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kikohao · 2 months

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ᅠᅠᅠᅠ ⠀⠀⠀⋆˙. operation: one bed

★ ㅤㅤpairing ; agent!jeonghan x agent!reader ★ ㅤㅤsummary ; you and jeonghan were assigned a case together, you both played the roles of an engaged couple. why is it that you had to share a bed to sell the act? ★ ㅤㅤthemes ; spy au, one bed trope. fluff, mentions of seungcheol, soonyoung, and joshua ★ ㅤㅤwarnings ; cursing, kissing, slight jealousy, use of nicknames ("babe") ★ ㅤㅤword count ; 2k ★ ㅤㅤtaglist ; @nonononranghaee @abodyhasbeenfound ★ ㅤㅤa/n ; one bed trope with jeonghan has been rotting my mind for almost a week omg im really happy i was able to finish it on time! i've never really wrote a "kissing" scene before so im really sorry if its weird bye 😭 requests are always open! (texts, ot13 scenarios, drabbles, fics, mtls, etc) send an ask to be added to my taglist! likes and reblogs appreciated! <3

"Agent Kim, do you hear me?" You try to maintain a formal persona, as you talk into your built-in earphones as you make your way to the grand venue.

"Loud and clear. Make sure your earpiece is switched on at all times." A tuneless voice followed.

Upon entering the hotel, you and Jeonghan were greeted by the expansive lobby that screamed elegance and sophistication.

"They must be bloody rich," Jeonghan muttered quietly, but loud enough for me to hear. He was right though, there were multiple marble chandeliers, casting a warm, golden glow upon all the guests.

It was extraordinarily exquisite.

"Pass the details," Jeonghan spoke into his earpiece as we moved to a certain corner of the corridors, hoping to maintain a low profile throughout the whole party.

After a few shufflings of his notes, he responded.

"Agent Yoon, you're Jacob Choi, son of the most prestigious Grand Celestial Palace. I'm pretty sure no one would go into more detail about you, but make sure they buy the act. We can't risk anything. Agent Y/N, you're Ana Wang, Jacob's fiancee, I'll get back to both of you with more details on the individuals. For now, you both are an engaged couple, seemingly having an Alliance with Mr. Lin."

"Got it."

You and Jeonghan made your way towards the reception to mark you both in now that you've got your "personal" details. By doing so, you both were accompanied by a middle-aged man, possibly someone who worked there. He wore a black suit and bow, around 5'8?

"Keep an eye on everyone you see tonight," Agent Kim spoke from the earpiece.

"Why are you so tense?" Jeonghan muttered, "I'm not." You replied swiftly with a scoff earning nothing but a soft chuckle from him that kept on making my ears ring.

Why did your stomach suddenly start to churn? You disregarded it, possibly assuming it was hunger or thirst. Your train of thought was interrupted by a man who made his way towards us. He looked old, although, his rosy cheeks and flawless demeanor said otherwise. Guess he was the well-known, Mr. Lin.

"Oh, Mr. Choi!" He exclaimed out loud for everyone to hear, grabbing Jeonghan's hand and shaking it vigorously.

You tried extremely hard to keep in the giggles that were trying to escape your mouth as you looked at Jeonghan's reaction to the sudden interaction from the man. You forcibly had to look away because you knew you'd fuck things up the second you made eye contact with him.

"It's been so long! How're you and your fiancee? Ms. Wang ain't it?" He questioned, looking towards you. Maybe it was just you and your overthinking capabilities, but you swore something was off about how he looked at you compared to how he looked at Jeonghan, but you decided to brush it off.

"We're doing quite well, thank you." Jeonghan put out, maintaining a calm composure that very well contrasted with his normal personality.

"How's your mom doing? I'm so sorry that happened to her," continued the man. You and Jeonghan shared a quick glance at each other, one that said -- "Oh we're so fucked if we mess this up."

"Mom is doing quite well, thanks for asking. She's doing much better." You replied, noticing the intense tension that followed. Seems like staying here for too long may be risky.

"Babe, why don't we get something to eat? I'm starving." You shared teasingly, looking at Jeonghan, enjoying the flushed expression that lay on his face as you managed to throw in a pout to make it seem more genuine. You both needed to instantly get away for a while to ask Agent Kim about the next plan, and this was the only resort.

Jeonghan excused himself as walked towards one of the empty tables, hand in hand. As soon as we took our seats, Jeonghan voiced through his earpiece, "What do we do next?"

"So far, we haven't found anything. And, I'm guessing neither have the two of you. I checked with Agent Kwon regarding the party details. Seems like everyone attending is encouraged to stay the night, I'm pretty sure it's just for them to make more affiliates, either that or just to show off how rich they are. Either way, I and the crew think it would be beneficial if you did so, in order to uncover more details on Mr. Lin, it would also help in selling your facade since I'm pretty sure he's catching up with suspicions of his."

"Are you sure about that?" You spoke softly into the earpiece, observing the surrounding area, "It sounds quite risky,"

"It is, indeed, but it's your call on whether you want to."

You look at Jeonghan, he seems to have similar thoughts as you do -- he doesn't seem too fond of the idea.

"What do you 'reckon?" you ask him, simultaneously taking a sip of the non-alcoholic wine they'd provided all the attendees.

"Well, it is pretty risky. But, we'd better do as per Mr. Kim and Mr. Kwon since we'd have to put up with these titles until we get the requirements. It'd help sell the act." He finally spoke.

It was unusual. It was unusual how he seemed calm and collected amidst something like this. You'd imagined him to be some kind of reckless person like the persona he usually played so you weren't quite fond of going with him.

You nodded -- he had a point. The faster Mr. Lin believed us, possibly the quicker we could get this case over with.

And, this was it.

Jeonghan hurried towards the hotel management before it was too late to get a room while you sat at your spot, gazing at everyone who attended such a social gathering.

Guess you realized you zoned out when a young man, maybe in his 20s, sat next to you and started up a conversation like good old friends.

"No way, Ana? Is that you?" He put up a question, his face in awe.

"Oh, yes, hello." you manage to spit out, giving off a small smile as you gaze at Jeonghan, his back facing towards you as he converses with the management team.

Guess I'm fucked.

"You were never the one for these kinda parties, you always mentioned that they were too crowded. Guess you grew out of your phase?" He smiled cheekily avoiding the fact that he most possibly just insulted you, or at least the role you're currently playing.

Is this gaslighting?

A phase? How is not wanting to go out and talk with people a phase? You didn't know who Ana was nor did you ever meet her, but you most certainly didn't like someone like him straight up insulting someone.

"What is that supposed to mean?" You questioned, maintaining a small smile. The last thing you wanted was your cover to get blown.

"Oh, Nothing. How's Jacob? He be treating you well?" He continued as he took a small sip from his cocktail drink.

You nodded, glancing every now and then at your so-called "companion" who's left you to talk to some guy who supposedly knows you. It made you laugh how he thinks he's all that -- you could easily spot how the guy was wearing a worn-out suit and tie, most probably already used, and how he just seemed sketchy.

"Keep an eye on everyone you see tonight,"

He did seem quite sketchy.

You spotted Jeonghan making his way back, guess God did hear your prayers after all. As soon as the guy spotted "Jacob" making his way towards us, he excused himself and left. Possibly to get another drink.

"Guess who managed to get us a room with my good looks," he winked at you, holding the keys high up. You couldn't help but chuckle.

Cute, you thought. Instantly regretting it when Jeonghan pointed out who flushed your face looked.

"Oh shut it, Yoon. Look, now you've ruined the mood." You shot back before he got a chance to say something sly.

His smile didn't last long though. "Oh and, who was that?" He asked, most likely mentioning the guy who'd been talking with you while he went to get the keys.

"Some guy who knows Ana. No clue, but he seemed sketchy." You replied, taking the keys from him.

A few hours passed with nothing but talking with the other participants, drinking, eating, talking again, drinking, talking...

"Huge thanks to everyone who was able to attend today. I wish all those returning back home a safe ride. Everyone who's staying for the night, you may make your way towards your rooms. Have a wonderful night!" Mr. Lin spoke out after clinking his wine glass, attaining attention from everyone present in the hall.

You followed Jeonghan as you made your way toward your room, slightly gazing in awe at all the picturesque art on the walls.

As soon as we entered our rooms, we both noticed the same exact thing.

There was only one bed.

One bed.

Anyone would expect Jeonghan to take up the sofa that was present in the room. Well, guess what? You were wrong.

There was a minute of silence before Jeonghan spoke out loud. "I'm taking the bed. You can take the bed if you want, but I'm not taking the sofa if that's what you're thinking." He smirked as he took off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack before heading towards the bed.

Well, what did you expect?

That Jeonghan would give up the bed?

No chance and not at all surprising.

"You're such a gentleman aren't you?" You placed your shoes alongside him, making your way to the bed, not ready to give it up either. "They should've sent Joshua with me," You sighed out loud for him to hear.

"Joshua?"

"Well, anyone taking a good look at us would know that we're meant to be," You reasoned, followed by a breathy scoff from Jeonghan. You cooed at his reaction, "Aw, babe, didn't know you were the jealous type," you added, teasingly. You hated to admit it but playing Ana was fun.

"Yeah, right."

We both had got into bed by the time it was 11. You switched the lamp that was present in your dimly lit room.

4 AM.

He stared right at me, with his dusk-brown eyes. But, it wasn't a normal stare. But a stare that held desire within. You both faced towards each other, the middle barrier made of pillows long gone.

"What?" You slurred slightly, still half-asleep, heart, leaping in your chest.

It was now that you realized that you failed to realize how ethereal he looked. His tired eyes bore into yours, as his bangs lay lazily on his face.

He leaned in slightly, reducing the gap between us.

"Your eyes are really pretty," He muttered. It always amazed you how he didn't have much of a deep voice like other men, but still seemed dominant without it.

That was a stab to the heart. Not in a bad way though. In a way that made you want to kiss him. You wanted to hold him.

Maybe it was an exaggeration, but you swore you couldn't breathe as soon as he gently placed his lips, carefully molded into a heart, onto yours, locking it in place for a swift second before pulling away.

It lasted like a second or two, but your face looked as if you'd just run a marathon.

"Yoon, are you drunk?" you finally spoke out, not believing what just happened. You thoroughly enjoyed it, but how could he kiss you just like that?

"Yoon doesn't sit right with me, 'Babe' sounds much better."

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rosequarzo · 4 months

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morning bliss

૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა • ! rafayel+ fem! reader canon divergence tooth-rotting fluff established relationship brief and slightly implited mature content ☆ warning not proofread . . . !? & 749— catalogue

notes. this was supposed to be a zayne drabble but rafayel was easier to write (i'm sorry), also can i stop getting rafayel cards LMAO tagging @rninies and @riekiss, i hope you enjoy hehe

Mornings with him are always calm and peaceful; a huge contrast compared to how he usually carries himself in his daily life. When the two of you are alone, hidden and well-protected within the walls of his apartment, Rafayel acts like a spoiled child.

He sheds the haughty appearance he dons on for the public, surrendering himself to you and refusing to move away from you. It was like you two were inseparable, unable to survive without the other beside you. Perhaps it was true for him.

Sleeping in was never a common occurrence for you, considering the nature of your job. For Rafayel however, sleeping in was a common occurrence. He was persistent in making you adapt to his routine but no matter how hard he tries, you were always one step ahead of him. And he doesn’t mind the challenge.

Your toes barely managed to touch the cold floor when a pair of familiar arms snaked themselves around your waist, followed by a familiar weight nestling itself on your left shoulder. You didn’t bother turning around to know the culprit was pouting. Glancing over from the corner of your eyes, it took all of your might to refrain yourself from smiling; amused with the current situation.

“Yes? How can I help you today?” You cheekily asked, earning a slight squeeze from his arms around your waist.

“Why are you talking to me like I’m a mere stranger? I’m your boyfriend!” The infamous artist whines, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

Goosebumps formed on your skin at the fleeting sensation of his lips grazing against your skin; a reminder of last night. Your cheeks flushed red at the flashes of memories popping up in your mind and your reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Rafayel’s keen eyes. He wasted no time in launching his next move.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue, or…” His voice trailed off as he slid one hand underneath the oversized shirt you wore, eliciting a beautiful gasp from your parted lips. His warm hand against your cold skin made you shiver on the spot.

“Or could it be that you want more?” He purrs, words and tone both alluring like a siren.

“Unfortunately, duty calls,” you replied, easily slipping out from his grasp and rising to your feet.

Your action earned a displeased whine of protest as he leaned back to collapse on his bed. “I can’t believe my own lover has decided to abandon me! How cruel the world has become!”

You rolled your eyes, stretching out your feet to lightly kick him in the shins. Being the dramatic person he is, Rafayel cried out in pain and clutched onto his ankle. “Now my lover has decided to get violent with me! How cruel the world has become indeed!”

“Oh for the- Are you done acting? I was tempted to prepare breakfast for you but since you’re so full of energy, I guess you can do it instead.”

Rafayel dropped his acting the moment he heard your words. He shot up from the bed, as if he was struck by a lightning bolt and flashes you his signature charming smile. “Since you have proposed to make breakfast, how can I refuse?”

You merely rolled your eyes, resting your hands on the sides of your hips. “Fine, but you’re coming with me to the kitchen. No buts.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t dare to spend another minute without you by my side.”

You internally cursed yourself when your heart fluttered at how cheesy his words were. It was evident that Rafayel knew your weaknesses. To you, he was more akin to a cunning fox, knowing how to make you weak in the knees and how to have you wrapped around his fingers. The same could be applied to him, however. You decided to play along, not wanting to let him have the upperhand.

