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#THIS ENTIRE SCENE WAS WORTH THE 3 YEAR OF WAITING
cyclondoojay · 8 months
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can we say that they gave us back Jay? yeah, i would say so Even though it was like 30 seconds, was it worth it to see him in just one scene in an entire season? OH MY FUCKING GOD JAY IN A SUIT OAOCIIQISIVIIAJXOAOOW IM NOT GOOD NONONO LIKE MY GOD IM NOTHIGN THAN NORMAL FRO HIMM
OKAY OKAY, I am evidently very excited for his 3 second scene, where I could see again the ass hole that was my wife. and precisely because I'm already loving (and also very hating) the plans that could be for Jay in DR-S2, draw him in a super badass villan way, was all I could do.
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i lovw hom so much
I'm just waiting for either ideas to come to me to write him as a MANAGER AKOCOWOICIQ or for someone else to do it, I need it and I especially need to talk about it just like all day (or all the year until next season, it depends..)
(oh and it is like the very very veeery first time drawing a suit and also its lights, so if it looks a bit messy I'm sorry.. soon I will post other cunty ass-hole manager Jay and hope to improve)
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purehoney · 2 months
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Wait in the truck (Chibs Telford)
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warnings: may contain references to domestic violence
note: based on the song wait in the truck by hardi ft lainey wilson
note 2: if you are in this situation, please talk to someone and seek help
note 3: if you liked it, please comment and leave a like
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Chibs drove mechanic Teller-Morrow's truck, as his bike was in repair during the week and was the only option left.
The late-season rain made the view of the dark road even worse at night, but the headlights clearly illuminated what appeared to be a person walking.
- What the hell...? - Chibs whispered to himself while still inside the car.
As soon as he stopped, the person turned towards the vehicle's light. She looked scared. The scotsman got out of the car and walked towards her.
- Oi... - he stopped the moment his eyes noticed the state of the woman's clothes. What should have been white had a large red spot, and on her face, there was a mixture of purples in different tones and places.
She just kept looking at him, a low cry sounded between them.
- Come on, get in - he pointed to the car, knowing exactly what that scene was about. She just nodded and got into the car after him.
Chibs didn't ask much about what had happened or how it happened. It actually didn't matter to him at all. Even despite the reputation that the entire club had for other people, there were some moral rules that each of them followed, one of those rules for Chibs, was that a crime worth committing was to end up with idiots who beat women.
The woman next to him was still sobbing, shaking a little due to her body being wet from the rain.
He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, and she thanked him in a low, almost inaudible voice.
- Where is he? - was the only thing he needed to know.
She turned her face, looking into his eyes for the first time. She seemed to decide whether to tell the truth. Finally, she gave the address of her own house, a few blocks back.
The car rumbled louder as Chibs maneuvered and drove again, now to the new address indicated.
Rain seemed to have increased as he stopped in front of the house.
- Wait in the truck...
She watched him get out, walk to the back of the car removing what looked like a crowbar and go to the front door on the porch.
The biker knocked twice and no one responded. His patience running thin, filling him now with only anger.
Suddenly, the door slammed against the wall after Chibs kicked it, making the bald man lying on the couch jump.
Before the other man could reach the gun on the coffee table, Chibs hit him with the crowbar.
Taking out his own gun that he always carried on his waist, the scotsman put an end to the problem that the girl he met on the road had.
The girl, still in the car, jumped when she heard the noise echoing down the street. She knew the biker, after all who in the city didn't know the Sons Of Anarchy? She just didn't know if she should call him an angel for finding her, despite what he had just done.
Her body still in shock from the whole situation.
Her heart was relieved to know that her justice had somehow been served.
She could see when Chibs finally left the house, a cigarette burning in his lips, he pointed at the car, parked in front of him.
- Just wait in the truck... - he repeated to her, as if perhaps he was waiting for her to get out or do something.
Not many minutes passed before the police arrived, the rain no more than a light drizzle now.
Six months had passed since that night, Chibs felt no remorse in himself as he walked through the cold halls of the penitentiary. He received a one-year sentence after the trial for his crime.
He sat in front of the glass, his hand reaching for the phone hanging next to him. The woman looked like a different person, her face now flushed healthily and her clothes in a pleasant state.
- Thank you! - it was always the first thing she said every time they saw each other, which had become commonplace since the conviction.
- Lass, i might be here forever but it's a whole hell of a lot better than the place I sent him to.
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rallamajoop · 4 months
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A needlessly detailed analysis of Heisenberg's Conspiracy Board
One of the random details I was most eager to find in the RE8 game assets was Heisenberg's conspiracy board. (It's labeled 'strategy board' in the game files, but I think we all know what we're looking at here.)
The assets consisted of a base layer (below) with separate higher-res photos of Chris, Mia, Rose (with Ethan!) and the other three lords (clean versions of those last three, plus Heisenberg, can be found over here). The actual model is more 3-dimensional than you might think, with many of the photos displayed as separate 'flaps' that stick out from the base board (which does unfortunately make stitching together higher-res screencaps of the full board very difficult).
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There are a few reasons why I wanted better pics of the board, but a real big one was catching an in-game glimpse of this one smaller photo on the upper right of some guy in sunglasses and going, wait, is that Wesker?
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Having extracted the highest-res version of that photo possible... well, for that to be Wesker, he'd have to have come back to life and aged about 20 years. Which wouldn't entirely be out of character (he's come back from the dead at least once already, and even Chris is looking his age these days) but is really that who it's supposed to be? IDEK, and neither does this one Reddit thread I found discussing the same question.
There are a few other human-faces around the board ‒ mostly some mustachioed dude(s?) ‒ some of them entirely hidden under other photos on the finished board, but none I recognise. Presumably they're meant to be folks who are/were involved with Miranda or other bio-weapons research, past or present, and maybe they're characters set to appear in some future RE installment. But they may just be stock photos, thrown in to fill space.
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But having finally posted this thing and come back to it again this morning, I'm looking at that one larger guy in one of those photos and going, wait, isn't that the Duke?
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Goddamn, it is, isn't it? You can even see the lapels of his jacket and the curve of the wagon roof over his head. How did I miss that? XD No prizes for guessing why Heisenberg might think he's worth including on a conspiracy board!
Most of the rest of the board is covered with photos of various monstrous bio-weapons. Again, this is probably meant to represent a mix of Miranda's work and that of other bio-weapons manufacturers. Someone more familiar with extended Resi-canon than I am might even be able to identify some of these creatures, but none were immediately familiar to me.
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Even the one zombie face below that looks almost exactly like a screencap from that first iconic zombie-reveal-scene from the very first Resident Evil turned out not to be (and yes, I checked both the original version and the remake), though it may still be meant to evoke that moment. The photo behind it, meanwhile, looks to be just a pair of soldats.
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The other big 'notice me!' feature is, of course, the big map with 'BSAA Come!!' scribbled on it. The circled target location is the ceremony site, identifiable by the four huge statues, and the date at the bottom (February 10, 2020) is the date of Miranda's planned ceremony (tomorrow morning).
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Presumably, this is supposed to be a map the BSAA themselves prepared for troop briefings, but no-one's going to get much out of trying to take this thing too literally. Realistically, the only reason "BSAA Come!!" is written in such big letters here is to let the player know at a glance that Heisenberg is clued in enough to be expecting a BSAA assault.
That's about it for really obvious features. There's not a lot else here that the casual viewer is likely to recognise or find particularly significant. But I'm way past 'casual' in over-analysing this damn game, and I can point out a dozen other features on this board that might (or might not) be awash with implications about all the juicy intel Heisenberg's got his hands on.
Basically, it's time to play my favourite game: Cheaply Reused Asset or Significant Callback?
See, much as I'd love for every last detail on this board to be dense with important lore, the reality is that the player gets barely a few seconds to look at this thing in-game, and so most of what's on it was probably thrown together in a hurry by some overworked member of the asset team without much thought. And nothing demonstrates this better than the fact that two different photo clusters (circled below) from the right edge of the board are duplicated wholesale as you move left across the board.
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Someone's just copy-pasted these in their entirety, slightly reduced them in size, and assumed no-one would notice. The asset team is only human, and believes in working smarter not harder as much as anyone.
Then there's the fact that a number of other assets you can find on this board are actually posters advertising fishing equipment, which you can find around the reservoir, near where you pick up the boat key.
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Why would Heisenberg include these on his conspiracy board? There's no good reason, they're just a convenient assets to fill in some space.
And then there's my all-time favourite random detail on this board ‒ a completely random photo of a bottle of Dulvey Beer, two bags of Half-Whole flour, and a carton of orange juice.
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Now, maybe somewhere in these games, you can find these exact items arranged in this position next to never-before-found coded clue to the future of the series! But more likely, this is just the asset team making an inside-joke about asset recycling, using a picture of some of the most oft-reused assets in the game, on a board that's already covered in reused assets from elsewhere. (Look, I thought it was funny, even if no-one else looking at the board is going to get it.)
So, yeah, a lot of what's on this board means nothing, except that whoever made it had limited time and a lot of space to fill. And That's Okay.
But then we get to the stuff where I do really wanna believe its inclusion means something. For one, the board contains copies of both the mission briefing Chris' team is carrying when they abduct Ethan (the one you find by the overtuned truck), and Rose's BSAA-headered medical checkup report.
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I already have this whole theory that that same medical report being leaked to Miranda might just be a major unsung catalyst for how she realised Rose's potential, and thus set all the events of the game in motion. So finding that the same report has made it's way onto Heisenberg's conspiracy board is a lovely bit of potential validation. Similarly, the implication that Heisenberg might have known about Chris' mission to Ethan's home before it even happened has some tantalising implications (or maybe he just found it out by the van where Ethan left it).
Rose's medical report isn't the only BSAA-headered document on the board either ‒ there's another on the top right (outlined in yellow) that doesn't correspond to any in-game asset I can find (presumably it wasn't actually needed for whatever it was created for). There's plenty elsewhere in this game to suggest Miranda has contacts in the BSAA feeding her all their secrets ‒ and whether Heisenberg got these reports from Miranda or independently, the fact he's got them at all suggests one hell of an info-leak.
Speaking of Miranda, you can find a couple of copies of some of her own research notes on Heisenberg's board ‒ this is the same asset used in her lab under the graveyard, where you can find notes about her experiments on 'Alcina D'. So that's another interesting file that it makes total sense Heisenberg might include on his board.
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The board also includes a couple of extracts from that issue of The Dulvey Daily from Ethan's home, with the article about the closing of the Baker investigation. Realistically, this is likely to be another case of a random asset being used without much thought, but it does make sense that Heisenberg would have followed that investigation (and I can't help but loved that Heisenberg felt the Horn of Plenty article was worth including in his vast conspiracy-network ‒ I told you they were shady!)
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You can find bits of a couple of Heisenberg's own Soldat-x-rays on the board too. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but they do look nicely sinister, so onto the board they go! (In multiple places again)
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That's about it for assets I could identify. However, there are also a few photos from around the village itself on the board ‒ two of which were evidently screenshots taken from Ethan's own point of view, given that his gun is clearly visible in the bottom left of the screen in customary position. Objectively, this makes no sense, but it sure does add to that "someone's been watching you" atmosphere that any good conspiracy board should aspire to.
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(I also feel like I should totally be recognising that doorway in the photo about the 'o' in 'mother', but can't place it.)
And for one final, bizarre detail, you may notice this weird photo of someone's feet appears in a few places on the board. And it's definitely the same photo ‒ the details line up perfectly, right down to the pin and that bit of string. But for some reason, someone's added a lace skirt to the feet in the example on the left.
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You can't even see that skirt in the finished board (it's under Miranda's picture), but it amused me nonetheless.
Before we finish, have a few more close-ups on some of the other weird photos you can find on the board.
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So, what conclusions can we draw here? There's a ton of detail on Heisenberg's conspiracy board to suggest he (or perhaps Miranda) has access to files from the BSAA and whoever Chris is now working with/for, that he's researched what happened at Dulvey and has certainly helped himself to Miranda's own files, if you'd like to read significance into what was included on the board. But there's also a ton of complete nonsense, so, you know, pretty much just RE lore operating as per usual.
I hope you've all enjoyed my little descent-into-madness while picking this thing apart.
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welcometothejianghu · 10 months
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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 괴물/Beyond Evil.
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Beyond Evil is a 2021 Korean drama about two cops that solve a small-town murder that one of them might have committed. Also there's more than one murder to be solved. Also more than one of those murders happened twenty years ago. Also, the cop might have gotten away with at least one of those too.
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It got sold to me on the strength of the main pairing, which is absolutely captivating and worth the price of admission. But the entire cast is amazing, the story is great, and it's all just so satisfying. I love everyone in this weird small Korean town. I love having emotions and various Korean foods with them.
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I got five reasons why you should watch it! Read 'em!
