#yes i'm keeping it lighthearted because i'm trying not to be too sad about it and go on a rant. what about it

[emptyjunior]

Hey Shohei Ohtani is getting married!

He's a baseball pitcher from Japan and has a huge fanbase, yes cause of sports stuff, but also cause he's admittably Gorgeous and has eligible bachelor superstar Icon status.

And he's announced his engagement to a woman he won't name (although people have many theories out there.)

But I just wanted to take the time to say the people who love Shohei,.. keep it fun 🫵

Because maybe less than a year ago we had another announcement, Yuzuru Hanyu got married.

Beloved figure skating icon, the inspiration for the character Yuuri Katsuki, generally agreed upon heartthrob.

And he got married and received a lot of joking jealous messages,., And then a lot that were Not jokes.

Just a whole campaign of people saying noooo whyy you can't do this, private messages and letters, the media following them everywhere, the media actively STALKING the couple and digging things up about his wife and her past and her life.

And then because Yuzuru Hanyu loved his wife, he divorced her. To protect her and release her from all that pressure.

And that's the end.

Well now that occurred, I have been seeing a lot of comments under Shohei's stuff and it's mostly lighthearted.,, But it looks a Little too familiar for my tastes.

Kind of the same tone of last time, and lots of conspiracy stuff of who the woman is.

And just wanted to say whether or not we get a name, whether or not she's already a famous person or not,, let's leave her be!

And where you might be tempted to write "I'm so sad" "no don't take him away from me" maybe just a casual "Congratulations!" Is in order instead.

These are people! These are people doing jobs who want to have lives and be married and literally nothing bad has happened around Shohei Ohtani's announcement yet, nothing but happy news, and I want to keep it that way.

For him and the one after him and maybe for one day if Yuzuru Hanyu feels safe enough to try again, let's keep it light and fun and Normal 🫵

So thank you everyone! Take this as a PSA and enjoy being a fan, just remember the responsibility of being a fan, do not take it lightly.

[plus-i-miss-you]

Hello, Lina!! I wish you luck and hope you can have lots of fun with your new blog!! How about a request to help you kick off? 👀 Headcanons for t2!Mikoto and Orekoto with a guard gn!reader that tries to keep Mikoto from getting too stressed when interrogating him? Basically, they don't want to push him too hard. After the end of trial 1, I was thinking about how I would have preferred Mikoto and Orekoto over Kotoko as allies if I was a guard, haha.

▷ listening to:

"i won't hurt you, i promise" (gn!reader)

⇆ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻ ılıılıılıılıılıılıㅤㅤ

♪ note: thank you sm aurora! i hope you like this one! (again. probably came out too cute ahshajaj)

♪ summary: okay, maybe voting a guy with undiagnosed did (and an alter who is extremely protective of him) guilty wasn't a good idea. wishing to make amends and get to know these two better, you try to help these two feel at least a bit safer in this hellhole known as milgram prison.

♪ warnings: mostly none, except there's a description of john trying to make the reader believe that he's the "evil" alter in an attempt to protect mikoto. the reader doesn't believe him though and it's mostly lighthearted. also the reader is kinda supposed to be a "replacement" of es, since they're the reason why mikoto's been voted guilty and there's a mention of.. well, what happened in mikoto's first vd.

mikoto kayano.

♪ "y/n, d-don't get me wrong, i don't mind the attention, but seriously, i'm fine! my head hurts a little bit, but other than that-"

oh, but you know well that this man is not fine at all. you're glad to see that mikoto is doing better after.. well, everything that happened with kotoko and all, but you refuse to leave him alone even for a minute. yes, you're worried about him. why wouldn't you be? voting him guilty was your decision and you're not sure it was the correct one (well, you certainly were shocked after watching his video, haha..) and you're ready to take responsibility for it. you just hope kotoko really won't try to attack him (or anyone, really) again..

♪ you make sure to do everything in your power to help mikoto when he's feeling stressed or anxious and you know that this guy really doesn't like to show how he really feels. but you recognize the signs pretty easily, so no matter how hard he tries, you're already there, asking if he's okay. yes, he's still a prisoner, but that doesn't mean you're just gonna interrogate him until he loses consciousness because of how tired he is. so you try your best to check up on him as often as you possibly can. and no, you have no idea why the other prisoners are saying you have your favorites. 

♪ when you're interrogating him, you tell him that it's okay if he doesn't remember something and he doesn't have to force himself to remember it, especially if it's something that can be traumatic for him. of course, you still try to learn at least some new information, that's your job after all, but you try not to push him too hard. you don't mind if john appears again, but you also want to make sure mikoto himself feels safe. whenever he gets distracted, you gently get him back on track and remind him why he's here and if you notice that he's starting to get visibly anxious, you ask if he needs anything and change the topic and try to go back to the question you had once he calms down.

♪ yes, you feel bad about voting him guilty. maybe it really wasn't the right choice. and when mikoto gives you that lost and confused look, asking why you voted him guilty and feeling like he did something wrong.. yeah, you don't feel so good about it. he looks like a sad puppy when he does it and you refuse to look him in the eyes when it happens. so, uh.. you just try to make it up to him by still letting him do things that make him at least a little bit happy. he can sit in his cell and draw stuff if he wants. you can even take a look if he's okay with that. you can also try to help him start hanging out with the other prisoners again-

"h-hey, y/n.. do you know why everyone's kind of.. i don't wanna sound like i'm blaming them or anything, but is it just me or they're avoiding me for some reason?"

.. ah, about that.

john kayano.

♪ o-okay, now you have to try to get along with this guy. and to your surprise, it wasn't.. that hard? he still doesn't fully trust you, that's for sure. but even though your first meeting didn't go that well (him beating you up and almost killing you in the process, romantic, isn't it?), when you've finally managed to make john trust you and believe that you're not dangerous and you're not planning to hurt mikoto (it took.. a lot of time), he started to act a little bit calmer around you. he's still mad at you, for obvious reasons. he has no idea what you saw in that video, but you still voted mikoto guilty. and he won't forgive you so easily.

♪ whenever you try to learn more about mikoto (or john's?..) crime, john tries really hard to make it seem like he's the one at fault. he's the one to blame, not mikoto. just forgive mikoto already, is that so hard? you really think that guy is capable of murdering someone? and you really don't want to suspect these two, but again, that's your job. and you know well that all prisoners are murderers at least in some way. so when john says that he murdered someone to help mikoto relieve his stress.. it just.. doesn't make any sense. you don't say it out loud though and just say that you're not going to try and figure out which one is innocent and which one is guilty. you're going to judge both of them and you will try your best to be fair, but you're not going to point a finger at one of them and go "you're the bad guy here". not at least before you really do get a confirmation that one of them is the murderer.

♪ john tries to play it cool, doing the whole "tch.. do what you want" thing, but on the inside?? he's LOSING IT. hey. hey. he's the murderer. he's the bad one. he's the evil one. just leave mikoto alone already. however, that's not the only reason why he's kinda going insane. he's just.. not used to being treated like this. what do you mean you see him and mikoto as two different people and treat them as such. why are you so nice to both of them. he's not surprised that mikoto feels safe around you, this guy is way too naive (yes, he means it in an affectionate way), but why does he also feel kind of.. whatever. just remember to forgive mikoto and everything will be fine.

♪ when you hear the infamous "weird noises coming from mikoto's cell", you know well that it's john's doing, so you go pay him a visit. you try to talk to him about whatever that's bothering him, and when he asks just why are you "acting like this" (he's talking about being nice.), you simply say that it's also a part of your job. yes, you're supposed to judge the prisoners, but you don't want anything to happen to them before all three trials are over. he looks at you for a moment, processing your words and says that it sounds like a lie, though you can't hear any anger in his voice, he actually sounds a little confused. you sigh and try to fix his hair that's been messy since the second trial started.

"well, you're not exactly being honest with me either."

[diagonal-queen]

Hellooo, Do you write for Mushitarou? If you do Can I request Him to get drunk (at first Mushitaro and Y/n status are just friends.)

Mushitaro feeling low and sad? He's just sad about his friend's death but at the same time would never speak out about what he had done to Yoko. He vents pretty faintly to Y/n and y/n would still try to comfort him no matter what? But Then, in some way it turns out into some hot make-out session, please?

[I hope this isn't confusing </3]

i do indeed write for the astrology babygirl!

Secret Secret

♡ pairing: Mushitarou Oguri x gn!Reader

♡ synopsis: Noticing that your friend's mood had shifted recently, you decide to ask him about it while the two of you are out drinking. Things go in a...certain direction.

♡ wc: 1.2k

♡ cw: Consumption of alcohol, Mushitarou and reader get a little drunk, and they also make out, Mushitarou is struggling mentally after killing Yokomizo (spoilers, whoops), mentions of intrusive thoughts.

note: I'm really hoping that this is what you asked for and I didn't totally misunderstand the request...if I did, I'm sorry anon T-T Apologies for errors and I hope you enjoy x

Mushitarou had been acting differently recently. You'd noticed it almost immediately, but you hadn't said anything about it because you got the notion that you wouldn't get anything out of him anyway. It was at its worst when it was a new issue; he was slowly getting better, or so you'd assumed.

You'd come to learn that Mushitarou's new attitude ran deeper than you'd assumed when you brought alcohol into the mix.

Mushitarou was unusually quiet after a few drinks. You had both gone out drinking together a few times in the past, but those times were often lighthearted and fun. Alas, you could cut the current tension in the bar with a knife.

"Hey, Mushitarou?" You finally decided to ask him, breaking the silence. He cast his yellow eyes towards you.

"Yes?"

"What's got you all sad and stuff? You always seem, like, really melancholy. Well, not always, but I feel like when you think I'm not paying attention to you you behave that way. And I've been noticing it for a while, but I thought it'd pass, but it hasn't. And I'm worried."

It all came out at once, which wasn't exactly how you'd intended to bring up the topic, but you guessed it could have been worse. Mushitarou was the type of person who could keep up with things, anyway.

"...ah, I suppose I should..." he began, after a moment of silence. You waited for him to continue. "Or- no. I shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?"

"Tell you about- no. Alright..." he muttered, seemingly more to himself than you. Mushitarou was rarely so incoherent. On the contrary, you knew him to be rather eloquent. Safe to say, you were a little confused.

"No pressure," you quickly decided to interject before he could say anything more. "It's fine."

"...things are different now, in my life," he explained. "I've...done things I regret, and I've associated with people I...I've lost others, too, and it's just...I've been affected by it all more than I thought I'd have been."

You were smart enough to know that he was skirting around the issue, being annoyingly vague about it. You wondered why he didn't want to tell you what was wrong. Did he think that you wouldn't be able to understand? That telling you wouldn't help anyway?

"...you're a strange one, Mushi," you sighed, playing with your glass. "I don't really get you most of the time."

"I suppose there isn't much of a point in trying, is there?" He murmured. You turned to him.

"That doesn't mean I don't like spending time with you, though," you hastily clarified. "I care about you still."

"I know...I know you do. And I don't want to hurt you." You turned to him with a frown.

"Why would you ever do that?"

"Do you think I'm a bad person, Y/N?" He then asked, ignoring your question. You tilted your head at him.

"Why would I think that? Of course not," you answered. "You're my friend. We wouldn't be friends if I thought you were a bad person."

"...right. I just..." Mushitarou trailed off, before taking another drink. You watched him do this, your gaze clearly concerned. He didn't seem to want to look at you.

"Have you been having intrusive thoughts, or something?" You asked, quietly.

"Hm?"

"We all have them, y'know. It doesn't make you a bad person, as long as you don't act on them and hurt people."

"That's not it..." he told you, his eyebrows furrowing almost as if he were flinching. "I mean, of course I've had intrusive thoughts before, but that's not relevant to my matter. This is...much more serious."

"Serious? Are you in danger, or something?" You quizzed, worriedly.

"No, nothing like that," he said, though you couldn't tell if he was being truthful.

"Are you sure?"

"...I shouldn't be telling you this," he sighed, burying one half of his face in his hand. "I don't want you to think differently of me."

"I don't think differently of you, Mushi," you reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

"...you're much too kind to people, Y/N," he told you softly, fighting back a solemn smile. "You'd hate me if I told you the truth."

"No! I wouldn't hate you, ever," you insisted earnestly. "I'd never hate you, Mushitarou. Don't say that."

Your sincerity prompted a quiet chuckle from Mushitarou.

"You're so precious, Y/N. I could never hate you either," he closed his eyes and let out a long exhale. "...I don't want to lose you."

"You're not losing me, Mushitarou," you said, hardly noticing the way your hand slowly travelled from Mushitarou's shoulder to his cheek. "Whatever you've got going on, we can handle it together. I promise."

"...you promise?" He repeated as he leaned in, as if he hadn't heard you properly. You nodded, your faces growing closer and closer.

"I promise," you said, glancing at his lips. Mushitarou seemed to be sharing your blooming desire, though he appeared to be waiting for you to take initiative. "Mushi..." you cut yourself off by locking your lips with his.

Though you'd never considered kissing Mushitarou prior to tonight you wondered why you hadn't done so sooner- it was as if his lips were made for yours. They were warm and soft, and rather gentle against yours, as if he were somewhat apprehensive.

When you pulled apart for air, Mushitarou blinked, his expression suddenly incredulous.

