don’t have any worry of convincing you of anything. The reputation I actually do have serves me enough just fine. As for...your reckless statement on the police, I should let you know we have cameras showing everything that happened. You wouldn’t be the one winning in court.” Alfred didn’t look pleased when he took another glance at Tim who was struggling to process any of this. Alfred was there in the same home Tim was in when he found out his mother died. This wasn’t something Alfred enjoyed doing. “You can come with me now, Timothy. We’ll figure this out, alright?”

Surprisingly, Jack let them walk away. Jack wasn’t an evil man. But not being evil doesn’t equal being good. Life was just complicated, and so was he. Did he regret his actions? Well, he isn’t a monster. Of course he did--Well, maybe he did. Who really freaking knew. But did he know why exactly he did if he had? Not quite. Was he going to get better? There was going to be a while before that’d happen.

Inside Tim’s own heart he felt dead. The remains of his biological family seemed to break down into crumbs of dust. Where was home anymore? Jack didn’t say he wasn’t allowed to come back home, but the message was made plenty clear that he couldn’t go back home easily. Actually, Tim didn't know if he wanted to go home after that. Even for such a great detective, Tim had no clue what his dad was going to be like after that.

Mud. Ew, the mud. It was all over Tim’s clothes and hands from his fall. It certainly wasn’t going to help Tim’s mood.

“Young Master Timothy, I think it’d be in your best interest to get a bath and relax. You can give me your clothes for me to wash, and I’m sure we have some of your clothes around here somewhere for you to lay around in.” he stated as he opened the door to Stately Wayne Manor for Tim.

Tim barely said any words, and said none of all during the walk to the Manor. “Oh, okay, Alfie.” Even his tone of voice seemed down on himself.

Seeing Tim so frozen stiff over it was breaking Alfred’s heart bit by bit. He’s seen Tim shake in fear, he’s seen him panic, but never frozen. This really was different. It was obvious it would be, but seeing it in person is always a different feeling. As they went up stairs you wouldn’t know Tim was an athlete. Alfred saw how natural Tim was at acrobatics in front of his own eyes, and now he saw the young boy struggling going up stairs.

Batman wasn’t able to make it till after Tim was in the bath. So he’d have to wait a bit to speak with him. He took off his cowl and how upset he was, was immediately evident. He had a stubble covered frown, and was breathing heavily, which was odd since he came home in the Batwing. As someone who stops domestic disturbances like this when he has to, he was fuming.

“We have to do something about Jack Drake, Alfred.” said Bruce drinking the tea Alfred gave them, as they waited for Tim in the kitchen.

“Something involving the courts may I assume?” assumed Alfred.

Bruce shook his head. “No. At least not yet, unfortunately.”

“Sir, but we have the evidence. There’s no doubt we’d win.”

“He’s still Tim’s father. That means something, and is a bond that’s hard to break, and shouldn’t be broken.”

“If I was only a second or two late, I would say it’s accurate to assume Mister Jack Drake was going to strike Timothy. He reeked of liquor and tossed him onto the ground.”

“But he didn’t hit him. Sounding harsh isn’t my imperative. But accusing a child of doing something they didn’t do, wouldn’t classify as anything that’d allow Tim to leave. And again, Tim and Jack are family. We shouldn’t break a family. That isn’t a good goal to set.”

“Are you really defending a man that didn’t bother to raise his own son, that he threatened with boarding school over something he should be more sympathetic with, and berates him when Tim actually acts his own age? People can change, Master Wayne, but when people are constantly given chances, those chances should run out eventually.”

“What would you suggest, Alfred? I’m doing what's best for Tim in my eyes. If we took him from his dad he’d hate us forever. Once Tim is able to function properly again, he’ll just look at it like another incident in his life. He’ll want to go back whether he wants to or not, because in his heart he loves his father.”

“Please forgive me for what I’m about to say, Master Wayne. But your over glorification of genetic parents because of the death of your own seems to have left you forgetting that whether biological or not, your family isn’t truly who’s related to you by blood.” Alfred sighed having to speak in such a rough way. “You’ve brought in Master Grayson as your ward, and Master Todd as your son. Family is who you bring in close and who you choose to stay with, and if you all care for one another. Sir, you know this best. And I’m not forgetful that they had no parents left when you brought them in, but don’t forget that just because they live right beside your home that damage isn’t being done to a child.”

The chair Bruce was sitting on squeaked as he moved back to stand up. He made his way up the stairs to where Tim was getting a bath. He took a deep breath, and took a moment to consider his actions, and knocked on the door.

“Tim--Tim are you decent? I’d like to speak to you about what happened. Now, it doesn’t have to be right this moment. Take any moment you need. But we need to know if--”

In a quick unhesitating moment, the door opened, and Tim never looked smaller to Bruce. The vulnerable look in his eye mixed with the oversized sweater he had on. The kid was still damp from a poor job drying himself, but it didn’t stop him from leaping at Bruce and putting his arms around him for a hug. Tim rested his head on Bruce’s chest as it was the highest he could reach, and he squeezed as hard as he could. A slight tear went down Tim’s face. Did he hear Alfred and Bruce? In the moment it didn’t matter, and Bruce hugged him back in a fatherly embrace. Neither of them knew what to do.

As the hug continued on longer Bruce lifted Tim into the air in a similar matter as Jack and Tim as Tim went to make sure they were okay during No Man’s Land. Would Tim remember that and choose to stay with Jack? Did Tim still believe Jack would get better? Or would Bruce’s rare act of physical affection convince Tim to tell everything he knew to make a case to stay with Bruce? Did it even matter yet?

It felt like a part of Tim’s life died, but as an era of your life is killed, another is born. Something new you have to make the best out of. Maybe the era will stay and it’ll get better, or maybe not. The future was a mystery, and could be scary. If it wasn’t then people wouldn’t be pretending to be fortune tellers. Sometimes though, it’s best just to remember and focus on the present.

“I love you, R--um, Tim. I hope you know this. I care about you, and want to protect you for as long as I can, and if needed I’m absolutely willing to--” Bruce was cut off by a still tearful Tim.

“I love you too, Bruce.”

[makeste]

this is pretty random and you don't need to answer it, haha, but could you share your personal hcs regarding platonic todobaku with me??? 🥺🥺🥺 i'm in need, LOL, and your takes on characterization and relationships on bnha are always so spot on, so... i hope you're having a good day/night!!!!!!!💖💖💖

thank you so much! sorry it took a while to gather all of these; my TodoBaku headcanons weren’t as immediately forthcoming as my general Baku headcanons were. but here goes. the first half of these ended up being more just my general thoughts about their relationship than actual headcanons, but I eventually steered myself back on track.

first of all, this is important to note: when Katsuki says in ch. 241 that “there’s no correlation between time spent [together] and friendship”, it’s not purely out of denial. this is something he genuinely believes, having learned it the hard way growing up. for someone who seemingly led a pretty charmed life for most of his childhood, Katsuki hasn’t actually had a particularly sunshiny experience when it comes to his friendships. all of his closest childhood friends eventually left him (Tsubasa), turned on him (Deku -- from his perspective lol. obviously this wasn’t actually the case at all, but it’s how he interpreted it, and it definitely had a big impact on him emotionally), or abandoned him (that long-fingered kid, who notably fled and never looked back when the sludge monster tried to eat Katsuki back in chapter one. like, thanks for nothing, my dude).

so it’s not surprising that all of these experiences would have a profound impact on Katsuki’s ability to trust other people and accept them as real, genuine friends. in its own way his childhood was almost as isolating as Deku and Shouto’s. it’s only since coming to U.A. that he’s started to make real friends again for the first time since kindergarten. and even then, in the case of Kirishima and Kaminari and Sero, even though I think he does consider them friends, he still isn’t very open with them. because he’s learned the hard way that that can lead to hurt, and I think he’s very hesitant to ever let himself be vulnerable to that again.

but having said all that, Shouto is still absolutely correct when he says that they’re friends. and the thing is Katsuki knows it too, but he’s just reluctant to admit it. partly because the part of his brain that processes everything as rivalry isn’t sure whether Being Friends With Shouto = Losing To Shouto (IS THIS A TRAP??), and partly because of everything else I just explained above. even though by this point he knows Shouto pretty well, well enough to be reasonably sure he’s not just gonna be another fakeass groupie who turns tail at the first sign of trouble, there’s still a part of him that’s hesitant to admit that connection is there, because doing so opens him up to potentially being hurt again at some point. goddammit. why is this shit so complicated.

meanwhile on Shouto’s side of things, this poor lil bubba never had any friends growing up to begin with, so he’s not nearly as paranoid or prickly as Katsuki is. instead, he’s still discovering for himself just what friendship is all about. the interesting thing about Shouto is that since he never had any childhood friendships, in a way, the friendships that he’s making now at U.A. are his childhood friendships. and so they tend to be straightforward and uncomplicated in much the same way that very young children’s friendships are uncomplicated. “I like this person; I am going to make them my friend.” boom. done. friendship is mad easy yo.

and he does like Katsuki! sure, his personality is a bit unconventional, but there’s a lot to admire about him even so, and they actually have a lot in common! they’re both rather introverted. they’re both very serious, and I think this is something that Shouto particularly appreciates, because jokes and idioms and playful insincerity sometimes fly over his head just because he doesn’t have a lot of experience dealing with other people. but Katsuki NEVER jokes around, and he is never insincere. he says what he means, with the exception of insults, which are 90% more bark than bite. and so once Shouto figured that out, it became very easy to figure out how to interact with him. aside from that, they’re both close with Shouto’s Other Best Friend Midoriya, they both have incendiary quirks, and they both tend towards the quiet side (yes, even Katsuki) with the occasional burst of hotheadedness (maybe a bit more than “occasional” when it comes to Katsuki’s end).

and like I said, there’s a lot that Shouto admires about Katsuki as well. he really respects how determined Katsuki is, because he himself lacked any sort of clear goals for quite a while growing up. all he knew was that he didn’t want to end up being like his dad. but Katsuki is someone who has always known what he wants, and he goes after it with a singlemindedness that Shouto is almost envious of. he’s also very intelligent and quick-thinking, and Shouto knows he can rely on him in a tight spot. he’s also honest, and surprisingly principled, and while he’s definitely not the nicest guy around, I think Shouto can recognize to some degree those same types of walls that he once spent so much time building up around himself. and so he knows that to a certain extent, Katsuki’s hostility is just a front. and I think he’s both intrigued by that, and drawn to it. because every so often when Katsuki’s guard does drop and his better self briefly shines through, Shouto can see that he’s someone worth getting to know.

anyways, but enough of my rambling about their relationship, and on to the actual headcanons. first of all, I firmly believe in my heart of hearts that at some point during all of those mentally and physically taxing weekends spent training for their provisional exam, they have each fallen asleep on the other’s shoulder during the ride home. Katsuki was actually the first to do it, and it was only for a couple of minutes, but when he woke up he was absolutely mortified. but much to his relief, Shouto never said another word about it. (and if Shouto still remembers the warm, cozy feeling in his chest during those few brief minutes when Katsuki was dead to the world, with his face smoothed out and completely trusting and his breathing strangely in rhythm with the movement of the car, and if doing so brings him a sense of calm that’s hard to describe, well then, that’s no one’s business but his own.)

anyway, so because life is Just Like That, eventually of course the reverse happened. and with anyone else, Katsuki would have violently shoved them aside without a second thought, and he was almost gonna do the same here, but then he remembered he owed him (because he really did keep his mouth shut about the earlier incident, thank fuck), and so he didn’t. for almost two whole minutes, anyway. whatever. that’s more than generous, really. meanwhile no one else knows about this except for Aizawa, who was chaperoning them that day, and took mild notice at first on account of it being unusual behavior on Katsuki’s part, but then immediately forgot about it afterwards. he was proud of them both for upping their napping game, though. he respects naps.

both Shouto and Katsuki were actually scared shitless during the test of courage at the forest training camp, and if Katsuki hadn’t been kidnapped and everything had instead gone on as normal, they would have both had trouble getting to sleep that night. Katsuki actually can’t stand scary movies or ghost stories (fyi this is canon according to the third light novel, and EXCUSE HIM FOR HAVING A HEALTHY RESPECT FOR THE SUPERNATURAL. you wanna go and get your own dumb ass cursed or dragged to hell or whatever, BE HIS GUEST). whereas Shouto has next to no experience with them and doesn’t really see what’s so scary about ghosts because GHOSTS AREN’T REAL DUH, but even he feels a little unsettled when an undead swamp girl suddenly rises from the depths and crabwalks towards them in the middle of the woods.

Katsuki has on rare occasions been so drained by provisional lessons that he goes into autopilot and forgets to pretend not to be friends with Shouto, which can result in them having completely normal conversations for minutes at a time before he eventually regains enough of his senses to realize he’s fraternizing with the enemy. this is how Shouto learned about things like Katsuki’s favorite foods, and his love of hiking. the latter is actually one subject that Katsuki can go on and on about if you get him started, and Shouto very much enjoys hearing about it and never tries to stop him.

by contrast, Katsuki never intentionally seeks to gain any new knowledge about Shouto because he feels like he already knows way more than he ever wanted to. however, this doesn’t stop him from absorbing knowledge against his will by simple osmosis, and then discovering to his dismay that he’s retained the information afterward. this is why he also knows Shouto’s favorite food in return (although to be fair, I think everyone in Japan knows Shouto’s favorite food), as well as other tidbits like the fact that he likes strawberry-flavored things (because he always gets the same brand of strawberry milk from the vending machine during their lunch breaks). he hates himself a little for both noticing and remembering these stupid little details, and would rather be kidnapped again than ever admit to Shouto that he does.

Katsuki thinks of Shouto as “Todoroki” in his head rather than “IcyHot” or “Half n’ Half”, and has to make a conscious effort to use the nicknames whenever he addresses him out loud. more and more often he finds himself forgetting to do so nowadays, much to his dismay. Shouto was pleasantly surprised the first few times it happened, but quickly stopped taking notice of it, as he’s come to realize that the way Katsuki addresses people carries very little meaning regardless, since something like 75% of his actual feelings are conveyed through his actions rather than his words.

Katsuki does wish that Shouto had had the decency to choose his surname as his hero alias rather than his given name, though. he lives in fear that one of these days he’ll be required to call him “Shouto” while on duty. number one hero or not, there’s a good chance he would resign from his internship at the Endeavor Hero Agency before he ever willingly agreed to that.

and last but not least, the number one thing that Katsuki would rather jump in a freezing lake than admit to Shouto or even himself is that he actually cares about him too. and has even mostly forgiven him for wussing out at the last minute during the sports festival. he still doesn’t fully understand why he did it, but he gets that Shouto was Going Through Some Stuff, and okay yeah, he can admit that his family situation is pretty fucked up, so whatever. there’s an uncomfortable feeling he gets whenever he’s reminded of this; sort of a weird, squirmy feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever the subject of Endeavor comes up, or whenever he sees Shouto talking to the man himself. it makes him feel restless and on edge, and he never knows what to say or do afterwards, especially if Shouto goes all quiet and sullen and reflective. he wants to scream at him, or slap him on the back of the head, or grab him by the shoulders and shake him; whatever it takes to snap him out of it and ease the tension. but he knows that’s not the right way to handle it. and more to the point, he knows that he’s not the right person to handle it. and sometimes, if he’s not quick enough to squash the feeling when he senses it coming, he wonders how Shouto would react if he ever found out what Katsuki used to be like back in elementary and middle school. and he wonders whether Shouto would still be so dead-set insistent on calling them friends. and then he does squash out the thought, as viciously as he possibly can.

anyway so that turned weirdly angsty towards the end whoops. not even sure what happened there, since this is supposed to be my cute and funny ship, while BakuDeku greedily hogs all the angst for itself! lol my bad. but don’t worry, they still love each other, and Shouto is still fond and soft and equipped with bullshit-radar, and Katsuki is still rabid and in denial and a dumbass.

[scraregenrecs]

Rec Roundup - April 2021

Can you believe it's May?! Now that @sctropefest​ has run its course and so many people in the fandom are catching their breath – your rare & gen reccers included! – it's time to look at some of the fics we enjoyed from April 2021. As a reminder, we will be posting a master list of all of the Tropefest rare & gen fics once reveals are out, so stay tuned

Afternoon Delight by IAmHereIRL, Jake/David, rated E, 8652 words

Summary: This is the story of David and Jake's encounters from the end of season two to the start of season three

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: I think it’s fairly obvious by now that I’m a Jake Fan first and a human being second, so you KNOW anything with Jake’s name in the relationships tag is going to grab my attention. This is the author’s very first fic they’ve posted, and it’s just a delight — and the ending made me laugh out loud. 

Basically His Only Friend by jmda4, Alexis & Johnny (background Alexis & Roses, and Alexis/Ted), not rated (we'd call it G), 1414 words

Summary: Minutes after realizing that she'd miss her family, Alexis feels her stomach drop when she checks her phone and sees a stream of missed texts from Stevie.

"Your Dad's in the hospital. They don't know what's wrong."

"We're at Elmdale Hospital. He was having chest pain and couldn't breathe."

"Alexis?"

Rec [written by doingthemost]: I will forever be salty that Alexis wasn't involved in Johnny's hospital scare, and I'm also a complete sucker for Johnny's relationships with his children… so this fic was a delight to stumble upon. I'm happy to consider this part of canon from now on! 

coffee and catching up by @sarah--tonin, Patrick & Twyla, rated G, 535 words

Summary: patrick goes to the cafe the day after twyla gets back from nyc and wants to hear how it goes. because he and twyla are friends. :)

Rec [written by samwhambam]: I ALWAYS enjoy a good Twyla is friends with people fic. I love seeing her build friendships with members of the Rose family, and this fic shows a little friendship moment between Twyla and Patrick and it is so lovely! (with a little hint of Alexis/Twyla. It’s inspired by the fic Got You by colourcodedbinders

I would be complex, I would be cool by @yourbuttervoicedbeau, Alexis/Ruth, rating, 2220 words

Summary: Ruth doesn’t ask to stay the night, which is good; it saves Alexis from the awkwardness of coming up with an excuse for why she can’t. Ruth is gorgeous, and lovely, and fantastic in bed, but Alexis just isn’t looking for her next big love story right now. She’s not sure she’s over the last one.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: I'm absolutely enchanted with this world and the thought of these two confident, radiant characters getting theirs and more – and the reason why things shift from casual to the potential for more is so hilarious, I literally LOL every time I think about it. This is inventive, fun, sexy, and an utter thrill to read.  

