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#the tension may be high but the chemistry is still there
non-sims · 10 months
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“I need a life.” ...
Will they or Won’t they  |  Chrono
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RAI: Lulu, Duke. Matt is finally out of the house.
RAI: I know I know, you two are going to miss him, giving you guys extra treats. You didn't think I knew huh.
Lulu & Duke *just staring at Rai*
RAI: …I need a life. Come on, let's go for a walk.
*Duke not moving from his spot*
RAI: Huh? You don't wanna go? Fine, we'll be back soon.
[25 minutes later]
RAI: You ready to go back home Lulu? It's hot today.
BRUNO: …Excuse me. 
RAI: Yes- *stunned* Bruno?!
BRUNO: Hey...Rai.
BRUNO: It's been a while hasn't it.
RAI: Yeah…it has.
BRUNO: Is it okay if I sit beside you?
RAI: Yeah, of course.
BRUNO: So are you still making music?
RAI: Not as much, but yeah sometimes.
BRUNO: That's good, I would love to hear some.
RAI: ...
BRUNO: You look good by the way, have you been working out?
RAI: I've been playing a little bit of basketball on & off.
*Lulu barking at Rai*
BRUNO: Who is this little pup?
RAI: Lulu.
BRUNO: *petting the dog* Hey there little lulu.
RAI: I got another one back at home too. His name is Duke.
RAI: …
BRUNO: You stopped messaging me.
RAI: Life got busy…
BRUNO: Guess you can say the same for me as well.
RAI: You could've told me that, instead of me thinking that you ghosted me. For almost a year.
BRUNO: You also could've done the same.
RAI: *sigh* So that's how we doing this?
RAI: What are you doing in the valley.
BRUNO: Finally visiting.
BRUNO: Could we go back to your place and talk more privately.
RAI: *scoffs* Sure, why not. ...
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suugarbabe · 9 months
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Unexpected | m.r x reader
prompt: Hii! How are you? This is my first time sending an ask and I just wanted to say that I love your writings! May I ask for a enemies to lovers with Mattheo Riddle? The reader is from the golden trio and they get into an argument with a lot of chemistry and tension. Thank you and I'm sorry for my bad english.
maybe enemies to lovers, like they hate each other and then realize that they are soulmates and then have to figure out what to do. some angst but ends i fluff please 
word count: ~3.8k
warnings: slight angst feeling, fluff, e2l, soulmate trope, some heavy petting
an: so there's no argument like the prompt asks (sorry) but when I started writing it just kind of flowed out this way so hopefully it's still okay.
“Go on, show us again,” Ron Weasley was shaking a turkey leg in your general direction, asking to see the words that appeared on your arm this morning. In the wizarding world, on the day you were going to properly meet your soulmate, the first sentence they speak to you, excluding their name, will appear on your forearm in their handwriting. 
It was incredibly annoying to you that Ron and Hermione got this mess out of the way the first day on the bloody train. To your and Harry’s amusement, neither were originally excited about the match, but after the chaos that ensued for the four of you by the end of that year they were inseparable. Nothing brings two people closer than tragedy. 
Things got even more frustrating for you when Harry and Ginny realized they were soulmates, leaving you the lone wolf in your foursome. Entering your sixth year this year you were hopeful that maybe you would finally be able to find out who your soulmate was, roughly three fourths of those leave Hogwarts knowing who they’re intended to be with, and you would rather Avada Kadavera yourself then leave your seventh year soulmateless. 
You grabbed the sleeve of your jumper, tugging it up to your elbow, sticking your arm out in the middle of the table for your three friends to view. There on your arm read a singular sentence, do I intimidate you, love?
Hermione sat back on the bench, “His handwriting really is awful, whoever he is.” You scoffed at your friend, “Not exactly my biggest concern, Mione. More worried about why he thinks he would intimidate me? Who would even think that? By this point in our school life you’d think any of us were more intimidating than the majority of the student body.” 
“Yeah, except Slytherin,” Harry snorted, Ron following with his own round of laughter. But you weren’t laughing, you were looking at Hermione who was sporting the same grimace and worried eyes that you were sure your face looked like. 
Harry and Ron looked at each other, then looked at the two of you. “It was a joke, y/n/n,” Harry tried to ease the tension that was building. “Yeah, I mean, y’don't really think your soulmate might be…one of them,” Ron was anything but subtle with his tone of disgust, as well as his entire body turning around to face the Slytherin table. 
Ron’s actions didn’t go unnoticed by a particular group of Slytherin boys. “Staring problem, Weasley? Got a crush?” Malfoy shouted across the dining hall, earning laughs and teasing hollars from his friends. 
“Oi, Malfoy, got a present for you,” you stuck your hand in your school bag, pretending to roam around before pulling your hand back out and lifting it high in the air, giving Malfoy the middle finger. His face immediately turned into a scowl. The boy next to him, however, pretended to catch your gesture in the air and put it in his pocket, winking at you in the process. 
You rolled your eyes, turning to Hermione who had a look of disgust on her face, “Riddle’s ego really is massive innit.” All three of your friends' heads began to nod. “I swear if he didn’t verbalize how much he bloody hated us I would think he was flirting with you y/n/n.” 
“Shut it, Weasley, don’t you put that on me,” you pointed your finger at him, tone joking but words serious. He put his hands up in defense, laughing along with the rest of your friends as you all gathered your things and headed towards your first class. 
Unbeknownst to you, a similar conversation was being had at the Slytherin table. “Glad to see meeting your soulmate hasn’t deterred you from trying to flirt with anything that breathes,” Pansy took a sip of her pumpkin juice, teasing the curly haired boy across from her. 
“Dunno what you mean, Pans,” the dimples on Mattheo’s cheeks popping out as he smirked. 
“Show us your arm again, cousin,” Draco’s words causing everyone to look at Mattheo now. The younger boy scowled, rolling up the sleeve of his dress shirt. There on his arm, in beautiful loopy script were the words you’ve got to be fucking joking.
Theo couldn’t help but laugh, “Don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a foul word in such pretty handwriting.” 
Mattheo rolled his eyes, pulling his sleeve back down, “Yeah, well let’s just hope the bird is someone I can tolerate.” 
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You let out a long groan, hands rubbing up and down your face as you leaned your elbows on your knees . Hermione was sat next to you in the common room, rubbing up and down your back, “The day’s not over quite yet, y/n/n. It wouldn’t appear if you weren’t gonna meet them today.” 
“Yeah,” Ron put on his best attempt at an encouraging smile, “maybe they’re another Gryffindor and you’ll meet them before we go to bed.” Harry nodded next to him in agreement. 
You stood up, grabbing your jumper off the arm of the couch and throwing it on, “M’gonna go for a walk.” 
Hermione’s lips downturned, “It’s nearly curfew.” You sighed, looking over at Harry. “I’ll go get my cloak,” he sighed, standing and walking quickly to his dorm room. 
After Harry’s return you thanked him, spending an extra twenty minutes convincing Hermione that you would be the utmost cautious and affirmed to Ron that you would stash the cloak if you were to be caught. 
Now you were quietly climbing the stairs to the astronomy tower. When you got to the top, you did a quick look over the railing. With no sign of Filch anywhere you dropped the cloak, laying it on the floor so you didn’t have to sit on the bare ground. 
As you got comfortable you dug in your shirt, pulling out a spliff. Hermione would murder you if she found out you smoked, however the year you all had to study for your O.W.L’s, you were so stressed you ended up buying from Theo Nott.
He promised to keep it to himself and you promised it was a one time thing, but you found yourself buying from him every couple months. You weren't sure if she would be more disappointed in your smoking, or you interacting with someone in the forbidden Slytherin group.
You mumbled a short incendio before taking a long drag. You blew the smoke out slowly, watching it ripple through the air and up into the night sky. You looked up at the stars, knowing the day was likely to be over soon and wondering if you were the only witch that was destined to not run into their soulmate like everyone else. 
You were lost in your thoughts and self pity. So much so you didn’t even hear someone come up the tower steps until they hit the top. You scrambled to your feet, ready to cover yourself with the cloak when you realized it wasn’t Filch, but a boy instead. 
The dark of the night made it difficult for you to see exactly who it was at first, that and the fact that every time he took a step forward you seemed to take a step back until your back was against the stone wall. When he finally stepped into the light, your breath caught in your throat. Standing in front of you, signature smirk adoring his face was Mattheo Riddle. 
You stayed rigid against the wall as he got closer to you. His fingers brushed yours as he took the spliff, bringing it up to his lips and inhaling. His eyes never left yours as he turned his head slightly, blowing the smoke into the night. His eyes traveled over you, taking in your black sleep shorts and house jumper. When he looked at your face again he locked eyes with you, almost like he was trying to read what was going on in your brain. 
“Do I intimidate you, love?” The words seemed to leave his lips without a second thought and you felt like your chest was going to cave in. There was just no way, absolutely bloody not that he said those words, the words you had been anticipating someone to say all day. Him of all people that could’ve spoken them. 
He raised his eyebrows at you, clearly looking for you to answer. Instead of some sputtering response of nervousness like Mattheo was expecting, your face just dropped. 
“You’ve got to be fucking joking.” Mattheo’s face went white after you responded, and that was all the evidence you needed to confirm that Mattheo fucking Riddle was your soulmate. He hated you. You hated him. How could two people that despise each other be destined to be soulmates?
"What are you even doing up here?" You crossed your arms over your chest, sitting into your hip. His smirk only seemed to grow, "I think the better question is what are you doing up here, partaking in drugs no less? Little miss golden girl."
You rolled your eyes, "What's that supposed to mean, Riddle?" Mattheo's jaw clenched, "It's Mattheo. And you know what it means. Wonder what everyone would think if they knew little miss perfect liked to come up to the astronomy tower to get high."
"Why would anyone believe you over me?" You were acting a little cocky now, but Mattheo was right in the aspect that you and your friends were seen in an overall more positive light than he and his.
However the look on Mattheo's face made you think he knew something you didn't, "I guess I could just have your dealer tell everyone, or are you buying from someone besides Nott these days?"
He was irritating you on purpose now. You grabbed the spliff back from Mattheo, going to sit where you were before but now leaning your forehead against the railing, “This is got to be some kind of mistake.” 
Mattheo could only snicker as he went to sit next to you, hanging his arms over the raining as he looked over the grounds, “S’destiny love, no mistake about it.” 
“Thanks so much, you’re being really encouraging about this whole thing,” you rolled your eyes, holding your hand out to him. He took it from you, filling his lungs with smoke again, passing it back and forth throughout the conversation. 
Mattheo shrugged his shoulders, “At least we’re both fit.” You snorted at this, “Who said I thought you were fit?” He scoffed, “Please, I’ve seen the way you ogle me.” You found yourself laughing, a true full belly head thrown back laugh before you looked at him and he thought the smile you were wearing was actually kind of cute, “How would you know that unless you were ogling me, hmm?”
