#unfortunately i think distancing from general fandom is the fix sometimes...

[rinbylin]

6 Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

ruin a pairing i was already neutral about/not very into to begin with or something i liked? :]

i don't think the latter is ever possible or it hasn't happened at least. i like what i like bc of what i read from the text so i don't think people's readings of it can sway that. also generally i'm selectively involved in fandoms... the former however........

like. oh i'm actually ok with them and i have a specific way of reading them that doesn't seem to match many other people's. and it's okay...it's okay...it's okay- [clenches fist] [distances myself from it publicly]

questions designed to make you hate me ask

[fandom-necromancer]

Feeling from the heart

This was prompted by the wonderful @smolandangry001! I hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: description of past-surgery medical care)

‘Oh, would this break never end’, Gavin sighed in deep content. Nines scanned the man more lying than sitting on a bench in Chandler Park, five minutes from the precinct, eyes closed and bathing in the sun. Immediately the warm feeling in his chest re-emerged, as it did so often these days. He should really get his heat sensors checked soon, if these malfunctions continued to come up. It was one of the first warm days of spring and Gavin had hung his jacket over the backrest sitting there in his hoodie with the sleeves pushed to his elbows. ‘You would get sunburn’, Nines stated factually. Gavin laughed. ‘Yeah, I guess. But this day’s too nice to spend it behind a desk.’ ‘I will trust your assessment and agree.’ ‘Come on.’ Gavin sat up and crossed his arms. ‘Phcking winter’s finally over, you don’t freeze your balls off being outside and you finally don’t both arrive and leave work when It’s dark. That’s not doing something for you?’ ‘I don’t care about the weather. I am waterproof and can operate in arctic temperatures. I am also not dependent on an extrinsic stimulus to update my inner clock.’ He noticed Gavin’s eye roll and hesitated to abandon the conversation just yet. ‘But… I guess as you like this sort of weather more, I will decide to like it too.’

Nines had thought that to satisfy the human but instead was met with a confused stare. ‘You decide to like something?’ ‘Yes. I wasn’t programmed with aesthetic preferences. So, I decided to like certain things others around me like based on work climate efficiency, general opinion on the subject and logic.’ ‘Oh, you do? Please elaborate’, Gavin said, and Nines missed the sarcastic undertones. ‘Humans generally seem to like dry weather more than rain. But they don’t like too hot temperatures. Also snow is an exception. Logic states I don’t need to bother about the weather. As the weather mostly is a topic for small-talk, I too don’t need it to better my integration in the force.’ ‘Geez, they really hadn’t had human interaction in mind when they build you, had they?’, Gavin sighed and Nines dropped his head minutely. ‘I am a prototype for a soldier unit. They had other tests in mind. Successors could have been outfitted with a rudimentary social module to fight alongside humans if desired.’ Gavin pushed himself forwards and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘Shit, Nines. Okay, back to the weather: Why did your neutral stance suddenly change then?’ ‘Because you like it.’ ‘Oh, and that is important because…?’, he asked. Nines didn’t know what to answer at that, but was saved before his LED could settle on red long enough for the human to notice.

‘We have a new case.’ ‘What?!’ ‘Gavin, we need to move out immediately!’ ‘Wha- Nines, what the hell?’ But he was already on his feet, fetching his jacket from the bench. ‘Hostage situation at a Comerica bank, I got the address. Demands the money the bank denied him as a loan. We are the closest to the scene, but SWAT’s already on their way.’ ‘The hell? I’m not a negotiator and neither are you!’ ‘Connor’s on the way too.’ ‘Goddamnit.’ They ran towards the street outside the park gates right as their police car arrived. Nines jumped behind the wheel and barely had to wait for Gavin to enter after him. The human immediately fastened his seatbelt and grabbed for something to hold onto, because Nines’ driving style could be described as wild at best. It wasn’t reckless, as the android calculated every manoeuvre to the millisecond, but still Gavin had his reasons to normally be the one behind the wheel.

Nines put on the sirens and left the side of the road with squeaking tires. Weaving through traffic at dangerous speeds, they arrived in less than ten minutes at the bank.

They had taken their first steps towards the building, as someone shouted out to them: ‘Stop right there!’ Through the glass doors they could see into the lobby, where not one but two people stood. One of them kept watch over the civilians cowering on the floor, while the other one held one hostage at gunpoint. Nines immediately scanned the situation, then tapped Gavin on the arm. ‘That’s good. Not another step, or I’ll blow his brain out!’ Gavin tensed, but Nines just removed his own hand from his pistol. ‘No, you won’t. This gun is fake, you purchased it from a toy store.’

Gavin frowned and looked up at Nines. But apparently, the android was right, as the two cursed, threw their plastic guns away and made a run for it the exact same moment, SWAT arrived. Gavin sighed, then began to pursue them, followed close by Nines. The two wannabe-bank-robbers were fast and knew the area, turning corners on them and even gaining on them until they got to a long straight stretch of road. Nines extrapolated their paths and as soon as he saw the car, he doubled his efforts. The first managed to enter the car, but with one inhuman leap, Nines landed on the hood, causing the first one to freeze in shock and the other one to abort his plan and run. Gavin continued to run after the fleeing man, while Nines started distorting the car doors to effectively trap the man until their backup would have caught up with them.

He ran after Gavin, who was in a far better position at the moment. He would catch up, but this one was likely Gavin’s to arrest. True to it, at the end of the road, Gavin had managed to catch up to him. With one last effort of strength, he leapt forwards, gripping the man by the shoulder and jolting him around. He looked at the Detective, who saw the panic in his eyes and was ready to call it quits by twisting his arm around and making the arrest. Unfortunately this man had been a bit more precarious than his accomplice and had packed a kitchen knife to the toy gun that he produced out of seemingly nowhere. In a reaction coming from panic and mindless self-preservation, the man pushed the knife into Gavin’s chest.

Gavin let go, eyes wide in shock as he saw the handle of it sticking out of his clothes. He wondered why he didn’t feel anything, then the pain set in and made him fall to his knees in a silent, breathless scream. In the distance he heard footsteps, but it didn’t seem to matter when all his eyes could fix on was the handle at his chest. He had been stabbed. Oh shit, he had been stabbed! Suddenly there were hands on him, gently laying him down on the sidewalk. ‘Nines!’, Gavin huffed hoarse. ‘Nines, phck, it hurts, Nines. What- Phck, there’s something inside me, get it out, get it out!’ He tried to grab the handle himself, but his sweaty fingers were caught by Nines’ cold ones. ‘Nines!’, the Detective cried in panic. ‘Nines, please, take it out! I- I’m scared, I- It hurts so much.’ The android’s unmoving face stared back at him, eyes rapidly trailing his body, without doubt analysing something. Good. Nines never made an error. But with the place the knife stuck in… He lifted his head to see the handle, but the android pushed him down again. ‘Nines? Nines, I think it’s in my heart. Phck, Nines, I can feel it. That bastard stabbed me in the heart, I will- Will I die, Nines? I don’t want to die!’ The android’s eyes still scanned him, but now his face contorted and seemed to form an expression for maybe the very first time.

Gavin couldn’t really make out what happened next as his vision faded out when the pain hit hard. Nines must have lifted him up and run back to the police cars, because he found himself lying on the bench in the back of the car. ‘Gavin. Listen. Lay still, make sure the knife stays inside and don’t touch it unless necessary!’ ‘Make sure…’, Gavin slurred, practically feeling the painful outline of the knife inside of him. ‘It stays in?’ ‘Yes! It increases your chance at survival.’ The roar of the engine seemed ten times louder than normally and almost swallowed everything Nines said. It somehow felt as if it would swallow himself, too. Gavin couldn’t focus on anything long enough to sense something, but the pain remained sharp.

He distantly heard the cacophony of sirens, tires, shouts and something that might have been his name. He saw the faceless heads of people and a regular flash of lights. He was moved, he smelled the chemical stench of disinfectant and nitril gloves and somewhere in between the iron taste of blood that made it hard to breathe. Sensations overwhelmed him, let him feel weirdly out of his own body, as if the knife was the only thing keeping his consciousness connected with it. There was a single cold touch to his hand that stood out to him as if it somehow mattered the most in all of this, then everything slipped away to peaceful nothingness.

-

‘Nines! Nines, are you alright?’, Connor’s voice was detected, but was categorized as a low priority, as his systems were invested in keeping everything at bay that threatened to fry them. Nines’ stress levels had never been this high, and lesser androids would had already self-destructed. Sometimes it was good to be designed as a deviancy-proof model as it meant he could deal with it better than others. Not that Nines could rely on it, he had deviated after all. But he was still here and so were his worries. ‘Nines.’ A hand on his shoulder added to the auditory input and caused him to look up then. ‘Connor.’ ‘Are you okay?’ Nines blinked at this highly illogical question, given that his LED was blinking red ever since he could scan Gavin. ‘Obviously not. I am…’ He thought about his status, not knowing what word could describe it better. ‘I am experiencing a lot of stress at the moment, likely caused by my partner’s injury.’ ‘I know, I wanted to know what you are feeling.’ Nines didn’t answer. How could he? He was never meant to… feel. He wasn’t programmed to detect feelings neither in himself nor in others. And even if he knew his internal status and what exactly was different to normal, he didn’t know how to express it.

‘Cold’, he tried, even though that had to be a malfunction as his components were running dangerously hot, one after the other. ‘I am under a lot of stress and I… When I scanned Gavin, he had a thirty percent survival rate. By the time we arrived at the hospital, it was down to twenty-two. As he was rushed to the operation room, it had dropped to eleven point three. I can only imagine how detrimental the removal of the knife will be to his expectation. It… It would be detrimental to my efficiency if he died.’ ‘He will make it’, Connor tried. ‘Unlike machines, humans are resilient. Working up to a hundred years without maintenance, regenerating from life threatening conditions and constantly fighting against other organisms that would be detrimental to them. Gavin is… particularly resilient if you so will. You did what you could do. Now you have to wait and let the other humans save him.’ ‘The chances are slim he will survive.’ ‘Just because it is unlikely, doesn’t mean it is impossible’, Connor smiled at him. Nines looked at him and for the first time wished he knew how to smile like that. Maybe then the last thing Gavin had seen wouldn’t be the faces of strangers and machines. It tipped his stress levels even higher.

‘Nines. Nines, listen to me. You have to calm down. Otherwise I would have to shut you down right now so Gavin has a partner to get back to when he survives this!’ But Nines couldn’t calm down when he didn’t even know what was causing this. It should have been a simple analysis, a simple cause of action: Get Gavin to a hospital as soon as possible and take every action in his power to ensure his survival. Now he had to wait. He shouldn’t be this stressed. He should be fine. But something messed with his systems, some processes that took logic away from him and left him in chaos. When the offer of an interface came up, Nines took it as if it was his only salvation.

He was hurled into his “zen garden” – an empty mesh of an engine housing his avatar. Red error messages were popping up all around him, almost forming a cage around him making him fall to the ground. After a short loading sequence, Connor appeared next to him, quickly rushing to him helping him up. Only then he looked around at the error messages. ‘RA9, Nines, I told you to copy mine, this is creepy’, he muttered, then started brushing a few away, taking over Nines systems without the other android even trying to intervene. The older RK managed to quarantine some of the more destructive sequences, then loaded his own zen garden as a means of comfort.

He was quickly met with a storm, rain pressing down on them and thunder crashing over the artificial sky. ‘Hell, Nines, you really aren’t okay at all…’ He pulled Nines to the central pavilion to get out of the rain and helped him sit down. ‘Nines. You have to tell me how you feel. All of it.’ ‘I don’t want him to die!’, Nines shouted out, now that Connor’s self-analysing protocols bled through the connection and made his inner turmoil somewhat clearer. ‘I need him, and I want him to come back, I…’ He looked up at Connor, his avatar’s face far more expressive as his real body could be. He looked desperate, but also shocked at the realisation. ‘I love him…’ ‘You love him?’, Connor asked, expecting almost anything but his younger brother, who hadn’t been designed to interact with humans at all, to fall in love.