"Y/N...you...?"

"...yeah," you breathed with a smile, kissing him again. This time, your hand snaked around the back of his neck, his travelling to your chin to tilt your head so he could better capture your lips. His hand was cold and the sudden contact caused you to gasp against his mouth, which quickly curled into a smirk.

"Shut up..." you murmured, bashfully.

"I didn't say anything," he replied, pecking your lips once more before you could respond.

Neither of you were quite aware of the depth of your actions, due to a combination of slight drunkenness and being so lost in the taste of each other. Admittedly, if the two of you had stopped to think about it, you probably wouldn't have really cared anyway.

"By the way, I..." Mushitarou trailed off, before clearing his throat. "I like you, too."

You stared at him for a moment, awestruck, before letting out a giggle. "...that's good to know. This would all be pretty awkward if you didn't."

"I do trust you," he continued, brushing a loose lock of hair from your face. "I just...things are complicated at the moment. Not with you, of course, but-"

"Mushi." You interrupted, firmly. "I understand. I'm not upset, or anything. You can tell me about it when you're ready, alright?"

"...yes, alright," he nodded, before pulling you into an embrace. You rubbed his back as you buried your face into the crook of his neck. "Thank you."

"Mhm..." you hummed, before you raised your head and pressed your lips to the corner of Mushitarou's mouth. "Hey, uhm..."

"Yes?" He asked, pulling away to meet your eyes. You bit your swollen lip, suddenly nervous.

"Do you wanna...continue this at my place?" Mushitarou's eyes widened slightly, before a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"...it'd be my pleasure," he answered, offering his hand to you. "Shall we, then?"

in my long and illustrious life i have kissed one (1) persons and i'm sure they regret it every day. so yeah, i'm pretty garbage at writing kiss scenes. sry (ノ_<、)

[dungeonbf]

hide, midnight, nightmare for sigge?:33

HIIII J squeezes you into slime, thank u for the ask!!!

hide: What does your OC hide? Why do they hide it?

oh man, rubs hands together... sigge, on a more lighthearted note, is sooo embarrassed about liking well-known, popular metal (megadeth, metallica, pantera, to name a few) and will go to extreme lengths to hide said interest for them. any mainstream merch he has is hidden deep in the recesses of his closet 💔 this is all because he spends 15 hours a day on metal circlejerk subreddits that inflame his belief that anything popular is Bad + his elitist tendencies... if he's wearing a megadeth shirt around you, it's a sign of incredibly deep trust, like he takes his elitism dead seriously. besides more surface-level stuff, his sexuality is also something he hides - not only from others, but himself as well. this is in part due to a pretty conservative upbringing, his parents being adamant that he find a nice girl and settle down, but also that he views his sexuality as emasculating - it's something he thinks he shouldn't be burdened with. i think in the first couple months we're together, he's very stiff and distant, because you know, "oh fuck. i'm with a man." ... eventually, though, he learns to come to terms with himself -- i don't think he'd ever be super like, vocal about his sexuality, even post-coming out. not in a repressed way any longer, but more like content & quiet acceptance. "yes, i am gay, yes i have a boyfriend, but that's not really anyone's business" is like his stance on it... 🤔🤔

midnight: What keeps your OC up at night? Do they have nightmares? Fears? Anxieties? What do they do in the small hours of the morning when they should be sleeping?

i think he struggles to sleep in general, not necessarily to the point of insomnia but a lot of tossing and turning - a lot of time trying to fall asleep is spent ruminating on past encounters with people. i've said this before but he is ... incredibly arrogant and not very self-aware, so he stays up pondering why exactly people turn away from him :( sad little guy. along that same vein, he's afraid of loss - he can recognize that others aren't drawn to him (for whatever reason 🙄🙄) and thus, he's incredibly scared of losing the people he DOES have. makes him genuinely nauseous thinking about it and leads to a lot of sleepless nights. usually, his routine for combatting this fear is blowing up my phone with messages, ranging in levels of neediness, before eventually calling me enough times that i wake up and we chat for a bit, soothing his fear enough to sleep. (a more mundane fear of sigge's are spiders)

nightmare: What does your OC have nightmares about? How do they deal with their nightmares? Do they tell people, or keep it to themself?

a lot of sigge's fears focus on, as I mentioned before, loss -- getting betrayed, abandonment, and similar themes definitely play a part in his nightmares. Alongside that, I think death, too, is a common experience in his nightmares -- not necessarily his own, but more like, finding the bodies of his loved ones and being unable to do anything to reverse it. While none of it is based in truth, it leaves him pretty shaken, covered in cold sweat. He mayyy divulge the details of whatever nightmare to my s/i, but it's brief and more of a mumbled groan. Usually, I think he'd be more comfortable just vaguely complaining about having "shitty dreams" and nesting against my s/i to help him fall back asleep. If sleeping against me isn't an option, he kinda gets up, paces around, and tries to write song lyrics inspired by his dreams. (Think "Deathcrush" by Mayhem type lyrics.)

[cabbageslost]

live react of live action AtLA - ep 2

Again with the "here there be spoilers" warning, so scroll on by if you're needing to keep it unsullied for you.

..

Just like I did with the first episode, my stream-of-consciousness babble about ep 2 will go below. Woop woop!

..

Yes, Zuko channeling his best Kylo Ren impression with this tantrum to start us off here. LOL

Lemur!

Hm, okay so looking like the pirates part will get skipped over. Gran Gran really stepping up in this live-action adaptation... outing Aang as the Avatar, delivering the iconic "everything changed" lines, and now being the way Katara got the waterbending scroll. And.. as a bonus.. Gran Gran tells her (though not in exact wording) to always remember who she is. Shades of Gyatso telling Aang something similar. Awww.. got some feels.

And more feels with the Gyatso burial.. I'm glad they added more air temple. It felt so rushed at the end of last episode.

Kyoshi warriors, let's goooo!

Sokka doing Sokka things.. lol.. trying to impress with his foot in his mouth.

Commander Sideburns has a much calmer voice/presence - and apparently not as much backhistory with Zuko/Iroh here.

Gah, in love with the playing in the creek moment with Aang & Katara.

Hmmm, trying to decide how I feel about Suki. I mean I like her, but it doesn't feel like original Suki either. It feels like she's absolutely not sure how to flirt with Sokka even if she wants to.

Aang saying he had people scared of him, like Katara and Sokka were when he was in the avatar state.. it's one of the sad things I miss about the changes. In the original, it was more like Katara at least was scared FOR him, not OF him, when he was in that state. Maybe this chat will help it get to that point though.

Oh okay. A little training montage to help with the flirting lol. Looks like they're giving Suki the "help him with his form" that Katara had with Aang in the original.

Avatar Kyoshi guide. Okay. Who needs Roku lol

OMG, Suki Mama is a badass too.. so cool.

So. Making Zhao trash Kyoshi village sort of feels like trying to make Zuko not as much the bad guy. Meanwhile, Zuko fighting Katara while she's trying to protect spirit-journeyed Aang seems like a nod to what originally happened at the NWT, so I wonder if that will be altered now too. And I mean, awesome for Kyoshi Island to get to see "Kyoshi" fighting but.. I dunno, I kind of like the original better. Okay.. reminder to self.. remember your promise to imagine this being an "AU fanfic done big".

..

Okay, this one didn't feel as rushed pacing-wise. Mainly it just focused on one episode of the original though, with nods pulled in from other episodes. The costuming was super cool, and there was a lot of pretty lighting with the camerawork, and I appreciate the little lighthearted scenes sprinkled in too. I hope we keep getting those because all-heavy, all the time would be exhausting.. and not true to the spirit of the original, where Aang brought light and joy.

[hopetorun]

It's me again, and I'm becoming increasingly invested in this Quinn-as-Anne AU as well 😂

yes, Quinn's fam 100% thinks he's wonderful and has a ton to offer, but it's one of those situations where there are multiple family members in mini crises and when Quinn keeps insisting that he's totally fine, no need to worry about him, they don't have the bandwidth to question it too hard. Especially when he's very much an oldest sibling who's always been pretty together, always taken on a little bit extra responsibility, and he's subdued at baseline so it's hard to tell that he's pining. (And it's not like he's gonna say that he's been pining for his teenage crush for EIGHT YEARS, whose heart he broke, even, that's humiliating and wouldn't do anything for him anyway!)

Yes, them not being friends is sad, but it is a sacrifice that must be made in the name of pining. (also v much into the idea that Quinn breaks things off because he's trying to protect his siblings.)

meanwhile in much more lighthearted land, Leon is tempted, Leon is daydreaming, Leon is contriving ways to talk to Matthew and run into Matthew and when Matthew is visiting his mean and judgy aunt, show up on the same paths Matthew tells him he takes for morning strolls (and not notice that matthew is perturbed by this.) and he continues to imagine touching the curls as he sabotages Matthews' friend's relationship with Connor and composes what is sure to be a memorable marriage proposal. (I am also amused by the idea of this very differently toned romance happening in parallel to Quinn's angsty Persuasion or perhaps beforehand, so Matthew and Leon can fall into a Admiral and Mrs Croft role.)

okay sorry it took me so long to answer this i was dealing with the horrors (a job) but yes i think this is perfect. quinn probably never even told anyone that brady proposed! he just said no and brady went off to do impressive boat things for 5-8 business years and no one really thought anything of it. they assumed everything's peachy with brady and quinn and it very much is not.

cackling at matthew and leon as admiral and mrs croft tbqh. inspired.

[isagisyoichi]

YOU MAKE ME FEEL SPECIAL!

SYNOPSIS: niko as your boyfriend

CHARACTERS INCLUDED: niko ikki aka my boyfriend hello

WARNINGS: swearing, pretend all the boys go to the same school and they're all friends for plot, normalize not writing serious boys as someone that practically hates their s/o and never opens up to them god bless, also no such thing as ooc since we dunno shit ab him so everything i say is law. SUPER LONG LOL, it's like 2k+ words 😭

A/N: i love my boyfriend and i'm v happy about all the attention he's getting (even if he will prob will b subbed out 👎) this was fun to write bc i think he would b very soft as bf and also i hate the notion that stoic and serious = boring and detached in a relationship. also first post w the new user yayyyy rip yoichisagis an end of an era for realsies.

FOR: fox anon my beloved this one is for u😩

it takes a while for you two to get together, just because niko wants to think things through and be sure he’s making the right decision, as well as him being naturally apprehensive about this whole dating thing.

when you do eventually start going out, keep in mind you're probably his first real anything, so-

niko needs to take it slow for the first month or so because he needs time to adjust and get used to being in a relationship.

when he gets comfortable around you, niko starts to talk a lot more.

niko starts to talk about his interests more-soccer, stem stuff (idc i'll die by my hc that he's a stem boy), etc. and niko's really happy that you're genuinely interested in what he has to say :)

and as your relationship progresses, niko becomes more inclined to share his inner thoughts.

“this song is so bad, i hate it and how it's everywhere,” like, babe that sucks, but what do you want me to do, take it off the radio myself? 😭

you find out that niko’s kind of a hater LOL, but it’s okay, because it means he can be himself around you <3 and the mini debates you have with each other are fun.

he’s someone you can take shopping with you if you need a solid second opinion.

“ikki, is this cute?” you niko as you adjust the shirt you tried on in the fitting room mirror.

“no.” he’s so straight up LOL. “the blue one from earlier was better.”

“this one?”

“yeah, that one. you look really pretty in it.”

ngl though, niko’s not much of a mall person. he'd just follow you around like a little puppy LOL, but he doesn't mind too much because it's for you.

communication is important to niko!!!!! he wants someone that he can have real conversation about the things that matter to him, so he rly makes an effort to have that kind of connection with you.

niko's naturally funny but he isn't aware that he is lol.

but when he does try, i feel like his humor comes in the form of sarcasm and dry wit. likes poking fun at you here and there with a lighthearted jab.

"you're so weird, y/n," is the most common one.

niko’s naturally closed off emotionally (male aquarius 😒) but i, personally, think he’d really try and push himself to be more open with you, especially if you expressed for him to do so </3

he'd be really appreciative of someone patient and understanding of the fact that he doesn't open up easily, though.

but eventually, you become the person closest to him- niko confides in you a lot, which he’s grateful for because he usually holds everything in.

not one for pda or other lovey-dovey things in public, other than the occasional holding of hands but behind closed doors, niko’s so soft around you, it’s like he’s a completely different person.

also, i feel like niko’s real handsy with you, i get the vibe he’s super touch starved 😭

although it does take him a while to get used to physical affection, once he has, niko cannot get enough. he’s always touching you when he has no real reason to.

(and because you're his first relationship, i feel like it’s just natural that niko’s going to be kind of clingy towards you.)

“you okay, ikki?” you ask as niko suddenly wraps his arms around your waist from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder.