“I see, I could say the same to myself as well. It’ll be pretty lonely if you weren't there,” you teased.

You nearly burst out laughing at the sight of his ears gradually turning red. You stepped forward, grabbing his hand and gently pulled him up, forcing him to follow you out of the bedroom.

“Come on, we should get started or we’re never having breakfast.”

Rafayel chuckles, eyes softening as he drinks in the sight of your lovely smile. “Sounds good to me.”

As long as I get to be with you, nothing and no one else matters.

#୨୧ magazine articles #love and deep space #love and deep space x reader #love and deep space imagines #love and deepspace x reader #love and deepspace rafayel #rafayel imagines #rafayel x you #rafayel x y/n #rafayel x reader

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talkdutchtome · 7 months

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Glitch- chapter three

pairing . . . max verstappen x reader / mason mount x reader )

summary . . . when mason mount finds out that his assistant has been harbouring feelings for him for years, he makes it clear he doesn't feel the same way. but once he sees her become closer with formula 1 world champion max verstappen, he realises he may have underestimated his feelings towards the girl he has now pushed into the arms of another )

genre . . . angst )

song . . . glitch- taylor swift )

warning . . . tbd )

series masterlist . . . available here )

a/n . . . it's been a while but chapter three is here, i'm so sorry for how long it took )

Things between Mason and Y/N only seemed to get worse after he found out that she had given her number to Max; to say she was confused about the whole situation would be putting it lightly. Mason had made it clear that he didn’t feel a thing for her, he was furious that she had feelings for him, so why would he have an issue if something happened between her and Max. His attitude was not simply aimed at Y/N either, he was just pissed off at Max. When Max inevitably qualified on pole and Mason had to present him with the pole award, he did so with a face like thunder and an attitude so bad that even the members of staff that had to deal with him clearly saw that something was wrong. And if Y/N thought his mood was bad during qualifying, it was nothing compared to how he acted during the race.

The group of four were sat watching the race in the Red Bull garage and whilst Y/N, Ben and Reece tried their best to immerse themselves in the excitement of the race; it was hard to do with Mason sat beside them in a brooding silence. His foul mood had extended beyond his interactions with Y/N too; even Ben and Reece, usually recipients of his lively banter, found themselves met with curt responses and icy glares. It was hard to shake off the tension, especially when Mason's frustration seemed palpable. Every attempt at conversation was met with monosyllabic responses or outright silence.

As the laps passed and the tension escalated, Reece, who could tell just how uncomfortable Y/N was, decided to break the ice. Leaning over to her, he spoke in a hushed tone, "Hey, Y/N, you alright? Mason seems like he's in a mood today."

She nodded, a small, forced smile playing on her lips. "Yeah, I don't know what's gotten into him. He’s just so angry I don’t know what to do.”

Reece sighed sympathetically. "He'll come around. Just give him some time."

But as the race unfolded, tension in the garage reached its peak. When Max secured the victory, the cheers from everyone in the garage were met with a stark contrast from Mason. His jaw clenched, and he rolled his eyes in frustration, clearly annoyed that Max had won, a stark change from usual races where he cheered Red Bull along.

Y/N exchanged puzzled glances with Ben and Reece, who shared her confusion at Mason's sudden change of allegiance. The atmosphere was palpably strained, and Y/N needed to get away from it all, so she found herself wandering away from the group as they headed towards the podium.

However, the silence that followed her being away from her friends only spurred her frustration at Masons behavior, and soon she just couldn’t cope without knowing and understanding why he was acting the way he was. So, determined to find some answers, she made her way through the crowded paddock, navigating the sea of people in their vibrant team colors. Spotting Mason engrossed in conversation with Ben and Recce, Y/N hesitated for a moment before steeling herself to confront the issue head-on.

As she approached, the murmur of their conversation grew more audible, and her heart sank when she overheard Mason's words. "I don't know what Y/N sees in that guy. He's a real prick, and I can't stand him," Mason grumbled to Ben and Recce, his frustration evident.

Confusion and hurt etched across Y/N's face. She couldn't understand why Mason would harbor such strong feelings towards Max, especially when he had made it abundantly clear that he didn't reciprocate her feelings. Before she could muster the courage to address Mason, Max's voice unexpectedly cut through the tension.

"Hey, you guys! Great race, huh?" Max approached the group, a wide grin on his face, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents of tension. Y/N glanced at Mason, who had abruptly shifted his expression into a forced smile. The contrast between his earlier resentment and his current attempt at friendliness was jarring.

Max’s energy was contagious as he approached the group with a wide grin.

"I'm throwing a little after-party to celebrate the win. You guys should come.”

Caught off guard, Y/N's eyes flickered to Mason, who wore a scowl and crossed arms. "We can't, man. We got some stuff lined up," Mason interjected, his tone sharp, making it clear he had no interest in joining the celebration.

Y/N hesitated, torn between Mason's obvious displeasure and Max's expectant gaze. The unspoken tension in the air was as thick as fog. Max, sensing the underlying dynamics, looked directly at Y/N, seeking confirmation. "You in, Y/N?"

She bit her lip, glancing at Mason before meeting Max's gaze. "Yeah, sure, I'll be there," she replied tentatively, a slight quiver in her voice. The decision was made, but the uncertainty lingered.

Mason's scowl deepened, and the air became even heavier. Y/N, sensing the disapproval, fidgeted uncomfortably. She didn't want to escalate the tension, but at the same time, she couldn't let Mason dictate her every move; not when he made it abundantly clear he didn’t even seem to like her as a friend anymore.

As Max walked away to extend the invitation to others, Mason shot Y/N a stern look. "Really? You're going to his party?"

Y/N sighed, feeling the weight of the situation. "Mason, it's just a party. It's not a big deal." Reece and Ben exchanged looks, clearly feeling baffled by the scene playing out in front of them.

Mason, however, wasn't convinced. "I don't get why you're so eager to hang out with him."

Y/N took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "Max seems nice, I like him”

Mason's expression remained hardened, but he didn't press the matter further. Instead choosing to just walk away from her, almost as if he couldn’t even bare to look at her

In the dimly lit hotel bar, Mason sat slouched on a barstool, nursing a drink between sips. Ben and Reece sat either side of him, exchanging concerned glances as they observed the weight on Mason's shoulders. The earlier anger that had etched lines on his face had given way to a profound sadness, leaving Mason looking like a shadow of his usual self.

Reece cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence that hung over the trio. "Mate, you've been quiet all night. Everything alright?"

Mason took a deep breath, staring into the amber depths of his drink. "I don't know, man. It's just... everything's a mess."

Ben chimed in, "Is this about Y/N and Max? Look, Mason, it might not be such a bad thing. If they get together, you won't have to worry about her having feelings for you anymore."

Mason's eyes flickered with a hint of conflict, but he nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's just..." He trailed off, his shoulders slumping.

Reece leaned in, genuine concern etched on his face. "Spill it, mate. Why are you so bothered that Y/N and Max are getting along? You've made it clear you don't see her that way."

Mason sighed, his guard momentarily slipping. "It's not about that. I'm worried about Max. He's got a bit of a reputation with women, and I don't want Y/N getting hurt."

Ben nodded in understanding, but Reece wasn't convinced. "Mate, I've known you for years. Something's not adding up. Are you sure that's all there is to it?"

Mason hesitated, his eyes betraying a depth of emotion he hadn't intended to reveal. "I just... It's complicated, okay? I don't want to see her get hurt, and I don't want things to get even messier than they already are."

Ben placed a reassuring hand on Mason's shoulder. "We get it, mate. Just look out for your friend. If you think Max is trouble, it's good that you're keeping an eye out."

As Mason nodded in agreement, a pang of conflicting emotions welled up within him. In the quiet recesses of his thoughts, he wondered if, perhaps, he wasn't as indifferent to Y/N's feelings as he had convinced himself.

Meanwhile, the after-party pulsed with vibrant energy as Max and Y/N found themselves in the heart of the celebration. The music thumped in harmony with the beats of their hearts, and the dimly lit venue became a backdrop to a night that seemed to be unfolding like a story.

The pair, fueled by a mix of adrenaline and a few well-timed drinks, found themselves drawn to each other, their conversation charged with a playful flirtation that danced on the edges of something more. Max's charm and Y/N's quick wit created a dynamic that was both intriguing and infectious.

As the night progressed, Y/N began to meet more and more of Max’s friends. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and animated chatter as Y/N navigated the introductions, each friend offering a unique glimpse into Max's life beyond the racetrack. The genuine warmth and camaraderie among Max's friends added a layer of connection to the night, making Y/N feel more at home in the bustling celebration.

Later in the evening, Max and Y/N found a quieter corner of the venue, away from the pulsating beats and the lively crowd. The chemistry between them lingered in the air, and the flirtation that had been bubbling beneath the surface finally came to the forefront.

Max, his gaze unwavering, leaned in with a playful grin. "You know, you're making it hard to focus on anything but you tonight."

Y/N chuckled, her cheeks flushed from the mix of excitement and a few drinks. "Is that so? I could say the same about you, Max."

Their banter continued, creating a bubble of intimacy that shielded them from the surrounding festivities. As the night wore on, Max's friends occasionally joined their conversation, seamlessly weaving Y/N into the fabric of their tight-knit group.

Amidst the laughter and shared stories, Max's gaze turned more sincere. "You're different, Y/N. I really like being around you. Can I see you again?”

Y/N, a mix of surprise and contemplation on her face, considered the question. "I'd like that, Max, but I don’t exactly live local, do I?” she said with a chuckle, still slightly taken aback by his forwardness.

Max nodded, his eyes reflecting determination. "Well, I'm in the UK quite a bit for factory work. It could work out."

After a moment's pause, Y/N agreed, a smile playing on her lips. "Alright then, yeah. Let me know when you're in town, and we'll take it from there."

The vibrant energy of the after-party gradually faded as Y/N decided it was time to call it a night. The music softened, and the laughter in the venue became a distant echo as she made her way back to the hotel. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, the events of the night playing out in her head like a movie reel.

As she entered her hotel room, she noticed a text message from Mason. "Are you back at the hotel?" it read. She sighed, typing a quick "Yes" in response. Truthfully, she couldn’t deal with anymore of Mason’s childish tantrums today, but she just couldn’t find it in herself to ignore him. A few minutes later, there was a knock at her door. Y/N hesitated before opening it, finding Mason standing there, a complicated mix of emotions written across his face.

She let him in, the tension palpable in the air. Mason's eyes avoided hers as he walked past her and took a seat on her bed, he seemed unable to find the right words. Minutes passed, but Mason remained silent, the awkwardness growing with each passing second. The atmosphere in the room became thick with unspoken words, and Y/N could no longer contain her frustration.

"What is your problem?" she burst out, her voice a mix of anger and hurt. "First, you completely ice me out, then you get pissed at me for giving my number to Max, and now you've come into my room in the middle of the night and you're just sitting there in silence. What the fuck do you want from me? I'm sorry for how I feel; I know it makes things awkward, but I never expected you to feel the same way or to want me. I just don't understand why it means you have to treat me like shit. You’re supposed to be my best friend."

Mason, still avoiding eye contact, took a deep breath before finally speaking. "You are my best friend, the person in the world I'm closest to, and I was scared that because of how you feel, we couldn't be friends anymore."

The raw honesty in his words caught Y/N off guard. She took a step back, studying his face, and saw a vulnerability she hadn't expected. The room fell silent again as they both grappled with the weight of their unspoken feelings.

Y/N took a deep breath, the intensity of the moment hanging between them. "Mason, you can't just shut me out when things get complicated. We've been through too much for that."

Mason nodded, the weight of his actions evident in the lines on his face. "I know, and I'm sorry. I should have talked to you instead of pushing you away."

"Why did you get so upset about Max?" Y/N asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and frustration.

Mason hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "I guess I was worried. Max has a bit of a reputation, and I didn't want to see you get hurt."

Y/N's expression softened, understanding the concern beneath Mason's actions. "You could have just told me that instead of treating me like I did something wrong."

Mason nodded again, acknowledging her point. "I messed up, Y/N, and I'm sorry for that."

The room fell into a heavy silence as Y/N processed Mason's apology. After a moment, she sighed, a mix of emotions playing across her face. "I appreciate the apology, Mason, but you need to trust me. I can handle my own feelings, and I value our friendship too much to let it be ruined by something like this."

Mason nodded once more, a genuine sense of regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry for acting out. I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Y/N felt a sense of closure in his words. "Let's just put this behind us. We can figure things out, but you can't shut me out like that again, okay?"

As the weight of their conversation lifted, Y/N and Mason found themselves in an uncertain but hopeful truce. Y/N, moved by Mason's apology, decided to bridge the lingering gap between them. She reached out for a hug, an unspoken acknowledgment of forgiveness and a desire to move forward.

Mason hesitated for a moment before reciprocating, his arms enveloping Y/N in a tentative embrace. The hug was warm, a silent reassurance that their friendship could weather the storms that had momentarily shaken its foundation. Y/N could feel the tension dissipating as they held each other, and for a moment, everything seemed to be okay.

However, as they lingered in the embrace, Mason's mind was in turmoil. A wave of conflicting emotions swept over him, and an unsettling realization settled in the pit of his stomach. He started to question the nature of his feelings for Y/N, wondering if there was more to their connection than just friendship.

Internally, Mason panicked. This wasn't a revelation he was prepared for, and the timing seemed utterly inconvenient. He tried his best to maintain the facade of casual friendship during the hug, desperately suppressing any hint of the internal storm raging within him.