‘I… I wondered why I always felt warm around him. I thought it was a malfunction, but as temperature is irrelevant for me, I disregarded it. He made my thorium pump race whenever we were close, but we mostly get close to each other on missions, so I chalked it up to the stress. I… Now it feels as if I froze over and as if my pump beats only to sustain me with the minimum. I’m… afraid? Is that the right description?’ Connor nodded and held him close as the thunder rumbled around them. ‘It’s okay to be afraid. I wouldn’t know how I would react were Hank to almost die. I can only imagine how it feels for you. You were never really confronted with such stressors.’ ‘I want it to end. I want Gavin to come back.’ ‘He will.’ ‘How can you be so sure?’ Connor looked at him. Telling him how Gavin was an ambitious asshole that was simply too stubborn to die so easily, wouldn’t help, so he just sighed and held his brother while keeping his systems stable. ‘Experience.’

- The surgery took eight hours. Only then Connor dared to close the interface and listen as the doctor explained to Nines what they had done. The smile on the woman’s face let Nines’ stress levels sink almost as much as the message itself had: Gavin was stable and had been taken to the CCU to be observed as he woke up. Of course Nines wasn’t accepting that fact until he had seen it for himself and the doctor reluctantly send him a nurse to take him there.

As he entered the room, his pump stocked. Gavin lied there in a dimmed room, a respiratory tube still in his throat and hooked up to several monitoring machines. But his chest was rising and falling, and the heart monitor was beeping steadily. ‘You can wait here for him to wake up. He won’t be able to speak with the tube, but if everything works out, we will remove it after a few hours. Call us if you need anything.’ ‘Can I-‘ Nines felt bad for asking as he was saying it, but now he had already begun, he could as well continue. ‘Can I hold his hand?’ ‘Of course. Don’t touch his chest, but I believe it will help him a great deal waking up with it.’ She gave him an honest smile and Nines hurried over, pulling himself a chair and gripping Gavin’s hand immediately. Maybe with a bit too much pressure, but Nines couldn’t help it. Fixed on his face, guarding his vital signs, his fingers soon relaxed and moved to his wrist to monitor his pulse himself. It finally let him relax. His heart was beating. His heart was beating slowly and steadily. He was alive. His human was alive.

Warnings he had disregarded until now popped up and Nines noticed how bad his condition had been before. He would have to thank Connor later. Maybe for more than only keeping his systems up and running. He looked at Gavin’s closed eyes, then to the scar on his nose, eyes brushing past the tube in his mouth to the huge reddened stitched cut on his chest. It was strange to think it had never occurred to him before that what he had deemed malfunctions could have been social protocols his deviancy had gifted him with during his adaption to life without a purpose. He loved Gavin. It was a strange word to use, but what was it but a declaration for complex actions of his body he wasn’t able to control? He loved him. He couldn’t wait to tell him.

He had to wait half an hour – a both endless time and gone in the blink of an eye. At once, regular breathing changed to one longer inhale, then eyes slowly slid open, sluggishly rolling around taking in his surroundings. They closed again Nines felt Gavin’s hand gripping his unconsciously. The human’s brows furrowed then, and he looked at his side. He tried to speak, but the tube muffled it into incomprehensible gibberish. ‘I’m here’, Nines said anyways. ‘You are at the hospital. You were stabbed.’ He had to stop Gavin’s free hand from trailing where the knife had stuck in his chest and held it too. ‘I took you here. The doctors performed surgery right away. You are okay. You are stable, now your body just has to heal.’

Gavin pressed his head into the pillow and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Nines didn’t know what to do and imitated what Connor had done with him a while ago. He started brushing his thumb over his knuckles and if his skin retracted, he told himself it was a malfunction of recreating the scene. ‘The nurse said the tube will be removed soon if everything is alright. I… I have to tell you something then.’ Gavin frowned at him then, but Nines tried his horrible recreation of a forced smile and the human relaxed.

Two hours later, Nines had to step back as the nurses did the check-up on Gavin, inspecting the incision for infection and removing the tube, helping him to cough without irritating his wound and giving him some water for his dried out throat. After leaving a set of clothes, they left the room and Nines moved closer again, taking Gavin’s hand without hesitation. ‘You are a goddamn lifesaver, toaster’, the human whispered hoarsely at him, but smiled afterwards. ‘Never going to let me live that down, eh?’ Nines just watched him motionless. ‘You wanted to tell me something?’ The android nodded and scanned Gavin once again. ‘I love you’, he admitted quietly. ‘You…’ ‘I loved you for a while. I only noticed now because- My systems registered malfunctions that were gone as you were in danger of dying. I… I were short of self-destructing as Connor came to help. He helped me and I realised I… I loved you.’

Gavin stared at him and Nines was awkwardly made aware that until recently they hadn’t even been real work partners, much less time they had spent as friends. Maybe- ‘Nines?’ He looked up and silently waited for Gavin to continue. ‘I can’t sit up yet, so I have you to come lean forwards.’ Confused, Nines did so, asking himself what Gavin was planning. The Detective huffed a laugh as Nines had simply leaned straight forwards, hovering over his face. He couldn’t really reach his goal from there, but he just shrugged and took what he could.

Nines recoiled slightly, as he was kissed on the point of his nose. He was still processing as Gavin giggled and had to stop with a wince, as the movement pulled at his wound. ‘You got the message?’, he whispered and coughed. ‘I…’ Nines felt the heat coming back into his chest and sensed his pump running faster. On top of it, his synthetic skin glitched and turned blue around his cheeks. ‘I think I do.’

[louadorable126]

Demons(you).me: Chapter 8 - The Cult of Fortuna’s charity event (Part 2)

Artwork Commissioned from Aya/Itouyas on twitter! Please check her out! <3

>>Click here to read on Ao3!<<

Summary:

In a city controlled by the generally altered race of Demons, Lady’s life as a mercenary on the lower floor was never easy. Especially when she ran into Dante. A demon on the hunt for his missing brother.

———–

Fandom: Devil May Cry

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Characters: Vergil, Lady, Dante, Trish

———–

Chapter 8:

“Who are you?!

The doppelgänger of Eva raised an eyebrow in confusion at his hysteria. “One of your kind?” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I’m on your side, so calm yourself."

Wait, she sees herself as a demon? Great, that totally didn’t soothe Dante’s fears! In fact the complete opposite. Only bringing forth more questions than answers in his already overworked mind.

“S-Sorry. I, uh didn’t expect to see another…” He gulped for the words. "Another one of us down here.” He said shakily, lowering his sword, yet still not letting go of it completely. Playing along seemed like the best option right now in Dante’s mind. Freaking out, as reasonable as it was, wasn’t going to get him anywhere with this.“Why are you here then?"

“I would think the reason is pretty obvious, given that they are currently sitting around us.” The doppelgänger gestured to the limp bodies of the leaders.  “Dispatch sent me to deal with these lunatics, and so I have. Though, how very thoughtful of them to send me a backup just in case~ You’re a damn good fighter, and I like that in an assistant."

“Dispatch?” So the demonic military had been looking into taking out the Cult of Fortuna as well then? Eh, not too big of a surprise. It was always gonna be a matter of time. At least on the upside, they’d saved him a job by pulling their ‘disappearing’ act on them here and now. “Oh right, dispatch! Yeah, they didn’t tell me anything about you being here. So hence, uh… all that-”

“Its fine, all is forgiven.” She cut in briskly, waving him off. Clearly holding no resentment at least. “They were probably trying to protect my identity. It's hard to put up a decent front if you know who you can trust!”

“True” Dante responded, somewhat detached; weakly leaning back against the solid wall behind him. In truth, he barely processed her words, too unsettled by the tone of her voice, that gentle yet smug smile not too dissimilar to his own… it was all too uncanny.

Ugh, this is so weird! He whined to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. Why couldn’t she just be a clone of Lady? At least she’d have another pretty sister if that were the case! Maybe a little more murderous, but I could work with that-

A chorus of radio chatter spat its way out of the busted helmet. Easily startling the two of them, as they quickly turned their heads towards the sound. The thick static it emanated, made it far too hard to make out exactly what was being said. But if Dante had to guess just by how many voices were overlapping each other whenever it did get audible, the situation sounded quite hectic.

“Seems like security just found out about our little play session." Gloria commented, glancing over her shoulder towards the open door. The sound of a stampede of feet bashing against laminate sounding in the distance. She sighed, shaking her head. “And here I thought Agnus would be a slower runner.”

“Hang on, you didn’t kill all of them?!” Dante yelled in surprise. This wasn’t good at all. How the hell were they going to make good on their deal with Augustus if they hadn’t cut off all the hydra’s heads? (Maybe a bit too literally in the unfortunate case of the guy near to Dante.) God, Vergil was going to have his guts for this…

“I dealt with who I was ordered to deal with. We’ll leave it at that.” The woman in white said ominously, turning her back on him and heading towards the door.

“Right. Totally not the short and simple way of saying you fucked up!” Dante scoffed, unbelieving.

“Oh, I could’ve killed him if I wanted.” Gloria reassured him confidently. Throwing her gilded blade up into the air playfully and catching it again stylishly. “We need to get moving.”

She left the room. Leaving Dante to on hurry after her begrudgingly; his bold red half-cape billowing behind him.

Okay. Maybe we can still get away with this, even if the cult leaders aren’t all dead! Dante thought, trying to reassure himself. As long as the Cult of Fortuna doesn't reform under Agnus. Augustus will have no reason to think we screwed up. Yeah! All he wants is his family to be free. So like he need to know about the finer details of this mission anyway-

His stream of consciousness was abruptly cut off, when his foot came into contact with something solid and heavy, just as he passed through the doorway. The demon glanced down curiously, only to immediately regret the decision when he found the two guards who’d assailed him at the door, laying out cold on the floor. Looking distinctly very dead, if the large pools of blood around them was anything to go by.

That explains why you guys didn’t come charging in at the first sound of commotion. Damn. Dante mused, awkwardly stepping over the guard’s arm he’d come into contact with. Trying to avoid getting blood on his dark metallic feet, with picky, small steps.

“Are you coming?” Gloria’s impatient voice asked. Dante looked up, finding his mother’s doppelgänger standing there in the darkness with her arms crossed disapprovingly - still holding her sword in one hand. “The sight of a few dead bodies scaring you, recruit?”

“Hey, I’m not the summer intern lady! Show me some respect, alright?” Dante said, biting back with his usual wit. Confidently walking off ahead of her down the hall ahead of her. “What even gives you authority over me anyway?”

“Oh I’ve only spent the last six months infiltrating my way inside here. I’d think with that amount of effort, I should be in charge instead of the guy who rocks up at the last minute!”

“Hey, sometimes it’s only the last few minutes that count in the end anyway!” Dante responded cheekily, lifting his crimson sword up and resting it on his shoulders. An overly-dramatic, mournful sigh escaping him, as he pressed his hand on his forehead, like he was a tragic character on stage. “Though, not that my epic tea serving skills will ever be appreciated now."

“They were very nice, dear.” Gloria complimented calmly from his side. The blond woman had caught up with him once again. "Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Perhaps. Although your real name would be nice too.” Dante smirked.

He knew he was pushing it a bit here. If she was sent by the demonic military, it was likely she wasn’t allowed to reveal her true identity to anyone for the sake of keeping things nice and secure; names always meant loose ends, and that was never good for anything covert.

It was a rule that Dante knew better than most (He kinda broke it... pretty often. Had the higher-ups or his dad found out about his first meeting with Lady for example, he no doubt would’ve gotten one hell of a rocket up his ass for how many protocols he’d broken). So the chances that uptight ‘Gloria’ here was gonna spill the beans on…well anything about herself, let alone the similarities to his mother, was unlikely at best.  

It seemed he wasn’t wrong, as Trish’s face turned hard at the suggestion. Looking dead ahead with the stern procession, pretending as though he wasn’t there. Leaving an uncomfortable silence (Not that you couldn’t really call it that though, with all the panicked yelling and commands to ’search the area’ echoing down from a few corridors back) to fall upon them.