“mhm,” he mumbles. “just wanna be close to you.”

niko likes when you sit on his lap when he’s on his computer. you can have your arms wrapped around his neck, your head resting in the crook of his neck, or you could just be on your phone or whatever, it doesn’t matter, niko just likes you near him.

you guys don’t really talk to each other when you do this, aside from niko occasionally checking up on you and asking if you need anything from him.

but other than that, you guys just enjoy each other's touch in silence. it’s one of his favorite things to do with you.

however, if you start kissing him in the middle of whatever he’s doing and keep it up for long enough, niko will drop everything to make out with you right then and there (also one of his favorite things to do with you).

speaking of kissing- you kiss niko first.

niko would try to plan your guys first kiss out because he wants everything to be perfect.

but, he ends up taking forever to execute it because he keeps overthinking and you can only wait so long before kissing him, so you take matters into your own hands.

his kisses are sloppy and juvenile at the beginning, but he’s smart and learns quickly what you do and don’t like.

likes being kissed on his jaw and forehead the most :')

if the team ever happens to see niko kissing you, they're gonna be so annoying 😭

"yooo niko's making big moves ‼️" "my son's growing up on me!😩" "good job *pats on the back*" and niko is red all over as he drags you away from them, muttering about how childish and annoying they are 😭.

but, they're all very supportive of you guys, even if they're embarrassing as hell 🙄.

they even give niko relationship advice- which luckily, he doesn’t follow (most of the time), because, let’s be honest, if you're getting unsolicited dating tips from a bunch of teenage boys, it’s probably bad 😭.

you’re the only person niko shows his forehead to. just know that having the opportunity to see it means that niko trusts you more than anyone else :’)

repay his trust by kissing his forehead lovingly and showering him with compliments whenever you can !!!!!!!!!!

“y/n, why’re you so embarrassing,” niko says under his breath, blushing as you hold his face and litter soft kisses on his forehead, rambling about how cute he is.

always looks for you in the bleachers when he has a game and you’re always the first person he talks to after.

and the fact that you make an effort to come as often as you can means sooo much to him. definitely considers you to be his biggest fan.

real classy with nicknames- uses “my love/love,” and “darling,” the most.

his favorite petname from you is "pretty boy." gives him butterflies each time he hears it.

the first time you call him that, he's confused, but after you explain that being called pretty is basically the highest compliment a boy can receive, he gets all soft on you.

only uses instagram to like and comment on your pictures and that's it 😭.

comments stuff like “you're so pretty” and "beautiful," without any emojis because niko refuses to use them LOL.

remembers the compliments you give him! they help with his self esteem and i feel like he values your opinion a lot.

so, tell him all about how cute and smart and talented and hot and funny he is and how much you love him and he'll replay it in his head 24/7.

i think he prefers to be the big spoon, unless he's sad- then he really wants you to hold him.

niko gives me homebody vibes, so expect relaxed dates, but still nice, yk?

what i mean is niko's not gonna take you out to get gas station food and call it a day 😭 he's classier than that and he always puts in effort towards dates.

he always plans them ahead of time and takes into consideration what he thinks you'd enjoy. and he insists on paying 🤗.

but, niko always does something special for days like your birthday or an anniversary, like go somewhere fancy if you wanted to or buy a nice gift you've been eyeing for a while.

helps you with your schoolwork, 100%. most of the time niko tutors you because he wants you to actually learn the material, but if you're feeling lazy and just wanna get it over with, niko will just give you the answers.

this is a big deal because i love him and all but, niko gives me the vibe he's super stingy with his work 😭.

"this is the last time i'm going to just give you the answers, y/n." niko sighs out. "you have to start doing your homework by yourself."

niko's said that dozen of times but he's still giving you the answers free of charge. can you guys say #whipped 🤣?

LOL speaking of school, if you ever text him during class, i highly doubt that niko would entertain you 😭😭 (it's out of love, though)

y/n 💗: hiii baby imy 🥰

pretty boy: do your work, y/n.

y/n 💗: ALL I DID WAS SAY HI

pretty boy: pay attention.

y/n 💗: fine ur so lame 👎

pretty boy: whatever you say. i miss you too, by the way.

he likes to moves your hair out your face because he wants to see your pretty face better.

which is why you have to do the same with him 🥰!!!!!! makes him blush like crazy.

gets soooo soft when you post him or even take pictures of you and him together :') just the thought of you wanting to show him off makes him soooo happy.

he won't entertain you if you make a tiktok, though LOL. he's very stubborn in his belief that it's stupid.

just stands in the background with his arms crossed if you try to make him do a dance or something 😭 (he does think you look cute, though).

niko has such nice eyelashes but i doubt he's aware of it 'cause he's, y'know, a boy 🙄.

"my eyelashes are ... cute?" he questions. niko wasn't even aware that such a trivial thing like his eyelashes could be considered cute.

"yes, oh my god," you gush. "they're so long and nice, i wish mine were like that," you groan, examining yours through the camera of your phone.

"you're so weird, y/n," he says, a blush staining his cheeks. "your eyelashes are nicer," he mumbles as he kisses your forehead.

he's one of those people that prefers to be alone, but you're the exception. you know?

niko likes to keep to himself most of the time, but that whole thing doesn't apply to you, because he'd choose to be with you over being alone anytime :')

[perruvianily]

I'd like to try

Atsumu x gn! reader; floof

Warning/s ⚠: 1 swear word lmao, and possible ooc

Word Count ☜: 785

You look up from your book briefly to scan your surroundings. You're promptly disappointed that you are, in fact, not in the book, but in your boring school. The library's the closest you'll ever get to a world beyond your reach, a room full of imagination and wonder. You'd live here if you could—

Atsumu sits on the chair opposite to you and stares. You stare back, "What?”

"So. What's your answer?” He asks you, nervously patting the table with his hands.

"5 more minutes." You answer back, burying your face back into your book. "HEY—" A couple of people shush him, and he shrinks into his chair— "C'mon. 'ts just a yes or no. 'm dyin' here." He pleads at you, shrinking into his chair even more.

"Why are you so persistent, anyway?" You ask instead, "I'd make you do a ton of shit."

He perks up, "That's fine! I'd do it." You look up from your book only to see Atsumu's face light up at the possibility you'd actually say yes.

"I wouldn't if I were you." You glanced at him, "Why would you do it even? It'd be tiring."

Because I love you.

Atsumu shrinks down again, all his hope suddenly crushed. His determination doesn't falter, however, and he tries again. "I'll keep ya safe then! I'd punch people!" He says, eyes gleaming with hope. "No one gives me trouble anyway." You state, "and I can hit them with my book." You wave the book in Atsumu's face to prove your point— it's hardcover and heavy.

Atsumu pouts again, and you pity him a little. "But I dunno," He looks away from you, his voice growing smaller and smaller, "I think I could be someone you like."

You smile a little at that, hiding your face with your book once more. "What makes you think that?" You inquire, your tone turning lighthearted and teasing. Noticing your change in tone, he smiles a little, "Well" he starts, his confidence returning, "I can protect ya of course!"

"I already debunked that. Book." You raise your book a little, and he only smiles. "I can carry ya around too! And help ya out!"

You smile softly as you stare at the words on the page, "I get plenty of help, and why'd you even offer that? Isn't it too much effort?" He shrinks a little.

No, I'd do it.

His confidence is fading as fast as it came.

"What if I'm sad? What'd you do?” You ask him, fiddling with the edge of a page. His eyes brighten up again, "I'd stop ya from being sad!"

"That's not possible. There'll be times you can't." You look at him, studying his expression, "I might not be able to, y'know, fix ya up. Good as new. But I think it'll work. We'll work. I can hold your hand through it all." He says, trying to convince you he's the right choice.

"You're making it seem like you're perfect—" you hum, "NO, THAT'S NOT—” A few people shush him again, and he says a meek 'excuse me'. "That's not it. At all. Although I would like to think I'm perfect—" You clear your throat and he smiles sheepishly at you— "but that's not the case." He grows serious, still unable to look you in the eye. "I might not say 'I'm sorry' sometimes— Hey, don't look at me like that— Fine. I don't say sorry." His tone grows quieter, as if willing to admit something but not wanting anyone to hear. "But, I don't think that changes the fact I could be someone you like."

He's nervously fidgeting even when he has no reason to be. You're just asking him questions is all.

You hum a little at his answer, staring into the ceiling to think about it. He stares at you as you think, maybe he'll love you for a while. You look back at him as you prop your chin on your hand and laugh at him, "Why are you so persistent? What's with me?" You finally drop your book, turning your full attention to Atsumu. "What if it won't work, after all?” Your smile fades, and he knows you want a serious answer.

"Well—" he gulps, "I just think I'd like to try." He says, finally looking you in the eye.

You smile softly at him, a real smile, and his breath falters a little. Just a little. Your phone rings, displaying an alarm, 'Your timer ended 1 second ago' it says.

"Hm. 5 minutes is done already—" You say as you turn to him, then you smile again. A sweet, sweet smile— "Would you like your answer now?"

Tags: @sunarent @weewoo186

A/n: this is for the uh because i love you collab by @sunarent im not sure if this fits the theme, I'm so sorry but everyone was doing hurt/comfort and angst so I did some fluff to lighten the mood. i'm so sorry.

This is also inspired by Someone You Like, go listen to it, bonus points if u see the parts where i inserted some lines.

[fangirlovestuff]

Smile - Thor Odinson x reader

a/n - hey lovely people!! this is for this lovely request by @cotton-candy-clouds-26​ , thank you!! i just couldn’t bring myself to write Steve cheating, i love him and i just don’t think he’d do that, but i hope it’s okay. enjoy!<3

Summary: you and Steve break up and it’s rough, but luckily there’s someone out there that helps you get over it. you could say he’s worthy of your affections (i had to hehe)

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Some curse words and a little angst

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Steve?" you called out, "you ready to go?"

"Just a couple seconds!" he replied, and you sat down on the couch, scrolling on your phone while you waited for him.

It was your six months anniversary, and you were getting ready to go to dinner with Steve. He's been acting a little weird the past few days, and it was starting to raise your suspicion.

Maybe he's getting me a surprise, you tried to shrug your worry off. You knew Steve wasn't that good at keeping secrets, especially from you, and you'd try and get it out of him tonight.

"Ready t-" you began to ask, but stopped once you saw he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "Stevie, you know I love your t-shirts," you said, appreciatively eying the bulge on his muscles revealed by the sort, tight sleeves, "but I was under the impression we're going to a fancy restaurant tonight. You know, the kind that won't appreciate anyone, including Captain America, coming in a t-shirt and jeans," you smirked.

"I'm not going," he sighed, sitting down next to you.

"You're not goi- is everything alright? Are you feeling unwell? I mean, I didn't even know you could get ill, but-"

"I'm not sick," he shook his head, "I just… I thought I could give you this one nice night, but I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Steve, what's going on? Are they calling you on a mission or something?"

"No, no mission. Not today anyway." He took a deep breath before he continued. "I think we should break up."

Your mouth agape, it took you a couple of seconds to register what he just said. You closed your mouth and swallowed. "What?" you asked, your voice nearly a whisper.

"I'm sorry," he said, averting his eyes to the floor, "I just… I don't think I feel the same way about you anymore, and I don't wanna hold you back or anything. I thought the right thing to do was to treat you to a nice dinner before I…" he trailed off, his eyes fixed ahead of him, away from you, "Anyways, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to lie to you, or lead you on. You deserve better than that," his gaze finally turned to you, waiting for your response.

You didn't know what to say. You knew he was acting weird, but you'd have never seen this coming. "So this is it?" you asked disbelievingly. "This is how we end?"

"Look, I'm so-"

"Sorry, yeah, I know." You took a deep breath, willing your tears away. "I think I'll just go home," you got up, getting your stuff.

"Wait, I didn't cancel the reservation. If you wanna go yourself you— can," he called after you, the last word after you'd slammed the door behind you.

Outside of Steve's room, you let out a shuddering breath. He was living in the Avengers compound, so you had to keep yourself together until you got out of here, in case any of them saw you. You started getting outside, but your distracted state of mind probably led you to take a wrong turn in one of the corridors, because now you had no idea where you are.

"Shit," you mumbled under your breath before turning to look around you. You heard what you thought was the noise of a TV from behind one of the doors, and you knocked on it tentatively. You heard some shuffling and then the door opened to reveal none other than Thor. You know, God of Thunder Thor. God of Thunder Thor that was standing in front of you right now, waiting for you to say something because you were the one that knocked on his door.

You willed your brain to go back to functioning. "Um, hi," you said hesitantly, "I was just… I was on my way out of the compound and I got lost. Could you, um, point me in the right direction?"

"Of course," his voice was deep, you could almost feel it rumbling around you when he spoke. "Who are you looking for?"

"Oh, just the exit," you shrugged.

"Alright. I apologized, I just assumed, from the way you're dressed…"

"No, it's alright. I was supposed to go to this fancy restaurant for dinner, but then… anyways, I wouldn't want to go alone," you sighed.

"Well, in that case, would you like me to accompany you? I wouldn't mind dining with a lovely lady such as yourself," he smiled.

"Oh," you blinked in surprise. You weren't really planning on it, but you were actually kinda hungry. And hey, eating in a fancy restaurant with Thor does sound a little nicer than eating at home and wallowing in self-pity. The wallowing could wait. "I mean, if you'd like to," you smiled back at him, "but you'd have to put on a suit, something fancy."

"Oh, I'm sure I have one of those," he said, leaving the door open and heading back inside. "Come in," he said, loud enough for you to hear it. You guessed he headed into the bathroom to change, since when you got in all you saw was the room itself. It was simple, not a lot of personal touches. Makes sense since he's probably not here most of the time, but in Asgard, which would also explain why you hadn't met him yet.