Y/N pulled away, smiling warmly. "Thank you for apologizing, Mason. I really appreciate it."

Mason managed a tight-lipped smile in return, the internal turmoil hidden behind his eyes. "Yeah, of course. Friends, right?"

"Friends," Y/N affirmed, her expression one of genuine warmth.

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@nightlockcornucopia @jaydensluv @girlytots19 @formula1mount @alwaysclassyeagle @aundercover @sofifiia @dessxoxsworld @lpab @lorarri @thelovehypothesis @torrie421 @ironmaiden1313 @celesteblack08 @glow-ish @urfavouritef1girly @alwaysclassyeagle @barnestatic @simxican @formula1mount @charli123456789 @mac-daddy-210 @lazybot @imguce @azxulaa @mehrmonga @sunny44 @skepvids @drunkinthemiddleoftheday @chimchimjiminie16 @tyna-19 @hoely-maria @stevesworld9 @f1lov3r @elliegrey2803 @heyyhelloohii @landosgirlxoxo @skepvids @aundercover @andydrysdalerogers @illicitverstappen @bbygrlllllll @kageyamama-hinatatata @imagandom @bibissparkles @sofifiia @dark-night-sky-99 @viennakarma

#f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #formula 1 #max verstappen #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x y/n #mason mount #mason mount x reader #mason mount x y/n #football x reader #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 x you #formula one x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fics #footballer x reader #footballer x y/n

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ilylovelyz · 10 months

Text

⍣ ೋ Running

˚ · . bokuto x afab!reader

: ̗̀➛ bokuto is a huge baby + lover boy, takes place during the timeskip (like he's 22-24), just a bunch of fluff, kinda angsty wtf, non descriptive sexual details, mentions of a non-descriptive illness, mentions of pregnancy + birth, ermmm mentions of going to the bathroom 😭, this was kinda shit lmaoso

run, running all the time.

it's one of his favorite activities, enjoying the way the breeze feels against his bare skin.

he likes to run at various times a day, usually in the morning or at night to release some steam or to prepare himself for the day.

during these various long runs of his, he would think about various things.

bokuto was always one to fall in love easily.

he fell in love, quickly, and harshly with every single person he ever dated. his mind would always be plagued with thoughts of "this one could be the one," no matter how early in the relationship he might be with them.

he never learned his lesson about falling in love easily, always ending up heartbroken after being dumped for being "too clingy."

eventually, after his third relationship, be began to see himself as the issue, before just giving up on dating all together to focus more on himself and volleyball.

he thought that he'd maybe end up marrying a volleyball or something, destined to be alone for the rest of his life. that thought scared him intensely. like an actual owl, he longed for a lifelong partner, he couldn't see himself living alone as an old man in the future.

just the imagine of him sitting alone at an empty dinner table eating barbecue alone made him want to cry.

boy, did he feel so relieved to meet you during the end of his second year.

just like all of his previous girlfriends, he fell in love quickly, practically head over heels in love with you. but, for some reason, it just felt so.. different with you.

he couldn't quite to put his finger on it, all he knew was that you stuck out like a sore thumb, the atmosphere with you a stark contrast compared to his previous partners.

it was around the third month mark (the usual time his partners dumped him) was when he totally expected you to break up with him, and was actually mentally preparing for it. but, much to his surprise, the third month came and went, and his relationship with you grew and stayed.

while you didn't know why, but he was so overjoyed just at that, the next few months following he was 10x more clingy and happy, just so over the moon that you stayed with him. him, he's the one you chose, out of all the people. he would think that on repeat during his morning runs, just urging him to work harder to impress you, to make you proud.

he didn't even notice it, but eventually a year passed, he was too enamored with you to notice the time passing. he almost grew sad at that, only soothing when you allowed him to cuddle you. "i just want to stay with you forever," he would confess during his sad realizations, not ready for these precious times to fly by.

his burly arms would trap you against him, afraid of letting go. "don't worry, i'm not going anywhere, but i might if you don't let me breathe." you would tease, hand patting his forearm in hopes of him releasing his mighty grip around you. of course, why would you leave him? there's not a single bad flaw about him, not a particular reason for anyone to hate him.

but to bokuto, there just might be many.

fat tears run down his cheeks, nostrils leaking mucus onto the cold ground below him while he grovels at your feet. he's frantic, hysterical almost. he almost lost an important match, and yet he's apologizing to you for some reason.

he's so sorry that he's fallen, embarrassed at the way a silly mistake could've costed him his team, his school, and somehow you. he feels like he's failed his coach, team, school, just everyone. you look down at him bewildered, while he's shown you all of his many emotions, you've never seen him cry like this before, especially before you at your feet.

you're quick to get onto your knees, hands rubbing softly against his broad back. you smile softly at him, wondering where all of these silly thoughts came from. "you're so silly, kou. i'm not going anywhere, i promise," you whisper, placing a much needed kiss against the shell of his ear.

it's during moments like those, does he really just love you for simply existing. it's when you somehow hold his heavy body against your much smaller one, when you treat him so lovingly, is when he knows that you're the only one for him.

he wants the soft moments like those to last forever. he wants to feel the soft blooming feeling of your lips pressing against his skin, like the sun beaming it's warmth on him during a warm sunny day.

he hopes you don't let him fall out of love, though, he doesn't see himself falling out of love with you anytime soon.

he's running, running as fast as he can at the end of his morning run towards his home, towards the home he now shares with his beloved fiancé, you. just seeing his and your name on the house's name plate as his chest bubbling up with excitement.

he almost trips over his own feet while fumbling with the laces of his running shoes before he's impatiently running over to the master-bedroom, eyes gleaming at the sight of his own personal sleeping beauty. "good morning y/n-chan!" he practically yells, climbing onto the bed with haste, not wasting a second to kiss your still sleepy face.

there's dried drool on your chin, lips cracked and dry, hair untamed and messy, and yet he still considers you the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. he holds you close to him, still sweaty, but you don't fight it. he's warm, a nice perk of him being a physical large male athlete.

"hey, are you 'gunna join me on my run later?" he asks impatiently. he loves running with you, even though you have to have plenty of breaks, and considerably slow him down but he still loves your presence and enjoys one-sided races with you. "another one..? you were just on a run weren't ya?" you mumble out, face mushed against his broad chest.

"it's important to stay active, y/n-chan. please! you haven't gone with me for awhile!" he whines, one of his hands coming up to move your hair from your face, unintentionally revealing the leftover love bruises from the previous night on your neck. he thinks back to the night with amusement, remembering happily as he spent it at your whim, practically worshipping you like a goddess at the feel him deep within you.

you scoff teasingly at his dramatics, "i went with you on one like, a few days ago. sigh, gee, i guess i'll go today." he gleaming with that, placing excited kisses all over your face before kissing your chapped lip's happily. you can only grin into the kiss, eyebrow arching with surprise when the kiss is quickly deepened.

later that night, as he planned and begged, you join him on his run. you're much inexperienced compared to his years of running, but he doesn't seem to care, or even notice, as he's encouraging you and praising you when you somehow make it to his breaks.

he looks at you, sweaty and almost about to pass out, with a prideful smirk, thinking to himself how lucky he is to get such a talented women to choose him as your lover.

towards the end of the run, your legs are wobbly as you struggle to keep up with him. he notices, albeit not knowing it's because your mentally and physically struggling to keep up, so he takes your hand within his, fingers squeezing encouragingly around yours.

while the two of you are running, he turns back to look at you with that bright smile of his. "keep holding my hand, so we don't get separated!"

years pass, much against bokuto's will. however, he copes well with it when you soon fall pregnant with him for the first time. when you first told him, he was absolutely beaming, jumping around like a small child and boasting to everyone within ear shot about how he's going to be a father to your child.

however, that excitement soon fades when you come down with a sudden illness towards the end of your pregnancy. he doesn't remember what illness it exactly is, nor does he really want to search it up and look at it's possible grim details. all he knows that for the last few months of your pregnancy, was that he was a total wreck.

you were completely bed ridden, so sick you couldn't even walk on your own feet. he didn't mind accompanying you to the toilet, happily volunteering to carry you and sit on the bath's ledge while you peed just in case. hell, he'll wipe your ass if he has to, if it's for you.

while you slept, all he would do was sit at the bedside, waiting for the minute you woke up. he did nothing in particular then except pray, wishing for you to get better quickly.

he just wants you to be the one he needs, be the one he trusts most. you're his source of determination, happiness and just everything good in life. he doesn't want you to stop inspiring him, he wants you to encourage him and lead him on for the rest of his life.

when you gave birth, it was all but calm. it was entirely chaotic, it left him trembling and almost crying at the way you gave up multiple times due to the excruciating amount of pain you were in.

the day beforehand, he took a much needed run while you were sleeping. yet, during the entire time, what usually was a calming stress reliever for him, almost had him stopping not even halfway into it. he was purged with concerned thoughts, all of which were about your wellbeing. he constantly checked his phone to see if you had texted or called him, only continuing when he saw that you hadn't.

sometimes it's hard to keep on running. the two of you worked so hard to keep it going. he didn't know if he would be able to continue happily with life if something bad happened to you. when he returned to your bedside, still in deep sleep, he couldn't help but shed a tear. his hand cradled your own within his, praying silently, don't make me want to give up.

he really hoped the two of you would make it. eventually after a long 36 hour labor, did you finally give birth to your babygirl. she was somehow healthy and full-term, just everything he had hoped for.

following the birth, your own health had improved as well, and while it took awhile, you were eventually joining him on his morning runs as well.

he looked back at you while running, still taking your still fragile health in mind. his hand holding yours, encouraging you to continue, holding your hand so the two of you wouldn't get separated.

please like and repost with tags :)

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bratzforchris · 13 days

Text

Inked Daisies (Chapter 5)

Summary: For the past year, you've been running the flower shop that's next door to your friend, Matt's, tattoo studio. But what happens when the feelings start to get more than friendly?

Read Chapter 4 here

Pairing: Tattoo artist!Matt x floristfem!reader

Warnings: Making out, suggestive acts and mentions (no actual smut), heartbreak, mentions of needles (piercing)

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: I'm sincerely sorry for the shitshow, dumpster fire from hell that this story is about to become 😇 Enjoy!

“How much would it cost me to get my nose pierced?” You asked Matt, spinning around in the spinny chair behind the counter of ThreeSixty Tattoo. “Do I get a friends and family discount?”

It had been a little over a month since the incident. Your relationship with Matt had been toeing the line consistently between friends and more. After the fight, you two had become closer, with you realizing that there was more to Matt than he let on, and with him realizing that he felt an almost magnetic pull to you.

“Depends on how well you behave.” Matt didn’t tear his eyes from the design he was working on.

“Will you pierce it now?” You wondered hopefully.

Matt finally looked up, running a hand across his stubbled jaw as he looked at you. “Are you sure you want that?”

“Yes!” You leaped up out of the chair, heading over to the glass case that held the body jewelry and poring over the small, diamond studs.

Matt shook his head with a chuckle, cursing the way the butterflies in his gut took flight at your cuteness. Your spontaneity was absolutely insane to him, but he was drawn to it. Despite his tattoos, nose ring, and six ear piercings, Matt was a rather indecisive person. He debated whether or not he wanted the tattoo or piercing for months.

You pointed to a piece of jewelry inside the case. “I want that one.”

Before Matt could respond, you had crossed the room and sat yourself in one of the piercing chairs. The brunette wanted to argue, to say that maybe having someone you knew do your piercing wasn't a good idea, but he couldn’t find it in him to argue back. The light shining in your eyes, along with your small, happy dances as you waited were enough to get him to go to the ends of the earth for you. He shook his head, pulling out jewelry and carefully setting everything on a plastic tray, the way he would for any clients’ piercing. It was just because you were one of his best friends, he tried telling himself. That’s why he was giving you a spur of the moment piercing at eight pm on a Monday night. The only difference with this one was that there was no way he could fuck this one up.

“What made you decide you randomly wanted your nose pierced?” Matt asked you, snapping on a pair of latex gloves.

“Can I not just wanna be like my best friend?” You pouted adorably, looking up at him through your lashes.

The blue-eyed boy gulped, trying to fight the blush creeping up his neck. “Who? Nick?”

“No silly,” You rolled your eyes, poking his stomach softly. “You.”

“I’m not your best friend.” he mumbled, wiping the skin around the piercing site with an alcohol pad.

“But you are,” You insisted. “You really don’t give yourself enough credit, Matt.”

The brunette hummed, removing the piercing needle from the packaging and looking down at you. “Ready?”

You nodded eagerly, eyes carefully following Matt’s hand. He gave you a quick ‘1, 2, 3’ countdown, before expertly piercing your nose. You were surprised at how gentle Matt’s touch was, compared to the other piercers you’d had for your ear piercings in the past. Not to mention the fact that his light, gentle touch was a rather stark contrast to his gruff looks and demeanor. Before you knew it, Matt had inserted the jewelry and was handing you a hand mirror.

“So, what do you think?”

“I think…” You smiled, turning your head from side-to-side and watching the way the small, diamond stud caught the light. “I think…I love it!” You squealed.

Without thinking, you had thrown your arms around Matt’s neck, hugging him tightly. The brunette stumbled backwards slightly, shocking himself when his arms wrapped around your lower back tightly so you wouldn’t fall.

“You really like it that much?” he asked, a shy smile on his face as he looked down into your eyes.

“It looks perfect.” You hummed, a giggle escaping you.