But that wasn’t to say there was a glimmer of hope. Every now and then, her lips would twitch almost like she was on the verge of saying something before shutting herself down once again. Until finally, she anxiously glanced over her shoulder and spoke.

“Trish.”

Hot damn! He actually got something out of her! “Trish? Oh like Beatrice-“

“Just Trish.” She insisted firmly. Her fixing her green eyes over to the young man beside her, with an fearsome intensity only Vergil could match. "And your’s?”

Oh. He hadn’t thought that far ahead with this.

Should I tell her? Crap, that was a tough question. Sure in the here and now it would be fine. Perfectly reasonable too since she’d given her own. But, what happened when this mission was over? Trish would most likely have to report back on how this operation went down. Write up some boring essay that Dante normally left Vergil to handle. She’d surely mention he was involved as her ‘back-up’ or something. And that would be fine if she left it vague. There were plenty of grunts like him out there so he’d be pretty anonymous.

But…if he was named. It wouldn’t take long for some clever-clogs back at dispatch to realise he was here unauthorised. Questions would be asked most certainly, and Dante wasn’t sure how well he or Vergil could defend themselves once that started happening. What, being involved in an unauthorised capacity on an operation months in the making, if he went off what Trish said. From there, it could only unravel more and more. The two week absence, Vergil’s little murder tour of the cities’ databanks, Lady, Eva-

What if they already know about Eva?  Stuck the sudden, horrifying thought. Trish thinks she’s a demon. What if they had- No! They can’t have done that!

“I’m risking a lot telling you that, you know?” Trish huffed angrily, brushing hair out of her face rather elegantly. “Going to return the favour or not?”

“Yeah yeah I am..” Dante brushed her off, his voice quivering slight. If.. if they had done what he thought they’d done. There was no point hiding anything anymore.

There was no point to anything.  

“Its.. its Dante”

“Good name.” Trish praised, a faint smile tracing her lips.

“Heard it before then?” He pried, returning with his usual confidant edge. Yet, that couldn’t be anywhere further from the truth in reality. His stomach was a torrent of nervous energy, swishing and swirling in anticipation for what would come as her reply. Honestly not sure if it would be a blessing or a curse if she did recognise him.

“No. It's just an instinct. Nothing grander than that I’m afraid.” Trish professed a little bashful. “Although, rolls off the tongue rather nicely I suppose."

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Dante said, smiling weakly. Perhaps there was something there after all…

All of a sudden, Trish reached an arm across Dante’s chest and pulled him so they were both pressed flat against the wall.

“Hey, what was that for-“

“Shut it.” Trish ordered sternly, voice low. Putting a finger to her lips, before gesturing with her eyes to the end of the corridor.

Dante followed their gaze. In the dull yellow light leaking from around the corner. Two shadows, large and twisted in a way that made their builds indistinguishable, traced their way across the floor. Thankfully it seemed they had already passed by, if Dante guessed from the direction the shadows were moving. Having missed the pair of demons completely by some stroke of luck.

“Think we’re safe. They’re leaving.” Dante whispered, moving to get up, only the flat edge of Trish’s golden blade to be pressed against his chest. Pinning down him in place, unmoving.

“Not so fast.” Trish advised sternly. Carefully observing the shadows’ movements as they danced across the floor. “They’re going to loop back round any minute now."

“Loop back round? Look, their probably just catering staff on the move. Unless they’ve dropped any napkins on the floor that I’ve missed here, they are going to be long gone any minute now-“

“And why exactly would catering staff move in groups of two?” Trish inquired. She had a point. Tonight had taught Dante enough to know he was barking up the wrong tree here. He’d been left to do stuff on his own, actively encouraged in fact. So yeah, for two people to be walking around together with no trolly did seem kinda strange to be honest. “They’re most likely guards on patrol no doubt. My men….the cults' guards have a protocol to move in groups of two. Means if one goes down the other can call for help. I know because I instituted it."

“Geez, thanks for making our lives harder I guess?” Dante joked.

“Oh I try my best~” Trish stated modestly. Removing her sword from his chest and lowering it back down to her side. “May as well make it up to you then, shouldn’t I Dante? I’ll only be a moment."

Sticking close to the wall, Trish swiftly began to make her way down the corridor. Disappearing around the corner moments later in one fluid, deadly movement.

Off she goes killing again. Dante sighed to himself, letting out air he didn’t even realise he was holding in. The relief that he was on his own again striking him in that moment. He was thankful for it. Any more stress, and his strained heart probably was gonna give out young. And let’s just say keeling over from a heart attack, wasn’t exactly on the demon's to-do list tonight.

The young man reclined his head back against the freezing wall. Maybe I should tell her to just keep to non-violent takedowns until we get out of here. Would’ve thought a trail of dead bodies is going to be pretty obvious to follow-

“What the-“ Cried a distinctly familiar, peppy voice. Followed by a surge of bright blue light streaking across the wall from around the corner. The crash of someone collapsing to the ground echoing down the corridor to Dante’s sensitive ears. Alerting him.

That can’t be good! Dante thought, imminently springing into action. Hurriedly sprinting down to check what was going on.

Only to be met at gunpoint by Lady when he rounded the corner.

———–

Click here to read more! :D

[seedling-lotus]

thank you for tagging me @mylastbraincql​ !!! 

All right! Bearing in mind that today I am extremely flustered and extremely fond (partly due to a certain fic, but also just in general. I’m in a good mood today. It’s nice) and that there are 650 fics in my bookmarks on AO3, I’m gonna try to keep this to a single fandom. And in honor of the lovely @mylastbraincql​ who tagged me, I will try to keep this to MDZS fandom of which I only, currently have 81 fics bookmarked (but I have a pile more in my TBR queue)

SO Let’s begin!

“Slow Burn” or “Love at First Sight” - Now don’t get me wrong, I have a fond place in my heart for “Love at first sight” fics too. But usually only in the context of slow burn mutual pining there after. so yes, fall in love quickly, but don’t do anything about it for a long time. But yes, love me a slow burn. This series is slow burning and super cute. This fic was also a beautiful slow burn.

“Fake Dating” or “Secret Dating” - I don’t think I’ve ever really encountered secret dating? But fake dating, mmmm. Especially fake dating where they end up catching feels! (I know I’ve read so many fics with this but I cannot find a single one right now, what the heck...)

“Enemies Annoyances to Lovers” or “Friends to Lovers” - Friends to lovers is super sweet, but, well, I prefer some darker emotions in my reading. Though I suppose there could be dark emotions there too... I don’t think I’ve ever really read it. Annoyances to lovers. Oh dear. This fic, I think, probably fits the trope best?

“Oh no there’s only one bed...” or Long-distance with correspondence - I love this trope. It’s hilarious to me. Hmm... I don’t think I’ve actually read all that much of it for this fandom, but it does come up in this fic. 

Hurt/Comfort or Amnesia - Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of hurt comfort in amnesia, but I do prefer just straight up hurt/comfort. Like this fic, and this one.

Fantasy AU or Modern AU - Yes. All of the yes. gimme all of it. I love all of it. I love every single possible type of AU. I will read a million AUs! But here, lemme find some specific examples for this one. Fantasy & Modern (I admittedly have more examples of modern than fantasy, but they’re all so good! And I’m only sharing one modern under this particular heading to make it fair.)

Mutual Pining or Domestic Bliss - Pining in general is just my jam, okay? Mutual Pining? *wheezes* I love it. It slays me every single time. I have so many freaking emotions about pining. I pine for pining fics, you do not understand. Rip my heart out. This one is mild on the pining, but I love it.  And here’s one that’s actually mutual pining like I’m supposed to be giving examples of >.>; 

Smut or Fluff - So this one is actually a really hard choice for me? I don’t actually particularly like Fluff or Smut as far as fics go, but I am more likely to choose Smut over fluff. Largely in part because the higher rated fics tend to have story lines that I enjoy more. I’m also a huge sap and get easily overwhelmed by fluff, so I try not to turn into a giggling goof too often. But anyway. Here’s a Smut. and a Fluff. For your reading pleasure. 

Canon-compliant (missing scenes) or Fix-it fics -Yes! yes to both! Oh goodness, I love both of these ideas very much. I love when people expand on a canon in ways that still comply. I also love when they tweak things to make them work! Compliant Okay, I admit, that one doesn’t quite fit the criteria because it’s technically a continuation instead of a missing scene, but I’m counting it anyway. Fix-It This series is one of my fave fix-its. Largely because I just freaking adore Mo Xuanyu.

Alternate universe or Future fic - Both, both is good! I am weak for both of these. Possibly more for AUs but I will definitely get equally excited about both. Here’s one of my fave AUs. And my fave future fic series.

One-shot or Multi-chapter - Honestly, I can go either way on this. It really depends on my mood and how much time I have. Though with this fandom and their propensity for one-shots that are over 20,000 words... But I do love it. Here is a painfully long, but absolutely gorgeous one-shot that I love. and here is a kind of silly multi-chapter (that’s actually shorter than the one shot) that I enjoyed thoroughly. 

Kid fic or Road trip fic - Oh I love Kid fics! Fics where the characters are kids, or have kids. Either way. I love them very much. So many of my fandoms, this one included, do involve a lot of traveling in general, but that’s usually in a more mission oriented sense. I’m not really sure any of them would travel for the sake of traveling. (I can’t find any examples of the characters being kiddos in my bookmarks >.<) here’s another where they have kids because it’s too cute

Reincarnation or Character death - I’m gonna be honest, character death is just depressing for the most part. I will, sometimes, read very short fics involving it, but it’s not a favorite. Reincarnation fics however? Oh heck yes. (>.< I don’t think I have any examples of reincarnation fics tho)

Arranged Marriage or Accidental Marriage - I know that, like, accidental marriage is the name of the game in this fandom. And I do love it. It’s hilarious. But arranged marriage AUs have a special place in my heart. This is one of my faves. 

High School College Romance or Middle-aged Romance - I have absolutely nothing against middle aged romance (heck, in this fandom that’s practically canon) but I admit, younger romances resonate a bit more for me, and I am more likely to click on them. (Probably because I’m not too much older than those tropes 26, gods, it’s been years since I was in school, what the heck) Here’s a cute little college AU.

Time Travel or Isolated Together - Ooo, this one is fun. In a sense, these two tie closely for me because there’s a lot of... Overlap? or at least, a lot of potential for it. In general anyway. It usually doesn’t work that way, and certainly not for this fandom. I’ll admit, I haven’t read any outright time travel fics for these lovely characters, yet. I’m pretty sure I have a couple in my TBR. As for Isolated together, that has so much potential. I like it both in the sweet ways and the angsty ones. This is the closest to a time travel fic as I’ve read for this fandom. And here is a cute little “isolated together” fic. 

Neighbors or Roommates - These AUs are, yes. I love them very very much. There’s so much potential for them. I don’t technically have any recs that fit either of the above for this heading that I haven’t already linked, but... Here’s a super sweet fic that they become roommates at the end of ^-^

Sci-fi AU or Magic AU - Give Me All The AUs. No, but seriously. I adore Sci-fi and magic. Now this fandom does make it a little harder for the magic AU because canon is technically magic, but! It’s still a lot of fun to read. Unfortunately, the only Sci-fi au I’ve read is already linked up under the Fantasy header (it’s both, hush). But here is my all time fave alternative magic fic for this fandom. (And it just updated the final chapter!!)

Angst or Humor - *cackles* oh goodness me. Angst. Angst all the way. If my heart feels like it’s being forcibly removed from my chest, it’s the best. Humor is... not really my cup of tea in general. I enjoy laughing, no doubt, but my humor is pretty dark so it’s way easier for me to be amused by an angsty fic than a humorous one. Here are some angsty fics that ripped my heart to pieces.  