"How's that?" he asked, getting out of the bathroom. The suit was slightly tight on his tall, broad frame, but it was more than okay with you.

"Perfect," you smiled, "we'll blend right in."

You drove the two of you to the restaurant, spending the time making small talk about 'Midgard habits', as Thor called them, or, as you called them, social norms.

When you got there, the hostess smiled at you and asked for the name of your reservation. By that point you had nearly forgotten it, but your shoulders sagged as you mumbled "Steve Rogers."

"I'll let you right in," she smiled and led you to your table.

"Wait, so Steve was going to come with you?" Thor asked once you got to the table. "Are you his girlfriend I've heard so much about from Tony?"

"I'm… not his girlfriend anymore," you said, averting your eyes to the table, playing with the napkin.

"Oh."

"He broke up with me today," you said, your voice breaking before you could get your emotions under control.

"My apologies," he offered, and put his hand over yours, "I know how unpleasant it is to be… broken up with."

"Yeah? Who'd ever dump Thor?" you chuckled, raising your gaze to meet him.

"Quite a few people over the years," he smiled, lighthearted.

"Well, I'm sorry," you squeezed his hand in yours.

When you were waiting for the main course, you had an idea. "Hey, you can't get drunk, right?"

"Not on your Midgardian version of booze, no. Why?"

"Perfect. Hey!" you signaled for a waitress to come over, ignoring Thor's questioning look, "Can we get a bottle of the most alcoholic wine you got here?" you smiled.

If the waitress thought the request was weird, she didn't show it. She just told you how much it costs, which nearly made you give it up but you really needed this tonight.

When you were done ordering it and the waitress went to bring it, you turned to Thor. "I know we just met each other, and this probably isn't the best first impression, but please can you just call me a cab at the end of dinner? Because I'm kinda planning to get drunk."

He chuckled, again making you experience the illusion that you could feel the sound between you. "Of course. If that would help."

"That would help a ton, thank you," you grinned at him, just as the waitress came back with your wine and the first course.

A whole bottle of wine consumed exclusively by you and a few dishes later, you knew it was time to go home. You paid the bill, trying not to freak out at how expansive it was. Thor wanted to pay too, but you assured him that it was fine, and it was you that dragged him out here anyway.

While you were standing outside waiting for a cab you could hail, you shivered a little in the cold.

Steve always gave you his jacket when you got cold.

Maybe it was the drinks, the late hour or just plain old breakup sadness, you felt tears come to your eyes, unable to stop them from flowing out.

You started sniffling and Thor noticed, his head immediately turning to look at you. "What's wrong?"

"He left me, Thor," you cried, "I thought everything was fine and he dumped me. And he was nice about it, so I can't even be mad and blame him, and that just means that," you barely contained your sobs, "it means I'm not enough. Everyone leaves me because I'm never enough." You buried your face in his bicep, too wound up in your misery to even notice how nice it was.

"Now, now," his other hand lifted to stroke your hair. It was a little awkward, but in your inebriated state you couldn't care less. "You're more than enough. I met you today and even I know you're wonderful."

You lifted your head to meet his eyes. Sniffling once again, you tried to stop crying. "Thank you," you said once you felt you gained enough composure. "I'm sorry I sprung all of this on you. I'll get a cab, go sleep it off," you said, awkwardness now prominent. God, you just made a fool of yourself in front of… a god. A literal god. Fuck.

"Where do you live?" he asked, seemingly unbothered. You gave him your address. "Well, I believe it's not that far. Do you need to wait for a cab or can you walk home?"

"I mean, I could walk, it's just that New York City at night isn't the safest place for a girl to walk alone," you smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, yes," he frowned, "I suppose you're correct. I could walk you home, if you'd like?"

You looked around. No cabs in sight. "Actually, yeah. That'd be cool."

The chilly night air sobered you up a bit. Once you got to your building, you bid Thor goodbye, thanking him again, before going up to your apartment and stumbling tiredly onto your bed, where you fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, you woke up still wearing yesterday's dress and with a slight headache, groaning as you got yourself out of bed to shower, change and drink some water, get an aspirin.

Once you had done all that, you checked your phone for any messages. You weren't supposed to come into work today, so you weren't expecting anything, but just to make sure. Surprisingly enough, there was a text from a number you hadn't recognized.

It said it was Thor and he asked how are you, but there was no way that was true, right? I mean, you didn't think Thor even had a phone, let alone your number. On the other hand, you couldn't think of anyone else who'd know enough to text you that.

Skeptical, you texted back that you were fine, not too far from the truth but still kind of far, and were planning to spend the day watching movies and eating ice cream, which was the truth.

How'd you get my number? You texted again before he could answer.

Jarvis had it, he texted back. He's quite useful. I do wonder why he won't leave his room.

You laughed. Either this was actually Thor, or it was someone really, really good. Before you could think up a reply, you saw the three little dots signifying he was typing again.

Would you perhaps want some company while you watch these movies?

You gasped out loud even though there was no one there to hear it. Was Thor really asking to come over and watch movies? With you? It was hard to believe. Maybe it is someone else after all.

You texted him he should come over if he wanted to. Thor knew your address, if it was really him, he'd come over. If it was some crazy stalker, you just wouldn't let him in and continue in your plans of bawling in front of some sappy movies. If it was actually Thor… well, you'd have to cry in front of him, you guess.

You already started on your ice cream and started The Notebook, figuring it was a good way to start your wallowing fest, and you were starting to get really into it when you heard a knock on the door. You moved as quietly as you could towards the door, looking through the peephole. To your momentary relief, it was Thor and not some stalker. Why momentary? Because holy fucking shit Thor was standing at your day and you were in your pajamas.

"Just a sec!" you called out. You figured you didn't have time to change, but you at least tried to get your hair in some sort of order before you opened the door, hiding your PJs clad body with it.

"Hi," you smiled bashfully once you closed the door behind him.

"Hello," he said, smiling. "Ah, I see you've already started. What movie is that?"

"Well, it's called The Notebook. Do you know it?"

He replied that no, he didn't, and you explained the plot briefly to him as you sat down, wrapping yourself back up in a fuzzy blanket before taking your ice cream back.

"Oh, where are my manners, would you like some?" you gestured the ice cream towards him.

"Yes, sure!" he nodded, and you were glad he at least knew what ice cream was. If someone hadn't bothered to introduce him that would just be cruel.

You went to get the ice cream, the blanket dragging behind you like a cape, and you returned with another tub of ice cream and a spoon, bringing them to him before sitting back down and starting the movie.

You two didn't speak much throughout the movie. When it got to the really sad parts you started crying silently, but by the ending you were just fully sobbing, and, as it seemed, so was he.

"That was so… sad," he said, "is this the entertainment Midgardians always enjoy?"

"Not always," you said, stopping to blow your nose, "we have happy things too. It's just, I got dumped last night, so I'd like the chance to cry a little, you know?"

"That's fair. And it was very beautiful. They loved each other."

"They did," you said, your eyes filling with tears again.

"What's next?"

You watched some more sad movies, and then introduced Thor to the wonderful world of takeout food while you changed to some rom com, a little more cheerful. He laughed the whole way through, and the movie wasn't even that funny, but you giggled along as well, unable not to join his roaring laughter.

You ended up falling asleep on the couch in the evening, exhausted, mostly emotionally. The next morning when you woke up he was gone, but he did text you that if you needed anything you could tell him.

Over time, you and Thor started hanging out some more. Mostly at your place or outside, since you really didn't want to risk running into Steve.

It took you time, getting over Steve. Time and tears.  And really, Thor being there helped. A lot. He was a rock, a shoulder to cry on.

A broad, muscular shoulder to ugly cry on.

At first, the thought of starting something with Thor didn't even cross your mind. Sure, he was sweet, but it was platonic, and you were busy getting over your breakup anyway.

But then, you realized it became something… more. To you at least. Because despite the tears, he didn't leave. Never wanted to.

Long story short, when Thor invited you to go to dinner one night, a few months after you met each other, you tried really hard not to think of it as a date. A friend-date, if anything.

"How's it going?" you asked, sitting down in front of him in the small diner.

"Good," he smiled at you, "You?"

"Great," you smiled back.

"So, I have some news," he started, continued once you gave him an encouraging nod, "I have to go back to Asgard in a week or two."

"Oh," you said. It made sense, Thor being on earth as long as he already has been should've raised your curiosity, but you didn't really want to think about it until this moment. "I guess you're happy to go home."

"I am," he hummed, "But… there was something I wanted to ask you before I leave. And be honest. Would you like… well, would you give me the opportunity to court you?"

You sat in stunned silence for a few moments. "Like, you're asking me to date you?" you said incredulously.

"I am," he chuckled nervously, "But you don't have to- I know you might not want to because of Steve and-"

"I haven't thought of Steve for a really long time," you cut him off with a smile, "mostly thanks to you. You make me really happy, and I would love to let you court me," you giggled.

"Really?" he asked, awestruck.

"Really," you smiled, leaning across the table, intending to press a kiss to his cheek. At the last moment he turned, making you plant your lips on his in a soft kiss.

You pulled away smiling, and so was he. He took your hand in his from across the table, and you continued to eat your food like you two usually do. Well, almost. Now there were timid exchanges of looks, gently hand squeezes.

And a breathtaking goodnight kiss.

But it was so natural, so normal, you couldn't bring yourself to admit the absurdity of him being a literal god and you being… just a human.

You spent the week he had left together, making the best of it.

In the future, you'd visit his home, he'd visit yours. And he'll always make sure to remind you you're not just a human, you are, in fact, his favorite one.

It never failed to make you smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this was my first time writing for thor, i hope i did him justice:))

Taglist:  @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​  @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland @jazbot2000 @anobscurename @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @peggycarter-steverogers @evansphnx12 @starlightcrystalline @procrastinatingsapphictrash

if you wanna join / be removed from a taglist, comment/message me! much love <3

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

Too Daze Gone (Joe x Reader)

(Happy birthday to me! You’re all going to suffer. This is a little something that I wrote over 2 1/2 years ago based on a concept that I thought of three years ago; one of the first ideas I ever had for a Def Leppard fanfic. I made some very minor edits to it ((since I’m not 17 anymore)), and honestly, this is still one of my favorite things that I’ve ever written. But I know you guys are gonna have my head for it later...)

Prompt: It’s December of 1989. You and Joe are recently married, the world has now officially entered the post-Hysteria era, and- well...

-----

December 1989

The soft morning sunlight was seeping through the plane’s window right next to you. Joe’s head was resting on your arm, and you used your opposite hand to stroke his hair soothingly. He had one hand on his stomach, along with his green eyes closed and shut away from the world. The plane was flying steadily now, but your minds were anything but steady at the moment. There was so much to say, but no place or time to say it. It was almost as if you two were having a telepathic conversation; there was so much thinking between you both, yet nothing was being said.

“You alright, Joe?” the voice of a London guitarist broke your attention from the window. He’d strolled over to the seats where you and the man in question were sitting, and let his concern get the better of him.

There was far too much concern going around today, so Phil's question was rather unnecessary.

“Oh, he’s fine,” you answered sweetly, knowing that Joe didn’t want to answer, and also not wanting to give Phil any hint to your invisible nerves, “He’s just feeling rather sick is all.”

Phil sighed, “Ah, yeah, the turbulence wasn't the greatest.”

You decided to go along with Phil’s theory of why Joe wasn’t feeling well. After all, it was believable.

“Yeah, we haven’t been awake that long, either. You know how he can be in the morning. He’s just sick of the day, really,” you lightly joked. Today was not necessarily a good day for jokes. There was a deep, underlying sadness beneath the surface of everybody's tone no matter how much they joked around.

“Oh, so he’s got morning sickness, I see?” Phil joked along, trying to lighten the universally tense mood, “Well, congratulations on the pregnancy, Joe.”

Your heart jumped and you forced a chuckle at the statement. You felt Joe’s heart jump, too.

“Thanks, Phil,” Joe cracked a gentle smile for him as he walked away. You could feel how forced the smile was as Joe slowly reached out and squeezed your hand. He was definitely more worried than you.

“Shh, I know. I’m worried, too,” you whispered to him so quietly that you could barely hear yourself, “But we’ll deal with this later.”

~18 hours earlier~

You weaved your hands together with the utmost anxiety as you waited for Joe to get back from a small trip to the supermarket. As you waited, there was no stopping the racing thoughts in your mind. Once one thought appeared and rooted itself within you, it was impossible to keep it from rolling into a snowball of others. It was driving you absolutely mad on the inside. Keeping calm on the outside, however, came rather easily. It almost felt like second nature at the moment. Of course, you knew that was all going to change the second Joe got back.

Everything was going to change the second Joe got back.

When he did come back, you immediately stood up and went over to him, trying to be casual and lighthearted.

"Hey! How was the store?" came the greeting from you. Your voice was nearly on the verge of breaking from the tension of the whole situation.

"A fucking treat," he grumbled sarcastically, putting four bags down on the table, "The whole bloody place was packed, the service was piss poor, traffic on the way back, you name it."

You kissed him on the cheek for a few seconds in consolation, quickly making his small dimple appear as a result. Normally, it melted your heart to see him smile, but this time, it made it almost vibrate with worry. It hurt to see him happy now, since you knew it wouldn't last long.