Learn To Live On Less by @chronologicalimplosion​, Alexis & David, Ted & David, Ted/Alexis, rated T, 4509 words

Summary: For the first month and a half, even with the lists and the challenging reality of tailgates and homemade cheese balls, it doesn't even occur to David that his health might be affected by the move. His small black medicine clutch, already pre-packed in case of an Alexis emergency, had been practically the only nonissue the day the feds stormed through the house racing to touch everything of value in the house before the Roses could sweep it into their own arms. The bag had been solidly in-hand right after he emptied his cabinet of hair products haphazardly into a duffel and right before he chewed a bloody hole in the side of his mouth from the stress of having to manhandle his precious wardrobe in the name of expediency.

And then he wakes up--at a respectable 10:32--to an email from his old pharmacy notifying him that his automatic prescription refill date is coming up.

OR

The one where David Rose is a trans man and it's a little complicated transferring your HRT prescription to another country when you've lost all your money and are living out of a motel.

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: This is such a wonderfully done layer over canon that just fits. Both the ‘real time’ and the flashbacks are visceral and wonderful. David and Ted’s interactions are so, so funny, and I can’t wait for more of this series.

never thought i’d meet you here by @thankstwy and @landofsonlali, Ted/Alexis, rated G, 3716 words

Summary: David doesn’t know I’ve been writing you these letters though so this can be our little secret. One teensy little letter can’t hurt right?

Alexis and Ted exchange letters after he moves to the Galapagos.

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: Look my Ted/Alexis feelings are… too much for this forum, so let’s just say they’re a lot. Also if you’ve read… anything I’ve written you’ll know what a sucker I am for epistolary. Basically, even though this was a birthday gift for someone else entirely, it FEELS like it was made for me. There’s such a gamut of emotion in the letters that Ted and Alexis exchange, and you really feel what the characters are feeling. Also the choice for how to structure the two chapters (which I’m not going to spoil) is SO effective. And the ending! The ending. You’ll see.

Tell it to the Goats by @kindofspecificstore, Heather/Rachel, T, 23,318 words

Summary: Rachel loves chocolate cake, her houseplants, and Patrick Brewer. She's not a fan of her car breaking down on the drive out of Schitt's Creek. Thankfully Warner Farms comes to her rescue in more ways than one.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: I don't know what to say about this fic other than: READ IT! It's captivating, enchanting, and delightful, packed with lots of enjoyable Rachel introspection and queer feelings. I love how fic gives us an opportunity to expand on characters we barely get to meet and give them new life, and this is no exception. It's tagged "the wlw Hallmark movie we all deserve," and it's absolutely true.

The Seasons of Our Life by @treepyful, Stevie/Twyla, rated G (MCD warning), 666 words

Summary: Stevie used to know nothing about plants. (Stevie thinks about the late love of her life as she picks flowers)

Rec [written by samwhambam]: Beware: there is a MCD warning on this fic, but that happens before the store begins. Grief is hard and never ending and this fic perfectly describes a moment of peace after a death, where you are able to think of their memory and remember them as they were and their impact on your life and just love them. It’s short, and beautifully written and perfect and I just want to give Stevie a hug. Highly recommend.

Wake Up, Sunshine by @fraudulentzodiac, Stevie/Ruth, rating, 407 words

Summary: Stevie wakes up to Ruth making breakfast.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: This is the perfect, bite-sized fic, full of fluffy, wonderful domesticity. Despite its short length, their personalities ring true in every word. This fic is like a warm hug, just like the cozy morning it depicts.

Happy reading, friends!

[daveyjacobss]

clarity | davey jacobs

french vanilla part seven

reader x davey jacobs

summary: a stupid decision and a moment of clarity (in which maybe things aren’t as easy as they had hoped)

a/n: happy october!! not sure if anyone even remembers or cares about this series anymore but october 1st is when it all started lol so happy anniversary :) thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and i hope you like it!! (please don’t be mad at me) as always, come tell me what you though of it!! (also this is unedited so pls forgive me for mistakes)

( french vanilla masterlist )

__________

Another month passed, all of the autumn leaves were long gone and the winter chill that lingered in the air had people crowding into coffee shops and the like. Y/N had gone to breakfast a week before with Race and Spot and they'd all been texting ever since. She'd gone to Crutchie's to bring him the promised coffee and banana bread and she had stayed there for hours talking. He'd been texting her, too. Even Sarah had started to text her regularly, chatting about whatever came to mind.

Davey Jacobs had been back in her life for a little over two months and her world felt a million times brighter. It felt like, slowly, he was bringing back all of the other people that she'd lost, too. She knew he wasn't actually responsible for Crutchie, Race, and Spot being back in her life, but it felt that way. It felt like merely his presence in her world was parting the clouds and combating the winter winds.

They were meeting up again, but this time he was coming to her apartment. Her roommate was gone for a few days visiting her parents, which meant they would have the place to themselves. It would be the first time since they saw each other again in that coffee shop that they would be alone together, no Sarah on standby waiting to act as a buffer if needed. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself while she waited for him to arrive. She had already done a deep cleaning of the apartment the night before, coffee was all ready to be made if needed, their cabinets were stocked with a good amount of snacks, and she was fully dressed and ready. That left twenty minutes until he was supposed to be there for her to walk around her apartment aimlessly, trying to calm her heart and control her breathing. She didn't have any papers out for their story. They rarely seemed to get any work done for it anyway, so she thought, maybe, she would ask if he just wanted to push the story to the side for the day. Maybe they could just talk or watch a movie or make out on her couch (okay, probably not the last one, but she could dream).

It was odd being so nervous, as if asking if he wanted to simply hang out with an excuse for doing so was some big step in their relationship. Their relationship would probably have to be normal for things to be categorized as big steps, what they had was all twisted and out of order. There were big steps that they had already taken and then backtracked on, steps they had never made it too, steps they would have to find their way back to. Still, her heart squeezed in anticipation for his telltale knock on the door. Alex would tell her how annoying her pacing was, but Alex wasn't there so she continued to stomp around.

Davey got there exactly eight minutes early, his knock loud against the wooden door. She startled like a cat, tensing immediately and practically jumping out of her skin. Her heart beat sped up to impossible rates, she felt like if she waited a few seconds more she would be able to watch it hop out of her chest and start doing laps around the building. Determined not to give it the chance, she stumbled quickly over to open the door. He was running a hand through his hair as she did so, smiling when he saw her.

"Hey," he said, bristling a little as he situated his bag and his coat. She opened the door wider to let him in and closed it behind him.

"Hey, do you want me to take your coat?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, obviously amused as he shrugged the garment off his body.

"Why thank you, kind madame," he said as he handed it to her, tone mocking and jovial. She laughed quietly.

"But of course, good sir," she responded, smiling up at him as she hung up his coat. Having in the apartment made the space look different somehow—smaller, but not in a bad way. It looked more homely, she supposed, cozier with his warm presence there. She took a step toward him without even really noticing, unconsciously trying to close the distance between them. "So, do you wanna watch a movie or something? There's this YouTube video I kinda wanna show you if you're down."

She saw the look of confusion pass over his face, eyes flicking over to his bag set down on the floor. She could tell he was thinking about the story, thinking about how he had brought his materials because he assumed that's what they were doing. She held her breath while waiting for him to say something, to react in some way.

Slowly, a grin spread across his face. His shoulders seem to sag a little in relief as he met her eyes. "What do you wanna show me?"

She clapped excitedly and then grabbed his hand to drag him over to the couch, picking up the remote so neither of them sat on it. She didn't realize until she had pulled the video up that she was till holding his hand. She looked at their joined fingers with wide eyes before her gaze moved upward to his face, finding him resolutely facing the TV, his cheeks flushed pink. The corners of her mouth twitched upward.

He hadn't pulled his hand away. He was still sitting there holding her hand and not looking at her and it felt remarkably similar to how it had been when they originally started dating. She untangled their fingers and moved her hand to her lap, but the feeling of his skin lingered. She had the urge to text someone about it, an all caps freaked out rambling kind of message. The thing was almost everyone she wanted to tell about it (Race, Spot, Crutchie, Sarah) was connected to Davey. She supposed she'd have to settle for telling Alex later, with his disappointingly apathetic reactions.

Later felt like it was centuries away, though, with the thoughts running through her head. He hadn't pulled away. He had just kept holding her hand. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she turned her attention to the video she had put on. Still, she remained painstakingly aware of Davey next to her and the small space between them. She wanted to scoot over and rest her head on his shoulder, curl up around him like she used to when they had movie nights. She wanted that space gone and she couldn't stop thinking about what he might do if she held his hand again. She breathed. He laughed at something in the video. She breathed again. Time seemed to be moving strangely, like they had entered their own little pocket of the world where nothing, not even the passage of time, could reach them. She took a second to revel in it before she found herself once again glancing at Davey's hands, her own fingers twitching with the desire to reach out to him.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep pretending she wasn't in love with him.

__________

In retrospect, Davey probably should have pulled his hand away the second they sat down on the couch. All he could think about since the last time they'd seen each other, on repeat, was that she didn't love him anymore. He was torturing himself at this point, literally laying down to have his heart stomped on. When she finally detached their hands neither of them said anything, but he could feel her looking at him and he fidgeted a bit under her gaze. He wished he wasn't so nervous around her, constantly tiptoeing around the things they wouldn't talk about. Eggshells wasn't the right word for the floor their feet had seemed to find, it was far more precarious than that. There was a fear buried deep under each of their interactions that he would say something wrong, make a reference to their relationship before or, god forbid, bring up the night it all fell apart.

And yet, she had invited him over for no reason. Not to work on the story, just to exist in the same space as her and show him a YouTube video that she thought he would like (he did, it was incredibly funny). That was dangerously close to what they had once been, and the potential of it almost scared him.

He needed to start thinking of this practically. None of his friends knew that he was talking to Y/N again, Sarah was the only one. They'd only been back in each other's lives for two months after spending over a year apart because they had broken each other's hearts. She likely wasn't still harboring any secret feelings for him, not after all that time and certainly not after what he had said to her that night. Realistically, this strange little relationship of theirs wasn't going anywhere. Maybe they would end up friends in the long run, but it was never going to go any further than that. So, thinking practically, Davey needed to decide whether it was all worth breaking his own heart every time he saw her and had to pretend that he didn't feel the same way about her that he had back then.

He wanted to just bask in the moment, to sit there with Y/N and steal glances at her as she pulled up another video for them to watch. She was so breathtakingly beautiful it was almost unreal. When he wasn't thinking practically, half the time he was convinced she didn't even exist, that he must have dreamed her up. But she was real and she was there and he needed to stop looking at her before she noticed. He wanted to bask in the moment, he really did, but he just couldn't. Not this time.

They made it through four videos before he got a text from Les. It wasn't anything important, just a question about if Davey knew where his favorite hat was, but he knew that was his chance to remove himself from the situation so he could think more clearly. He told her that the text had been from Jack and he needed him back at the apartment.

"Oh, you have to go so soon?" She frowned at him, almost pouting. He nodded, standing up reluctantly. She followed suite, looking rather dejected. It made his heart ache, seeing her upset over him leaving. But that was exactly what he needed to escape, her ability to break his heart over and over and over again every time they saw each other.

Something about it all made that goodbye seem very final. He wasn't trying to erase her from his life completely, so why did it feel like this was the last time he was ever going to see her? Maybe that was what made him do it. Maybe it was her frown or the finality of it all or the fact that he was about to go out into the cold and she always made her feel warmer. Maybe it was everything and nothing all at once. It didn't really matter why he did it, all that mattered was that when they paused together in front of the door he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her securely into his chest.

She let out a surprised squeak, but then she was leaning into his touch and burrowing her face in the material of his crew neck. He held her for longer than he probably should have, just as he had held her hand earlier. Having her so close to him formed a barrier between him and any sense of his practicality, the smell of her shampoo flooding his nose and the feeling of her hands on his back soothing him more than anything else could.

He had to pull away, he knew he did. Taking one last deep breath, relishing in the feel of her body against his, he began to untangle himself from her.

He didn't make it far.

Their eyes met with their arms still wrapped around each other. He couldn't breathe, her face so close to his that he could see even the tiniest of movements of her pupils. Practicality, his brain kept screaming at him. He was making too much out of nothing, he needed to get out of there before it got to weird and then she didn't even want to be his friend anymore (more precarious than eggshells). He needed to get out.

But then she was leaning in and pulling him closer and crashing her lips against his and he figured he could probably stay a while. Forever, really, if she wanted. Screw practicality, caution to the wind, all that mattered was the fact she was kissing him.

And he was kissing back—fervently, desperately. God, he loved her. He had so much love for her he barely knew what to do with himself, but that didn't have to mean heart break and confusion anymore because she was kissing him.

He'd been stupid, thinking this was escapable. They were inevitable—of course they were, they always had been. He could see it all in front of him: his parents welcoming Y/N back with open arms, overjoyed that Davey had won her back. Les joking around with her and letting her wear his hat even though no one else was allowed to. His friends warming back up to her and all of them getting to be together like a family again. Sarah cheering him on when he told her they were back together. Nights spent together on her couch watching dumb videos that made them laugh and mornings in his bed, constantly asking for five more minutes so they could keep holding each other. Going out for dinner and going ice skating in the winter and talking walks in the park in the spring and going on day trips to the beach in the summer and frequenting coffee shops in the fall, laughing over how it all began.

It was all right there in front of him, right in his arms. He wasn't going to let it go this time, let her go. He loved her, and she was kissing him, all was right with the world.

__________

Holy shit. She was kissing him. Y/N was full on frenching Davey and she.....had not meant to do that. But he had had his arms around her and then he was looking at her with those sparkly eyes of his and he just looked so pretty that she couldn't resist.

Kissing Davey was nice, familiar. It awoke stampedes in her stomach and sent a warm tingling feeling through each of her limbs. She had missed kissing him a lot, more than she'd initially realized. It made her want to reach up and tangle her fingers in his hair, to pull him away from her door and back into the apartment where they could make out on the couch like she had fantasized about an hour ago. The tingling sensation was taking over her body and suddenly there was adrenaline rushing through her.

Something that felt like clarity broke through the haze. Maybe it wasn't clarity, maybe it was just foolishness or fear, but it broke through nonetheless.

She pushed him away as it came over her, staring at him with wide eyes. He looked wonderfully flushed and tousled, panting as he stood there. He was looking at her like he might be in shock, and she didn't blame him. She had come out of nowhere with that kiss, no time spent spent pondering the consequences or what it might mean for them.

But there were plenty of consequences to think about, millions of things running through her head at lightning speed once she finally found the sense to think of them. And, suddenly, she wasn't so sure kissing him had been a good thing. It had been too fast, too soon after everything they had put each other through in the past. She couldn't do this to him again, and she wasn't sure her own heart could handle loving him only to lose him again. Or, worse, to somehow find, as the time passed, that she would fall out of love with him. That one day she would look at him and not feel the same way, like she was still that girl behind the counter at the coffee shop writing jokes on his napkins.

And she wouldn't be able to survive it if she had to go through the loss again. She had given up so many friends for the sake of not intruding on Davey's life after they had broken up, she'd spent her entire time in Paris so sad that she could barely enjoy all the sights.

She hadn't meant to kiss him, and she really really shouldn't have. It was too much. The room felt like it was shrinking, the walls closing in on her, and even though she was panting no air was reaching her lungs.

She looked at him, at his messy hair and his red face and his eyes completely focused on her. She loved him, she really did, but she couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry," she choke out, feeling a sob forming in the back of her throat. "I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay," he breathed. The corner of his mouth started to move upward and she let out a strangled noise like a dying animal. His face contorted in confusion but she couldn't bear to stay and explain. She opened the door and walked out, rushing down the stairs until she was outside and the cold air was burning in her chest. She didn't even realize until she was a block away that she had just abandoned Davey in her own apartment.

She hadn't grabbed a coat or gloves, her body shaking in the cold as her teeth chattered. At least her phone was in her back pocket, waiting patiently for her to make an inevitable call.

The first time her and Davey had ever had a fight she had gone to Spot and Race's apartment to rant to them about he stupid he was being. Even though they had been his friends first, they listened dutifully to her and offered up their support. They had even helped her cool down with warm drinks and funny TV shows until she felt okay enough to call Davey and apologize. What had happened in her apartment wasn't exactly a fight, but it was a Davey related panic and they had always been her go-to people for that sort of thing.

She called them when she was halfway to their place, shivering violently as she walked and praying it wouldn't start snowing. Race picked up after the second ring and, when he heard the way her teeth were chattering, urged her to find somewhere warm to wait so they could pick her up.

The closest place was across the street from where she was standing, and it was the same coffee shop where she had met Davey. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, but she went inside and told Race where she was. He told her he'd be there in ten minutes, asking if she wanted him to stay on the phone while he made his way to her so she wouldn't be alone.

She told him no, but when they hung up she felt the isolation suffocating her. Everything that had happened that day weighed her down, bringing her sluggishly into a seat next to the window where she could keep an eye out for Race.

She closed her eyes for a minute, pretending she was back at home in her bed and she had never invited Davey over, never even met him again after they broke up. It tore her up to think about, but maybe the alternative—the life she had been leading before, no closure and still heart broken—was better than the mess she had landed herself in.

Race made it to the coffee shop in nine minutes and thirty six seconds, she had counted. He took one look at her and wrapped her up in his arms. It was nice, and he was warm, but it felt like Davey's touch was still lingering on her and he had squeezed too tightly on a still healing bruise.

