#this fic has become me messing around with tropes

[chubbydino]

mr. invisible and the thing | chapter 12

“What are you doing?” Max asked, annoyed.

“Admiring you,” Charles murmured.

buy me a coffee?

[forlix]

𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 !・h.h.

— you’re just trying to do your job; your client has other ideas.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬・1.3k 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠・idol!hyunjin x gn!makeup artist!reader 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬・very suggestive so mdni, reader implied to be shorter than hyunjin 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬・fluff, flirting, humor, big fwb vibes

𝐚/𝐧・this took me less than half an hour to write i am actually the biggest sucker for this trope. also, we hit another milestone recently!! i appreciate all of you immensely; look forward to more ♡

[!]・hi hey hello as of one month later a full-length fic based on this au has been posted!! here it is; you can read the two in any order. ok bye much love

“Five ‘til!” A crew member calls into a walkie-talkie, and you’re so surprised by this information that you stumble right over him, your heel ungracefully ramming into the poor man’s toes. 

You apologize hurriedly, bowing yourself out of the awkward situation—and then you check your watch. 7:55 P.M. A quiet "shit" leaves your lips as it dawns on you that you'd completely lost track of time.

Briefly, you contemplate your predicament, drumming the palette of makeup you’re holding in your right hand against the palm of your left: do I have to? Is it really necessary? But you know your answer even as you’re asking yourself the questions. You’re damn meticulous—sometimes to a fault, but always to your own satisfaction.

You had a vision, and you’re going to see it through.

With impeccable timing, your coworker appears out of nowhere, and you fasten a hand around her arm. “Hey, where are the members again?”

“Stage left.” Then she registers your question in full, and snaps her eyes to your face; stylists were supposed to have finished up with their respective members nearly an hour ago. “Hang on, are you out of your mind—”

“I won’t be a minute!” You call, scurrying away.

“You won’t be employed!” She returns, but you’ve already disappeared into the curtains’ dense shadows.

You jog a short distance, turn a few corners, and finally spot the eight members clad in outfits of varying amounts of silver and black, every inch of them so sparkly that they’re reflective, even with how little light reaches this part of the stage.

You’re looking for one man in particular, though, and you single him out right away: long, black locks falling into his eyes as he adjusts his microphone, broad shoulders and tall frame flattered perfectly by an obsidian suit, looking like he fell off a Paris Fashion Week runway and into a wormhole that teleported him to Osaka.

All your doing, by the way.

“Hwang Hyunjin!” You shout, and he (along with several of the other members) whips around at the sound. And Hyunjin furrows a perfect brow when his stylist materializes before him, four minutes to curtain up, wielding a palette of makeup like it’s a baseball bat.

“Are you out of your mind?” He calls.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” You lift a pointer finger into the air and curl it twice. “Come here. Hurry."

Hyunjin gives the others an apologetic glance before hurrying over, and you are met with a blast of Byredo Blanche when he arrives in front of you, the expression on his face equal parts amused and confused.

“Down,” you say, flicking open the eyeshadow palette with one hand.

And then Hyunjin understands. A loud, uninhibited laugh leaves his lips, a sound you’ve become so accustomed to by now that you’re completely oblivious to the fact that only you bring it out of him.

“You really are something,” he says, spreading his feet apart until he’s brought himself to your eye level.

With that, you get to work, one hand gathering some eyeshadow on the pads of your fingers, the other moving to hold his shoulder. Brushes are luxuries you can’t afford right now.

“Close your eyes,” you direct, your voice softer now that your face is only inches away from his, and Hyunjin heeds your words obediently. You begin to dab the crimson powder against the curve of his lids, careful to avoid messing up the rest of his eye makeup. His lashes flutter involuntarily at your gentle touch.

“A shadow to match the lip,” you murmur absently. “I pictured it and knew it had to happen."

Hyunjin makes a sound of approval, and then there is that smirk on his face, the one you’ve learned only means trouble. “You’ve been thinking about my face the whole night, then?”

“No. I’ve been thinking about whether vegetables can feel pain,” you deadpan. “Yes, I've been thinking about your face. It’s my job.”

“Is that all?”

“Sure is.” You blow gently on his finished eye and move on to the other. “Now save your voice for the stage.”

He obliges, but that dreadful, self-assured expression remains on his face, and you're immeasurably grateful that he can’t see the blush that you’re well aware paints your cheeks.

“Done,” you say a minute later, straightening with a confident flourish. And you think you could squeal when Hyunjin opens his eyes, and you see that the exact effect you’d hoped for has been realized: a splash of maroon that is both subtle and seductive, sleek and suave; that not only accentuates the shape of his eyes but pulls attention to his lips, which are dyed a similar hue. Damn, you’re good at your job.

“I don’t have a mirror,” you say, looking around. “I can use my phone if you want to—”

“It’s fine,” he says. “I trust you.”

You grin at this. “Good. Because you look sexy as hell."

Upon hearing your words, he straightens to his full height. You don’t think much of this at first, too busy re-examining the masterpiece you’ve created on his eyelids, but in the blink of an eye you’re suddenly aware that Hyunjin is standing conspicuously and intentionally close to you. You instinctively move away, but you’re too late; he’s already guiding your back to the wall behind you, his body enclosing yours against the smooth surface.

You send a panicked look over Hyunjin’s shoulder, only to realize that the two of you are completely out of anyone’s line of vision. That doesn’t stop the sharp hiss that leaves your lips: “Hyunjin, are you cr—”

But then there is a familiar gust of breath against your skin, a thumb over your cheekbone.

He knows he shouldn’t, but he can’t help himself when you get like this; all bossy and concentrated, an ambitious glint in your eyes, an air of confidence in your gait. He always thinks it’s ironic that your job is to make him look good when all he’s ever done is admire your beauty, so effortless and profuse that it feels timeless, like freshly bloomed forget-me-nots.

He knows he shouldn’t—but that makes him want to more.

When your lips meet, they move together with an ease and familiarity that reveal how many times you’ve done this before. He brings a hand to the small of your back, and you tangle your stained fingers in his luscious hair, the delicious pressure of his mouth upon yours rendering your reluctance (and the eyeshadow palette, which clatters noisily to the floor) momentarily forgotten.

As the kiss deepens, the bridges of your noses slide together; your every sense becomes overwhelmed by the slippery plush of his full lips and the warm caress of his large hands; you drink in the rosy musk of his cologne like your cells need it to live as opposed to oxygen. The tip of Hyunjin’s tongue teases the seam of your lips, as if requesting access, and you grant it to him with a light moan that is both blissful and thoroughly exasperated. When he hears the gorgeous sound, he has half a mind to scoop you up and leave the venue then and there.

Then, a voice bellows from not too far away: “One minute, everyone! Places, places!”

You’re so startled that you not only break away from him but jump a meter into the air, giving Hyunjin’s bicep a hearty slap on your way down. But he is entirely unbothered, dipping his head to press a trail of light kisses along your jaw instead.

“You’ll be watching the performance, yes?” He murmurs against the sensitive skin.

“Of course, what else—”

“—don’t take your eyes off me.”

And the words throw your heart against your ribs like uncooked French fries in a vat of oil.

He is just about to walk away when you realize how decidedly disheveled you’ve left him, and you yank him back to you with a fresh wave of panic. You wipe at his smudged lipstick with the cuffs of your sleeves; nitpick his hair until every strand is back in its proper place. Only when you’ve gotten rid of all the incriminating evidence do you permit him to leave.

“Thank you very much,” he says, bending into a gracious bow, the perfect image of professionalism. The facade is given away only by the upturned corner of his still-flushed lips.

“Break a leg,” you return drily.

The last thing you hear is that stupid, bright laugh before Hyunjin rejoins his members, and they step into the strobe lights together.

Even when the concert begins and the stadium is drowned in fanatical screams, the heartbeat in your ears remains the loudest sound of all—and you bury your burning face in your hands.

Hwang Hyunjin will be the death of you.

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? please consider reblogging, commenting, or sending me an ask to let me know; or, read my other writing here. thanks so much for the support ♡

© 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐱 (est. 090323) · all works are pieces of original writing and all characters and relationships are purely fictional. please do not repost or reuse for any reason.

[timeslugarts]

There was only one bed!

Vox x GN!Reader

Or, Vox and you go on a business trip and make a shocking discovery.

A/N - this has been sitting in my drafts for a little while, but I took that quiz that's like "what fanfic trope are you" and my result was the "only one bed" so I wrote a fic for it cuz it sounded fun! So enjoy!

Vox had to make an appearance at a business convention in Greed's ring, and as one of Hell's most prominent business men the owners had begged him to come. They showered him with gifts, gave him exclusive access, the real VIP experience. So he couldn't really say no, plus marketing opportunities were always a bonus.

The itinerary was a fucking mess though. He passed it to you, you grimaced and looked up at him. 

"They've definitely done this before, right? What is it? New owners?" Vox had been booked for back to back panels, making special appearances, a signing event, and even presenting for an award ceremony. It seemed a bit much.

"You know you're coming with me?" Vox perked a brow. A sly grin on his face.

"What? No, who's gonna run the company while you're out? Surely not an intern." You crossed your arms, popping a hip and looking at your boss.

"Oh come on doll," Vox stood up and circled around his desk placing his arm on your shoulder, a claw lazily lifting your chin up so you were face to face with him. "They'll be fine for 3 nights, plus I need my best girl, who else is gonna scare off the weirdos?" He bumped your hip with his own making you stumble. 

"Ugh Vox your so-" you stomped your foot, whipping around to look at him. 

"Handsome? Irresistible? Charming beyond belief?" He grinned walking towards the door out of his office. "Meet me tomorrow early so we can get going," he waved a hand in the air in a lame excuse for a wave, "Oh and don't forget to bring something scandalous for the after party."

You groaned, you could hear Vox chuckling as he made his exit. He was always such a flirt, it was unbelievable. You knew he only did it to fluster you, he would never actually act on anything. He was your boss. Sometimes though, maybe deep down, you wished he would. It was hard denying that your TV faced boss was attractive and after working with him for so many years you had to say his personality appealed to you as well.

But that would never happen.

The next morning the two of you met up, somewhere around 4 to hop into a car that would take you to the Greed Ring. You were both dressed in pj's and ready for the  long car trip, Vox even had a face mask perched atop his head, so he could slip it on immediately and get right back to sleep. Meanwhile you had your headphones with a white noise playlist queued up and blanket wrapped around your shoulders. Needless to say this wasn't either of your first rodeo.

You swiftly packed your bags into the trunk and tucked yourselves into the back seat.

Vox had his neck pillow on and was leaning back in his seat. You slipped out of your shoes, wrapped yourself up in your blanket, and as you were about to pop your headphones in you felt a small tug on your blanket. You looked down to see Vox's hand pulling the edge of your blanket towards himself.

You groaned inwardly. Fine.

You threw some of your blanket on Vox as well and he grinned wrapping his arm around you. His face mask was already over his eyes so his screen just pointed at the roof. 

"You know you could've asked the driver to turn up the heat." You shot at him.

"Yeah, but then we couldn't cuddle." He pulled you even closer. You could only grumble. Eventually you relented, laying your head down on the edge of his little pillow. Thank fuck for the mask, otherwise he would've seen how red your face had become from his obnoxious flirting. 

The two of you were out for the whole rest of the trip. The subtle vibrations from the car as well as Vox made it easy to drift away. 

It was about midday when the two of you finally arrived at the hotel you'd be staying in for the night.

With no time to lose you both shuffled out of the car, through checkout and into the shared bathroom of your space. You had places to be, you needed to be changed and out of there now. Bags left in the hallway of your room, teeth brushed (well yours at least), clothes changed, and you were both out the door in record time. 