Matt didn’t know what possessed him to do it. Maybe it was the fact that all he had thought about since the fight that night was how much he longed to protect you. Or maybe it was the cute, overjoyed smile on your face at something as simple as a piercing. But really, he knew it went back further than that. It went back to the first time Chris had brought you home. He had been captivated by you; the way you were the exact opposite of himself in the best way possible, save for the way you also struggled to sleep, bringing the two of you together through art.

Without thinking, Matt leaned down and kissed you. It was a kiss that held years’ worth of longing. The way that you didn’t even act surprised told Matt everything he needed to know. There had been so many signs leading up to the tension between you two, and until now, it was just a matter of who was going to break it first.

As your legs wrapped around his waist, Matt cheekily slipped his hands under your ass, eliciting a moan from you. The blue-eyed boy used this as leverage to slip his tongue into your own mouth, meeting yours as a soft ‘hello’, rather than fighting for dominance. Your hands tangled in the soft curls at the nape of Matt’s neck as he kissed you, trying to show him all of the feelings you had been hiding (and denying) for so long.

The brunette backed up against one of the piercing chairs, sitting down with you in his lap. “That was…wow,” he whispered. “I hope that was…what you wanted?” he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as a blush crept up his face.

“Shhhh,” You pressed a finger to Matt’s lips. “Less talking, more kissing. We have about eight years of romantic tension to catch up with.”

Matt chuckled at how bubbly you were, even in a moment like this. You never failed to speak your mind, and that was what drew him to you. You were just authentically you. “Mmmm, I better get to work, then.”

And with that, Matt’s kisses took off in a new direction. Gone were the sweet, gentle, and slightly unsure gestures from just a moment prior. Matt began to devour you like a man starved, sloppy, wet sounds echoing around the tattoo studio as he made out with you. The only pauses in his kissing were to slide his hands up under the silk of your pink blouse, blue eyes meeting your own.

“Goddamn,” he whispered. “I love that nose piercing. Always gonna have a reminder that I did that, huh?”

You nodded, shifting yourself on his lap, which only drew a small whimper out of you. Matt chuckled, pulling you closer to himself and beginning to kiss you again, hands fiddling with the clasp of your bra. Both of you were so caught up in the moment, in the makeout, in each other that you didn’t hear the small bell above the shop’s door ring, oblivious to the person behind you.

“...am I interrupting something?” Chris asked with an awkward cough.

If it was possible for a human’s face to show every emotion, the youngest triplet at that moment would’ve been the perfect example. He looked smaller than normal, dejectedly holding a takeout bag from the local Greek restaurant down the street. Everything from shock to anger was clear on his face as he stood there.

“Shit,” You cursed at the same time that Matt murmured a rushed “fuck”. You quickly moved off of each other, awkwardly adjusting your clothes and fighting both of your blushes. “It’s not what it looks like…” You suggested in a manner that seemed like a terrible lie.

“No. I got what it looks like,” Chris dropped the bag onto the reception desk with a thud. “How long have you two been linking up behind me and Nick’s back?”

You gulped, the thought of what you and Matt making out could do to your friend group just now crossing your mind. Matt stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest, looking Chris up and down.

“That was the first time, bro. I swear. We didn’t even…y’know. Why the fuck do you care anyway?”

“Why do I care?” Chris asked, a sarcastic sneer on his face. “Oh gee, I dunno, Matt! Maybe because I just found you essentially tongue fucking my best friend?”

“I wasn’t tongue fucking her!” Matt shot back. “We kissed, Chris. Stop being dramatic.”

Without another word, Chris turned on his heel, slamming the shop door behind him. You and Matt were both frozen in place, the events of the last fifteen minutes entirely too much to process. Never, in all your years of friendship, had either of you seen Chris truly angry. There had been times where his temper got the best of him, or where he would act angry towards his brothers for fun, but there was never a moment where he was anything less than bubbly.

“I should probably go…” You mumbled, digging your bus pass out of your tote bag to avoid meeting Matt’s eyes.

“Yeah…” Matt had turned his back to you, cleaning up the mess from your earlier piercing to keep his hands busy and his emotions at bay.

Normally, it would’ve taken you at least fifteen minutes to say goodbye to your friends, whether or not they were with their brothers. This time though, you immediately fled the shop, heading towards the bus station on the corner. You should’ve thought about the consequences of kissing your best friend’s brother in a public area, especially when said friend had 24/7 access to that area. You should’ve kept your feelings for Matt shoved down in the dark pit of your emotions where they belonged.

You watched as Matt’s sleek, black car drove past the bus stop. The driver’s side window rolled down and Matt slowed to a stop, like he wanted to say something, but nevertheless, he shook his head, rolled up the window, and peeled off down the street. You didn’t even want to think about the damage that the past 45 minutes had caused to not only your friendship with Chris, but with the other two triplets as well. The bus pulled up your stop, and just like every other night, you were the sole passenger at this one. You sat down in a seat near the back, sliding your headphones on and leaning back against the headrest. Maybe if you closed your eyes hard enough and let your music sweep you away, all of this would just disappear into a far-off dream.

You would talk to Chris eventually. You knew that stumbling in on you and Matt making out when he had just stopped by to deliver dinner was not the ideal way to find out that your brother and your best friend had feelings for each other. You wouldn’t lose him, not like this. That boy had been there for you more than anyone you had ever known. From your parents' rather messy divorce to your dreams of starting your own flower shop, Chris had been there for you. He was your biggest supporter, cheerleader, and fan of all time.

tags ♡: @jake-and-johnnies-slut @chrissfavwh3re @suyqa @chrissturnswife @mbsbaby @herxysc-blog @lovingchrissposts @caffeinatedscorpio @spencereidenthusiast @crazychrisl0v3r @sturnioloxlver @whicked-hazlatwhore @blahbel668 @sturncakez @junnniiieee07 @biggesthat3r @sturniolowhore @patscorner @julesgrl @0strawberrysorbet0 @strombolilovr @matt444nixi @remussbitch @devthepoet1221 @mattyblover07 @loisnotaa @mollyquinnxoxo @graysturns @pepsicolapussy333 @ginswife @emmagirouard @athaliahxoxo @bitchydragonparadise @ilydeaky @soggyslugg169 @m00n-0n-paws @books0fever @stingerayyy2 @sunsetsturniolos @mimi-luvzyu @raysmayhem-72 @faygo-frog @oobleoob @billsslutt @aemrsy

note ♡: my taglist is now closed<3 thank you all so much for your support!!

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dinogoofymutated · 1 month

Note

So I'm warming up to the idea of Cable now with this new animation style. And now I can't help but imagine a mutant reader seeing him shirtless for the first time 👉🏽👈🏽. Maybe she's helping him treat a wound he cant reach on his back and he's too worn out to rely on his telekinesis for it. Sure she knows that he has a metal arm. Techno-organic viruses were nasty business. But she never imagined she'd get to see the stark contrast of metal and flesh up close. Just a tender moment where she gets to see him at his most vulnerable. Preferably sfw. Sorry if this is too long winded or specific. Really love your writing and enjoy what you share with us regardless if u choose this one or not 🫶🏽

SFW!Cable/GN!Reader OOOOGHHHH when I tell you I have been thinking about this since you sent me the ask!! I've been dying to write this but forced myself to follow a schedule :( I've never really been a Cable girly but this scenario has been in my head non-stop! I just hope this fic does the same to others!!! Speaking of which, I hope this isn't too OOC for him! This also might get a pt 2 with some smooching 😘

Read pt. 2 Here :)

-Ps- Heads up, finals week is coming up for me and I have a lot of essays and work to do. my writing is sadly going to slow down a bit. I don't think I'm going to close requests for now but it's not out of the realm of possibility! TWs: Can't really think of any. Gross depictions of techno-organic shit. As always, Reader written while picturing fem! but no pronouns mentioned. The reader is short in this one, sorry to all my Amazonian friends.

Prime sentinels were like wasps. Squashing one could be relatively easy with the right tools, but it was difficult to handle multiples at once. It had been a rough day, and your ears were still ringing from the sounds of blaster fire when you got to the safe house. Your hands are shaking from the adrenaline, body exhausted from overusing your mutant powers. Bruises are forming all over you, and despite the pain and soreness, you know you got off easy compared to Cable.

He’s got an arm slung around your shoulder, using you as a crutch as you help him limp over to the table- although you’re sure you’re not a very good one, too short for him to properly lean on. His gun clanks on the floor as he sits, grunting as the movement sends shooting pains through his body. You can tell his left arm is aching, the techno-organic virus fighting to beat the telekinetic powers keeping them still. You weren’t the only one who overdid it today, but you also weren’t the one who had to keep a virus from eating you alive.

Once Cable is settled, the routine starts. You cautiously make a round through the safe house, making sure blinds are drawn and entryways secured. Usually, the task was split between the two of you, being faster and safer than it would be alone- but he would take it over when you were badly hurt. It was only natural that you would do the same. You feel the sting of anxiety and worry in your heart. Cable had saved your ass today. He had done so many times, but normally the fighting wasn’t this extreme. You had been stupid, and he was suffering the consequences.

A series of pained grunts lead you back into the kitchen once you’ve finished, and you can tell Cable is pissed just by the tone of them. You’re facing his back when you walk in, noticing the large red stain that spans across the width of his shoulders. You try to hide the worry on your face as you approach him. He has the medkit sprawled out on the counter, sorting through the various items in it.

“Can’t believe this thing doesn’t have a damn mirror.” He grunts. You hum in response, looking him over before examining the items on the table.

“What do you need a mirror for?” You ask, voice coming out a little hoarse. You clear your throat, must be from the smoke earlier. Cable sends you a look, tossing his head towards his back. You mouth an “oh” before looking at him, unable to hide your worried expression. You’d seen him stitch his wounds up with his telekinesis before, when the fight was all guns and no powers. An action like that was child’s play for someone of his capabilities. For him to actively avoid it, and the way his arm seemed to be bothering him more than normal… It made you worried. It made you feel guilty.

You look down at the suture kit, open on the table from where Cable had unzipped it, and then look back at him, wordlessly asking. He gives you a cautious look for a moment, before it shifts into something much softer. He doesn’t bother nodding, choosing to simply take his shirt off instead.

You blush a little but quickly get to work, grabbing a pair of gloves and pulling them on. They’re too big for you, meant to fit Cable’s sturdy hands instead of your own smaller ones. You try not to get distracted by the sight of him shirtless as you pick up what you need and get behind him. The air has shifted between the two of you, forming into something a little more intimate. Something that builds itself on words unspoken, truths that neither of you is quite ready to communicate yet.

His back is broad and beautiful, dotted with scars and bruises. The gash on his shoulders is from a stray blast, starting at the top of his left shoulder and ending at the lower shoulder blade of his right.

You’re not sure if you had been ready to see the cut-off between flesh and metal.

The cords of metal attach to the skin of his shoulder in a way that makes your skin crawl. They sprout from underneath the skin, winding against each other in a way that makes no clear sense to you. The top layers of skin are rough, keloid scarring having formed at the impasse of skin and metal. It's horrific, the way the virus has both eaten and forced its way under the skin. The top of the gash is somewhat deep, the deep inner cording revealed by the wound cutting through the top of his skin has you unable to look away despite the horror that has taken you.

“I can feel you staring, you know.” Cable’s rumbling voice causes you to snap back to reality.

“Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to…” You trail off, not fully able to place the words. He sighs, and you mistake it for annoyance. You quickly get back on track and begin to disinfect the wound. Cable hardly flinches as you do so. You’re overly cautious as you stitch him up, focusing on each stitch being perfectly placed. You know they wouldn’t stay for long. Cable had a habit of tearing his stitches. You hope that maybe you’d be able to keep that from happening this time.

You place both hands on his shoulder blades when you are done. The nerves have worn off as the pseudo-doctor in you took over. You’re trying to examine the stitches, but find that your attention keeps being drawn back to that stark contrast of his shoulder. If Cable notices, he doesn’t say anything. You glance at the back of his head, trying to gauge what he’s feeling.

Your left hand drifts a little. Cable shudders as your thumb gently traces that line of scarring, the metal of his arm feeling extra cold compared to the heat of his skin. You’re waiting for him to say something. To tell you to back off. To grumble and shake you off and avoid speaking to you like he used to when you first started to work together- when he was so determined not to get attached.

But he doesn’t say anything. Not at first, anyway. The tenseness of his shoulders slowly gives as the gentle touching morphed into more purposeful touches, working the stiff muscles- what was left of the organic ones, anyway.

It’s intimate. It’s quiet. It’s… nice. Part of you wishes it would last a little longer. Part of you wishes he would let you touch him like this more often.

Cable stiffens again as the thought crosses your mind, recoiling away from you. He stands suddenly, turning around to face you. His towering stature used to make you nervous out of fear. Now you’re nervous for a completely different reason. Part of you had forgotten about the glimpses he takes into your mind. A flicker of anxiety ignites when you realize how much he might have seen. The two of you just look at each other for a moment, his brown eyes hard compared to the softness from earlier. You hadn’t meant to think so much. You didn’t think he was horrific. It was the virus. What it was doing to him. The energy and effort it takes out of him. That was what scared you.

Cable was used to the stares. The horror. Most recoiled at the sight of his flesh. It only made sense to him when you did too.

But Nathan… Nathan wasn’t ready for the depth of your thoughts. The care in your eyes. He wasn’t ready for the depth of his own feelings. The ones that cause such a storm within him. The ones that cause him to be stupid. The ones that make him focus more on saving you than the goal of every mission.

“Is this… Are we okay?” You ask. He didn’t need to be a telepath to sense the fear that has swelled within you. Most of your emotions were always written on your face. It made things easier for him when he didn’t have to search for your thoughts. That hardness in his eyes softens yet again, and he glances away for a moment.