When they made it back to Race's place, Spot was waiting for them with three steaming mugs and a soft, sympathetic smile on his face. Race had given her one of his sweatshirts at the coffee shop and she bundled herself up in it, hiding away from the world.

"What's going on, Y/N?" Race asked gently. She sighed, taking a sip from her mug. She had called them, after all, she figured it was only fair they got to hear everything.

"It's a bit of a long story..."

__________

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[lgbtqlegends]

poly!legends headcanons

alright y'all so,,, i was doing the sara/charlie/zari ask the other day and then poly!legends (smth both me and mod choco Love yet clearly don't think abt/write enough lmao) popped into my head and wouldn't leave so,, headcanon time woo!! there's not really any Set relationships it's just,,, poly!legends, so ig they're all just basically dating each other, or at least,, within the parameters of their sexualities lol so like,,, i.e. ava being a lesbian wouldn't be dating any of the guys. do with that what you will. onto the headcanons!

they have giant sleepover movie nights every single week, non-negotiable, and they gather a bunch of pillows and blankets and beebos and throw them on the floor in the rec room. they get into comfy pjs (sometimes they have onesie nights where all of them have to wear a onesie for pjs- yes even you too mick- but most times its just,,, whatever they wanna wear for pjs). they're all in a massive cuddle pile and it's practically the only time they can all have a collective date night bc there's Too Many of them to do much else lmfao

after any really hard crossover missions they forgo the cleanup and instead just have giant cuddle puddles in the middle of wherever they are, because they're all like,,, terrified about the potential of losing each other. everyone else has to clean up around them bc they refuse to move. kara always ends up in the cuddle puddle eventually, bc she pouts and looks longingly until someone tells her to go cuddle

gideon would be such a little shit lmao she would tease all of them about Everything,,, without mercy. everything is fair game. also she has,,, no idea how like half of these relationships even work out but at the same time,,, she doesn't really need to know?? she's just happy that they all found each other and that she was able to witness all of these friendships/relationships/connections form so,,, (the legends all 100% band together to get the science nerds to figure out how to let human!gideon come out every so often bc let's be honest they're all shook by her and they definitely all think she's hot lmao. gideon doesn't know how she somehow ended up in the midst of poly!legends but she doesn't really think she'd change a thing)

they have so many smaller sleepovers too like,,, in between the giant movie night sleepovers. like they all kinda more or less have their main relationship(s) or w/e but they're all still generally dating each other so it's definitely not uncommon at all for there to be smaller sleepovers in any of the rooms on any given night, because they all like spending time together but they have to limit the giant movie nights to no more than once a week bc they can't just,,, permanently set up shop in the rec room and also there are no beds that will fit All of them but they definitely cannot just sleep on the floor with pillows and blankets every night so,,, they make do lmao

all the other superteams are lowkey scared of/intimidated by the legends (and also probably just,,, a little bit scarred for life lmao) bc they've portaled onto the waverider w/o calling ahead before and they've,,, seen and heard some shit,,, and although the other superteams don't necessarily understand like,,, how,,, the legends exist and operate like they do they also like,,, respect them for it too bc like,,, they're all dating each other and they're all also Living together and they,,, have not killed each other yet (at least not Intentionally,,, and i mean,,, they get on each other's nerves and prob Threaten death but that's just How They Are,,, esp with, for the most part, emotionally constipated pyromaniac/thief and former assassin and just,,, everyone else,,, it's just How the legends Are lmao)

also there are,,, so many different levels of affection with them lmao cause like,,, you've got a few who are very openly physically affectionate with everyone (also dependent upon the other person's comfort level w/ affection though), like say ray and nate and mona, and then there's like,,, sara, who's love language Is physical touch but she's much more guarded about it and reserved with it and then there's like,,, mick who is like,,, absolutely Not with physical affection unless it's with snart or like,,, mona (and like,, lita too obvi but that's obvi parental and not some type of poly relationship lmao). but he shows his affection for everyone else in other ways lmao so,,, outside people probably find it very amusing and confusing to watch

speaking of lita, her visits to the waverider are super fun lmao it's always a surprise, she never knows quite what's gonna happen lmao. it's always an adventure n she's got so many aunts and uncles now

also?? there are,,,, So Many "meet the parents" and each time is just,,, utter chaos and confusion. quentin (and dinah) were def the most chill with it, after all they've seen (esp quentin) they're both just like "yeah alright this is just a normal tuesday". everyone else's parents' reactions range from "a little confused but supportive" to "it didn't go very well" and uh,,, anyway quentin and dinah are like,,, "fuck it we have So Many kids now" lmao

sometimes they all try to go on like,,, big proper collective dates that aren't just,,,, movie nights on the waverider, but it almost always ends in disaster lmao. they've tried lasertag and paintball, they've tried escape rooms, they've tried amusement parks,,, it just Always ends in absolute chaos and disaster

anyways that's all I've got for this headcanon post, if mod choco or I think of more at some point, we'll probably post them lmao but for now have these, and feel free to come to our inbox and send us asks abt poly!legends

[purplerose244]

Thinking journal for season 12 Prime Empire 😎😎😎 (2/2)

Here we go with the next part! I really hope we get some major big plot twist at some point, because it's all really cool but I need something to really change from good to GREAT

For now, let's focus on the next episodes!

It's the 17th of April and here we go!

GENERAL

I feel like there's little time to really pull up something, I don't know. Like, what plot twist could happen now that there just half season left with only Unagami/Dyer's identity and maybe Scott's past as mysteries? There's little space for more plotlines, that's what I think

Overall fighting scenes, character designs and game backgrounds are AWESOME!!

Let's see how it goes, maybe I'll be surprised. Wouldn't be weird for Ninjago to pull a bomb last episode 😅

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

ZANE AND PIXAL FINALLY!!! IT'S DETECTIVE TIME!!! 😎

Okay, so there is a photo, and there is a friend. As I thought, Dyer might not be Unagami at all, I feel like there's a lot of backstory coming along. I wonder if Scott has a part in this... WHERE IS SCOTT 💙

Ah, of course Kai would spend his credits on an avatar, I should've known, my flame babe can be such a dummie sometimes I mean why would you even do such a thing as buying an avat-

NEVER MIND I LOVE IT 😍😍🔥🔥 I thought him being blonde was going to bother me, I actually kinda like the change. Still prefer my baby brunette, but it's really cool as well. The best of this season are definitely the characters designs

Was that "let's fight an ogre mission" a hint for next season? I wouldn't be weird, but it's been a while since I've seen forshadowing for new season in this show

HECK YEAH THE DANCING EPISODE!!! I was waiting for this, Jaya is so cute while they are on the dancefloor 😍 They have chemistry 😘😘😘

I like the implication that Nya was really bad at dancing before Jay, like Kai covering his eyes because he cannot handle her sister not being perfect at something 😛

And Cole being the dance expert, that little tango moment with Kai I bet made many lavashippers super happy 🖤❤🖤❤

THE TRIPLE TIGER SASHAY ALL THE WAY FROM SEASON 1-2 ABSOLUTELY YES YES YES!!! AND HE DIDN'T ROAR, HE STRAIGHT UP SAID "NO ONE PUTS COLE IN A CORNER" I'M DYING!!! With this and Nya's 'catch me', I expect so many Dirty Dancing AUs from this 😂👌

JAYA BEING AWESOME HECK YEAH ❤💙❤💙

JUST LOOK AT THEM!!! Nya better say I love you back soon, like Kai and Skylor are a little behind, Zane and Pixal already said it, Jay can't stop doing it, come on girl it's your turn! 😎😎

RACER SEVEN

SCOTT IS BACK YES!!! 😍😍😍💙💙💙

Okay, I think my theory won't happen 😅 Feels like there are not enough episodes for a good reveal, and it doesn't seem like Scott is that influenced by Jay. My last idea is that perhaps he has spent so much time in the game like Jay said (POOR BABY 😭) that he doesn't remember. Maybe the moment he will come back, we will find out that it is Jay's brother/twin, I mean he still has those dragon and lightnings drawing on his back... yeah I like this theory a lot, gonna hold on to it!

So Scott is indeed a person trapped in a game, at least that's confirmed 👍

Also he's got some major issues, the poor thing, and I think there is some special reason behind him not wanting to race besides having just one life.

HERE IT COMES

OH MY GARMADON 😂😂😂 Okay, okay, it's actually better than I expected really. The scarf is cool, and so are the golden tattoos, the suit and the golden sleeve. It's just the mohawk that will take time to get used to, it's not even bad, just weird 🤷‍♀️

Racer Seven is so cool! Always nice seeing a new female character in this show that is not a love interest. I do love Nya, Pix and Sky to death, but I love variety too 💪

Really, really nice the piece of all Racer Seven's crashes! Impactful and sad, a never ending loop that she wants to break through from. That's the heavy stuff I like!

Okay, ready for the race! And I'm... scared? Like, a lot of they guys have one life?? KAI HAS ONE LIFE?? 😱😱 I hope for the best I guess 😅

THE SPEEDWAY FIVE-BILLION

Might be my favorite episode yet

Seven is SO COOL, it's another reason why I'm sad these episodes are so short! I really would had liked see her more, truly have her bond with the guys

Soooo... I guess since Scott's been in the game for 30 years it's safe to assume he's not Jay's brother/twin. To be fair it's really hard to tell a LEGO person's age😅 At this point I guess he could be either Dyer's friend, even if it sounds unlikely, or... idk, still think he could have a connection with Jay. Maybe he's like... an older brother? Libber had him a long while ago?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHY DID SCOTT HAVE TO DIEEEEEEEE??? 😭😭😭 Just when he was getting more involved, come on! He even said he wanted to try that hero stuff, I love him! WE WILL SAVE YOU MY TECH BABY!!!

Cole getting a ride from Kai, this season has some pretty good lava material ❤🖤❤🖤

I've got some major Ninjaball Run vibes from this, that brings me back 😂 Even the no rules thing is there, come on, there has to be a little bit of inspiration from it!

Still don't know what I think of the rats, kinda seems useless and annoying, gonna be honest. But it's a nice race, exciting with nothing big happenin-

Kai and Cole sacrifice for Jay

I KNOW I THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEFORE BUT I'M NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!! MY FLAME BABE AND MY ROCKY BABY!!! 😭😭😭😭 WHY PEOPLE KEEP DYING IN THIS EPISODE???

I so, so enjoyed how they did it. Like, one look between them to realize that yes, this is it, Jay is the expert and needs to go on. This is the end of our race... AAAHHH!! (Infinite shipping potential too)

Omg Nya screaming her brother's name and Jay his best friend's name, while Lloyd looks so devastated (those masks are actually kinda espressive, I really like them). Wow. This is the angst I needed, finally👌

YES SEVEN WON!!! HECK YEAH GIRL!!! SO HAPPY FOR HER!!! Also Okino in the background being happy, nice touch!

And now they are three... it's gonna end up with only Jay huh. I... I'm not ready actually, my heart 😢 They better all hug when this is all over!!!

STOP, DROP AND SIDE ROLL

I CAN SEE THEY ARE KEEPING THE FEELS FOR LAST APPARENTLY??? 😭

The music of the old school section was actually very nice, reminds me of the past, I kinda hoped The Fold were going to release some game themed songs. Been a while since I have one of those 😍

Lol, explaining the side scroll games was actually pretty cool

YES THEY ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE AIRJITSU!! Maybe they will remember they can used it, right Cole? The ladder scene? YOU CAN FLY???

OMG NYA ACTUALLY SAID CICLON-DO JUST HOW CUTE IS THAT!!! All the way from my favorite season Possession, Jay's definition of airjitzu that I actually still kept in one of my fanfictions 😂

Okay the design of the temple of madness is REALLY cool, you can immediately tell it's from an old videogame. Gives me the double vibe the googles for the first 3D movies used to give me 😂

Also look at this

THIS IS ADORABLE!! 💙💚💦 Really old style videogame 😂

And there we go!! Harumi!! Since I saw her in the set I was wondering what she was going to be, maybe an avatar or an NPC of some sort... THIS HURTS WAY MORE!!! And of course pure heart BABY boy Lloyd doesn't feel good fighting her, he had a crush on her! AND HE FREAKING SAW HER DIE!!! It's really sad that he still hopes for her to be good...

The fighting scenes are really, REALLY good! So fluid and active! This fight was really pleasant to watch, not gonna lie 💜

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOT MY GREEN BABY BOY!!!! I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT STIIIIIIL!!! 😭😭😭

Okay, down to three members. Remaining Zaptrap and water godess... omg Nya will totally die first and at that point Jay will go completely nuts. I'm both scared and DYING TO HAPPEN!!! ANGST FINALLY!!! THIS IS THE STUFF!!

Got some major Skybound feeling, like when it was only Jay and Nya... will Nya finally say I love you back?? I HOPE SO ❤💙❤💙

With the three keytana now, what will happen? I'm actually curious now, this is the exciting stuff I need! And yes I do realize it's a little weird that for getting hype I need my faves to die 😅

NINJAGO CONFIDENTIAL

OMG THEY ACTUALLY DID A DETECTIVE THEMED EPISODE BLACK AND WHITE I'M DYING 😂😂😂

The Weekend Whip with sax, never thought I needed this in my life 😍

Bet Brent had a blast recording this

Okay this is the third Chima reference I see, they better throw some Nexo Knights hits as well next season! Come on, it's about freaking knights!!!

This is not what I expected when they said there was going to be an episode with only Zane and Pixal but I'm sure as HECK not complaining 👌

Oh, seeing Pixal joining in so normally is so beautiful, I really wish we could have her even more often

Dareth's karaoke bar! From Sons of Garmaron! Also him guessing first try because the ninja really do get post in other dimensions very often 😂 Gotta love them indeed

Pff Zane narrating and getting stopped every time because of it, how I missed this naive little nindroid

So the bartender Tony is the friend? That's it? A little easy really, hoped for more... still calling him Milty is cute 💕

Buddy's Pizza from season 2!!! This season is killing me with references and I LOVE IT SO MUCH 💜💜💜

So, the mechanic is free again (the Kryptarium dudes should really learn how to do their job right 😓), Zane is kidnapped, and Pixal has a fedora that makes her possibly even cuter. I have emotions

AH!! KNEW IT!! UNAGAMI IS NOT DYER!! FREAKING CALLED IT!!... kinda expected really, but still called it 😅

So Unagami was the first name of Prime Empire and is also an AI that got crazy and was shut down, but now is back after programming the game itself and wants to get to the real world?... I'm down with it

So I'm guessing we won't get much of a Scott backstory... Eh, let's see how it goes!

THE PRODIGAL FATHER

I was seriously confused by why those dudes wanted to kidnapped Wu, but it made sense later. Still come on sensei, you're a freaking half god or something, pull yourself together 🤦‍♀️

Very nice that Pixal is the one to bring up the argument about feelings and AI. So very nice to have her in this!!!

I THOUGHT ZANE WAS GOING TO TAKE A BREAK FROM LAST SEASON, WHY ARE THEY MAKING HIM SUFFER AGAIN??? 😭

Oh finally the backstory of Unagami I'm really curious about what happened in the past and what exactly brought the shut down of Prime Emp-

I LITERALLY CARE ABOUT NOTHING ELSE BUT THIS BEAUTIFUL GAMER BOY IN REAL LIFE!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

So Scott was the first beta tester, Milton asked Unagami to make the experience as exciting as possible, and that ended very badly so the game was shut down and THEY LEFT HIM INSIDE FULLY KNOWING HE WAS THERE??? I HATE DYER NOW!!!

Although it is really interesting knowing a tech genius like him, until now we got Dr. Julien and Cyrus Borg that were plenty open about the idea of AI with feelings as meaningful as humans'. While he doesn't get that, they are only machines for him and that's the reason why he doesn't understand how much Unagami is mad and filled with need for revenge.

This is why I want more than 11 minutes, the themes of this season are really, REALLY cool. I would have loved more introspection and development.

I guess Scott being Jay's brother is officially debunked 😅 Although I am curious about the life he left behind, since he was stuck in that game for 30 years. He still has those lightnings on the jacket I don't understand...

DON'T YOU DARE LET ZANE BE DESTROYED AGAIN PLEASE I STILL CRY WATCHING "THE TITANIUM NINJA"!!! 😢😢😢😢😢😢

The portal is open, Zane might get destroyed, Unagami wants revenge, Jay and Nya are the only one left and I'm pretty sure Nya will be killed as well leaving only Bluebell so there's THAT. So yeah, this is actually pretty cool!

Two episodes left. Okay Ninjago season 12 Prime Empire, wow me 😎

THE TEMPLE OF MADNESS

This felt a little simple if I'm gonna be honest. I felt like the last mission before facing Unagami was a little basic, with nothing really exciting. Still liked it, but this is probably my least favorite episode 🤷‍♀️

Of course, put Jay is a sushi restaurant-themed level and he will kill you with puns 😂 I love this prankster

Again, the fighting scenes are dope. Definitely one of my favorite things since they changed the animation. You lose something you win something 😙

Wooo, Jay saying that he had trained for years just for kick his butt was actually cool! Bluebell is unleashing!

"And that's how we roll!". You rock we roll, am I right 😂

AH!!! CALLED IT!!! TOTALLY CALLED IT!!! MY POOR BABY BLUEBELL 😭😭

I wish Nya said that she loves Jay back though! Freaking come on girl, he is your yang!!! ❤💙❤💙

Unagami is not Dyer, he wants to get to the real world, I'm actually kinda curious about the confrontation that is about to happen... ALSO THERE BETTER BE LOTS OF HUGS WHEN THIS IS OVER

I... genuinely forgot about the dragon medallion 😅 Eh, I love dragons so I'm fine with it. Well, let's see how it ends!!!