The day was LONG. A whirlwind of nonsense, task after task after task. When it was over, the two of you were exhausted. Just shambling back to the room, your shoes were off and in your hands, Vox's tie was undone, neither of you had even said a word to each other in the past hour. 

The two of you walked into your shared space and froze. 

There was only one bed. 

They hadn't expected him to bring an assistant, of course he wouldn't need two beds.

You didn't care, you were too tired to care. You threw your shoes off and flopped face first onto the right side of the bed. 

"Guess I'll take the uh…" Vox's eyes frantically searched around the room, they didn't even have one of those stupid pullout couches, fuck! "...floor."

"What, what are you even saying?" You lifted your head groggily from the pillows. 

"I'll just sleep on the floor…" Vox was staring at the ground, refusing to meet your eye.

"What? No you won't, you'll sleep right here." You pat the side of the bed next. 

His screen ran through a quick series of glitches and left it at a swirling loading bar before popping back to his own face. "I can't just sl-zzt-sleep with you in the samEEee bed! Th-th-th-those idiots, I'll go down and demand another bed from-" you had grabbed his hand.

Mirth glinting in your eyes. Was Vox blushing? Finally the tables have turned. 

"You're saying you don't want to sleep with me Voxxy?" You pouted, his face started glitching again. "All this flirting and when the time comes you can't seal the deal." You shrugged. "Oh well I guess I'll just-" 

"Stop." Vox's face looked serious, a blush still tinting his cheeks. "I'll, I'll just, if it's ok I mean. I…" 

You giggled again, "Vox I'm just teasing, we're both adults here," you patted the bed again, "come on, I don't wanna bother the front desk, and I know you're tired too." 

He stood stock still for a second longer before sighing. Relenting he bent down and began taking his shoes off. When he was sufficiently comfortable he flopped on the bed next to you.

He groaned and you tried not to think about the way the sound traveled down to your belly.

"See? Isn't this much better than bothering the front desk?" You poked his shoulder. When you didn't get a response you poked him again.

"Is this gonna be a problem?" He spoke muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. 

"Hmm maybe." You poked him again. It was late and you'd been up for a LONG time now, you were giggly and slap-happy.

"Alright, that's it." He quickly rolled over and grabbed you, his claws tickling your sides. You squealed. "You're the worst assistant ever! You didn't even get a second bed!" 

"Hey!" You gasped between fits of laughter, "I wasn't in charge of this one!" You grabbed the pillow behind your head and threw it at his face, it bonked lightly off his screen. He froze staring at you in disbelief.

Maybe you had gone too far? 

A grin spread across his face, "oh now you're really gonna get it!" He chuckled darkly. His abuse to your sides got even worse as he started to add small shocks to them. You were laughing so hard you were sure you were gonna get complaints from the neighbors. You desperately tried shoving him off, but he managed to grab both of your hands in his much larger one. Holding them tightly above your head as his free hand continued. 

You were starting to gasp for breath, laughing far too hard, it was hurting. 

"Vox!" You huffed out and he stopped instantly, realizing that maybe he had gone too far. In that moment you both realized the exact position the two of you were in. Vox looming over you, his hand holding both of yours above your head, his other hand resting on your side, close to your waist. You both were panting, heart pounding.

You just stared at each other. 

"I… I um." He removed his hands from you like you had burned him. "Maybe we should go to sleep." 

You didn't say anything. 

He quickly laid back down and turned off the light. Mumbling a quiet goodnight.

You were still unsure of what had just happened. The way he was looking at you, it was almost like…

You peeked over at him, but his screen was already dimmed and he was laying stiffly. You slowly reached over and light as a feather touched his hand with the pads of your fingers. His hand twitched, but didn't pull away, so you continued moving your fingers into his own. Finally he reciprocated and his own fingers delicately wrapped around yours. You watched his whole body visibly relax and you smiled softly to yourself. 

As the night grew dark you both eventually fell asleep hand in hand. 

'Yeah,' you thought to yourself, 'This was much better than bothering the front desk.' 

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Why Crosshair Will Live

(aka an essay by a Crosshair girlie who loves her clone husband too much)

So, I've been thinking long and hard about the final season and how it could end. Obviously, it's gonna be an emotional rollercoaster and all that. However, there's always going to be discourse about who's gonna bite it, especially since our main characters don't have plot armor and this show is allowed to go way darker than Rebels. Crosshair is my favorite character and I don't hide that at all. He's all over my page. But looking at his character, there's a part of me that believes he actually might make it out in one piece. Let's get started!

"Redemption Equals Death"- Out of all the tropes, this is the one Crosshair embodies the most. He was the villain for a season, but now he's changing his ways. In past seasons, I would've said this is how his story ends. His brothers find him and Omega on Tantiss and he goes out protecting them, proving he deep down he still loved them. But after season 3, I don't think that's the case anymore. I think he's passed the point. Crosshair in season 3 is actively redeeming himself through his actions and words with his family and the other clones. We don't need to see him go out in some big self-sacrifice because we already see the person he truly is inside. More importantly, his family sees the person he's become. He's already proven it in so many ways. Crosshair openly admitted his mistakes, saved Hunter from the wyrm, is very protective of Omega, and saved his brothers, Omega, and Rex + Howzer from CX-2. At this point, Crosshair has passed the "redemption equals death" marker. His redemption is playing out and the people around him are seeing the changes.

His Character Arc- Crosshair's character arc has always been about loyalty and identity. Go all the way back to season 1 with the infamous "this is who I am" line and his whole spiel about the Batch not being loyal to him. "Aftermath" shows us this poor man already beginning to struggle. In season 2, Crosshair is going through every hurt no comfort fic trope in the book. This man was pushed to the brink, with every sense of his being questioned. And he almost didn't make it. Crosshair in "The Outpost" was so close to dying after trekking through the blizzard and shooting Nolan. He's suffered through so much already from being severely burnt to freezing, and now almost drowning. Pretty much half way through season 3 and Crosshair's trials aren't over. His hand is still bothering him and he's still trying to find himself.

Although Crosshair has made peace with his family, I believe he still needs to make peace with himself. He's been humbled sure, but there's more to go. Who is he if he isn't a soldier or sharpshooter? Crosshair's arc will probably finish with him realizing being a soldier isn't entirely who he is. His hand tremor still could be related to his internal conflict, we don't know. So far, he's doing a great job. We've seen Crosshair begin to find peace on Pabu and comfort with Omega. It would be so satisfying to see him make it out of this mess alive. My best BB ending would be him (and his brothers) alongside Omega retired somewhere. They have each other and that is enough.

His Poster and Theme- Crosshair is the only character as of right now in the Batch who has a separate poster for season 3. Not even Omega has a separate one (although I can see her getting one later). In fact, Omega shares her with Crosshair. Both are wearing their prison outfits, showing their shared situation and stand against a white/grey backdrop. We also see Cross gripping his right hand, referring to the issue he's having with it. However, he also has one of himself in the same golden lighting as his brothers. Crosshair stares at his helmet with a calm look on his face and appears to be contemplating. That has to mean something. From my POV, I get the sense he's wondering about who he is. Wouldn't it be a great ending if Cross finds himself and lives to see that self be happy?

He is also the only member of the Batch (Omega aside) to have his own theme/leitmotif. He has two actually: his Imperial one and his heroic one. His heroic theme aka the "Mayday" theme is stunning and highlights his struggle perfectly. You can actually hear it in season 1 fun fact but it's faint. The fact that he does have a separate poster and theme from the others does give me hope that he will make it. Not to say that the others aren't important, but something about Crosshair and his journey is very meaningful to have warranted this. You can argue that he shares the title of "heart of the show" to some degree because his arc is the most dynamic of all the Batch. His struggles and fight back towards the light truly raise this show to greatness.

Crosshair is also season 3's "Batcher of Year" award and so far, they're doing everything we wanted and more. For two whole seasons, his character has been building and building towards this season. And they better give us a great payoff. Crosshair's character going to continue to soar as the season progresses. I can definitely see him making it through to the end because of the focus on him.

Omega- how can we forget about the kid who never gave up on our grumpy sniper? Omega (and we can argue Cross to a lesser degree) is the heart of the show. She gives the Batch a new outlook on life and it is through her that they grow and change. Omega brings out the paternal and softer side in each of her brothers. Crosshair, however, takes a bit longer to get there. He's the only character whose main development happens away from Omega. When he finally gets home, he becomes Crossdad. But Omega is still a kid, despite her capabilities. If the other Batchers die, who will take care of her? Omega being on her own just doesn't feel right. We also know going off with Rex wouldn't feel satisfying either even though he would take really good care of her.

Now that Crosshair is back, it feels like the show is propping him up to take over Hunter's role. Hunter parented for 2 whole seasons. As the mentor figure, he might bite it. But wait! Crosshair is still here. There is no way the writers would just let Omega finish alone or get killed off. She will have someone with her. Crosshair, having spent the majority of the show away, will probably be the best candidate narratively speaking. As mentioned above, he gets two posters showing just how integral he is this season. He's also been getting a lot of screen time with Omega. So, I can definitely see the show ending with just the two of them left. It would be bittersweet, but still satisfying.

Disney- let's ask the question: would Disney kill off an entire family aside from their child? My best guess is no (this isn't a Disney movie with a prince to save the day). Tying into my last point, I can't see this family-friendly company letting a literal child lose her entire family and end up all alone in the end. We all saw Rogue One and we know that this is a plausible option. However, I'm beginning to think that they aren't gonna do that because again, Omega is a child. She's gonna hopefully have one, if not all, her brothers alongside her. And I swear, if they give her to someone else not named Crosshair, Hunter, Wrecker, or Echo, I will blow a gasket. She needs her family. Disney and Star Wars is all about hope and it's not very hopeful to me if all of the BB but Omega dies.

Rebuttal- let's get this out of the way: if Cross dies, it will be with his brothers, protecting Omega, and defeating Hemlock. There is literally no other way he could go out that would be satisfying. He's redeemed and fought the Ghost of Crosshair's Future (aka CX-2). Backpedaling on his character arc would suck. If he dies, it will be as a Bad Batcher, a loving brother, and the best sniper the galaxy has ever seen.

But I don't think that will happen. I do genuinely think Crosshair has a chance to survive. But what do you guys think? Obviously, I'll still be nervous about the whole thing, but I'm trying here.

[lanitalay]

Before I Say Goodnight

Introduction

Reader insert ACOTAR fanfic, pairing tbd

Premise: 21st century fem!reader gets transported to the world of ACOTAR after a freak incident.

warnings: none, maybe a lil angsty

A/n: Hello! This is my first fic and an idea I have been wanting to see portrayed for a while. As of now the pairing could literally be anyone but personally I am partial to Eris or Cassian. Let me know if there are any tropes you'd like to see. I wanna make this a fun space so enjoy!!