Mattheo opened his mouth to respond, but found he couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse before you were speaking again. The sigh you let out let him know how stressed you really were, “Our friends are not going to like this.” 
He nodded, smoke billowing out of his mouth as he spoke, “Merlin, no. They’re going to bloody hate it. But s’not like it was really our choice.” You knew he was right, and you knew he was trying to be comforting, but the tone in his voice let you know that he was just as worried to let his group of friends know as much as you were. 
You opened your mouth to respond to him when you heard the all too familiar jingle of Mrs. Norris’ collar sounding like she was ascending the stairs. Your eyes grew wide as you and Mattheo both jumped to your feet. It looked like Mattheo is contemplating jumping over the tower railing when you grab his arm to push him flat against the stone wall. 
He looked at you with utter confusion as you grabbed the cloak before turning around and pushing your back flush against his chest. “What are you-”
“Shut it,” you cut him off, indicating to him to wrap his arms around your waist as you threw the cloak over the pair of you. As the cat walked on to the tower landing you felt Mattheo’s arms tighten around you, doing his best to pull you impossibly closer. 
He was decently taller than you, having to duck down slightly so the cloak covered you both properly. His face was tucked in close to your neck. His breath warm and tickling your skin as Filch followed after his beloved pet, glancing around for anything out of place. 
When he was satisfied, Filch turned around to leave, letting his cat lead the way. You waited a few beats, making sure they were nearly to the bottom of the staircase before pulling the cloak off the two of you and pushing Mattheo’s hands off of your body. 
“Thing comes in handy, that,” he pointed to the cloth in your hand. You chucked, “Yeah, m’sure your lot would get a lot less detentions if you had one.” Mattheo rolled his eyes, “Yeah, we can’t all be like the golden quartet.” 
You scoffed slightly at this as you headed down the stairs, Mattheo close behind you, “We didn’t give ourselves that nickname, you know.” He couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah but m’sure you all don’t mind it. Definitely gets you some favoritism.” 
You stopped at the end of the corridor, Mattheo running into your back at the action and cursing. You turned to face him, “You know, my friends and I have endured a hell of a lot of shite over the last couple years, maybe we deserve a little break when we’re actually able to do normal bloody teenage things.” 
As much as you were trying to be harsh with him, be the slightest bit intimidating, his height gave him all the advantage. Mattheo knew what you meant, what you were saying without saying the words themselves. “I’m not like him. Don’t clump me in your same category of hatred. He’s done things to me too,” his eyes reflected a bit of hurt as he spoke and you knew he was telling the truth. 
Everyone in school assumed Mattheo was just like his father, held the same ideals and wanted the same things for the wizarding world. The look you were seeing on his face told you otherwise. Your frustration quickly fizzled, instead turning into something closer to pity, “M’sorry.” 
“Don’t be,” he deadpanned, “Let’s just get back to our common rooms.” You walked together in silence until you had no choice but to split off. You agreed to meet each other in the courtyard during lunch the next day and you were racking your brain on how you were going to break this news to Harry, Hermione and Ron.
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To say you were nervous was an understatement. When you broke the news to your friends about who your soulmate ended up being it wasn’t exactly well received. Hermione was worried, but understanding of the fact that you had no choice in the matter. Harry was upset, but again was trying his best to be mature and said he wouldn’t interfere with you spending some time with Mattheo to get to know him better. Ron took it the worst, which you wished surprised you but he did have a flair for the dramatics.
You were first waiting for Mattheo on a bench in the courtyard, but you couldn’t stop your legs from bouncing, therefore you found a place beneath a tree, attempting to read the same three lines of a book Hermione had loaned you the other day. 
When Mattheo found you and finally sat down next to you, you shut your book immediately, letting out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank Godric, you’re here.” It didn’t go unnoticed by you the way a pair of dimples christened his cheeks, “Miss me already, pretty girl? S’barely been twelve hours.” 
You shoved his shoulder lightly, trying to resist the pink that tinted your cheeks at the nickname he used, “Not at all, I’ve been sitting here for the better part of twenty minutes, mind you. Thought maybe you decided to ditch me.” Mattheo shrugged, “M’always late. You’re gonna have to get used to that. And I would never ditch you, we’re soulmates, love. You’re stuck with me for life.” 
He had a childlike grin on his face when he said that latter part and you couldn’t help the slight notion of butterflies that seemed to flutter in your stomach or the smile that appeared on your face.
All last night you thought it was going to be difficult to fall for Mattheo, but maybe the universe knew something when it paired you two together. 
“So how did your friends take the news?” You tried to keep voice neutral, but you really were worried about their responses. Mattheo leaned back against the tree, “They were shocked for sure, Draco took it the hardest. He was more worried about having to spend more time with Potter than me being with you though. Told him that would probably be more rare than he anticipated. W’bout yours?”
You nodded, “Not as bad as I thought, actually. Mione was understanding, as always. Harry was actually pretty good about it, but very skeptical. Ron actually took it the worst, but he’s just protective. Basically like me brother.” 
“How d’ya mean?” 
You leaned back against the tree yourself, shoulder to shoulder now with Mattheo. You could feel the heat radiating off of him and you wondered if his skin was always warm to the touch, “Both my parents are aurors so they travel a lot. They didn’t think it was safe for me to go with them, so Ron’s mum offered for me to stay at theirs whenever it was needed. Turns out it was needed more times than not growing up.” 
Mattheo nodded, listening intently as you spoke. You both started asking surface questions about each other; favorite color (he said black), favorite hobby (quidditch), favorite class (free period). 
When both your friend groups came looking for you after lunch period Mattheo asked if you would go to Hogsmead with him over the weekend. You agreed, finding yourself wanting to get to know more about him. Over the next two months you went to Hogsmead with Mattheo at least one day during each weekend. 
You slowly learned that his favorite candy was fizzing whizbees, having to stop at Honeydukes every trip for him to grab some. You learned that he was actually very intelligent even though he tried to seem like he wasn't, as he was passing all of his classes even though he skipped half of them. You learned that even though Draco was older than him, he felt like an older brother to his cousin. And maybe your favorite thing that you learned, purely on accident, was that if you squeeze just above his hip that he was incredibly ticklish. 
Throughout all of this you still hadn’t kissed. You kept telling yourself (and your friends) that you didn’t want to, but the more time you spent with him, the more you found yourself yearning for it. There were times of lingering touches; his hand on your lower back as he guided you into a building, his fingertips brushing yours as you walked, his leg pressing against yours while you sat next to each other in the courtyard or at the Three Broomsticks. 
Hermione, the ever observant friend that she was, noticed your shift in attitude towards Mattheo even before you did. So when she cornered you in the common room, demanding you tell her your true feelings it was almost a relief to let it all out. 
“I think I might actually like him, Mione. Like, I know that sounds like something an insane person would say, that they like Mattheo Riddle, like romantically, like someone who isn’t just some daft bimbo, but there's just so much more to him that he lets people see.”
Hermione can’t help but laugh, “I get what you mean. Harry and Ron are coming around, you know. They see how happy you look when you’re with him.” 
You tilt your head slightly at this, “What do you mean how happy I look?” 
Hermione just shakes her head with a smile, “Like you’re with your person.” You can’t escape the blush that creeps up your neck and covers your cheeks. Hermione’s giggling at you now, “Have you still not kissed him yet?” 
You scoffed, “Godric, no.” She pushed your shoulder playfully, “Well why not, y/n/n? Don’t you want to?” 
You looked down at your hands, playing with your fingers, “I mean…I think so? But he just hasn’t really…gone for it, you know?” 
She nodded in solidarity, “Oh I know, trust me. I had to make the first move with Ronald. Maybe you have to do the same thing?” 
You contemplated her words. They invaded a space in your brain for the rest of the night, then the rest of the next morning, and through dinner, and even now as you stood leaning against the railing in the astronomy tower waiting for Mattheo to meet you. 
When you heard him coming up the steps you turned only to see him with the sweetest smile on his face. “Hey pretty girl,” he greeted as he enveloped you in a hug. “Hi, Teo,” you had donned the nickname on him your third or so time at Hogsmead. He gave you a good squeeze before letting go, his arms still lingering on your waist with yours around his neck, “What’d you wanna talk about?” 
His question was innocent, no implications in his voice that he expected anything beyond you wanting to see him. With Hermione’s advice in the back of your head you knew you needed to just act, as any more talking might lead to you psyching yourself out. 
You slid your hands down from his neck, grasping lightly to the lapel of his blazer. He raised his eyebrows slightly at the action, the smallest of smirks on his face. 
Without giving yourself time to overthink you pull him into you, lips crashing against yours. He’s shocked at first, but just for a moment before he responds, walking you back until you’re pressed against the stone wall.
One of his hands slides up your body, ghosting over your stomach and the valley of your breasts before settling lightly on your neck. The implication of the hand gesture makes you whimper slightly and Mattheo takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Your hands find his hair, tugging lightly at the curls.
When he finally pulls away you find yourself chasing his lips and he smiled at the reaction. “I think I could kiss you forever,” his forehead is resting against yours, lips still so close you can feel his breath on your own. “Yeah?” you laugh a little, smile only increasing when he presses a kiss to your cheek, “Yeah, pretty girl. Forever.”
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mylovelies-docx · 11 months
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Sorry, I Love You - Part 5
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood afternoon, everyone.
:) Have fun
Plot: You and Bucky have a good thing going - best of friends that also have more than a little chemistry between the sheets. Everything is fine until you develop feelings for the man who doesn't want a relationship. What will happen when Bucky finds out?
C/W: Awkwardness, flashbacks, feels
Word Count: 1,950
Tag List: NOW CLOSED! If you'd like to keep up with this story, please follow my blog and turn on notifications! ❤️ you :)
[Prologue][Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part 4]
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This wouldn't be your and Bucky's first undercover mission together, but it would be the first one where the tension between you is decidedly not sexual. You're not even sure how well the two of you can pull off this charade since you have no idea what your chemistry is like anymore. Used to, you could do anything together, be anything together.
Not so much now.
There’s an awkwardness between you. Silences pregnant with all the things left unsaid – or should have been left unsaid. You’ll catch Bucky watching you from the corner of your eyes, always with an unreadable expression like he’s trying to figure you out again without actually asking any questions.
You can't imagine that you've changed so much in the intervening months, but Bucky makes so much progress in therapy that his confidence in himself and his personality grow by leaps and bounds all the time. 
You don’t know this new Bucky, but you wish you did. You wish you had been with him to see his growth, encourage him on. 