GAME OVER

Wow, I actually love this ending?? A LOT?? After last episode I didn't have much hope, but after seeing it I gotta say, it was really great 👌👌

Thanks for not dying on us again Zane, much appreciated

Jay taking charge is quite rare and when it happens you know things are about to get crazy 😂 It was really nice seeing how sensible he could be, telling that Unagami wasn't evil after all, that he needed closure and answers

I know I miss the animation peak we reached with SoG and Hunted, but I gotta say the atmosphere of the city with the lightnings and the gray sky was really awesome. Very cool.

Pff, that part with the elevator though, reminds me of the one in season 1 that made me start watch Ninjago ✌ Also it's always Borg's Tower indeed 😂

OKINO KICKING BUTTS HECK YEAH LOOK AT OUR RONIN GO!!!

And wow. WOW. I didn't expect Jay to drop the I'm adopted bomb on us, I think I never heard him talk about it since Skybound (that technically never happened so 😅). It was SO good seeing him sympathize with Unagami because he was also left with no explaination. His desire to know, along with the hope that the past is the past, but they had a good reason for. Also he freaking said he didn't have the chance to ask because Cliff is dead and I 😭😭😭😭

And here I melted, because we finally see the situation for what truly is, the way Jay also sees it: Unagami is a kid, a child that doesn't understand how the world works, that just wants to make his father proud but got rejected instead. The confrontation was actually touching, I really wish we had more time for that. Even a little resistance from Unagami, another fight, and a finally reconcilliation with Dyer.

MY NINJA BABIES ARE BACK I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! ❤💚💙🖤💦💎

Could you seriously be cuter than this?? ❤💙❤💙 I wished for more hugs but I'll settle for this I guess 😍

Okay, very nice to see Seven and Okino out there and deciding to live their lives in Ninjago, nice to see some others like the rats going back to Prime Empire. As Unagami said, he gave them a choice, it's up to them at this point

But I'm sorry, WHY ARE WE NOT GOING TO TALK WITH SCOTT??? That guy's been trapped inside the game the longest, not even a "Hey bud, you're alive, cool cool"? I know I've been overbearing about how much I love Scott, especially since I had all those theories about him (still don't know why he has lightnings on his jacket and hat, is it just a style thing? Idk), but come on! Well I guess if he's happy I am 🤷‍♀️

Is that his girlfriend or something? After 30 years? Or maybe she got trapped with him a while later? Or maybe that's his... mom? Look, we all know determine the age of LEGO characters is hard, give me a break please 😅😅

Overall, very nice ending, it brought everything together quite nicely. I'm satisfied, yes!! 💜💜

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I said, the episodes' lenght I really think gets in the way of making this an excellent season. There is so much that could be explored more, the choice matter, all the amazing characters, and the AI feelings stuff from the latest episodes. There is room for more, I wished we got that

The characters though were really amazing. Between Scott, Okino, Seven and Unagami himself, there were very different personalities with very different dreams and thoughts, that made this ride much more interesting

Fighting animation was 👌👌👌

Comebacks from past seasons were 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

Maybe it didn't really focused on Jay as much until the end? Yeah it was about him, but we got to see his sensibility and his past only last episode. He loves Nya, he likes videogames, of course but there's more about him than meets the eye! Wished we saw that, but in general it was nice seeing him first line again 💙

I liked this season. It has flaws, but I enjoyed many parts and at the end I was left satisfied 👍

Just... wasn't Jillian supposed to be in this? Or is it next season? She said a mom was going to come back, I took for granted it was going to be Edna. I'm curious about next season now... FINALLY A COLE SEASON EVERYONE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

Thank you for leaving notes to my last rant, this helps me not jump excitedly every time a new episode comes out 😅 Well then, that's all from me!! Have a nice day everyone!! 💜💜💜

[frogsandbeesyay]

Sbi oneshots:

lol hi ig here are some sbi oneshots

Things I will do:

Angst

Fluff

Mild gore

Potentially triggering subjects

Anything that isn’t on the won’t list

Things I won’t do:

Lemon

Lime

Smut

Shipping of any sort (they’re family fuck off)

Heavy gore

SuIcIde

R@pe/sexu@l assault

Also most of these are set in a Kindof half Minecraft half real world type of thing. Like it’s their Minecraft personas but mostly un lore related.

I do accept requests but I’ll finish most of my ideas first probably unless I see one I really like :D

K let’s get started

———————————————————

Oneshot #1: accident

A/n:

No trigger warning for this one, but there is mild crying involved and mention of a bruise, so I just thought I should mention that but I don’t think it’s considered a tw.

I’m a sucker for techno and Tommy fluff :p

Techno- 17

Tommy-12

Wilbur- 17

Phil is old

————-———————————————

Techno and Tommy were really close, everyone in sbi knew that techno had a soft spot for Tommy and Tommy opened up easily to techno. Who knew that a monotone pig hybrid and a slightly annoying angst child would get along so well? Techno never admitted to having a soft spot for Tommy, but everyone could tell. It was the little things, like overprotective stances and putting extra marshmallows in Tommy’s chocolate milk. They probably bonded because of their equally traumatic pasts that no one liked to mention. But still, techno was Tommy’s big brother which meant he had to tease Tommy and annoy Tommy and vise versa. He was always careful not to overstep though.

One day, Wilbur and Phil headed off to the village for a few hours to trade with the villagers, so it was just techno and Tommy. Tommy was being extra annoying and stole the t.v remote while techno was flipping through channels.

“Hey give that back nerd” techno said trying to grab the remote out of Tommy’s grip.

“Make me pigman” Tommy giggles.

They began playfully wrestling for the remote. Techno easily pinned Tommy down onto the couch, being much stronger than him. Tommy wriggled out of techno’s grasp and held the remote higher in the air. Tommy giggled and playfully held it higher. Techno jabbed his fingers into Tommy ribs, which distracted Tommy enough to be pinned down again by his brother. Techno held him down roughly, and then for a second something flashed in Tommy’s eyes. Techno, surprised, let go quickly, and Tommy wriggled onto the other side of the couch.

“Hey nerd you good?” Techno said concerned he actually hurt his little brother.

“Yeah I’m Fine, Heres your remote,” he handed techno the remote, “bye” and rushed up to his room.

That was weird, thought techno. His brow furrowed. What if he messed something up? Did he do something wrong? He quickly walked over to Tommy’s room and stood by the door. He stopped dead when he heard tiny sniffles coming from inside the room.

“Hey Tommy, can I come in?” He asked through the door.

Tommy cleared his throat and wiped his face. “Y-yeah sure come on in!” He tried to make his voice sound normal, but winced at his stutter.

Techno walked in and saw Tommy sitting by his bed, tear lines on his face. He immediately rushed over and wrapped Tommy into a hug.

“Toms? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

He felt Tommy shaking in his hug.

“I-I..” Tommy began

“Hey, hey it’s ok.” Techno tried to be comforting, he really wasn’t good at making people feel better.

“I’m sorry I’m being such a crybaby. It didn’t even hurt that bad, I-I was just so scared that you w-were gonna-” Tommy mumbled into techno’s chest.

“No! Toms it’s fine to cry, it’s my fault I wasn’t being careful. Please never be afraid to tell me I’ve crossed the line, ok?”

“Mmk” Tommy whispered. Techno slowly unraveled from the embrace and looked at Tommy.

“Hey toms can I see your side?” Tommy nodded. Techno lifted up his shirt (PLEASE DONT MAKE THIS WEIRDDDD) and looked at his ribs. There was a small bruise from where techno had jabbed.

“Oh my god Tommy, I’m so truly sorry I didn’t mean to. And I didn’t mean to scare you either..” Techno said, guilt washing over him.

“It’s ok techie I know you didn’t.” Tommy replied, smiling.

Time skippppppppp

Phil and Wilbur came home that evening to see techno and Tommy cuddling on the couch. Techno’s arms wrapped protectively around Tommy’s small frame.

“Awww” phil cooed. Wilbur snapped a photo on his phone. Phil raised an eyebrow and Wilbur mouthed blackmail, to which Phil nodded knowingly. He loved his sons and he was glad they got along so well.

~fin~

A/n: I actually kinda liked this :) it’s really cute lol k bai

———————————————————

Oneshot #2: Claustrophobia

A/n: so Ik this has been done a few times but I really like this idea so here’s my take. Also this is more lore-based. like it isn’t actual lore but it happened on the dsmp so there’s that. Also Wilbur is Tommy’s only brother in this story, techno and tubbo aren’t related to them.

Tw ⚠️ : Claustrophobia, panic attack, Hyperventilating, crying, scratching, mention of blood

I think that’s it lmk if you find anymore

Techno- 21

Tommy-16

Wilbur-21

Tubbo-17

Phil isn’t in this one bc I’m lazy

———————————————————

Tommy POV:

I had been working on decorating my room in Pogtopia. I was decorating it with red stone blocks and pistons because I think they look cool together. I felt safe and content knowing that my friends were right out there and would protect me. I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic, but I was fine since there was still a space open for me to see.

Suddenly the red stone block sets off the pistons witch pin me up against the wall, making me immobile. I start to panic but remain calm when I remember there are people here to help me.

“Hey Wilbur?” I call out, my voice trying to maintain its signature annoying tommyinnit tone even though I’m scared out of my mind.

Wilbur POV:

I hear my name being called from the other side of the cave. Oh my god it’s Tommy again what does he want? He’s been so annoying all day. He’s my brother and I care about him a lot but he can be a little much sometimes.

“WILBURRRR” I hear again. I try to ignore him but I hear footsteps behind me.

“Can you deal with him I’m trying to farm potatoes here.” A monotone voice says.

“Yeah, fine” I say annoyed. I walk over to Tommy’s room and all I can see is one side of a piston sticking out from behind the door.

“Wil? I’m stuck can you help me please?” He says. I let out a hearty laugh. What a Tommy thing to do.

Tommy POV:

I was expecting Wilbur to help me out, not to laugh. Surely he’d let me out soon, right?

“Hey techno, tubbo look at this, Tommy got himself stuck between pistons,” he says giggling. My heart sunk. I could feel myself getting more and more panicked, help help help.

I hear footsteps signifying that the other people had arrived.

“H-hey guys can you please help me, I have really bad claustrophobia” I say, trying to keep my voice strong. I’m met with laughter. I can barely see through my door, it’s my only source of light and I’m grateful.

“Tommy, you’re such an idiot.” A monotone voice said. My eyes start to sting let me out let me out let me out.

“What if we blocked off the door that would be funny” I hear tubbo say. No, tubbo knows about my claustrophobia, he wouldn’t, no.

“Good idea haha” I hear Wilbur say, still laughing. My stomach sinks to the ground as my only light source is cut off.

I feel myself slipping, beginning to panic but trying to muffle my sobs.

Technoblade POV:

I’m laughing along with the others at Tommy’s stupidity when I hear a sniffle come from inside the room.

“Is he crying?” I ask quietly. I’d never seen Tommy cry before. Wilburs eyes widen.

“Oh shit. I thought it was a bit.” Tubbo says his voice cracking. “He really is claustrophobic.” Wilbur hurries to open the blockade. It opens and we see Tommy curled up onto himself between the pistons, sobbing quietly and covered in blood. Wait- blood? No one moves a muscle out of shock. I break out of it and swiftly pick up the sobbing boy my arms and hold him close. I’m horrible and physical contact but he really needs help.

Tubbo and Wilbur follow me out of the room, both of their eyes already shining with unshed tears. I gently set Tommy down on the ground and he immediately curls up on himself in a protective position.

“L-let me out” he mutters. My heart breaks. Tommy and I weren’t close but he was just a kid and I did care about him. Tubbo starts to cry. Wilbur rubs tubbo’s back while I clean Tommy’s wounds. He has gashes on his arms and hands that looked like they were scratched in. I realize he must have scratched himself during his panic attack. A silent tear flows down wil’s face. I can see the guilt in his eyes. I clean his wounds and bandage them up. Then he sits up, having calmed down.

“Hey toms, you good?” I ask quietly. He slowly nods. Then he looks around the room and his eyes widen when he sees Wilbur and tubbo crying.

“G-guys it’s fine I-I’m ok!” He tells them.

“No, it’s not fine,” Wilbur says, “we should have listened to you and realized you needed our help. I’m a horrible big brother.” Tommy leans in a hugs Wilbur and tubbo.

“It’s ok, I forgive you guys, just- never again, ok?” We all nod quickly.

“I’m sorry too.” I add in. “For laughing at you when you needed us.” I finish, my cheeks red, I didn’t like apologizing, but I knew I need to. Tommy nods in forgiveness. He’s truly like a brother to me.

A/n: I don’t like this one as much and i kinda lost motivation towards the end but I think it turned out fine :p this one took really long lol

———————————————————

Oneshot #3: Family movie night

A/n: Ik this has also been done before buts it’s adorable so I’m doing it

Techno- 18

Tommy-13

Wilbur-18

Tubbo-13

Ranboo-13

Phil is old

No trigger warnings, just fluff :D lots of platonic cuddling though so beware

———————————————————

Techno, Wilbur and Tommy all got home from school at the same time. They all immediately dumped their bags down by the door. Techno and Tommy stomped up the stairs to their rooms and Wilbur slumped down onto the couch.

“Jeez what’s with you guys today” phil said confused at his children’s behavior. Usually they come in and greet him at least.

“I’ve had a really long day, techno too, I don’t know what’s wrong with Tommy though, he was like this on the bus, too.” Wilbur says from the couch. Phil nods his head and goes upstairs to check on his Children and make sure they’re ok.

He knocks quietly on Techno’s door. He hears a grunt of approval so he opens the door. The pinkette is sitting on his bed with a math book on his lap.

“Hey Phil” he says looking up.

“Hey Techno, what’s up?” He asks, taking a seat by the pig hybrid.

“Nothing much, Im a little stressed out about schoolwork though.” He says, eyes returning to the book. Phil nods in understanding. He was in high school once, he remembers how stressful it can be.

“Maybe we could have a movie night tonight, once everyone finishes. You guys have been working really hard, you deserve some time off.” Phil says.

“That sounds nice.”

Phil nods and leaves techno to study, going left to Tommy’s room. He knocks on Tommy’s door.

“Come in.” Tommy says, in a rather weak tone. I walk in, slightly concerned. I see Tommy sitting on the floor, his arms wrapped around his knees, staring angrily at the wall.

“Toms? What’s wrong?” I ask, kneeling down to look at him. His brow furrowes.

“Am I a bad friend?” He asks, still not making eye contact.

“No toms, of course not. What make you think that?” I ask.

“Then why does tubbo like ranboo so much more than me?” He says, “I thought I was supposed to be his best friend”, he finishes, his voice cracking.

“Toms look at me,” I say and he turns to face me. “If tubbo is making you feel left out then tubbo is the one not being a good friend. Just because he’s excited about his new mate, doesn’t mean it’s gonna be this way forever, ok?” Tommy thinks for a second then nods.

“We were think about having a movie night tonight just like we used to.” I say. Tommy’s eyes light up in excitement.

~time skip lmao~

“Will can you pass the ketchup?” Tommy asks. Ever since he was little he liked to dip his popcorn in ketchup. Will also liked this, but techno and Phil found it absolutely disgusting. They were all sitting together on the couch, Tommy resting in wills arms and Phil’s wings wrapped around everyone lovingly.

“So what movie are we watching?”

A/n: super lame ending Ik but I liked the rest ig. Stay safe stay hydrated Luv u

———————————————————

Oneshot #4: My son

A/n: Here’s some actual Angst. This is very lore based. I know that there’s one of these in literally every oneshot book but here’s my take bc I want to.

Wilbur- 19

Phil is old

Tw⚠️: insanity, death, sword

Phil’s POV:

I look into the pleasing eyes of my son, begging me to end his misery. I think about not doing it, I really do, but I can’t look past the begging in his eyes.

My hands tighten around the grip of my sword. I watch as my son’s eyes change from begging to excitement for blissful relief. The fresh smell of gunpowder lingers in the air as I raise my sword in preparation.

A small part of me says that I won’t actually go through with it, but I will. I raise my sword higher and get it positioned to kill.

“Dad?” He says. Just that word, that heart wrenching word makes me hesitate. Is this really what he wants? To be mercy killed by his own father?

“I’m sorry.” He finishes. Every fragment in my body tells me not to kill him, but his eyes are so compelling. I have to. The message is sent, he’s ready.

My sword plunges through my son’s heart.

A/n: Woahhhhh ok so that was intense. But anyway I hope you enjoyed :))) I promise I will make up with it with some tommy/techno fluff in the next chapter. Stay safe and drink water <3

[mousehole5000]

more tgcf chapters 143-173 lets goooooo

PEI MING BOO HISS except actually okay he’s mostly funny i think but still boo hiss

“hey who’s this guy who’s really pissed at you?” “oh thats my sword. i broke it.” alright then!

i think i need to go back and reread the banyue pass arc bc im still confused as to whats going on with banyue and pei su

“Banyue dropped from the sky with two pots raised. Without a word, she plummeted with the mouths of the pots facing down, trapping and detaining the shocked Ming’guang and the roaring Ke Mo within.” - THATS MY GIRL

“It must be known that, to heavenly officials, it certainly was more than natural for kingdoms of the mortal realm to fight and annihilate one another; the acts of these plays progressing on endlessly. But when it came their own turn, it was often hard to let things go. If one must stand in the same court as the one who annihilated their own kingdom, and that man cavorted in the heavens, exceedingly flashy, then it must be vexing.” - hmmmm!!

“I’ve spoken too many words in this lifetime. What are you referring to?” - okay to be fair thats a mood

okay its nice to get some pei ming backstory and its funny that he and xie lian are bonding but also still whenever pei ming interacts with a female character my hackles rise like a cat lol

“Xie Lian watched as Banyue thought really hard before cheerfully pulling out a few long, wine-red scorpion-snakes, and putting them into the bubbling pot.” - THATS MY GIRL

“Although “smell” was something colourless and formless, the instant Banyue removed the pot cover, it was as if some mysterious physical object had twisted all the air around the mouth of that pot. The group stared at the sight within the pot for a long time. Their pupils reflected an endless, bottomless darkness; like it could pull them into the abyss. No words could describe the sentiment expressed within their eyes. A moment later, Xie Lian patted Banyue’s shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.” - like father-figure like daughter-figure. amazing.