Other chapters

It was colder than you had expected it to be. The Highlands were known for being cold and rainy but since summer began you had half hoped half prayed for a warm sunny day. The skies were obstructed by heavy looking clouds. It would rain soon and the end of the hike was nowhere in sight. Maybe this is why people shouldn't travel alone, you thought as thunder roared from above. If I was with someone I'm sure they would have checked the weather. But this was why you'd flown half way across the world by yourself. "I want to get lost in new cities" you had said to your parents who never thought this was a good idea to begin with. "I want to explore the world" how hopeful you were when it was just an idea. Now though, now you had to find shelter unless you wanted to get soaked. "This is so not worth it" you grumbled to yourself while looking around for some type of cover. There hadn't been a trace of civilization for a few hours now and according to the map the lodge was still a few miles away. Groaning, you go off the path and into the thick forest hoping to find a tree, a cave, a cabin, anything that could protect you from the weather. You walk in a straight line, careful not to get lost. Lightning strikes and thunder rattles you as you start to increase your pace a bit. The forest is dark and the wind sounds like a voice telling you to run. Run. Run. You start to jog a little, constantly looking back to make sure the path is still visible. To your horror, thick fog has rolled in from the mountains making it impossible to see more that twenty feet in front of you. Shit. Shit. Shit. You hadn't prepared for this. Hiking was always something you enjoyed, but you had no real survival skills. Other than a bit of information gleaned from your grandparents' stories or survival reality shows. I should stay here. That was the logical thing to do, avoid getting even more lost, once the fog clears make your way back. But another gust of wind urged you. Run. Run. Run. You looked around but there was nothing, absolutely nothing there except the trees, the wind and the ever encroaching rain. Nothing, not even an animal, not even an insect. Fuck. With a jump you start running in the opposite direction of the path. Something is wrong. Something feels off and wrong and you need to get away. There's a clearing coming up and a bit of sun is slipping through the break in the forest canopy. You stop dead in your tracks as you take in what's in front of you. Boulders the size of refrigerators are lined up in what seemed to be a perfectly symmetrical circle. Chills climb up your back. You walk slowly towards it, careful not to touch anything. The space feels sacred here. As you get closer you see that there are smaller and smaller boulders until they become tiny little rocks lined up exactly the same. Sweat runs cold. They seem to circle around nothing. In the center is a small round patch of grass lined with small mushrooms. Run. Run. Run. You don't know where to go, being here feels wrong but there seems to be an invisible wall that won't let you run back to the forest. The only way out was through. You walked slowly, as if someone was surveilling you, waiting, hoping for you to mess up. Avoiding any branches or roots that might make you trip, you get to the patch of grass. Thunder roared all around you. It shook the whole forest and left a ringing in your ears. Stepping over the mushrooms you place you right foot first and then the left. Only the floor is gone and you're falling. Falling. Falling. There's an immense pressure all around you, it feels like you're being pushed by the darkness itself and you're falling.

Just as it started it's over.

Shaking, you try to take a breath. What the fuck just happened? It's the only thing you can think. You take another breath and look up from the ground you just fell on. It's the forest. You realize you are lying in the middle of the same clearing. Well, it looks like the forest except the boulders and rocks are gone, the space barren. I'm gonna throw up. Run. Run. Run. You try to get up and manage to stand on wobbly legs as you feel for any injuries from the fall. There's no blood anywhere and the only pain seems to be the growing headache from trying to grasp what's happening. Then you hear them. Steps. Someone or something is close. You take off running back to where the path should be not willing to risk getting attacked by an animal. You're panting as you run and you look back for a second to make sure no one is chasing you when you run straight into a tree and blackness takes over.

You wince as you open your eyes and feel the thumping pain coming from your forehead, you touch it and feel a lump forming. Great. The fire crackles beside you and you freeze. Looking to the side you are terrified in place as you see an ethereal looking man with long red hair and a scar down his face looking back at you. "Hello", his tone is bored. "Who are you and what are you doing in this court?" You open your mouth to answer but close it again as you look closer. His ears are pointed and his eye seems to be mechanical. I've got to be hallucinating. Uncertain, you answer "I'm y/n and I have no idea where I am or how I got here." Did I eat one of those mushrooms? This has to be the worst trip ever. You swallow and more quietly say "Am I in danger?" He pokes at the fire and says "I'm not going to hurt you, but this isn't a safe place for a human". "What's your name?" he sighs, like he's tired of answering that question.

"Lucien".

[sl-newsie]

Snow Day (Carlos de Vil x Silvermist Daughter) *Christmas Special* 🎄

'Can I request a Carlos descendants holiday fic with friends to lovers/everybody knows but them tropes? But the reader is an AK, adopted daughter of Silvermist.’ Here we go!

“No! Cut it out, Elvin!” I shout as I sprint through the icy wind. “You know I don’t like the cold!”

The white-blonde boy behind me jumps up to lean off a lamppost. “What’s the matter? Too afraid to have fun?”

I give an annoyed huff and hug my cape around me tighter. “Just because you’re the son of Jack Frost doesn’t mean you have to make my life a living nightmare with your pranks! Now for the last time, leave me alone!”

In a final effort I let out a water blast that sends Elvin flying into a snowbank, then dash down the street to hide inside Miss Muffet’s Bakery. 

“Oh- Sylvia! Hi! What’s going on-?!”

In my haste I almost run into a familiar face, though this is one face I am always excited to see!

“Shh!” I hold up a hand to silence Carlos. “I’m hiding!”

His eyes widen. “Oh!” He joins me behind the cookie display. “May I ask from whom?” Carlos whispers back.

“Ugh. It’s Elvin Frost. Son of Elsa and Jack Frost, and an icy pain in my side. He’s visiting from Arendelle, and has become the reason why I hate snow days.”

“Hate snow days?” Carlos laughs. “How could anyone hate snow days? I mean, look around!” He gestures to the billowing snow swirling around the window. “It’s so- so…”

“Magical?”

“Exactly!”

Ever since Carlos came to Auradon last summer, I’ve always been fond of his childlike energy. Not many kids in Auradon appreciate the little things like he does, so it goes without saying that we’d become friends. Mom’s always so busy controlling the water elements she didn’t have time to look after me, so she sent me to be adopted by Jack Beanstalk. But like Carlos, I’ve learned to enjoy other things. However, snow isn’t one of them.

“My wings can’t stand the bitter cold. If I stay outside too long, they freeze and wither away. It also doesn’t help that my water powers freeze in the winter. Water and cold do not mix well for me.”

Carlos’ face falls. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that.”

I wave it off. “It’s alright.”

“It’s just that… we didn’t get snow on the Isle.”

That’s why he loves the snow. I can’t be mad at him for that. How could he have known anyway? It’s his first Christmas in Auradon, so he wouldn’t know.

“I guess if you’ve never seen it, snow can be very magical,” I attempt a cheerful smile. “I’m glad you enjoy it! You should go play outside.”

Carlos still isn’t convinced. “But it’s not as fun if you’re not there, Sylvia. Would you maybe wanna stay here for a hot chocolate?”

My spirits lift and my wings start fluttering. “That sounds wonderful! I’d love to!”

“Great! Um- maybe we could sit down instead of hiding behind the counter?”

I nod eagerly and start flying to a nearby table, too excited to remember not to use my wings indoors.

“Oh- right.” I flutter down, and my height difference shows. Since I’m the descendant of a fairy, I’ve been short my whole life.

“That never gets old,” Carlos comments with a grin.

I tilt my head in confusion. “What?”

“Your wings. I think they’re beautiful.”

His kind words send us both into blushing messes, so I try to change the subject.

"Where's Dude?"

Carlos chuckles. "He hates the cold, so he's currently sleeping in front of the fire in my dorm."

By now a waitress shows up to take our order.

“What’ll it be, hon?”

I don’t miss a beat. “A large old-fashioned hot chocolate extreme with peppermint dust, whipped cream, and marshmallows, please!”

Carlos’ jaw drops. 

I roll my eyes. “It’s my favorite holiday drink, I don’t care if it gives me a heart attack.”

“It sounds fantastic! I’ll have one too!” He smiles at the waitress, who just nods and walks off.

This snow day just got so much better!

Evie’s POV

“We’ve got to get them together!” I huff as I pace the dorm room.

“But they are together,” Jay states bluntly. “Haven’t you seen them around?”

I roll my eyes. “I mean, they need to know that they love each other, right? It’s like they’re completely oblivious to it!”

Jay lazily gets up from the couch and walks over to the window. “I wouldn’t say they look too upset.”

“What?”

I dash over and peer through the frosted glass to see Carlos and Sylvia walking hand-in-hand through the snow, each holding to-go mugs.

“Oh my God. Are they on a… date?”

Jay shrugs. “Guess we don’t gotta step in after all.”

I’m still unconvinced. “No, no. It’s been going on like this for months! They look happy hanging out together, but won’t confess their feelings! Come on!” I grab Jay’s sleeve and start dragging him out the door. “I want to see this for myself!”

Sylvia’s POV

Ok, if all snow days involve drinking hot chocolate with Carlos then I want one every day! 

“What’s been your favorite snow activity?” I ask Carlos, who keeps looking at the snow outside as if we’re in a real-life snow globe.

“Definitely making snowmen. Or snowball fights! Wait- have you ever ice skated?”

I let out a carefree laugh as I sip my cocoa. “Yes, it comes very naturally when I can control water.”

“What’s your favorite snow activity?”

I come to a stop in the flurrying snow, remembering how much I used to love winter as a kid.

“I… I liked making snow angels,” I whisper.

Carlos gets an unreadable expression. “Why don’t you now?”

I shake my head and gesture to the frozen ground. “I don’t like risking direct snow contact with my wings. Plus, all the snow that melts under me begins to freeze to my cape.”

The freckled VK looks distant for a second, then seems to get an idea. 

“Wait a sec!” He quickly slides off his own coat and lays it on the fluffy snow. “Now you have a double cover!”

I smile sadly at his thoughtful gesture. “Carlos, that’s really sweet. But I’m not sure-”

“Come on, it’ll only be for a second!” Carlos takes my hand and pulls me closer. “We’ll head straight back indoors, I promise.”

I must admit, Carlos’ pleading eyes combined with the sparkling snow is all too taunting to pass up despite my usual refusals.

With a deep breath, I hug my cape tighter around me and turn around to gently lie down on the soft blanket of snow. The cooler surface is refreshing, flooding my mind with childhood memories. Slowly, I bring my arms out to form the angel, and when I do I feel Carlos lay down beside me.

“Are you having fun?” He asks sincerely.

“Yes,” I answer in a relaxed tone, then seem to rethink something. “Carlos… Do you like spending time with me?”

Carlos doesn’t take more than 2 seconds to respond. “Of course! You’re always so full of fun ideas, and having a water balloon fight with you is one of the best things ever!”

I nod. “Does that mean… you enjoy my company? You like… me?”

By now we’ve both realized where this conversation might be going, but thankfully Carlos doesn’t seem weirded out by it and doesn’t slide away.

“Ok, don’t water-blast me for this,” Carlos takes a deep breath. “Would you be mad if I said I did like you? Maybe… as more than a friend?”

Is this what I think it is?

“So is this a date?” I stand up and my wings start getting excited, threatening to shake loose from my cape. “Oh no- I can’t be out too long!”

Carlos sees my panicked face and stands up with me to dust the snow off my cape. Then out of nowhere, he sweeps me up bridal-style and rushes me across the grounds to the dorm building entrance. We don’t speak, there’s no need to. I trust him not to drop me. Through speaking with actions Carlos shows me just how much he cares, and it sends my spirits soaring. I don’t know if it’s the sugar in the hot chocolate or my dilated emotions, but my heart’s racing like a rabbit!

When we get inside and the warmth engulfs my wings again, Carlos gently lets me down.

“I supposed I did mean for this to be a date,” Carlos admits. “I’m sorry you got too cold.”

For some reason my stubborn eyes can’t leave his cute face. “It’s my fault, I got too excited. I just wish I could stand the cold longer so I could enjoy it with you,” I say in a sad tone.

“I’d keep you warm.” Carlos leans in closer and wraps his arms around me, firm enough to show his affection but not too tight to damage my wings.

Using what courage I can muster, I turn my head up. “I know you will.” And with that, I press a soft kiss to his cheek.

Carlos’ face goes as red as a cherry, and immediately I regret being so bold.