You’ve missed out on so much of your life by staying away from the Tower. You’d had so many plans that never came to be – no walks in the park when the flowers started to bloom, no trips to the beach on the hottest days of the year, no ice skating when the first snow fell. You kept a tab on everything that should have been on the calendar in your mind, noting all the days that had significance in the past but went uncelebrated this year.
But what’s done is done, and you have to pay for your actions – half a year away is a small price to have Bucky back in your life, even as a stranger instead of your lover. 
You’re now trying to organize your new life on the outskirts of a small town in Russia, just a few miles away from a HYDRA base. Snow was falling thick and fast as the quinjet touched down hours ago, leaving behind a pristine blanket of white outside your new home. The small, two-bedroom cottage looks rustic, but it is still nicer than most of the surrounding homes due to Tony’s influence. There is hidden technology that will help the house to stay warm in this cold climate and random high-tech appliances, lights, and other things that look normal and are anything but.
With the HYDRA base going radio silent, you may be in this little home for longer than was initially expected earlier this year. Bucky is sure that the base is still active, though.  He spent a lot of time here as the Winter Soldier, but no one has received reports from the embedded spy in recent months. This inactivity is concerning since you're no longer sure what is going on inside the building anymore.  
It would be too obvious for Bucky to go undercover inside the facility, so that leaves it up to you to infiltrate as a researcher. The spy had assured last year that no one from the facility lived in the town you’ve settled in, so it’s safe enough for Bucky to remain close by as you work.
But the small town you’ve settled in is so traditional that the only way to remain inconspicuous as a younger woman is to be connected to a man in some way – be it living with family members or a husband.
And since you don't want to be labeled an outcast or worse, Bucky is here.
Bucky is going to be a mechanic at the small family-owned shop just down the road, and his prosthesis is covered in Stark technology that makes it appear as if he’d never lost it. Bucky used to spend a lot of time fixing up old cars and motorcycles between missions, so he should really enjoy spending his days in the garage helping out the Kowalds.
Unfortunately, your background isn’t as fun. You’re a whiz when it comes to biology, so Nat cooked up a false resume full of lab work that centers around eugenics and biomanipulation – things your spy had reported the facility was actively looking into. In order to get your foot in the door at the HYDRA facility, the Avengers had to create a background so disturbing that you're not even sure if you can interview for it properly.
 You're just zipping up into your thick winter coat when Bucky walks out of the kitchen drying his hands on a dish towel.
“You headin’ out now, doll?” He asks, a small worry line between his eyebrows.
“Yup,” you answer back with a comforting smile on your face. “I need to go meet with our contact to make sure that everything is still okay.”
“Just be careful, yeah?” he tells you, slinging the towel up onto his shoulder. Today is his first day at the mechanic shop, so he's dressed in blue overalls with a small name tag stitched onto his chest. The sun is just barely rising, but he's going to be late if he doesn't hurry.
"You know me, Buck. My middle name is Safe."
"Your middle name is Trouble and you can't convince me otherwise, babygirl."
You stick your tongue out at him and blow a raspberry, holding your middle finger up in the air as you turn around and head out the door. Once out of his sight, you smile and bask in the feeling of having your friend back.
You'd missed the banter and easy wit you used to share together, so this small exchange feels like a return to normal. The awkwardness might return in time, but you hope Bucky has forgiven you enough to power through.
You trek along the deserted streets. The early hour and layer of snow on the ground seems to be keeping the townsfolk within their homes, wrapped snugly under their warm blankets. You sigh heavily and watch your breath fog in the air, the mist condensing and freezing your skin as you walk through the cloud.
You pass house after house, noticing lights turning on and the sound of hairdryers, televisions, and conversations humming in the air. Everything has a vague, indistinct quality to it, lulling you into daydreams of what their lives are like. Is it simple? Do they enjoy this cold, snowy location? Or are they also dreaming of a warm day laying in the grass in nothing but a pair of shorts and a tank top?
A memory worms its way to the surface of your mind of a day spent just like that with Bucky. 
This was only a few weeks before your friends-with-benefits situation started. It was the hottest day of the year so far, the humidity heavy in the air and making the sidewalks and parks of New York City intensely uncomfortable. Even though Stark has the Tower equipped with the latest technology, he's incapable of leaving anything well enough alone. He'd been tinkering with the HVAC and somehow short-circuited the entire system. Everyone in the Tower was miserable and cranky, choosing to avoid one another in an attempt to stave off arguments and confrontations. 
You'd been sitting in the shade of the balcony, fanning yourself as you watched all the teeny tiny people on the ground maneuver the crosswalks and traffic to get to where they were going. It was no warmer outside than it was in your room, so you chose to people-watch instead of lay there and sweat miserably on your clean sheets.
Just as some bratty kid you’d been watching chucked the ice cream he’d been yelling for only moments ago onto the sidewalk, the sliding glass doors behind you whooshed open. The sound of metal knocking against the doorframe had let you know that Bucky was the one to interrupt your spying.
Regretfully turning your neck, you felt your skin sliding wet and hot against itself. A frown marred your features as you stared at Bucky as he stood behind you, his eyes alight with mischievous glee.
“What did you do…?” You question slowly, almost afraid to know what that look was all about.
He shrugged a shoulder and smirked. “Nothing too bad.”
“BARNES!!!” a voice roared from the depths of the Tower.
You quirked an eyebrow at him and a small, disbelieving smile graced your lips. “That doesn’t sound like nothing, Buck.”
Bucky hmm’d and glanced back into the building when a CRASH reverberated from where the voice had yelled moments ago. “I was going to get out of here for a while. You wanna come?” he questioned breezily.
“And why would I want to leave when Tony’s working on fixing the AC?” you replied as you continued to fan yourself. Bucky’s eyebrows had quirked ever so slightly.
“Y/L/N!!!” 
Your hand had frozen mid-fan and your eyes widened so much that Bucky couldn’t help but laugh.
“Where’d you say we were going?” you asked as you rose quickly from your seat and bypassed Bucky at the door.
***
“You little shit!” You had laughed uproariously when Bucky finally admitted to the prank.
“What else was I gonna do?” he responded, turning his face to look at you.
Even with the intense heat that day, you and Bucky had decided to forgo the climate controlled vehicles in the garage and went instead with the fastest getaway vehicle – Bucky’s bike. The wind had whipped against your body when you held onto Bucky and watched the city fall into the distance behind you. 
He apparently hadn’t had a destination in mind, so you had ridden until cities and towns disappeared. He’d pulled off beside a barely visible hiking trail and jumped off his bike. You had followed suit and watched as Bucky pulled a blanket from inside the storage compartment on the bike. You hiked your eyebrows questioningly, but only got a grin in response. 
That’s how you had found yourself lounging on a blanket in the middle of a field with Bucky on the hottest day of the year. You’d chatted and laughed for hours until the sun had slowly faded from the sky. Out that far, the light pollution of the cities couldn’t touch the stars. You had gazed upwards, trying to draw the constellations as you remembered them.
You weren’t any good at astrology or astronomy, but the stories behind the figures in the sky captivated you nonetheless.
You laughed again and turned to face him as well. “And why’d you have to implicate me, huh?” 
“Figured it’d be more fun that way,” he had answered slyly. 
You had wound your arm up and smacked him on the stomach, your hand bouncing off of the toned muscles. He’d caught your wrist on the next swing and held it up and away from his body. You’d tried to tug it away, but his metal fingers held fast and didn’t let you go. You rolled over toward him and began trying to use your body as leverage, but you had only succeeded in pulling yourself closer to him.
You huffed and blew the piece of hair that had fallen over your eyes away and looked up at him. He’d had a look in his eyes that he hadn’t directed at you before, but you’d seen glimpses of it when he’d find someone to bring back for the night.
You can’t help but think that that moment had been the turning point in your friendship with Bucky, the moment he thought about asking you to be friends-with-benefits. Of course you’d found him handsome long before then, but that was a moment that really cemented your attraction to him. 
You didn’t have romantic feelings at the time, but you should have known they were inevitable.
Part 6
@jackiehollanderr @rabbitrabbit12321 @12345sebby @blackwood-bodecker-housewife @lauraashley93 @themorningsunshine @happinessinthebeing @nash-dara @calwitch@stany0url0calwh0res111 @pono-pura-vida @learisa @introverbatim @kentokaze @marvelogic @kaz11283
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idontknowreallywhy · 2 months
Text
Resurface 11 - Revise
Previous bits here
Um, sorry John…
<insert swirly back in time sound effect here>
🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙
John growled and swiped his organic chemistry notes off his desk. The file sailed over the bed, slammed into the wall and, inevitably, the pages popped out of the binder and fluttered all over the room.
It was useless anyway, he couldn’t focus. None of it was making sense. Chemistry made no sense. His lack of ability to THINK made no sense. Probably because his entire life, right now, made no sense. His scattered notes had more chance of putting themselves back together than his family did. But he couldn’t let himself start thinking about that.
Not now. Not yet.
John had managed to get nearly back on track over the last couple of months, after that first four weeks of agony. He’d have respected the determination, the sheer bloody-mindedness that only John ever came close to taking his title for.
John just had to get through the next 3 weeks then he could… fall apart or whatever.
He clawed at his scalp in an attempt to release the constant tension that was making his eyes hurt and to distract himself from the suspicion he already had fallen apart or whatever.
Everything was… too much. He had so much to do. And 418 hours 47 minutes in which to do it all. So much still to get in his head. Which was way too full of all of the other thoughts he couldn’t compartmentalise properly because apparently he was weak minded and about to throw everything away. And on top of all that, with Dad doing whatever he was doing with the GDF big wigs, John was expected to cook for everyone and look after the kids and generally pick up the slack Virgil had just abandoned for a five day binge of complaining of a headache and creeping around the house muttering nonsense to himself.
John was actually a little worried about that. More than a little. But he forced himself to shut it away. It would be fine… Virgil would be fine. He had to be fine. Just like John did. Was. Fine was the Tracy way. Scott was always…
No. Stop.
Later.
He dug his fingernails into his thighs, bending one of them slightly back on the thick seam of the chinos he’d been wearing for 19.7 days. Nobody had noticed. All the other pants he owned were annoying. So. Whatever.
Scott would have noticed and quietly ordered him a second pair…
His fingertip throbbed angrily.
Argh, this had to stop. None of these thoughts were a good use of time. All of it was irrelevant, except the work.
A tiny voice asked how he could possibly betray his brother’s memory by adding him to that list… he quashed it with a mental fist of steel. He’d want him to do well. He’d always been proud, cheered him on… been sat in the front row between Dad and Virgil and clapping excessively loudly as John reluctantly shuffled red-faced on to the stage at high school prize-giving...
Breathe, John.
He picked up a well thumbed tome on astrophysics… it may be a waste of time - this was easy and didn’t need revision, but he needed to stop these unproductive trains of thought. This was easier to get absorbed in.