Tagging! @lepetiterik, @toddnyallison, @hunxi-guilai and anyone else who wants to play!. (you absolutely do not have to rec fics in this, I just got waaay over excited and wanted to share. let me know if anyone wants recs from any of my other fandoms)

[cowardlylearningtobebrave]

fanfic trope preferences

tagged by @stressed-crow, thank you for giving me momentary feeling of fullfilment in this tiring time and age

↠ slowburn or love at first sight (while i don’t believe in love at first sight irl i also absolutely love spending long hours getting lost in a reality outside of ours so yea)

↠ fake dating or secretly dating (i’d say both but classics never get old)

↠ enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers (when it’s well written i’d almost say it is my favorite trope)

↠ “oh no, there’s Only One Bed,” or long distance correspondence (...very ashamed to admit i think i’ve never read anything close to the second option)

↠ hurt/comfort or amnesia (for the love of our lord and saviour not the amnesia i still from time to time have war flashbacks to that one e*o fanfic that hurt me beyond repair in like 2014; i need me some comforting in this harsh harsh world)

↠ fantasy au or modern au (i generally read more of modern aus bc fantasy worlds are much harder to build and - in my fandom(s) at least - they aren’t really popular but when someone can pull it of? yes please!)

↠ mutual pining or domestic bliss (this might be just my masochistic tendenties breaking thru but if there isn’t at least a little bit of angst i tent to not read it - exceptions exist ofc)

↠ smut or fluff (this is a hard one, it’s kind of both but also none, once again i don’t usually like just 100% fluffy stuff but when i’m feeling extra crappy i eat that ish up; i don’t read pwp unless i really like the ‘concept’ but if it’s a part of the longer plot then hell yea, i think i actually like that more than just pure pg fics)

↠ canon-compliant/missing scenes or fix-it

↠ alternate universe or future fic

↠ one-shot or multichapter (i tend to read one-shots more simply because i hate waiting for writes to finish when it’s an ongoing story but also i do not read anything shorter than 2k words, my favourite kind of one-shots have around 10k.. we love escapism)

↠ kid fic or roadtrip fic (as much as i am not a fan of the living breathing small creatures i do like them in fictional reality unfortunately a lot of people do not know how children of specific ages actually act which sometimes bothers me to the point of dropping the fic)

↠ reincarnation or character death (neither tbqh)

↠ arranged marriage or accidental marriage ((im a bi you cannot force me to make decisions), arranged marriage is also the golden trope you can try prying out of my cold dead hands; accidental marriage can be pretty hilarious tho)

↠ high school romance or middle-aged romance (there are times when i like to pretend it’s completely realistic to meet the loyl at hs, however as i’m getting older :’) it stops being relatable unfortunately)

↠ time travel or isolated together (... it’s 2020 *can i make it anymore obvious*)

↠ neighbours or roommates (*and they were roommates*)

↠ sci-fi au or magic au (i was always more into w.i.t.c.h. as a child :3)

↠ bodyswap or genderbend (neither)

↠ angst or crack (like i said i need a little bit of angst to finally feel something and be temporarily happy with my life but yes, if i feel like losing a few of my braincells crack it is)

↠ apocalyptic or mundane (i’ve read a few apocalyptic fics that are some of my favourites however i’m not really into that as a trope)

i do not really have anyone else to tag bc i’m a loner like that, sorry to disappoint, but if anyone wants to do this, go off my people :)

[kushamisaru]

all the class 1-a boys for the "send me a character and i’ll list" one ;B

I fear you are going to be very disappointed with this list since I don’t have super strong feelings on a lot of these boys but I will do my best! I’ll be going by seating chart order:

Aoyama:

favorite thing about them- Being an extra person myself, I appreciate a character who also very extra. I’ll admit I found him kind of annoying at first but on this second rewatch he’s grown on me.

least favorite thing about them- I don’t have anything I dislike about him. I guess I think he could have a better quirk?

favorite line- “You like him, don’t you?”

brOTP- Uh idk? Who does he really hang out with?

OTP- himself

nOTP- Any of the adults I guess? (this goes for all of these kids but I’m gonna say it here and only here)

random headcanon- He practices smooth heroic one liners and poses in the mirror. Sometimes he accidently activates his quirk too and temporarily blinds himself.

unpopular opinion- If people overall tend to like him, I guess my unpopular opinion would be that I didn’t originally?

song i associate with them- Diamonds by Rhianna (but only the chorus. It’s on repeat in his head all the time)

Iida

favorite thing about them- He’s got a good heart and he tries his best!

least favorite thing about them- Nothing now, but in the past he was quick to act based on his emotions :/ Glad he seems to have learned from that.

favorite line

brOTP- Him and his brother, him and Midoriya, him and Uraraka

OTP- Idk if it has a ship name (rarepair is hell) but IidaxMomo

nOTP- Iida and his brother, I guess?

random headcanon- Is the kid that complains that they’re totally gonna fail (insert test here) and passes with an A+ every. single. time.

unpopular opinion- Probably my otp for him. They just have a lot in common and I think they’d be cute together!

song i associate with them -  The distance by Cake

Ojiro

favorite thing about them- He’s a very honourable guy, he works hard and doesn’t take what he thinks he doesn’t deserve. ALSO APPARENTLY HIS TAIL WAGS WHEN HE’S HAPPY OR EXCITED WHICH IS SUPER CUTE

least favorite thing about them- The fact that I had to look this character up to get a summary of his personality because I wouldn’t know shit about him besides his looks otherwise

favorite line- … I got nothing…

brOTP-  just on looks and personality alone probably Rikido?

OTP- I mean, I’ve seen art of him and Toru that’s pretty cute but I feel like people started shipping them when she stripped in front of him or w/e and she was like “Don’t look at me!” which is :///// I just think their personalities would be interesting together, him being a humble guy and her wanting to stand in the spotlight

nOTP- I don’t know this character well enough to have an opinion on this.

random headcanon- see above

unpopular opinion- do people have strong opinions on this character? I would need to know what they think

song i associate with them - talespin theme song

Denki

favorite thing about them- The fact that he’s the best boy

least favorite thing about them- He can be kind of gross and he hangs out a lot with the worst boy :/ but at least he’s like. A normal teenage boy amount of gross instead of that being his only character trait.

favorite line- that noise he makes when he short circuts

brOTP- Anybody really.

OTP- Don’t have anyone I super hard ship him with? I guess him and Jirou is a little cute but I don’t really ship it.

nOTP- none

random headcanon- Pichu main

unpopular opinion- I have one but it’s about events the toonami crew hasn’t reached yet so I can’t discuss it

song i associate with them- Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths

Kirishima

favorite thing about them- He’s so friendly! He literally wants to make friends with everyone!

least favorite thing about them- I guess a fandom interpretation? I don’t dislike anything about him as a character

favorite line-

brOTP- Him and everyone in the class (This time reluctantly including M*neta because unfortunately Kirishima is just that magnetic)

OTP- Kiribaku, I suppose. I also think KiriMina is cute but that’s at least partially because those are my boyfriend and my favorite students respectively.

nOTP- none

random headcanon- Would probably be a skater kid if this was a 90′s cartoon

unpopular opinion- I feel like Kirishima is a lot more layered than your average fandom headcanon gives him credit for. Like yeah, my favorite thing about him is that he’s a sweetheart, but he’s not JUST a sweetheart. He’s a rough and tumble kind of guy. He’s insecure, but working on becoming more confident. He’s a stand up guy, but not totally above mischief. He’s just a really interesting character and oh my god is he becoming my new fave boy? What the fuck is happening?

song i associate with them- Gotta Fly Now (theme from Rocky)

Koji

favorite thing about them- A SWEETHEART! GENTLE GIANT!

least favorite thing about them- This is gonna sound so mean but… his face…

favorite line- I don’t remember the exact words but when he conquered his fear of the bugs to pass that exam… that was good.

brOTP- I guess Jirou?

OTP- None

nOTP- None

random headcanon- Dinosaurs are his favorite

unpopular opinion- What are the general opinions on this guy in the first place? Idk.

song i associate with them- You know that scene in Shrek where Fiona sings that duet with that bird and the bird explodes. That. Not the actual song, just that rendition of it, in that scene.

Sato

favorite thing about them- idk why but his quirk strikes me as funny

least favorite thing about them- not a fan of his costume. it’s not the worst costume though… I guess

favorite line- just him explaining his quirk

brOTP- nobody right now but I feel like if someone came along with an eating related quirk, or was just a big eater, they’d get along well

OTP- see above

nOTP- none

random headcanon- so canonically he’s a good baker, especially with deserts, but I bet he sucks at cooking.

unpopular opinion- don’t really have one

song i associate with them- cooking by the book (from lazytown)

Shoji

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them- TOL

least favorite thing about them- I’m not a fan of his whole design. It makes me… uncomfortable.

favorite line- not sure

brOTP- I guess just based on personality, Tokoyami? Not sure how much they interact though

OTP- none

nOTP- none

random headcanon- would never lose his earpods but would also never own them

unpopular opinion- idk

song i associate with them- handyman by awolnation

Sero

favorite thing about them- If I’m being perfectly honest, the only reason I like this character as much as I do is because of a mob psycho crossover fic where he and Mob effectively replace M*neta (Mob literally by like taking his spot at UA, and Sero through their similarish quirks). Don’t know much about his canon character traits but if he’s anything like in that story he’s cool by me

least favorite thing about them- that he could replace the bad one mentioned above but does not.

favorite line- none

brOTP- none

OTP- none

nOTP- none

random headcanon- will try to tape anything he can together and call it fixed.

unpopular opinion- I don’t know a lot about how this character is viewed so I couldn’t say

song i associate with them- Tape Song by The Kills

Tokoyami

favorite thing about them- he’s just REALLY funny like he tries to be dark and mysterious but he’s just… not. it’s great.

least favorite thing about them- not something I hate or even dislike so much as something I’m dying to know: what’s up with the head? apparently that’s not part of his quirk so??? what’s going on there???

favorite line- most things that come out of his mouth are gold

brOTP- Tsuyu

OTP- Also Tsuyu! I like them a lot as bffs and bf/gf!

nOTP- none that I can think of.

random headcanon- Meta Knight main

unpopular opinion- I don’t think I have one? I think most people like this character and agree with what I said so…

song i associate with them- Linkin Park’s entire discography.

Todoroki

favorite thing about them- I guess you could say he’s… a pretty cool guy ;^)

least favorite thing about them- HIS HERO NAME IS SO DUMB. SO DUMB. I GET MAD EVERYTIME I THINK ABOUT IT. WHY IS BAKUGOU’S DUMB NICKNAME FOR HIM SO MUCH BETTER. I’M MAD.

favorite line- Not a line, but I liked when he finally used his fire power, reclaiming it from his asshole dad.

brOTP- Him and Momo I guess. Also him and Midoriya.

OTP- If I MUST choose, I guess Tododeku.

nOTP- Notp sounds so harsh but honestly? I don’t ship him with anyone. so kind of sort of everyone applies.

random headcanon- I saw a comic someone made suggesting he likes to do goofy things when only one person is watching because no one will ever believe it happened. I like that.

unpopular opinion- I don’t really like either of Todoroki’s most popular ships. I have a hard time imagining a reason outside of school Momo and Todoroki would ever hang out, and even then I can’t see anything growing there beyond friendship. As for Midoriya and Todoroki… I can see why people ship it I guess, but as someone who came into the fandom knowing that was a fairly popular ship the moment that launched it didn’t even phase me, at least not in that way. It wasn’t until my second watching that I realized that was probably what started the ship and I feel like not a whooole lot has happened between them since? At least not to my knowledge. Todoroki, in my opinion, isn’t close enough to ANYONE yet for romance to be a viable option.

song i associate with them Hot n’ Cold by Katy Perry

Bakugou

favorite thing about them- when he gets bullied

least favorite thing about them- literally told someone to kill themselves

favorite line- DEKUUUU! DID YOU JUST BLINK YOUR EYELIDS?! YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!

brOTP- I kind of like the concept of the Bakusquad.