“I’m sorry! God, I’m so bad at this- I just messed everything up- and now you’re mad-!”

Carlos cuts me off by leaning in to kiss my lips and my eyes close on instinct. If it weren’t for my wings going into hummingbird mode, this would be a really tender moment. 

When we break apart to breathe, I hear Carlos let out a surprised gasp.

“Sylvia, um… As much as I love your wings, would you mind letting me down?” He jokes.

My eyes pop open and I look down to find that my wings have lifted us up a good 5 feet in the air.

“Oh! Right. Sorry about that,” I gush as I lower us down, with Carlos still hugging me to him.

“Does this mean we can have more snow dates?” I ask in a timid voice.

Carlos grins. “That sounds fun! I think I just found my new favorite snow activity!”

I mirror his happiness with my own smile and grip his hand. “I think we’ve had enough snow for today, so how about watching a Christmas movie?”

“Perfect!” 

Carlos starts leading me back to his dorm, and when we pass by Evie and Jay in the hallway I swear I hear Evie mutter “It’s about time.” 

God, I love snow days!

@laylasshiftingtonight

[to-thelakes]

built to fall (3)

pairing; luke alvez x fem!reader

series summary; after having a rough month, the feelings that you had been harbouring for your co-worker finally come to the surface

series warnings; fluff, hurt/comfort, smut (later on), mutual pining, discussions of mental health, reader gets drunk, vomiting, suggestive themes, sexual tension, cases that the bau work are also mentioned so the usual warnings for the show apply

warnings for this part; slight miscommunication trope, tooth-rotting fluff, luke is a consent king, kisses <3

notes; luke is my consent king, love that man till the ends of the earth, also, just realised i didn't say but none of this fic has been beta-read, just proof-read (once) by me so i'm sorry if it's a complete fucking mess

tags; @smurfenijsje12 @xoxomoonlightbabe

ao3 / masterlist

previous chapter

Back-to-back cases swept up the next few weeks of your life and you and Luke hadn’t really had time to talk about what had happened. You were avoiding it and you were frankly embarrassed. You didn’t want to think about it and so if he ever tried to bring it up, you’d just change the topic. It was easier that way and you frankly didn’t think he needed to explain himself.

The two of you worked amicably. You tried your best to act like nothing had happened but that was a little harder than you had initially expected. Luke kept trying to get you to talk about it but you had been purposefully avoiding it. You were on cases and you didn’t want to possibly impair your judgment by becoming too emotional about Luke.

But the case you had been assigned to currently hit a little too close to home. So, frankly, you were already emotional. A little girl had lost her parents due to the unsub and you were finding it hard to keep it together. You were still a little fragile over your own parents and everyone could tell that you were off. Emily had tried to talk to you but you had reassured her that you were fine.

Luke could tell that something was wrong but whenever he tried to approach you, you shut him down before he could ask if you were okay. It was obvious to everyone that something had happened between you and Luke and it was beginning to affect the both of you. None of them really knew what was going on and Matt had tried to ask Luke but he brushed it off, acting as if it didn’t matter but it clearly did.

However, the longer this case went on the worse you were beginning to feel and the more you avoided Luke. You barely even looked in Luke’s direction anymore. The thought of making eye contact with him terrified you because you knew that if he spoke to you, you would break down into his arms. But you couldn’t do that to him, not again. 

The text that you hadn’t replied to weeks ago had reassured you that he didn’t mind looking after you that night but it didn’t mean you wanted him to see it again. Especially not after you had continued to spill your guts over the phone. Now that some time had passed since the conversation over the phone, you knew that he probably wasn’t rejecting you.

But you didn’t know how to approach him anymore. So, you just avoided him. But as the third evening of the case rolled around, Emily decided that enough was enough and grabbed you to take you to one side. You hadn’t expected to be ambushed and when she asked you what was wrong, you floundered.

“Did something happen with Alvez? If something bad happened, you need to tell me and I will sort it out,” She said sternly. You stared at the floor, caught off-guard and completely floundering. Emily could see the way that you were fighting internally with yourself. She let out a sigh before she stepped towards you, “I need to know if something happened.”

“Nothing bad happened,” You said after a moment.

“You don’t have to lie. Nobody has to know,” She said softly. You shook your head, lifting your head up to look at Emily. You weren’t sure exactly what she thought had gone on but you couldn’t let her think badly of Luke. This was all on you. You were emotional, you were avoiding him. It was all your fault.

“I mean it. I just, you remember when Luke took me home?” You asked, Emily nodded, “Well, I was really drunk and I spilt my guts out and sobbed. It was ugly and I made some comments that were far from professional. I just can’t get him off my mind and then I spoke to him on the phone and… and I told him that I’ve been thinking about him a lot. And I just don’t know how to talk to him now because… I like him, a lot more than I should and I don’t know what to do about it and I can’t just pretend and talk to him like normal. And I’m fucking 30 and acting like a teenager. Like, this is ridiculous.” Emily nodded along to your words, listening to you and the tension in her shoulders seemed to drop.

“Okay,” Emily began but she seemed to pause, not entirely sure where to go. She was your friend but she was also your Unit Chief and she couldn’t have conflict in the unit. It would cause too many issues and so, she glanced over at Luke, “Let me speak to him. Why don’t you go back to the hotel? Get some sleep. You need it and it’s getting late.” You nodded. Part of you wanted to stay and work but you couldn’t. Emily wouldn’t let you and with the emotional toll the case was taking on you, you could barely think straight and so, you wiped your cheeks and nodded.

“Thanks, Em,” You mumbled. She nodded and grabbed your hand, squeezing it softly.

“Get some rest.” The two of you then separated and you slipped away out the back door of the police station. It was a short drive to the hotel and you managed to hitch a ride with one of the officers that was heading out that way. You thanked them and once you were back in your hotel room, you curled up on the bed.

Then the tears started and you couldn’t stop them. You were sobbing violently as you wrapped your arms around a pillow. The past few cases had been hard and you were so tired. Everything was just getting pent up and you couldn’t escape the thoughts of Luke. It was driving you mad and you just wanted everything to go back to how it was before you had spilt your guts out to him.

The tears and snot didn’t seem to let up and you had to trudge to the bathroom after a while to try and clean your face up. But when you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, you cried harder. Your eyes were red, tears blurring your vision. It was too much. This case was too much and you just wanted Luke to hug you but you were terrified of that. What if it went too far? What if it just made it all worse and you couldn’t get over him like you knew that you had to.

After a moment, you heard a knock on your hotel door. You assumed it was Emily so didn’t even think before you opened the door. Instead, you were faced with Luke. There was a frown on his face when he took in your disheveled appearance and seeing him just made you cry harder. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Woah, woah, hey,” He said softly, stepping into your room. He closed the door behind him as you looked down at the floor, “Emily said that something was wrong. What is it?” He asked softly as he stepped towards you. Your shoulders shook and tears continued to drip down your face. You didn’t know how to tell him what was going on. It was too hard, “Talk to me, what’s going on?” He asked as he closed the space between the two of you. You wiped the snot from your nose as you stared down at the carpet. Luke’s face was pinched together as he watched you. Part of him wondered if this was his fault but he didn’t want to assume.

“You shouldn’t be here,” You choked out, trying desperately to control your sobs but every time you remembered he was there, it just got worse. He shook his head.

“No, I’m not leaving. You’re upset, I’m not walking away,” He insisted. That just made it harder and you had to hold yourself as you cried harder. You weren’t even sure how you still had tears left to cry but you did, “Talk to me, please, carina,” He begged as his hands moved to rest on your shoulders. You shook your head.

“I don’t know how to talk to you, that’s the problem,” You practically wailed as you covered your face with your hands. His face fell and he pulled you into a hug, “I keep getting drunk and saying stupid things and you make me feel so safe but I can’t just keep crying to you. You’re my friend but I just- it’s not fair on you.” You continued to blubber as you tried to control your breathing. Luke sighed. He knew what this was about now and so, he cupped the back of your head, pulling you against him. His other arm wrapped around you.

“I told you that it’s okay. I care about you, okay?” He said soothingly. That made you want to roll your eyes but it honestly just made you cry harder.

“I can’t keep saying those things to you. You, you clearly feel differently,” You stammered out, tears still streaming down your face as you squeezed your eyes shut. He let out a heavy sigh at your words, putting together what else was bothering you.

“Carina, you were drunk,” He stated, “I didn’t know how much you meant it and I didn’t want to assume. I have more respect for you than to take advantage of you like that” He explained. Your breathing had evened out a little now as he held you against him. He sighed against your hair before he grabbed your face, cupping your cheeks between his hands, “Look at me,” He insisted. You did, although it was very reluctantly.

“I was sober enough to know what I was saying,” You mumbled to him. He nodded and forced your face to tilt up so he could look into your eyes properly.

“But you weren’t sober,” He reminded you, “I can’t ever stop thinking about you and I wasn’t going to take advantage of you in a moment like that. Not over the phone, not in person, not ever. Do you understand me?” You forced yourself to meet his unrelenting gaze before swallowing and nodding. He nudged your cheek with his thumb, “Tell me you understand.”

“I understand,” You muttered. He nodded and then he moved one hand behind your head, pulling you into a hug again, “I’m not drunk now,” You added after a moment. Luke chuckled as you snaked your arms around his waist, snuggling into his warmth.

“No, you’re not, but you’re clearly upset and if I’m gonna do this, I’ll do it properly,” He said. You let out a heavy sigh and he chuckled softly at your dramatic reaction, “But, I feel the same way. I can’t… stop thinking about you. Do you know how distracting that is?” The soft chuckle that accompanied your words made your shoulders relax against him, “Couldn’t look at you without thinking about how gorgeous you are.” You began to grin. It was ridiculous how much you adored this man and he was telling you everything you needed to hear.

“Can you stay with me, then?” You muttered. He pressed a kiss to your forehead, telling you ‘okay’ softly before his hands trailed down from your back to your thighs. He gently lifted you up and you instinctively wrapped your legs around his hips. The new position meant you could bury your face in his neck as he carried you both over to the bed.

All he wanted was to make sure you got some sleep and you knew that you were cared for. He hated to admit it but he had fallen for you completely.

-

By the time the case was over, it was getting late but you all wanted to get home. So as midnight drew in, you had boarded the jet. And by the time you landed back at home, it was nearing 3am. You were honestly exhausted. Though, you and Luke had spent most of the flight home talking while everyone else slept so you really only had yourself to blame. 

You hadn’t intended to spend the whole flight talking with him but the case was done and the air was cleared. So, you wanted to speak to him. You wanted to stay close to him. He had already been sleeping in your bed at the hotel as the case dragged on. And as you flew back, the thought that you would be sleeping alone lingered in the back of your mind.

So, you did your best to just enjoy his presence. 

Once the team returned back to the office, Emily told everyone to go home and just finish the reports on Monday. That was a relief to everyone’s ears and with a few tired goodbyes, everyone began to filter out until it was just Emily, you and Luke. Emily was in her office and you could see her through the blinds. She was always staying late at the moment and you could see her writing up something at her desk. It made you frown but you didn’t have a chance to think about it too much before Luke had spoken.

“You heading home?” He asked as he walked over to you. You nodded, rubbing your eyes to try and keep the sleepiness at bay, “Need me to drive you?” You thought for a moment before you shook your head.

“I’ll be fine,” You said softly. He nodded and adjusted his to-go bag over his shoulder.  Luke’s presence made it so much easier to sleep and part of you wanted to ask him to come and stay over but you didn’t know how to. You hadn’t even kissed yet. You didn’t know what to do and it seemed he felt the same way.