He turned and put his hands on your waist, "I suppose it was worth it to get back to you, though."

You wrapped your arms around his neck, quickly pecked him on the lips, telling him, "You're too kind. Now let's see what you've looted up on-"

Desperate to distract both of you from each other, you turned to the grocery bags and started to pull the items out. You did it in a sped-up manner to keep your hands from shaking too visibly. You had no idea when to mention what had to be mentioned.

"I'll tell you what," Joe spoke up, his annoyance still audible in his voice, "The service down there was so fucking slow. Took me a half hour to get four bloody bags worth."

"I'll say you took a while," you impulsively decided to create a segue- any segue- that may get you closer to your fated subject. You blurted out "You’re late."

As he continued pulling out the groceries, he cocked an eyebrow, and asked without looking at you, "What do you mean I’m late?"

"Just, you're late, that's all," you shrugged, the anxiety overwhelming you more. It was getting close to the subject now.

"I'm not late," he chuckled, still not looking up or fully understanding you. You both often liked to joke and tease each other, so this wasn’t anything strange to him.

"No," you stated calmly, going completely motionless with fear, “But I am."

He didn't completely comprehend what you had said. He began to put away the groceries and asked you obliviously, "What do you mean you're late?" Late for what?"

You pressed on, remaining rooted to a motionless state and staring at him, "No, Joe... I’m late."

"You mean that this month you didn't get your-" he started off normally, but then paused as the penny dropped. He froze, and dropped the can he was holding. Your heart sank in your chest at his reaction. Now was the time to talk about it, and you could sense it wasn't going to be pleasant. Part of you began to think that this is how it might end for you two.

He turned around, looking almost mortified and whispered, "Oh my god... are you...?"

"I don't know..." you were shaking now, "I'm just assuming."

For a moment you both stood there, staring at each other, lost for words.

Another impulse suddenly arose within you, and you blurted out again with a wavering and worried voice, "I-I hope I'm not, Joe, and I know you don't want me to be, either, because now is not a good time for this to be happening! You’re at the peak of your career, and we’ve got the new album on the way, then you'll be on tour again- and-"

"Hey, hey, shh," Joe moved forward and put his hands on your arms, "Calm down... it's okay, it's okay. First of all, who ever said I didn't want this? You can't just assume that I wouldn't be okay with it... and I'm not mad- really, I swear! Second of all, this isn't set in stone yet. We'll have to find out if you are first, and if you are, we'll... then we'll make it work out somehow. Don’t think too much just yet; try to relax.”

You blew out a shaky exhale and muttered, “Yeah, okay...”

“Have you been sick?"

"No, but something just feels... off."

"How late are you?"

"About a week..."

"Have you been this late in the past, but gotten your period anyway?"

"Yes..."

"Then we don't know for sure," he kissed the top of your head, embracing you and reassuring, “So what if you're late? That doesn't have to mean anything! I'm worried, too, but we can't just jump to conclusions like this. I wouldn't even put the stakes at 50-50 right now. All this worrying is probably over nothing. You could just be overthinking."

You turned your head and attempted to look up at him to say, "But this is a child, Joe... if there's even a small possibility that this child exists, we've got to assume that it does... we can't just ignore it for too long."

"You've got a point, you've got a point, but just for a second, genuinely consider the possibility that you're not-" he didn't dare say the “p” word, "-you know..."

You sighed into his shoulder, fighting back against tears that wanted to fall, "Okay, okay, you could be right, but there's so much that might have to be done- we can't just put this off..."

"We can until we know for sure," he suggested, "If it's worrying you so much right now, then I'll run out to the corner store and pick up a test. We can sort this out once and for all. How long did you wanna wait before taking a test?"

"I don't know, I don't know," came the drawn out reply as a few tears spilled from you, "Maybe a day or two or three, but I'm just getting so worried that it might be true, I can't wait anymore."

"Okay, then you won't have to wait anymore," he tilted your chin up to give you a quick and thoughtful kiss, then wiped away your tears, "I'll run to the store quick and buy us a test. Is that okay?"

"Yes, please just do it. I'm sorry- you just got back from the store and-"

He laughed and squeezed you tighter, swaying with you in his arms, "Ah, don't worry about it; it's a necessary trip now."

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would."

"What'd you think I was gonna do? Leave you?" he chuckled lightheartedly, though he guessed exactly what you were thinking.

You faked a chuckle in reply, "Yeah, kinda... I had a lot of time to overthink everything."

"Well, would you leave me? Especially if I were in your shoes?"

It was your turn to squeeze him tighter (and laugh into his chest), "Joe, if you were in my shoes, I think we'd have a real problem."

"Oh, I know, I know- but apart from that- would you leave me?"

"Of course not..."

"Exactly. You wouldn't leave me, so I definitely won't leave you. You know we've always looked after each other, and I still plan on holding up my end of the bargain."

He kissed you again, longer this time, before softly assuring you, “I love you. Don't ever think that I’d abandon you to raise a child on your own, cos' it'll never ever be a possibility. I'll be here no matter what. Positive or negative."

***

Positive or negative, indeed, you told yourself as you wearily gazed out of the plane's window. You still weren't completely sure how to feel about the outcome of the previous day, but- as you told Joe before- you had to deal with it later. There were more pressing matters currently at hand. Your previous issue could wait for an extra day or two. The more serious problem that you all were on your way to currently needed the most attention. This particular problem also seemed to outline a theme for the past 24 hours; accidental life or accidental death.

~17 hours earlier~

You both sat on the bathroom floor in quiet anxiety. Your hands were joined in a world of worry. At the moment, it was impossible to tell who was more worried, since neither of you could bring yourselves to speak.

The longest two minutes of your lives were currently taking place. The test was sitting on the counter of the sink, and neither of you were counting down to when you could look at it again. Every now and then, a reassuring thought would come to mind that you were all worked up over nothing. After all, Joe was right; you barely had any evidence other than the fact that you were late, so you couldn't just assume the worst. On the other hand though, you couldn't help but feel that there was some impending doom about to come, almost like you felt it instinctively.

With you both being scared shitless at the moment (and not even trying to hide it), you sensed that deep down, both of you knew what the result was going to be. Neither of you wanted to admit it, though.

A few rooms away, the phone suddenly sounded off, shattering the tension and making you both jump. It was almost like a form of divine intervention to prevent you from thinking any more. Almost immediately, Joe lifted his hand away and quietly said that he'd answer it. He stood up and left, leaving you alone with a possibly huge revelation sitting on the counter a few feet away. However, that would no longer be your biggest concern, for you could easily overhear Joe talking on the phone.

"'Ello?" he answered before pausing and replying anxiously, "No, I really don't have a minute... I can't say, but I don't have time to chat. You alright, mate?”

There was an unnerving pause before you heard Joe ask, "Why?"

There was an even longer pause before he spoke again. Your heart was pounding more. That gut feeling that your lives were about to change for the worse grew enormously without warning. On top of that, you suddenly realized that it had been well over two minutes at this point. Your future awaited you now.

"Fuck... oh my god..." Joe's voice was a lot more quiet now, "...oh my god, is he...?"

Now, you began weaving your hands together, slowly growing more and more impatient and worried.

"Dammit," Joe said a little louder, "We'll we've gotta go, then. We've gotta go as soon as possible. What about Rick and Sav...? Alright, then. We'll meet you there tomorrow morning- I've really gotta go and tell Y/N right now. I'll call you in a bit. Yeah, alright... just try and calm down, mate- okay? See ya, then."

As soon as he hung up, you heard him rush back to the bathroom.

"Y/N, he huffed before he was even in the room, "Y/N, something's happened and we’ve gotta-“

He froze in the doorway upon seeing you now standing and completely covering the test in your hands.

"No," he moved forward and put a hand on yours, "Please don't look at it yet; something awful's happened and I don't know how much sudden news we can take at this point. Did you look at it?”

You shook you head, not breaking eye contact with him, "No, but now I'm too scared to take my hands off. What's happened?"

He came right out with it, "Steve's been found unconscious at a bar in Minneapolis. They took him to a hospital, he’s in intensive care and... and he’s pretty bad.”

Right then and there, you dropped the test in your hands with a gasp. You were speechless, but part of you couldn't help but ask, "Is- is he gonna make it?”

You suddenly saw tears in Joe's eyes when he answered, "I don't know... he won't die unless we knock some fucking sense into him! That was Phil who just called, and he sounded scared shitless..."

"W-well what are we gonna do? Is anyone going to see Steve?"

"We are. Tomorrow morning we're flying out with Phil, Mutt, Tony, and Peter."

"Wait, what about Rick and Sav?"

"They both can't make it on short notice. We're gonna have to give Steve a beatin’ over the head from them.”

Just like that, you forgot all about the test on the floor. Steve was dying, and that was enough to flood your mind. You wanted to cry, you wanted to hug Joe, you wanted to scream, and most of all, you wanted to see Steve and sob your brains out to him.

"He's never gonna get better, is he?" you quietly asked, not particularly looking for an answer. Joe shrugged and sighed, running his hands through his hair.

He coldly chuckled in a quiet voice, "Not unless we keep drilling it into his head that he's gonna kill himself!"

Hanging your head out of astonishment, you sat on the counter, realizing that this was the biggest blow to your lives since Rick’s accident.

At least, it would be until you saw the result of the test on the floor.

"Joe..." you whispered to him, staring down at your hands, "Should we look at the test? Should we wait until we get back?"

Joe did nothing more than stare at you, frowning nervously. He moved his own hands forward, placed them on top of yours, and took a deep breath.

“We’re only gonna be more worried if we wait... so we might as well settle things now.”

Joe slowly got on his knees, and felt on the floor for the test without looking at it. When he located it, he rose back to his feet, and brought the test forward. He kept it covered with all his fingers wrapped around it to conceal the verdict.

Blowing out a trembling breath, you looked at him as he did at you, and he gently unfolded his fingers from the test. You both simultaneously looked down to see the clearly marked result. In that second, you were fairly certain that life would never be the same.

In fact, you were positive.

***

“Now is literally the worst possible time to talk about this, Joe,” you whispered again so no one else on the plane could hear, “It can wait a day or two. We’ve got to worry about Steve first."

Joe nodded a little, agreeing with you, “Okay, I suppose it can wait.”

“Don't stress yourself out so much; it's literally making you sick. Besides, I’m the one who’s supposed to be sick,” you chuckled, “That’s not your job.”

“Oh shut up,” he laughed a little, “It really is the turbulence… and the fact that Steve’s… and you’re… and I’m surprised you’re not this overwhelmed.”

You sighed and turned your head towards the window, “Yeah... I’m really surprised, too. This is gonna be one hell of a story to tell this kid when they’ve grown up...”

“I feel sorry that their story had to start out like this,” Joe put another hand on top of your already joined hands with a guilty exhale, “With such bad timing...”

As you watched the illuminated clouds move on by the window of the plane, you couldn’t help but think that things truly would be okay at one point: like that maybe this wouldn’t be such bad timing after all. Things would all work out eventually. How far away that merciful checkpoint was, you’d never be able to guess.

***

Later that day, you found yourself sitting in a circle of people in a rather pleasant-looking and sunlit room. For such a nice day that it was, nothing about the day seemed to fit the mood the weather provided; the universe simply wouldn’t allow it. Now was the time for the serious matter you came for; you were desperately trying to help Steve.

“Steve, you’re scaring the shit out of us,” Phil read bluntly from his letter to his best friend, trying not to let soft emotion seep into his tone. He knew he needed to be stern, but caring towards him.

The whole time he spoke, you wanted to devote all of your attention to him and Steve, but soon found that you couldn't. The constant thought of your unborn child was first on your mind, and although you didn’t want that taking over your thoughts, it was beginning to eat you alive. You almost felt like you couldn't hold the secret back any longer, despite only knowing for a day. In any other circumstances, it would have been so much easier to keep it secret. Today, however, was the worst possible day, with the worst possible scenario.

Every now and then, Joe would look over at you to see how you were doing, and turn back to not be conspicuous to everyone else. You could practically sense his growing worry. Going on in this manner for so long was starting to make your own unstoppable thoughts bubble to the surface. You couldn't hold out for much longer, and was even starting to think outside the box about your while situation. Was being with child really a problem? Did it have to be a bad thing right now? Could you actually find a way to rip some positivity from it all and shed some light on this situation?

That's when it hit you.

When Phil was done his speech, some silent tears were shed by everyone in the circle (including Steve). Near silence commenced afterwards (which only reminded you that there was no distraction from your thoughts now). You reached out to Joe slowly, and took his hand in a tight grip without looking at him. While you felt his eyes on you, you didn't dare look at him.

"Has anyone else got something to say to add onto that?" Peter softly asked, looking around the circle. Your heart began to pound; an opening for you was coming.

Phil slowly began to comment, looking at his feet, "Well, there's nothing I can say to get the point across any more. We can beg and plead all we want but the point still stands, Steve. I know you're not a fan of us guilt tripping you to hell- but we don't want to beat you up; that’s not what we came here to do. We love you, mate... so it doesn't matter whether or not we guilt trip you by saying we're worried sick, or- or..."

"I'm pregnant," you stated simply, closing your eyes and squeezing Joe's hand. While you didn't see it, you felt Joe inhale and look at you instinctively. For the single day that you were aware of your condition, you and Joe had feared the "p" word, and avoided using it at all costs.