“... Yeah.” Is all he says. His heart feels light when you finally smile at him, even though an underlying nervousness still resides behind that smile. You let out a relieved sigh, and he can’t bear to look at you any longer. Instead, he sits back down. He faces away from you, giving you the space to finish taking care of the wound on his back.

You don’t realize how late it is until you’re finished, and the mess on the counter has been cleaned and contained back in the medkit. The two of you sit together as you eat. The food isn’t great- consisting of an MRE that’s not exactly as advanced as the futuristic weapons and technology would lead you to believe. He doesn’t say anything when you lean on his shoulder, or when your breathing evens out, having fallen asleep on his side.

The aches and pains don’t really bother Nathan as he carries you to bed, but the thoughts of you, your feelings, your thoughts… Those keep him awake longer than any wound would.

#x men 97 #x men #x men comics #x men 97 x reader #x men headcannons #cable headcannons #cable x reader #cable xmen #nathan summers x reader #nathan summers #nathan summers headcannons #Cable imagines

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markantonys · 1 month

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wotseries posted an alleged elaida audition script about 1) her telling presumably leane that she's at the tower to look for elayne and also that siuan's in a big mess and she could use elaida's help in cleaning it up, and 2) her discussing prophetic powers with min.

the first scene is pretty standard with what we've been predicting for elaida and the white tower plotline in s3, so i don't have any commentary on that one for now (though it does imply that, indeed, we'll be setting up the coup to be a slowburn season-long event with elaida weaseling around for a while before making her big move, rather than a shock event that happens early in the season, but i think most of us were thinking this already anyway).

the second scene is interesting because a different leak had placed min in tanchico. wotup's leaks have been flagrantly incorrect before (said faile would be in s2) and wotseries' audition scripts have also been flagrantly incorrect before (said gawyn would be in s2), so at this point it's just a question of which source i distrust more, and i can't answer that haha so for the time being i'll treat both Min Locations as equally plausible. (i'm assuming it'll only be one or the other because i find it hard to imagine that she could make an appearance in both locations during the course of the season, but i suppose you never know.)

looking at where s2 left off, both are equally plausible. min is in cairhien, and both siuan & co and liandrin are also in cairhien. i could see siuan snatching min back to the white tower because she knows about her powers and wants to use them, and i could also see liandrin snatching min over to tanchico because she considers her a liability after min betrayed her/didn't follow through on the deal/figured out she's a darkfriend.

looking at min's established story in the show and where her story goes in future in the books (lmao at the statement that min has a story in the books), both are equally plausible. tanchico would put her back into contact with liandrin and mat to follow up on her story with them in s2 and set up for her future seanchan story with mat (and doubly so if there's a seanchan presence or even tuon herself in tanchico in s3). the white tower would return her to her book storyline and, based on this scene with elaida, potentially give her the opportunity to have a storyline exploring the nature of her powers and her relationship with them. either storyline would allow her to go on to cross paths with rand in the next season or two.

(edited to add that tanchico would also have min interacting with elayne to help set up the polycule. i've so thoroughly made the polycule rand/elayne/avi/mat in my mind that i kinda forgot min is the canonical fourth member when i was making this post djkfg)

i will say that in the books, the tower coup has absolutely 0 bearing on min's overall character/story because she has 0 stakes in any of that stuff and 0 connection to aes sedai. it makes for an interesting 1-book storyline for her, but it's never relevant to her again (vs. someone like gawyn who is dealing with the repercussions of the coup in his storyline for pretty much the rest of the series), and so for that reason i wouldn't be sorry to replace her book storyline with an invented tanchico storyline that might have more long-term relevance to her (re: seanchan stuff). however, if the show expands her white tower storyline to include an exploration of her powers, i'd love that because min actively struggling with and trying to navigate and learn more about and figure out how best to use her powers is something that should have been part of her current story rather than her pre-series backstory. and compare/contrasting with elaida and how SHE uses her prophetic abilities would be super interesting!

that being said, i will never again trust any wotseries audition scripts after the utter betrayal that was the gawyn one, so i'm taking this all with a grain of salt! every time they post a new one they're like "disclaimer that scenes could be invented just for auditions and won't appear in the actual show, but most of our past audition scripts have appeared in the show pretty close to the audition version" and i'm like "what about that time you misled me to believe a whole-ass boy would be present in s2 and then he wasn't???? is gawyngate a joke to you???" lmao i wish they'd be a bit more cautious with their audition script disclaimers bc *i* think they've been pretty hit or miss, not Usually Accurate (even the aviendha one, only 1 of 2 scenes made it into the show iirc).

#wot #wot on prime #the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot show spoilers

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kkongdakz · 4 months

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“ I SEA YOU. ” ft. kim gyuvin

gyuvin x gn!reader, genre : fluff & comfort, warnings : mention of anxiety and overwhelming feelings, wc : 2,3k>

author's note : this is a really, very, truly personal fic, so i'm sorry if you don't recognize or identify with y/n.. but still, i hope you'll like it anyway 😙👍🏻 also, could this be my official comeback? ..who knows..

ever since you were little, you've always considered the sea your comfort zone, your escape. the sound of the waves and the feel of salt water on your skin had a way of dissipating all your worries, help you avoid drowning under pressure and stress. you've long believed that nothing else in the world could give you a similar sensation — not even the hottest summer sun, not even the most beautiful spring blossom tree, not even the tastiest winter hot chocolate, not even the reddest leaf on an autumn tree. nothing could compare to the comfort of the sea in your heart.

that's why you've continued to visit this beach, which means so much to you, every week. this little beach, almost always deserted, where the clear horizon offers you all the splendour of the sky living side by side with the ocean. the palette of blue inked in your memory is enough to soothe you on rainy evenings, but you need the sound of the ocean coming out of a giant shell to soothe your mind. and even if you have to travel miles from your student apartment to get to what makes you so happy, you'll do it without hesitation. but no longer alone.

on the long river of your quiet life, a little boat named kim gyuvin decided to follow a stream to reach the blue ocean of your heart. it was no mean feat — even if you have to admit that the sincerity of his smile made you sink delicately to the bottom of the well of love. he crossed your path by chance, and kept crossing it. again and again. until you accept him on your raft. he hadn't been that insistent, but what really wins you over is feeling that gentle warmth in your heart every time he looks at you with all the goodness in the world in the corner of his eyes, accompanied by the most beautiful smile on the planet. the same warmth you get from watching a sunset reflected on the ocean's blue expanse.

« shall we go? » you suddenly heard, in a voice as gentle as a summer breeze, bringing you out of your deepest thoughts. turning your head to the right, your absent gaze fell on gyuvin's peaceful face, you smiled tenderly, gently grabbing the hand he was holding out to you to get up and follow him out the door.

the trip to the beach didn't seem as long as it used to be, now that a warm hand was keeping yours company. you no longer had to show him the way, as he now knew the route by heart — even better than you. but today, something seemed to have changed inside your heart. maybe it was because of the way his freshly dyed black hair swept across his forehead in the same way that grains of sand move across the beach in the wind. maybe it was the way numerous shivers ran through your body every time his shoulder brushed yours, like when cold sea water touches your feet on autumn mornings. maybe it was simply the beauty of his face that easily equalled the beauty of a sunset shining on the surface of the ocean.

a ton of maybe trotted through your mind as you struggled to stay focused on the road, far too busy watching the slightest feature of gyuvin's face. even his profile was perfect. unconsciously tightening the grip of your hand around his, gyuvin turns his soft gaze on your face, his pretty brown eyes instantly locked in yours. he was surprisingly so calm — usually, he couldn't help being an overexcited puppy, and you liked that about him. he contrasted with your far too calm personality — he was like the tsunami of your life, shaking up your habits for the better, of course.

but gyuvin knew that these seaside escapades were important for you, that they were necessary for the proper functioning of your mind, they were made to soothe you. so he knew how to stand still and give you the chance to recharge your batteries in peace, even though he had to admit that having the privilege of accompanying you was the greatest accomplishment of all.

let's go back up the creek into the reverse river, to revisit the first time gyuvin's curious eyes landed on your hair floating in the ocean breeze. he must have been in his fifties, where adolescence made him want to escape far away from everything. it was an afternoon when the late summer wind kept reminding him that school was just around the corner, after running aimlessly for an hour, his footsteps led him to this hidden, deserted small beach, where only the sound of the waves crashing on the sand disturbed the tranquillity of the place. it was so beautiful, so pleasant — he felt as if he were floating, his mind carried away by the waves. and that's when he saw you, like a dream. as pretty as a mermaid, your soft face so serene.. he was so jealous of you. you were approaching the serenity he so desperately sought, and it upset him. but that didn't stop him from continuing to look at you with curious doe eyes, as if you weren't capable of feeling a insistent gaze burn your skin. he suspected you must be around his age, because of your youthful facial features glistening in the sunlight. as he watched you without saying a word, without moving an inch, his heart fluttering with lightness at the mere sight of your devastating but peaceful smile. you seemed so far out in the ocean — that intrigued him and led him to appreciate a little more the benefits of the sea. you intrigued him.

so.. to say that he approached you by pure coincidence would be a lie, because when he recognized you, wandering the halls of his high school, he wondered why he'd never noticed you before. with hindsight and a bit of imagination, it was probably because your mind was always stuck in the middle of the ocean and no boat had ever managed to reach your soul — until he decided he was going to make it, even if he had to swim for it. which he did, with flying colors.

« you're okay? » he asked, softly, in a voice that sounded like a siren call to your ears. falling for kim gyuvin was, once upon a time, something inconceivable for you. your head was too much in the clouds, your mind too much in your dreams, and your heart far too rambunctious to consider loving anyone other than the ocean. but he managed to get you to change tack — him and his beautiful sun-kissed brown eyes. shaking your head negatively with a barely visible smile that only he could see, you finally looked away to the horizon, where the entrance to the beach wasn't far off. « we're here. » you announced, tugging a little more firmly on his hand to guide his steps, despite the fact that he knew this road by heart, having travelled it with you so many times.

as you carefully descended the stairs to the beach, the fresh ocean breeze was already tickling your fragile skin. gyuvin was careful not to let go of your hand to prevent you from falling, but this impulse of benevolence caused him to miss the moment when you stopped dead in your tracks to observe the landscape in front of you, his body colliding with yours. « oh.. » was the only thing he was able to say when his chest hit your back, and the next second his gaze was unconsciously fixed on your face, which, once again, seemed so tranquil at the mere sight of waves washing up on the sand eternally. a smile tugged at his lips, his free hand slipping to your hip to hold you close, and his heart racing at the simple knowledge that you were perfectly fine right now. « it's pretty, isn't it? » you finally commented, your words mixing with the wind to reach his ears, and gyuvin nodded positively, his loving gaze lost in the ocean of your eyes.

advancing through the sand, taking care to draw him along with you, you didn't give him time to dream about whether you could be his little mermaid, the one who could save from drowning the prince he could have been. the same one you might abandon on the beach, as you did previously with the fifteen-year-old boy who first saw you a few years earlier. gyuvin liked to think your story would be so pretty to tell — he was one hundred percent sure it would be his little sisters' favorite love story, the one that would make them dream by night and hope by day. yeah, gyuvin was convinced that your love story would inspire many.

now sitting next to each other on the warm sand, gyuvin's fingers quietly played with a lock of your hair, twirling it around his finger, with his tender, benevolent gaze fixed on you. his heart seemed filled with happiness, because he knew that there, right now, right here, sitting in front of that vast blue sea, your heart was soothed, at the height of the happiness you so preciously cherished. and he was perfectly right : sitting on the sand, you held your knees to your chest, your star-filled eyes exploring the ocean you seemed to know by heart. the beauty of the light reflected on the surface of the water, the waves breaking against the shiny sand of the beach, the sound of the latter disturbing the tranquillity of the place, with only a few people strolling by, each looking happier than the next. not far away, a little girl running with her feet in the water, followed by a little boy who seemed to be laughing out loud as he tried to catch up with her. the sun seemed to embrace their skin with its warmth, under the watchful eyes of their parents who were standing not far from them, a light, benevolent smile decorating their faces.

then, as you watched them tenderly, your thoughts suddenly began to wander, taking you to the back of your mind that never stopped thinking. after careful consideration, you began to think that maybe, just maybe, you didn't have to make weekly trips to the beach. because you'd found another way to feel good and happy when the world seemed to be crashing down on you.

looking away from the blue expanse in front of you, your pupils finally meet those of gyuvin. your boyfriend offers you a pretty smile — light, but filled with all the sincerity in the world, his eyes overflowing with love. in your chest, your heart began to race, furiously, warmly, pleasantly, like the first time you fell in love with the sea. gyuvin's love was as deep as the ocean, his hands as soft as water, his eyes as radiant as the sun reflecting on the surface. he'd come into your life by chance, and had been making you want to drown in his arms ever since. he cracked the shell of your heart and slipped inside and never left. and now, he brings you the same warmth and comfort as an afternoon spent observing the ocean. it was strange, a new feeling for you — in your whole life, no one has ever been able to fill the void inside you, to calm the storm that was sometimes your mind, when, with just one little smile, gyuvin made you forget all the ills of your life, as the sea was so adept at doing it. so maybe now, kim gyuvin was the ocean's main rival in your heart.

hooking your hands around his arm, you drew him gently towards you, feeling a certain shyness rise up in you after having spent long seconds staring at him without saying anything. laying your head against his shoulder, feeling the warmth of his skin against your cheek, his hand slips against one of yours, gently caressing your fingers. « i don't think i need to come here so often anymore. » you say suddenly, attracting the attention of the boy at your side, who raises an eyebrow at you. he wasn't used to seeing you refuse a trip to the seaside, especially knowing perfectly well your love for this beach so dear to your heart. so it was only natural for him to ask you why or how you'd come to think such a thing, his little why floating in the air for a moment without any answer escaping your lips.

tightening your grip around his arm, closing your eyes as the ocean breeze hits your face, a perfectly relaxed smile, the most sincere he'd ever seen, took place on your lips. « i found someone better than the ocean. » you replied, so naturally that gyuvin felt the tips of his ears redden furiously. he wasn't stupid — he knew, he understood that silently, and in your own way, you had just confessed to him that he was like the ocean in your heart. and for him, those words were more powerful than a simple i love you.

gyuvin knew that nothing meant more to you than the sound of the waves and the beauty of the ocean's expanse, which you cherished more than anything else. so, the mere thought of him being superior to the sea in your heart could only make him fall even more in love with you than he already was. his rebellious teenage heart of a few years ago was definitely not wrong : you were the mermaid who kept him from drowning. without answering you orally, gyuvin decided to simply close his eyes in turn, resting his head against yours, enjoying your stroll by the sea which managed to open your heart to him.