1. Do You Want To See An Old Man Cry?
In fact, do you want to see every man cry? Do you want to see every man in the cast either cry or pretend to cry or be on the verge of tears at least once? Do you want to see the main characters, who are both men, cry multiple times, often while otherwise wet as well?
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Well, buddy, Beyond Evil has got you covered.
2. Absolute Nightmare/Absolute Nightmare
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I do not consider it a spoiler to tell you that Han Juwon (the younger one, on the right) is a very mentally unstable superboy. You already know everyone thinks Lee Dongsik (the older one, on the left) is psycho -- it's nearly the first thing you learn about him. But when you're introduced to Han Juwon, you're given the impression that maybe he's just cold, self-possessed, and competent.
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No. He is an absolute freak. This is a freak4freak relationship. They are both completely unhinged. They have both been traumatized to nigh-unimaginable degrees, and they have each decided to make it the other's problem. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for both of them, they both get off on that real hard, and they get real mad sometimes about how hard they're getting off on it. It's delicious.
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And yet what makes it great is how they're different flavors of freak. They've got the age difference (40 and 27). They've got the height difference (even though the actors are only like 1cm apart, the whole thing is somehow shot like there's a bigger gap). They've got the class difference (small town weirdo and cop royalty). One's a messy bitch, and one's a prissy prince. One has a whole network of people who affectionately endure him, and one has exactly 0.73 friends. One wants to take care of everyone else but not himself, and one has never looked out for anyone else a day in his life. One's a smug little shit, and one's ... also a smug little shit, but differently.
You have perhaps been given the impression that Beyond Evil is like Hannibal, and that Juwon/Dongsik is like Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter. It's not, and yet it scratches a similar itch, if that makes sense.
Don't let me give you the impression that this is textually gay. They do not smooch or anything, so don't be waiting for that. But holy cow, is it homoromantic -- and the leads know it is, and they roll around in it, and everyone else in the production supports their doing it. They have the kind of chemistry stars are jealous of. (It helps that the younger actor is a muffin who has a such crush on the older one.)
And that's even before the part where they get married live on national television. Is that a joke? You'll have to watch to find out.
3. Lee Changjin (and the other antagonists)
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I'll talk in a second about excellent and despicable all the bad guys are. But I need a special moment for this motherfucker right here.
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Lee Changjin is a wretched, scummy piece of shit who damn near walks away with every scene he's in. He's not the worst like a little meow meow -- he is the actual worst, and it's so good. He's sleazy. He's pathetic. He's hot as fuck. You meet his ex-wife, and you're like, no, honey, sure it was a bad decision, but I totally get it.
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Clearly he has a special place in my heart, but all the bad guys in this series are done so damn well. Their realism makes them even scarier. They're not incomprehensible ghouls out there being bad just to be bad. They're (mostly) making calculated decisions based on keeping their own heads above water, and to hell with everyone else.
I'm not going to spoil the identity of the murderer for you -- but it kind of doesn't matter, because you find out who it is less than halfway through the show (and because there are multiple people in this show who've killed someone). There's something bigger and more awful at work here, perpetrated by people that you knew were bad news from the moment you met them.
Beyond Evil is a cop show that is not copaganda, because one of the biggest villains in the series is misuse of police power. The show stresses accountability for police misconduct -- to the point where that accountability hurts characters we want to see get away with stuff because, come on, their bad behavior was totally justified! But it wasn't! The ends do not justify the means here. The world is not better when powerful people use their power to get out of the consequences of their shitty, selfish actions, even when those shitty, selfish actions were objectively kind of cool.
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Fair warning, a lot of this show is about complicated relationships with abusive, absent, deceased, and otherwise difficult parents. Those parents are not always (or even mostly) the bad guys -- but the bad guys are all shitty parents. And yet, their adult children are tied to them in complicated ways that do said children no favors. Some of the most heartbreaking pieces of the show are about how these kids break free from those parents -- or, more tragically, don't.
4. Just plain good television
This is a series that can be handled by Your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles. Its quality is on par with a lot of well-thought-of English-language shows I've seen. It's a tight, well-plotted story that's clear enough to be easy to follow, which is sometimes a high bar for a multi-tendriled murder mystery. The small-town setting even gives it a good source of levity to break up the otherwise tight tension.
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It's only sixteen episodes long, but there are enough reveals to make a rewatch more than worth your while. The first half in particular improves exponentially on the second viewing, because once you have all the information, events and decisions that you initially read one way, you can see meant something else entirely.
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I was initially going to say that if this were in English, all those fans of things like the Wire and True Detective would be super-horny for it -- except that's not true, is it? No, shows like that (which I have seen, for the record) glorify cops who can't be held down by your damn system, so they have to say screw the rules to get things done, because they're too cool and manly for things like paperwork! While Beyond Evil acknowledges that there are some places where the Korean law system is janky and might let a guilty person go free, but that doesn't mean cops get to do whatever they want about it.
My declaration of the show's quality isn't just me judging by my own tastes. This show won the Korean equivalent of Emmys for Best Drama, Best Screenplay, and a well-deserved Best Actor for Shin Hakyun, who plays that incredibly handsome horrible old man. This is a show that actual people who hand out actual awards for good television thought deserved awards.
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So I guess if you always wanted to get into those shows a certain kind of dude can't stop talking about, but you had reservations about how authoritarian/libertarian/misogynistic/homophobic/boring they are, Beyond Evil is here for you!
5. Written and directed by women
This one I think is important as hell, because this is a Dead Girl Show (i.e., a show where men kill multiple women as a major part of the plot), and I know a lot of people are justifiably wary about those. However, there are no hints of sexual assault. The violence is gendered, but it's not sexualized. The murders and postmortem mutiliations are handled with the appropriate horror, but it's not torture porn. And the dead girls are treated like -- and grieved like -- actual humans who matter.
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I think a whole lot of this can be chalked up to the fact that both the writer and the director of Beyond Evil are women.
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In fact, not only are they both women, they're women who don't do this kind of story all the time. Shim Nayeon has directed five things, four of which are comedy/slice-of-life series. Kim Sujin has written a few dramas about mystery-solving teams, but even more comedy and adaptations of webtoons. I have no idea how the two of them got put on this drama together, but it was a perfect match.
This is not to say that men would be incapable of pulling off a story like this. It is, however, a commentary on violence, and how different it looks if you've grown up seeing yourself everywhere as its object rather than its subject. Sure, you could just flip the script and make a story about a lady punchkicker! A lot of people have, and I've enjoyed many of them! But you could also choose to tell a story about gendered violence in a way that isn't just needlessly retraumatizing the people who have to live their entire lives under its shadow. Moreover, you could tell a story about how even good-guy cops can wind up unintentionally buying into paradigms where some women are valuable and some are disposible.
...And if it winds up being teensy bit of a fantasy story about a world in which so many cops give a shit about this violence, well, that's what fiction is for, right?
In short, you love a team of powerful ladies power-drunk on an Arnold Palmer of Respect Women Juice and Sad Man Tears.
Bonus: BANGER SOUNDTRACK
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Oh, it's so, so good. (Spotify link)
Have I convinced you to watch it yet?
It's on Netflix, which may be easiest for most people! However, it's also on Viki, and I much prefer the subtitles over there, because a) they keep the flavor of the Korean terms of address, and b) they actually translate the damn episode titles (wtf Netflix?).
There's no bad way to watch it, though!
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(ack, they're so cute~)
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adobe-outdesign · 2 months
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Kung Fu Panda 4 Thoughts/Liveblog Thing
Just caught this at the theater for a grand total of five whole dollars, so I thought I'd do some quick opinions while it's fresh.
Non-spoiler opinion: It was Okay(TM), but the movies were considerably stronger as a trilogy. It's worth seeing one (1) time if you're a KFP fan (and really, who isn't), but I wouldn't bother paying full price for it or anything
SPOILERS FOR ALL 4 MOVIES UNDER THE CUT:
A list of things that slap:
The animation is stunning and fast-paced. Really loved the use of Chinese-style paint brush strokes to accentuate the action
Also I'll talk about the 5 later but I also really liked the animation change when describing where they are—all KFP movies have at least one animation shift and I'm glad this one kept up with it
Some of the fight scenes were super good, I liked the one that uses the tilting bar on a cliff in particular
(side note: the Missing Link did something similar, just on a ship. Go watch the Missing Link)
The Chameleon served straight cunt the entire time she was on screen and I kind of loved (almost) everything about her. Character design was incredible, voice was perfect, palace design was amazing, abilities were sick
Also the way she rides up chilling in a golden tree branch of all things? Fellas, we have no choice but to stan
Also I just appreciate the choice to both do a female villain for a change and to get a reptile in here after having only mammals and one (1) bird as villains previously
Speaking of character design there were a few really good ones in there, like a pangolin that moves Sonic the Hedgehog-style, a cool looking female boar, and a bunch of Komodo dragon henchmen. Good stuff
The jokes were a very mixed bag for me, some hit and some didn't. I will say that Zhen just going "that's great for you" in response to Shifu stating he's a red panda got me for some reason
If anyone hurts Po's gay dads I'm killing everyone in this room and then myself
Jack Black's cover of Baby One (1) More Time is unironically better than the original
A list of things that Do Not Slap:
Pacing/Plot:
This movie lacked a color scheme? KFP 1 was blue (also some gold), KFP 2 was red, KFP 3 was green. These colors weren't subtle either, there are entire scenes in each movie drenched in these colors and it was really obviously missing here
The whole first half the movie feels really breathless and too fast-paced. Apparently it was a studio mandate to have it not go over an hour and a half which is A) stupid and B) hurts the pacing
As much as I love Po's two gay dads we REALLY should not have been wasting time on their journey when the runtime is so tight
Also them tagging along felt off? Mr. Ping was worried sick about Po in KFP 2 but he doesn't tag alone because obviously he needs to let his son have his space. It's more in-character with Li Shan but it doesn't come across like he's talking Mr. Ping into it or something
In general there are so many plot points in this movie that feel under-developed. You could've made an entire movie out of the previous villains returning, Zhen and the Chameleon's relationship (see below), etc.
Po's Character:
People not knowing Po is the dragon warrior is weird, I'm pretty sure he would've been more well known than that
The entire thing with Po needing to give up his role as the Dragon Warrior doesn't really make sense? The Dragon Warrior is literally a made-up title. There's no need to have a Dragon Warrior because there is no such thing technically, it's why Oogway denied Tai Lung the title and then waited years and years to give it to Po. Like it's not a role that needs to be passed down, that's missing the entire point of the Everything
Also Po's only been like Dragon Warrior for a few years? I don't think we're ever given a time scale but it wasn't that long
The jokes about Shifu and Po having trouble with inner peace/mediating feels off given that was the entire plot of the second movie
It felt like Po regressed a bit character wise. He acts like he has no idea how to be a teacher in this movie but he already was a teacher by the end of the third, that was the entire point??
Also he seemed like he was more gullible in this movie but I could be wrong
Why is Po so impressed with Juniper city. He literally spent most of KFP 2 in Gongmen hello?? I think(?) Juniper is bigger but he shouldn't be acting like he has no idea what a city is
Zhen/Chameleon:
Zhen's character design doesn't match anything else, which is weird because most of the new characters in this film keep the distinct style in some form or another
Her wanted poster shows her with the bold markings KFP is known for and it looks SO much better
The plot twist with Zhen working for the villain was so obvious I did not realize it was supposed to be a twist at first
Also, the entire thing with Zhen was entirely unneeded? The Chameleon could've just just stood up and announced her plan to take over and Po would've shown up on her doorstep with the staff
I guess the idea is that Po needed to hand over the staff willingly for it to work? But if that's the case the Chameleon could've just impersonated Tigress or something and gotten it that way in like 1/3 of the time
Originally she was supposed to have kidnapped Shifu which would've been a much better plot point as it would've given Po extra motivation
The other problem with treating Zhen as a plot twist is that it hampers the relationship she has with the Chameleon effectively being her mom, which is FASCINATING. They had some really interesting chemistry together (the whole "stand up straight" thing as one example) and I could've seen it as a Mother Gospel from Tangled kind of deal, but we barely get any interaction between the two and it's like AAAAAAA
Fanfic writers fix this shit. I believe in you
I'll have to chew on it more but my pacing thought would actually be to start with Po finding out about the Chameleon's "take over everything" plan very early due to Shifu's kidnapping. He breaks into the lair like at the 1/3 mark or earlier and he meets Zhen inside which then leads into why she's doing what she's doing and the mother angle, etc etc blah blah
The Chameleon needed to just straight-up murder someone, comically shoving them down the stairs isn't good enough. I know stairs are Po's greatest enemy but I don't think that applies to everyone
Shen was allowed to stab someone on-screen so I think the Chameleon should be a allowed to strangle someone or something. as a treat
If violence was the concern just keep it off-screen like Master Rhino's death in KFP 2
The shapeshifter turning into a giant monster trope is overrated and I'm glad it was just used briefly here and not even for her defeat
Also the Chameleon's thing with her being rejected from Kung Fu because she's too small makes no sense b/c Mantis, which I'm pretty sure everyone's pointed out already. She does say "lowly" I think but was she ever poor? Could make a very interested parallel to Zhen if that was the case but it was never brought up again
I've heard some argue body image parallels w/ Po in KFP 1 but if that was the intent it's not explored, like, at all, which is a shame because it could've been an interesting angle
Also If they wanted a better excuse related to body image just say she was too frail instead of too small. I haven't owned chameleons but I've heard from people who have that they are very frail and very hard to keep alive, which would be a much better reason to turn her away
Cameos:
Yes I'm devoting an entire section to five second cameos don't judge me
I have mixed feelings on the Five not being present (save for the end cameos). On the one hand they are sorely missed but on the other hand they would've just made the plot bloat even worse
Lack of speaking was also bothersome. Part of me is glad they weren't recast with cheaper VAs because it's disrespectful to interchange them, but on the other hand that might've been better than just not having them speak and not paying anyone anyway
Tai Lung had all the best lines and was also the best used out of all the cameos, even if it would've been nice to have him on screen for longer. Also if they stuck with Shifu being kidnapped those two could've had some much-needed dialogue
Side note, while I don't think it contradicts anything from KFP 3 the spirit world having only kung fu masters in it feels off? It makes it seem so small and limited
Kai being there is weird. He's like. dead dead. Deader than dead. I guess you could argue that you can't kill something that's already dead but there's nothing even acknowledging this
Trying to take Shen's kung fu is really weird because the entire point of the fight with Master Rhino in KFP 2 is that he is not? a master?? like he's GOOD but he's not amazing, like if a master is like a 10/10 he's like an 8/10.