The silence dragged out between the two of you before you said, “I just hope I can sleep.” Luke’s face contorted and you looked at him, cocking your head to the side.

“Why don’t you stay over with me? Then you can meet Roxy in the morning ‘cause I gotta pick her up from the dog-sitter,” He suggested. You didn’t even need to consider it. The thought of being able to stay with Luke for another day made you feel better. It was so much easier to fall asleep when you were next to him. Also, it meant that you might be able to work out what you were without the pressure of the case - or the team.

“Yeah, okay,” You said softly. Luke began to smile and he glanced over at Emily. She had been watching the two of you but when Luke looked up, she was quick to avert her gaze. You grabbed your to-go bag from your desk and pulled it over your shoulder, “Do you think she noticed?” You asked as you glanced back at Emily.

“Probably,” Luke shrugged. You rolled your eyes and then he took a hold of your hand, pulling you towards the elevator. His hand was so warm and you honestly felt like you could have fallen asleep against him in the elevator.

But you didn’t.

Instead, you debated what to do about the cars before you agreed that you would drop your car - and to-go bag - off at your apartment. Then you could grab a change of clothes and then Luke would drive the both of you the rest of the way to his house. 

By the time that you had arrived at Luke’s house, 3am had ticked into 4am and you were both exhausted. In your sleep-deprived state, you didn’t really give Luke’s house much of a look. You were more interested in getting in bed and curling up against his side. 

Neither of you really thought about much as he dragged you to the ensuite so that you could both brush your teeth. You then changed into pajamas which consisted of stripping and putting on pajama pants on and a comfy bra. Luke found it hard not to stare at you, admiring you as you trudged back into the bedroom.

His bed looked incredibly comfy. And he also looked incredibly domestic. He had stripped his shirt off and jeans off, leaving him in just his boxers as he got under the covers. You found yourself admiring his ass as he shuffled under the covers and when he noticed, he sent you a look, cocking his eyebrow.

“You have a nice ass,” You shrugged before he grabbed your hips and dragged you into bed with him. A giggly shriek escaped your lips as he pulled you against him. With a little bit of shuffling, you were curled up on his chest.

The warmth that radiated off his skin made you sleepy which made it easy to fall asleep. So, within a few minutes, you were dragged into the blissfulness of it. It took a little longer but with you against him, Luke also managed to fall asleep.

-

The blare of an alarm woke both you and Luke up and you let out a soft groan, leaning over and trying to switch your alarm off. Before you realized that it wasn’t yours. It was Luke’s. He muttered an apology as he switched it off before dropping back into bed. 

Your eyes blinked open for a moment, taking him in in the morning light. He looked so pretty and you couldn’t help the lazy smile that spread across your face before your eyes closed again. Part of you couldn’t believe that you were sleeping in his bed, in his house. It was ridiculous especially considering that you hadn’t even kissed yet.

“If I didn’t have morning breath, I’d kiss you,” You mumbled under your breath as you shuffled back towards the man beside you. You heard Luke let out a sleepy laugh before he rolled towards you. The two of you had slipped away from each other in your sleep and he frankly, was not happy with that. So, he grabbed you and tugged you into him. Your head slotted underneath his chin while his arm wrapped around your back.

“Mhm, that’s better,” He hummed out. You couldn’t help but chuckle against his chest. Your breath fanned across his skin and he nuzzled his head into your hair. Then you pressed a soft kiss to the column of his neck where you were cuddled up. 

Despite your best intentions, you were slipping back into sleep again. The feeling of Luke’s fingers running patterns across your back lulled you back into it and it wasn’t until an hour or two later that you woke up again.

But rather than being cuddled up to Luke, he was sitting up in bed, reading a book. You rolled over to take a look at him, still sleepy but more awake than you had been when his alarm had rudely awakened the both of you.

“Morning,” You mumbled softly. The two of you had fallen into an easy routine the last few days of the case. The feelings that bubbled to the surface were there but neither of you had actually done anything about them. But you were going to change that this morning. You were determined to finally get that kiss you had been craving.

“Hi,” He said softly, putting his bookmark in so he could put all his focus on you, “How you feeling?” He asked. You snuggled up to the pillow, a sleepy smile spreading across your face. It was hard to hide it which made him chuckle.

“It was a pretty good sleep,” You muttered. He moved to lie down, turning over onto his side to face you. He reached out to cup your jaw and you melted into him. It was nice. The routine that the two of you had fallen into was easy. It was like you were meant to be together and it soothed something in your soul that you didn’t know needed healing.

“Want some breakfast before I pick up Roxy?” He asked. You nodded against his hand, forcing your eyes back open to look up at him. He grinned and slid out from under the covers.

“It better be good. I’ve heard some… things about your cooking,” You added, teasing him with a sleepy grin. Luke looked back at you, tutting before he headed into the bathroom. You whined softly at the loss of him before deciding you needed to get up too. Realistically, you wanted to stay in Luke’s bed. His mattress was so soft and you felt like you were lying on a cloud. But you wanted to be around him as much as you could.

So, the two of you brushed your teeth together before you headed downstairs. This time you took the time to look through his house. His living room looked so comfortable. The couch looked like something you could sink into and never want to get out of. He had a big TV and a collection of different video games. They looked mainly like RPGs and there was a VR headset abandoned on the coffee table. 

You schmoozed a little longer, clocking the blanket on the back of the sofa that looked very soft and comfortable before you turned around and wandered into the kitchen where he was already cooking up a storm.

You could get used to this. He looked so domestic. He had put some pajama pants on before he left the bedroom but you still had a beautiful look at his bare chest and built shoulders. He was built like a Greek God and you loved it. 

As he was cooking on the stove, you walked up behind him and wrapped your arms around his waist. He smiled, glancing back at you before he returned back to the pan. You stayed there for a moment before Luke needed to move. 

So, you reluctantly stepped back and walked over to the fridge. He had mentioned something about loving OJ with his breakfast and when you spotted it in the fridge, you scooped it up before searching the cupboards for his glasses. Luke watched in mild amusement as he continued to cook, not bothering to end your suffering as you searched.

It took a moment before you found two glasses and then you poured a healthy dose of OJ out before you put it back in the fridge. You grabbed your glass and took a sip. It tasted so good and the sugar gave your system a kick that you didn’t even realize that it needed.

Once you were satisfied, you moved to sit up on the counter. Luke placed the lid over the frying pan before he turned around to you. The two glasses of OJ were placed beside you and so he picked up his as an excuse to get close to you.

He slotted himself between your thighs, taking the untouched glass of juice. He took a drink before placing it down. You met his gaze and couldn’t help but smile. Between his body between your legs, the warmth of him so close and the domesticity of all of this, you were giddy. You had missed this kind of comfort.

“Thanks for letting me stay over,” You said softly. He shrugged and let his hands slide up your thighs  to rest against your waist. He took you in, adoring every feature on your face. The way your eyes shone in the morning light and the relaxed way you smiled up at him.

“I couldn’t say no to this face,” He admitted as one of his hands moved to gently run his fingers across your jaw. You chuckled, shaking your head at his comment. The eye contact was a little too intense so you grabbed your glass and took another sip of the juice, avoiding it for a moment. When you placed the glass down, Luke was still there and admiring you.

“What?” You giggled, suddenly feeling self-conscious under his gaze. He shrugged and let his hand rest against your jaw.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked. You were a little dumbfounded by the question. In reality, it was obvious that’s what he wanted. He was so close to you, breath fanning across your cheeks and his hands caressing any part of your skin he could reach. You should have expected it and yet you still stammered over your words.

“Please,” You managed to get out. He chuckled and moved his other hand to rest against your cheek. He was cupping your face and he pulled you forward on the counter so you were pressed against him. Your eyes fluttered closed as he pressed his lips against yours. The first kiss was soft. There was a gentleness to the way he connected your lips and it made you weak at the knees.

Nobody you had ever dated had ever kissed you like this. It felt like you were floating and then he pulled back. His forehead rested against yours as you breathed in each other. Your brain took a moment to catch up before you moved your arms to wrap around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss.

It was passionate this time. Your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him as closely as physicall possible against you as you moved your mouth against his. Your fingers moved to run through his hair, combing through his curls as you gently ran your tongue across his bottom lip. He didn’t waste a second letting your tongue in and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. The taste of OJ lingered on both of your lips as you desperately clung to each other.

His head tilted to the side, hands gripping your hips and tugging you closer. There was a longing in the way he kissed you and it made you completely breathless, heart pumping against your ribcage. You could have kissed him forever as your lips met over and over again, barely giving either of you time to breathe.

Your fingers tugged at the roots of his hair and he let out a groan against your mouth. His hands then trailed under the back of your shirt, fingertips running across your spine. You arched into him and he pulled back, taking your bottom lip between his teeth. The whimper that left your lips was completely involuntarily and it made him smirk as he pressed wet kisses across your jaw and down your neck. Your fingers stayed buried in his hair, gripping onto the roots as he searched for the spot on your neck that would make you keen.

“Luke,” You whimpered softly as his teeth nipped at your skin. He grinned against you, happy to have found the spot he was looking for. He then began sucking the skin into his mouth, “Fuck,” Your hands tugged at his hair as you bit your lip. It felt so good. Luke felt so good and you were pretty sure that you would do anything he asked in that moment. The quiet groan he let out as you pulled on his hair just made it all that much more erotic.

But, even though you loved the feeling of his lips against you neck, you wanted his lips on yours again so you were quick to tug his hair, pulling him away from your neck before you connected your lips again. The kiss didn’t last long though. Both of you were completely breathless, panting as he rested his forehead against yours. Your eyes were closed as you breathed each other in.

A giggle fell from your lips as you finally let your eyes reopen, “Jesus,” You mumbled. Luke’s eyes opened and he looked into your eyes.

“What’s so funny?” He teased. You pecked his lips again before you pulled back a little more.

“Nothing, just, fuck,” You responded. He couldn’t help but grin as he moved his hand to cup your cheek. His thumb ran circles across your cheekbone before he leant up and pressed a kiss to your forehead. Fuck, you could get used to that.

“Ready for breakfast?” He asked softly. You nodded, biting your lip to try and stop the smile from completely taking over your face. You were so fucking smitten for him and you loved it but also couldn’t believe it.

<3

next chapter

[akunya]

can i request (hcs/drabbles/fic, anything goes) an easily embarrassed itto with a super flirty male!reader and how their first time would go? thanks !