Approximately 8.25 minutes later his focus was broken yet again by a scratching noise above him. Aaaaah. Not bats again! Please no, they gave him the creeps but it was illegal to shift the things once they took up residence. He’d have to swap rooms with Virgil. He couldn’t sleep up here if there were…
Hell, they were massive sounding bats…
John flung open the window to peer up into the eaves… Dad had blocked the hole last year so how had they got in there to…
Some sixth sense made him suspicious of the volume of the scrabbling noise overhead and he ducked his head back inside, very narrowly avoiding having his face smashed in by a falling roof tile. Closely followed by… a shoe. A big shoe.
What? It hit the ground with a thud and John squinted down at it. A boot? One of Virgil’s he was sure of it but why on earth…?
A thud overhead, a clatter, a muffled curse in a very familiar baritone and two more tiles slid past his horrified face in quick succession.
Everything in his head went grey and screechy. He rushed from through the house yelling for Dad. Screeching for Dad. It was him screeching. He had no control over his vocal cords anymore, they had short circuited with his amygdala and were bypassing all coherent thought.
There was only panic.
🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙
Thank you to @astranite for helping me voice this one better - I’ve not got inside John’s head much before, at least without EOS for him to bounce off…
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dumbistsmartass · 25 days
Text
saying something about every hatchetfield production
spoilers, some nonsense, zero consistency with what I talk about, hurriedly written text, and back Cinderella’s Castle, QUICKLY, the kickstarter ends on May 4th. Also I mostly won’t be talking about the message to take away from all of them because I plan to make that another post.
TGWDLM: the catalyst of it all, it set up many fan favorite characters. Also my personal interpretation is that the musical we watch is actually happening in canon and is being put on by Pokky/Paul. Also how much of someone’s personality remain after infection?
Black Friday: it does pretty good as our first (true) intro to the LiBs it works very well. We get more General Macnmara who quickly becomes one of my favs. It also adds a lot of my other favs to the Hatchetverse, Hanna, Lex, Ethan, and Tom
NPMD: probably my favorite of the mainline musicals. I really hate Dirty Girl tho. The musical version of Hatchet Town is better than the OST version. The characters all have really good chemistry. I love Grace as a warning about the consequences of using religion as a fear tactic, when she sinned and wasn’t instantly punished for it she decided to take matters into her own hands and became a bloodthirsty maniac. The fact we got so close to a good ending if Max hadn’t fallen is darkly funny.
Hatchetfield Apeman: I don’t know how to feel about this one, it’s an interesting story but I think shouldn’t have been the first nightmare time story as it set a bad precedent for a lot of people.
Watcher World: I FUCKING LOVE WATCHER WORLD. The horror buildup of “what the fuck is happening here?” was genuinely amazing. The idea of a paranormal amusement part made for the amusement of an elder god id so cool. I feel uncomfortable saying the work “Sniglet”
Forever and always: one of my favs, the mystery of the two Emma’s is amazing, and the twist of which Emma Paul chose is amazing. It does make me wonder tho, is Emma a robot in every timeline? Also im just gonna assume that Tinky is connected to this one.
Time Bastered: another of my favs, the way it connects with FaA and the very clever time travel writing were highlights. The Ted is The Homeless Guy twist is really clever, and the ending is tragic
Jane’s a Car: holy shit my opinions on this one is so mixed. I love the bonding of Becky, Tom, and Tim is so wholesome. I REALLY hate that scene. Also is Jane turned into a car in every universe?
The Witch in the Web: our true into too Webby. Massive lore dumbs sort of weighted it down for me but it was still good.
Honey Queen: god I love this one. The fact that the LiBs aren’t mentioned until the very end was a really good choice. Both Zoey and Linda going to any length to win was some great tension.
Perky’s Buds: I went into this one expecting it to be kinda mid, and I was right but it was on the high end of mid. Ziggy being NB and played by a real NB actor is great! The bird hive mind is genuinely kinda unnerving despite how cute they are. I personally think they should have died, then content on the rooftop with the fire would have been such a good ending, but the police showing up to arrest them packs less of a punch.
Abstinence Camp: again, one of my favs, I fucking love this one and it also has the best Nightmare Timr song. It’s a fun way of exploring the “if you have sex in a horror movie you die” trope. Grace once again gets some sort of power and abuses it.
Daddy: I have mixed feelings, it’s a genuinely interesting plot but it get pretty uncomfortable. The song at the start made me think it would be a more empathetic take on Sherman Young but it definitely fucking wasn’t.
Killer Track: what is there to say? Killer track is actually so fucking amazing, if you will watch anything from this list watch this. I’m saying nothing else
Yellow Jacket: not at all what I was expecting, but it was great! From what I heard I was sort of expecting a high school drama with Pokky doing his bullshit in the background, but I loved this too. Also the ending hurt me.
Workin’ Boys: Pokky strikes again, but I’m not sure why TBH. Motherfucker just decided to fuck with his one most loyal subject and for what?
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lurkingshan · 1 year
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I know I keep saying this but seriously, if you’re still not watching La Pluie, you need to be watching La Pluie. It just gets better and better every week.
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This show has everything y’all like:
High concept story with strong world building that is directly interrogating and wrestling with the implications of its own lore
Excellent characters with interesting flaws and believable natural conflicts between them
A capital-R ROMANCE y’all this is some real swoony shit and they are not playing
A lead couple with fantastic chemistry and high heat but emotionally grounded love scenes
A side couple with simmering tension just about to boil over and a nice little complication that provides an unusual but fun obstacle
Quirky side characters who are charming and funny and love to call our leads on their shit
Strong focus on family relationships and how family trauma affects our worldview and ability to let others in
Beautiful people shot beautifully in beautiful places - in today’s ep we went to Chiang Mai
It even has Boy Sompob on the soundtrack!!
What really gets me about this show is the honest way the characters communicate with each other. These people talk to each other, even when they are not sure the other person is going to like what they have to say. Patts and Tai may or may not be destined to be together, but what’s important is that they are taking the work of getting to know each other and building a relationship seriously, and they are both there because they want to be. The themes in this show are so interesting and the execution of the story is fantastic.
Truly can’t recommend it highly enough.
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absolutebl · 10 months
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Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:
could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.
if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!
July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time
Ended July 2023
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Step By Step
This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.
This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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La Pluie
This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.
By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.
However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD
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Jun & Jun
Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps
THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.
It’s office set,
it’s an ex idol,
everyone is pretty as peaches,
and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!
I could not be more delighted.
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Laws of Attraction
Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps
(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)
Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).
Corrupt police.
Spoiled rich kid evil.
Ambitious politician.
Tragic death.
Terrible subs.*
This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.
On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.
Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back. 
(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)
ALSO:
Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps
Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps
Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps
Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO
Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)
Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)
Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening! 
Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)
Hope this is what you wanted.
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angieloveshua · 11 months
Text
“My five starts danmei novels.” Short, well, you do know, not short reasons why I like them.
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🎋 —C Language Cultivation.
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carrd.
Programming? Cultivation? A pretty man with long hair? Fucking swipe my card— wait, I don't own a card... Anyways, you get my point!
This novel, C Language Cultivation, had all the possible elements to make it into the top of my favourite novels. Did it achieve it? Well, fellas, it is in the post for something!
Believe me, for a moment, I was crazy enough to think that studying Computer Science because of this book was a good idea of a degree (it is, but Angie is a literature girl), so Imagine how good it is.
If you're done with slow burn (I'm never done with slow burn, but there are times when I appreciate a couple who gets straight to the point), read C Language Cultivation! Dong Jun and Lin Xun had THEE tension going on from the moment they've met, and I was screaming with every single interaction.
I believe this novel had one of the best plot twists I've read in my entire life (and I've been reading since I was 10, guys, 10 years old!). I was literally staring into the wall, trying to process what I've just read. I still can't believe how it fucking played with me.
Alas, Dong Jun and I share birthdays! Do you need another reason to start reading it, like, mmm, NOW?
🎋 —Beyond The Outline.
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carrd.
Grab yourself to something because this is the second, THE SECOND novel with almost no angst (there are sad moments, but it's mostly cute) that I ranked as a five starts book. The author? Obviously, Mu Gua Huang.
You see, guys, Mu Gua Huang makes me love happiness and to be quite addicted to it. Once I started this novel, I would keep reading it until 5 a.m., and it was worth it!
Beyond The Outline has a precious message behind the hilarious and mysterious situation where two high school students, completely opposite from each other, switch bodies after being hit by lightning. I was this emoji 🥺 all the time.
I love this couple. Shao Zhan 🤧, look, I don't mean to spoil you, but he does something that I was like, “No man will do this for me never. He's the last romantic.” He's the best boy and the best boyfriend. If someone hates him, they seriously need some help.
🎋 —Alpha Predator.
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No carrd, unfortunately.
Some of you may say, “Angie, didn't you review this novel before?” And I will do it again.
Alpha Predator is the last novel of the 188男团 (if you don't know, basically, the gongs are all 188 and scummy) and the best I've read from Suida. This book basically fell from the sky for me. I was on a reading block (is that the right term in English?) and needed something that made me retake my usual reading rhythm. May I aggregate that this has been the best novel I read in 2023 by so far? It is.
As the title suggests, Alpha Predator is an ABO world where rank plays an important role in society. The ML and scummy gong (mi bebé solo estaba jugando) is an S class Alpha, which means he is the one on top of the pyramid. I love Qu Moyu, and I am willing to defend him with my life. I accept that I tweeted that he was a stupid Alpha, but we all make mistakes, hahaha.
I love QuShen. 💜 They are my favourite 188 couple, and the best, in my not so humble opinion. They admire each other, and they come to love each other despite all the misunderstandings, and that makes me 🤧.
If you like scummy gongs and trust my taste, give it a try!
🎋 —Po Yun.
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carrd.
What do we have here? My last reading, the best crime book, and the novel that made me couldn't look my chemistry teacher straight in the eye! The last point is kind of a long story that I'll tell you some other day.
Anyways, who are these sexy gentlemen? I'll introduce you to Yan Xie and Jiang Ting, the protagonists and couple of Po Yun!
I have great memories of reading this novel. I remember sending voice messages to one of my friends about this book: “Girl, you wouldn't believe what just happened...” Dalia and I agree that this is an amazing book.
I also found it quite realistic in the aspect of how much can drugs fuck up someone's life. I won't elaborate on this because it's spoiler, but you will piece a lot of things once you know about a certain character past.
As for the romance, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, WHY THE FUCK I WASN'T IN THAT WEDDING. I WOULD HAVE CRIED WHILE DRINKING EXPENSIVE WINE (I don't even like wine). They're HOT and they LOVE each other.
🎋 —First-Class Lawyer.
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carrd.