OTP- KiriBaku (though I’m fine with Bakugou just being alone too)

nOTP- BkDk

random headcanon- Dark Pit Main

unpopular opinion- Bakugou is not the worst student and I don’t hate him.

song i associate with them- Boom by Black Eyed Peas

Midoriya

favorite thing about them- A sweet boy! Works his ass off all the time!

least favorite thing about them- His heart is in the right place, but he can be very reckless with his own safety.

favorite line- I’m the Deku that always does his best!

brOTP- Iida, Todoroki (ig)

OTP- IzuOcha!

nOTP- BkDk

random headcanon- Since you wanna be cute and shit this one is just for you: Someone once tricked Midoriya into thinking he ate a pot brownie and he cried for an hour (”What will mom think?! What will All Might think?!”)

unpopular opinion- I’ve seen some people say they don’t like Midoriya as a main character because like… his character is boring? Don’t agree with that. Not sure how popular that opinion is though.

song i associate with them- Zero to Hero from Hercules

Ugh… Mineta

favorite thing about them- Nothing.

least favorite thing about them- The fact that he’s still alive

favorite line- none

brOTP- none

OTP- none

nOTP- none

random headcanon- I try not think about Mineta more than absolutely necessary (meaning he’s either in front of me or being discussed) so none.

unpopular opinion- Mineta is infinitely to the infinite power times worse than Bakugou is and/or will ever be, and unlike Bakugou, does not deserve the character development he’s apparently getting. Since Horikoshi is too much of a perv and a coward to literally kill him, the next best thing would be to let him die metaphorically of irrelevance. But I know he won’t do that either.

song i associate with them- none

[acegreymanx]

The Edge of the Circle (9)

read it on: FF / AO3

The only time you need a miracle is when nothing else can save you.

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Pairing: General, LadyNoir Genre: general, mystery, supernatural Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir face an unknown enemy. As heartache and danger close in, they will discover the true meaning of the Miraculous.

"Are you sick?" he blurted.

Ladybug’s face scrunched and she frowned up at him. Chat crouched in front of her, extending a hand towards her but not quite daring to touch. She stared at it dubiously - and a bit groggily - as the little shivers danced down her frame.

"Please," he said, flexing the fingers of the hand he extended.

With a soft huff that was enough like her usual self to calm some of his worry, she placed her wrist in his hand.

She definitely had a fever. Not even the insulating nature of their suits could hide the heat coming off her skin, or the tremors she was obviously trying to minimise. He ran his claws gently over her forearm to her elbow before bringing them back to clasp her hand.

"What are you doing out?" he asked, dismayed.

"How did you know?" she groused instead.

Chat didn't think she'd be interested in hearing about his recent bumbling attempt at socialising. "Lucky guess. I think there must be something going around."

Her tremors grew worse as she gave up trying to suppress them and he swallowed down the worry before it overcame him again. There were no Alyas or Ninos here to fix things this time. Well, technically Alya was in the room below, but he didn't think she'd appreciate him barging into her room at 1 a.m as Chat and demanding she heal Ladybug.

Then he rethought that and realised that actually she might like it, but that didn't make it any more of an option.

No, he had to do something and Chat—admittedly still less than knowledgeable about illness, but remembering how cold Marinette had felt and how much she'd appreciated his scarf—reluctantly left Ladybug to go and fetch the cosiest thing he could scrounge.

With autumn well and truly underway and winter already impatiently creeping up undercover of night, there unfortunately wasn't any laundry conveniently out on the lines to select from. But in a stroke of luck, someone had left some fuzzy throws on their balcony chairs. Chat swiped them with nary a second thought, hurrying back to the pointed rooftop.

"Here." He laid the first one down on the cold tiles, almost shooing her towards it when she eyed it from her huddled limbs.

"Did you just steal a blanket?" she questioned, but nevertheless shuffled over to sit on the fluffy fabric.

"We're just borrowing it." He draped the second one over her, so that she was effectively swaddled from the cold on all sides.

Not really knowing what else to do, he moved to sit opposite, sliding his back down a metal pipe. Or a chimney. Maybe it was an air duct?

What were these things seemingly on every roof? You'd think I'd know by know.

Ladybug clutched at the excess of blankets around her. Truthfully, Chat wasn't even sure if they would help: through the winters and summers they'd worn their suits, Chat had never actually felt hot or cold. He'd always assumed that the magic extended to protecting the wearer from the elements. Maybe that was the problem here. Maybe because the heat was coming from within, the suit wasn't able to adjust in the same way.

He was broken out of his musing when he realised he was being watched, glancing up to find Ladybug's blue eyes gazing at him from over the top of the blanket. He froze under the weight of her stare, then started when she wordlessly lifted one corner out wide, silently inviting him to join her.

Chat held his breath. Their partnership had grown a lot from the days of awkwardly dancing around each other. They had grown. Even so, there were still times like this where she surprised him. Chat could confidently say they were friends but there remained some boundaries she was very careful with. Outside of battle, physical closeness was one. It was always special when she broke the professional mask to remind him in her own way that they weren't just partners. And though she usually did so with a long-suffering expression, he cherished it each and every time.

Ladybug shook the corner impatiently at his hesitation and Chat scrambled across before she could retract it. He settled next to her, leaving a couple of centimetres between them, and mimicked her posture, wrapping his arms around his legs. He imagined how comical they must look, with the blanket stretched between them, swamping her shaking shoulders yet barely covering his knees. Their height was one of the other things that had grown. Or rather, his had. Disarmingly, Ladybug had remained more or less the same.

She shifted a bit until her chin poked up from beneath the cover. Her forehead crinkled. "Chat, are you wearing cologne?"

Oh no.

He'd completely forgotten. It had been for his own benefit, to cover the lingering scent of the Seine still caught in his hair, but he had doused himself in some sort of concoction that morning. And for nothing, in the end. He could still catch sour whiffs of river algae despite the perfume and the fact that he had scrubbed his scalp at least ten times the night of the swim.

"Well, the last time we met you did mention odours," he told her.

"It was you and your 'enhanced senses' that brought up the topic," she reminded him. Her eyelids were half-closed before she lifted them suddenly. "Wait, do I still smell?"

He made a show of sniffing at the top of her head. "Yes, terrible."

"Oh." She seemed shocked. The illness was definitely affecting more than her temperature. Normally, she would've been naturally distrustful of his solemn tone.

His grin gave him away before she caught on. "I lied, you smell fine. I think your kwami isn't as lazy about preventing 'harmless side-effects'."

She hummed disapprovingly. "And I believe you also made a threat about nursing me."

He nodded. "I did."

He'd never thought the teasing promise would actually come true. He eyed her carefully, noting her glassy gaze and the clammy sheen over her skin and remembered the last time he'd seen something similar. She frowned under his examination.

"Tell me if you need to throw up," he said.

Her frown turned to bemusement. "What will you do?"

"I'll catch it." He cupped his hands in a bowl in front of her.

His chest swooped in delight at her small, breathy laugh. Or maybe it was more of a snort. He didn't really care.

"Gross," she said in an attempt at reproach. "And really not all that helpful. Aren't you going to try and send me home?"

"I know you well enough by now to know that it won't work." His lips quirked. "You're one of the most stubborn people I've ever met, and trust me when I say I know some very stubborn people."

Like my father. Or Alya, he thought, ruefully remembering the reason they were both there. Edmond Proulx's victorious smirk danced across his memory.

"I saw the program," he told her.

She slowly lifted her head. "And?"

"I was surprised. I thought I was the only Cat in Paris until they managed to go and dig up that sourpuss."

She gave a familiar sigh and leant back against the roof. "This is serious, Chat. How many people feel the same as him?"

"It can't be that many. I've never heard of the organisation before at all. "

She made a noise somewhere between a hum and a groan as she raised one hand to her flushed cheek. The ball of worry Chat was suppressing twisted sickly in his stomach. She shouldn't have to deal with this. Not right now.

"Don't worry," he added. "We've had critics before. They always come around. Why would this be any different?"

"Because he was right. Where are we going, Chat? What are we doing? I've been wondering that myself." She grimaced. "I shouldn't be surprised that someone else had the same questions."

"Ladybug?"

"What have we learned about Papillon in all this time? We don't know who he is, or where his base is, or even what he wants the miraculous for." She was breathing shallowly, her eyes bright and unfocused. "We don't know where akuma come from. We can't predict them. We can't prevent them. We can't get any clues from the victims because they forget everything."

She finished on a deep breath. "He was right. We're not getting anywhere."

"No, he wasn't." Chat couldn't say he was shocked. He'd known long ago that she was the more pessimistic of the two of them, but hearing these thoughts from her ached. They had done so much for their city. They sacrificed so much of their lives. How could she doubt them like this?

"He wasn't right," Chat told her again. "We're helping people. You're sick and giving up your time to protect a stranger—"

"Chat, don't." For some reason, this line of thought seemed to make her more upset.

He tried a different tactic. "We're not soldiers, my Lady. We're not workers. We're not here to save the world. All we need to do is keep the citizens of Paris safe. That's what we've done."

Her lips pursed. He thought she might keep pushing, but then her posture sagged and she sank back into the blanket with a shiver. He hadn't seen her this uncertain since the first time that Papillon had challenged them in front of the Tower.

"It feels so meaningless sometimes. What's the point of these powers if we can't change anything? It's like we're caught in a loop. Don't you… Don't you ever get tired of it?"

He had goosebumps.

"No," he whispered.

The air felt crisp enough to break, the night colourless and dull except for the faint glow of the Tower in the middle distance. He was silent as her gaze roved out over the sleeping city.

"Something needs to change, Chat. We can't do this forever. I… I have dreams I want to reach. I had a plan, before all this started." Her eyes were like ice, piercing the warm protection of his suit. "Isn't there something else you want to be?"

His immediate response caught in his throat. Feelings he'd gotten better at controlling were pushed back down into their neat pen. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

But he still felt it.

I don't care what I am as long as I'm with you.

continue reading on: FF / AO3

start from Chapter 1: FF / AO3

[kylosrehn]

oh. oh. so that's how we're doing this? fine then. (I kid I love the excuse to send you LOTS) favorite character to write about this year? any new fics to start next year? events you participated in this year? fics you wanted to write but didn’t? a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read?

spamming me is actually the way to my heart, this is facts

•  favorite character to write about this year: 

honestly i’m torn between ophelia and leopold (as in, framework fitz.) i loved exploring ophelia, giving her a backstory and developing her character (because ahem, canon failed to do so), putting her in different scenario/aus and just having fun with her in general. i tried to stick to the (brief) canonic characterisation of her in like, the first half of 4x21, before everything went to shit, and obviously the madame hydra characterisation as much as i could, but admittedly a lot of it was my own personal input/shared headcanons and i guess that’s what made it so fun. that’s not to say she’s a blank canvas, but because canon didn’t really expand on her character (she was human for like, what, less than a day?) a lot of it was down to personal interpretation to fill in the blanks. !always human ophelia, for example, would obviously be totally different to the canon enhanced/inhuman/freshly 3d printed version of her and so on. basically it was really fun to try and figure out what she’d be like had canon not done her so dirty.

and, of course, leopold. it’s true that watching/writing/reading about villains is often more fascinating than focusing on the protagonist. i stand by what i’ve said before - he is my favourite aos character. yeah, he was in four episodes, and yeah he’s technically not a separate character at all - but it feels like he is and that’s basically the interpretation i ran with most of the time, treating the framework as an alternate, separate universe as opposed to a virtual reality. hell, even within that virtual reality, he’s just so vastly different, so deliciously depraved that it makes it super fun to explore his character further. there’s just so much more to him than meets the eye and i fondly remember all the days i spent over the summer just coming up with and discussing headcanons about his upbringing, his father and mother, his academy years and rise to power at hydra. that’s the great thing about the framework - the parts it gives you are fantastic, but the parts it doesn’t give you are even better. so a lot of it was exploring his past and his future (babiesssss. !dad leopold might just be my favourite thing, like, ever. the mad, scary doctor caring for a baby. it kills me. him worrying that he’s going to let his child down and become just like his father. the angsssst). he’s so complex and so evidently deeply troubled and absolutely tragic and i love it. he’s not a black and white, “he’s evil and that’s it” kind of character. he’s passionate and determined; he wants to love and be loved, but because of the constant pressure via his father and the absence of his mother, he’s not quite sure how to go about showing it. it’s so fun to explore his voice because he’s canonically savage and just so… like, there’s something so chilling about his stoic demeanor (notice how he only has angry outbursts in private.) i can’t begin to explain how fun it is to poke around his head and explore why he does what he does - he’s convinced he’s saving people, okay, he literally believes that - and how he deals with the complications that arise (inhuman baby, that will be all.) 