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distort-opia · 10 months

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Hello! So I recently got into batman, and I’ve been slowly climbing my way up my reading list while also browsing through tumblr in search for metas about him, which is how I found your blog, and I really enjoy your metas!

I have a question though that won’t leave my mind, yet I also don’t want to stop my current reading list to jump into another series (JL), so I hope you don’t mind me asking this question to you instead 🙏

Basically, I’ve been wondering whether Bruce has opinions about Clark in relation to his self—Bruce’s self? So far from what I’ve read, Dick is (excuse me if the wording isnt exactly accurate, but just as a sums up) “the one that brings the light to Bruce’s darkness & the ideal self—the best of him”, whereas Joker is “the mirror to his self—the him that ‘what could have been’, the him who took different route”, and I wonder if there is a similar thinking/opinion about this self thing from him @ Clark too (like some sort of parallels)? I’m sorry if it sounds confusing 😅 Thank you!

Welcome to the fandom! Thank you for the kind words, glad you've enjoyed what meta I've put out. Hope you're having a fun time with Batman comics.

Oh Bruce definitely has opinions on Clark and Superman in general, in relation to himself. Though I have to make the note that in no way was Superman intended or built as a narrative foil for Batman's character, a "mirror self". Dick and Joker are characters who populated Batman's world from early on and were always meant to say something about the protagonist. Superman is a protagonist onto himself; he was created before Batman, and his popularity was actually a big factor contributing to Batman's creation. But that doesn't mean these two characters haven't grown together and influenced each other in a myriad of ways.

On a surface level, you've got the... grumpy one/sunshine one dichotomy. Superman is brightly colored and more emotional and fights in the light to bring people hope. Batman is enshrouded in darkness and stoically represses his emotions and fights in the night for justice and vengeance. One in the light, one in the shadows, one alien, one human, the "boy scout" and the "bad boy"... Even though they work together and are both on the side of good, these contrasts between Bruce and Clark are easily noticed by both others and themselves, and have led to conflicts on more than one occasion. But the way this translates in Bruce's head, to approach it from the angle you mentioned, is probably best summed up by the following pages... which I'm putting under a cut since this gets a bit long. Spoilers too I guess, for the Rebirth Batman run (if you haven't gotten to it yet).

Batman (2016) #36

"He's a better man than I am. [...] Who am I, compared to him?" And this is no way a new sentiment for Bruce:

Batman: Hush

Bruce doesn't see himself as a good person. He's capable of risking people's lives, of blackmail, lying, torture and manipulation, of unbelievable brutality and violence in the service of what he believes is his Mission. But he sees Clark as an inherently good person; as an ideal that he himself is not capable of ever reaching, of ever being. If I were to summarize only the projection aspect when it comes to Batman and Superman's dynamic, I'd say it's this one-- Superman is the hero Batman wishes he could be, but not one he'd ever try to become, because he believes himself fundamentally incapable of it. If as you said Dick is someone Bruce relates to and sees parts of himself in, but better (in trying to help Dick he retrospectively tries to help his child self), Clark isn't that. Superman is less of a mirror Bruce actively acts on, and more of a... negative. Clark is technically an alien, and yet in many ways he's more "human" than Bruce, having grown up with a loving family that Bruce wishes he had. Where Bruce tries to rise above the humanity he sometimes sees as weakness, both in emotional and physical terms, Clark is someone who's already "above" humanity, and yet yearns to be part of it. Moreso, Bruce envies Clark's sheer god-like power, but he knows that he doesn't have Clark's good character; that if he had this kind of unstoppable power, his need for complete control would drive him mad. Which actually happened one time, in Superman/Batman (2003) #53-56.

That being said, as is noticeable even in the pages above, this can result in Bruce putting Clark up on a pedestal, and idealizing him a bit too much, to the point of forgetting that Clark is a person too, with flaws and weaknesses. And not just that... the more ruthless and calculated side of Bruce never truly stops seeing Clark's power, both as something he can wield and something that can be turned against him (hence the hoarding of kryptonite and the contingency plans, in case Superman went bad). Perhaps Bruce's attitude more generally is illustrated best in this very recent moment:

Batman (2016) #128

Superman as Earth's greatest hero, and its greatest weapon. And Bruce is willing to risk his life to preserve that, because by comparison, he isn't these things. (And because Clark is his friend.)

#there's so much to their dynamic tbh. didn't delve too much into the more Superbat side of things but #this plays a part. they ARE best friends no matter what they say. but it was a complex journey to get there and it's still complicated #anyway. with the disclaimer that these are my personal thoughts of course #perhaps you'll have different interpretations as you make your way through canon #but I hope this was a fun read Anon!#asks #batman #bruce wayne #bruce wayne meta #superman #clark kent #my meta

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books-and-dragons · 7 months

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I'm so sorry, I'm kinda drunk and dropping another idea, do with it whatever ye will.

Yknow how in the beginning of the game, Sojiro tells Ren he won't take care of him when he gets sick?

Consider: he's not used to city germs/being that closely shoved against other people on the train. He DOES start to get sick around Kamoshida's Palace, powers through it, and then is SUPER sick just after it's over.

He plans on sucking it up and hiding it, but Futaba hears his hacking coughs over her bug even when he's upstairs, followed by wheezing, maybe even a little weeping. He's constantly in and out of the bathroom, and he's starting to run out of tissues.

Futaba nervously texts Sojiro that the kid they took in sounds awful. Sojiro is gruff at first and says he's not a baby, he can take care of himself. She responds by sending him the audio and suddenly Dad Instincts kick in

y/n

obviously it's a YES, our brainrots continue because early-game ren and sojiro dynamics break my heart every time how dare you get me so invested in this idea, this post got too long so it's going under a read more

listen listen look i love sojiro and the coffee family okay, but early-game?? sojiro could catch these hands

ren has already been though so much by the time he arrives in tokyo, to then be put into a dusty old attic like a spare part would absolutely fit in with ren's own perception of himself at that stage. it would be almost too easy for him to put his own health on the backburner kinda like he's already used to it

very used to not taking up space, 'not being a bother', and then sojiro really reinforces this message when ren first gets to leblanc- so when ren inevitably gets ill a month into his probation, it's already doomed for maladaption

tokyo would be such a breeding ground for sickness compared to the countryside, and ren just doesn't have the consitution to deal with it. the dusty attic and poor eating habits don't help matters, and then we have the stress of kamoshida and the metaverse?? ren is not having a Good Time™

at first it's something he thinks he can shrug off, and is adamant that ignoring it is the way to go. a cold, it's nothing, he can handle this alone, no need to bother anyone else with it.

inevitably, he gets worse, because that's what happens when you don't rest and let yourself recover. a tickly cough becomes a tightness in his chest, mild congestion shifts into an attack on his senses and blurriness- but maybe that's the dizziness. he's not really sleeping, either.

it's something that's becoming increasingly difficult to brush off and hide, he even relented to finally getting some medicine (nothing as strong as he needs by this point, that would eat too much into his limited funds, but some painkillers to take the edge off). once or twice he's tempted to stay off school, at morgana's insistence, or a too close call where he definitely blacked out for a minute, but then sojiro's voice will ring in his head 'i won't be the one looking after you if you get sick', 'your parents got rid of you for being a pain in the ass', and all his worst insecurities come rushing back and he's resolved to deal with it on his own

meanwhile, futaba's been making use of her hidden audio bugs- normally they're a comfort for her in the daytime, but since the new kid- ren- has been staying at the cafe (part-timer her ass, how gullible does sojiro think she is?!), she's been listening more frequently. when ren gets sick, she figures it out quickly.

time goes on, he's not getting better- he's actually getting worse- and futaba starts to wonder if she's the only one who knows

(there's something in his sharp contrasts- the quiet kid who shuffles through the cafe and takes sojiro's scolding, to the coughing kid who cries into the silence of night when he thinks there's nobody there to see it- that stabs through her numbness. it feels like a companion to her own ghost)

one night she swears the kid gets up to be sick, and there's hardly any sound heard from the attic all night. if nobody's gonna help ren, then she will (futaba used to like helping, once upon a time).

she texts sojiro the next day, when ren doesn't say anything again, and goes off to school with what she bets is a fake assurance on his face

and you're so right, sojiro dismisses her concern really easily, claims the kid can 'take care of himself' and he won't 'baby' the part-timer. insists ren needs to learn some disipline, then maybe he'll stay out of trouble

frustration wells in futaba- if she was less fixated on what was going on with ren, she'd register it's one of the first changes of mood she's had for months- and she responds with nothing but an audio clip, an attached explanation that this is just from the past few days- it's been going on for weeks, then she waits, and hears the distant sound of her compilation through one of the bugs, a hitched breath from sojiro, curse words under his breath-

for all his earlier postulating about not helping ren if he gets sick, sojiro is immeditely struck with a pang of concern- it sounded bad, and if futaba's words were anything to go by, this had been going on for a while. the kid's at school now (at school, being as ill as that and he was still going to class-), so sojiro will talk to him when he gets back. there's a chance he goes a bit too over the top, between the variation of medicines he purchases, supplies he grabbed from home- if you accused him for over-compensating after maybe being too harsh on the kid in the beginning, you'd be right

and you just know ren would be so resistent at first to help, or even just the offer of staying off school. in his sickness-induced fugue, ren's filter-less in rattling off how he can't stay off, what will the students and teachers think, and he has work that afternoon, and a test soon, and he doesn't want to get in the way-

sojiro's heart just shatters

this kid, whose been silently carring the weight of the world and has apparently been falling to pieces for weeks now and sojiro didn't even notice?

(a part of it reminds him too much of the other kid he's got at home, the countless ways he's already failed futaba, and now ren too? he feels useless)

sojiro focuses on what he can do, and that's making the kid rest. work will understand, school can wait, ren isn't an inconvenience, he guides the kid to bed, calls takemi immediately (who rushes over, despite the fact she's technically closed at this hour, and refuses to take any payment),

even still, there's this stilted awkwardness between them when the quiet pushes on too long- they hardly know each other, afterall. sojiro is still figuring out the 'caring for kids' thing, and ren isn't familiar with any kind of parental affection, so some of sojiro's care veers a bit too close to clinical or mechanic, and ren still struggles to communicate what kind of help he needs, but it's enough for now.

for now, sojiro is there. he's trying, and at least ren's getting some colour back on his skin. for now, ren's willing to take a few days off and have some medicine, but he's over-apologetic and definitely tries to make up for his sickness once he's healed. it's gonna take them both a while yet, but luckily there's always their guardian hacker, ready and able to call them out when needed (and maybe some day she'll be able to keep an eye on ren and sojiro in person)

#ask #also the idea of it being futaba who first realises going on?? developing hers and ren's bond before they even meet??#june i love your brain have i ever mentioned #such a gem even when it h u r t s (which is obviously only ever ALWAYS <3)#us : *sees angsty p5 game content* it's free real estate!#i want ren to have a HUG and REASSURANCE and also a bowl of soup #instead he gets dusty attic and milk-crate bed and instant noodles he packed for emergencies :c #persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 headcanons #ren amamiya #futaba sakura #sojiro sakura #oh also also!! imagine how sojiro might feel about his early-game behaviour by late-game/post-canon??#ohhh i bet he'd hate it and there'd be so much self-blame/loathing there #parent guilt and all that good stuff y'know #futaba? seeing herself in early-game ren? ren? seeing himself in palace-futaba? sorry they make me soft and emotional your honour #i love my coffee family but i love it more flavoured with all the issues they haven't yet worked through #once again THIS WASNT MEANT TO BE SO LONG

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fritz-federleicht · 10 months

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Daisies/ Four x reader

Summary: you take photos together

Words: 808

FLUFF

Image isn't from me

"Can you take a picture of me and Y/N?"

You hear your name and look up. Your masked boyfriend IV talks to the band photographer Mick.

"If Y/N wants to." The two men turn to you. You nod hesitantly and rise.

"So that's it for today?" II asks the photographer. Actually, only band photos for promotional purposes were to be taken outdoors today. Mick nods in agreement.

II follows Vessel and III. The two didn't wait for Mick's response, but simply decided the photo shoot was over. The small group walks in your direction.

"Have fun Y/N." Says III kindly as he's only a few meters away from you. His tone tells you he's smiling under his mask.