Look, maybe I wouldn't have dropped out of law school if it were as entertaining as this novel, but it wasn't in my case. Putting that new fun fact about me aside, welcome to First-Class Lawyer by Mu Su Li.
This novel is set in a futuristic environment, so Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan are not just lawyers but interstellar lawyers. Amazing, isn't it? The mystery involves the other planets, so you'll see them space-travelling to find out the truth. And if that didn't sell you, Yan Suizhi is “dead.” Yup, our main character was awakened from death and put in another body in the first chapter. As the critics (me) say, “You know the book is good when the author kills the protagonist in the first page.”
The couple, aw. Imagine having someone you could tell anything, it doesn't matter how insignificant it is, and that they listen to you and that they love you so much —that's Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi. They're also teacher × student, from those who like that kind of dynamic!
As I told you in the beginning, this is written by Mu Su Li, author of QQGK, which means it is freaking good!
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Some of you may be wondering, “Where the fuck is BAB?” I'M WAITING FOR OFFICIAL ART. 😭 HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO ART BAIT YOU IF THERE IS NO OFFICIAL ART???? /cries in it's my favourite book and it doesn't have art even though it was signed to a lot of publications
[coughs] I hope you like this pt. 4 of Angie recs! I don't know when I'll post the next, but this is my humble effort of making you read these amazing novels!
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wrxsslin-hours · 5 months
Text
A oneshot where Hunter finds out about Shawn's messy love life
a/n: I saw this art post by @seraphskater and my hand slipped. Also inspired by that one good ass fic by @tameodesza go check em out!
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Hunter Hearst Helmsley was a man of taste. He preferred the finer things in life, those wrapped in gold and silk. He had the tendency to follow around what he believed was good enough for him. This was how Shawn found himself being shadowed by the blueblood every second of the day. Shawn didn’t mind it; the hawk-nosed blonde was easy on the eyes if Shawn squinted hard enough. Hunter was posh to a fault, Shawn found out, but he didn’t complain as long as Hunter made him feel like a million bucks; it did wonders for his already inflated ego. It didn’t take long for Hunter to start pursuing Shawn for something beyond his little schoolboy crush. All it took was a bouquet as big as Shawn and toothachingly sweet words (and the dirty tricks he had to do to keep Shawn WWF Champion, but Hunter digresses).
Shawn was easy to please which was why Hunter already expected the other man’s colorful love life. What he didn’t expect was how really messy it would be.
“Wait, you dated Ramon?”
“Dated is a strong word.”
Shawn snuggled closer to Hunter’s side; his legs wrapped with Hunter’s own. He pressed a kiss on the corners of his lips, hair still tangled with the leaves and petals from the behemoth of a bouquet Hunter gave him hours ago. “You know, if you want to date me, you have to deal with my seven exes.”
Hunter sputtered, “Seven?” The smaller blonde pouted, his nose scrunched, “I’m hot merchandise, everyone wants a piece of the heartbreak kid.”
The blueblood pulled Shawn closer to his chest and Shawn was more than happy to lay on something bigger than the hotel bed pillows. “And who exactly has gotten a taste of the heartbreak kid?” Hunter asked, curious.
Shawn hummed in thought, mind scraping for all the details he may have already forgotten, “Well.”
જ⁀➴
Marty Janetty
- If Hunter had to ask Marty, the former rocker would say that he was Shawn’s first everything. First kiss, first love (Shawn begs to differ), first lay. It was only natural for them to get together after starting out as a tag team.
- The chemistry between them in the ring translated into their personal lives. Marty was the more laid-back, easygoing one, balancing out Shawn’s flamboyance. Their opposing personalities seemed to complement each other well. Keyword: seemed.
- They dated for most of their time as The Midnight Rockers. Seen each other at their lowest when sharing half a granola bar for dinner, Marty being Shawn’s shoulder when the high demands of traveling from show to show took a toll on him.
- Marty found that chasing after Shawn was way harder than chasing after tag team gold. It took him months to convince Shawn to have them share a bed, let alone to get a kiss from him. Hunter could see why.
- Marty wasn’t a dead ringer for Shawn’s taste in men. He wasn’t tall, shorter than Shawn clearly. He wasn’t big either. It makes Hunter wonder how they became an item in the first place (“He was the only guy I spent time with for more than a show,” Shawn explained, “I have needs y’know”).
- Marty had a controlling hand, easily jealous, and it left a sour taste in Shawn’s mouth. Shawn lost count of how many times they had an argument that sparked from Shawn looking at another man for longer than a few seconds. Shawn wasn’t that much of a fan of being trapped in a cage. So, it was safe to say that their relationship was doomed from the start. But Shawn let it go on anyway.
- Tension built up when Shawn was given the green light to start his singles career. He knew how Marty would react to the news, so Shawn decided not to tell him anything about it until he had to throw Marty through the barber shop window.
- Shawn broke off the relationship after that. Not much love was lost between them since there wasn’t that much to begin with. Now all their interactions involved Shawn immediately turning the other direction when they made eye contact. If it wasn’t for Diesel, Shawn’s newly hired bodyguard, Marty would’ve tormented him relentlessly, or worse: wanted him back.
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
The Sensational Sherri
- Shawn had this sugar mommy thing going on with Sherri. It was short-lived but it was the best few months Shawn’s ever experienced. She fed into Shawn’s ideas of his over-the-top ring gear and has bought him his endless array of jewelry.
- It only took Shawn to bat his lashes for Sherri to go on and convince the Million Dollar Man to give her the money to buy what Shawn wanted. From earrings to hats to luxury hotel rooms, Shawn got it all.
- The Sensational Sherri gave Shawn direction after being split from Marty and Shawn wasn’t quite sure how it would play out. But Shawn’s uncertainty was stomped out from Sherri’s experience. She raised his stock, so to speak.
- From an outsider’s view, they definitely had a thing going on. Shawn wasn’t even aware that he was in a sugar mommy relationship until a few years later.
- Shawn got pegged, 100%
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
Diesel
- The two met at a convenience store of a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Shawn saw the top of Diesel’s head poke beyond the metal shelves of liquor and soda cans, and like a moth to a flame, Shawn hunted the other down.
- He was huge, was Shawn’s first thought. All legs and muscle. The moment Shawn had to tilt his head up just to make eye contact with the man, it was over for him. Braincells gone. He wanted to climb that man like a tree.
- Shawn did the most cliché thing imaginable to try and get the other man’s attention. And it involved him “accidentally” bumping into Diesel and spilling the bottle of water in his hands. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” Shawn exclaimed in the most fake-friendly voice he could muster. “Let me buy you another one; I’m so clumsy.”
- Diesel was taken aback. Was that deep ass voice coming from that guy? Christ. He didn’t even try to fight the laugh that escaped his lips when Shawn started pawing at the wet stain on his shirt's sleeve, obviously coping a feel of his bicep.
- “You’re really tall, do you wrestle?” “I truck.”
- The blonde pouted, hand wrapped around Diesel’s arm, “You ever get lonely?” he asked, not-so-subtly. Diesel, bless his heart, was a weak man when it came to blondes. Shawn was a hundred ways of pretty, and Diesel would be stupid to refuse the other’s advances. He does get lonely, thank you very much.
- And that was how Diesel found himself with a naked blonde man sleeping on the makeshift bed in the back of his ten-wheeled truck. That post-nut clarity hits him real strong.
- They had breakfast in a diner and, through the moment of spontaneous confidence, Shawn offered him a job. A bodyguard gig. The offer left Diesel in a pause, the soggy eggs on his fork slipped and fell back on the plate with a splat. “A what?”
- Shawn’s smile widened as he nodded in a way that reminded Diesel of the bobbleheads he collected on his truck’s dashboard. “Come on Big Daddy, you got the build.” Shawn tried to convince, “Pays better too.”
- Diesel hadn’t been given that big of a decision since he made the choice to dye his hair black. His eyes traced from Shawn’s beauty mark to the skin of his chest that peeked from his too-large shirt. The silence that followed it made Shawn pout. The blonde grabbed a napkin and scribbled his number before he tucked it in Diesel’s hands. “I’m not kidding about it, y’know,” he kissed Diesel on the cheek, “Give me a call when you make up your mind.”
- Diesel watched the man disappear beyond the diner doors and he was left with his thoughts.
- It didn’t take long for Diesel to actually call him back. And Shawn was absolutely ecstatic.
- So, there he was, following Shawn to the ring and watching his new employer dance around. They got together soon after. But it was short-lived, the two decided they were better off as friends instead of lovers. The breakup ended miles better than Shawn’s last one. Good on them.
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
Razor Ramon
- Shawn thought Razor was the most annoying man alive. And Razor didn’t have any good words to say about Shawn either. They were both stubborn and didn’t know how to take “no” like proper functional adults. It only took Razor spitting his toothpick on Shawn’s lap for them to start squabbling every chance they get. Diesel became their impromptu babysitter whenever that happened.
- They had this situationship going on that confused everyone to no end. One second, they were best buddies; then the next moment, Razor was trying to choke Shawn for mocking his accent. It went on like that for most of their budding friendship. There always seemed to be this tension between the two that was heavy and pungent.
- They boned. No surprise. It was a friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached thing. They wouldn’t call themselves an item by any means. They always found themselves in bed together after every match they had. And there were no complaints from either of them. The morning-afters seemed to be the sweetest, with Shawn ordering hotel breakfast for the both of them while Razor would untangle the knots in Shawn’s hair made from the night before. It was a moment of comfortable silence, only broken by the rustle of the bed sheets and the noise of the television.
- They started being friendly the more they spent time together, and that led to Razor becoming a part of Shawn and Diesel’s ragtag crew. They made some sort of system together, having each other’s back whenever it calls for it. Best believe, the trio became everyone’s problem in the locker room afterward.
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
Sycho Sid
- Even Shawn wonders how he had the audacity to even consider Sid as a potential boyfriend. Shawn had the aching suspicion he made that decision when he was black out drunk one night.
- This all happened after an argument Shawn had with Diesel, and in a sorry attempt to make his former boyfriend jealous, he got himself a new bodyguard in the not-so-mentally there Sid.
- Shawn tried to make it work. Tried.
- But Sid was more interested in the gold wrapped around Shawn’s waist than Shawn himself.
- It was a fruitless attempt on Shawn’s part and he immediately stopped trying when Sid laughed all on Shawn’s face. The blonde can still remember the smell of his breath and it still makes him gag to this day.
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
Undertaker
- Shawn can’t even wrap his head around the idea of how he managed to convince the Undertaker to date him. He’d like to think his good looks did it for him.
- In true Shawn fashion, the blonde saw one wrestler that towered over him, and it was over. He was afraid of the Undertaker at first, but in all honesty, who wasn’t? He was an enigma. Came into the wrestling scene wearing all black, hair covering most of his face, and a tub-of-lard of a man following him around with his squeak-toy voice. Maybe Shawn’s thing for taller men overshadowed all the other red flags that said men might carry.