tl;dr: leopold “the doctor” fitz is fucked up and i absolutely love it.

any new fics to start next year? 

not entirely sure if this is a fic rec or a wip question tbh, so i’m basically gonna give a brief run-down of my fic to-do-list: okay, so i have like three fitz/skye fics i still need to write (as in, plot bunnies that will literally keep driving me insane until i finally get my shit together and get them down on virtual paper). the first one is a (late) christmas-based fic where they’re both working at hydra and he’s her scrouge-like boss who, outwardly, hates joy and love and christmas. one day, after a phone call from his mother, he tells skye he’s got a proposal for her (literally and figuratively speaking). cue a fake-dating trope fic with christmas fluff and a scottish backdrop. basically “the proposal” but with less deportation and more christmas. 

the second one is the framework fitz/skye post-revolution prison au (totally inspired by your three sentence prompt fill, which i love.) listen, i love torturing him and the entire prison sequence from 5x05 stole my heart, depression prison beard and all. so, it’s more of that, plus a lot of healing in a motel room. 

and the third one, which is less of a solid idea and more of a vague outline in my head: a lowkey star wars au. well. a part of it. soulbond i guess? whatever you want to call it. basically i can’t stop thinking about the two of them being psychically linked and appearing to each other at the most inconvenient of times and falling in love like idiots despite the fact that he’s the literal actual head of hydra and she’s a newly-turned-inhuman and, you know, a devoted resistance member. basically, she’s his redemption arc.

also i’m gonna try and finally fill the prompts in my inbox, because i’m always yelling for more and then they just sit there and i end up hoarding. 

events you participated in this year?

i really started writing proper aos fic in the second half of the year, so i didn’t get a chance to join all that many, but hopefully i’ll join more of these in 2018.

• fitzsimmonsnetwork secret santa 2017• aospositivitynet secret santa 2017• skyeward big bang(because i like to mix it up a little. also because like no aos fic writing event accounts for my fav aos ship, rip)

fics you wanted to write but didn’t?

SO. MANY. too many arguably. like, i’m so bad. i’ll probably update this post if/when i upload an actual unfinished fic dump 2017 part II, because tbh i’ve been toying with the idea for a while. 

okay, so there’s: 

1. the literal very first aos fic i started writing, a direct result of all my pent-up anger and frustration at that lame-ass finale. i decided a fix-it fic was in order, where it basically diverges from canon around halfway through 4x21 (before that scene) and ophelia’s pardoned and allowed to stay, albeit under close surveillance and basically locked up in the containment module and the team has to learn to deal with it and accept her while fitz helps her come to terms with what it really means to be human. also, feelings don’t just get thrown away instead of being properly addressed because that’s lazy writing and you can love more than one person at a time, god fucking damn it). while this is still unfinished, it admittedly later evolved into a broader collab verse known as “team au.”

2. fitz/ophelia ‘we kind of broke up because you chose jemma and now we’re meeting again years later in new york and i never realised how much i missed you until you started chasing me down the street’ au.

3. this one canon-divergence (though canon can’t prove me wrong, so technically…) au where the framework is still the framework and everything is pretty much the same except ophelia’s pregnant (look, in 4x16 when he’s getting all worked up about “i have to protect you, i have to…” and she grabs his hand i literally thought for a moment that she was going to place it against her stomach and they’d do an oh-my-god-baby reveal, but they’re not ballsy enough to go there, so it’s mostly just wishful thinking BUT STILL) so when daisy quakes her out the window, well. in other words: ANGST. 

4. this one fic where fitz and ophelia went to high school together but never really interacted until one party during the summer of their freshman year of college, realise they have feelings for each other and sleep together literally under the stars before he moves across the country because of college and a prestigious internship. shortly after term starts, ophelia realises she’s pregnant. cue long-distance internet pining, several failed attempts to confess/meet up in person, and and lots of hurt/comfort as ophelia slowly learns to accept her situation and make the best of it. plus some father-daughter bonding. it sounds really lame now i guess, but it’s really an idea that’s been with me for a long time and i’ve plotted and planned it and thought about it a lot so i would really love to push myself to just sit down and word vomit it out at some point. i promised myself i’d do in december/over christmas, but of course that didn’t happen, so hopefully sometime in january. it’s kind of a pet project of mine so i’ll be really disappointed in myself if i just let it go, even though the fitz/ophelia ship is as good as dead by now and i’d probably just be writing it for myself more so than for any real kind of audience. (yeah, i still have a soft spot for this ship, mostly because of the chest-tightening nostalgia i get whenever i think about it and the literal hours i’d spent being so completely invested in it over the summer. will i ever get over it? probably not.)

there’s a bunch of other stuff i always wanted to explore (leopold backstory, framework-canon hydra uprising, framework post-canon revolution, etc.) but never really got far enough in any other stuff to go into detail about them here (i really have to properly sift through my docs at some point, it’s literally a fic dump of headcanons/ideas from like, three months of hardcore obsessing all summer) but i guess one simple conclusion can be drawn from all this: i have a thing for angst, redemption arcs and pregnancy/baby fic, not necessarily in that order. 

a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read?

this is such a hard question because 1. i’ve read a lot of stuff from like, a weird mix of different fandoms, 2. with my ‘unfortunate/problematic’ choice of ships/favourite characters it’s hard to pick something everyone would enjoy. however:

for this empire, after night  - i know the kylo ren/rey pairing isn’t for everyone (see above), but in my defense this isn’t really a shippy fic at all. it may, however, be one of the damn most beautiful things i’ve read in a long, long time. the descriptions, the imagery. it’s breathtaking (and really puts my own miserable scribbling into perspective)

[meganmazing]

An All Phlint Rec List!

One guess which pairing I fell head-first into this time...

Need more time? No problem, I’ll give you a hint. It involves SHEILD’s #1 eye in the sky and his long-suffering, slightly anal-retentive handler. The purple Avenger and the dead-not-dead agent. You know them, and if you don’t already love them, these fics will fix that for you. Sorry in advance for how long this is, but there are so many fics and I have too many feelings.

Some of them even feature Pizza Dog, because we are a blessed fandom.

Most of these are rated Explicit, but not all! I even mention a G-rated fic, and I’m proud of me for branching out my recs. I don’t read non-con/dub-con, and I’m not usually into ABO stuff, so you won’t find any of that here, if it’s a concern. Just in case, read the tags! I also don’t read unhappy endings, becasue I’m not about that life.  

Click the bold titles (sometimes the little lines indicating a link aren’t there, but the link still is) and don’t forget to leave kudos/comments on the ones you love, to spread that love to the authors! And as always, there will always be more fics that I love/bookmark/scream about in my bookmarks page on my ao3 account: megamazing

College AU

Launch Your Assault by foxxcub  Words: 30k  Rating: E

Phil Coulson was more than halfway through his six year plan, and everything was chugging along nicely.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t foreseen a cocky junior Art major waltzing into his life, or his floor.

So this is within the same universe as Bulletproof, a stony College AU fic, but I never read that one. Phlint College AU’s I love, but not so much with stony? I have weirdly subjective preferences when it comes to fics.

However, I will rec this one with my dying breath. It is Phil’s POV, and I have such a soft spot for college age Phil now, thanks to this story. As a college student myself, I felt that everything was really realistic and I believed everything. More than that, I want to give both the boys a hug. They need it after this. 

Also, as you’ll see later on in this list, I love the “fuck buddies” trope with hidden feelings that are so not hidden it’s embarrassing. And heartbreaking. As much as I want to hug Phil, I also think he needs a swift kick or seven.  

Safety Not Guaranteed by foxxcub  words: 4k+ (nearly 5k) Rating: M

Phil was informed of the Sigma Iota tradition of White Elephant two weeks before Christmas break. He’d heard of other chapters on campus having holiday parties and had figured the SI’s did the same.

But he was quickly learning the SI’s didn’t do things quite like other fraternities.

Short, sweet, and funny. Of course this would happen to them, within a group of people where blatant, verbal communication is a practically a foreign notion. I laughed, I sympathetically cringed, and there are sexytimes, too. What’s not to love here, really? (Wade has a great cameo, too, so of course this was going on the list)

I'll Learn To Dance If You Promise Not To Laugh by torakowalski  words: 10k+ rating: E

A College AU in which there are long distance relationships, misunderstandings, and no one actually spends any time in college.

The insecurity in this fic kills me in the best way. Clint puts on an act sometimes, acting stronger and suaver than maybe he feels. When your bf is older and cooler and smarter and too good for you, what else can you do? Naturally, that strategy works great until it doesn’t. 

Thor, Darcy, and Jane are wonderful and I just want more of them! I would never have pictured them as Phil’s roommates, but it works so well and watching Clint interact with them is great. 

Everyone deserves a hug: Clint for being a sweet idiot, Phil for being a well-meaning moron, and the roommate squad for putting up with their shit and making it fun.  

(more torakowalski fics in the final section, because I’m in love with their work and need to throw more at you)

Other AU

Kindergarten ‘verse by soniclipstick (veriscence)  total words: 38k+ Respective ratings: E, G, and E

Kindergarten teacher Clint Barton has never been in a healthy stable relationship in his life. Hell, mostly he doesn't bother leaving his house unless his best friend drags him out for 'socialising'. He's happy with his life as a hermit; he has a dog, and fifteen sticky tiny humans to teach core skills to. That's more than enough commitment for him

But that's all about to change when the new school year brings along with it some major surprises, such as Phil Coulson, the widowed father of one of his students and owner of the bluest eyes Clint's ever seen.

(summary from the first fic in the series)

I am rec’ing the whole series here, because I want to curl up and live in the world the author created. It has everyone you could think of wanting to see from both general Marvel canon and also Agents of SHIELD. Look, as I’m writing this, I want to go back and re-read the first fic. As the author states in the tags, it’s totally Fraction’s Hawkeye, aka my favorite and the best (soz MCU Clint, you’re cool too, sometimes).

This could have been so stupid. It’s a kindergarten teacher AU, it very easily could have been something I read two paragraphs of and clicked away. But it isn’t. When the author says fluff and angst, they mean it. It hurt my heart and made me giddy by turns. Also, sexytimes. But the feelings! I connected so much with Clint in this, and felt so much for Phil, and the payoff feels so earned by the time it happens.

The supporting cast is phenomenal, and it may be my favorite of this whole list, which is saying a lot because I love them all. Even the smaller cameos were hilarious and made me smile.

EVEN IF YOU READ NO OTHER FIC ON THIS LIST, READ THIS SERIES.

Pre-Avengers (mostly)

Slow and Soft by onthewaters  Words: 23k Rating: E 

When Coulson adds Barton to his team, he expects smartassery. Except there isn't any...

This is it. This is the story I was looking for and craving without even knowing it. That may make zero sense, but I don’t know how else to put it. The writing and the storytelling here are on another level, and I mean that in the best possible way. It shows them getting together - including the beginning of the incredible friendship between the trio (Nat, Clint, and Phil) and Nat and Clint's bond - as well as the most believable/subtle pinning I’ve read in awhile. 

Phil's characterization is the best in this one. It’s his POV, and his personality just shines. This is one of the ones I really treasure, and I won’t apologize for how extra I am about it. 

Operation Snapdragon by Laura Kaye (laurakaye) words: 10k+ rating: E

They’d decided to call it Operation Snapdragon, Jasper had explained, because snapdragons meant “deception” in the language of flowers.

It would be more accurate to call it Operation Rip Out Phil's Heart And Grind It Beneath The Feet Of Mobsters, but apparently there wasn't a flower for that.

The humor is on point, and I am a sucker for pining!Phil and sarcasm. It’s a fake marriage fic, where they’re undercover as a couple. Tell me that doesn’t sound perfect for these two. BUT WAIT, there’s more: they’re already a thing before the fake marriage mission, and Phil has been feeling insecure in the relationship! Voicing concerns in a healthy manner is out of the question, naturally. Idiots.