"i dont think ill stop anytime soon."

pairings: arataki itto / m!reader

summary: itto with a flirty m!reader.. what will he do? tw: fluff, breeding, dubcon (?). multiple orgasms. notes: ill do a bit of everything to test out the format! i apologize if hes a bit ooc. itto is my fav, so i levitated towards this rq. theres a severe lack of itto w/ a bf in the world. the dubcon is very light, but ill warn just in case. also, i enjoy the trope of "flirty character loses all composure", so theres a bunch of that in here. still testing things.

itto would be a flustered mess around the boy. its the perfect thing to balance his cockiness out: someone who could make him stutter his words and become a clumsy mess. the rest of his gang knows he's whipped beyond belief, but seeing the oni flustered is a treat for everyone.

this man would bring you everywhere: whether its to excitedly show you a hill he found with flowers (that may or may not remind you of him - not that he'd admit it!), or insisting you go out for lunch with him, itto is insistent on having your arm locked around his own wherever he goes.

poke fun at how ittos cheeks grow a bit darker when you compliment him and he'll swear youre seeing things. deep down, it feels weirdly nice to be the one being flirted with for a change, but he has no idea how to process how a human like yourself makes him feel this way.

when you two are alone after a while, the oni gains some confidence and tries flirting back with you. since his brain can barely think of a coherent sentence in your presence, why not physically show you how he feels? all the frustration thats pent up when you flirt with him in public and he cant do anything in return?

nsfw:

ittos stamina is much higher than your own, so if youre going to flirt with him you better be ready to take your punishment (or reward, depending how you see it).

even though its your first time with him, you've been edging him on for weeks at this point, which leaves a very irritated man in your responsibility. however, his heart is still full of puppy love for you, so he'll try not to push you too hard.. yet. "i-itto, slow down!" your voice was raspy, a desperate plea as the man behind you slammed his hips against yours. he easily towered over you, pulling your hips closer so you'd feel even more of his cock. he laughed loudly, a hand wrapping around your neck to use as leverage. "whats the matter? you were begging for it yesterday - teasing me how you wanted my fat cock inside of you! cmon y/n, dont run away now!" it seemed as though itto got his cocky personality back, leaning to lick the tears of pleasure that streamed down your cheeks. your cock was covered in your own cum, losing count of how many orgasms you had while itto hasnt even cum once. feeling his strong hands pick you up, he flipped you over so you were facing him with your back against the soft mattress. his hair stuck to his forehead, little fang peeking out as he bit his lip in ecstasy. you moaned happily when he pressed his lips against yours for a kiss, hands holding his face for a moment. "i've waited so long to have you in front of me like this, i don't think i'll stop anytime soon."

[frownyalfred]

Apologies for the extremely long ask.

Omegaverse as a concept is so complicated and interesting as to me as a trans person.

On the one hand, the writer in me is intrigued by the world building implications and the opportunity to explore gender roles/dynamics. The concept of having a secondary dynamic alongside your actual gender is also fascinating to me and it's something I typically would have expected to be in something like sci-fi before I actually got into fanfiction.

I especially love deep diving into pack dynamics. Admittedly, that's where most of my interest and attention is focused on when reading and writing Omegaverse. I just find the concept so fascinating and any opportunity to write characters with heightened instincts, alien or otherwise, is just so much fun.

But on the other hand, I'm also very aware of how Omegaverse came about because some Supernatural fans wanted to play around with the idea of pack roles/relationships based on a messy study of wolf hierarchies. I'm also aware that intentional or not, a lot of early Omegaverse fics and tropes leaned really heavy into more homophobic and transphobic stereotypes, especially between M/M pairings.

I do feel like this has changed a bit over the years, though. From what I recall, a lot of early Omegaverse fics just really over relied on the stereotypical "which guy is really the girl?" trope that you saw a lot in the early to mid 2000s when discussions of queer (but mostly gay) relationships were brought up. I feel like the discussion has become a lot more nuanced since then and I know there are other trans fic writers like me who enjoy writing Omegaverse simply because it provides an opportunity to explore concepts of gender, sexuality and identity in a relatively fun way.

Not all Omegaverse fics/tropes are created equal, though. And every trans person has a different reaction/feeling towards this AU. I definitely feel like the odd one out, though, sometimes since I mostly come to Omegaverse for pack dynamics, less so for the smut (although I have written some in the past for fun or for friends). But I also believe there's validity in writing smut just for the purpose of enjoying smut.

Overall, I think this AU has a lot of potential, but I also see why it could make people very comfortable. I do wanna say that your fics haven't made uncomfortable and I do enjoy your takes on this trope. And I especially appreciate your willingness to listen to other trans people and their thoughts on Omegaverse. It goes a long way.

Side tangent: I will always be amused by how this whole trope came about btw, but also because the original author of that study followed it up by saying his first paper was absolute bullshit actually and shouldn't be viewed as a factual study of wolf pack hierarchy. Man messed up his original study, but he's a dedicated scientist and I love him for debunking his own work. But also the fact that he had an unintended impact on fandom is such fucking gold to me. I love this man so much.

Thank you for putting my thoughts to words, anon! There's definitely a long history there, and I agree with you that the genre itself has changed a lot in recent years, I think for the better.

I don't begrudge anyone for not liking or wanting to read a/b/o fics at all. I think it's intriguing but has the potential to be deeply uncomfortable or even like you said, transphobic for some people. I try to tag everything very well here that mentions it, etc.

I think what I like most about recent changes is that the genre has shifted to be less about "how can we get these two characters to breed?" and more to discussing pack dynamics, the implications of designations and gender roles, and building interesting biological rules and intricacies in an author-unique universe.

[nordictwin]

A list of my IWATEX AUs and fanfics.

Since a lot of people have found me through IWATEX, I figured I should probably make an actual list of my AUs and fanfiction, just to have them all in one place.

Fragmented Futures - aka. the Everyone Knows AU

Probably the one most of you are here for, since it's the one I've posted about the most, but written the least for in terms of actual fic. An AU in which all of the Stratos-Helios kids suddenly become aware, that they're stuck in a timeloop... all except Sol. Or so the others think.

A story full of kids being friends, learning new stuff about themselves, and a generous dash of eldritch shenanigans.

Currently in the works for this AU: an as of yet "non-canon" vent-fic, in which I subject Sol to something a little more realistic than my usual treatment of them. Not sure if it'll be incorporated into the fic proper, but as of this point in writing, it's just meant to be a little side-thing set in the same universe.

The Tragedy of the Exocolony on Vertumna IV

The AU/fanfiction that has me in a chokehold at the moment, TOTEOV is an eldritch horror story that takes all my love for Sym and the Overseer, flips it upside-down, and turns it into a toxic mess of good intentions gone horrifically wrong. Oh, and Rex and Vace are forced to work together.

A story that draws heavily on the tropes of children stolen away by the supernatural, such as The Pied Piper of Hamelin and other fae tales.

Heed the tags. Seriously.

The Solution AU

An AU I've never really mentioned here except once, nor written a single word for. Ironically, this is actually the origin AU of TOTEOV.

The basic premise is that Sol, after many trips around the loop, decides to look for a permanent solution. They eventually decide that the best way to do so, is for them to become a Gardener from the very beginning and create an entirely new timeline from scratch. In collaboration with the Overseer, they turn the clock back to just before the Verma's departure and get implanted in the system as a seed to sprout in the future.

The issue is that this means Solanaceae won't ever have existed amongst the humans. And they're fine with paying this price, if it means a more harmonious future overall.

So aboard the Stratospheric, when that time comes, there is no child born to Flulu and Geranium, no cheerful Sol amongst the kids. Instead, when Besk dies, the twins are adopted by the cultivators and grow up... not quite the same as in the original timeline, but also not too different from how we know them.

And on Vertumna, Sol welcomes humanity to guide their gradual integration into the ecosystem. Looking from afar, forgotten by everyone they love except the Gardeners.

......except this is one of my AUs, so of course nothing is as it seems, and Sol will re-learn just how strong the power of love is.

The Person You'll Grow to Be - completed, canon-compliant fanfic.

My first fanfic for this fandom. Aka the Flulu Loves Her Kid So Much fic.

A story going from Flulu learning of her pregnancy all the way to her death during the famine. An tale of her love for Sol and how she felt about a lot of things.

[incalculablepower]

some fics i've liked lately

it's been a weird year. when i made this list of recs back in january i fully intended it to become a monthly thing, but life happened and then i guess it just kept happening. in early 2023 things were ramping up in my new career, i was practicing and playing a lot with my band to prepare for our first show, i was settling into dealing with depression and anxiety with medication, i was getting over a miserable breakup. then i fell in love. i lost my job (the best and most favourite job i've ever had) abruptly this past may. this is my longest period of unemployment since i was a teenager and while you think it would be the best time to lose yourself in fandom, i felt the opposite. fandom was such a lifeline to me when i had a miserable job and was in a bad relationship and needed an escape but i was very present in my own life this summer. i took my partner to visit my family and spent a lot of time with friends and played shows (and recorded some music... shameless self promo once again) and in between i watched so much star trek on my couch. this is such a long preamble to explain why i haven't been fandoming as much lately and why idk if i'll write anything again anytime soon (let's say, once i have a job i want to procrastinate at) but -- i HAVE been reading fic! not as much as before, but i have been, and there's enough for a fic rest list so that's what i'm giving you today. when times are dire [podfic] - @aibidil

drarry. i have such a soft spot for middle aged draco and harry falling in love, the relationships they have with their friends and their grown children. @aibidil reads her own podfics and it's an utter delight. i usually only listen to podfics or audiobooks when i'm doing work around the house but i can going on walks with my headphones just so i could listen to more of this one.

purple haze by @ashesandhackles

romione. i was so so honoured to see this pop up in my ao3 gifts during @thethreebroomsticksfic pride fest this year. it turns the well tread romione ground of shell cottage and the yule ball over a bit, using them as settings to explore a confusing mix of jealousy and sexuality for ron and hermione. ashes knows i love mess with these and it captures that teenage chaos wonderfully, then lets them laugh at it as secure and settled adults.

crookshanks by @ala-baguette

gen. warning that this is a tearjerker, especially if you've ever loved and lost a pet. i think the pure and simple expressions of love and gratitude from crook's pov here would be a comfort to any pet owner.

at some point this year, i got REALLY into the idea of a one-sided dramione. it's hard to look for, especially since it's such a popular ship but i managed to find a few that scratched the itch until i find the time and/or motivation to write one of my own new years eve by 2daughtersofathena, the guardian angel by mylifebelongstothebbc, and a boy of hans by elixirsoflife. the last one being my personal favourite, a grim take on the hanahaki disease trope.

every mother is a grave by witchofimber

this was recced by @whinlatter in @thethreebroomsticksfic discord (btw i feel like no one on my followers lists needs anyone to remind them to read beasts -- but please read beasts) and when i saw "gillian flynn treatment" in the tags i slammed the mark for later button. this is probably the most balanced and realistic portrayals of molly weasley and her role as a mother that i've ever read in hp fic. it's not weasley family fluff but it doesn't devolve into something so flat as bashing either. molly is regular mother with flaws and strengths like anyone else and how they amplify and shift with love and grief and pain and stress and duty and pressure. every single relationship she has with her children is uniquely expressed and the way it ties the past to the direct aftermath of the war is so well done and a great way to organize this giant, messy family. particular care here went into fred and george, giving them their own identities in a way that can be difficult, given the source material. a favourite line:

“Probably have tried to make us name the twins after them.” He stopped laughing, sucked in a breath. “Do you want to?”  For a second she considered it. It would be wonderful, getting to use those names again like living things. But -  “No,” she said. “I - if they were alive, I’d have said no, so I’m saying it now. Let the boys be their own people.”  The truth was that she didn’t want to lose her brothers. To have their faces erased in her memory, painted over with her sons. To have to say no, not THAT Fab, I mean UNCLE Fab - he died before you were born. Anyway, she liked the names Fred and George. It was easier like this. 

the scrunchie by @saintsenara

another fic i've meant to read for ages and finally got around to just yesterday. the background drama of these side characters as a cheap scrunchie from boots floats around them is so perfectly teenage. reminds me of the other series i loved as a teenager around the time HP was coming out: georgia nicolson and gossip girl. i could also compare it to derry girls a little, how despite the environment surrounding them these girls are still being girls, arguing about stupid things and getting crushes on boys and having the absolute most ridiculous blowout fights with your sister (parvati and padma's portrayal here is probably my favourite i've ever read!)

i also can't leave without reccing @saintsenara's wip, one year in every ten. i can't get enough of a good case fic. tomarry/harrymort (both versions of this ship, oddly, apply to this fic) is not something i've ever sought out but i really think the way it's handled here could win over any non-believer. it's sharp and funny in a way that makes it turns into poignancy hit even harder. i screenshotted two full phone screen pages of chapter 27 so i could go back and read them over and over. it might be one of the best things i've ever read from ron's POV (emphasis mine):

It had been a long ten years, with a chair at their table always left empty and a hole in their hearts always unfilled. Grief was exhausting and boring and dully painful, like a slightly sprained ankle which you can still walk on, but which always bothers you a little bit.  But there had been love among the grief. There had been love before the grief - indeed love had caused the grief - and there had been love after. His love for his parents and his siblings had changed, the way wine left in a barrel changes and becomes richer and deeper. There was more sorrow in the love, as he threw a quaffle around with George and saw the tired lines at the corner of his eyes. There was more recrimination, more struggle with the mistakes they had all made in the past, as he finally sat down and had a real chat with mum and dad about how a lifetime of corned-beef sandwiches and maroon jumpers had made him feel. But there was more joy there too. And with joy came forgiveness and understanding and hope and fun.

image used is wildflowers (1915) by tom thomson

[the-badger-mole]

I saw saw an ask you got about a steam baby while ka//Ang was still together, and how you said Aang was more likely to cheat (which I think is true) and it got me thinking about the amount of infidelity fics where characters who definitely would not cheat are the cheater (just looking at ka//ang and zutara even! So many Katara cheating fics when, even if she loved Zuko and was with Aang out of obligation to not let him have a world devastating avatar state tantrum, I cannot see her doing something like that. Katara is loyal, even if it makes her unhappy) often outnumber the fics where a character who would, or had thoughts/actions that way canonically, cheat (I like to see the fall out). It's so weird and frustrating.