"The Chameleon has the powers of all my old nemesises!" WHAT'S SHEN'S POWER EXACTLY. HIS ONLY POWERS ARE GUN AND MOMMY/DADDY ISSUES
She does summon him way later than Tai Lung and Kai so maybe she was just camp spawning every single person she could think of regardless of skill level? she also uses his wings at one point so maybe she just wanted those, I don't think(?) there were other birds summoned
Though speaking of which she claimed she was using his wings but very clearly wasn't? not only were they black but they were raggedy and lacked the five longer feathers on the tips
Also Shen's model was super off, it looked way too fluffy and like an entire row of eyespots were missing from the edge of the train (which might have been a clipping error? unsure) it's been said the new models were made out of glue and popsical sticks and I believe it
Tai Lung has a habit of just like Grabbing anyone that's smaller than him and it amuses me
It's honestly really weird that everyone would just agree to go back into the spirit world willingly?
Like I think it works for Tai Lung because he's a noble person who just goes into a disassociative state and commits atrocities. Like I think he'd be willing to accept his death
Also it checks out for Shen because he killed himself and given his "dead belong in the past" mentality I can't imagine him wanting to stick around, he'd probably think it was unnatural
But Kai?? Kai was FURIOUS at being dragged back into the spirit world at the end of 3, like hell he'd just go quietly
Also I can see Tai Lung maybe respecting Po enough to bow to him but everyone else is pushing it unless they have therapists in the spirit world. Po offered Shen some nice advice at the end of KFP 2 and his response was to kill himself on the spot, I don't think him or Kai would be bowing
All of them were definitely in the middle of a mahjong match and were experiencing the equivalent of being woken up in the middle of a nap so they were just going along with things
Chameleon: I'm going to steal your kung fu
Everyone:
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Misc:
I did like some of the more subtle callbacks. Stuff like Po seeing his reflection in the blade the way Shifu did or the "I can't even beat you to the stairs" scene were nice and not overly overt or in-your-face
If Po actively refers to himself as the "Kung Fu Panda" one more time I'm going to end it all
anyway that was not supposed to be a 12 page essay but it's too late now, goodbye
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nametakensff · 2 months
Text
Worth It (D/isco E/lysium, M/M)
Okay - this fic follows up just over a month from my 3 part K/im x H/arry series (that you don't need to read, I just ended up accidentally writing my fics as part of a continuous AU...again lol), featuring the aftermath of fetishist H/arry dealing with the slow return of certain memories, his budding romantic relationship with K/im and his past hook ups with J/ean
It ended up at 12.9K 😅 All three of them sneeze but it's mostly a J/ean fic (H/arry x J/ean with established H/arry x K/im, and then some H/arry x K/im x J/ean)
~~~~~
Content:
M/M, M/M/M mentioned and ongoing, H/arry has a sneezing fetish, cold sneezes, contagion, mentions of hay fever, rapid sneezes, spray, sneezing on someone, some mess mentions, nose blowing, audibly wet nose rubbing, masturbation, hand jobs, cumming in tissues, tissues, handkerchiefs, coughing, fever, dirty talk, implied praise kink, embarrassment/humiliation, verbal teasing, fantasies and mentions of public masturbation, graphic descriptions of semen, mentions of anal sex, threesomes, brief phone sex, brief exhibitionism/voyeurism fantasy
CW: mentions of past abuse, mentions of alcohol and drug abuse, mentions of physical violence, toxic relationships, abusive language (this fic has J/ean in it it's unavoidable), H/arry has a brief fantasy about licking cum off his hands and using cum as lube, mentions of J/ean and H/arry fucking at an active crime scene, self-hatred, some dudebro jabs at homosexuality
NSFW - Minors DNI!
Jean had a cold. A miserable, eye-watering doozy of a cold. It had started as a few errant sniffles and coughs here and there, perhaps a slightly more notable weariness when he spoke – but nothing could have prepared Harry for the sheer amount of sneezing he would witness as the illness progressed. Four days in, and Jean was a wreck. He refused to take sick leave, even having amassed a considerable amount of days over the years due to pure obstinance. He pointedly ignored any glances of either concern or aggravation as he sneezed, over and over, either into the protective cover of his elbow or a bundle of damp tissues. Not even Judit could convince him to go home.
“We’re in over our heads as it is, Jude. I don’t have the time to laze around in bed with all of – this waiting to be finished.” He’d gestured with a wide sweep of his hand not only over his own desk, but at the general maelstrom of officers marching back and forth across the bullpen, coming and going in a constant stream of activity.
“We’re wading knee-deep through an endless river of bureaucratic bullshit with an incapacitated workforce.”
“I can hear you, you know!” Harry had piped up, sat at his desk with his head in his hands as the mountainous piles of paperwork loomed over him. Kim shot him a sympathetic look from where he sat at his own new desk.
“I meant you to!” Jean growled, before a sudden teasing gasp had him spinning desperately away from Judit and sneezing fittishly into the crook of his elbow. Harry’s stomach was aflutter with butterflies as he watched. He couldn’t make out a sound, not over the din of the office and with the sheer willpower Jean had managed to exert over keeping the sneezes as locked down as possible. He finished shuddering a few moments later and extracted his face from the protective covering of his arm. He somehow now looked even worse for wear.
“Désolé.”
This was meant for Judit – Harry was sure he didn’t particularly give a rat’s ass about what anyone else in C Wing and beyond thought about these increasingly recurrent sneezing fits. The patrol officer in question squeezed his shoulder, her face a mask of concern and frustration.
“Will you at least go home when your shift is over?”
“Yes.” Jean lied.
Defeated and entirely used to accepting it with grace, Judit withdrew. She was smart like that. Harry had watched Jean watching her leave, waiting until she was out of sight before allowing his expression to waver – a look of total surrender, mouth dropping open and brows lifting high before his entire face crumpled. He’d sneezed against his wrist - five times consecutively, if the rhythmic trembling of his shoulders was any indication. When he lifted his head at last, he was bleary eyed and snuffling most pathetically. It had gone straight to Harry’s dick. Sensing eyes on him, Harry turned and noticed with no small amount of embarrassment that Kim had been watching him watch Jean. Not knowing what else to do, he’d shrugged his shoulders apologetically. Kim had merely raised an eyebrow and smirked at him before returning to his own work as if nothing at all had transpired.
Harry had been grateful for the noisy ambience and Jean’s own stubborn tactics of suppression. As long as he didn’t look in his direction, he could almost – almost! – pretend that his fellow officer wasn’t clenching with a paroxysm of tickly, cold-induced sneezes every five minutes or so. He had actually managed to put a dent, although minimal, in some of the simpler paperwork. More importantly, he had kept most of the blood in his brain and out of his dick.
It also seemed as though the way Jean stifled his sneezes into almost near silence didn’t provoke much ‘sympathetic’ sneezing in Kim, as Harry had come to label it. In typical analytical fervour, he had come to understand the perfect conditions to induce a reaction in Kim. He had deduced the following:
Volume. The louder the sneeze heard and/or witnessed, the higher the exponentiality of sneezes on Kim’s behalf.
Desperation. The more irritated, aggravated or generally torturous a sneeze sounded or appeared, the more likely this bizarre form of nasal sympathy was to occur.
Pre-existing sensitivities in Kim. Exposure to dust, cold air, a general fatigued immune system – an already irritated nose was prone to further irritation.
Naturally, a combination of all three in Martinaise had given Harry the show of a lifetime. He had (secretly, sadistically) been hoping Kim would catch his cold, but somehow he had managed to avoid it, despite having been miserably worn down and concussed by the time they finally completed the case of The Hanged Man.
Harry kept these ruminations to himself, of course. Maybe he would share them with Kim at some point. For now, at least, there had been no major paradigm shift, and Jean’s sneezes, whilst undoubtedly desperate, were lacking in volume, and Kim was entirely healthy and irritation free. That wasn’t to say there hadn't been any response from the Lieutenant, no. Harry had looked over with depleting subtlety more than once, prompted by a soft gasp, to watch Kim shudder into a small fit of his own on the tail end of Jean’s, and damn near bit through his tongue each and every time.
This system of deny and ignore had proven useful only until the night shift began. Normally, the bullpen was busier and the officers replacing those having finished the day shift would more or less keep the building near constantly occupied. Whatever evil god ruled over Revachol had decided that day, however, to summon every gang banger and petty criminal imaginable and enlist them in the sole mission of keeping damn near all officers of the 41st entirely occupied – and, more importantly, out of the office. It also just so happened to be the night that Harry had reluctantly agreed to stay and get through some paperwork, and Jean had in turn stubbornly refused to leave him unattended. Harry was slowly regaining his trust, and in Jean’s defence, he had evidently been awful at staying on top of paperwork pre-amnesia, and just as resistant to completing it in his recovery.
It shouldn’t have been an issue – but with every officer that left, taking both their physical presence and ambient sound with them, it was increasingly difficult to ignore Jean and the steadfast progression of his cold. Whilst his sneezes were apparently on continuous lockdown, he had long abandoned any attempts to blow his nose in relative silence. Every couple of minutes, Harry’s heart raced in his chest as the loud, obtrusive sound of Jean forcing air and mess out of his miserably congested sinuses echoed out in the office space. His nervous energy was manifesting in a persistent shake in his leg, tapping his foot over and over.
Kim had left early, for him, as well. He had made a habit of staying a few hours or more post shift ever since his transfer to the 41st, realising just how much they had fallen behind in administration. Harry admired him for it – paperwork, though sometimes exciting to record in the moment, was undoubtedly one of the worst parts of being an RCM officer, tediously boring at times – and yet Kim was consistently fastidious, conscientious, and perhaps most importantly, punctual. Today, though, he had excused himself almost within a minute of the day’s end.
“There’s a pivotal race in the TipTop Tournée being broadcast tonight at 7pm – I’ve missed the last few. I’m dying to see how it turns out.” He explained in response to Harry’s wounded complaints about abandonment.
“Oh yeah…you did mention that, come to think of it.” Harry recalled that when Kim had been discussing the race, he had been paying too much attention to the way the Lieutenant’s face had lit up in enthusiasm to really retain any information pertaining to the date of the event in question.
“I’m also exhausted – and it looks like the both of you are, too.” He glanced pointedly at Jean. “Don’t stay too late, detectives. Insufficient health begets insufficient policework.”
“I’m fine.” Jean croaked. Neither Harry nor Kim offered a response, though both had winced at the sheer raspiness of it.
Harry looked up at Kim as the Lieutenant pushed his chair under his desk. His big, baleful and truly pathetic eyes signaled quite clearly ‘do not leave me alone with him’. Kim simply looked at him, shook his head almost imperceptibly, and smiled in response. Harry sighed.
“Bye, Kim.” He mumbled despairingly.
“Goodbye, Harry.” Kim replied pleasantly. He tipped his head at Jean, currently recovering from his most recent series of tightly stifled sneezes. “Officer Vicquemare.”
“Lieutenant.” Jean muttered, not even bothering to look up from his paperwork. He looked thoroughly unwell, and Kim’s eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before meeting Harry’s gaze. The pair of them shrugged at each other, and Kim was out the door moments later.