It takes place over six months, featuring flashbacks to how Phil ended up in a strip club run by the mob, smiling lovingly at his husband while a mobster talks about how great they are together. 

Plenty of miscommunication on par with the trope, and you just want to give Clint a hug, becasue you know what’s going on, but Phil can’t catch a hint. It has art at the end, too, which is adorable.

The Clothes that Make the Man by orderlychaos  words: 17k+ rating: E

There was something comforting in the way Clint could focus on Coulson’s dry, deadpan tone as bullets and explosions sounded around him. Come rain, hail or bursts of experimental weaponry, Agent Coulson would be there, calm and controlled in that damn suit, like the personification of order against chaos.

However, contrary to rumour, Phil Coulson was not born in a suit. This is the story of how Clint Barton glimpsed the man underneath and fell in love.

(Or five times Clint saw Phil outside of a suit and the one time he wore a suit himself).

IT’S A FIVE AND ONE, boys, we’ve made it. This my favorite trope in all of fanfiction history. It’s also pre-avengers for the first half, but then kinda after? Coulson isn’t dead and doesn’t appear to ever have been, but in the later chapters, the Avengers are a thing? I’m not sure about timelines. It’s an AU, and it’s awesome. 

The important part is that there’s Clint POV and insecurity on both sides, as well as really sweet moments and pinning galore. Plus, it’s rated E, so obviously that too. It’s fairly lighthearted in general as well (meaning there are feelings and angst but there aren’t feelings and angst, if you know what I mean), and after some of the angst on this list, lighthearted fics are a gift. 

Coulson Lives - Reunion

Give a Dog a Bone by  Laura Kaye (laurakaye)  Words: 86k+ Rating: E

What do you do when your dead best friend turns up alive after three years? a) yell at him b) hug him c) ignore him to his face while following him around the Tower like a creeper d) maybe fall in love with him a little e) all of the above

Best summary, or best summary? 

This does not have enough kudos or recognition. I know it’s at nearly 960, and that’s a great amount, but it deserves so much more! I still think about this story, and it’s another one I want to re-read soon. 

When I mentioned Pizza Dog, this is one of the ones I had in mind.   

And Kate!!! His friendship with Kate is everything I’ve ever wanted. And his friendship with Tony, and obviously Nat. Basically, I love Clint having friends and getting to be petty becasue holy shit he deserves to be petty after everything SHIELD has put them all through. At the same time, nothing feels like Phil!whump or emotionally beating a character down unnecessarily. 

Clint does everything I want him to, and some stuff I didn’t even know I wanted him to do. There is so much pain, as you’d expect, but there is so much payoff and the balance is perfect. I connect with Clint’s characterization in general, but especially here. Just yes. 

Phil’s journey with the loss of his hand and adjusting to life with a prosthetic is also really cool, and something I hardly ever see. Same goes for Clint’s hearing loss. He isn’t deal, but and is completely capable/confident in himself, but there are struggles at times that make me wonder if the author has personal experience because it’s stuff I recognize from my mom’s experiences.  

doesn't matter if I bleed by t_fic (topaz), topaz, topaz119 (topaz)  Words: 25k+ Rating: E

Clint's never pretended to be deep. He's just the guy who sits back and watches, the guy who makes the shot when he needs to. He's seen a lot of crap in his time, sat through a lot of fucked-up scenes to get to where he needs to be, but this, now--he can't stand another second of it.

This feels like an argument for why the pairing works, and I loved it. It really deep dives into the issues all three of them - Clint, Nat, and Phil - have in a way that feels so real and relatable to me, personally, that it cut me right to the core. I still can't get over the incredible friendship between Clint and Nat in this. I loved every minute, and every win was so, so deserved. I want to curl up and live in the world the author created, tbh. Also, there are sexytimes. Can't forget those.

Tony also has the line early on that nearly made me cry: "Someone has some serious fucking explaining to do, because you," he pokes at Coulson, "we fucking buried you." The scene is already so emotionally charged, and then this and it kills me becasue of all the off-page backstory and emotional weight it gives for the rest of the story.

I’m emo and dramatic about all of these, but I mean it when I say it feels like proof for why Clint and Phil work. Just, yes.

Coulson Lives - some point after the off-page reunion

The Best Bad Ideas by copperbadge words: 17k+  rating: M

When Clint Barton put on the Captain America costume for a mission, he didn't count on Phil Coulson's reaction. Coulson didn't count on Clint crashing his new team to do something about it.

Oh yeah, you read that right. It’s just as funny as it sounds, and all of a sudden you get hit with the angst and it works. Even so, this one is a lot lighter and it’s fun. Cap and Co’s reactions are just as funny, and the gossip sessions between the ensemble are some of my favorite bits. (side note: why have I never considered the badass-ery that would be a Nat and Melinda May friendship?) 

Pine Lake Oasis by infiniteeight  words: 32k+  rating: E

When SHIELD gets intel that an arms dealer might soon be receiving Chitauri technology, Fury sends Clint and Coulson undercover to establish surveillance, ingratiate themselves with the arms dealer and his right hand man, and possibly intercept the sale. The catch? The arms dealer and his lieutenant are apparently posing as a couple, which means the best way for Clint and Coulson to get close is to pose as a couple, too. The longer the op goes on, the more Clint wonders which relationship is more real.

MORE PRETEND MARRIED TROPES! We can never have too many, in my humble opinion. This one is very different from the mobster one, because it’s set in suberbia with plenty of nosy neighbors and also some arms dealers who are also posing as a couple. Frankly, I’m not sure anyone is posing as anything in this fic when it comes to feelings. 

The domesticity in this story is so good and it’s so sad watching them get used to it and hearing Clint think it can’t last...but then! And everything feels earned by the end, instead of just tossed in. You watch them get closer over the course of the story and I love it. 

They’re sassy and sarcastic and funny, and so true to the characters we’ve come to love that it all feels so believable. 

Just torakowalski Fics 

(Yes. I did add a whole section just for one author. If I hadn’t, every category would be overrun, and there are so many good fics out there! But this author gets me, and more importantly, gets Clint and Phil, so it had to be done.)

Been Looking at You Forever  words: 18k+ (closer to 19k)  rating: E

Clint and Phil are friends. Friends who have sex. That’s all there is to it. Honestly. 

Fuckbuddies with a healthy dose of accidental relationship because whoops, who knew “casual” sex with hidden feelings would lead to complications and more feelings?? Set post-Avengers movie, and including all the main faves as side characters. 

Guys, I’ll be real with you for a second. I don’t ship either stucky or Tony/Pepper, and yet this has both as background but blatant relationships. And I still don’t ship them, but I believed it within the story and I wasn’t bothered? If that doesn’t tell you how good of a writer tora is...

I am addicted to the way they write Clint and Phil, and the fact that it doesn’t look like they’ll be writing more for that pairing makes me hold on tighter to the stories we do have. Sure, the premise of this fic is a trope, but the relationships between the characters puts it on another level for me. This one will make you crave more of this trope out of all your fave pairings, trust me.

And All the Clocks Came Back to Life  Words: 4k+ Rating: T

Phil Coulson isn't a big fan of birthdays, but they're better than being dead.

Pizza Dog is a character again, and so is my favorite apartment complex in Marvel Comics continuity. This is the sweetest story (it’s also the shortest one on this list *gasp*) and it doesn’t have anything explicit, which I know some people prefer, but trust me. The way tora writes these boys is so worth the read. I have the warm-fuzzies just thinking about this fic again - I dare you not to feel like smiling with this one. Naturally, there are grounded feels too, and I just want to protect Clint with my whole being. Luckily, I’m pretty sure Coulson does, too. 

Both characterizations are on point.

Keeping the World at Bay  Words: 25k+ Rating: E

Finding out that Phil's alive and working with a new team isn't easy for Clint, and neither is helping Captain America track down the brainwashed Hydra assassin that used to be Bucky Barnes. 

This is another one where I still don’t ship stucky, but god damnit I’m here for everything in this fic. Clint gets to be fucking amazing in this one, both physically and on an emotional connective-ness level. It uses his own neuroses and backlog of problem/coping mechanisms and puts them to use in the best way. You know, if you’ve seen the movie Age of Ultron (meh movie overall but there are elements I adored) that Clint has the potential to fill the mentor position so well. He gets to do that here, or at least begin down that sort of path, and I loved it. 

For all my stony babes, I urge you to give it a shot. Just this once, let me peer pressure you.

I am also always here for Clint getting to be pissed off, because HELLO, he’s got a right. And my heart went out to Phil so hard. Guys, it’s a double reunion fic, as well as the first time potential best friends meet, why are you sleeping on this??

Back to The Place You Are  Words: 7k+  Rating: E 

Phil Coulson was sitting two tables over from Clint and wearing his Dress Blues. This was making concentrating on anything else pretty much impossible.

Normally, I am Not A Fan of fics where they are broken up from the get-go. Or maybe I just have to be in the right mood/mind set for that brand of angst. AND YET. This fic.  

It’s Tony and Pepper’s wedding, and naturally Phil has to dress the part right? Clint should have been prepared, but clearly, he was not. This one is pretty much smut with angst and feels, and like Clint, I was not prepared for how much I would love reading it. 

What We've Got Here Is Enough words: 7k+ rating: E

They don’t fuck in the Avengers’ Mansion, that’s rule number one of Having A Secret Relationship With Your Ex-Handler.

This one was great, and involves how the rest of the team finds out about their relationship. Not a ton to say aside from what I’ve already said about how tora writes these two! 

Want more recommendations? Let me know! Maybe I ship what you ship and we can scream about the great fanfic together. 

[jhathaway71]

Emmerdale’s Iain MacLeod Interviews

Sometimes (anytime an article is released with a quote from Iain MacLeod), I ponder why ITV allows him to speak for the show. I know he is the current showrunner and can even respect their decision for hiring him. It is after all, their money to waste as they see fit.

 Again, we are bombarded with articles from the soap magazines similar to a few months back (prior SSW) with statements from Iain regarding Robert & Aaron. All courtesy of the special engagement hosted for our soap rag writers on 27-April-2017.

 While there were other topics covered and some of the soap mag scribs have indicated the material from the event will be slowly released beginning today through June 2017. The primary other topic was Rhona/Pierce S/L. I'm sure it is wonderfully acted, but needs to wrap up soon. They're going down the Hollyoaks rabbit hole with that one by carrying on a story for so long and just piling on to the point it becomes no longer watchable - I reached that point in Dec/Jan.

 These are my first thoughts after reading the articles about Robert & Aaron's future with Emmerdale based on different quotes from our lord and master Iain MacLeod:

 1.  ‘I’m as anxious as everyone else to see Robert and Aaron have a happy ending but my personal view on soap couples generally is that happy couples tend not to get much screen time."

 READS: Individuals on Twitter need to stop bitching about what I want to do with MY characters. Keep it up and I'll give you what you want, a happy Robert & Aaron, but just like with the first wedding...it's gonna cost you. I'll reduce their screen time and make them background characters.

 2.  'I know there are Robron fans out there currently carving an effigy of me from any bit of driftwood they might have found but genuinely in 2, 3 or 5 years time, will Robert and Aaron be together? Yes is the answer to that. There maybe some turbulence and passion, and hopefully grand, operatic level scenes that everyone will love.’

 READS: I know I've ticked off quite a few of the Robert & Aaron fans, and want to let you know I'm not entirely stupid (current shite storyline aside). I'm working on fixing this mess I've created even through I'm not sorry for doing it. I'll try and get the magic that was once Robron back and hopefully those that have left the fandom will return.

 3.  ‘Despite what some people may feel on Twitter, I’m not an idiot, so we’ll definitely be getting an official church/register office/Vegas romantic wedding that will hopefully be heart-warming, joyous and everything everyone wants it to be.’ ‘At some point there will be a second wedding, we’ve not storylined it yet but we deliberately didn’t make their first wedding official because only an idiot would rule out the possibility of there being two Robron weddings.