“However, what if one day mortals discovered something completely new that ran faster than horses? Then, when this new invention overtook horses, worshippers of this heavenly official who controlled horses would inevitably decrease. Such heavenly officials, flashing by like shooting stars, made up the majority of the heavens.” - obsessed with this, genuinely. life and change. worship and its purpose. my religious studies diploma on my wall is screaming at me rn. ALSO i am once again thinking about celebrities

“...” It was only then that Pei Ming seemed to notice, and started to contemplate this question. A moment later, he answered, “A habit. In a dark, creepy place like this, isn’t it normal to hold women in your arms, to comfort them and calm their fears?” “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t scared,” Banyue said.” - BANYUE I LOVE YOU. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. god this takes me back to every college party i ever went to

LING WEN BACKSTORY????? shoeseller chosen for godhood bc she wrote a political essay and got arrested...... and now she’s face to face with the official who appointed her..... do go on.....

“Ling Wen laughed out loud, seeming to be enraged, and her voice dropped. “Very well! You said I couldn’t reach that high. Then, might I ask you: had the prominence of the Palace of Jing Wen at its peak ever reached even the knees of my Palace of Ling Wen??” - GET HIM!!!! BOO HISS JING WEN

“Compared to you, I’m not that bad,” Ling Wen said. “You’d personally order me to stay in the Palace of Jing Wen until midnight, then turn around and say I shamelessly hang around ‘til late to harass you. Words murder without form; I was much nicer responding with blatant violence.” - ling wen im love you..... also this bit... feels Real

BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN BLOOD RAIN!! FLOWER PETALS TRANSFORMATION!!! see hua cheng? look as how cool it can be when you leave the story for a little while!! bc then you get to return and make an entrance!!

“Not only can you bring forth bloody rain, you can also make flowers shower. I didn’t know that. How fun!” - cute!! and in that moment we were all xie lian

“Everyone was stunned by his deed, and Ling Wen arduously gave him a thumbs-up. ”Ol’ Pei, what a man!” Pei Ming gritted his teeth. “WELCOME!” - aww three two tumors buddies!!

okay yin yu is here and xie lian did the equivalent of asking someone when the baby is due only to find out theyre not pregnant at all. then rong guang taunts yin yu and no one says anything. i do love the amount of awkward moments in this book tbh sometimes there are no words.

“All around was sand and mud crushing at him, exceedingly suffocating. The sand and mud was also moving endlessly; the feeling was like he was swallowed into the stomach of a giant monster, and that monster had also eaten a bunch of other things besides him, tumbling everything in its stomach, trying to digest” - ooooh creepy!!! the red string thing... is cute.... also xie lian being able to see hua cheng’s butterfly vision by looking directly into his eye is kinda cool. and obviously homoerotic.

“Are lower-ranked heavenly officials below other people?” Quan Yizhen asked. “No,” Yin Yu replied. Were they not? It was obvious that he himself didn’t believe in his own words, and Quan Yizhen also noticed. A good while later, he said bluntly, “I don’t like it here.” Yin Yu said nothing.” - im having emotions. and then yin yu also saying he doesnt like it there either.... also idk how this scene is going to play out but as much as im enjoying quan yizhen being an icon i can also possibly see how yin yu could eventually get to the point of “i am tired of being nice. i do just want to go apeshit” even if he really cares about qyz. it happens </3

“Indeed,” Hua Cheng said. “Half a year later when Quan Yizhen actually ascends, he won’t find it so funny anymore.” “Can we watch that part too?” Xie Lian asked. “We can. Hold on,” Hua Cheng replied.” - quan yizhen king of taking things literally. also why did this turn into hualian having a movie night

jian yu seems like the kind of asshole who would purposely give someone regular soda when they specifically asked for diet soda. god yin yu is really having a bad day i really feel for him in the whole situation with the brocade immortal

awww okay at least jian yu tried to take responsibility. im still mad at him tho that was objectively a terrible idea. god this whole situation sucked :(

“Rocks and earth crushed at them from all around, forcing their bodies to press tightly against one another, their faces brushing, their ears warm. Although it wasn’t the right time, a thought flashed through Xie Lian’s mind: “‘To die buried together’ doesn’t feel so bad.” - okay... im kind of emotional.... gay people....

okay obviously these murals and the prince of wuyong have some connection (im guessing pretty direct) to xie lian and are important but everytime they start analyzing one i feel like im back in art history class fhadskfhskjdhf not that thats a bad thing!! i liked art history a lot tbh

“Don’t worry, they’re not human,” Hua Cheng said. “It’s precisely because they’re not human that we have to worry, alright….” Xie Lian thought.” - goth ghost bf problems

xie lian: well, there is one person i trust more than anyone else, someone who’s first in my mind hua cheng, oblivious: oh :/ xie lian, also oblivious: what? hua cheng: you shouldnt trust so easily its dangerous xie lian: oh. haha. yeah. well. wanna,,, know who it is? hua cheng: its :) fine :) it :) doesnt :) matter :) but of course you can tell me if you want to gege xie lian, internally: well now ive made it weird hua cheng, 5 minutes later: actually i need you to tell me. right now. its totally for your security me: gay people smh

“As they suspected, he had been captured by Qi Rong. Although no one was bound by ropes, there were balls of greasily green ghost fires hovering over every one of their heads.” - completely off track but anybody else remember the great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts song

“Could there actually come a day when Qi Rong was embarrassed that someone might see the manner in which he ate? Before Xuan Ji entered, she put Guzi down. Guzi, ta-ta-ta, ran in, rushing straight to Qi Rong’s side. But when he saw him, he pointed his finger. He cried, “Dad is eating bad things in secret again!” “I’m not!” Qi Rong retaliated.” SCREAM IS QI RONG LEARNING THE POWER OF LOVE NOOOO also god that poor man whose body he has im starting to doubt if he’ll ever be free jimmy novak flashbacks

everytime we get another ghost king power somewhere someone should be writing hua cheng the cyborg bf in a high tech futuristic au i think thats the only other potential setting that could truly capture this wild ride

“In truth, throughout history, there was no man in the world who didn’t love bragging. A breeze could blow the handkerchief of a brothel girl into a man’s hand, and he would turn around and say the most beautiful of renowned escorts had fallen in love with him; holding shoes and wiping benches for the emperor’s mistress’s uncle’s grandson’s cousin’s mistress would for sure become him being an important administrator at the residence of royal relatives, raising his status. Thus, men who didn’t brag were a rare species.” - SCREAM this is going in my favorite tgcf quotes folder god... mxtx come here let me shake your hand

read the story of rain master yushi huang’s ascension. why am i crying. also this bit im crying again me with my stuffed animals “Thus, while Yushi Huang was cultivating at the Temple of Yulong, every time when she went to seek water and passed that door, she would rub the head of that ox. The door knocker soaked in her essence of life, and when the Rain Master ascended, the ox ascended with her.”

okay thats enough for now i have 7 more chapters to book 4!!! woo!!!

[macklives]

session 81 end

wow, okay, first things first

AC!!!!!

shes so fucking cute holy shit i love her so much i dont even know where to begin??

i mean i guess its because im so used to troll snark and the way they just? banter constantly? seeing someone who is a literal ray of sunshine is so refreshing and wholesome and pure. god she’s great. shes a cat, she knows her stuff. she’s strong and theres also this guys???? who shes scared of?? and tells her what to do??? yeah no, idk who it is but let her make her own decisions lol

maybe its just over exaggeration or whatnot, and hes not bad but first impressions do a lot to me and right now the only thing i know about this guy is that AC needs his approval for everything. i guess ill see where that takes us. hopefully nowhere bad. but AC seems like she can take care of herself and knows how to be a good decent troll and i love her for that. wow it literally took me one dialogue to like her. damn, that was fast. jesus.

you know who else is great?

terezi.

yeah i know right. and that whole trial thing, which yeah i guess half the time i was confused by what the fuck is going on since i still cant grasp the idea of how alternia works, but i enjoyed myself with lemonsnout and how terezi roleplays and how much she gets into it. seeing a character that passionate about something is so sweet and nice.

god this was just a nice overall session

which i say, while i completely forgot about the banter TA and karkat got into

right, that happened. oh my god. they both literally stomped all over each other, dissed one another, still made up in the end because apparently thats their friendship and i guess it just works like that. depends on the friends you have, i guess.

its funny though, not gonna lie

and karkat as of now is just being a prick and honestly? 

like more than usual, which i guess is weird to say but i mean from present time to beginning of hivebent karkat. not that its uncommon for him to be a prick, he is, but seeing him go through the non-linear pattern with john is mmmmh interesting to say the least. though we havent seen his first trolling, just him constantly going “oh god what did i say, i was dumb” u know, not in those words but thats basically what he means. 

ooh im gonna analyze, i feel like analyzing right now my fingers have already typed so much as it is MIGHT AS WELL

and our candidate will be *drum rollll* karkat wow predictable (its below the cut because this is literally irrelevant now to the session)

okay, lets lay out the shit we have already. as i said before, the way he talks presently to john (meaning in the future) is so different than how he speaks to everyone now. of course the “i hate the world” personality is still there, and hes still just regular karkat, but karkat talking with john is patient to some extent and tells him what he needs to know for the game, lowkey kinda chills out once they started talking about movies or growing up as huh, didnt he say larvae or smth?

okay that whole grub thing makes sense now as i just wrote that but i am still confused as to what the FUCK that is implying because i dont think it crossed my mind this much, im repressing it for now until it comes up later. 

anyways, back to what i was saying. he was so DIFFERENT than the way he’s acting now which is bitch and moan and like? stfu karkat lmfao. i mean, its not THAT big of a difference in character, because i know he’s still his grumpy old self, and theres a lot of potential.. for growth? not sure if we’ll get it but i like to assume we will get character growth from these characters with fucking 8000 pages talking about them. but a story needs that growth and with karkat being just a straight up angry dude, in MY EYES, he should.. have growth, no? idk HOW he will grow, but im basically just taking what i have right now which isnt much but i analyze things for fun sometimes so let me be.

that being said, because its so early on, im not sure where homestuck is gonna go and i dont have much to go on but being in the psychology course shit happens when you have limited information and you gotta pin point what makes a person a person and how do they cope with things to grow further into life. many of my assignments involve limited info so honestly, not that hard.

but it is something that ive noticed, the way karkat is different as he grows which possibly means the whole veil thing happens later later on in his life and we havent yet seen that small growth become patience and not whining every time he doesnt get what he wants. but growth is common and it mostly likely happens to everyone, so its not like wow this is a surprise and a plot twist, more of something that i just wanna write for the sake of writing it. i hope that makes sense? i dont exactly know where im going with this. i just mean that im basically going to analyse karkat a tiny bit so idk how to otherwise explain it but you’ll get where im going with this as i type more lmao. 

anyways, so karkat literally said “pretend i dont think highly of my friend’s talents” as if he’s visibly trying to force himself from all emotions and bash on those who do (reference: “stop being sensitive, its repugnant” or whatever tf he said while TA replied with “hypocrite”) i take that as a key word. so honestly, while that was the smallest thing ive gotten from this session, its the thing im most curious about actually and i actually havent mentioned lol. because what ive learned in psych, which this is just common knowledge but i did an assignment on it so like?? could be useful?? is that people who hold off their emotions tend to hold off others as well, so there is no chance of mirroring each other. in other words, if someone is happy and starts to laugh and goof around with another, the emotions will mirror that other person subconsciously. like an addictive laugh. theres also another way to show mirroring, which is to mimic another person's actions, allowing another to establish a sense of empathy and thus begin to understand another person's emotions. in this case, im using TA and karkat as example. people who suppress emotions tend to see emotions as a bad sign and if somebody else portrayed any sign of it as well, they’ll basically say “gross what are you doing” because theyre so used to concealing it away, that they dont want others to think theyre into the whole mushy shit. so they pretend to hate it, pretend to not even be slightly affected by general sensitivity..

which basically means karkat is a softie, and even if he’s a prick right now, meeee thinks john, from earlier convos, is growing on him because john himself knows how emotions work and while i dont think troll culture does know much about it, considering the BLOOD AND CARNAGE thing, he is in fact growing and even if thats obvious, and you all know it, i am new to homestuck and am trying to see that for myself. its noticeable to some degree. he may always still be a jerk, but i am waiting to see how he slowly starts to accept things around him and to finally show what hes hiding inside. even if its just going up by a few percentages, i see its there and im hoping VERY HOPING he has the biggest character growth!

in other words, why else do i think this?? well nobody who watches romcoms can be that fucking aggressive. you need some sap in you to like it.

on that note, ill probably analyze alternia’s system and rules in another post later throughout these next few sessions because i feel it needs to be talked about and the way everything just.. is so different and doesnt seem right, you know?

thats it for now goodnight

[anotherkpopvictim]

Seven Is Our Lucky Number - OT7 Story Chapter 4

(Gif Source - me) ((Doesn’t this gif really just capture the essence of JinKook’s relationship tho? hehe))

Chapter 4: When Seokjin met Jungkook

A/N: Ooh, a new pairing I haven’t focused on before! Sorry it took a few days more than I expected but I struggled to get my thoughts into words I liked. Hopefully, it was worth the wait.

Relationship: BTS X BTS (Seokjin X Jungkook focused)

Rating: G

Words: 3372

Fluff

DISCLAIMER (I always seem to have one lol): I don’t know much about the audition process for entertainment companies in South Korea, so I went with what I did know and kind of fudged the rest.

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July 12, 2011

When Seokjin was approached by the talent scout for BigHit Entertainment a few months earlier after being seen getting off a bus, he didn’t think he’d end up auditioning to possibly become an idol.

He’d then attended the audition for actors at the company and the CEO had asked him if he’d ever been interested in singing or dancing as well as his acting.

At first, Seokjin was taken aback and a little heartbroken, thinking that it was the man’s way of telling him he wasn’t talented enough when it came to acting. He’d spent a couple of years as an acting major at university already and he feared it was all going to waste.

The CEO quickly clarified that he was asking because he was looking for potential members of an idol group and something about Seokjin called to him (whatever that meant - Seokjin tried not to look into it that much). He explained briefly that he planned for this group to have a large acting element to it, much to Seokjin’s surprise.

In all honesty, the thought of becoming an idol had crossed his mind before. He knew that companies sometimes looked for good-looking young men and women first before they did talent (a hard truth for some to swallow). The idea hadn’t panned out simply because Seokjin could not dance for his life and his singing voice was average at best.

After listening to an impromptu performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (yes, Seokjin really sang that - it was one of the only songs he could trust himself to remember all the words to in his nervous state) the CEO gave him a genuine smile and told him he thought he had great potential. He asked him to come back a couple of weeks later for the idol trainee auditions with a prepared audition song.

Seokjin was excited. He hadn’t necessarily looked at music as a possibility for his future before, but now that a potential opportunity had presented itself, he found himself falling in love with it. He worked tirelessly on his audition song for weeks, even asking his vocal coach friend to give him some tips to make his voice sound better.

The hardest part - surprisingly - was sitting in a large practice room at the company with about twenty others hoping to make it as trainees. Everyone was nervous, but some more obviously than others, and the aura of the room was sparking with anxiety. Most of the young men were in their late teens or early twenties, so the one boy sitting in the corner, obviously the youngest by a few years, definitely caught Seokjin’s eye.

The boy had a nose slightly too big for his face, baby fat still settled on his cheeks. He was staring down at his fidgeting hands in his lap, radiating nervousness. He was curling into his black sweater like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

Seokjin felt a wave of protectiveness go over him, startling him. He’d always been the youngest in his family and mid-age in his friend group, so to suddenly have the urge to look after a stranger was certainly odd for him.

He found himself standing up instinctively and walking across the room to where the boy was seated separately from everyone else.

“Hey,” he began softly.

The boy’s head shot up and the dark bangs that had been previously covering the top half of his face revealed a set of large doe eyes. They sparkled and glistened brightly even under the unflattering fluorescent lights. He looked up at Seokjin like he was a predator about to eat him - a scared little bunny rabbit.

“It sucks that they’re making us wait in anticipation, right?” Seokjin took a seat next to the boy as nonchalantly as he could while still remaining a respectful distance away from him. “I’m super scared, and you looked scared too, so I thought maybe we could be scared together?” It wasn’t a lie - Seokjin was nervous too, he just managed to hide it better than most.

The boy’s eyes tracked his every movement tensely and Seokjin could swear he hadn’t even blinked once since he approached.

“Um...I...” the boy stuttered, eyes finally averting to his lap once more. “S-Sure.”

Seokjin smiled kindly, “I’m Seokjin. You can call me hyung, though.”

The boy’s baby cheeks turned pink, “I’m Jungkook.”

Jungkook appeared to be so timid that Seokjin briefly wondered if auditioning to be an idol was the right decision for him. Being an idol required some level of confidence and this boy hadn’t shown him one sign of that yet.

“How old are you?”

“I’m thirteen,” Jungkook replied, “How old are you, Seokjin-ssi - ah, I mean - Seokjin-hyung?”

The older had to bite back a fond smile, “Nineteen. What’s your favorite color?”

Jungkook looked a bit taken aback by the sudden random question but replied, “Ah...it changes a lot but right now it’s red. Yours?”

“Mine changes a lot, too. Probably...a light fuchsia or the color of coffee with seven creams and two sugars and a caramel shot.”

Jungkook briefly looked up at him with a mixture of emotions, “That’s...specific.”

“Mhmm,” Seokjin hummed, “What’s your favorite movie?”

“Iron Man,” the boy replied easily. “Yours?”

“I’m a sucker for any American classics - Gone With the Wind and Casablanca. What’s your favorite animal?”

“I don’t know...panda bears maybe. You?”

Seokjin pursed his lips in thought, “I’ve always liked alpacas.” Now that the ice was broken between them and Jungkook had relaxed a bit, Seokjin asked another question - this one a little more personal. “So, Jungkook-ah, what talent of yours brought you here?”