And so, here Harry sat, not 45 minutes later and already so unbelievably sexually frustrated he had practically eaten half a pencil. It just wasn’t fair. The bullpen was probably the most silent he had ever known it to be in his entire time at the 41st. He knew this in his bones, regardless of solid memories to go off. Besides the sound of the city beyond the windows of the building and the hum of various electronics, the only other noises to be heard were as follows: Harry’s audible pencil consumption. Harry’s tapping foot on the linoleum floor. Harry’s fingers drumming on his desk. Harry’s grunts of frustration. Jean’s throat clearing. Jean’s coughing. Jean’s sniffling, sneezing, nose blowing – every noise imaginable of the miserably congested. And the inexplicably loud clock driving Harry to the brink of insanity as it ticked its way through this test of mental and physical fortitude.
The tail-end of Jean’s latest sneezes caused his sinuses to squeak quite audibly. It was the final straw for Harry – he needed to take a fucking walk. He pushed back his chair and stood up much more violently than intended. Jean cast a weary glance his way.
“Not leaving, just – kitchen. Need anything?”
Jean stared at him a moment longer, leaving Harry to sweat and wilt under his stony gaze, before returning to his work. He cradled his forehead in one hand, closing his eyes for a moment.
“No.”
Harry waited to see if anything would follow. When it didn’t, he strode out of the bullpen and down the hallway, shielding his erection as best he could with what he hoped was a subtle hand in front of his crotch. He walked towards the kitchen, fully intending to grab a sugary snack of some description as a form of distraction, but decided last minute to make his way to one of the several payphones at the end of the corridor.
“Hello?” Kim answered after the third dial tone.
“Kim,” Harry sighed desperately into the handset. “I think I’m dying. Jean, He is - He’s. Driving me insane.”
Harry heard Kim sigh an equally desperate sigh of his own. In his mind’s eye and in Kim’s apartment, the Lieutenant cast a nervous glance towards the clock on his wall. The hands were rapidly approaching 7pm. He was comfortably settled next to his radio with a can of beer. This was not ideal timing.
“You’re not dying, detective.” He offered drily. Harry was undeterred.
“But you see, Kim, I think I am. I have no idea how to deal with this. You know I don’t. You know that firsthand.”
The entire reason he and Kim had fucked in the first place had been because this stupid fetish had rendered him incapable of keeping his dick in his pants. The results had been overwhelmingly positive – they were still fucking now. Regularly. They had even started sleeping over at each other’s apartments. They went on walks and to cafes together. Neither had vocally confirmed it, but it seemed obvious to Harry that they were at least kind-of sort- of dating. Pseudo-almost-boyfriends, one might say. It had been a happy accident, and his embarrassing inability to keep his shit together had somehow – inexplicably - won Kim over.
 Jean was not Kim.
Harry’s memories had been coming back incrementally – little pieces here and there with the occasional groundbreaking moments of picture-perfect recollection. He had remembered very little about Jean  – had forgotten him entirely with the initial amnesia – and this was evidently, and understandably, an extremely sore spot for the younger officer. It turns out that he was Harry’s bona fide best friend, on top of his partner. More complicated was the fact that they had fucked, many times. This had come to light when Jean had caught Harry kissing Kim in the precinct parking lot.
“Well. I can’t say it isn’t somewhat relieving that an Officer as competent as Lieutenant Kitsuragi has equally as shitty taste in men as I do.”
Harry had barely a moment’s notice to let those words sink in before the vivid memory of Jean writhing underneath him knocked the air out of him. From that moment, he had been inconsolable. Was he in a relationship with Jean? Was he actively cheating on him right now? Had he liked men before Kim?? Jean and Kim had in turn done their best to mollify him, settling him and themselves into Kim’s Motor Carriage to conceal this latest mental breakdown from any passing officers.
Jean had confirmed that they were not in a relationship, and they had done very little fucking, if any, for at least six months, for obvious drug-and-alcohol-spiral related reasons. Harry was a little relieved, but still devastated to have forgotten. He could tell that this gaping nothingness in his brain regarding Jean deeply hurt the younger man, and for that he was truly apologetic.
“It’s fine, Harry.” Jean had spoken to him in the kind of tone one might use to console a cornered animal. “You remembered something just now. You’ll remember more, over time.”
It was the softest Jean had been with him since Martinaise. Harry had felt the tears welling up in his eyes almost immediately.
“Kim wasn’t my bisexual awakening?” He’d asked in a tiny voice, sounding ridiculous but authentically devastated and confused enough that neither Kim nor Jean had laughed at the absurdity of it.
“It’s okay.” Kim had reached out and patted his arm. “It doesn’t change anything. I won’t take it personally.”
Harry had burst into tears anyway. He was still crying by the time Kim’s MC rolled to a stop outside his apartment building, and was only just winding down by the time he was escorted to his flat by both Kim and Jean.
In present day, he leaned his head against the wall beside him. Kim cleared his throat.
“I can’t stay on the phone for long. I’m not sure what to suggest other than finding a means to take the edge off. Actually-“ Harry could hear that he immediately regretted that particular phrasing. “What I should say is, find a way of achieving relief.”
“Kim.” Harry smiled. “Are you, for the second time since we’ve met, suggesting I rub one out during work hours?”
“I assumed it was par for the course with you, Lieutenant Double-Yefreitor.” The way his voice dropped an octave with the flirtation was doing nothing for Harry’s erection.
“You’re not helping,” He whined down the phone.
“Probably not. I’m just telling you what I would do if I were you. Find somewhere private and have an orgasm.”
Now that really didn’t help. The thought of Kim masturbating at his desk, head thrown back in ecstasy as he pleasured himself in plain sight made Harry’s cock twitch. He ignored the ‘private’ part, instead picturing the smaller man surrounded by an audience of hungry onlookers.
“Dammit.” He growled into the mouthpiece. He heard Kim chuckle on the other end of the line. “I guess I’m going to have to. But I’m worried he’ll come look for me if I’m gone for too long.”
“Well,” Kim started. Harry could just picture the subtle smirk of his mouth. “It shouldn’t take you very long, all things considered. Maybe you could start now.”
“You know,” Harry breathed out, “I didn’t peg you for a sex pest. Encouraging phone sex on top of it all.”
“Relax, Harry, I’m just teasing you. You’re fun to tease.”
“Fucker.”
Kim just laughed. The sound of it made Harry soft all over.
“I guess I really should go and…take care of myself. I can’t sit there anymore, constantly on the verge of going off in my pants like a fucking teenager.”
“You’re just sensitive. It’s not a bad thing. Extremely impressive for a man your age, and with your history of substance abuse.”
Kim was, within reason, in the habit of putting a positive spin on all of Harry’s flaws and fuck-ups. Harry could see how from the outside this may appear overly mollycoddling, but even if that were the case, it had done wonders for his almost non-existent self-esteem. He drank the compliment in as eagerly as he would have liked to down a double vodka and lemonade.
“I guess, but – I mean, it’s so awkward. I don’t even know if he – you know, knows. About my thing.”
Kim laughed again, uncharacteristically hard for him. Harry blinked and said nothing, letting the younger man compose himself.
“Oh, Harry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. But he most certainly knows. The two of us have actually discussed it in relative detail.”
Harry gaped, almost dropping the phone in shock.
“You Judases! Ganging up on me when my back’s turned-!”
“You’re being dramatic.” Kim drawled. He was clearly enjoying this reaction. “It was a short conversation, one smoke break. I don’t even remember how we got onto the topic. But rest assured, he definitely knows.”
Harry paused, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to probe for more.
“How…does he know. In what way?”
“Let’s just say…that you liked to take advantage of Satellite-Officer Vicquemare’s hay fever – which I’ve come to understand is quite impressive, in full swing.”
Harry’s cock throbbed dangerously in his pants, drooling into the fabric of his underwear.
“Fuck, fuck, fuckkkk…!”
“Mhmm. In fact, I believe you almost contaminated an active crime scene with semen residue following such an exploit. Jean seemed to imply this was the case.”
“God…” Harry muttered. He suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation of loss mingling in with the horniness – not dissimilar to the way he felt when Dora sprung to mind. “I wish I could remember. This sucks.”
“…I’m sorry, detective. I didn’t mean to upset you. For the record, I haven’t disclosed any particular details of intimacy between us to him.” He paused for a moment, sounding genuinely dismayed. Harry knew it hadn’t been his intention to trigger any amnesia-related sadness.
“Okay.” He muttered pathetically, suddenly on the verge of tears. He was slowly realising that even without the withdrawal or presence of narcotics in his system, his default setting as a human being appeared to be overly-emotional and very bad at controlling it. He heard Kim tut affectionately over the line.
“These things will come back to you, sporadically. The hospital has said as much. You don’t need to worry, I promise.”
“…Yeah.” Harry nodded, tears beading his eyes. Kim couldn’t see him, but the motion alone was soothing.
His erection seemed undeterred by this rapid swinging of moods. It felt like he didn’t often give his body time to catch up with his emotions. Either way, it was still there, tenting his trousers in plain view of anyone who might walk past. He glanced around. The building was still eerily empty. That one unearthed memory of Jean squirming underneath him as he pistoned in and out of him danced seductively behind his eyelids every time he closed them.
Kim was waiting patiently for him to speak. Harry knew the race would be starting imminently – he should wrap this up.
“Kim?”
“Yes?”
“I might have to fuck him over this. Would that…be a problem?”
He waited with eyes scrunched shut for Kim’s response. This was…a grey area. Something they hadn’t really discussed. Exclusivity.
There had been one evening – a particularly emotional one, in which Jean and Harry had been working through their past grievances. This involved a great deal of Harry being exposed to more and more news of the complete and utter asshole he had become as his alcohol and drug abuse soared. The pain on Jean’s face at times made him feel physically ill just shy of vomiting. He was disgusted with himself.
Kim had been present, a self-elected referee to ensure neither men whipped each other into an emotional frenzy from which there was no return – or at least to step in if things turned physically aggressive. The whole thing had ended up sort of like a strange counselling session with Kim as the occasional de facto therapist. It was funny, looking back. It felt like they’d made genuine progress together, but by the end of it Harry was exhausted and practically oozing self-hatred. What had started as comfort from both Kim and Jean in the form of a gentle palm rubbing his back here, a reassuring squeeze to the thigh there had…escalated. Quite rapidly. He didn’t even remember who made the first move but fantastically, miraculously, an evening of homosexual group sex had unfolded.
By the end of it, Harry had been physically sated but in a state of near disbelief. He could no longer tell if the amnesia had been the worst or best thing that had happened to him. An orgasmic gay threesome with his fellow police officers was definitely not what he had expected going into that discussion, but he wasn’t about to look that gift horse in the mouth. In a matter of weeks and culminating in this one evening, he had gained a kind-of-sort-of boyfriend and more or less patched things up with his forgotten-best-friend-cum-fuck-buddy. And he’d even gotten to watch them fuck each other on the living room floor when he’d taken a breather for a glass of water.
Nothing of that nature had occurred between the three of them since. Nothing had been awkward the next day at work, not even remotely. Jean and Kim seemed perfectly at ease with each other, at least from what Harry could see. In addition, Jean’s face seemed to light up with hope each time Harry remembered something about him – even the awful things. It was bittersweet, getting to know him all over again. He wanted to do better than before – couldn’t even imagine treating Jean the way he had. He wanted to respect his boundaries and take things slow – if that was what Jean wanted.
Fucking Jean in the office without Kim because all of the sneezing he’d been doing had gone straight to his dick was probably the worst idea he’d had in a while. Not a boundary to be seen – and he would be taking it about as slow as a Mach 5 missile.
Kim broke the silence in a matter of seconds, though to Harry it may as well have been hours, for the agonising anxiety it caused him.
“I…don’t recommend exposing yourself to the virus when your immune system is already so compromised.”
Harry huffed out a dead-pan laugh.
“I think you know that’s not what I mean. Is it…okay? Me and him, without you there?”
Kim hesitated for a moment, then let out a measured sigh. Harry could picture him massaging the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses.
“As much as I like to indulge you, I’m okay with not being sneezed on by Satellite-Officer Vicquemare for now.”
His voice had a playful lilt to it, which was somewhat reassuring, but wasn’t enough.
“I’m serious, you know.” Harry gripped the mouthpiece of the phone tightly, the plastic audibly crunching under the pressure. “I really l-!..like you.”
Fuck. He had almost, almost dropped the L-bomb like a batshit crazy person. He felt himself flushing like a bashful little boy. Kim said nothing. Harry swallowed nervously and continued.
“I want to be with you. Like a boyfriend, I think. I don’t know. I’m not – I’m not very good at this. I’m evidently horrible at relationships.”
“…Harry-“
“And it’s important for you to understand that. Umm. I’m not just using you. For sex.”