Phil didn't entirely comprehend what you said, and kept talking on, "Exactly, even if we said that-"

"No-" you sat up in your seat and opened your eyes, now shaking again, "I mean... I'm pregnant."

You looked over at Joe, who seemed tired, yet understanding. Your eyes went down to his hand as you corrected yourself, "We're pregnant."

All eyes were on you now, but no one had any inclination to speak for a moment.

“Are you serious?” Mutt broke the silence in astonishment, “You're fucking with us right now, aren't you?"

“She’s not,” Joe shook his head, still fixing his loving eyes on you.

Steve looked at Phil and stated coldly, "I thought you said you guys weren't gonna make stuff up to guilt trip me."

"Does it look like I'm making this up?!" you snapped at him, anxious and shameful tears brimming your eyes. You looked around at everyone, landing your eyes on Steve.

"So you're serious?” he asked softly, frowning as he flicked off ashes from his cigarette, “You really are pregnant?”

You nodded, trying to hold yourself together.

“When did you find out?” Peter inquired gently, coming off as the most calm member of the group.

Your voice began to break as you told him with a sad chuckle, “Yesterday... we were waiting for the result of the test right when you called, Phil...”

Phil's eyes lit up at your statement, and he apologized, "Oh- fucking hell... Joe... you even said you didn't have time to talk... and what I said on the plane this morning- must've only made things worse... guys, I'm so sor-"

"That wasn't your fault, mate," Joe smiled sadly, "There's no way you could've known."

"It was just bad timing," you stared at Joe's hand in yours, feeling him shaking as well.

No one spoke for a while after that; no one could think of the right thing to say. It seems you both had scared them all into silence (even more than Steve had). Everyone in the circle couldn't speak because they no longer saw you and Joe the same way. A minute ago, you were still Y/N and Joe. Now, you were mum and dad. The others didn't know how to speak to those strange new people just yet.

“Well, congratulations, for one thing,” Tony broke the silence with a soft smile. A few muffled chuckles and agreements went around the circle, but it wasn’t what you or Joe wanted to hear.

“No, no, that’s not the point,” you threw your hands out in frustration, “We never even planned on telling anyone today! Don’t you guys see how suddenly life can come and go? Twenty-four hours ago Joe and I didn’t even have a child, and now we do. Twenty-four hours ago, we didn’t even think that there was a possibility of you dying-“ you pointed at Steve, giving him your own furious input, “-and now there is. It’s just all so surreal, but no matter how bad the timing of your life is, there’s always time to fight for survival. And that's exactly what we need to get a grip on right now.”

Steve put out his cigarette at this point, looking as if he were genuinely listening to you now more than ever.

“And I guess timing was a real bitch to us today,” you put a hand on your abdomen for the first time since you found out, addressing Steve directly, “But I’d say now you’ve got a little bit more to fight for. Just think about this whole situation; it’s not exactly a tale to be proud of. If this story keeps getting worse, and this is how it ends for you- I don’t want that to be the story of Uncle Steve. I want our child to be born into a world where you're thriving- where they... where they actually have an Uncle Steve."

You had hit a nerve (or a soft spot, to say the least). Before you even realized exactly what you had said, everyone in the circle was crying, including you and Steve. Joe looked at you with his face smothered in tears, but smiling, no less.

The seven of you remained like that for a minute or two, absorbing what had really hit everyone hard, and quietly crying your brains out.

Steve didn’t raise his head to ask you with heartfelt astonishment, “...Uncle Steve, really?”

“C’mere, you fucking idiot,” you sprang to your feet at one point and rushed over to him, taking him in your arms as he stood to take you in his without the slightest bit of hesitation.

“I love you so much, Steve,” you sobbed into his chest, “And I will always care about you. You mean so much to me, and I know you’ll mean so much to the baby, too.”

One by one, everyone else in the circle joined in the hug, each of them murmuring their love to Steve in their own affectionate way. Once you were all broken up, Joe embraced you himself and kissed you over and over again.

“Hey, back off from her,” Mutt teased, “Haven’t you done enough?”

“I still can’t believe you knocked her up,” Phil sighed with happy disbelief, “That’s something we only ever joked about!”

“Yeah well, it doesn’t have to be seen as a joke anymore,” Joe put his hands on your hips and smiled, tearing up all over again, “I’m gonna be a dad...!”

Peter chimed in, “Now that’s a bit scary.”

“It’s not scary,” you chuckled, stroking the back of Joe’s head, “It’s exciting! Timing is a bitch... but I think I’m ready for anything time can throw at me, now.”

Reaching that point of acceptance was a day-long journey that you thought would never have a final destination. All was nearly well in that moment where you and Joe hugged with a seemingly-changed Steve standing by. Right then and there, the future seemed bright for everyone; including your unborn child. An eternity went by in those two days you were gone for, and even though the next day you found out that your test result was a false positive, and Steve only lived for about another year, that false positive seemed to be just what you all needed to keep the world at bay.

The end

[goblin-king-jay]

doubt, and the opposite of doubt

Ah yes, the problem with deciding "I'm going to write again!" is then you actually have to have things to write about😓 (This is a joke -- to tell the truth I have lots of things I want to write about, but they're more scattered thoughts at this point than fully-formed essays.) I guess the only way to make myself keep writing is just to do it, huh? ... *stares at journal* ... It really sucks to have so much doubt. I feel like doubt is so baked in to being AFAB -- being ND -- being human? I don't know. When I'm having a really good gender high, I feel really confident. Like CONFIDENT IN ALL CAPS more confident than I've ever felt in my life. And I wonder, is this what cis men feel like all the time? Just like, overflowing with boundless confidence? Is that why we let them get away with everything -- literally just because they seem so certain of what they're doing? So we allow them to make endless mistakes, while everyone else (minorities, neurodivergents / the disabled, people of any gender other than cis male) are scrutinized within an inch of their lives? Wild. What a bonkers world we live in. I just wrote a whole paragraph and then erased it, sigh. Maybe that's for another day. I rewatched But I'm a Cheerleader a couple of weeks ago, and obviously on the surface it's a comedy about how useless it is to try to "cure" people of being gay/queer. But being queer goes hand-in-hand with how you feel about your gender, doesn't it? All the tasks they make the teenagers do are about the gender binary and putting the kids back in their "right place" to fulfill the "gender job" they were assigned at birth. I wish there were more films like that. Lighthearted movies that really dumb down the way people think about gender and say "hey, see how silly and pointless this is? Maybe we should stop doing it!" Rather than, you know, dozens of movies that are just tragedy porn about how sad it is to be trans. (Looking at you, The Danish Girl.) I'm going to try really hard to actually write about things that make me happy, and not just endless entries about gender feels. I swear, I am. It... just might take me a while to get all of it out of my system, because I never participated in all of the Gender Discourse on Tumblr. (I didn't even know it was happening, honestly, I was too busy reblogging Sherlock content all the time lmao.) Anyway my head hurts (a muscle tension headache, not from thinking about all of this lol) so I'll stop there for now.

(cross-posted from Dreamwidth)

[mannatea]

Hi. I used to follow your old blog on a different account. Hope you're doing well. Do you have any tips on thinking up stories that are *not* dark and depressing due to subject material? The last story I was working on I had to quit because the backstory I was developing for my passive male character was super depressing. At times I enjoyed researching it, though what won out was the thought I was wasting my time looking into angsty things for something I wasn't even planning to publish. Now I want to write something a little happier. But I have the most experience in writing angst and cringe comedy 😅 thanks for any help you can give. Stay safe out there!

By the way, good on you for dropping that manga you used to follow. I was happy most of the characters lived, but other than that, it felt "meh" to me (granted, I didn't read all the way from the beginning). The author was probably going for a "people will always be fighting each other" theme, but some of the imagery of what happened after a time skip could definitely be taken as pro-fascist. And I was disappointed the protagonist basically said he wanted to bring about destruction! I'm glad I didn't spend any money to read it.

Wow, hi! I’m doing all right, thanks for asking. I hope you’re doing all right, too. :)

As far as “that manga” goes, I’ve kept tabs on it. I’ve been on the fringes for the last two-ish years; I dedicated something like four real life years to that fandom and mostly had a good time while I was there (made some friends I hope to keep for life), so it was one of those situations where I just had to find out how it ended. I realized at some point that I was in a very negative space in the fandom, and felt it was better to publicly drop the series and the blog associated with all of my meta/discussion than to play in what had become a toxic pool for me. I didn’t really want to drop the account after my time there, but I couldn’t have dealt with the nonstop questions/messages/etc that would have piled in over the years, and eh, when you’re done you’re done. I criticize Hallmark television for fun, now, instead. It’s a lot less stressful! And literally nothing is That Deep so there’s very few delusions, at least on the Tumblr side of things. (Reddit, however, is insane, but I don’t post in the fandom there.)

As far as writing advice goes, I am going to apologize in advance for muddled thoughts. I just got out of work and have been staring at numbers all day, so it’s hard for me to think lmaoo.

In my opinion, any sort of character or personality type/flaw/whatever could have developed via a negative OR positive influence/catalyst, so that’s something to consider. I also think people tend to reach for “sad” or “traumatic” pasts either as a way to cope with their own issues/pasts/whatevers, or because it’s the “easy explanation” for why a character is the way they are.

If you WANT to write things a certain way, it’s sometimes a matter of changing the lens through which you’re viewing life, the story, the characters, or character writing in general. This is never easy, especially when you find a genre you feel comfortable in, but it’s always possible. When I was in college and submitted an autobiographical piece (Rot Tooth) for a creative writing final, I received multiple comments from classmates and even the professor that my talent/skill was in writing comedy. COMEDY!!!! I don’t think anyone who has read my writing from the last decade would say that I was a comedy writer. I stopped labeling ‘fics as humor/romance so long ago I can’t even remember when it was. But boom. I had written a comedy piece.

I don’t think I can ignore that most of the comedic elements in Rot Tooth were brought about because humor is one of the ways in which I cope with things, but it was also a very conscious choice I made. I wanted people to be able to engage with the story without being grossed out, without getting bored, without feeling that it was a poor-pathetic-me story, and humor was the classiest way to do it. Here, read this long story that includes journal entries from Ye Olde Livejournal days, but it will make you laugh often enough that the depressing aspects of the story don’t weigh it down too much! It was probably the only way to make the subject matter widely palatable. 

As often as I joke about characters or scenes or moments that “just write themselves” the author does have control. I mostly write fanfiction, so let’s go with examples from that.

I’m (very slowly) working on a ‘fic called Three Years which features a character who, when last seen, was headed off to serve a prison sentence. They haven’t been on the show for three years and thus I assume they have been serving that sentence for the last three years. The story starts when this character is released from prison. They are a woman. This is a historical piece of fiction. Prisons were vile to women and yet...this is fiction. I have a choice. I get to choose. Does she get to start her life off carrying 25 bags of trauma or just 2? It would be unreasonable to expect that someone, especially a woman, who was imprisoned for 3 years in the early 1900s wouldn’t have some issues (at the very least, the isolation would have been awful), but it doesn’t really have to be much worse than that. It doesn’t.

I have the power to choose.

A character has anger issues. Sure, he could have had a traumatic past with an abusive parent who took his anger out on him or his mom or whatever...or maybe it is an inherited personality trait and the parent figure with the problem was never really That Bad about it, but seeing it normalized makes it harder for the character in question to realize it’s a huge problem and part of their character arc is realizing they need to get help, not because they don’t want to be like their dad, and not because they hate their dad, but because they just want to be a better person/they don’t want to let that struggle consume them.

Someone’s sweetheart goes off to war. Guess what? They don’t have to die there to force a traumatic past. They don’t have to come back a raging alcoholic either. Maybe the time apart, and the time fighting a war just puts a natural sort of crack in the relationship by making it clearer to each character what they want in life/what matters to them in their life.

A character is super passionate about their work/hobby. Maybe they have ADHD and it’s a hyperfixation. Maybe they’re autistic and it’s a Special Interest. It doesn’t have to be “their parents ignored them and forced them to be alone all the time and they used this thing to cope so it means everything to them because it’s always been there.”

Maybe you have a character whose greatest fear is losing the people they love. It doesn’t have to be because a pet died in their arms when they were four and it traumatized them. It doesn’t have to be because they only have one person they love in the whole world. It can just be a thing because that’s a valid fear literally anyone can reasonably have, and maybe it’s a bigger deal because they don’t have siblings or aren’t close to many people! (And the “aren’t close to many people” thing doesn’t have to stem from trauma, either. Most busy adults for example who get to choose their friends, are just like that.)

A perfectionist might just have the personality type; it doesn’t mean their parents criticized everything they ever did. A person with three failed marriages might hesitate to fall in love and try again but it doesn’t have to be because those three failed marriages were abusive. A quiet character may just be shy or introverted by nature. 

I think everyone carries some kind of trauma with them, so it’s never unreasonable to have some in a person’s past (you can’t write an ugly character without having to think about the fact that they carry some trauma from what it’s like to grow up ugly), but it doesn’t have to define them. It doesn’t have to overshadow everything else in their past.