“Oh,” Jungkook blinked, “Um, my dancing. I’m not like great or anything but it’s really fun.”

“Well, I’m not much of a dancer myself. Or a singer,” Seokjin replied. “My handsome face got me here.”

Jungkook couldn’t help the chuckle he let out, “Hyung! Isn’t it a little narcissistic of you to say that?”

“Only if it weren’t true - which, clearly I’m extremely good-looking, so...”

Jungkook chuckled more openly this time, “You’re silly, hyung.”

Seokjin opened his mouth to say more but was cut off when a woman entered the room. She was the one who had escorted Seokjin to this room earlier.

“Hello, everyone!” she started, gathering everyone’s attention. “I hope you have worked hard to prepare your performances, whether that’s just for singing or singing and dancing. Now, I’m here to tell you about the next part of the audition.”

The next part? Seokjin furrowed his eyebrows. There was more?

“There are twenty-two of you here today, and the CEO would like to see short duets from you to see how well you can work with others. You can choose your own partners, and let’s try to be kind to each other, yes? You will be judged separately in the end. You’ll have two hours to prepare an acapella song before we call you in. Three of our vocal coaches are on their way here to assist you with anything. Go ahead and partner up and let me write your teams down.”

Everyone turned to look at each other with slight insecurity in their eyes at this sudden addition to the audition. Some of them - who were obviously friends - immediately grabbed onto each other in claim and headed over to the woman to get it written down..

Seokjin didn’t think twice before turning to a worried-looking Jungkook, “Do you want to be partners, Jungkook-ah?”

The younger eyed him with something akin to terribly hidden relief, “Yes, yes, please.”

The two of them stood up and waited in line to tell the woman they were partners. When they got there, she looked at them with a gentle smile. “Alright, Jeon Jungkook and Kim Seokjin. You guys are group number seven, okay? Remember your number for when we call you later.”

The next three hours kind of went by in blur thanks to the anxiety-fueled adrenaline running through Seokjin’s veins. He might appear on the outside as not all that bothered, but inside he did worry, especially because he did not like surprises.

What Seokjin does remember of those three hours was hearing Jungkook’s angelic voice. He was shocked when the younger had first sung, his voice shy but undeniably captivating. The boy had said earlier that he was at the audition because he was a good dancer, but he was obviously naturally talented in the singing department as well.

They worked well together as they fell into a more productive mood. They decided to sing a rendition of IU’s Good Day after Jungkook admitted to really liking the song. Seokjin knew of the song and couldn’t say no to the younger boy after seeing the obvious blush dusting his cheeks.

One of the vocal coaches was only able to help them for twenty minutes before he had to move on, but truthfully, Jungkook and Seokjin were doing really well on their own. Their voices harmonized nicely and fairly easily.

Before they knew it, the woman returned, giving the room of potential trainees a hopeful smile. “I hope you are prepared. I will be selecting a group at random and once you are in the audition room, you will perform both your solos and duets.” She looked down at her clipboard and bit her lip in thought for a moment. “Let’s go with group 4 first, please.”

Jungkook and Seokjin kept practicing with their extra minutes, holding their breath in anticipation when the woman came to grab the next group four more times only to let it out when they weren’t called.

“Group seven, please,” she announced finally.

Jungkook was shaking with nerves as he and Seokjin followed the woman out of the large room and down the hallway.

Seokjin nudged him with his own arm to get his attention. Large eyes rounded on him. “You’re amazing, Jungkook-ah, and you’ve worked hard for this. You’ll do well, I know it.”

“O-Oh,” Jungkook stuttered before breaking into a smile. “Thank you, Seokjin-hyung. You’re going to do great, too!”

The audition room had four company members, including the CEO, sitting at a simple table. The boys didn’t waste any time in starting, beginning with introducing themselves and then singing their duet. Jungkook and Seokjin kept glancing at each other for support during the song and it went off without a hitch. The judges liked it as well, complimenting them on their good work together.

Next came Seokjin’s solo audition. Jungkook sat in a chair at the side of the room and watched on with awe as his hyung sang his heart out. Seokjin didn’t feel like he’d done too badly, and the CEO complimented him on his astonishing improvement from the last time.

Jungkook had prepared a short song to sing as well as a short dance. Seokjin was immediately captivated by the younger’s sheer talent once again when the boy began dancing.

He moved to the beat and hit the moves so smoothly, his passion was easy to see. The confidence Seokjin had thought the boy lacked earlier was shown clearly now.

Jungkook gave a hopeful smile to the room once he finished, accepting a water bottle from Seokjin gratefully. The judges praised him for his natural talent and ability to remember the fairly complex choreography he’d performed.

Then, after a few minutes of the four judges talking amongst themselves, the CEO called Seokjin to stand next to Jungkook.

“On your own, the two of you are thoroughly charming,” Bang PD said, “Together, you sounded even better. You two have no doubt passed the test to become trainees, but I would like to offer you both another option as well.”

Jungkook and Seokjin glanced at each other in happiness and confusion at the CEO’s words.

“I’m in the midst of putting together a group, and I feel that the two of you would be a great addition to it. You’re both obviously extremely hard-working and talented and have a natural charm to you. That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

Seokjin obviously knew about the possibility of joining the group from his last conversation with the CEO, but it appeared Jungkook didn’t. He was completely frozen next to Seokjin, as still as a statue with his eyes blown wide.

Bang PD smiled gently, “You don’t have to make a decision right now, of course. I’ll give you two pamphlets to take home today - one for more information about the group and what it would entail, and the other information about being a trainee.”

He handed both of them two large packages of paper clearly labeled exactly as he’d said.

“Jungkook, you will, of course, need to get permission from your parents. I’ll let you guys have a week to let me know your answer. We’ll talk about contracts then and such then. In the meantime, you can email any questions you may have. Congratulations on making it into the company.”

Seokjin and Jungkook both thanked the judges and Bang PD repeatedly, bowing respectfully a few too many times. Then they were escorted from the room and to the lobby of the building with their bags on their backs and their opportunities clutched tightly in their hands.

“See, Jungkook-ah! I told you that you’d do well!” Seokjin exclaimed happily. He gave the younger boy a proud slap on the shoulder.

Jungkook couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Seokjin got to see his full, genuine smile for the first time ever and it shined with contagious excitement and joy. He was only adding to Seokjin’s theory of Jungkook being a bunny as well with his two front teeth on show.

“We did it, hyung!” the boy shouted, the loudest the older had ever heard him. “And they want us to be in a group together! That’s so cool!”

Seokjin chuckled at the younger’s cuteness, “It is.”

“Thank you, Seokjin-hyung,” Jungkook then said, a little more serious. “I was really nervous here alone and you made me laugh and feel more comfortable.”

Seokjin waved him off, “Oh, that was nothing. I’ll always here if you need to laugh, I’ve got some great jokes up my sleeve.”

Jungkook giggled and scrunched up his nose - again, just like a bunny. “You’re a lot, hyung.”

“A lot of handsome, yeah.”

“Hyyuung!”

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Even though he’d known them for years now, Seokjin was always surprised by the amount of energy the maknae line had. He thought that maybe they’d calm down by their twenties, but he couldn’t have been more wrong.

He was currently leaning against the mirror in their practice room, watching Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook goofing around like idiots. They were wrestling each other to the ground rather roughly, but Seokjin only heard laughter from them so he guessed they were enjoying whatever it was they were doing.

As he took a long, refreshing gulp from a bottle of water, he thought about how different Jungkook was from the boy he’d met all those years ago.

This Jungkook was no longer short and lanky, but tall and muscled and toned. This Jungkook had grown into his nose and had lost that baby fat from his cheeks. This Jungkook was a far cry from the shy, rather insecure boy he’d once been - mostly thanks to Taehyung. The true difference was perhaps not Jungkook himself but Seokjin’s feelings towards the maknae. Where it had begun as a brotherly affection, it was now full-on, indisputable romantic love.

Even though a lot about Jungkook had changed, there were things that this one and thirteen-year-old Jungkook had in common. Such as the bright doe eyes that glittered like stars in the night sky, or the little stutter and lisp to his words - though, the stutter and lisp were now more due to excitement than nervousness.

Seokjin was startled out of his thoughts when Yoongi slumped down beside him. “Do they even know what the word ‘relax’ means?” he grumbled, obviously referring to the ever-energetic maknaes.

“Nope,” Seokjin replied. “It’s best to just let them keep going until they drop from exhaustion.”

“So,” Yoongi said, “What were you thinking so hard about over here?”

Jin glanced back over at Jungkook who was currently holding Jimin in a headlock with one arm and tickling Taehyung’s stomach relentlessly with the other. “Just the differences and similarities of the Jungkook I first met and the Jungkook I know now.”

“He’s grown a lot taller but he’s still a brat,” Yoongi replied, though there was an undeniable fond tone to his voice.

“He sure is, but he’s matured so much emotionally.”

Yoongi nodded in agreement, looking over at their youngest boyfriends as well. “I can’t imagine what things would be like between us all if Taehyung hadn’t broken him out of his shell.”

“He might still be changing in the bathroom with the door locked.”

The two of them thought about the shy boy from what felt like so long ago, yet also not so long ago. When Seokjin and Jungkook had first joined the team, Jungkook was beyond closed off. He could goof around sometimes with them, but mostly kept to himself and regarded them more as work acquaintances.

It wasn’t until Taehyung came into their lives and essentially forced himself past the boundaries of Jungkook’s closed-off shell that that changed. Taehyung didn’t waste any time connecting with the maknae and before they knew it, Taehyung had his arms wrapped tightly around him - both metaphorically and physically. Taehyung slowly helped Jungkook open up to the others as well and was a large part of the reason they were all together today.

“Hey, hyung!” Seokjin and Yoongi both instinctively looked up at Jungkook, who was standing victoriously over a panting Taehyung and Jimin. “Do you want to see a girl group dance I’ve been working on?”

The two oldest Bangtan members chuckled and nodded. “Sure, Kookie,” Yoongi answered softly.

Jungkook immediately connected his phone to the speakers and began blasting Twice’s newest song More and More. He started in on the choreography effortlessly, imitating the movements without any hesitance.

Jimin popped up from where he’d previously been laying nearly dead on the floor as the chorus approached so he could join the maknae. Taehyung was still too tired from Jungkook’s wrestling and tickling to do anything other than cheer them on and giggle every once in a while.

“His confidence has certainly sky-rocketed since trainee days,” Yoongi remarked.

Seokjin hummed in affirmation before biting his lip. “Do you remember that Jungkook and I did a duet at the auditions?”

“Yeah, you mentioned it before I think.”

“Well, we were given group numbers when we did.” Seokjin looked over at Yoongi pointedly. “Do you want to take a guess which number we were?”

Yoongi narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “No way you were number seven.”

“We were. Group seven,” Seokjin confirmed.

Yoongi sighed thoughtfully, “Our lucky number seven shows up once again.”

“Do you believe it’s true, then?”

“I mean, the universe keeps showing me evidence and I can’t ignore it forever,” Yoongi replied with a shrug.

“I guess so...”

“Seokjin-hyung!” came the familiar whine from Jimin. The younger was walking over to them. “Stop being a party pooper and join us! I know you can’t resist performing Girl’s Day’s Something!”

Jin reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, but not without whining, “What about Yoongi?! He’s being a party pooper too!”

Jimin snorted, “Hyung, we both know Yoongi-hyung doesn’t move unless absolutely necessary.”

Well, Seokjin certainly couldn’t argue with that.

He gave a smirking Yoongi a wave goodbye before he joined Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung as well now, in their impromptu dance cover.

They killed it, of course. Like always.

Yoongi also definitely filmed a video of it on his phone and sent it to Namjoon and Hoseok who weren’t there that day to see it.

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A/N: It’s really hard to incorporate the number seven in ways that wouldn’t be easily remembered but I hope I’m doing an alright job.

Comments and likes reassure me that this fic isn’t too terrible lol. Constructive criticism is always welcomed as well as I want to become a better writer.

Stay safe and happy <3

[vrenaewrites]

HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick thoughts: Prologue - Ch 11

Full video here.

We start right away with a bible verse which, if you’ve read any of my books, you know I’m a big fan of

We have a prologue from 1565 France…

The visual of a person perched on a gravestone and mistaking them for an angel statue at first is cool tbh

“Who are you?” “One of the devil’s brood”

The mind control parts of this I like, and I already have a feeling this is the gonna be the best part of this book

Except we don’t get another example of someone fighting it the way he is fighting it - nora doesn’t even realize it’s happening when it happens to her which isn’t as fun

The guy being maniped is a duke and the angel tells him no you’re half fallen angel so do what i tell you (nephilim)

This angel doesn’t have wings but a big cut in the shape of a V on his back

CHAPTER 1

The image of a barbie and ken taped to the chalkboard of the sex ed class is great

Her best friend’s name is V!

“Camera phones to take photos for the school E-zine”

Oh shit she’s a hoe

“V as in virgin” never mind

“It may not have occurred to you kids that sex is more than a 15 minute trip to the backseat of a car” lmaoooooooo

Is this book gonna be good? Did yall lie to me??

The school e-zine

V is a “few pounds over curvy” damn

V is my “untwin” i love that

“I’m all legs like a barstool”

The sex ed teacher is making them all sit by new people...in april…

She knows everyone except the transfer who of course is her new seat mate...this is a very convoluted way to get them to sit together

“It was a smile that spelled trouble with a promise”

“Human reproduction can be a sticky subject” LMAO

“Call me patch. I mean it. Call me.” and he winks

He takes pictures “of an ezine columnist who…” and describes a bunch of stuff about her and she’s like what the fuuuuuuck

And then he is like “you’re scared of what you can’t control”

He knows she plays the cello

She doesn’t wanna ask for another partner because she doesn’t wanna let him win and i’m like NORA CALL THE FUCKING COPS!!!!!!!!!! THIS GUY HAS BEEN STALKING YOU?!?!?!?

She has a cut on her wrist, her dad was murdered

At the end of class he gives her his number so she can get her answers - she no longer has it by chapter 18 but doesn’t remind the reader that she did have it written on her hand so we just think becca forgot nora already got his # for a bit

She’s a sophomore, he’s a senior

He has black eyes and wears all black because ofc

CHAPTER 2

They get a lot of fog and don’t have many neighbors

Mom is an auction coordinator so she’s not around a lot so there’s a german housekeeper that watches over her

But she leaves her alone at night...i already KNOW patch is gonna be “Watching over her” ala edward watching bella sleep i just KNOW

She’s thinking that patch seemed closed off but she liked what she had seen - aka his bod

“Smile that was part playful, part seductive” NOTHING about the interaction y’all had sounded seductive!!!!!! This is exactly like in crave when she’s getting horny that jaxon is yelling at her...like these men seem UNHINGED. Why is that sexy????

“Biology was my toughest subject, i teetered between an A and a B” i’m gonna punch you. I know you wanna go to ivy league so this matters but…

She calls patch!!!!

She asks if he wants to meet up to finish the assignment...you couldn’t...ask...over the phone??

“Nora” he says my name like it’s the punchline to a joke

He hangs up on her because he’s playing pool

She starts her assignment anyway: “jerk” “smokes cigars, will die of lung cancer, hopefully very soon” i laughed v hard tbh

“Excellent physical shape” and then crosses that out lmaooooooo

She flips a coin and it makes her decision: go to the arcade and confront patch

The cashier is pissed that she didn’t pay to get in so she sneaks by

“I was like a rolling snowball gaining speed and momentum” weird out of place metaphor but ok

Patch says she’s with him and the cashier lets her go

His black eyes are magnets clinging to her every move

She feels something different here, more animosity, more electricity...more horniness

“Queasy tap dance in my stomach”

Something about patch wasn’t right, something about him wasn’t normal, something about him wasn’t safe

“Biggest dream” “to kiss you” she doesn’t buy it so like good for her but still blech

Patch says he’s never been to school before and nora’s like you’re a liar

And he says he came because of her

He says “those cold pale grey eyes” are surprisingly irresistible

There are almost zero connections between what she’s saying and what he’s saying, as if he’s having a conversation with himself...it’s really hard to follow

“And that killer curvy mouth” ew

“You seem to know a lot about me,” i said, making the understatement of the year.

“Say provoke again, your mouth looks provocative when you do”

Her jaw twitches when she lies

He has a birthmark in the same place she has a scar...soulmate shit fer shure

She says after her dad died a strange presence felt like it was “orbiting her world, watching her from a distance” like...a guardian angel perhaps

She feels someone in the house with her and i’m calling it now: patch is “Watching over” her

CHAPTER 3

She’s trying to come up with reasons for patch not to be her partner anymore...he fucking ADMITTED TO TAKING PHOTOS OF YOU AND STUDYING YOU AND BASICALLY STALKING YOU. IF THE COACH WON’T LISTEN GO TO THE PRINCIPAL ABOUT THAT SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She’s anemic and has to take iron multiple times...a day??

“What qualities are you attracted to in a potential mate?” asks the teacher

She’s not ready so patch answers, “intelligent, attractive, vulnerable”

“How do you indicate if a female is interested?” and patch says, “if she’s biting her lip and playing with her hair the way nora is doing right now” lmao

“She’s game”

He puts his arm on the back of her chair and mouths “vulnerable” and while i would literally call the cops on a man for this, it was kind of hot in context

She tells coach she feels uncomfortable sitting by patch and he’s like, “not only are you gonna keep sitting by him i actually need you to tutor him.”

Fire this fucking guy IMMEDIATELY.

How lazy is this writing becca. How lazy. You couldn’t think of any other ways to make them spend more time together??

She and V go to the movies to write a review for the e-zine and v says: “can you imagine living your whole life without a clue that the only reason you’re being kept alive is to be used as a sacrifice?”

Do you smell that? The foreshadowing

V says patch’s dark side calls to her and nora is thinking, yeah no shit.

There was a dark magnetism, i felt lured to the edge of danger, at any moment it felt like he could push me over the edge.