“Harry.” Kim said. His tone was warm and patient. Harry didn’t interrupt him this time.
“I like you too.” He sounded genuine, and happy. “If you’re asking me to be your boyfriend, then…yes. I would like to try that.”
Harry punched the air in a silent dance of victory. He managed to swallow the urge to whoop like a lunatic and let Kim finish.
“You have a shared history with Jean. He’s an excellent partner to you, and an exemplary RCM officer. You were never in a romantic relationship, and neither of you have expressed an active desire to pursue one. I trust him, and I trust you. And I really do like Officer Vicquemare…”
Harry listened, sensing more.
“I also liked the way he whimpered when I fucked him up the ass.”
Harry let out the strangest combination of surprised laughter and heated groaning. Kim chuckled in response.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Harry pushed after a beat. “If it’s an issue – getting my rocks off, with him, like this – then I promise, I won’t so much as look in his general direction-!”
“It’s okay, Harry. Really. Again, despite everything, I trust you both entirely. Maybe I’m completely stupid, I don’t know. I’m still getting…acclimated.”
That was an understatement if there ever had been. Precinct 41 was everything Precinct 57 was not – chaotic, abrasive, action-packed, a clusterfuck of insanity. In Harry’s opinion, though muddled of mind that he was, Kim was doing an excellent job of taking everything in his stride.
“We can talk about what we’re doing when I see you tomorrow. My race started two minutes ago. Go and get sneezed on by your subordinate officer. Or, like I said, don’t. It seems like a particularly nasty cold.”
Harry had been doing a great deal of gaping stupidly over the span of this conversation. He did it again for good measure.
“I…don’t even know where to start. Man…Okay. I’ll…figure something out. We’ll talk tomorrow?” He asked, his heart fluttering in his chest.
“Tomorrow.” Kim agreed. “You’re ridiculous. Turns out, I like that.”
Harry grinned.
“I hope your guy wins.”
“Me too. Goodnight, detective. See you in the morning.”
“Night.”
Harry hung the phone back in its cradle before exhaling a huge breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding. He felt giddy and exhilarated with a hopefulness he hadn’t experienced in what had to have been years.
“What the fuck,” he laughed in the empty corridor. This was insanity, but if there was anything this last month and a half had taught him, it was to go with the flow and enjoy it. He didn’t always need to be fighting tooth and nail for control in a Universe that did what it damn well pleased, no matter how hard he resisted. This acceptance of futility was nothing like the suicidal ideation of his drug-induced spirals. It was paradoxically the most empowering realisation he had come to perhaps in his entire adult life. Whatever happened, would happen. He would accept it with as much grace as he was capable. Which was admittedly not a lot, but hey. Nobody could say he wasn’t trying his best.
~~~~~
Harry helped himself to biscuits and tea in the kitchen and sat for a while, contemplating his approach. Jean and Kim were very different beasts when it came to the appeal of Harry’s…well, everything. Whilst Kim appeared – and still very much was – quite distant at times, Harry could practically see him opening up day after day like the delicate unfurling of flower petals. Jean had known Harry for years and had both the psychological and physical scars to show for it. Being a pathetic, horny freak had perhaps charmed Kim due to its novelty. Begging Jean for a quick office fuck, from what he could glean, was surely the go-to approach he’d used on his partner before he’d forgotten everything. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go down that route again, especially when Jean was undeniably ill and pissed off about it.
He sighed, dunking his last biscuit in his tea and barely even noticing when half of it sank to the bottom of the mug in a soggy lump. He didn’t want to be overly direct, but he doubted there was any other way to approach the matter. He made up his mind and decided he would prefer any rejection coming from Jean in the form of a quick punch to the face rather than any awkward verbal letdown – the kind of which would inevitably follow any subtle attempts at flirtation on his part.  
When Harry arrived back at C Wing, Jean was mid sneeze. Harry watched him from the doorframe and knew with utter certainty that he had to fuck him. It was a primal need at this point.
“hH-Dtch!-Ngxt!-Gkkt! Hh! Dsh-tshh-tsh!”
Perhaps he hadn’t noticed Harry watching him – how could he, as preoccupied as he was sneezing himself stupid. He was stifling a lot less successfully, barely trying at all. His poor sinuses sounded miserably swollen, his inhales when he was given half a chance to take them shaky and exhausted, the poor bastard. Harry wanted his cock buried to the hilt inside of him.
Jean finished at last, sighing from the depths of his being and simply sitting still for a moment. Arms propped up on the desk, he leaned his forehead into his left hand, tentatively rubbing his nostrils with one crooked knuckle of his right. Harry strode towards him and stood before his desk, practically vibrating with energy. Jean lifted his head, cast his bleary eyes towards Harry’s face where they lingered for a moment, before taking in the impressive bulge Harry now made no effort to shield.
“What the fuck are you-”
“You’re driving me crazy. I want to pull my cock out and cum all over the place.”
Jean’s mouth dropped open. It was somewhat pleasing to Harry, to see such an expression on his partner’s face. These days, being most often met with derision, bemusement or melancholy, it was nice to shake things up a little, to know he wasn’t an entirely predictable cliché to Jean. He also liked seeing that mouth wide open – the suggestiveness of it. He wanted to see that more often.
Once the initial shock seemed to leave his system, Jean glanced around as if to confirm that there was nobody else to eavesdrop on Harry’s relative insanity. The room was as empty as it had remained for the past couple of hours – no other officers magically appeared from behind any furniture, ready to point and jeer. He turned back to Harry, but the older man cut him off before he could start chewing him out for his unabashed brazenness.
“I’m serious, you know. You’re painfully hot right now. I can’t think about anything else.”
He briefly squeezed himself through his trousers for emphasis. Jean’s eyes lingered long enough to make Harry grin.
“…And how would Kitsuragi feel about you touching yourself in front of me, getting off on my misery like the fucking pervert you are?”
Jean’s words were biting but there was no real animosity behind them. His bleary eyes seemed brighter, alert and pensive all of a sudden. Something about the way Harry’s cock throbbed in response to the derision, the ease with which the words poured out of Jean with no hesitation at all made it clear that this was an area of great familiarity for the both of them.
“Oh, don’t worry about Kim. He all but told me to fuck this out of my system.”
That wasn’t strictly the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. Jean scoffed in response.
“I knew he was a freak but I didn’t take him for a cuckold.”
“Hey, that’s not-“
“Shut up, you presumptuous cretin! I should punch you in the face for calling your boyfriend and asking permission to – what, fuck me? Before you even asked me?”
Harry cringed a little. This was actual, legitimate anger now – and when Jean put it like that, he really did seem like an asshole. A selfish part of him loved hearing his partner refer to Kim as his boyfriend, but he buried it for the moment. He may be a presumptuous cretin but even he knew if he started giggling like a love-struck teenage girl right now he really would be getting a fist to the face.
He paused for a moment, taking in Jean’s ire and the way his pale eyes pierced into his own. And then he opened his mouth.
“Don’t take this out on Kim. You seemed perfectly fine letting us double team you a few weeks ago.”
Jean made a strangled sound and flushed so hard he looked almost purple under the shitty, fluorescent lighting.
“That was different, you moron! We weren’t in an office, for one. It just happened. And I could breathe out of my fucking nose then.”
Harry couldn’t help the little twitch of pleasure his cock gave at both the memory of their sex and Jean bringing attention to his current, miserable condition. He peered down his nose at him, happy the younger man was sat down whilst he stood. It gave him a little leverage, the illusion of domination, to be towering over him right now.
“I doubt we’ve never done it here before. And Kim told me that you told him – behind my back, by the way – that we’ve fucked at crime scenes too!”
Trying not to think about the grossly teenage sounding 'he said, she said' turn of phrase, he initially omitted the part about Jean’s hay fever before hesitating, reconsidering and adding:
“And from the sounds of it, you couldn’t breathe through your nose then either. And you still wanted it, Vic.”
Jean blinked at him, looking a confusing mix of sheepish, perturbed and aroused. Harry realised he’d called him ‘Vic’; it felt familiar, rolled right off his tongue. That nickname on top of the damning accusation of his willing participation seemed to have rendered his partner temporarily speechless. Whilst it was pretty fun, it also felt a little too much like bullying. Harry sighed, and dropped to his knees, resting his chin on the desk and peering up at Jean with big, watery eyes. He hoped that the shift in positioning would make Jean feel better, even if it made him look pathetic.
“Please?” He batted his eyelashes up at the younger man. “Getting off will help me focus on these cases.”
Jean scoffed, again, and scrubbed his animated nostrils with one crooked finger. Harry zoned in on the motion, biting his lip as an audible squishing noise filled the air and Jean’s finger came away slightly shiny.
“You want to get off? Go jerk off in the bathroom and quit bugging me.”
Harry growled, gripping the edge of the desk on either side of his chin and staring up at Jean, who was no longer pink with embarrassment but staring daggers at him all the same.
“But – don’t you want to watch me cum for you? Because of you?” He scrambled to his feet again, leaning over the desk and hovering his face right in front of Jean’s. The younger man’s breathing seemed laboured, and not strictly because of his cold. He was turned on by this. Harry decided to go for gold and flashed him the sexiest version of ‘The Expression’ he could muster. Jean looked pained.
“Harry…” He breathed against Harry’s lips, leaning subconsciously towards him. “You can make things up to me by doing your goddamn work.”
“That’s…that’s kind of putting the cart before the horse, though.” Harry mumbled. Jean likes horses, he remembered. Maybe he’d find that turn of phrase endearing.
Harry watched him take it all in. He could practically visualise the process of Jean’s thoughts as he worked through resistance, indignation, and then – at last – reluctant acceptance.
“God fucking damn it.”
He stood, pressing a finger underneath his red-raw nostrils as if another sneeze was imminent. Harry hoped that was the case. He staggered backwards, excited grin plastered to his face and heart pounding in his chest.
“Don’t look so fucking pleased with yourself.” Jean muttered, walking in the direction of the copy room. Harry continued to look pleased as punch, trailing after Jean’s purposeful stride with a slightly more awkward gait. The zipper of his trousers strained against his burgeoning erection, growing impossibly harder now that there was promise of relief.
Harry slammed the door shut behind them, locking it for good measure just in case the station inexplicably flooded with life. Jean was leaning back against the printer when Harry turned to face him, muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. In this stance, he could really appreciate the results of the many hours the younger man spent working out to an almost pathological degree. His biceps strained against the cotton of his shirt, and the way his sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, leaving his hairy forearms exposed…Harry fought back a sudden pavlovian deluge of saliva at the sight of him. The way Jean was regarding him with a mixture of irritation, arousal and amusement was doing nothing to calm the throbbing between his legs.
Harry walked the few steps towards Jean and stared back. When Jean made no move, said nothing but offered a congested sniffle in response, Harry tilted his head a little in confusion.
“So, umm…?”
The older detective motioned with his hands, a distinctive ‘what gives?’ motion. Jean just smiled derisively at him.
“What? I thought you came in here to jerk off. So jerk off.” Even though the cold had left him pallid and drained, Harry didn’t miss the way his pale eyes glittered as he spoke.
“But, can I? I mean, aren’t we-?” Harry floundered slightly. This was not what he had had in mind. He realised suddenly he wasn’t entirely sure what he expected from the interaction. He’d only really been thinking about having an orgasm. But Jean had lead him here – surely that was an invitation for – what, a quick fuck? Hand jobs, blow jobs, mutual masturbation? Just. Something…together.
Jean’s amusement visibly increased with every passing moment of Harry’s braindead confusion. Sadistic bastard, Harry thought. His dick twitched in earnest.
“Use your words, shitkid.” Jean smirked at him, rounding off his command with a waterlogged sniffle that sent a shiver down Harry’s spine. He didn’t give Harry so much as a chance to do so before continuing.
“I came in here to sneeze in privacy – you followed me. You thought I was going to drop to my knees and suck your dick?”
Harry visibly wilted, mouth dropping open in dismay. This was revenge. Petty, mean-spirited revenge. Sure, Jean hadn’t actually agreed to do anything – Harry had just followed him of his own accord but – but! The implications!
Jean watched his face as these thoughts whirled round his brain. Apparently, he must have looked about as pathetic as he felt, and Jean started to laugh. It was a nice laugh – a genuine laugh, maybe a little endearing and at odds with the spiteful way he had been addressing him moments earlier. Harry waited for him to finish, and he soon did, clearing his throat a little as if embarrassed at his own naked display of amusement.
“It’s okay, shitkid. You can take your cock out and enjoy the show. But I’m not touching you – I feel like fucking shit.”
Harry listened to him speak, watching his face intently. This was the first time Jean had admitted out loud to feeling unwell, even if it was blatantly both visually and aurally obvious to everyone else around him. It seemed he’d tired himself out with the domineering bravado, slumping a little against the copy machine, no longer having the energy to maintain his upright posture. His nostrils were also twitching, a surefire sign that he was about to start sneezing, and soon.