- Shawn didn’t believe the Undertaker was essentially a walking corpse, but after laying his head on his bare chest and hearing no heartbeat, he started to rethink his life choice. (“Okay, it was kinda hot.” Hunter made a face, “Shawn-“)
- Despite their odd pairing, Shawn and the Undertaker surprisingly hit it off. The Deadman turned out to be a gentle giant, and Shawn couldn’t help but be drawn to him. To Shawn's surprise, Taker knew a thing or two about motorcycles. Lord knows how he got into it in the first place.
- Their relationship started off as Shawn treating Taker as some sort of wall, talking on and on about anything and everything. And Taker, not knowing how to respond to Shawn's endless rants, never bothered to interrupt him. That was how Taker got up to date with the latest locker room drama, which to none of his surprise, had Shawn as the center of most of them.
- Shawn became a permanent fixture in Taker’s somewhat dreary routine. Shawn’s deep voice was a nice contrast to Bearer’s and Taker welcomed the change with open arms.
- They decided to end their relationship when Shawn realized that Taker still had some of his own stuff to figure out, particularly the brother-related ones. It was a quiet affair, both in good terms. But that still didn’t stop Shawn from talking Taker’s ear off.
- When come the time that Taker’s heart starts to beat again, he was sure that Shawn was one of the reasons for his second chance to life.
⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆
Bret Hart
- This was one of the relationships where Shawn genuinely saw himself loving Bret for the rest of their lives. They started out as friends when Bret, like the angel he was, offered some encouraging words to a still-green Shawn Michaels back in the early nineties. It meant more to Shawn than Bret realized, especially considering that Shawn was in a rather low moment in his career, unsure of how he was going to be used in the business. He’s heard of all the stories of how new talent became jobbers immediately after they debuted, and Shawn was worried he was going to be one of them. But Bret had more trust in Shawn than Shawn had in himself. The blonde can still remember how Bret complimented his form. It made the Texan blush a whole bright shade of red.
- They didn’t start out as all-out friends like what happened between Diesel and Shawn. They were acquaintances in the locker room, sharing small waves and the occasional “Nice match.” They had this unspoken respect for one another, and it continued to bloom as the years went by.
- Shawn had the tendency to fall slowly and hard. As much as he wants to deny it, his small spark for Bret was there since the very start, and it only got bigger when he entered the WWF championship scene. Shawn made a name for himself big enough to be a contender for gold. And that meant he spent more time with the Hitman.
- Their time together in the ring extended out of the ring too. It started small, sharing stories in the locker room and drinking together in bars after a show. And then they went on dates, sharing hotel rooms, and sitting next to each other during those long-hour flights.
- They shared their first kiss one random night while sharing a bottle of beer on the balcony of their shared hotel room. And it continued to something more in bed.
- It was afterward when they decided it was best for both of them if they only did hookups. Mostly because neither of them could ever bring themselves up to admit their feelings. Maybe it’s arrogance, maybe it’s a fear of commitment. Either way, they stayed casual, and it was neither of them wanted.
- They fell off like how they fell in love: slowly. They started arguing, having fights more than anything else, and it all collapsed on itself. Sometimes, Shawn would wonder what would happen if they did confess.
- This was one of the relationships that actually hurt.
જ⁀➴
Hunter stared at the ceiling, listening to Shawn’s voice fade in and out of sleepiness. The smaller man yawned, “But that was years ago,” he assured. And Hunter hugged him tighter. The blueblood smacked his lips after a stretch of silence, “They won’t just start beating up when we tell everyone of our status, would they?”
“I don’t think so.” Shawn placed a kiss on Hunter’s lips and smiled, “But I’m pretty sure Sid would beat you up just because he feels like it.”
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ofliterarynature · 3 months
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JANUARY 2024 WRAP UP
[loved liked ok DNF (reread) bookclub*]
Mammoths at the Gates • An Impossible Imposter • Greywaren • The Hexologists • Mister Impossible • Reclaiming Two Spirits • (Check, Please: #Hockey)* • Thornhedge • Call Down the Hawk • All the Hidden Paths • All the Beauty in the World • (The Raven King) • (A Strange and Stubborn Endurance) • (Blue Lily, Lily Blue) • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie • The Missing Page • Bird By Bird • Lucky Red • Portrait of a Thief
I suppose I may as well start with the giant pile of Maggie Stiefvater and get that out of the way, lol. According to Goodreads, this was at least my 3rd time through the entire Raven Cycle. Despite that, I had only the vaguest idea of what happened in the last two books, and now having reread them (again), yeah, that tracks! I can hang with book 3 but I have no idea what was really going on in The Raven King, and as a series finale I didn't love it. It felt a lot like the dreamer plotlines drowned out the original Glendower and ley line story that we started with. But, Maggie being Maggie, I love the way she writes so much that I at least still enjoyed the reading experience. And it made an incredibly clear lead-in to the Dreamer Trilogy (which I had not read), it made total sense, I was hopeful! Again, Maggie being Maggie, I had a good time reading them, I liked learning more about the Lynch brothers, I'm always down for some art forgery, but I just didn't really like it and (while I'm glad for Maggie that she was able to write it) I could have lived without it. It completely did not have the vibe or charm of TRC and, criminally, did not include the Gangsey. How!!!!
The Missing Page - liked it! It felt a lot more solid as a mystery than the first book, which I greatly appreciated, though the villagers in the first book were maybe a bit more fun. I'm not feeling particularly inspired to go look up more Cat Sebastian after this, but if she writes another one of these I'd read it.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - I've had this one on my mystery tbr for a while, and for some reason I'd thought it was set in a much earlier time period than the 1950's? lol. Our protagonist is the youngest of 3 sisters growing up in genteel poverty with an absent father, and she has the run of the village, the house, and an incredibly well stocked chemistry lab left by an ancestor. She is both incredibly clever and terribly naive, and absolutely terrifying because of it. Flavia is fascinating as a detective, because she's not written as the protagonist of a middle grade mystery novel - she's a child. This was an interesting read, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for in a mystery novel and I don't think I'll continue the series.
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance - reread this in advance of the sequel - it was a bit easier to see some flaws this time around, but had a good time! This *was* my first time listening to it on audio though, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it. It had a different person reading for each of the main characters and their voices just didn't pair well for me - not to mention one of them also read Lev AC Rosen's Lavender House and boy does he do some distinctive character voices.
All the Hidden Paths - didn't go quite so well. I think primarily my mental space was not pairing well with the tensions of reading this for the first time, I do think on a reread I might like it better. Somehow the spy/saboteur was my favorite character? He was soo bad at his job, I found it very funny. But overall, I think it was just a little too close to a rehash of the plot from the first book, leaving me to think Meadows might not be the best at writing mysteries. Luckily it does at least score high on my romance scale.
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me - first nonfic of the year! I've been eagerly anticipating my library getting an audio copy ever since I first heard about this last year, it sounded cool, I'm fascinated by art museums and behind-the-scenes! Unfortunately I was not into it, and almost 2 months on I can't remember enough to even try to tell you why. It did pair interestingly with another recent read, The Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, but I'm still learning how far into memoir territory I can go. Someone stop me from trying the other Met nonfic book I found recently lol.
Thornhedge - wonderful! No notes! I love fairy tales and this was a delight to read.
Check, Please! #Hockey - loved getting to revisit this for book club! I've been meaning to for a few years, because y'all. I've read so much fanfic, and I have no idea what is in the comic, what Ngozi posted as extras, and what is fanon. The comic had less than I was expecting! Still fun, my fellow book-clubber liked it, but my real love was the tweets! I'll definitely try to read Vol 2 this year so I can then browse the larger collection of them compiled in the Chirpbook.
Reclaiming Two Spirits: I saw this one on tumblr and fortunately was able to get access to the audiobook! It's a topic I was very interested in learning more about, and I did! But - this is a research project, more than anything, it could be very repetitive (which, fair. colonizers suck), and it felt distanced from its subject. I feel it's a book that definitely has its place, but it's not objectively a 'good read,' and I'd rather have had something from someone who is indigenous and two-spirit themselves.
The Hexologists - it has its quirks, but this was unapologetically a delight to read and I had a fun time! I'm a sucker for a world with a magic vs industrial revolution, not to mention a married pair of established investigators, and I always appreciate an author who's willing to get a bit silly. If there's ever more books I'd love to read them!
An Impossible Imposter - she is what she is, I had a good time! This one felt like it might have taken some inspo from The Moonstone 👀
Mammoths at the Gate - had a good time with this, as I always do with the Singing Hills books. Stories about stories are like catnip, I should reread them all sometime!
Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott (DNF) - I have only the vaguest memories of reading parts of this for a creative writing class in college, and now that I'm getting more into nonfiction thought why not? Unfortunately the audiobook version I got was read by the author, who absolutely does not have an audiobook voice/cadence. I considered trying again with the version read by someone else, but decided I wasn't actually interested enough to continue.
Lucky Red By Claudia Cravens (DNF) - the host of one of the podcasts I listen to was gushing about this one and I was like, sapphic western? Sign me up! I read about 25% of it, and it all seemed fine, it just wasn't feeling particularly interesting to me. Absolutely give it a shot if you'd like!
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li (DNF) - I knew going in this had been getting mixed reviews. I really like the idea of it - I enjoy a heist, am always interested in fine arts/art history drama, and vigilante art repatriation hell yeah! But this felt very much like it was trying to emulate a heist *movie*, and it just wasn’t working for me as a book. If this ever gets adapted I’d love to see it.
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acourtofthought · 1 year
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Making the Case for Elucien’s Book Already Having Been in the Works
The link to SJM’s Live Talks LA with Eva Chen is linked below and takes place after the release of ACOSF but here are some of the important take aways:
Do you have a book planned for the other sister? (referring to Elain)
24:50 - “Yes, to everything.  As soon as Nesta and Elain came back on the page in ACOMAF, I knew they would have journey's beyond what the reader was seeing.”
27:55 - “each book is a standalone that features it's own couple”
28:50 - Writing ACOWAR but finishing up ACOMAF - she told her editor  "what plans I had for Elain"
29:50 - "because this is where I wanted it go it allowed me to plant things for her journey and even Elain's journey early on"
30:48 - "I always try to keep one eye on the horizon when I'm writing just to make sure in the book I'm working on, I can set up for things later on. So there's lot of little secrets in SF that set up for later.” (this entire line of responses was based around having set up Nesta and ELAIN’s journey so it’s safe to say that some of the secrets she’s referring to in SF are in reference to Elain.  E/riels always use Elain and Az’s Bonus Chapter as proof of endgame and that Elain is Az’s secret but SJM is talking about secrets she’s left for the reader to find.  Nesta claiming “Az’s secret to tell” is not a secret to the reader at all.  Secrets are.....why Nesta placed the carving of the rose made for Elain next to a goddess figure.  Secrets are....hinting that Spring was MADE for someone like Elain.  Secrets are....placing both Lucien and Elain in Spring in future books as well as hinting that they’ll both end up traveling to the continent where Koschei is.  Secrets are the hints that someone other than Rhys may be High King and Lucien is showing the first markers of becoming a High Lord.  Secrets are what the real reason for Elain’s stealth like behaviors might be.  