Edge twice in the same sentence, crave’s editor has been in the game since 2009 apparently

V’s basically like nora you’re not attracted to anyone and nora’s like i haven’t found love and v’s like it’s about fun not love dumbdum

V says Patch would probably be “really good”

Nora says patch isn’t good for v and v says, “Careful, you’ll only make me want him more” and i’m like...i know this book came out when i was a freshman but somehow, becca fitzpatrick managed to put me from sophomore year in this book lmao

Marcy a cheerleader with “half a bottle of foundation on” and “¾ of an inch between her skirt and underwear, if she was wearing any” sits beside them

Yikes

She calls V supersize: YIKES

Marcy’s being a dick to V and V just goes, “you have food stuck in your teeth, chocolate ex-lax maybe?” i love this so much

Patch is at the library…

V’s like “i’m trying to read the title he’s checking out...how to be a stalker?” lmao i love V

V thinks patch is following nora but she’s kind of into it lmaoooo

Nora’s like he’s alluring but also fucking scary

She hits someone during a storm on the way home

He’s wearing a ski mask?!??!?!?!?

The car died oh my gooooooood

He’s tearing the door off??!?!?!!?

He punches through the window!!!!!!!!!

CHAPTER 4

She’s like totally freaking out but doesn’t wanna tell V that a dude almost tore the door off the car

She goes to V’s to avoid being alone

When she and v examine the damage...there is none…

She realizes the eyes behind the ski mask were black like patch’s eyes

She can’t remember hardly anything about the crash which is freaking her out

They meet some dudes called elliot and jules who is SIX FOOT TEN

They are probably other fallen angels that are after nora, and then elliott says he just transferred to their school from the prep school as of today, so yeah, this is what’s happening

Also...it’s fucking april. Who transfers schools in april

“You smell good” “it’s called a shower” lol

They’re having like an “are you following me” talk during the quiz

“I wanted my life to go back to the way it was before patch barged into my life”

I truly don’t know if it’s the delivery of the audiobook narrators that is making this issue SO GLARING to me but jfc

She confronts him after class to talk patch into asking to switch seats but he’s like “nah you’ve grown on me”

V really wants to sleuth around and read Patch’s file

CHAPTER 5

they go to the nurse’s office using nora’s iron pills as a distraction to get into the files in the front office

Nora needs to register her iron pills with the nurse...it is april...she has been taking pills out of her backpack all year...no one cared???

She says this is all because she thinks patch is stalking her - which no shit he admitted to taking pictures of you…

V called in a bomb threat from the pay phone outside!!!!!!! I’m fucking crying

Also if you guys don’t know what pay phones are, let me know

She’s trying to punch through the window in the door!!!!! V is the fucking greatest

IT WAS UNLOCKED ANYWAAAAAAY I’M SCREAMING

“As patch’s biology partner, i had a right to know”

The principal caught her but doesn’t suspect her

She meets back up with v at a mexican restaurant

The one patch works at!!!!!!

He asks her what she’s doing sunday night

“You’re getting cocky. I like that, angel” - bleck

“Not on a date, not alone” a hot thrill upon speculating what a night alone with patch would entail

Bitch!!!!!!! You just committed a crime to find out if this dude is STALKING YOU but you still wanna fuck him???????????

“Did you just call me angel? I don’t like it.” “it stays, angel” negging asshole

He brushes his thumb on her mouth and says “you’d look better without lipgloss” HARDIN SCOTT HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

“Interested? We’re talking about you, i’m fascinated.”

“You aren’t ready to know me”

I looked in your student file - BITCH. NORA. IF HE IS STALKING YOU. AND YOU FOUND OUT SOMETHING SERIOUS IN HIS FILE. THAT GIVES HIM SOOOOOO MUCH CAUSE TO LIKE...MURDER YOU?!

It’s totally empty. “I’m going to expose you” “i look forward to it”

“Why are you looking at me?” “because you’re nothing like what i expected” “neither are you, you’re worse”

CHAPTER 6

Elliott is in her gym class

The fog seemed to clog my lungs...fog and clog...don’t like it

Marcy miller… “that’s because you haven’t met anyone better, like me.” marcy twisted her hair around her finger. “You’ll hear all about me soon.”

He calls her gray, her last name, which is a trope i thoroughly enjoy

We describe marcy’s smile as toxic twice in 2 paragraphs

Elliott comes up behind her to help her with her batting stance

“Let me show you, like this, you feel that? Relax” EXCUSE ME

She hears her name in her mind said in someone else’s voice, it’s patch

“Batting lessons, nice touch” elliott is TOTALLY a rival angel guy

“I told myself i imagined the words because the alternative was considering that patch held the power to channel thoughts into my mind. Which couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.” this type of stuff makes me roll my eyes.

“Not yet” she hears in her mind, and ends up slamming it out of the park

She gets smashed in the head with the glove and ball, ouch

Elliott blows on her scraped kneeeeeeeee

“Had he talked directly to my thoughts? Was there some inexplicable link between us that allowed it happen? Or was i losing my mind?” meh

Elliott “i’m not gonna chase after an unavailable girl”

He invites her on a date

CHAPTER 7

There’s a convo with the housekeeper about “reinventing the sexy side” and not changing yourself for a boy…

V calls and is like “let’s go to the party on the coast”

Driving moccasins?

Damn V is like “you look like a boy, put some lipstick on”

And Nora isn’t wearing makeup because patch planted the idea in her mind - NEGGING!!!!!!!

The delphic coast sounds like a blast

The new ride is called the arcangel lmao

Patch is at the arcade omg

Jules looks as enthusiastic as three day old meatloaf - this is a very weird metaphor but i don’t mind it much?? It would have bothered me in crave but there haven’t been many in this book so far so it’s not like completely pulling me out of the moment

It’s a new day, and today, the name patch is really irking me. It sounds like a dog

V is STIRRING THE POT between Elliott and Patch god i love her soooo much

Elliott wants to talk to patch about leaving nora alone!!!!

V is a messy bitch who lives for dramaaaaaaaa

Nora goes to talk to patch so elliott won’t start shit

“He was tall and lean and hard and i was sure he had street fight scars under his clothes...not that i wanted to look under his clothes” LMAO

She asks what he’s playing and he says, “baseball, wanna stand behind me and give me a few pointers?” LMAOOOOO he hates elliott so muuuuch

Patch challenges her to a pool game, she punches his arm, he says “Careful they might think we’re flirting” this guy is MADDENING

“Part of me wanted to run away from him screaming fire, the other wanted to see how close i could get without...combusting” AHHHHHHH

He’s talking to her in her thoughts and then being like, “you know that sounds crazy don’t you?” GASLIGHT CENTRAL

“You scare me, and you’re not good for me” “i could change your mind”

“Meet me at the arcangel, i’ll be waiting”

CHAPTER 8

Nora goes to get cotton candy and sees the arcangel, and she goes

She gets the “cold heart-stopping feeling that someone is watching her” and spots a hooded figure

She runs into patch and he’s like “if you keep running away from me, you’re never gonna figure out what’s going on” and she’s been drinking dumb bitch juice so she’s like OHKAY.

Now she’s not scared of the arcangel because patch makes her feel safe...no he DOESN’T?!?!?!?!?

“If you ride without screaming, i’ll get coach to switch our seats” why do i feel like this is gonna be that scene in the movie fear where they hook up at the top of the ferris wheel

“I don’t scream, not for carnival rides.” not for you is her inner voice i assume and ommggggg

He sits in a car that shows demons ripping the wings off an angel, an angel sitting on a gravestone and watching children, then possessing a little girl

Okay foreshadowing

“Scared, angel?”

Our car flew demonically fast - we get it

Her seatbelt came undone and she fell out!!!!!!!

Oh wait...she didn’t? She ended up grabbing him and screaming??

CHAPTER 9

He offers her a drink from his soda can and she’s like “ooh my mouth where his mouth is”

Her phone is dead so she hitches a ride with patch...did he kill her phone with angel powers somehow??

V had left her!!!!?????

Ooh or did the boys kidnap her??

So she’s sure the mind-talking is real but not sure if the guy in the mask or the falling off the coaster is real…

Patch rides a motorcycle because ofc

He takes her home and then has her keys in his hand somehow

He is totally fucking with her, the key won’t turn if she uses it but he can get it to work

“Go ahead, i’m home alone” immediately i realized it wasn’t a smart thing to say

Self preservation has left the chat!!!!!!!! The same boy you thought was stalking you 3 days ago, you just told him you are home alone...dumb bitch juice

“Dorothea will be here soon. She’s old but strong, very strong” You would absolutely be the first to die in a horror movie, nora

He comes inside without her inviting him so he can make her tacos

He...knows where her kitchen is...fuck no

She is scared of him having a knife but also...goes over to him so he can show her how to make tacos…

So idk if most teens are so horny they’re literally willing to die for it, because i was on antidepressants when i was grace’s age and i had no desire to get busy...please let me know in the comments below if you ever went from scared of a dude to wanting to bone him at breakneck speed the way nora continually does in this book

“I’ll answer your questions if you make tacos”

This is a VERY horny scene where he stands right behind her and like whispers in her ear how to cut the tomato…

“Did you follow me to the library?” he smiles and she’s like OH FUCK I WANNA KISS HIM RIGHT NOW

NORA!!!!!!!!! FOCUS

“Scared?” “no” “maybe i’m just scared of -” “liking me?” “yes...wait no”

“I feel a scary attraction to you”

He lifted her onto the counter!!!!!

“You should go” “go here?” his mouth went to my shoulder “or here?” it moved up my neck AHHHHHHHHHHH

Her mom calls and she’s like “can i call you back?” her mom says “sure what’s wrong” and she HANGS UP LMAOOOOOOO

UMMMM THOUGHT HER PHONE WAS DEAD?!?!?!?

CHAPTER 10

V calls her and is like “i was looking for you all night” and nora is like “ummmm no you fucking left me???” and v’s like “DID Y’ALL KISS?!”

“I’ll pick you up at 4” “thought we were meeting at 5?” “circumstances have changed” lmao V for president tbh

We get a weird story about lionel dorothea’s godson daring nora to lick a broken piece of glass, “falling for patch would be like licking that shard”

This is the WEIRDEST analogy i think i have ever heard…

This is a first draft analogy for sure

She acknowledged that her phone had been dead so wtf happened

They go to victoria’s secret and she’s like “ooh sexy stuff ooh patch” wait i shouldn’t be thinking about dangerous patch

“I secretly enjoyed the attraction between us but the eeriness outweighed it” ma’am are you trying to lie to yourself or the reader because 1. It’s not a secret, 2. We (i) keep SCREAMING at you to have a shred of self-preservation but you threw it away for tacos

I’m going to flush patch out of my system like a detox diet, except last time i did that i binged” welp...i’m sure that’s not a sign…

Lmao V tries to take the clearance stickers off the clearance bras and puts them on the nice ones I LOVE HER SO MUCH

The hooded guy is watching her from outside…

But he’s gone before V sees him

V develops a diversion to get the hooded guy to follow her...but they can tell it’s actually a girl…

V gets hurt?!?!?!?!

CHAPTER 11

V is in the hospital with a BROKEN ARM THAT NEEDS SURGERY!!!!!

Patch is absent…

She goes to the new school psych...WHY ARE THERE SO MANY NEW PEOPLE COMING IN APRIL!!!!

She’s def also an angel

She brings up that nora is supposed to be tutoring patch and is like “all tutoring should be under adult supervision, and i don’t want you meeting alone” um...thank you for being reasonable because this dude is creepy but ALSO. Just...don’t have her tutor him…?

She goes to the computer lab in the library to look up reviews but then she’s like “i should google patch” but nothing

“No facebook, no myspace” OH MYSPACE!!!!!

She comes across a kinghorn prep article about a hanging, and finds out elliott was with the victim on the night of her death

Elliott is right behind her!!!!!

“Something cold flushed through me, like a blush, only opposite”