“Fine. Okay.” Harry muttered, already feeling the heat gathering and pulsing outwards from his groin at the mere promise of what was to come. He managed to extract his hard cock from the confines of his trousers, narrowly avoiding catching the delicate skin in his zipper, and wrapped one sweaty, spit slick palm around it. It immediately felt incredible, and he swore as he started to stroke it. This would not take very long.
Looking up from the tantalising sight of his own hand working his cock – a huge cock, a cock he was pathetically proud of – he focused his eyes back on Jean, and was glad he had done so. He stared as the younger man shuddered with a round of desperate, tickly little sneezes, all successfully stifled into silence against an outstretched pointer finger. Fuck, Jean looked good like that, cringing into that tight, pained expression as he bit down on every sneeze. His nostrils looked so lovely and so red in sharp contrast with the rest of his pale complexion. Harry wanted those nostrils pressed up against the shaft of his cock. He thought about Kim doing the same, willingly teasing him with sneezes and making him cum embarrassingly quickly, like the way he had done last week as they fooled around on his couch. His cock drooled precum.
Jean had a moment’s reprieve before he was scrambling in his trouser pockets for a tissue, extracting one at last that looked entirely worse for wear – balled up into no more than a lumpy mass, completely past the point of usefulness. All the same, Jean was bringing it up to his poor, flaring nostrils, giving Harry just a moment to take in his creasing eyebrows, the grimace of his open mouth as the tickle crested and he sneezed fiercely into it.
“Hn’tshh!! TSH’iew! Nd’Tsh! Tsh-Tshht!!”
He gasped, an intensely desperate sound that had Harry gasping too. And then the cycle repeated.
‘Ddtsh! Tsch’uu-TShht!! Hgk’Tssht! Huhd’Tishh-Tissh-‘Ddtshieww!!”
Harry was in pure, fetishistic ecstasy, squeezing and stroking his cock for all he was worth to those gorgeous little sneezes. It was so erotic, that such a gruff, muscular man was rendered entirely helpless by such proportionately tiny releases. His own huge sneezes were a lot more appropriate for a man his size, he thought, but the contradiction only seemed to turn him on even more than if Jean had sneezed with equally gigantic proportions. It was endearing, if one could describe something as such even whilst it resulted in an erection the hardness of which titanium couldn’t hold a candle to.
Jean paused for a moment, nose still buried in the pathetic knot of tissue, breath scissoring in and out of him. Harry steeled himself for more, slowing down his stroking so that he wouldn’t topple over the edge just yet. He wanted to cum so badly, but he wanted more. He wanted to watch Jean’s face completely unobstructed by hand or tissue alike. He wanted to see the way they would overwhelm him without the interference of suppression. He bit his bottom lip, trying not to whimper as his subordinate officer hitched, and hitched, and hitched -
“Please,” he gasped out, the sudden raspy outburst a lot louder than he had intended. It was evidently loud enough to throw Jean off balance, huffing in frustration as his sneeze failed to culminate past a desperate, vocal “Huhhdt-!!”. Harry groaned in response, felt his dick throb in his grasp as Jean’s face pinkened in embarrassment over the aborted release.
“What is it? You distracted me. Fuck, it burns!”
He proceeded to scrub at his poor nostrils with the sodden tissue, nudging the tip of his nose from side to side. Harry could tell he was genuinely tiring of the persistence of the tickle. Vague memories suddenly skimmed his brain of Jean at the tail-end of spring and over summer, bullying his nose with the knuckles of his hand when a pollen-induced sneezing fit lay just out of reach. Come to think of it, they were coming up to May very soon…god. Harry sighed, squeezing his cock to these happy thoughts and watching as precum beaded at the head. Fuck, this felt so good.
“Sorry, sorry, just please - don’t use the tissue. And don’t hold them back. Please? You’re so fucking hot.”
Jean’s blush deepened – whether in frustration or arousal at the compliment, he couldn’t be sure. Either way, it went straight to his cock.
“What? Fuck you. You don’t get to tell me how to sneeze.”
He was a little pissed, his accent thickened in overly performative and righteous indignation at the suggestion of catering to Harry’s specific whims. If Harry wasn’t mistaken, and his gut assured him he was not, it seemed like defensiveness against the fact that he would very much like to be told what to do. This felt, again, familiar. It made Harry harder to hear the way his loss of composure elongated the vowels in the word ‘sneeze’. He stroked himself a little faster.
“Come on, Vic. Do it for the station. I need to cum and clear my head so I can finish all that pesky paperwork. Please?”
He batted his eyelashes again. It wouldn’t have worked on just anyone, no – the sight of a 44 years old, recovering alcoholic police officer, wild-eyed and desperate with cock in hand, begging for his subordinate officer to sneeze uncovered so he could shoot his load. But this was Jean – normal rules did not apply.
“We’ve been through this, you prick. You should fucking do your paperwork without the promise of orgasm because it’s your fucking job!” Jean spat, raising his voice a little more than his irritated throat could take. He coughed harshly for several moments into a raised fist before sighing miserably, glancing up at Harry with a look of surrender. Harry shivered a little, resumed squeezing the head of his cock where he had temporarily abated in nervous concern at the voracity of the coughing. He ended up letting out an embarrassingly high-pitched whimper, bucking into his own grip. Jean sighed.
“Fine. I need to sneeze again, don’t distract m’hh-! Me…”
His breath started to softly hitch. To Harry’s delight, he shoved the soggy tissue back into his pocket and let his head fall back ever so slightly, allowing him to get a perfect view of his crumpling, desperate expression. Jean didn’t think he was a good-looking guy, but Harry wholeheartedly disagreed. He wasn’t one to preach the importance of self-love when he himself struggled to look in the mirror knowing how attractive he’d once been, only to squander it – even if recently, it was getting a little easier to do so. Bravado and charisma masked his discomfort – Jean’s buffer was merely rudeness and aggression. But either way, as he gasped his way into another fit of cock-throbbingly desperate sneezes, Harry had hardly found him more desirable.
“Hhd’Tschht!-D’tshh!! Hh! Hagk’Tisshhiew!! Hgk’Tschh! Hupt’TISHhhiew!! Ihgk’TSHhiew! Higk’TZSCHhhh!...‘DDTSH’uuu!!”
Jean shuddered, gripping the surface behind him as the force of the releases threatened to topple him. Each sneeze sounded positively ruined, as if his body could barely handle the cold-induced tickle that flared again and again. The first two Jean had stifled out of habit, before he’d remembered Harry would very much like to be sprayed with every single one of them. By the time he’d finished, his eyes and nose were leaking, and Harry’s legs were starting to shake with the effort of holding himself upright, a mind-numbing orgasm looming and sapping him of motor control.
“…You’re going to fall down if you don’t hold onto something. We don’t need a repeat of you nearly braining yourself on the edge of a table.”
Jean brought this up so readily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As if Harry should easily remember this fact, the fact that he and Jean had fucked around enough that he had (embarrassingly) injured himself falling to his knees in orgasm before. And he should remember. Why couldn’t he remember?
“I…don’t remember anything like that.” Harry confessed, throat tightening a little.
“I know. It’s okay.” Jean softened immediately, opening his arms up to Harry. “Come here.”
He shifted forward until he was stood between the protective embrace of Jean’s spread thighs, sighing a little as the younger man reached out to place both hands on his waist, steadying him. Harry himself reached out with his free hand past Jean’s waist to press against the sturdy surface of the copy machine. He watched as Jean took a moment to scrub at his nose with the wad of used tissues. It was such a handsome nose – prominent and strong, perfectly suited to his face. Watching it twitch and wriggle and hearing the soft clicks of moisture the motions created as Jean bullied it made his cock throb. He so desperately wanted to replace Jean’s hand with his own and play with it himself, but before he could even move to do so, Jean was dropping his hands right back to Harry’s waist and sneezing all over his chest.
“AEGK’Tssch’uu!! Higk’TSschTtt! ‘TSCHh’uu!! Hh’TISH’ieww!!”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Each sneeze sounded so incredibly desperate, so exhausted yet so overpowering, accompanied by a burst of thick spray. Harry’s cock drooled over his knuckles and he whined, low and loud. By the time the fourth sneeze had completed, Harry could feel (and see) the fabric of his shirt sticking to his chest, discoloured where the spray had dampened it. Jean’s tongue reflexively licked his bottom lip clean, thoroughly soaked by the force of his expulsions. He peered tentatively at Harry before his face eased into a relieved smile.
“You really do still like it. Getting drenched by my sneezes.” He was smiling – salacious and assured all at once.
“Yeahhh…Yeah, I really fucking do,” Harry sighed, staring at Jean adoringly as he worked over his cock with a renewed vigour. “Bless you.”
He all but purred the blessing out. It turned him on just as much as any dirty talk, he realised; it was a phrase that encapsulated his adoration, gratefulness and arousal all in one. Jean seemed to enjoy the attention, as well – his breath hitched in a decidedly non-sneeze fashion, and Harry smirked at him.
“Thank you.” Jean practically purred back, gently rubbing his thumbs against Harry’s sides. He stared back into Harry’s eyes, pupils blown so wide the pale irises were almost swallowed by black. “My nose tickles so fucking much. I just want to crawl into bed and sneeze until I fall asleep.”
Oooh, he was good at this. He had an undoubtedly extensive history of saying equally as specific things to Harry. The image of Jean curled up in bed and sneezing all over himself and his bed sheets was a potent one. Harry shivered, biting his lip hard as his knees quivered and struggled to keep from bending.
“Fuckkk…”
The arm he had leant against the copy machine was shaking too, elbow caving inwards and causing him to lean closer into Jean’s space. He didn’t seem to mind, nosing at Harry’s jawline and sniffling noisily. Poor fucking thing – he sounded so congested.
“Poor baby…” Harry breathed out, pressing a kiss to Jean’s cheek. If it was too intimate or too forward, the commotion of his impending orgasm made it very hard to give a fuck. The way Jean’s breath hitched and his solid build seemed to shiver a little at this crooning told him he was probably in the clear.
Jean suddenly pulled his face back from where he had been pressing a kiss to the underside of Harry’s jaw, frantically enough that Harry leant back himself to watch the inevitable unfold. Jean’s breath hitched again, this time due to the merciless persistency of his cold. His nostrils flared, damp and pink, threatening to overflow and make a mess of his moustache. Everything about his tortured pre-sneeze expression was a joy to behold. Harry could understand why he’d taken advantage of it many-a time before. His hand was a blur over his dick; he simply could not stop stroking and squeezing himself to the spectacle of it all. His brain conjured up the image of Kim, watching him watching Jean the way he’d done earlier that day, and he whimpered like a bitch in heat.
“KISHH’uuu!! IhGgKk’TSChhHU! ‘TShhiewww! Fucking h’hell…! hhAGK’TZShhiew!! ‘DZT’shieww!! Ihk’TSsschhttt!!”
Harry almost swooned as the sneezes caught his chin and the exposed column of his throat. He was hot, so fucking hot, even hotter with Jean’s too-warm body so close to his own. He could imagine the delicate aerosol of spray immediately sizzling and evaporating where it kissed his boiling skin.
“Ohh, fuck. Bless you, god, shit. M’gonna cum, gonna shoot…!”
“You make a mess of my uniform, you fucking die.”
Harry groaned through clenched teeth. If Jean didn’t want that, the last thing he should be doing was growling insults at Harry in that stupid, sexy voice of his. His cock throbbed, a decisive pre-orgasmic tremor of pleasure.
Jean seemed to realise any scolding or death-threats on his part were useless – he’d no doubt learned that, right on the brink of orgasm, a hoard of rabid zombies could be seconds away from attacking them both and Harrier Du Bois would be cumming his brains out even as the mauling commenced. Harry felt something press up against the head of his cock, moaning stupidly the second he realised it was the sodden tissue Jean had sneezed and snorted into. His body jerked with the first spasm of orgasm.
Through the roaring onset of his pleasure, he felt Jean wrap an arm round his waist whilst the other clamped the tissue to the spitting head of his cock. Both hands occupied, the younger man was pressing his face against the collar of his shirt, rubbing his nose frantically against him. Harry heard the deep groan he was making as the pleasure started to really crest, so fucking good, hours and hours of tension draining out of him with every blissful twitch of his tortured dick. When Jean’s breath started to hitch, he could feel the in and out of his expanding diaphragm, hear every minute snag in his breathing.
When Jean sneezed, an oh-so desperate triple, audibly and tangibly wet against his collar and bursting across his neck, he all but yelled as his orgasm sky-rocketed from pleasurable commotion to earth-shaking rapture.
“Hh’AHTTt’SHiewww!! KTSh’Schuu!! AEGKk’TSSHhh’uu!!”