33:13 - "basically I want to go everywhere except the Spring Court because Tamlin sucks.  But I love the Spring.  That's my problem.  Some of the seasons I adore but the people who run the courts are like giant douchebags.
50:00 - (talking about Silver Flames) We sent it off to the printer this past fall.
57:00 - Are there any iconic couples in pop culture of history or movies that you "stan", that might have been inspiring for any of the couples in any of your.....
57:36 - I don't think I was inspired by any of the couples but during the pandemic I’d done a bunch of rereading of Pride and Prejudice and listened to it and watched that BBC adaptation but Elizabeth and Darcy are......I can't get enough of their sexual tension.
58:40 - They have just as much sexual chemistry and tension as any graphically described relationship  
58:50 - I have spent a lot of time imagining what the Darcy / Elizabeth wedding night would be like.  
59:20 - I've spent a lot of time thinking about Pride and Prejudice lately. Elizabeth and Darcy and their relationship and what he does for her by the end of that book and how she evolves and changes by the end of the book.  I mean they both change and evolve and that's what I love most about their story, they're still very much themselves by the end of that book but they develop an understanding of each other and they've also grown because of each other and grown because of confronting each other.
After the last comment at 59:20, SJM then brings it back to Nesta and Cassian saying “and Nesta and Cassian I’m not going to be arrogant enough saying they’re just like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy because they’re different stories but that’s the kind of relationship I like to write about.
.......But, Silver Flames had already been released and at 59:20, she said that she’s been spending a lot of time thinking about Pride and Prejudice lately.  So to me, she’s not thinking about P&P because of Nessian since their story had already been told and theirs was definitely a graphically described romance.  She then says Nesta and Cassian are maybe a reverse P&P where she’s more like Mr. Darcy and he’s more like Elizabeth but to me they don’t give off P & P vibes.  Sure, Nesta had stubbornness but it was more about her own self hatred.  Elizabeth and Darcy’s issues arose because of the first impressions they had about the other person which is very similar to the way Elain and Lucien found out they were Mates, it set the tone for their entire relationship so far (not to mention Lucien initially felt humans were inferior to the Fae in ACOTAR as Darcy struggled with Elizabeth’s “lesser” class).  There also wasn’t a lot of sexual tension in Nessian’s book considering the sex played a large role very early on and they lack the propriety that Elizabeth and Darcy did.  
There is no other SJM couple that embodies Pride and Prejudice more thoroughly than Elain and Lucien, two characters who need to learn to “confront one another” and I can't imagine why she would have repeatedly been reading / watching / listening to it unless she was channeling Elucien.
Azriel may be broody but his thoughts are extremely graphic in nature and he's violent (not at all Darcy like).  There’s also no way for him to still be "very much himself" by the end of his book and end up a match for Elain. SJM likes her characters to grow but not be unrecognizable.
In the same interview she spoke of hints for Elain’s journey, she calls Tamlin a douchebag so I highly doubt she’s building towards a Tamlain ship.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrC23s33UxI&t=1742s
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kimmiessimmies · 3 months
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"So what's the deal with James and Sadie?"
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Today, I posted this post as my response to a tag. In the comments on that post, I was asked if James and Sadie were together now.
I think that's a very legitimate question, so I thought I'd make a post about it. I understand things may be blurry by now. After all, it's been a while since we've seen James and Sadie together in the context of the story, and after the holiday AU posts and other suggestive remarks made about them by myself and other characters, I understand it may have gotten a bit confusing by now.
TL;DR:
James and Sadie are not together, though they have a strong and quite special friendship. Yet I feel the chemistry and ship it along with pretty much everyone else, so I am very okay with using them in tag- and ask game things as if they were together.
The longer story? ⬇️
I decided to do a short summary of where James and Sadie stand in relation to each other:
Current date in the timeline of the story: Early March 08.
Underlined dates are links to the referred chapters on my WordPress blog
October 07: While many things happened before (which are probably also good to know), we need to start somewhere, and this is where everything changes... Sadie, Finn and Rachel start university. Sadie is looking forward to being reunited with Daniel again and goes on a date with him. But as she tells him what she's been up to while they were apart, including her friends-with-benefits situation with Finn, it suddenly hits her she actually caught feelings for Finn... She tells Finn (who also has feelings for her). But also says she needs time to figure stuff out. As she's sitting on a bench thinking things through, she is joined by James. He tells her he's missed her (in the band) and asks her to rejoin. She wants nothing more. And everyone reading this saw the chemistry...
November 07: James and Sadie go to Bridgeport together for an interview about The Hot Wings and spend a night in a hotel room. Sadie has a very heated dream about James, which confuses her greatly.
December 07: Still struggling with everything she feels, Sadie does realise what she once had with Dan is in the past and she tells him so. They let go of each other for good now but remain on good terms. Meanwhile, the sexual tension between James and Sadie, on stage, continues to rise.
January 08: It's the day of the debut album release for The Hot Wings! Emotions and sexual tensions run high. After their performance, Finn comes up to Sadie and asks her where they stand. Has she finally figured out what she wants and is it maybe him? Sadie feels overwhelmed and tells him she needs more time. He gets angry, tells her she can forget all about it then and later she sees him talking to a girl at the bar. All emotions combined, Sadie and James go home together and end up getting the release they needed (in other words, have sex). They end up talking for a long time afterwards during which James talks a little bit about his internal conflicts and issues with love and romance and Sadie admits to herself and to James she's in love with Finn, but has been scared to allow herself to be because of her history with him.
Still January 08: The day after the release performance, it doesn't take long until everyone in the house/ friend groups/band knows James and Sadie slept together and *everyone* has an opinion... Feeling alone and like everyone hates her, Sadie goes for a run, in the snow, to clear her mind. As she sits down on a bench, she gets so cold and feels the cold actually numbs the thoughts on her mind, so she stays out... James notices her sitting there and takes her in from the cold, helps her to warm up and after she's cried out, they have an honest and quite deep conversation in which James tells her about self destructive things he has done. This night brings them closer emotionally.
February 08: The friendship that has developed between James and Sadie is very close, very grounded and rather special. They spend every night together, in close embrace, because they understand each other in a way others don't, but they're not having sex, they're not even kissing. It's not romance. They say.
And that's where we're at right now. The upcoming chapter will bring more changes...
THAT SAID...
I know the Jadie ship is strongly sailing, and my dears, I'm SO on board. Time will tell if they will actually be together or end up with other people as originally intended. But I see the chemistry, I feel the chemistry and when I get the chance I go with the chemistry. Be it in an AU, a random photoshoot or a tag-/askgame.
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hrodvitnon · 4 months
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Got a couple new 'Abraxas' questions, on a shared topic. ;)
(1) Considering how intelligent and sentient the Titans are in Abraxasverse, what do you imagine Hokmuto and Femuto were thinking when they went on their natural order-threatening rampage to hook up and reproduce just after hatching into their adult forms? Did they know what they were doing? Were they okay with it or were they slave to their instincts? Did they care either way? Did they understand the damage that their species breeding would do?
(2) How do Godzilla and Barb feel about each-other?
Ohohoho! Well, the first answer's a big one...
Considering both halves of the couple had only recently hatched, it's unlikely they really understood the state of the world or had anyone to teach them what they should or shouldn't do. I'm tempted to say that Hokmuto and Femuto were the equivalent of teenagers who were kicked out of their houses through circumstances outside their control and forced to deal with the world alone, with no advice or help from anyone. A rather daunting idea.
Teenagers can be impulsive and often imagine themselves invincible if only because the world has yet to humble them; Hokmuto might very well be riding on the high of surviving the Honolulu encounter with Godzilla, who he might only instinctively recognize as a threat and/or potential food, but otherwise doesn't know him from Adam (heh). Teenagers also get horny, and I think it's a common occurrence for one to do daring if incredibly stupid things on the off-chance that someone they find attractive may notice (unless of course sexuality circumstances dictate otherwise).
They weren't stupid, though - if they'd met when the world was more densely populated with Titans and they were naturally taught the ways of the world, Hokmuto and Femuto would've made pretty good parents. They had chemistry, they knew how to work together, they put up an excellent fight against Godzilla, and if not for a certain lucky-as-hell lieutenant blowing their nest sky-high, might've won the day and doomed us all. Unfortunately, they wouldn't realize the gravity of their actions until it was too late. How would they? No one else of their kind was around to teach them. They only had each other. Things might've been different if they had experienced adults like the MUTO Prime or even Barb around, but they didn't. Either way, they weren't stupid; they just didn't know any better.
Speaking of Barb! Tensions between her and Godzilla were certainly high, especially early on. But neither of them were keen on starting a fight that could result in serious injury or worse; it's simply easier to leave each other alone and go about their day. They at least have an accord: Don't start shit and you won't get hit. Plus, Barb is much older and wiser than Hokmuto or Femuto, fully aware of what could happen if she were to mate and start a clutch of eggs. The world in its current state can't handle such an infestation (loathe as she is to refer to hypothetical offspring as such).
Sadly, this knowledge also brings loneliness with it. Suddenly Godzilla has offspring of his own in Ladon and Shin, and Barb remains alone. There could be a surge of resentment. Why does he get to be a father again? Why can't she be a mother? Oh, but she knows full well why. Barb envies Godzilla having a family, but she doesn't take out her emotions on others because that wouldn't help her species-wide reputation as a parasite. Naturally, she develops a melancholic disposition. At times her depression is palpable enough for humans to pick up on it.
It takes time for Godzilla and Barb to be near each other without the instinctive, ancient grudge between their species getting in the way of things. They still don't really like each other, and some days "tolerate" can be a tall order, but the accord still stands. She'll still run to his aid if he calls for it. Privately, Godzilla might actually feel bad for Barb. It wasn't that long ago when he was the last of his kind just like her, after all.