You watch as II suddenly picks up speed and jumps on III's back, almost attacking him. The tall skinny man gives a startled grunt and almost falls over. He just barely manages to put his hands in II's knee bends to keep him in place. You walk past the three of them, laughing.

Then you look at IV. He stretches his hand in your direction. You walk a little faster and grab it.

"How do you want the photos?" Mick asks.

"You get to decide, my love." IV squeezes your hand. You look into his beautiful ocean blue eyes. An idea pops into your head.

"How about you just take a picture of our eyes." You look back and forth between the two grown men. "So that just barely one half of our faces is visible. We can just lie down in the grass." You look at Mick, waiting.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I can do anything. You just have to say what you want."

"Okay, what do you say?" You turn to IV.

His eyes are full of enthusiasm. "That's a good idea."

So after you decide on this position you go to a green meadow, it's overflowing with white daisies. You lie down between them.

IV settles down next to you and leans on his elbows. You grin and look at his face that is now hovering over you.

"The flowers make you shine." He reaches out a hand and caresses your cheek. "So pretty."

Your face heats up.

"I hate to interrupt you, but I have to get to my next client soon." Mick interrupts you.

"Sorry man." IV lies down in the grass. He moves as close to you as he can. Your cheeks touch.

"I'm going to stand over you. Just look at the camera." Orders Mick, he now has his camera in his hand.

He leans over you and takes photos. Then he leans back and stops. "Perfect. Thank you both."

IV helps you stand up. Then you walk with intertwined hands to the other members.

A day later, III writes you a message.

"The photos turned out so cute."

You write back. "What photos?"

"From yesterday. Haven't you seen the pictures yet? IV posted some on Instagram."

Immediately, you open Instagram. And in fact, he posted two pictures of the two of you.

In the first pic only your eyes are visible. The small cutout of his black mask make his blue eyes stand out even more than they already do. But that's nothing compared to your eyes. They compete with his.

You swipe to the side. The second image is shot from a higher angle. Your face is visible up to your nose. You're sure his fans still can't recognize you.

Daisies grow at the edge of this photo, they surround your profile and contrast with the mask from IV.

But what immediately catches your eye is a black spot on your cheek. It must be from IV when he touched you.

You grin and read the caption.

'My little flower, your beauty will never fade, as will my love for you. I will forever be your water and the earth under your feet.'

It's unbelievable what these few lines trigger in you. Your belly fills with butterflies.

"Baby?" You call into the apartment.

"I'm here!"

You walk into the room IV's currently in. There is a big smile on your face. "I love you too." Your legs automatically lead to him.

His confused expression turns into a smile after he understands what you are talking. about "You like it?"

"Do I like it?" You ask, putting your arms around his neck. "Absolutely." You lean over and kiss his lips. "I found out through III. He likes the pictures. He thinks they're beautiful."

IV wraps his arms around your waist and kisses you again. "They're only beautiful because you're on them, my love." He whispers against your lips.

Your legs get weak. If he hadn't held you in his arms, this sentence would have made you fall to the ground.

#sleep token one shot #sleep token vessel x reader #sleep token vessel #sleep token iv #iv #iv imagine #iv one shot #iv x y/n #iv x reader #ii sleep token #iii sleep token #ii #iii #vessel #sleep token x reader #sleep token #sleep token x y/n #vessel x reader

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jeannereames · 2 months

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Do you think Alexander and Hephaistion are similar to Achilles and Patroclus? I know that the comparison was later exaggerated and that we can't be sure of the Hephaistion-Patroclus comparison, but Alexander sometimes compared himself to Achilles so perhaps he once compared Hephaistion to Patroclus. My point is that I think that if the comparison was exaggerated it was for the reason that they look alike, I have even seen several people say that they are similar to each other or that Alexander and Hephaistion reminded them of Achilles and Patroclus, so I wanted to know your opinion on whether you think they look alike or not.

I'm not asking about the historical basis of this comparison, I'm asking about whether Alexander and Hephaistion are similar to Achilles and Patroclus, thank you so much :)

Are Alexander and Hephaistion similar to Achilles and Patroklos?

NO.

And for one very important reason. Achilles and Patroklos are fictional characters, Alexander and Hephaistion were real people.

As for whether they looked alike...we have no idea. Period. Full stop.

Yes, I know that will probably annoy, and possibly even alienate the asker, but it’s uber-important.

Achilles and (even more) Patroklos are 2-dimensional in Homer because he needed them as symbols. Patroklos has ONE primary purpose: to die. Plus a secondary purpose as the voice of compassion in contrast to hard-hearted Achilles.

Stop thinking of Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles, and “Patrochilles.”

Reducing Alexander and Hephaistion to Achilles and Patroklos not only oversimplifies Alexander but completely erases Hephaistion and his very real capabilities as a commander and diplomat. He becomes just “the boyfriend.” I HATE THAT.

Other than the apparent devotion between Alexander and Hephaistion, comparisons end there. Remember, Patroklos had ONE job in the Iliad…to die. And to do so 1) forgetting he’s not Achilles (hubris), but 2) heroically, earning him glory (kleos). His death sets up Achilles’s descent into inhumanity, dragging the body of his worthy opponent Hektor behind his chariot. That is low, folks. Really, really low. He’s redeemed at the end as he and Priam share grief (a human emotion from the Greek point-of-view).

Hephaistion was not a character with a plot purpose. He was a real human being.

And he did not die in battle presenting himself as Alexander. He died of an infectious disease, possibly typhoid, and possibly aggravated by not following his physician-prescribed diet.

When Alexander visited Troy at the outset of his campaign, he made a lot of symbolic gestures that recalled Homer. Only one was to sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, while maybe Hephaistion sacrificed at Patroklos’s. Both of which were not real graves because Achilles and Patroklos were not real people. Yet in the ancient world, even if/when the ancients questioned the gods as described in myth, they rarely/never questioned the heroes. For more on this, check out Paul Veyne’s Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?

But again, Alexander made numerous symbolic gestures when he landed at Troy. He was trying to frame his campaign in an epic tradition dating back to Homer. If he’s the New Achilles, he needed a New Patroklos. It was marketing.

We get NO other such comparison in our sources until Hephaistion died. Then Alexander aped Achilles’s mourning much like modern bereaved use the Bible or poetry to express the deep pain they’re feeling. Certainly, during their lives, they were NOT thinking that Hephaistion would predecease Alexander! It’s only after he did that these comparisons were made…and it’s more general than specific. Again, Hephaistion didn’t die in combat or while pretending to be Alexander.

So while I know the asker wanted me to compare them in themselves, that’s literally impossible. Like comparing apples to oranges. Fictional people to real people.

Alexander and Hephaistion were not big Patrochilles’ fans. I’m sorry to burst that romantic bubble, but I prefer to think of Hephaistion as more than just Alexander’s boyfriend and destined to die. He was one of Alexander’s leading commanders, and chiliarch at his death.

Let’s let him be that, okay?

(Sorry that all this probably reads snarky, but it’s something I feel rather strongly about. I hate seeing Hephaistion reduced to Alexander’s sidekick and romantic love-interest. He was much, much more.)

#asks #Patrochilles #Alexander the Great #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Madeline Miller #The Song of Achilles #alexander x hephaestion #alexander x hephaistion #Classics #Homer #Achilles #Patroklos #Patroclus

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monstersinthecosmos · 7 months

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So I'm a newbie in the VC universe that discovered the books only a few months ago through the series and I have a question regarding Louis character so I came here because I believe it's a safe space for that. Well, to begin with, I'm not really into the vampire lore before so the show was okay to me and since I'm more of the reading type, I plan on reading the books after watching the movie too because I kinda like the aesthetic of that century. And oh gosh, that was the best decision I ever made because I am madly in love with it especially with Louis whom I find so relatable, but then that's when I realised that though I find myself relatable in Book Louis, that never came across me with Show Louis and I wonder what could be the main reason for it. Is it my lack of understanding the story in the show or the show doesn't show me the side of that Louis? I suppressed this thought for a long time because of the constant fandom war going around regarding the book vs movie vs show on Twitter and I only upload Tumblr not long ago so I really got no one to ask at that time. Sorry if my question is hard to understand/lacking in any sense, I'm not really good in voicing out my thoughts.

Hi! So like, TLDR; they are two completely different stories and two completely different sets of characters that happen to share names. I don't think it's a big mystery that one resonates with you and the other doesn't, that's just how it goes! And I hesitate to compare & contrast the two canons too deeply because I don't need any drama lol. But I'll try to parse some of this: I don't think you're missing something in the show. Unless I missed it too. 😅 But truly the show has a completely new character, and while I think they have some things in common, and I definitely really SAW LOUIS a couple times, they really aren't the same. And even in moments where I think I see Louis (ie: thoughtful, brooding, spiritually tortured) I think some of the decisions the show made to change the story just really narratively don't work for the book character. I really think these two pieces are best enjoyed as completely unrelated series, because we can tie ourselves in knots trying to make the book fit what we're watching, and vice versa, and every character on the show is essentially an OC. Of all the characters we've met on the show, I don't think ANY of them feel like the book counterparts. (Lestat is the worst offender for me personally LOL.)

The book I think also is about grief and Anne Rice often discussed using "the vampire as the other" as a means to write stories about feeling isolated. I think that's a huge reason why the books are so successful and why they reach so many people! It's such a broad theme and using vampires as a symbolic conversation means that we can make it about anything when we're reading. And especially like IWTV being written IN GRIEF I think makes that theme so so powerful like not just the pain but like, how disorienting it is, how lost you feel, how small and powerless. And feelings of grief come up over and over in the series, and not just literally about people, but about the sun, about life, about things we lose when we're forced to go on without. And I don't think the show really got into that topic; even using vampirism as a conversation the timeline of the canon is so short it doesn't really stick the landing. We get some brief glimpses of the life Louis had before, but by the end of the season his family is still alive. Barely any time has gone by. If this will be sort of an overarching theme over the longevity of the whole series we shall see, but tbh S1 was so absolutely unrecognizable to me as a book fan that I'm not super interested in following up lol. You'll have to get back to me in a few years and let me know how it went. 😂

ANYWAY. I outsourced this ask to a couple friends because admittedly I've never been a huge Louis fucker so some of the show changes were lost on me and I hesitate to speak deeply on either version of him for that reason but!

@somevagrantchild says: [...] the tv show created a whole new character in Louis’s place, in a different century with different values and a different background that gave him his own unique personality and struggles that are very different from book Louis. Which means the decisions and choices he makes are also very different as well as the way he relates to Lestat.

An example is show Louis using his vampire powers to get revenge on people from his mortal life vs book vampires becoming detached and not caring about those things anymore Also show Louis being selective about who he kills (coming up with the evildoer idea on his own) vs book Louis just never wanting to know, so being the most indiscriminate killer of them all @covenofthearticulate says: i mean god the whole goddamn point of louis' character is that he only really values humanity after losing it, so after being turned he's like desperately grappling to find some sense of humanity and identity and goodness and i think that's something that resonated with a lot of readers who feel Othered………whereas the show gave him vampire powers that were basically an excuse for gore porn and weird revenge power fantasy @covenofthearticulate also wrote this post (in her @sangcreole blog) about the decision to have Louis kill Lestat rather than Claudia and I think it sums up a lot of the dissonance as well.

Anyway yeah the fandom can be a nightmare about this topic because I think people can be very defensive and emotional, and unfortunately there's a lot of cult behavior and bullying when people step out of the party line, and it makes it difficult to discuss these as two pieces of media which are different from each other, without saying that one or the other is bad. And we all relate to characters differently, and for random reasons, and we often DO NOT PICK OUR BLORBOS LOL, so like it makes sense that a book character might resonate with you when the TV character didn't, because they aren't the same character, and they are acting from different backgrounds, they are being used for completely different narrative functions, and their relationships to the people & places & centuries around them are totally different stories.

#vampire pajama party on amc

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tempenensis · 11 months

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hi Lele-san, im interested in your interpretation of Geto’s downfall.

so obviously, he was traumatized, but what I find interesting is his and Gojo’s rivalry and what part it played in his life. the way i see it, before purple, Gojo and Geto, on a surface level were similar in stats (but Gojo seemed more capable even then) and I guess you could call them rivals. though Gojo is leading, I think. but sure, rivals. and after Toji, that all changed really fast. suddenly the difference in Gojo’s and Geto’s powers was significant and very visible.

so what I understand happened is that Geto suddenly became aware of just how much they weren’t rivals(?) i think that is emphasized by: Gojo demonstrating Limitless to Geto and Shoko; Nanami saying that the jujutsu world could just send Gojo to do everything; Geto’s famous parting words to Gojo. and after that he felt utterly useless, and decided to go his own way, try to complete a task he knew was impossible, and gather followers- which made him feel powerful and capable. of course, there is the morality point: how unneeded and unnecessary the regular people are and yada yada. you get the main gist.

if I’m correct, Geto’s feelings were: desperation, sadness and jealousy- but then, the popular interpretation of the whole manga is that Geto did it all for Gojo? like, because the jujutsu society used Gojo for everything, Geto wanted to make Gojo’s life easier? i don’t get that. am I wrong? did I interpret the whole arc incorrectly?

Hi, hello, anon. This is interesting question.

Firstly, I wouldn't actually call them rivals, as they didn't try to compete with each other. In the flashback arc, they are introduced more like two sides of a coin; similar in strength but with contrasting views. While Gojou thought of being a jujutsushi is like a troublesome job, protecting the weak, Getou thought of it as a duty - "with great power comes great responsibility" actually painted his view well during this time.