He’s like “Call your mom and tell her you’re taking too long at homework” and she’s like STRANGER DANGER

~~~

[chipmunkfanno1love]

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Speculation: Varian and Vex Shipping

Though Varian has often been shipped with Cassandra, lately it has been a mixed bag of very strong opinions regarding the ship, especially some negative ones about Varian being too young for Cassandra who is in her 20’s while he’s in his teens. Personally I don’t have a problem with them becoming a couple, so long as they wait until Varian is legally an adult (such as it was with Ferb and Vanessa in “Phineas and Ferb”). I could see them as a couple if the creators of the show flashfoward to the future with an older Rapunzel and Eugene are telling their story and the fates of their friends to their children.

Personally I want to keep out of the arguments, and talk about this from a purely fictional opinion. While I do think Cassandra and Varian had great chemistry together in “Great Expositions”, so far Varian’s feelings for Cass are just an innocent crush (I even heard a rumour that Chris Sonneberg said it wouldn’t go any further than this) which Cass doesn’t requite. So I think the chances of these two becoming a couple, even when Varian’s older is pretty slim. Still, I do hope these two become friends again.

Anyway, the point of my topic is to bring up a potential new love-interest for Varian, and while I am pretty open about his love life and who his future girlfriend could be, I’m pretty keen on this ship I’m about to suggest.

The ship is between:

Varian

and

Vex

I imagine this ship is going to have a lot of mixed feedback. Some may not like it because they’re strong for the ship between Cassandra and Varian, while others won't like the ship because they simply don’t like Vex. Hear me out though, here are some good reasons why I think Varian and Vex could make a good couple.

1. The two appear to be close in age to each other. I imagine they’d be some cute teenage romantic tension between these two. It would be adorable to see the growing puppy love (which may eventually blossom into true love) between them.

2. Vex seems to me like a younger counterpart to Varian’s old crush, Cassandra, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Varian becomes attracted to her. Plus the fact that they both look up to her could give them something to bond over (though it might also cause some jealousy too if Vex develops a crush on Varian).

3. I get the feeling that Varian is attracted to tough women. While his crush on Cass was partly to do with her saving his life, I also think it could be that he admired her for her strength and courage. I reckon if he got to know Vex he would come to admire her own strong qualities. Perhaps like Cassandra before her, Vex could also learn to admire Varian’s compassion and smarts (though she may find his optimism annoying at first). I reckon in time these two opposites could attract.

4. Both are former juvenile delinquents of sorts, what with Varian taking over and almost destroying an entire kingdom, stealing a precious ancient relic, not to mention kidnapping Queen Arianna and later attempting to murder her and Cassandra. While Vex as far as I know hasn’t done that, she had her fair share of crimes including bribery and playing part of a kidnapping. Plus who knows what else (her selling weapons suggests a few possibilities). Over time I can see these two learning to empathise with each over their past crimes and connect over their desires to redeem themselves in their current roles, e.g. Varian in helping Princess Rapunzel and Vex in being Deputy to Captain Quaid the Sheriff of Vardaros.

Fun Fact: I reckon their ship name could be V.V (Varian and Vex). Unless of course Vex isn’t Vex’s real name. I believe she could have changed her name, much like two other former criminals we know (Eugene and Lance).

-

Here are several movie and TV couples that I think could be good examples of how these two could interact as a couple and/or even friends:

Zuko and Mai from “Avatar: The Last Airbender

The one thing I have noticed is that Varian and Zuko’s falls from grace and eventual redemption stories have a lot of similarities to each other, especially since they both had something to do with their estranged relationships with their fathers’ (though I am no way saying that Quirin is cruel and abusive like Lord Ozai was). Both are also rebellious risk-takers who want to do the right thing but often take misguided actions which have terrible consequences to them, though both are eager to make up for their past mistakes and help their respective main character (Rapunzel/Aang) in their destiny. Of course, nerdy alchemist Varian is much more friendly, optimistic and clumsy compared to the hot-tempered, moody and athletically-inclined Fire Prince turned Fire Lord, Zuko. Still, he certainly has his angsty moments which are very similar to Zuko’s. 

I think it makes sense that Varian gets a girlfriend with a lot of similarities to Zuko’s girlfriend, Mai. Mai and Vex are certainly similar in the sense that both are moody, cynical action girls who both seem to have trouble expressing their feelings. Maybe Vex’s cynicism is the result of growing up in her rough town. She had to be tough in order to survive, plus there is a hint that maybe she’s an orphan, so there’s potential that she could be carrying a lot of emotional baggage and even fears of abandonment. She probably pretends not to care about anything because she’s scared if she does she’ll get hurt, similar to how Mai pretends not to care because she was taught to repress her feelings from a young age by her controlling mother.

Either way, like Zuko and Mai, I think both Varian and Vex could bring the best out in each other. Varian could help Vex to open up more, while Vex could help Varian recover from his past wounds (in her own Vex way). I’m sure she can empathise with Varian’s dark past as she wasn’t always on the right side of law herself, or at least her neutral siding didn’t exactly make her stand out as a good guy, until she made the decision to become Captain Quaid’s deputy and therefore firmly planted herself on the good side.

I can definitely see Varian and Vex having a fight similar to Zuko and Mai’s during the party scene of “The Beach”. Also I can also see Vex wearing the pants in the relationship like Mai does (Mai’s warning to Zuko in the series finale never to break up with her again sounds like something I imagine Vex saying to Varian). I believe they will show affection to each other in the same way Zuko and Mai do. This confession of love from Mai sounds like something that Vex would definitely say herself: “I don’t hate you.”

-

Wednesday Addams and Joel Glicker from “The Addams Family Values”

A lot of people have compared Vex’s looks and personality to Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family franchise:

While I certainly won’t deny the similarities, I believe that Vex was inspired by Mattie Ross from the 2010 version of the film True Grit:

Nonetheless, I can’t deny there are similarities between Vex and Wednesday. I just hope Vex isn’t quite as morbid, lol. Still, I do wonder if the writers do bring in more of the similarities into later episodes (if Vex does make future apperances).

Personally I don’t find that Joel Glicker was the most well-developed character ever. He was more the overprotected nerdy boy who fell for the dark gothic girl. Still, I guess that Varian has similarities to Joel in the sense they are both nerdy characters who are a little insecure and intense (though I do hope Varian has better self-esteem than Joel). I think it would be funny if Varian had a reaction to seeing Vex for the first time similar to Joel’s when he met Wednesday. Somehow I doubt it will happen, but it’s still funny and kind of cute at the same time

Wednesday meets Joel. See 1:59 to 2:17:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us3JQh-m2FM&list=PLlXqHikVVQDQerwZg0GuBzJPXel5MIPHi&index=6&t=142s

I wouldn’t call Wednesday and Joel’s relationship the best, and I certainly wouldn’t want the ending of their relationship to happen between Varian and Vex, but underneath all the morbidity and insecurity, I think there’s a lot of cute moments between these two. They are definitely an interesting example of opposites attract, plus there is some adorable awkwardness between them that I think could be brought to Varian and Vex’s relationship. I personally see Wednesday and Joel’s relationship being an example of how Varian and Vex’s friendship and eventually relationship starts out, perhaps even hinted at as spoof material within the show.

Some examples could be Varian attempting the “yawn and stretch move” on Vex, but she holds up a knife and says “Touch me with that arm, and you’ll lose it.” or simply “Don’t even think about it.” causing Varian to fearfully back away from her on the seat. Though perhaps Varian does something that really impresses Vex, whether it���s showing his braver, angsty side (which I believe that Vex would find attractive) and/or he uses one of his inventions to help the town of Vardaros. Because Vex is a little reluctant to show she’s impressed, she simply says thank you and a half-hearted comment to Varian for his good work. Though Varian can tell that how moved Vex is from a small smile she shares with him and a sign that she’s warming up to the possibility of being affectionate with him, as shown by Wednesday here:

Even Wednesday and Joel’s farewell and first kiss I could see Varian and Vex spoofing, though in their own individual way.

Wednesday and Joel’s first kiss

https://youtu.be/ZibUVA54BWY

So while I hope they’re not exactly like this couple, it would be cute if we saw some spoof references like this. :)

-

Arnold Shortman and Helga Pataki from “Hey Arnold!”

I’ll be honest with you guys, I’m probably one of the few people who hasn’t seen the most of the Hey Arnold! TV series and movies. I’ve only seen a few episodes. Still, from what I’ve seen of these two, they seem to have similar personalities to Varian and Vex, plus I imagine their relationship being similar too.

Like Arnold, Varian is friendly, optimistic and always there to help out his friends. While Helga and Vex are similar in that they are both tough, aggressive girls who don’t like to open up about their feelings.

I could definitely see Vex being rather mean to Varian at first, calling him “dork” or “nerd”, but overtime maybe she’ll start to lessen up on the insults and starts to respect Varian for his smarts and the positive affect his inventions could possibly have on Vardaros, though she still keeps him at an emotional distance due to trust issues, and it will probably take a bit of time but perhaps Varian’s mixture of kindness and tough love towards Vex could eventually be the thing that slowly breaks down her emotional walls.

I could probably see Vex developing a crush on Varian (though perhaps not as obsessively as Helga though) but has a hard time showing it. She’ll probably show him affection by punching him in the arm, which is meant to be friendly but hurts because Vex is stronger than she looks.

Maybe she might convince Captain Quaid to give Varian a job as the Alchemist of Vardaros, saying that he can help the people of Vardaros with his inventions and alchemy. Though this is possibly true, I believe she would more suggest the idea to Quaid so she can convince Varian to stay in Vardoros. Varian considers the offer, partly because he believes he can be helpful to the people of Vardaros and the other half because he’s starting to fall for Vex and wants to stay with her. I think he turns down the offer at first (which will probably hurt Vex) but promises he’ll return to visit once he’s helped Rapunzel achieve her destiny and reunite her with Cassandra. Though he may even decide to stay in Vardaros as their professional Alchemist after the mission is finished, eventually becoming Vex’s boyfriend.

-

A bonus unofficial couple I could compare them to is:

Hiro Hamada and Karmi from “Big Hero 6: The Series”

There’s no denying that Hiro and Varian are very alike. Both are intelligent and creative child prodigy inventors who are both adorkable and clumsy. Both have lost and/or almost lost family members, and as a result have almost committed murder in order to avenge their loved one’s, though have tried their best to make up for their past mistakes. They are also the one of youngest in their respective group of friends (though not quite with Varian as Keira/Angry and Catalina/Red have now officially joined the group and are a few years younger than him).

While Karmi is rather different from Vex, they do share anti-social and moody tendencies. Deep down underneath their moody exterior though, both have the drive to do the right thing.

Like Hiro and Karmi, I could imagine Varian and Vex having a rivalry of sorts during their first meeting. Perhaps Varian gets jealous over Catalina (Red) and Kiera (Angry) looking up to Vex over him as an older sibling/mentor figure due to them respecting her “tough as nails woman” exterior. Also maybe Vex could get jealous if Quaid starts paying more attention to Varian and his inventions, e.g. maybe he could invent a special smoker to calm Quaid’s bees, impressing the Captain of Vadaros greatly and gaining Vex’s envious resentment.

Over time though, like Hiro and Karmi, these two could learn to respect each other and their talents, eventually forming a friendship, which over time shows signs of romantic attraction between the two teens.

-

Even if Varian and Vex don’t become a couple, I would still love it if somehow they did meet on the show and eventually become friends. I’m sure it would be cool to see how they interact with someone in their own age group.

What do you guys think? I’d love to hear your feedback, but please refrain from harsh negativity.

[writing-prompts-for-friends]

Selected Quotes 01: Coraline

Back when I used to hand write everything, the margins of my notebooks were filled with song lyrics or quotes that meant something to me. But when I made the switch to writing on a computer, that habit left me. Which is just silly. So I’m bringing it back to the computer. 

These posts are really just for me and my writing purposes. Right now they’re loosely grouped by the book or band/singer that i pulled them from, though I’m sure they’ll become hodgepodges before long. Maybe you’ll enjoy them too.

I choose these lines because, as a writer, they strike me as novel (ha), because they mean something deep to me, or just because I feel like it lol. They might not always be in English either, because why limit yourself to one language?

Today’s quotes are pulled exclusively from Neil Gaiman’s novel Coraline. If you’ve not read it or watched the movie adaption, I recommend you skip this post. There are potential spoilers.

It smelled like something very old and slow. (pg. 31)

Of all the ways to describe the smell of the corridor between Coraline’s house and her not-house, “slow” was the last adjective I expected. It gives a very eerie feeling of sentience to this corridor in a subtle way.

“Now, you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names.” --cat (pg. 43)

Humans feel a need to name and label and dissect everything. Here I am dissecting the dialogue of a cat in a piece of fiction, for Pete’s sake. When I read this line, I thought of how parents decide their child’s name. There are many ways to go about it. The name of a cherished, esteemed family member, friend, character. A name that has a meaning that signifies our wishes for who the child will be. The commonality in all of these methods of choosing a name is: the name represents who we hope the child will become. Idk, I’m just rambling half-formed ideas lol.

She walked into the drawing room and looked at the door. She had the feeling that the door was looking at her, which she knew was silly, and knew on a deeper level was somehow true. (pg. 66)

One of the reasons I chose to read Coraline was that I wanted to familiarize myself more with the horror genre. How to instill that queasy dread in my readers. And this line did such a great job of that. I’ve often told myself, “No, you’re being silly, there’s nothing to worry about here,” when deep in my heart something primal and wiser whispered otherwise, and Mr. Gaiman captured that perfectly. 

“When you’re scared but you still do it anyways, that’s brave.” --Coraline (pg. 70)

Mr. Gaiman has stated that he specifically wrote this story to convey this message to the children of the world. It’s a simple truth, so simple that you think you would realize it on your own, yet it still struck me as novel. I am sure that if I had read this story as a child, it would have impacted me even more than it did as a 29-year-old. 

There was a tiny doubt in her, like a maggot in an apple core. (pg. 74)

I just liked the simile here. 

...a flash of anger, which crossed her face like summer lightning. (pg. 74)

I often find myself making similes and metaphors that are related to nature. In particular, this “summer lightning” was so very fitting and vivid that it really stood out to me. 

It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be. (pg. 81)

Much like the line about names above, this simple truth struck me both as familiar and new at the same time. We have all had those times where we wake up and we don’t know where we are or even who we are, sometimes. 

What I really love about Mr. Gaiman’s style is that he drops these big truths as casually as one describes the weather. He doesn’t spend a whole page elaborating. He just says it and moves on, which somehow makes it all the more believable. I think it follows the whole “If you have to explain a joke, it loses the humor” mentality. Seeing this, I have realized that I tend to elaborate way more than I should, and it is reducing the impact. An important moment of realization for me as a writer.  

“You really don’t understand, do you?” she said. “I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn’t mean anything. What then?” --Coraline (pg. 144)

I think this line is very, very important for children in particular. I remember when I was about 8 years old, I wanted an American Girl Doll more than anything in the whole entire world. But they were $80, and my parents simply didn’t have the money for it. Dad had just tilled a wide field to make room for a new bed of daylilies (we ran a flower business for most of my childhood), and before we could create the flower beds and plant the daylilies, we needed to go through and pick out all of the rocks in them. Of course, it was a task that no one wanted to do. 

So Dad gave me a 5 gallon (3.8 litre) bucket and told me, “For every bucket you fill, I will give you $5 towards the doll.”

That summer, I was out in the fields every day from sunrise to sundown, of my own volition, filling buckets rock by rock. They were only about the size of bottle of nail polish, so you can imagine how long it took to fill just one bucket. The bucket would gradually become so heavy that we had to put it in a wheel barrow so I could move it by myself. 

Honestly, I don’t think my parents ever expected me to go through with it. But I did. I filled 16 buckets over the course of two months, and true to their word, my parents got me my very own American Girl doll. Her name is Andrea and I cherish her to this day, because she wasn’t a gift. She was something I sweat and struggled to obtain. 

That summer taught me the value of hard work, and just how much sweeter the fruits of our own labor taste. This was, without a doubt, the most formative experience of my childhood. 

The sky had never seemed so sky, the world had never seemed so world. (pg. 166)

I can’t speak for other budding authors, but I have long been laboring under the assumption that I must use fancy, flowery language to convey something powerful. But Mr. Gaiman just shredded that idea into bits with this one sentence, and I love him for it. Brevity is the soul of wit. This sentence is beautiful because it is simple. This was a really big epiphany for me as a writer. 

Source: Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. EPub

[nosferatyou]

I was tagged by @lazingonsunday and @shes-outta-sight to do one of the long tag, get to know them, type of things. Which I absolutely love by the way. I don’t talk about myself much.

What was the last thing you read?

Well I was editing the latest chapter of my fic of that counts? If not some random josh one shot a couple hours ago lol.

Favorite Movie?

Man it’s ever revolving. It was Django Unchained for a long ass time, but now I think it’s Baby Driver.

Favorite Book?

Misery by Stephen King. I read it years ago and I have a lot of good memories tied to it. Me and my friend became closer through his works and this was the first one I read. It’ll stay close in my heart.

Dream Date?

It’s one I’ve been on before but just Vinyl Shopping. It’s simple and easy but music in a relationship is important to me. I gotta make sure they have good picks. But there is something so soft about it all.

Do you have a crush?

Sadly no. But I’m fully in Joshes lane rn if that means anything?

What are your hobbies?

Oof okay. I mostly draw like all hours of the day. But I very actively keep up with guitar and bass. I write as well. I make videos for my friends. I collect old and beat up vinyls. Lot of art stuff

Favorite time of day?

Night time. Like from hours 10-3. That’s my true alone time and it’s something I cherish and look forward to everyday.

If you could look like anything, what would you like to look like?

I don’t wish to change anything about my body. I think I’d be silly to. But man I wish I could actually afford clothes I’d like to wear. Real bellbottoms you know? I want that vintage shit.

Are you romantic?

In a secure relationship yes. I show too much emotion too fast in the beginning. But boy oh boy when I get romantic. I get very touchy feely. Man date ideas. Lot of carefully curated playlists.

Favorite type of weather?

That time in like August/September when I can wear jeans and maybe a light jacket. But it’s still warm, you know?

What do you like talking about?

Music. I talk about it all day long. The foundation behind it. The artist. I could discuss guitars and instruments with people all damn day. I just. I love everything about it. But also GVF is my hyperfixation rn and my friend is ready to shoot my head off if I speak another word about Jakes guitar playing.

What are your turn ons?

Ngl I’m akin to a boy with long hair. It’s my vice. I’ve only dated long haired musicians. But I just want someone who radiates some kind of light you know? I’ve seen too much darkness. I want someone genuine and real. Is it too much to ask for a positive person?

What are your turn offs?

I’ve dealt with a lot in my past. Basically anything that’s negative. Ignorance mostly. I don’t want someone who refuses to learn. It’s stupid. I just want honesty and someone with an open mind. Anything else is a no go.

If you got a tattoo what would it be and where would you get it?

Okay so. I really want tattoos. I designed something about a year ago I want really badly but it’s so expensive. Thinking rationally. Right now I’d really like some line art of bust. Idk what tho.

Do you have any pets?

3! 2 dogs, Ruby and Nellie, both too six year old mutts. Nellie is the weirdest god damn dog I’ve ever had. And ruby is basically a fox dog. And then there is Friday my cat. He can be a bitch boy but he’s a sweet boy who’s just being a cat. (I also have ten plants but most people don’t consider them pets)

Dream Job?

I’m still searching for that. Recently my heads been floating towards playing live shows as a guitar or bass player. But I’m no where near the point of even considering. I’m pretty shitty. But how Cool would it be to play that violin bow with my guitar on stage?

Dream place to live?

Not considering any potential jobs. I just want to live in a big log cabin somewhere on the outskirts of a town. Out in the wilderness and free to just live.

Dream vacation?

I’ve never been to Europe. I’d love to just road trip around in a van honestly. But before that visit my great grandfather grave in Scotland. He was a kings hand and did a lot back in the day. I’d be cool to see. But then I’d fuck around in Europe.

Do you have any piercings?

I’ve got my nose and ears pierced. I’m pretty happy with that

If you had kids what would you name them?

Man I don’t even want to think about that.

What are your best traits?

I’m a great listener. I’m extremely compassionate. Will do anything to help friends. And I feel like my music taste isn’t half bad.

Worst traits?

The compassionate thing tends to bite me in the ass. I’ve got a lot of emotions. I also have 20 things I want to do all at once all the time. I loose sleep because of it. There is more but I’d go on too long.

Worst fear?

Weirdly enough any type of natural disaster. When I was way too young I watched “The Impossible” and then shortly after learned about techtonic plates and I never forgotten about it or where they are.

What do you want to eat right now?

Brownies. And a fucking burrito.

Best vacation you’ve been on?

I went on a road trip to Chicago recently and I just makes so many good memories. I saw ninja sex party’s 10th anniversary, which was fantastic. But I got to visit a friend all weekend. But my favorite part was the ride back. The whole time we just talked but also sang to old 50s songs and just had this moment of unity. I still think about it

Favorite City?

I haven’t been to too many places yet so I’m gonna go with my hometown, Nashville. If you look past all the tourists. It’s got a very rich musical history and in certain places you just feel it. I loved living there and it made me who I was.

Favorite social media platform?

Tumblr. It’s really the only one I ever check anymore. Plus I’ve made some great friends on here.

Favorite article of clothing?

My fucking bellbottoms. I wear them whenever I can. They give me so much confidence.

Do you play any sports?

Fuck no. I have no coordination whatsoever.

Favorite meal of the day?

Lunch. You have a lot more options. Plus I just like the vibe

What are you excited for?

Starting the tenth I have a lot of good things coming my way. In that week I get to finally end this semester, the new Harry styles album releases, I get a new bass, and I get to see fucking Greta Van Fleet. None of you know how excited I am for that. Pit tickets. Jesus it’ll be good.

Not excited for?

Finals. And an um.. upcoming funeral.

When was the last time you cried?

I honestly can’t remeber and that really scares me.

Dream house?

I basically answered this earlier but gimme that big ass log cabin.

Something you hate about this world?

Don’t get my started. I hate that everyone hates themselves all the time when they have no reason to. I hate that 8 people have most of the worlds money and are doing nothing to help global warming. I hate the man that’s in power and what he’s helped cause. I hate everyone who refuses to accept literally any fact. I hate that my future is bleak because of some old ass white men.

Something you love about this world?

I love the light that radiates off of certain people. I love that our generation has hope and that some people are actually trying to make change. I love the raw creativity I see in others and I love that we are bringing back the resurgence of peace and love.

What scents do you like?

Old records and books. Its the simple pleasures.

What kind of sleeper are you?

Typically heavy but sometimes I Sleep so little it feels like I got nothing at all.

Cat or dog person?

Don’t make me pick! I grew up with both, and very partial to both.

How long would you survive in a zombie Apocolypse?

I wish I could tell you. I’d like to think I’d live awhile but I would probably be the ones who look like they have hope and then accidentally get taken out.

Are you trusting?

I used to be. I realized recently how thick my walls really are.

What fictional character do you identify with?

Sorry to be boring but nothing is coming to mind. But then again I never felt akin to anyone really?

What labels do you commonly get?

In high school I was called “the quiet one” if that tells you anything.

What song would be your life anthem?

Sunshine on my shoulders by John Denver is the only one coming to mind. I think I just want the feeling it gives me to be what I feel all the time.

What issues are you dealing with right now?

Two friends in the last month Um. Took their own lives. One being an old friend. I’ve never dealt with death. My brain doesn’t know how to handle it. I also think I might have ADD. But. That’s the tip of the iceberg rn

How can someone win you over?

Typically I’m drawn to people who are the loudest in the room. I like that their confident and can speak their minds but what wins me over about them is when they really open up. When I learn about the real then rather than the face that they put on. Most of the time it goes that way.

What’s something people don’t know about you?

I’m making a short film with some friends who go to Columbia. Should be out soonish.

I tag

@pvre-mourning @peacelovekiszka @fretavangleet @aint-no-denying @sosozoso