Here's the thing. I do understand why the Zutara infidelity trope exists (canon compliance, drama, the whole forbidden lovers thing, etc.), and I don't really begrudge the authors or the people who enjoy those fics. After all, there's no law that says that everyone has to be exactly in character in a fanfic, or that everyone needs to have the exact same interpretation of the characters (how many people hate my interpretation of Aang, amirite?). People can do what they want. I don't enjoy those stories, though. I don't see Katara or Zuko stepping out on their marriages. I think they would cut contact with each other if they felt their feelings becoming inappropriate before they cheated on their spouses (which is what I'm telling myself happened in canon, because why would they ever stop being friends???).

Katara and Zuko are much more likely to be the betrayed spouses than the betrayers. Aang has a track record of courting the attention of other girls, even after he's in a relationship with Katara. Even after those girls were blatantly disrespectful to Katara. Him taking that too far and actually cheating on Katara wouldn't surprise me at all. As for Mai, I don't think she actually likes Zuko as a person. She might not cheat, necessarily (one thing I don't see Mai doing is messing up a bag), but she would be much likelier to cheat than Zuko. And if she did cheat, she would make it as humiliating for Zuko as possible. It would be her tanking their marriage in the most explicit way she could, even if they didn't end up divorcing. Which would suck for Zuko because even under those circumstances, I don't see him cheating on Mai, so he'd be miserable in his marriage for the sake of presenting a front of stability for his country. His honor is very dear to him, maybe more important than his dignity.

So there are absolutely fantastic cheating stories that can be centered around Zutara, but not with them being the cheaters. There's a lot of drama to be had in Katara leaving Aang for cheating and ending up with Zuko, his best friend. Or in Zuko trying to leave Mai, but her making it difficult, and him falling for Katara in the meantime.

[i-am-beckyu]

Hey Beckyu, gimme a prompt(preferably g/t) with any characters you want and I'll write it.

You'll figure out who I am if I ever decide to post it or finish it =3

Ooaoao really?!? Any prompt???? With any characters???

You are basically saying: Beckyu, what fic would you like for Christmas? *excitedly and internally screaming*

Okay well you know exactly who I’d like it to feature :3 CRIME BOIS FOREVER!!! I’m also good with 4/4 sbi but up to you!!!

Okay I love me a bit of angst turned comfort times so let’s go back to a classic trope.

A young pixie has been warned of the dangers humans possess for as long they can remember.

Stay out of sight and never interact with the humans. Not unless you want it to be the last time you have your freedom.

Now for most pixies, the warning and stories of destruction would be enough to warrant not exploring these claims, but not for a certain blonde boy.

Has he actively ever sought humans out? Nope! But when one comes wandering into the glade one warm afternoon, he can’t help but sus them out.

~~~

More or less you Wilbur having a nice afternoon in the forest with Tommy a pixie just coming and watching. He never makes his presence known or anything but he enjoys just observing them. But then I think it would be fun for like 3x Tommy saves Wilbur and the 1x Wilbur saves Tommy thing.

Like Wilbur gets stuck in a ditch, and Tommy decides to help him out. He doesn’t actively reveal himself, but Wilbur kinda sees glimpses and hence keeps coming back hoping maybe one day they can meet. He unfortunately just keeps getting hurt too lol.

Cue this also being a time of magic hunters that just so happen to find the Glade Wilbur’s been coming too and finding Tommy who’s gotten a little too comfortable.

Wilbur just so happens to see his little friend captured and then saves him. Tommy kinda passes out tho so he takes him home till he recovers etc and then cue first real meetings and becoming friends.

~~~

You can alter this however you want to! Change it up, add characters, shorten it I don’t really mind! I’m not fussy! You can mess around with the concept too. I just love it when the giant knows about the tiny who is oblivious that they do and saves them lol.

Have fun with it!!!

[bluest-planet]

Wasn't gonna tag this originally, but if you follow me for my current chaiflower atsv fic, although it has nothing to do with it, being on the tag for atsv on AO3 has really made some things apparent to me.

Specifically how the fandom, and the fic writers on ao3 writes for the characters and their subject matter.

Now, dark fic and taboo subjects in fanfic isn't a new thing and it's never going to go away. Which is a good thing, bc the second we demonize and try to censor that kind of stuff, is the second we loose a lot of the kinds of stories we can tell.

Writing is a medium for humans to experience something with no stakes. Be it dangerous or just a good time, it helps us explore our thoughts, and feelings of scenarios we might never have to face but prepare us, or have already had to deal with and help us deal with those scenarios.

I'm also not gonna police anyone and tell em what you can and can't write fanfic about. Do whatever the hell you want, and make sure to tag your shit appropriately, it's a common courtesy and it's a bad thing to not do because even if you don't face any repercussions for it; do you really want to be the one people avoid because of a bad rep?

Moving on, let me just preference; I am an aroace person. I am also Mexican/Salvi. I think Miguel is cool complex antagonist and I'll admit he does have a sculpted ass lol. He's cool and conventionally attractive, with a neat personality people can mess around with. I get why there's a thirst for him.

But I think we should acknowledge how... He's treated by the fandom. Especially during that first week of spiderverse coming out. I don't mind smut, I just ignore it and move on with my day if smth doesn't appeal to me. But when you don't put fics under readmores, or put in tags so it's seen by everyone ur gonna have to deal with people skimming or having a base understanding of what kind of smut n stuff you're writing.

I'm not kinkshaming or anything, you do you, but it quite frankly has made me (and maybe a few others I've seen but don't quote me on that I only speak for myself.) Uncomfortable with this 'Latine Lover' trope people have stapled onto Miguel. I can imagine it's worse for his comic fans, but sometimes people really do be out here writing wish fulfillment smut fics where they're plastering their, kinda racist stereotypes and fantasies onto this Mexican character. If that was it tho? I wouldn't be making this. Because I know that eventually it would die down as time passes and we'd all move on.

Then came the flowerfang/MilesxMiguel (or any other of the spider teens) fics.

Look, again. Dark fic is a part of fandom whether you like it or not, it's up to your personal decision whether or not to engage with it. I don't. But I do think some people should be self reflecting and analyzing why these are being written at the high rate that they are and if you enjoy them or get something out of it is fine, but just be aware and critical of what you're reading and not let it cloud judgement or the actual characters' movie portrayals. It's so easy to let fannon dictate how you view characters, which are often dumbed down and stripped of their original identities for instant gratification.

When these characterizations become wildly accepted, it's often not an issue because people don't have to read it or engage with it in their own little corners. However it ends up highlighting the racism prevent in these spaces. Because to me, it feels like a lot of this is coming from white or young fic writers (although that maybe might not be the case, but I'm trusting my gut here. No shade to young writes either lol I'm close in age w the spider kids) Doing what they want with these amazing black and brown characters and low-key ruining the fun for non white fans, specifically Black and Brown fans.

Fandom is only a safe space and escapism for white fans, and anyone else is forced to carve out their own space and safeguard it from these racist depictions.

When Miguel is not being painted as a 'Latine Lover', he's a predator, or a violent monster, hypersexual Mexican man, or a creep, or someone who's unreasonably angry worthy of no redemption. It makes him so terribly black and white, and while he may be a dark gray that doesn't negate the fact his complexity is being washed away so these writers can have a clear villain who fits this view of violent Latino men hurting women, and kids.

And while I still have this view of a cool antagonist, and can block tags for my own safe experience, that doesn't fix the fact that his character is going through this fanonization with an abundance of dark fic will change perception. Things don't just disappear if they're outta sight. It's still there. With an oppressive force and sour after taste to see how bastardized he's becoming to a majority of what fics are being created and setting precedent for.

Same goes for Miles; saved by the fact he's a young, smart, skinny kid and the protag. But that doesn't spare him from his own fanonization as this meek, weak, soft, baby, cryboy who needs to be comforted or face the worst trauma ever in order to get some trauma porn/wump outta him bc that's all he can be used for apparently. Instead of the confident, heroic, creative, outgoing and friendly kid who sticks up for what's right. I can't speak for black fans and how they feel about this characterization of him. But as a latine fan?

Miles is amazing. He's funny and cool, he's young and talented, and he doesn't take anything from anybody because he's been taught right. I may not be Puerto Rican but Miles is just.... Such a good representation for other latines. So to see him be striped of these traits a lot of the time for others that have been exaggerated; clumsiness, awkwardness, emotional availability, sweet, and caring attitude taken too far it's bad.

Part of it is the racism. People see this dark skinned boy and babyfy him to make him less complex, take away the sharp edges for something soft and malleable, something more digestible and able to process for their own needs. And another part of it is;

Writing is hard.

Believe me! I'm a fic writer! It takes me a long time to write, I edit, and I go back to add or take stuff out, I rewatch or reread whatever I need to make sure I'm doing my best with these characters and somehow try not to fumble the bag with my own scenes and how I interpret their character and relationships to tell a good story to my standards.

And sometimes I still get it wrong!

Which is totally normal! Hell! You don't have to even do all that, fic writing should be fun. You wanna write that chatfic, dark fic, one shot, smutfic, fix-it? Do it! Find your creative drive and do something with it! You get better the more you try!

Sometimes people write and don't realize what they're doing. They're doing it for fun and maybe don't consider some of these problematic traits they're writing. Or they don't know how to approach the character, dumb em down so they can start easy at first, and then get comfortable writing like that instead of slowly getting better with time bc it's for fun.

I take the steps because I want to make something accurate and introspective, not everyone is like that. Even I like wild fun chatfics or crack fics once n a while to shut off my brain.

But you're gonna have to learn that not everyone is gonna like what you write. That if properly representing the characters is what you want, you take that time to put all the love and care into that writing. Putting in that extra work does wonders, and it makes you a better writer! And it creates a good space for others to feel welcomed into!

I didn't even get to how Pavitr Prabhakar is also woobified most often than not, or how discarded his girlfriend Gayatri is in favour of gay shipping (although she doesn't have much screentime, and his ships aren't with white characters so I get why it happens.), Or all the drama I didn't even know about till recently around Punkflower, and Hobie's character. But I'm getting tried so let's wrap this up;

Fandom is gonna fanon. Yes we are responsible for our own experiences and what fan content we engage in, but that doesn't mean we should also turn a blind eye to racism, problematic tropes, or bad characterization. Just because it outta site doesn't mean it's outta mind, and doesn't effect others. I'm not saying harass these creators, no. They are people and at the end of the day they're not hurting anyone and just creating like you are. Leave them be.