His fingers spasmed uselessly against the copy machine, knees all but given out – Jean had had the right idea to hold him up. He was slumped against him, chest to chest, breathing as laboured as a bulldog as the final tremors of orgasm pulsed through him. He just leant there, propped up against Jean like a ragdoll and waiting for his body to cooperate. Jean was slowly rubbing his twitching, damp nose against his neck – it felt electric even in the aftermath of release.
“I never understood,” Jean started, speaking softly into the crook of his neck, “Why you ever felt the need to drink and do drugs the way you did when you can cum like that.”
Harry didn’t know what to say, his brain still a veritable puddle of goo. He’d like to know himself, but he was certain that this sudden resurgence of sex beginning in Martinaise with Kim had followed a relatively lengthy period of LDS – i.e. Limp Dick Syndrome. If he’d been having orgasms, they hadn’t been this fucking good. That he was certain he would have remembered.
“Hah,” He breathed out an awkward, monosyllabic laugh in lieu of anything even halfway intelligent. He smiled and panted, open-mouthed, at the sound of Jean’s responding scoff. He continued to lean there against the warm embrace of the younger man’s body until he felt him shifting in discomfort under his weight.
“Harry. Get off.”
He sighed, pushing himself off of Jean one-handed. He looked down between them, dick in his own hand whilst Jean’s patiently held the snot and cum-filled tissue in place as it threatened to overflow.
“Umm. Fuck. I think I have a handkerchief somewhere, hold on…” He started to root around in his blazer pockets, ignoring Jean’s glare as he unearthed one and started to wipe his hand and cock on the fabric.
“You had that the whole time and you let me use my last tissue to soak up your cum?” Jean rasped. Harry paused for a moment at how unwell he sounded.
“Sorry.” He flashed an apologetic grin at Jean, too blissed out to offer up any kind of excuse. He was getting sick of saying that he’d forgotten things, even if it was true.
“Whatever. Fuck.” Jean tossed the pulpy tissue into the nearby bin, following the trajectory with his eyes and looking pleased with himself when it landed on target.
Harry folded the handkerchief over, offering the clean surface of it to Jean, who took it wordlessly. He tucked his sensitive dick back into his pants, resisting the urge to start coaxing it back to full hardness as the sound of Jean’s lengthy, crackling nose blow forced a pathetic little twitch out of it in response.
Jean snuffled into the handkerchief, massaging his sore, red nostrils, seemingly perfectly content to stand there watching Harry. The older man noticed the prominent outline of the Satellite Officer’s erection, unattended to, straining against his trousers. He looked down at it then up at Jean again, wanting to broach the subject, but then paused, noticing the way Jean was frowning towards the general vicinity of his shoulder.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Jean swiped the handkerchief one last time under his nose before folding it over again and leaning forward.
“Hold still.”
Harry did so, obediently standing in place as Jean scrubbed at the collar of his shirt. He smiled like a dope as he realised his partner was attempting to clean away the prodigious results of that last triple.
“Messy boy.”
“Shut your damn mouth.”
“Is there even any clean fabric left on that handkerchief?”
“Shut up, Harry.”
Harry did. He felt like he was dangerously at risk of swaying in place, the endorphins and release after all the teasing and buildup leaving him far too loose and carefree. Jean pulled back at last, pocketing the handkerchief and rearranging Harry’s shirt collar and necktie. He looked up at Harry, catching him in the act of staring at his face, at the way his dark eyelashes fanned over his cheeks as he worked to smooth Harry out in an almost mechanical fashion. He flashed a little smirk his way, then yanked his tie just so.
“You’re lucky I didn’t use this hideous thing to clean up my mess.” He purred, the raspiness of his voice only adding to the allure. Harry swore under his breath.
“Are you trying to work me up for round two?” He whined. Jean dropped his tie.
“Absolutely the fuck not. Are you going to do your fucking job now?”
Harry sighed. What a fucking buzzkill.
“Yes. Yes I’ll do my job, you win. Although…” He leaned forward, pressing his mouth right up to Jean’s ear and murmuring in a low voice, “I’d like to do you first.”
Jean shivered and huffed a little laugh.
“That was fucking awful, oh my god.”
But he didn’t push him away. He wrapped his arms round Harry’s shoulders instead, humming in approval as Harry kissed his neck and trailed one broad hand down his torso before draping it across the bulge in his pants. He sighed, a gorgeous little exhalation of pleasure that sent shivers down Harry’s spine as he started to unzip his pants.
“Do you want this?” He asked even as his hand collected the moisture from Jean’s tip and spread it down his shaft, stroking him firmly.
“Hahh…Yeah. Mm’fucking tired though. So forgive me for – hah!” He cut himself off with his own frantic moaning. He didn’t bother to elaborate; Harry imagined he really was exhausted if his mouthy self was starting to economise his own verbosity.
What Jean lacked in words was more than made up with by the sweet, continuous stream of moans he let out next to Harry’s ear as he wrapped himself around him, resting his head on his shoulder as the older officer kissed and licked the shell of his ear, whispering words of encouragement and praise. His hand moved instinctually over Jean’s length – at least the easy muscle memory, built up over years of fucking, remained where his active memory did not. He clenched his teeth, pushing back the bitter thoughts and focusing on Jean’s gasps and sighs, the little “Ohh fuck”s and “Like that”s he would occasionally choke out as Harry stroked and teased. His own cock was hard again, but he ignored it, speeding up his pace as Jean’s hips started to buck arrhythmically.
He pulled back to watch Jean’s face as he fell to pieces – a different kind of vulnerability twisting his features into a mask of pleasure, though it wasn’t all that different from the irritated expression a pre-sneeze tickle would take. It was achingly familiar – a face he’d no doubt been made to make hundreds of times before at the mercy of Harry’s hands, his mouth, his cock. He’d watched Jean cum when the three of them had fucked, but this was different – just the two of them together in god knows how long, for the first time since the drugs and booze and misery made him an utterly reprehensible waste of skin. Watching those dark eyelashes flutter like that made his chest tight.
“Harrier, fuckkk…gonna cum-! Fuck!”
Jean started to convulse almost immediately, a shuddering gasp wrenching itself out of him as he trembled in Harry’s grip. Harry caught the spurts of semen with his free hand, a moment too late as the first spasm painted a white stripe over the yellow fabric of the thigh he’d pressed between Jean’s legs. He was too blissed out to care, kissing the corner of Jean’s open mouth as he continued to orgasm, mewling as the pleasure overpowered him. He ejaculated into the cage of Harry’s fingers a couple more times before he sagged in exhaustion, clinging to Harry and moaning, blushing face pressed firmly into the shoulder of his blazer. His voice broke on that last, whimpering vocalisation and Harry’s heart ached for him.
He stood patiently as Jean caught his breath and clung to him like a lifeline. One hand awkwardly closed around the dripping mess of Jean’s orgasm whilst the other loosely gripped his sticky, softening cock. He’d have to wait for Jean to unlock the door of the copy room first, holding both sticky hands upright until he located the nearest sink to wash them off. He supposed he could lick them clean – cum wasn’t the worst taste in the world – but the depravity of it would just make him horny all over again. He may as well just take his own cock out and use Jean’s cum as lube.
He was pulled out of this particular train of thought at the sensation of Jean trembling several times against him. The realisation that he was muffling a series of tiny little sneezes into near silence against his shoulder was doing absolutely nothing to keep the blood out of his insatiable cock. He closed his eyes and pictured his paperwork instead.
“Sorry…” Jean muttered, sniffling as he extracted his face from the makeshift covering.
“It’s okay.” Harry murmured, kissing his cheek. He frowned; Jean’s skin felt even warmer under his lips than before. “You’re burning up, Vic.”
Jean sighed.
“I figured as much.”
He unwrapped his hands from around Harry’s shoulders, looking queerly at him as if he didn’t understand why Harry was still stood there with a hand on his wilting cock until he realised the older man’s predicament.
“Oh, uhh…I’ll get you some paper towels. Wait here.”
Harry waited, eyes closed and replaying Jean’s sneezes and his orgasm over and over in his mind, opening them only once he felt the younger man gently wiping his hands clean. He smiled weakly at Jean, and Jean smiled back at him – shy, boyish. At odds with the lines of stress and exhaustion that marred his face, aging him beyond his years.
“I never meant to hurt you.” It was pouring out of him before he had a chance to think twice. Jean sighed, working on Harry’s other hand.
“Harry. You never meant to do any of the things you did, or so you keep telling me. I don’t need to hear this again. Not right now.”
His smile was replaced by the regular hard line of his everyday frown. Harry could have kicked himself.
“I’m sorry, Jean. I really am. I can’t understand why I did the things I did to you. Will you look at me?”
Jean hesitated, then peered up at him under eyelashes dampened by tears. Harry leaned forward and kissed each of his eyelids, lips coming away salty and damp.
“I never want to put you through any of that again. And I won’t.”
Jean’s lips quirked into a tiny, defeated smile – one that said he didn’t really trust him, but wanted to believe in him more than he ever had before. Harry considered it a success, and pressed their foreheads together for lack of anything better to do whilst his hands were still sticky, though notably less so than before. Jean uttered a soft little hum.
“You just jerked me off and this is somehow even gayer.”
Harry laughed.
“Fuck you, man. You’re ten times gayer than me.”
He kissed Jean for all of five seconds before the younger man couldn’t breathe, ducking into Harry’s shoulder and coughing all over his blazer. Harry winced – the dreamy haze of afterglow was beginning to fade and Jean did not sound good.
“You’re so getting this now. I hope you’re happy.” Jean muttered, wiping his mouth dry with the back of his hand.
“If you think for one second I regret doing any of that, you are sorely mistaken.”
“Hm. Whatever you say, superstar.” Jean drawled, tossing the soiled paper towels into the bin alongside the shredded remains of tissue. “Now, move it. You need to wash your hands and do your fucking work.”
Harry sighed and followed him out of the room, casting one quick glance back over his shoulder to assess the damage. Nothing, thankfully. Just the spray on his shirt and the cum on his leg.
~~~~~
Jean had gone home shortly after their excursion in the copy room, leaving Harry unsupervised. He had done some paperwork, but he had also called Kim from his desk phone when he was sure the race had ended and relayed the entire turn of events to him. He’d also jerked himself off again reliving it all, moaning stupidly down the receiver as he came. He was happy to hear the Lieutenant’s own groan of completion, and he’d ended the call, promising to talk again tomorrow. And not a moment too soon – the bullpen was suddenly flooded by a stream of Junior patrol officers, returning amidst a blessed lull in criminal activity.
The next few days at work had been uneventful. Busy, but monotonous. He’d gone out to dinner with Kim, and they’d fucked. Jean had miraculously allowed himself a solitary sick day, surprising them all. He’d returned the following day, still sick but markedly improved. And that had been that.
Until Jean’s cold finally caught up to him and Harry became a sneezing, sniffling mess almost overnight. He’d dragged himself to work and had hardly had 15 minutes free of sneezing since he’d arrived. He’d figured that Jean’s general nasal sensitivities had been the main cause of the sheer number of times that he’d been sneezing with the same affliction, but no. It was easily one of the tickliest, sneeziest colds he had ever encountered – even worse than his cold in Martinaise.
He wanted to lie around and sneeze in bed, away from the scorn and watchful eyes of his fellow officers. But no dice – he had to work, he had to get through this fucking case and oh – oh god. He had to sneeze.
“IIIEEEEESSSSSHHHTTTTttt!!!”
The sneeze had been cunning and entirely malevolent, not giving him the dignity of even a short buildup before the tickle spiked sharply and it was bursting out of him. It hadn’t been messy, thank god, but it had been wet, and his paperwork had taken the brunt of it as the force propelled him over his desk. He groaned, rubbing the underside of his sore, tickly nostrils with the back of his hand. The files were dappled with moisture, the ink of his chicken scratch handwriting bleeding across the page where the worst of the damage had been done.
Nobody had been passing within range of the spray this time, at least. The surrounding area of Harry’s desk had now been dubbed the less than subtle title of ‘The Splash Zone’, following McClaine’s misfortune to be making his way across the room and in front of Harry the second a particularly violent sneeze worked its way out of him – and all over the younger officer’s blazer. Harry had apologised, but in all honesty didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him – or his ugly, checkered jacket.
He snuffled thickly, wiping his runny nose across any remaining dry skin to be found on his arm and wrist. This fucking sucked. He had known the risks. He had willingly exposed himself to Jean’s cold for the sake of a nut. He had nobody to blame but himself. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t feel utterly, miserably sorry for himself. He cradled his forehead in his hands, doing nothing for the preternatural nasal drainage but feeling too rotten to care.
A shuffling noise prompted him to glance towards the source of the disturbance. Kim was using a pen to nudge a tissue box, half-emptied by Harry this morning alone, closer to him and into his line of vision. Harry peered over in bemusement as Kim, mission accomplished, settled back down into his own chair, looking back at Harry with a mixture of exasperation and concern.