"survival of the weak", that's how an ideal society should be. helping the weak and keeping the strong in check. listen, Satoru, jujutsushi exists to protect non-jujutsushi

Rather than Getou realizing how much of NOT rivals they were, I think the situation is more complex. But it boils down to the unfairness of jujutsushi system. Riko was very important to them and they protected her risking their life; her death was brushed aside when Tengen can be stabilized even without her. Haibara was a close friend, and his death just meant that he wasn't strong enough, he can be replaced by other jujutsushi - hence Nanami said that Gojou should and can handle everything by his own. As he realized this unfairness, Gojou growing stronger feeds into his insecurity - that only the strong is needed in the jujutsu society. It is the opposite of what he believed, that the strong must protect the weak. However, all he saw is that their death, at the end of it, were meaningless for the jujutsu society.

And then when he met Yuki, he learned that cursed spirits exist only because of non-jujutsushi who jujutsushi supposed to protect with their lives. And this means that the cursed spirits are infinity compared to jujutsushi that sacrificed their lives. Everything that they did, doing, will be done, is just meaningless in front of such unending force. This is why he keeps insisting on "meaning".

And all this is what drove Getou to finally go his own way, with the aim to reshape the society.

And to reduce this... complex idea that shape the core of Getou's character to just "for Gojou".... I'm sorry, I can't accept that, as Getou is one of the more complex characters in the series, with one of the best character developments.

#le-ask #jjk #getou suguru #jjk manga spoilers #eta forgot about the meaning

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script-a-world · 11 months

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Hi, I'm struggling to worldbuild a dystopia since I normally write fantasy. I'm not sure what to include in worldbuilding. Could you help me by suggesting what you'd include in dystopia worldbuilding or link me a dystopia worldbuilding template?

sorry for the awkward phrasing!

Utuabzu: The first, and perhaps most important thing to keep in mind is that both dystopia and utopia are literary devices for critiquing current society. The most successful dystopias had something to say about the culture they were written in. 1984 was written during a period of high censorship, in WWII Britain, and couldn't be published for several years after it was finished because it was considered potentially upsetting to the USSR, which was at the time an ally of the UK. The Hunger Games was written in the 2000s as a critique of the vast amount of reality tv shows and the pointlessness of the Iraq War.

The spray of frankly forgettable YA dystopia novels written in the late 2000s-early 2010s were forgettable because while they had the aesthetic of dystopia, they didn't really have anything to say about our current world. They weren't based on anything other than 'hey, wouldn't it be messed up if-', which just doesn't stick in your head like a dystopia that takes something in our current society and follows it to its logical, awful extreme. The Handmaid's Tale works because it takes the rise of Christian Fundamentalism and its inbuilt misogyny to the logical extreme, and given current events in the US that really resonates.

You also need to consider practicalities. People can live their lives in awful situations. In every dictatorship, no matter how oppressive or dysfunctional, people were still living their lives. Oppressive régimes collapse when the citizenry is no longer able to live their lives. Specifically, when the people upholding the régime are no longer able to get by day-to-day. Revolutions, to paraphrase Victor Hugo, ultimately, are always about bread. Ideals like freedom and justice and equality are just a nice bonus.

If you want your characters to be opposed to the system, you need to ask yourself why they're against it. People don't set themselves against an all-consuming society just for fun. Not really. They might play at being a rebel if there's little real consequence, but if there's serious consequences then most people will keep quiet until the system starts failing.

Common reasons for turning against the system could be falling through the cracks and seeing the hypocrisy of the ruling ideology, being the victim of the injustices of the system, having something to gain from the régime's fall. Or they could be part of an underclass that doesn't benefit from the system in any real way but is too beaten down to resist, in which case you need to ask what made this character's life under the system unbearable, when the rest of their group's life is terrible but bearable enough.

So, my checklist would be:

What is the dystopia critiquing? What does it want to say?

How does this work in practice? What do the people upholding the system gain from this? How is the system being upheld? Why are people putting up with this?

What are the system's flaws? What hypocrisies are in the underlying ideology? Why are most people not noticing them?

Why are characters against the system? What made them turn against it?

Is the dystopia going to collapse or endure? If it's going to fail, why and how? If it's going to endure, why and how?

Tex: To compare and contrast genres a bit, let’s look at J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth series (1930s to 1960s, ish) and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia (1940s to 1950s). These are major establishments for the modern interpretation of the fantasy genre, but also contained many dystopic elements as a part of their narrative.

Dystopia in Tolkien’s works was featured as the aftermath of terrible tragedy, and the people who lived in the times following it - the falling of great cities and civilizations brought a downfall of peace, economic stability, and certainty in the future. There are as many characters that lived in the times transitioning period that an apocalypse incurs as those who have never known the heights their world had reached in terms of prosperity.

Dystopia in Lewis’ works was used as a parallel - the main characters are children that came from a London in the middle of war and the accompanying poverty and existential fear, where the fantastical world of Narnia occupies a narrative place of distance that allows the characters to see a world equally as devastated but whose devastation occurred, comparatively, in the far past. The trauma that the characters have from living in a dystopia allows them the skills needed to navigate the fantasy world and bring about several critical plot points that allow the story to progress.

In a way, dystopia is the inverse of fantasy, where time is make-believe. The difference is that the past is perceived with different forms of wistfulness - in a fantasy it is romantic, in a dystopia it is tragic. Both are full of speculation and yearning for simpler times, but full of emotion of what could have been, and what could still be.

Because of this, there is no formula for a dystopia, as it is a genre built upon other genres that borrows others’ tropes and gives them a bit of a twist from a removed perspective.

#worldbuilding advice #dystopia #rainbowpitofdoom

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mariana-oconnor · 5 months

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The Lion's Mane pt 1

Merry 26th December, hopefully you're all having good winters so far. Strangely, I was a little busy yesterday, so we're still playing catch up. Lol.

It occurred after my withdrawal to my little Sussex home, when I had given myself up entirely to that soothing life of Nature for which I had so often yearned during the long years spent amid the gloom of London.

OK, so I knew that this was going to be Holmes' retirement, obviously, but also comparing and contrasting this statement with his previous diatribe about the evil lurking in the countryside, insidious and unseen, is very strange. Has he suddenly lost his aversion to the bucolic scenery and isolation that make such crime go easily undetected? Or has he perhaps decided that as long as he isolates himself sufficiently, he won't have to deal with them.

As it is, however, I must needs tell my tale in my own plain way, showing by my words each step upon the difficult road which lay before me as I searched for the mystery of the Lion's Mane.

Firstly, the lengthy paragraph you have provided so far is anything but plain. Secondly, I think there might be a plant called Lion's Mane... is that what this is about?

Research has informed me that I am wrong. There is a plant called Lion's Tail, which is quite pretty, but there is a mushroom called Lion's Mane, so maybe that's what this is about.

Fingers crossed everyone gets high. But I suspect they won't be the fun kind of mushrooms, just the murder kind of mushrooms.

My house is lonely. I, my old housekeeper, and my bees have the estate all to ourselves.

I feel very sorry for the housekeeper in this arrangement. Imagine having only Holmes and some bees for company. Not that Holmes is bad, necessarily, but you've got to admit you'd need something to break up your exposure to him.

There's a lot of swimming going on here in the beginning. I'm not surprised that Holmes swims, because honestly the idea of there being any activity that Holmes hasn't tried is weirder to me, but there is a lot of swimming.

Fitzroy McPherson was the science master, a fine upstanding young fellow whose life had been crippled by heart trouble following rheumatic fever. He was a natural athlete, however, and excelled in every game which did not throw too great a strain upon him. Summer and winter he went for his swim, and, as I am a swimmer myself, I have often joined him.

Here we see the difference between Holmes' narration and Watson's. If this were Watson describing him, Mr McPherson would have had at least another two sentences dedicated to his toned physique and golden looks. Perhaps this is what Holmes meant by 'plain'?

At this moment we saw the man himself. His head showed above the edge of the cliff where the path ends. Then his whole figure appeared at the top, staggering like a drunken man. The next instant he threw up his hands and, with a terrible cry, fell upon his face.

I get that this is probably him dying and as such it's dramatic, but at the same time, it's a little amusing... y'know? There is a touch of the slapstick about it.

One glimmer of life came into his face for an instant, and he uttered two or three words with an eager air of warning. They were slurred and indistinct, but to my ear the last of them, which burst in a shriek from his lips, were "the Lion's Mane." It was utterly irrelevant and unintelligible, and yet I could twist the sound into no other sense.

The weird thing is why would he know he'd been poisoned my lion's mane mushrooms if he had in fact been poisoned by them. To know the specific type of mushroom would be weird because if you knew what it was, you wouldn't eat it.

Is there a lion's mane jellyfish? I feel like I remember a lion's mane jellyfish as well. That would go with the swimming, and also would make sense. Jellyfish are nasty.

Oh, yep. One quick search also shows that there's a lion's mane jellyfish, which is also kind of pretty - sadly that probably means its extremely deadly.

The prettiest things are always the deadliest when it comes to animals. Alas, blue-ringed octopus, the forbidden friend.

woe.

Then he half raised himself from the ground, threw his arms into the air, and fell forward on his side. He was dead.

And we're back to slapstick again. Throw your hands in the air like you just don't care (that you're dying).

The man was dressed only in his Burberry overcoat, his trousers, and an unlaced pair of canvas shoes.

So, ready for a night clubbing, got it.

As he fell over, his Burberry, which had been simply thrown round his shoulders, slipped off, exposing his trunk. We stared at it in amazement. His back was covered with dark red lines as though he had been terribly flogged by a thin wire scourge.

I feel like I've cheated by looking up the jellyfish. Sorry. I just half remembered hearing about a jellyfish with a name like that and since it didn't seem like mushrooms made sense...

Yeah, I'm 100% on jellyfish now.

But has a crime been committed? Did someone deliberately lure him into a (what's the collective noun for a group of jellyfish? A children's party? -- a bloom or a fluther, apparently) bloom of jellyfish. Or did someone release their fluther of pet jellyfish out into the bay knowing that Mr McPherson would be swimming there?

Or is it all just a horrible accident?

...we found that Ian Murdoch was by our side. Murdoch was the mathematical coach at the establishment, a tall, dark, thin man, so taciturn and aloof that none can be said to have been his friend. He seemed to live in some high abstract region of surds and conic sections, with little to connect him with ordinary life.

I get that I'm supposed to be suspicious of this man, but I know enough mathematicians and have done enough maths myself that I immediately love him and will not hear a word against him. Even if he did deliberately release an entire fluther of deadly jellyfish into the sea to attack Mr McPherson, I am sure he had his reasons. They would have been entirely logical and well thought out and he could back them up by showing his working.

On one occasion, being plagued by a little dog belonging to McPherson, he had caught the creature up and hurled it through the plate-glass window

OK, no. I hate him now.

Giving mathematicians a bad name. Shame. SHAME!

What is with the dog abuse in these stories? Holmes and John Wick should have a team-up.

"Were you with him? Can you tell us what has happened?"

"Well, I constructed a catapult and then hurled jellyfish at him..."

The latter fact proved that he had made all ready to bathe, though the towel indicated that he had not actually done so.

Or, when emerging from the water covered in jellyfish stings, he decided that drying himself off was less important than finding help. Maybe. Possibly.

And the reason for his change of purpose had been that he had been scourged in some savage, inhuman fashion

Emphasis on inhuman.

Who had done this barbarous deed?

Good luck getting the cuffs on the perpetrator.

Stackhurst was, of course, still there, and Ian Murdoch had just arrived with Anderson, the village constable, a big, ginger-moustached man of the slow, solid Sussex breed—a breed which covers much good sense under a heavy, silent exterior.

That's closer to a Watsonian description, but honestly, it's not insulting enough.

I will be there, you may be sure. MAUDIE.

Alas, poor Maudie, she knew him, Holmes.

...nothing had been found in the small caves below the cliff, but he had examined the papers in McPherson's desk and there were several which showed an intimate correspondence with a certain Miss Maud Bellamy, of Fulworth.

Also alas, poor Maudie, her private letters are being read by random guys she's never met. Let's hope they weren't too intimate.

Reasons not to be murdered: people look through all your stuff. Yikes.

"Ian Murdoch held them back," said he. "He would insist upon some algebraic demonstration before breakfast. Poor chap, he is dreadfully cut up about it all."

We're definitely supposed to suspect Mr Murdoch, puppy pitcher. Not sure how he'd commit murder by jellyfish though. I'm guessing my catapult idea wouldn't be ideal, and if you're going to release a bloom of jellyfish you've got to first keep the jellyfish somewhere. Does he have a saltwater aquarium in his rooms?

"I seem to remember your telling me once about a quarrel over the ill-usage of a dog." "That blew over all right." "But left some vindictive feeling, perhaps." "No, no, I am sure they were real friends."

I've never had a dog, but I feel like if someone got mad at you and then threw your dog through a window, you'd be kind of vindictive towards them. One might even suggest vengeful. I went up to check if it was through an open window or literally through glass and it says 'through a plate glass window', which implies that there was a certain amount of smashed glass involved. I'm not sure how you get past that. Clearly Mr McPherson didn't care very much about his dog, either.

Fuck 'em both, I guess.

"Some human hand was on the handle of that scourge, if indeed it was a scourge which inflicted the injuries."

Ah yes, a human hand.

Yeah, I definitely spoiled this one for myself. If they do manage to come up with a way for it to be murder rather than misadventure, I'll be impressed. Jellyfish catapult is always a possibility.

#Letters from Watson #The Lion's Mane #Sherlock Holmes #long post

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