You can always ask yourself, “Why am I reaching for angst every time I create a backstory?” Literally everyone has some kind of angst. Most kids were hurt by things said to them in school, for example, or made fun of for some reason. Most people did something extremely embarrassing as a kid and never got over it. There are a thousand little moments in our adult lives that go back to these little points—you might call them the tiny traumas. But they’re not defining. They’re not so heavy they also live in the present. Not all of them.

Why do you reach for the darkest corner? Why not for the light? Or a middle ground?

I encourage people to write basically whatever floats their boat, but it sounds like you’re at a point where you just feel weighed down by that sort of stuff, and that’s not a great way to feel, especially when it discourages you from working on a project entirely.

My final suggestion: look at some of your favorite characters from various types of media. Are they all traumatized? What are their defining characteristics? Black Beauty has some depressing stuff in it, but is ultimately a story with a happy ending. Pride and Prejudice has drama, but nobody’s past is filled with the darkest stuff imaginable. North and South has awful things to consider in it (cotton mills were sooo awful) but the characters are not wildly traumatized people.

What kind of story are you trying to tell? Do the characters need to be traumatized to tell it? Does the story have to be dark to get across the message you want to send? 

Way back in the day, when I was into “that manga” I made an RP blog for a one-off character that nobody gave a damn about. Like, he was so one-off that even back in those days nobody even remembered him having existed. It was sort of a joke RP blog that wasn’t supposed to be serious. The only canon information we had about this character was that he enjoyed drinking. I decided to make him a lighthearted character because the series was pretty dark and I wanted to send people hilarious starters instead of wading through the muck of depression with everyone else’s sad, abused characters. I decided his family was old money and he had a brother. Nothing super traumatizing in his past. Some family issues but not the sort of thing that would haunt anyone. He was not traumatized in his recent past any more than other characters were. Mostly just “a regular guy.” I really loved RPing him. He was fun! The story could get heavy but he didn’t have to be.

Anyway, dive head-first into the dark angst if you want, but if it’s not necessary to tell the story you want to tell, just remember you don’t have to go there. You have the choice.

[galvanizedfriend]

Not a follower (since I'm not on tumblr) but I'd love to read more from you while I wait for the next chapter of the Wolf II. Not to mention that you should totally celebrate those 700! So YES, big times. As for your follow-up question, it's a tough one. Part of me wants to see Pendulum since it's your favorite and you have great taste but I am a little scared for the angst. Angst with a happy ending is fine for me. Of course I've read really great stories with character(s) death too but those

really break my poor KC heart. I even go back and re-read some of them and the realism is impressive but still... our couple didn't get a happy ending on the show(s), life sucks enough as it is, so I tend to lean towards happy endings whenever possible. So bottom line I'm sure I'd appreciate a good KC piece but please don't break my heart just because you can. That being said, I'm also curious about the The Politician!AU fic. I haven't seen the show but it just sounds great. Can I vote for both?

Woah, anon! You’re not even on tumblr and you came all the way here! :) That’s so nice of you, thanks! 

I hear you re: the angst. I’m an angstzilla, I have to admit. I love it, I feed on it, I love the conflict, it’s what I crave. But I understand a lot of people prefer easier, happier stories and considering the state of the world right now, that’s totally understandable. Things are tough enough as it is.

So, Pendulum. 😂😂 Not gonna lie, it’s heavy on the angst. Here’s a proper summary:

Klaus has this magical condition which makes him relive the same life over and over. Meaning, he is born, he lives his life, and when he dies, he goes back to the beginning with the memories of all the lives lived before. He falls desperately in love with Caroline, except no matter what he does, and how many lives go by, she always dies young. He’s determined to never stop trying, until he finally finds out why he keeps losing her.

That’s as much of a non-spoilery summary as I can give. There’s a plot there. And there’s some angst towards the end, but there’s also a happy note. But it’s not the riding into sunset classic happy ending either. The OTHER finale, which is the one I’d written originally and that is still my favorite and that I would only ever post as an alternative ending after the fic is completed, is angsty as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, but I also think it’s very beautiful and it lives in my heart. It’s not angst for the sake of angst, it’s just something that felt right to me and that, in my head, highlights all the way the connection between the two of them is unbreakable. But, you know. It’s sad. lol

So that’s that. The Politician!AU is much more lighthearted and it has a rivalry aspect to it. You can vote for both if you want! There are no rules, this is a very informal survey. lol Vote for whatever you would be interested to read!

Thank you so much for your message! 💖

[innovativestruggles]

Hahaha I need to admit, you got me into Obirin! 😂 They're so wholesome and adorable and I'm so sad that they couldn't get the happy ending they so much deserve. Would you mind writing some headcanons of their "happy ever after"? What would they do for living? How would their relationship progress? Kakashi helping Obito out on his first date? Is there something that changed between them over the years? Who proposed first and their reactions? Asdfghjkhg pls and thank you so much! 😆❤️💫

AHHHHH KANRA! afsaghadgklsjdf I love this!! (but I don’t think I can ever do obirin any justice with my HC! HAHA but I will give it a go). 

AND YES! THAT’S IT, BASK IN THE AMBIENCE OF OBIRIN! I’M GOING TO SABOTAGE YOUR NEWSFEED WITH THEM <33333

Okay I’m gonna do this in a modern day AU cause it’s something different and fun hehe

Employment Obito

Obito would definitely be a cop hands down. Cause it’s a very Uchiha thing, and he would be the type who is down in the action and not those ones who sit in the office and just sift through paperwork

He has a strong sense of justice and would be very empathetic towards people - even to the criminals, especially those who have a real compassionate reason

But Obito would still uphold his duty as a police officer and arrest criminals

Obito would clash a lot with his colleagues (who are mostly Uchihas) as they are less likely to uphold the same values as he (i.e. they are very black and white in their way of thinking whereas Obito sees the grey areas)

Obito would be very dedicated to his work. He is passionate about justice and fighting for the best interest of his hometown

Rin

Not obvious at all but Rin would be a doctor. And not just any doctor but a world renowned doctor known for her ability to diagnose the most difficult of ailments

Rin would also be a researcher in the medical field. She would be at the forefront of cutting edge medical research

Like Obito, Rin is extremely passionate and dedicated to her work

Rin loves helping people and protect those who are the most vulnerable in her hometown

Rin is very empathetic in her role as a doctor. She would sit down and take the time to listen to all her patients’ needs

Rin is very well loved amongst her colleagues and those who work with her at the hospital

She would not hesitate to sit and work overtime to get down to the bottom of a difficult diagnosis

Both Rin and Obito are very dedicated individuals, so much so that they risk burning out…

Marriage Proposal

Obito proposed first (with the help of Kakashi of course)!

Obito is usually good at expressing himself and what he wants but when it comes to proposing, it would be a very difficult thing and he would struggle

The two have been together for several years yet Obito would already know he’d want to marry Rin from the very beginning

Obito is actually quite a patient person and he would give Rin all the time she needs

Only when he and Rin have discussed about their future together would he decide that it would be the time to ask her to marry him

And as much as Obito had all these fancy crazy things in mind to impress his girl, it would never turn out the way he imagined

Obito would ask Kakashi how he should go about with the proposal during when the trio are catching up for dinner and whilst Rin goes to the bathroom

Kakashi being his usual blunt and straightforward self would tell him to ask her straight out

And Obito being all panicky about it would just blurt it out in front of Rin and Kakashi when she is in the middle of walking back to the table

Of course there would be a long mortifying silence that follows

But needless to say, (and very much to Obito’s relief) Rin would say yes (and Kakashi would roll his eyes at Obito’s stupidity)

Relationship

Rin wears the pants in the relationship (lol!)

Obito out there catching bad guys and being in the midst of all the action with his fighting skills and use of weapons would freak out if he forgot to put the washing on when Rin told him to

Both share the household chores

Both cook, but Obito is the better cook

Obito would always try and find new recipes to impress and surprise Rin when it is his turn to cook

They have date night once a week

Obito would once in awhile bring home flowers for Rin or her favourite dessert

Rin would surprise Obito with massages

Obito loves giving Rin back hugs and Rin would turn around and cuddle him right back

Both are affectionate and are risk takers (both at work and in the bedroom!)

They rarely have major arguments, but if they do it would usually be from some misunderstanding

They would sit down and talk about it and resolve it together (then make it up to each other in the bedroom afterwards)

At the very beginning of their relationship, Obito would feel inferior to Kakashi (as he knew Rin used to like him) and would become very jealous whenever Rin talked too much to Kakashi

But over time, his level of confidence and trust in Rin grew and it dissipated, so now the trio would hang out a lot

Rin would also be hanging out with Kakashi on her own and Obito wouldn’t mind

But he would be unusually clingy when she gets back from her catchup with Kakashi and Rin reassures him with lots of affection that he is the only man for her <3

There would be days where they just do their own thing but in the company of each other and that’s the space they really like

They like to take baths together (yes to bubble baths!)

Obito is first to wake up and he would always try and make Rin breakfast in bed if he isn’t rushing out the door to get to work

When either of them have a bad day, they would just sit there together in each other’s arms…just silent

And Rin loves to tease Obito - always! And she would find it very entertaining when he just blushes and has no idea what he is doing (because he doesn’t love a flustered Obito)

First Date

Obito would be so nervous he wouldn’t be able to focus on work the whole week

He would be making loads of mistakes and be super clumsy

He would totally put the stapler in the fridge instead of the stationery cupboard cause he would keep thinking what the best outfit to wear would be

Everyday after work for the entire week, Obito would go to the shops and fuss over what he should wear and then freak out cause he can’t decide so he just buys everything and decide on it later

But later comes along and he still hasn’t made up his mind

So he enlists Kakashi to help him

And when Kakashi sees the enormous pile of clothes Obito bought out of a panic state, he would just roll his eyes and tell him he doesn’t know whether Obito could be helped or not

But Kakashi being Kakashi would still stick by Obito and help him

And the day before the date, Obito would call Kakashi incessantly whilst at work in fits of panic, to the point where Kakashi would just hang up on him

Then on the day of the date, Obito would be hanging around Kakashi in an attempt to calm his nerves and Kakashi would showcase his annoyance but would allow Obito to hang around anyways

And then during the date Obito would be super nervous and Rin can see straight through this and tries to calm his nerves and make things lighthearted

And Obito would run to the bathroom and call Kakashi and freak out LOL

But Kakashi would tell him to shut up and just enjoy the date and not call him again

So Obito just does his best like he always does and Rin also sees this

But eventually Obito gets used to the situation and he would feel a lot more relaxed

Until Rin decides to give him a kiss out of nowhere

And then Obito would be thinking of it for the entire month at work LOL

Omg, I tried! I am not good with writing HC! LOL I think I can only write a story rather than bits and pieces. But lmao I just envision in my head that Obito is this super dork who’s so awkward with everything. 

Mind you, the Obito in this HC universe is what he would be like had he not experienced any tragedies. My HC of him would be very different if it is set in the ninja world after Rin’s death.

Anyways this was longer than I thought! Thank you so much for prompting me @kannra21​ ilysm this was so fun to write haha ❤️❤️❤️

Also a shout out to @sinemoras09​ because it’s your fault for re-igniting my obirin feels again LOL ❤️

[fucknoirfolklor]

So. As a newbie to kitaro who has only watched the 2018 anime so far and plans to watch Hakaba kitaro next, do you have some insight on how they compare to each other? I think I'd get whiplash otherwise djdjjdjdjdj they seem like very... different iterations. (Also the TV tropes page says "With how corrupt Kitaro gets and how tragic things become; this isn't the easiest story to get into, especially if you are more used to the more widely known version of Kitaro" so like. I'm scared dnfbxjb X'D)

Well, comparing Hakaba Kitaro to 2018/Sawashiro Kitaro is almost sad for me because…well, I like Sawashiro-Kitaro but I also find him to be the most boring iteration of the character yet. I have a love-hate relationship with the 2018 series and recently dropped it. I might pick it back up again later because it’s not like there’s many episodes left to run, but like many of my buddies I’ve burned out of this version. He can even go as far as being out of character for any Kitaro I know. I mean, what Kitaro doesn’t like sweets? Kitaro loves chocolate and would die for it, that’s my standard. A woman making him cookies would send him over the moon with happiness.

Since you want to ask about Hakaba though, I’ll give you a rundown on what makes him different, in fact I already started. I love Hakaba Kitaro with all my heart, so do note my biases. Hakaba Kitaro is a lot like his manga counterpart when it comes to food. He’s the happiest little toad whenever somebody gives him a meal and would die for them even if they’re a corrupt politician because he loves cake more than his own rights (or in the Hakaba anime, mashed potatoes and gravy). Also yes, he does make the same facial expression when eating every single time. He revels that much when he gets to eat food. His pigheadedness is often because he’s a hungry, growing boy.

GeGeGe no Kitaro (the manga) is a different beast from the anime iterations, at least when you talk about his attitude (which changes depending on what fits the the story). Kitaro’s Night Tales is another example that’s more like Shigeru Mizuki’s original Hakaba Kitaro with a change in art style. Hakaba Kitaro is only six years old at the start of his series, which is different from any iteration of GeGeGe no Kitaro. He has powers granted to him by his ancestors, but he’s truly a little child and can’t hold his own in a fight (unless you count Takeuichi Kanko’s Hakaba Kitaro, but he’s no longer Shigeru Mizuki’s Hakaba Kitaro). A lot of his power is incidental and he’s not a fighter in the slightest. Most of the time he’s too weak from hunger to even accomplish much.