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depressed-avocado · 2 years
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||SAKUATSU AND THE JAPANESE MEDIA||
have you all noticed how we have an abundance of sakuatsu fics, fanart and stans in the western media but very few and rare doujins served by the japanese side of the fandom?
even the sporadic content we see has a very different take on sakuatsu than we do..
now, take myself as a referance. i entered the fandom with a vengeance against all but suga, avoided sakuatsu and kagehina like it was the COVID epicenter itself but a year and a half later ended up reading one teeny fanfic on ao3 out of dire curiousity and ended up with sakuatsu as my adopted babies.
there was a lot of discussion on this ship on twt, tumblr and the like, but when i searched up for doujins to satisfy my horny hunger, i found none?
the very few and far between were actually AtsuSaku (top atsumu, still not much common with the english speaking world) and SakuOsa (poor atsumu 🤣) and featured sakusa as a very grumpy, tsundere, devil-may-care lover whom atsumu had to ask permission just to kiss. compare THAT to how the western fandom potrays him as the blunt jerk who is nefariously down bad for atsumu, but is still kinda loveable and chaotic in his own steed.
the thing is, sakuatsu is a rare ship. there are hardly 5 panels on interaction for them in the manga, and still quite less info on sakusa available, which gives the people the opportunity to mould him into any shape they want. atsumu has more chemistry with hinata, aran, kita, suna, hell you'd even find more miyacest content in japan than sakuatsu. it all started out as a crack ship, something similar to matsuhana, and exploded exponentially in a span of few weeks like it was set on fire. honestly, covid-19 would be jealous.
in the year 2020, the world recieved so many beautiful fanfics, maybe some of the best in the fandom. the same teenagers once raving after kagehina and iwaoi were now adults and have had enough of bubbly, tooth rotting fluff and circumstancal angst.
iwaoi's biggest potential for angst is them seperating for college, same as bokuaka and kuroken. maybe an external factor causing a rift in the couple. very basic.
they wanted something dynamic, something real, something which allows your creativity to leap out the box and sprint several kilometres ahead.
the salient answer was sakuatsu.
only in sakuatsu, the angst potential come from the characters themselves. sakusa and atsumu are insufferable, totally unlikeable people (though i have met a lot of people like atsumu and they get on with their day just fine). they have no chill, no qualms, no redeeming feature other than volleyball and their looks and maybe this could work out?
two jerks, aint afraid to talk shit, bringing out the best (or worst?) in each other. maybe they could find love afterall? huh.
what's this? a chance for ao3 authors to expand their creative writing skills to new horizons and take artistic liberties indulgently but still have a locus to ground themselves to so that they don't go all hocus-focus?
you bet they'd take this chance.
famous fics like 'a liar's truth', 'hand study', 'burden of blame' were released and it was the explosive and beautifully belligerent start of a ship no one saw coming. riding on the highs and lows of a relationship, depicting exactly how toxic yet fulfilling realistic dating can be, its upto you how you'd end up. these fics depicted the shimmering tension, the passionate abhor and the disastrous clashes.
there was no way a huge chunk of japanese fans, enough to catalyse its popularity, would be able to reach these fics and fanarts, which were usually just characteristics fleshed out in the author's mind. ooc, if you will.
sakuatsu is literally whatever you want it to be. a murder mystery or a romcom, you decide. it is ever changing, ephemeral, dangerous. you need to keep up with every step to find its beauty.
its a pity that the japanese fandom wasn't able to catch onto this sakuatsu fever and create some god-tier content like they usually do with other notorious ships like kageoi or kitaatsu.
also, osaatsu/atsuosa, kitaatsu and atsuhina are already selling there a lot (which makes a lot of sense in hindsight than this sakuatsu, no offence) and view atsumu as a TOP.
also, also the japanese part of the fandom have no qualms with shipping komosaku and ushisaku and do it graciously, so well both characters are satisifed fully with the japanese seperately as far as they are concerned.
well, if the movies come out, there is a good chance that the sakuatsu car ride would be just around the corner again and maybe this time, the japanese fandom can hop on a ride? and show atsumu riding on sakusa too pls i need to see thier bful art ahaha
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likecastle · 1 year
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Ronance Femslash February - inseparable since childhood
Thanks so much to the anon who sent the prompt “inseparable since childhood”! I may have hurt my own feelings a little with this one--not so much because of what’s in the actual ficlet, but just wondering what it might have changed. Anyway!
I still need a few more prompts to close out Ronance Femslash February, so please send them my way! Anon asks are totally fine, and you’re welcome to send more than one prompt. Don’t be shy! You can find previous prompts I’ve filled here.
“You’d better still hang out with us, that’s all I’m saying.” Barb watches Nancy’s face go still in surprise, but she perseveres, because this needs to be said. “If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol—”
“Oh, gross,” Nancy says, just as Robin bounds up to them and practically trounces Nancy from behind.
“Who’s gross?” Robin asks, leaning playfully on Nancy’s shoulder.
Nancy goes stiff under Robin’s weight, a cornered expression on her face. “No one.”
Nancy hasn’t told Robin about Steve yet, despite Barb’s repeated warnings that Robin will flip when she finds out Nancy’s been keeping it from her. Still, Barb can understand why Nancy isn’t exactly eager to tell her about making out with the king of Hawkins High himself. Unlike Barb and Nancy, who mostly manage to fly under the radar, socially speaking, Robin tends to attract more unfavorable attention from the popular kids. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t look as clean-cut as Nancy and Barb do, or because the Buckleys don’t have as much money as the Hollands or the Wheelers, or maybe it’s just because Robin refuses to accept the prevailing social order as immutable law. But whatever the reason, Robin’s caught a lot of flack from Steve Harrington’s flunkies over the years, so Barb gets why Nancy isn’t falling all over herself to announce what Robin will no doubt see as a grave betrayal.
“Ohhh-kay,” Robin drawls, taking her weight off Nancy’s shoulder at last. She may not have the best grasp of social niceties all the time, but she’s hardly oblivious. She must have noticed the look that passed between them when she showed up, can’t have missed the tension in Nancy’s shoulders. “Did I miss something?”
“Just nervous about chemistry,” Nancy says, all the bubbly good humor of a few minutes ago evaporated. She turns to put her books away, as if it’s the only way she can think of to avoid looking at Robin.
“Ooh, what’s this?” Robin exclaims. Her arm shoots out to snag a folded piece of paper sitting at the bottom of Nancy’s locker. “Does someone have a secret admirer?”
“Give that back,” Nancy snaps, snatching the paper back from Robin and shoving it into the pocket of her jacket. “Haven’t you ever heard of privacy?” She slams her locker shut and brushes past Robin to hurry off down the hall.
“Was it something I said?” Robin asks blithely, more to the thin air where Nancy was standing than to Barb. Despite the attempt at a joke, Barb can see the hurt on Robin’s face, the way she cranes her neck to watch Nancy round the corner and disappear.
Barb sighs. This is the other reason she’s been insisting to Nancy that keeping things from Robin is a bad idea. The three of them have been practically inseparable since childhood, and they all know each other better than they know probably anybody else in the world, but there are still things they don’t talk about—like the way Robin looked sick to her stomach when Kyle P. asked Nancy to dance at Homecoming last year, or how self-conscious Robin’s gotten at sleepovers since the last time Nancy tried to give her a makeover. Barb doesn’t know how to bring it up, and Robin certainly isn’t about to say anything, but somebody needs to say something, or things are only going to get worse. “Come on,” she says, nudging Robin’s shoulder, “we’d better go or we’ll be late to class.”
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kattahj · 1 year
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Summary of half a dozen Thai BLs
Now that I've watched half a dozen Thai boys' love dramas, I thought I'd sum them up for people who haven't yet watched any, and think that they may want to.
First off: I recommend ALL of these. They're ALL very gay with happy endings. They ALL have fun plots and generally good acting. (There are some actors who knock it out of the park more than others, but they're spread out over all the different shows, and some appear in more than one.) If you're only going to watch one and you don't care about genre, I'm going to say Moonlight Chicken, but if it actually matters to you what the show is about and what kind of story it is, here's a summary of them all (in the order I watched them):
Moonlight Chicken
What's it about: The owner of a diner hooks up with a customer late one night, but is hesitant to let the encounter turn into a proper relationship.
Genre: Slice of life
Watch if you enjoy: Messy characters who get tangled in relationships in different ways. Family, including found family, and multiple gay couples. A fairly realistic view of gay life in Thailand (including the impact of a lack of marriage equality), and also issues such as class, disability, and the multiple effects of the covid crisis. My first BL and still my favourite.
Gayer version of: a Mike Leigh movie
A Tale of Thousand Stars
What's it about: A rich guy who gets a heart transplant decides to make his life useful by taking up the profession the donor left behind, namely as a volunteer teacher in a remote mountain village. There to teach him the ropes is a stern forest ranger.
Genre: Classic romance
Watch if you enjoy: People who are so in love everyone can see it, but still take ages to admit it. Secrets and lies. Scenes with cute children. The same main actors as in Moonlight Chicken. Pretty boys crying/fainting/in mortal danger.
Gayer version of: The Sound of Music
Bad Buddy
What's it about: The sons of two rival families, who are also members of rival university faculties, are way more in love with each other than they're willing to admit, even to themselves.
Genre: Romcom (or romantic dramedy, it gets pretty serious at times)
Watch if you enjoy: Belligerent sexual tension. Chemistry so thick you can slice it with a knife. The couple getting together halfway through the show, and that's just the start of their troubles. Environmental issues on the side. Adorable lesbian side couple. Love songs. Metaphorical homophobia in a world with no actual homophobia.
Gayer (and happier) version of: Romeo and Juliet
He's Coming to Me
What's it about: Lonely ghost who can't seem to move on makes friends with a young boy who is the only one who can see him.
Genre: Paranormal romance with a side of murder mystery
Watch if you enjoy: Cute ghosts. The hijinks when people don't know that the ghost is there. Having your heart broken only to have it mended again. Absolute himbo main characters. Fantastic coming out scene. Surprisingly cute het side couple.
Gayer version of: Julie and the Phantoms
Not Me
What's it about: After a young activist is beaten into a coma, his twin brother secretly takes his place, trying to find out what happened.
Genre: Action-adventure with a political bent
Watch if you enjoy: Bikers doing parkour. The softest babiest man in existence trying to pass himself off as a badass. Lots of discussions about law and justice, and absolutely wrecking the lives of rich assholes. Any of the following: Enemies to lovers, lovers to enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, or friends and possibly lovers to enemies.
Gayer version of: The Parent Trap crossed with Face/Off.
The Eclipse
What's it about: Rules at a high school are strictly enforced, with threat of a "curse" against those who break it. A rebellious new recruit immediately clashes with the head of the prefect club.
Genre: High school drama, mystery
Watch if you enjoy: Aggressive flirting. Teenage rebellion. Old stuffy school being shaken up. Getting to see First and Khaotung stretch their acting muscles (they play side characters in some of the shows above). Multiple gay characters. Homophobia dealt with directly as well as indirectly.
Gayer version of: Dead Poets' Society
Feel free to ask questions if you want to know more! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try a seventh show. :-)
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