 READS: See #2. I’m throwing the fans a bone for a second legal wedding to make up for the cheating storyline. It was always my intent to use the 2nd wedding to draw back in any fans who got their panties in a twist because I did what I wanted with MY characters on the show I run. Remember, the fans wanted Robert & Aaron to get married, I gave you that at the cost of the cheating storyline. Just ignore the fact that I will continue to do this until I get bored with the fandom or the fandom gives up and the characters are no longer profitable for us as a soap!

 4.  ‘Hopefully she’ll (Rebecca) redeem herself in the audience’s eyes in the coming months and they will see she’s been trampled by Robert a little bit. It’s all a bit tragic. Robert might be the love of her life in her mind but she’s got enough dignity to know that’s never going to happen, she’s not going to go chasing after him and he’s not getting back into bed with her. ‘

 READS: The fans have spoken and I need to put some distance between Rebecca and Robert & Aaron. Unfortunately, they are so intimately linked now that I have had Robert knock her up (maybe), they will ALWAYS be in each other's orbit. BUT IT WON'T BE A LOVE TRIANGLE. Lesson learned. Again, I'm not gonna apologize for the direction I take my characters and I want you the fans to give Rebecca another chance because Emily Head's contract isn't up yet and I don't want ITV to waste money except on my ridiculous salary. It's ALL Robert's fault anyway, do NOT blame me.

 *My personal opinion on this, if the showrunner needs to tell the audience after the fact to have sympathy for a character, they did a piss poor job in bringing the character to life on the screen. It isn't the actresses fault, but the production staff with shoddy character development.  And the character of Rebecca has lacked dignity since her introduction. Throwing the previous abortion out there did nothing but make her seem even more desperate and delusional for Robert's affection than before. EPIC FAIL on you're part.

 5.  ‘We’ve got big Robert and Aaron stuff coming up at the beginning of May. There’s a state of the nation type, hour long episode where their relationship is hanging in the balance. I hope it will answer some of the concerns the ardent Robron fans have about the direction that the story is taking and satisfy their worries.

 READS: Again, see #2 & #3.

 Over all, I found some of the quotes quite combative toward the fans that do not worship at the alter of Iain MacLeod. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the Robert & Aaron releases were more about damage control and an attempt to keep what few fans are remaining. (I say this because I had a YouTube playlist with over 160 fan created Robron videos which has been reduced to 87 as of this writing. Almost half of them have been deleted by people who are no longer fans and have given up on Robron and the show since 16-Mar-2017).

 My utmost respect (though it doesn't sound like it based on what I've written) to Iain MacLeod for sticking to his guns regarding the Robert & Aaron story direction and not bowing to pressure to apologize publicly for the outrage and dissatisfaction created.

He once gave an interview where he stated he often disagrees with what the fans have to say, just like we may disagree with him and the direction of the show.

 I'm not speaking for the whole of the fandom, only for myself. I can agree to disagree if he can. I hope in the future, Iain will be a bit more forthcoming with what he intends. I know he can't spell out the entire story, but the unfortunate bait & switch for Robert & Aaron could have saved himself, the fandom, and the social media staff with ED a lot of heartache and trouble. While the prison story may have been topical, it was nothing more than an additional catalyst for the cheating story he wanted to tell.

 To close, I would like to point out something we often say in the business world.

"Perception is reality".

My perception based on all the prior and current interviews and the direction the Robert & Aaron story has taken is Iain MacLeod wanted to show the fandom he was and is the boss and will do what he wants with his characters. And he is right, ITV gave him that power. 

The radio silence from him and ED as a whole beginning in February 2017 after the “context” and Shakespeare quote was a showrunner seeing potential trouble and not wanting to anger and alienate any additional fans for as long as possible (16-Mar-2017 incident). 

The interviews released today are his and ED’s way to mitigate any further damage and fan defection which may occur with the upcoming return of Robert & Aaron to our screens with the May scenes and wrap-up (hopefully) of the story he wanted to tell for the previous given reason. 

In addition, this new release of interviews is a way to claw back through damage control some of the ground that may have been lost as it relates to the Robert & Aaron fandom.

And finally, with the upcoming BSA's and Emmerdale being up for Best Soap again after winning last year (fan voted), he is wanting to smooth over the troubled waters with some of the more disenfranchised vocal fans for when the second round of voting opens in a few days time.

While these are my perceptions it would be interesting to see the following statistics as it relates to Robert & Aaron and determine if my perception is indeed a reality:

-          Number of times #Robron hashtag used before and after 16-March-2017.

-          Viewing Numbers before February Context gaffe, before 16-March-2017, and after.

[aoooficrecs]

Fic Recs for still unfinished fics

Who doesn’t love to read a completed fic? Unfortunately sometimes it can take a while before those multi chapter fics get finished, doesn’t mean that they aren’t awesome and hey, waiting is half the fun? Here’s some of the ones I wait for practically on the edge of my seat if you wanna join in my misery:

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Aid By: Haurvatat Words: 62860 Chapters: 25/? Summary: Frankly, the only person on Team Voltron with their shit relatively together is Hunk. Lance tries so hard, but... he can't help but feel there's a reason he never gets too far with that one, and maybe not 100% of it is Keith's fault. All it takes is one battle, one accident, one mistake, and one secret to make it all rise to the surface.

Black to Blue By: PuppetMaster55 Words: 38886 Chapters: 6/? Summary: Lance, the undisputed (no longer, since he finally got the team to stop questioning his position like a month ago) leader of Voltron finds himself in the absolute strangest scenario: being the Blue Paladin. Lance, still finding his place on team Voltron, wakes up to the weirdest world: one where he's the Black Paladin. OR, I take a universe where Lance was always the Black Paladin and have him swap bodies with canon Lance, throwing both sets of teams for a trip.

Watercast By: Fishwrites Words: 61956 Chapters: 7/? Summary: Shiro has been a Galra prisoner for over a year; with his flight feathers clipped and unable to fly. Desperate to escape, he jumps overboard while being transported to the capitol on a Galran ship. Lance is a merman who saves him from drowning. Keith thinks Shiro is about to become mermaid dinner. Hunk just wants Lance to stop going to the surface all the time, dammit! (AU where Avians (winged folk), Galra, humans and merfolk cohabit earth. Shiro and Keith are avian soldiers, Lance is the youngest son of a Queen, Hunk is also a merman and Pidge is still looking for her family.)

Blueprints By: UnderTheSilentStars Words: 41414 Chapters: 24/? Summary: "While soulmarks themselves were common, it was rare for someone to have anything other than the name of their other half...and Lance had a red paw print." Soulmark AU

Our Daddy is Sweet Like Sugar By: BTwrites Words: 10933 Chapters: 6/? Summary: Keith and Lance are struggling college students, Lance has the bright idea that they try to get a sugar daddy to fix their problems. It doesn't go as planned.

Beyond Bonding By: deecherrywolf Words: 31207 Chapters: 7/10 Summary: Lances gains the ability to see the spirit of the Blue Lion. Blue decides to take advantage of this new ability.

Fandom: Yuri On Ice

Re: Yuri Katsuki By: Ishxallxgood Words: 38931 Chapters: 32/? Summary: Phichit Chulanont is fiercely loyal to his best friend Yuri Katsuki. So when he randomly gets a direct message on Instagram from one v_nikiforov, it's only natural for Phichit to assume it's a prank. That is until he comes to realize it's not a prank. A story about how Phichit and Viktor bonded over their most favorite topic; Yuri Katsuki. Phichit knows all the things.

Turn Back the Clock By: IronScript Words: 27513 Chapters: 25/? Summary: When Yuuri and Viktor wake up over thirty years in the past, they don't know what to do. Does the other remember? Luckily that particular question is quickly answered and they can relax slightly, but what about afterwards? Viktor was brought back to right before his first Olympics, and Yuuri isn’t even old enough to compete in Seniors’! Then there's the fact that they're still very much in love, but a physical relationship would be illegal (and would gross them both out considering Yuuri's age), and they can't count on anyone to just trust them not to do anything age inappropriate. So maybe being long-distance (with as many in-person meetings as possible) would be better until Yuuri becomes a legal adult physically, never mind his actual age. But it's hard to behave and act naturally when you're forced to be apart from your husband of twenty years, especially during one of the most stressful parts of anyone's life, so Yuuri and Viktor have to distract themselves somehow, right?Right. And if everyone around them ends up completely confused and blindsided at their sudden changes (though admittedly they seem to have changed for the better), then so be it!

From A Random Playing Card By: Noitratoxin Words: 18006 Chapters: 12/? Summary: In training premier danseur, Katsuki Yuuri, under the guidance of Lilia Baranovskaya was asked to train the new generation of Russian figure skaters in ballet and found himself with a 4 year old Yuri Plisetsky, adopted son of the one Viktor Nikiforov, clinging to his legs demanding he comes home with him. Yuuri wasn’t sure if this was healthy for his sanity.

Sensei, Onegai Shimasu By: TheSilentOtaku Words: 20982 Chapters: 8/? Summary: Viktor figured he looked weird right now, sitting there, dumbstruck and clutching a napkin with the personal number of his child’s teacher scrawled across it—the same teacher who asked him out about forty-five minutes ago. He probably even looked more strange when he started smiling. The fic in which Viktor Nikiforov is a single father, Yuri Plisetsky is Viktor's six-year-old son with an obsession with tigers and crayons, and Yuuri Katsuki is the cute first grade teacher that Viktor can't seem to get out of his mind.

in skating we axel By: pictureperfectporcelain Words: 22205 Chapters: 21/? Summary: Phichit created group: “in skating we axel” (Or, the Yuri!! on Ice silly group chat fic that nobody asked for.)

Magic on Ice By: chibilysis (xyrilyn) Words: 35983 Chapters: 9/? Summary: Yuuri's first accidental magic took the form of a miniature snowstorm in his room. By the time his parents realised something was off, Yuuri's bedroom was one feet deep in magical snow. Yuuri was only five years old, at the time. Then, one day, upon returning home from school, he found an owl perched on the windowsill in his bedroom. It had brought him a letter. And the rest... was history. (( In which Katsuki Yuuri grows up in Hogwarts, gets involved in all sorts of shenanigans and eventually meets his quidditch idol, Victor Nikiforov - not necessarily in that order. ))

On ICE!!! By: Watermelonsmellinfellon Words: 15521 Chapters: 5/? Summary: The first time Katsuki Yuuri saw Victor Nikiforov perform, he realized he had a great desire to see figure skating in a video game. In fifteen years, his dream is realized. Little does he know that Victor's attention has been caught by the very game he unknowingly inspired. So ensues the cutest meeting ever and the relationship that follows.

Swimming With The Fishes By: instantpuppypaper Words: 33815 Chapters: 5/? Summary: Viktor, the 'King' of the seven seas; dangerous, pretty, and impossible to catch. Legends say even the ocean was in love with him, rescuing him and his crew when all seemed lost. How little do those legends know, for Viktor was the one in love. He had given his heart to the sea when he was just a child. A mermaid au with pirates, estranged princes, and attractive fish.

solo and pair By: calciseptine Words: 22880 Chapters: 9/? Summary: Yuuri keeps his mark hidden. Soulmate AU

Switched By: GhostsOnSaturn Words: 23942 Chapters: 7/? Summary: Soulmates AU where your consciousness occasionally swaps places with that of your soulmate for varying amounts of time. Katsuki Yuuri was just six years old when it first happened. He had been minding his own business, quite happily drawing an interesting rendition of a bird perched outside his window, and had blinked only to find himself somewhere completely different. He let out a shout of alarm - but it wasn’t his voice - and all of a sudden, feet that were far too big to be his slipped out from underneath him and he found himself lying on something very hard, and very cold.

You Can't Plan for Everything By: RivDeV Words: 123560 Chapters: 21/? Summary: Yuuri forgets that he has a scheduled heat coming up until it's just a couple weeks away. He scrambles to get everything ready in time, including deciding whether he'll spend it alone or with someone. Victor only wants to help.