Instead of Sawashiro-Kitaro’s mere cold fish expression, Hakaba Kitaro has that and an attempt at a duping smirk (I say attempt because he uses a lot of half truths rather than outright lies). He cackles often, both in mean spirited ways and out of habit, which can lead to some goofy moments. It’s a release for Hakaba to laugh, which is something that the franchise as a whole held onto for years. Sometimes the franchise is called “Cackling Kitaro” in English, for example. This is a staple for any Kitaro, really; he giggles sadistically and likes observing the peculiarities of the human ego (or the helplessness of any yokai he’s fighting if we’re talking about GeGeGe). Hakaba doesn’t understand all there is to the world and is at first too bitter to initiate, but becomes increasingly curious and lighthearted as he ages and mingles with humans (mostly from a scheming standpoint as he is often one to flex his own ego by competing with Nezumi-Otoko, who is a more scholarly type than depicted in 2018). The Hakaba Kitaro anime is not as graphic as some of the scenes in GeGeGe no Kitaro 2018, forfeiting blood and so on, but there is suicide imagery within. Maybe not as potent as scenes with Mana early on, but make sure you’re in a good place mentally when going in because Kitaro’s attitude can be jarring if you look at it from a psychological/moral perspective rather than a spiritual (rebirth) one. Other times his attitude is refreshing because instead of acting as if he knows everything a human is going to do and condemning them for it, he watches because he doesn’t know. He gets surprised often and that’s what inspires him to observe the way he does. He gives his “victims” a way out, a choice to make, and will let them go if they keep their promises to him.A lot of Hakaba Kitaro is spiritual/political social commentary designed from 60′s Japan, so it can be either a boring watch or a fascinating one if you happen to enjoy dissecting some Buddhist ideals as well as period-typical sociological struggles. In Hakaba’s case, twisted Buddhist ideals that he doesn’t necessarily live up to (I would argue that Neko more or less became the figure for those ideals, hence her tragedy). His slice of life is not happy and he acts out often, some of which the anime reframes to become more palatable to the audience.

I don’t find Hakaba Kitaro to be scary, despite his willingness to commit darker acts that don’t discriminate; human or yokai, it’s not a good idea to try and get in this kid’s way. Nonetheless, he’s not stupid but he’s not wise either. He’s always in over his head while stubbornly acting as if he’s some master manipulator (he’s not, he’s the most unskilled liar ever), but as Nezumi-Otoko and other yokai often say, “he’s a pushover.”As the show moves on, Kitaro has a fascination with girls and women that becomes quite uncomfortable to witness. He’s very much implied to be a creep, especially around Neko. At least after that arc, unlike Sawashiro-Kitaro, he didn’t just nod his head when some woman was in danger of being taken advantage of. Umibozu took Sekiyo and announced he would make her his pet and Sawashiro-Kitaro was totally okay with it simply because he found her troublesome, enabling Nezumi-Otoko and Umibozu. Hakaba Kitaro actually did something different for the sake of the woman of Nezumi-Otoko’s interests even though he owed a debt to him and another monster. Kitaro warned her of the dangerous men that were after her and being proud of himself for it, as if he was growing as a person. Only a little though. He still has some period-typical sexism internalized, likely from his role models (Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko).The tragedy of Hakaba Kitaro is that of his upbringing. The anime doesn’t show it off as brutally as the manga does, but Kitaro’s eye loss could be triggering to some. Also the way Medama-Oyaji herds his son by using a rope like a leash, how Kitaro licks Mizuki’s hand like an affectionate puppy despite what he did to him, etc. Kitaro is implied to have a kindhearted nature. All of this makes his corruption very hard to watch if you’re not in the mood or if you sympathize with him too much. However…I didn’t find it as hard as watching 2018 Kitaro get slapped by Neko for not trusting her enough (really cheapened his angst for me) or Neko being creepy instead with her weird crush and the double standard of how that’s played as attractive/tsundere. At least for the majority of the show’s run. I love Neko’s prowess but I don’t love when she’s watered down into a moody tsundere.Some describe Hakaba Kitaro as joyless, and they’re entitled to their opinions of course. It’s largely a thematic and prototypical work. However, I find a lot of joy in watching Kitaro do his best while also being a little shit at the same time. He’s a gremlin boy in every sense; cute, mischievous, and dangerous. He has a lot of character quirks that have been lost to time that I miss, and he’s sometimes regarded as “The Best” version of Kitaro by some of my friends (the other “best” version is 1996/Matsuoka-Kitaro). It’s my opinion that Hakaba Kitaro’s rep as difficult to get through isn’t because it is scary, it is because it’s a different genre. It’s a satirical slice of life tragic comedy with a folkloric horror aesthetic, not necessarily one that appeals to children too much. There are cultural as well as political boundaries there and little fan service to speak of. Kitaro isn’t heroic, can’t usually hold his own, and even gets whiny if he’s hit in the head a lot (he’s very ashamed and embarrassed of this).

A lot of other fans find him to be adorable (and pinchable), especially because of his buck teeth and whiny but ambitious attitude. Rather than compare him to a rat, I adore when people draw him with bunny eared hats. I’m guilty of calling him a little bastard a lot of the time but I do appreciate him as more than a trickster stereotype. He’s just as capable of being sweet and kind, because he’s superficially intelligent; but in actuality he’s more trusting and gullible than he appears. 

[takaraphoenix]

I believe you didn't talk about your opinion of Riverdale's season 2 yet. (You know, in it's entirety and not just of some scenes.) But now I'm left curious. What do you think of the rest of the season? And since you wanted to find out on your own: Did you manage to correctly identify the Black Hood before it was confirmed in the show?

Oooh. Oh, sorry. I just always post the excitement when something, ya know, exciting happens. Still unsure about lengthy ramblings that seem too off-topic from the blog. (Yes, I am still pretending this blog has a theme. Let me. xD)

Oh dear, how do I put all the things into words and in order?

To sum it up briefly as an intro: I’m disappointed.

Now, more in detail.

Starting with the things I liked. Which are significantly less than the things I disliked, hence the overall verdict.

Toni is an amazing character and I love her addition to the show. I just hope she will get her own plotline next season, because this season she was only there to either further Jughead’s plot or Cheryl’s. I’m also very eager to see Toni’s and Cheryl’s relationship unfold, because boy do I ship it hard.

I really enjoyed FP and Alice Cooper’s development this season, much to my own surprise. Alice came out being one of my most hated characters first season, but I actually liked her semi-redemption arc and... I... somehow now ship her and FP? I am very disturbed by that, to be honest.

And... with that, we kind of reached the end of the things I enjoyed this season? Which, yeah, sad.

I didn’t like a single one of the main characters’ plotlines this season.

Archie and how his relationship with his father slowly came apart over the course of the season - despite it being semi-mended in the end, this whole arch seemed unnecessarily forced and in contrast to their portrayal in the first season.

Archie and starting his own fucking gang. TWICE.

Seriously. He gives Jughead shit for being a serpent, but then he goes ahead and starts his own gang. And the fucking names. Red Circle. Dark Circle. Wow. Such creativity, much awe.

Archie running after Hiram Lodge all season long was just... intensely disturbing to watch. He just allowed himself to be sucked in deeper and deeper.

So did Veronica and with her it annoyed me even more. First season Veronica seemed so much like the girl who was against her criminal father. And now she just... doubled down on the crime hard. And I genuinely don’t know what she was expecting? Because the girl acted like what happened was somehow a surprise or something in the end, when she turned against him again. Like. What... What did she think would happen...?

Then there was Betty’s plot.

I liked that she confided in Archie and her friends about the Black Hood and didn’t just do a solo gig. But her trying to get her brother and them just immediately accepting the creep into the family without so much as a fucking background check first.

And Jughead literally went from the sweet nerd with a blog to the fucking king of the gang. Like. Good lords, slow it down some. It seemed so incredibly rushed just how fast he came to accept the serpents as his family and the school as his home. I think that his “becoming a serpent and becoming king of the serpents” plot should have been stretched out over two seasons.

Cheryl’s plot was... so over the top too. Conversion camp? Her mom trying to murder grandma? And... her characterization was all over the place too. One second she is the Queen with the power-moves cutting her mom’s oxygen, the next she is the crying girl in the corner, weak and helpless. I mean, I get that with everything that happened last and this season to her, she wouldn’t be fully stable, but it really felt more like convenient writing. “Mh, we need more tension, so how about Cheryl is utterly helpless and defenseless in the next scene?” turning into “Oh but we could use a badass move, how about she just attacks the serial killer with her bow and arrows and without being the least bit intimidated?”.

Also Cheryl and Rose now living alone in the mansion... Honestly, instead of making her sick grandma her guardian, I think auntie Alice should have stepped up.

The relationship between Cheryl and Betty is really fascinating and I would genuinely enjoy seeing more of it. Like, having Cheryl move in with them, she can have Polly’s room. She would be forced to live a more down-to-Earth life.

The whole evil twin of her dad thing was really unnecessary. I mean. Seriously. It added absolutely nothing to the plot.

Just, overall, there was way too much going on this season for my taste.

And not just too much as in too many plotlines, also just... too dark, too deep, too heavy.

This show is indeed taking the Desperate Housewives route, but it hits it harder than I expected.

That is to say, the first season offers a genuinely intriguing, vaguely over-dramatic mystery that happens and that brings an unlikely band of protagonists together to solve it. Following seasons will so desperately try to top it that the dramatic event is completely blown out of proportions and loses absolutely all grasp on reality.

And that’s what happened this season.

We get a serial killer. And the mafia. And a psycho imposter brother. And an evil twin. And a conversion camp. And a gang war. And a serial rapist. And a drug problem.

That’s just too many “and”s.

First season worked perfectly. It had that one mystery that they had to solve and then some sub-plots around it. That mystery was one murder.

Now, to your other question regarding the Black Hood: HONESTLY HALF THE TIME I FORGET THAT HE IS A CHARACTER ON THIS SHOW.

Hal is so bland and so unimportant. When he made his first appearance this season, I legit went “OH right Alice has a husband! Ooops!”.

I figured it out at one point, but then they went misdirection with that second, or third, I lost count, Black Hood and I grew doubtful because why the fuck.

Last season, with daddy Blossom, it took me really long to figure it out. But when it was revealed, it was a thing that made sense. They set the mystery up so you had to work to figure it out, but it made sense plotwise.

This one? They purposefully wrote it so it doesn’t make sense.

There is no legit motive. They retconned some “Oh by the way his dad was a murderer but he pinned it on someone else and momma brainwashed him and Betty’s words in the last season finale were a trigger to turn him into a serial killer” so hard that it’s just pathetic.

And how he conveniently managed to stop killing when he got it pinned on someone else. That was literally only plot-convenience to make the viewer believe they got the right guy, because Hal had no logical motivation to stop killing. It was never about hiding his crimes? He literally wrote letters and made phone-calls and flaunted it in everybody’s face, why would he find a scapegoat and then stop killing? That’s just... bullshit. He should have, logically speaking, gone after like Hiram Lodge or some other scumbag criminal.

Nothing about that shit could have been guessed.

I mean, I did guess that Hal would be the son of the murderer. Or the one surviving child from the murder. But then they put the janitor in and killed that.

Last season’s mystery came natural. This one was forced in every way of the word.

That just completely took the fun out of it for me.

Well, that and the sheer amount of cruelty and brutality this season. There was no fun this season. Last season still had its lighthearted moments. This one didn’t.

It’s not just taking a bad Desperate Housewives route, that route is crossing streets with the bad Teen Wolf route of going grittier and darker and removing all color and fun from something that used to have color and fun and then somehow expecting that to be good. It is not. It never will be.

Either make something gritty and dark from the get-go so it attracts the right crowd of people, or make something that has jokes and lightheartedness in it and embrace that. But don’t attempt a genre-change like that. It’s a failure.

The musical episode was really out of place for me too. It didn’t fit to the tone of this season at all. Fun musical stuff could have gone with last season. Not to mention the musical could have been Kevin’s plotline. But... Kevin kind of didn’t get a plotline at all. He got one episode of musical thrown his way and that vague shit about him fucking in the woods and that was, essentially, it.

I am also not a hundred percent sure; did Betty and Jughead actually fuck or just make out...? I usually look away when they start undressing on screen and only look up again when the scene is over. I fail to see any reason for sex scenes at all, period, in literally any show, but especially so in a show about supposed teenagers? It’s just... weird for me. But if they did, fuck you show. I want asexual Jughead. Also, this ship has zero chemistry.

And can someone maybe get Betty a therapist now? Last season with her turning into psycho Betty with the fucking wig was already Really Disturbing, but she doubled down on that hard this season? And? Is she supposed to have some form of... personality disorder? Is that intentional? Either way, she helped cover up a murder this season and got psychologically tortured by her father who is a serial killer, so yeah please get her professional help.

So, yeah. That’s it.

I found this season too forced, too dark and too brutal and if the show doubles down on those elements with the same rate that it did from season 1 to season 2, then season 3 is going to be DCEU levels of dark and gritty.

I really hope they will slow down and that they will start remembering that you don’t have to rush from one traumatic, brutal event to the next murder to the next attempted rape and so on, but that you can... pause in between and put something more light in, to even things out. How do writers keep forgetting that...?