But what I am saying is that you have to be the change you wanna see in fandom. As cheesy as that is. You gotta create and encourage the people you do like and enjoy the works of, and foster a fandom that does more than take the easy route. With time we might just win out the bad white fanon.

Or maybe not.

But at least we tried, and we made our point.

(and for the folks who do struggle or participate in these racist tropes or portrayals and fanonized characters and realize their mistake or want to do better; I encourage you to take a step back, rewatch the movie of you can and really study the story and characters. If not? Then listen or read the posts of black and brown fans. We're not all right, and some even have bad takes, but try to broaden your circle. It'll help you make your writing better. I'm not mad, I don't hate these writers. They have their own amazing moments and fics it's great! They're not villains, they're just people doing what they think is fun. They just need a push in the right direction sometimes.)

[unrequitedloveletter]

ANTI-HERO- Nikolai Lantsov

Okay! Three posts down and I haven’t been late for this yet! I’m, admittedly, very proud of myself for that, but otherwise, here’s day three of the midnights event!

Fic type- fluff, mostly

Warnings- the reader is an inferni so there’s mentions of fire, and slowing heart rates. Nikolai also threatens to allow Zoya, Genya, the Kir-Bataar twins and the reader to have a foothold in Jarl Brums death, and there’s a line where jarl is like “you’re gonna let your partner talk to me like that?” to which Nikolai has a response at the ready

Nikolai had long learned to accept that the ends to his relationships had mostly been his fault. He’d long accepted that he was the problem, the one issue that caused all the others. How the people around him kept rooting for him was something he couldn’t figure out; why continue rooting for someone when all it seems to be is exhausting, anyhow?

There was you, though, and you made the least sense to him. You stood by Nikolai in everything, every decision, every step he took. You were his partner in everything, so it seemed.

The relationship the two of you had was the first romantic partnership that didn’t end in hatred, resentment, any of the traditional break-up tropes. Four years, an entire civil war in which the both of you fought on the side of Alina Starkov, and still, you stood by him, never wavering in your support.

“It appears that, as you age, your wiseness remains unaffected,” said Jarl Brum as Nikolai took a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. Jarl didn’t do the same, and with the air of Jarls presence—which, one had to note, was somehow colder than even the coldest of the Fjerdan weather that Nikolai had experienced—it made sense. Druskelle were all about purity. It seemed that abstaining from the drinking of alcohol was apart of the pledge to become a Druskelle.

“Older, but never wiser. Such is the tale of the Ravkan king who will never pull his country out of debt. A lovely story one will write soon enough, I assume,” Jarl continued. Nikolai took a sip of the champagne, wondered why Jarl had made it to the guest list for the event.

The leaders of each country were to talk business in the Ravkan palaces, and it ended with a gala, of sorts. Ravkans of royal status and people of importance from the other countries were invited to it. While it was quite easy to understand why Jarl had been invited from the standpoint of business, why invite him otherwise? He was the head of an organization that killed Grisha, many of which were trained in the Little Palace, many of whom were Ravkan. Why invite someone who killed the citizens of Ravka, especially one who aided in the war against Ravkan citizens, human and Grisha both?

He had his answer as soon as he began contemplating it. Under the pressure from royal advisories to do so, he’d added Jarl to the guest list, promised Zoya  and the twins that they could cause a slower heart rate—or stop his heart entirely, which Nikolai found himself preferring.—if they grew sick of him, create a gust of wind that was enough to move him across the room. 

“Plans are in place to fix the debt problem,” you said. Nikolai tried to hide his fear as you appeared at his side suddenly. “Older but never wiser does not describe my partner. You are rather observant, though, Mr. Brum. I don’t like you, nor do I like your practices in regards to Grisha—”

“Drusje,” Jarl cut. Nikolai cut him a warning glare.

“Grisha, Jarl. We don’t call them names here and messing with an Etherealki with a winning streak against most of their peers is not a smart decision,” you said. “I’ve beaten even the likes of Genya Safin, trained with the one most of your people in Fjerda have taken to calling a saint. I will set you on fire if you mess with my partner, my people, or me.” Nikolai almost laughed as he realized it. You were talking to Jarl like you used to talk to the Darkling during your few encounters during the civil war. You were condescending to him, which was something that men like Jarl and the Darkling tended to hate.

“Older but never wiser is not a correct observation, and the king and I both would appreciate it if you took your keen observational skills somewhere wherein they’ll be appreciated rather than looked down upon and condescended to. I cannot force you to do anything, really, but if you’re so wise, then you’ll walk away.”

Jarl looked at Nikolai. “You’re going to allow your partner to talk to me like this?”

“I don’t control what they do,” Nikolai said. “They have agency and autonomy, Brum. Plus, I happen to agree with every word they’ve spoken. Walking away is indeed your best bet. If you don’t, they’ll set you on fire, and Zoya isn’t so kind as to summon a storm to put you out. The twins? Genya? They’ll slow your heart, but not stop it. Every Grisha in this room happens to think you deserve a death as slow and painful as possible, which is something I don’t blame them for. If I’d not been pressured into doing so, your footsteps wouldn’t be so much as coming near this ballroom.”

Jarl huffed, tossed glowers in both yours and Nikolais direction, and walked off. You grinned as you leaned against Nikolai, sighing contentedly as you did.

“Good riddance,” you said. “The rest of the night may prove enjoyable from here on out, I think.”

Nikolai allowed himself a smirk as a chorus of violins began in playing a waltz. “Care for a dance, my love?”

You scoffed, shook your head but spoke your verbal agreement and allowed Nikolai to lead you to the dance floor.

“How can you continue to root for me?” Nikolai found himself asking. “Why continue to be at the side of the man who knows he’s the problem? Why root for an anti-hero such as myself, why stay with me through everything?”

You grinned. “Because you’re the love of my life,” you said. “No matter what your nightmares may say, I happen to love your schemes, Nik. Leaving you over them has never been my intent. I will never grow tired of the ideas you seem to come up with out of nowhere. You’re the love of my life, the one who knows what to say at the perfect time.”

Nikolai allowed himself to press his forehead against yours, choosing to have a moment of contentment rather than a moment of anything else.

Nikolai may have been the problem, may have been the anti-hero whom it was exhaustive to continually root for, but he was learning to be okay with that. He knew he would be okay with it in time, and with you at his side, he was sure he could deal with anything.

[squidyyy23]

au game! ⚔️🖐️

okay, this was a fun one. thanks for tag @creepkinginc @crossmydna @metalheadmickey @energievie @auds-and-evens @mmmichyyy!

rules (more or less): use this au generator to assign you an au, this fan fiction trope generator to give you a trope/situation/sometimes another au, feel free to keep clicking until you get something that inspires you.

then try to come up with the title, plot, vibe, and details of a fic including whatever the generators gave you. you don’t actually have to write it, just put the concept into the world! this is basically just a thought experiment.

au generator gave me: galdiator au

fic trope generator gave me: have one of your characters give the other a tension-filled, flirty palm reading. bonus points if their reading is total bullshit they're making up on the spot as an excuse to touch the other.

title: nope. stealing for jessie's playbook. this is supposed to be fun and titles are anything but fun.

let's plot: - mickey: becomes a gladiator to run away. doesn’t give a shit if he lives or dies. just has to get out and away from terry and it’s the only option he sees. he’s been doing this a while. managed to keep himself alive. is actually really good at it. but he hates it. is starting to think he’s just going to let it end soon.

- when in waltzes ian: new recruit. green as can be. far too innocent for this kind of work. but he’s got his family to take care of and he’s made some kind of deal with a gladiator owner(?) that once he brings in x amount of wins or money or whatever the fuck he’s free and will have enough money to set his family up real nice.

- mickey’s certainly keeping his eye on the new guy but also keeping his distance because it’s not like he’s going to be around much longer. maybe he’s got a fight coming up up in the not so distant future against a guy who actually stands a chance of beating him and he’s thinking he’s pretty much going to let it happen.

- right before ian’s first fight. all the guys are prepping in their little gladiator locker room. everyone does these good luck/here’s some advice kind of palm readings (palms don’t seem right but let’s roll with it) before the fights. except mickey. mickey’s never believed in any of that bullshit. 

- but mickey’s chilling in his grump corner and ian, the new guy, doesn’t have a buddy. so he timidly approaches mickey and asks if he’ll read for him. mickey’s first instinct is to tell the guy to fuck off but of course he’s way too in love with this stranger already to actually say no to the excuse to hold his hand. so he makes up some shit, makes the kid feel good about himself because lord knows the newbie’s about to go out and there and get his assed kicked. least mickey can do is make his last few minutes nice. he also flirts a little harder than he means to but again, who cares, not like he’ll be back.

- except of course ian makes it back. he’s actually a bad ass fighter and mickey is turned on as hell. 

- they keep going with this routine of mickey reading for him before fights. eventually ian offers to read for mickey. questions why he never does it. and mickey gives him his cynical speech. 

- they grow closer and closer of course. could be some good excuses for some nice sweaty, blood covered smutty moments.

- something happens to mickey one fight. ian’s got him distracted somehow. maybe ian had a big fight coming up and mickey was worried about it. mickey’s off his game and gets hurt pretty good. he’s still healing and has to sit out for the next week’s fights. ian doesn’t have mickey to read for him and is all kinds of messed up about it. mickey’s watching for somewhere and sees ian fighting like crap. has to run his wounded ass self down to the pit to cheer ian on. convince him it’s not mickey’s readings that are making him good, that he’s got it.

- the big fight mickey planned to throw finally comes up. he’s really torn. he loves ian, yeah, but he does still hate this life. and ian’s eventually going to get out. leave mickey behind alone again. this opponent is the only one who could ever beat mickey. if mickey kills the dude today, he’ll never have another chance. before the match, mickey finally asks ian to read for him. they both know mickey thinks it’s bullshit but ian does it anyway. ian somehow suspects mickey’s plan. so he says whatever sneaky coded shit he needs to say to pull at mickey’s heart strings. the famed moment of mickey out there on the battlefield. about to take the game ending hit. but locking eyes with ian and making the choice to save himself.

- we get our great omg i love you and i could never be without moment.

- but of course, that night, the gladiator owner guy tells ian (when mickey isn’t around) that he’s fulfilled his deal. he’s free to take his money and go. but now he’s conflicted. he can’t leave mickey behind. but he also can’t abandon his family. he has to talk to fiona about it. she of course tells ian to follow his heart. not to worry about the family. she can take care of it. but he knows she can’t. so ian goes back to the owner. proposes a plan where he keeps fighting until xyz and then both him AND mickey are free. the dude reluctantly agrees, but mickey’s his best earner (did they bet on these things or something? they do in my world) so it’s a steep price tag.

- they keep doing their thing and eventually mickey starts to get suspicious why ian is still around. he should have fulfilled his contract by now. somehow finds out about the deal ian made. and of course he’s all pissed about it. he tires to convince the owner guy to take back the deal but he won’t (because reasons. whatever). now mickey’s terrified every time ian has to fight. if something were to happen to him now, he’d blame himself. 

- obviously mickey can’t stay mad for long and question mark, question mark, question mark they come up with some kind of scheme that gets them both out and back to ian’s family with plenty of money to all live happily ever after and mickey to find his whole new family.

too late to tag anyone but if you haven't played and want to, do it! it's a fun little exercise!