“You really should cover your mouth, Lieutenant Double-Yefreitor.”
Harry sighed, helping himself to a bundle of tissues.
“Sorry. I know. They’ve been sneaking up on me, is all.” He finished before blowing his nose with a resultant sound so thick and crackling that all other noise in the office seemed to dim in comparison.
“Oh, believe me, I’ve noticed.” Kim muttered, returning to his own work with a resigned sigh.
Harry knew he was referring to the way he had been sneezed on this morning, lying in bed as they shared a kiss. It had absolutely destroyed any chance of morning sex and earned Harry one of the iciest looks he had ever received from Kim. He counted himself lucky that Kim was not one to resort to physical violence when slighted, and that his blubbering, heartfelt apology was entirely successful in transforming Kim’s anger into a wilting, stony-faced acceptance.
“I really do have no means of avoiding this illness, now.”
For as bad as Harry had felt about the whole thing, he couldn’t deny that that admission of defeat and the mere thought of Kim catching his cold – this ridiculously sneezy cold – made his cock feel hard enough to cut glass.
A folder of documents was slapped down on his desk with a sudden, resounding slap, making Harry jump and swear behind the tissues. He peered up at Jean, looking almost radiant with healthiness compared the to the state he had been in several days prior.
“From the Boogie Street Stabbing case.” He smiled down at Harry, looking cocky and amused.
“You look like you’re feeling better.” Harry spat, dropping the soiled tissues on his desk and tossing the folder to the right with the rest of the ‘to be returned to’ pile. Jean smiled even wider.
“Apparently the best way to get over a cold is to give it to someone else.”
He directed his best shit-eating grin at Harry, eyes brighter and more focused than they had been in days.
“Wonderful.” Kim grumbled almost inaudibly to the side. He really wasn’t looking forward to getting sick, and Harry could sympathise. He made a mental note to spoil Kim rotten the second he started to feel under the weather. Jean didn’t seem to have heard him, and if he had, he was staunchly ignoring him and favouring bothering Harry the same way a bored child would tease a grumpy old dog.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than rub your health in my face?” Harry snuffled emphatically.
“You’ve rubbed much worse in mine. Consider this pay back.” He turned to leave, but at last minute turned around and deposited another folder – a thick, evil looking dossier on some mob boss or other – on Harry’s desk. “And this, too.”
Harry gaped at him in dismay.
“You’re cruel and unusual!” He groaned after a retreating Jean. His partner merely smirked and flipped him off. It was aggravating, but mischievous and about as light-hearted as Jean was currently capable of. Harry felt, through the weariness of his progressing sickness, a sense of relief. He flipped the bird right back at him, hoping he didn’t look too paradoxically gleeful as he did so.
Jean didn’t seem to notice this capriciousness, just patted his pocket to check for his carton of cigarettes and angled his head towards Judit.
“Jude – smoke break?”
“You shouldn’t be smoking anything – you should still be in bed.”
She followed him outside all the same, more to keep an eye on him than anything else, ready to provide medical attention should he suddenly cough up a lung. Harry envied her immune system – it seemed having kids constantly bringing bugs home was a truly effective form of inoculation to just about anything that was passed around the bullpen.
He watched them leave absentmindedly – before yet another cruel, bullying sneeze tore its way out of him.
“HAAAAEEISSSHHHhh!!...HUH! HAHHHGGGTTSSSSSHHh’uuu!!”
And it brought a friend along with it. A messy friend. Harry clapped a hand over his mouth several seconds too late, muttering an exhausted ‘fuck’ and snuffling into the cage of his fingers. Not getting any warning was incredibly inconvenient but the force of the sneezes, how they sent shivers of pleasure down his spine…that he could appreciate.
“Say it, don’t spray it, Mullen!”
That was Mack, shouting across the bullpen and earning a couple of sniggers in return. He was a meathead, and it was a juvenile, unoriginal and otherwise comically cliché comment. It wouldn’t have bothered Harry in the least had his sneezes been intentionally intrusive, but the fact that he was totally at their mercy brought a light flush of shame to his cheeks. He just wanted to go home and jerk off. He flipped the bird in Torson’s general direction and reached for another tissue.
Kim beat him to it, pressing a bundle of fresh tissues into his palm. Harry looked up and flashed him an appreciative glance, replacing his hand with the tissue. The Lieutenant stood next to his desk, a file underarm, ready to be submitted to Captain Pryce.
“Bless you.” He offered quietly. Harry tried as hard as he could not to visibly squirm. Kim smiled at him. “Was it w-worth...!”
Harry stared adoringly up at him, thanking all his lucky stars for Kim and his ridiculously suggestible nose. If he had a tail, it would be wagging back and forth in a veritable whirlwind of excitement, thumping against the back of his chair.
Kim’s nostrils flared violently and his gaze unfocused, even as he valiantly fought to prevent his eyes from closing. It’s too late, Harry thought. My paradigm is infallible. You’re going to sneeze. He was right, of course; within seconds, Kim’s expression was cinching tight and he was sneezing convulsively into a handful of tissues, plucked frantically from the box on Harry’s desk just in time.
“NGxtt! Hh’NGxt’tzschu!! Hh! hhdt’Tszchhuuu!! Fucking hell…”
In much the same way as Kim had been unable to fight the natural reflexes of his body, so too had Harry. His cock twitched in his pants, filling with blood in an instant. Even if Kim didn’t catch his cold, his own sneezing was an inevitability – which meant so too was Kim’s. Fuck, but he was going to have even more fun with this.
“Bless you!” He offered back, heart thumping so hard in his chest he could hear his pulse in his ears. “And honestly? I think it was worth every second.”
He laughed as Kim tossed his balled up tissues at him and strode irritably out of the room.
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absolutebl · 8 months
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This Week in BL - lots, just LOTS
I thought I would be pretty lean reporting for Oct 2023 but then (for reasons relayed here) the weeklies got saved by a drunk avenging hacker in a hotel room.
Oct 2023 Wk 1
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Except I still can't watch IFYLITA, because I use my other computer for it.
Gotta say though, watching tese mostly all in one day (for travel reasons) is beyond even my BL superpowers. I did my best tho.
Ongoing Series - Thai
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Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 8 of 12 - Sailom, sweetie, Kang is never sleeping alone again. It wasn't really translated, but Kang's way of speaking in that opening stinger was VERY cutsie. Also the gay sheets have made another appearance. I do have to say that "rich kid problems" is not my favorite story arc, but I still think this is a great Thai BL.
Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 6 of 8 - I love that they are finally talking to each other but Yi’s whole personality is shifting. Honestly, this pair is great at kissing and casual touches, but the friendships are the best thing about this franchise. Also Mr Chenne remains my fav character. But where did Diao's baby superhero team come from? And why? This show is very confusing... It’s also not very good.
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My Universe (Sun iQIYI) You Are My Soulmate ep 7 - This was the one of the series I was looking forward to the most, because silly, pretty, and v BL. It is, in fact all those things and nothing more. So I'm enjoying it, of course.
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Absolute Zero (Thai Weds iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - I like it, but it feels like it's gonna be so sad. I'm having Promise and Dew the movie flashbacks. Plus 12 eps seems too long for this narrative thread. I am worried.
Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 6 of 10 eps - This show is so slow it's hardly worth the bandwidth, but we attained "baby is a floppy drunk" and thus a finger bite frustration scene, which was nice.
Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 9 of 10 (not a BL but I'm watching it anyway) - Ray is so mean to Sand. The not-a-thing with Sand & Nick was cute. I’ve had several experiences like that. All my queer friendship groups tend to be incestuous, but sometimes they're just too much of a sibling and trying to sleep with them is the most unsexy thing in the universe. To be fair, I’ve also been in Ton’s position (this ep). Jojo sure makes queer shizz. But also, Ton must have a magic rod with everyone wanting a repeat. (I'm so glad they put Neo in this role, no one else at GMMTV could play him as complex or sympathetic.)
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Ongoing Series - Not Thai
You Are Mine (Taiwan Fri Viki) eps 5 of 10 - now officially known by me as "I'm too sunshine for this seme" where our boss is being hella obvious but our cinnamon roll is just too ooey-gooey to notice. Al.though, baby boy, he takes you home, sleeps on top of you, feeds you cookies (IN HIS BED) and keeps you in his space? Surely even this sunshine is catching a few rays of truth?
Gaga's *unintelligible gay murmuring* is my favorite caption EVER.
Also the name of my new ASMR YT channel.
Bon Appetit (Korea Weds iQIYI) 3-4 of 8 - ah gay panic, also what is Korea's obsession with 7 year separations? Is it only true love if you wait 7 years? Dohoon is SUCH a flirt, it's kinda great! Also, since it's Korea, we got us a bit of a love triangle with 2 hyung romances, so I (of course) am torn. Either way Dohoon is going down. I do love how much time we are spending with the food in this drama, finally one that lives up to its name. On an entirely different note, Korean camping is the most bizare thing to me. It's SO damn civilized. There will be NO DIRT. They pack blow torches. And full dinner sets. Every time I see it in a drama, I'm amused.
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My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - OMG these 2 are so in love with each other, and so ridiculous about it. They're tiny idiots but I love them.
If It’s With You AKA Even If I Fall In Love With You AKA Kimi to nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo’ (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - from MBS a live action adaptation of Kubota Maru’s manga ‘君となら恋をしてみても. Amane has stopped loving people due to trauma until he meets Ryuji. At first Amane just wants to play with Ryuji but… feelings.
I like the odd Japanese mature-childishness in this one. Plus a broken sunshine who is out in a kind of aggresive way and an instinctive caring seme. What's not to love? Well, it's Japan I'm sure it will surprise me one way or another.
Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 3 of ? - the cray cray step brother quazi incest is a bit much for me. Why does VBL just suddenly get so unhinged like this?
Kiseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 9 of 13(?) - resumes next week
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It's Airing But...
I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 8 of 12 - I will try to watch 8-12 and do a series review when I get back in November but... not sure I will be able to. Fingers crossed.
Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 8fin - I will complete and drop a review in Nov.
What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - 4th installment in this series (1st series, 1 special, 1 movie prior) about a lawyer who lives with his boyfriend, a hairdresser, and cooks for him. I find thie series more fun to binge, som I'm waiting until it completes its run.
I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan Tues Netflix-Japan & ????) - in classic JBL fashion, I Cannot Reach You could not be reached. 
Can I Buy Your Love From A Vending Machine? AKA Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? (Japan cinema release in-country only) - This one is a movie from Japan so in customary fashion who tf knows when (or if) it will get international distribution. Salaryman Ayumu Koiwai just can't tear his eyes away from the strong, muscular man as he checks on the stocks of the vending machine in his office.
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In case you missed it?
Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) Apparently ended its run I DNFed this at ep 3. So no review from me.
My Beautiful Man: Eternal AKA Utsukushii Kare Eternal (Japan movie Viki & Gaga) - Play it again Sam, only I'm kinda tired of this song. I was v dramatic tho. And it's always nice to be reminded JBL can kiss when it puts its mind to it. 8/10
Next Week Looks Like This
Upcoming October BL
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10/31 SHADOW (Thai VIU ????) - this is a horror BL featuring ghosts and other paranormal elements in a high school setting. I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all, but if it must be done in BL let Japan do it). It features Singto (who did paranormal BL He's Coming to Me) opposite Fluke N (who's done a couple horror's before). Also Fiat. Dan suffers from sleep paralysis, and in his dreams he sees a shadow that suffocates him. It gets worse when he transfers schools.
10/? Bump Up Project AKA Bump Up Business (Korea ????) - BL staring OnlyOneOf that released(??) as a movie in July but is now being recut and reissued as a series. Stars NineMill and from Idol Romance bulled as a love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency (based on a webtoon). OnlyOneOf have been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV work in this post. Idol Romance will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You) but I don't think we will get any in this. After that OmegaX Shoulder bullshizz buisness I am very wary of this show.
2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).
THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS
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I've seen this Chinese drama like... no wait... okay it's like EVERY Chinese drama ever.
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(both Mr Cinderella 2)
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I only got to watch this scene and the bath, but bot were pretty darn good! I Feel You Linger in the Air
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There's only one bed but they slept together on the floor anyway. One of BL's oddest tropes.
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I do love a finger bite. (both Venus in the Sky)
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Good advice
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(Naughty Babe)
(Last week) 
136 notes · View notes
wangxianficfinder · 7 months
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Fic Finder
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1. Looking for a smut fic I remember reading. WWX was testing an invisibility talisman and ended up in the jingshi in time to watch LWJ masturbating, and rode him after he fell asleep. LWJ woke up and made WWX get rid of the invisibility after a bit. I think it was a roleplay between the two but I'm not fully sure
FOUND! Clinomania by malkinmalkout (E, 6k, wangxian, Voyeurism, Masturbation, Somnophilia, misuse of talismans, PWP, Riding, Oral Sex, binding, Happy Ending, canon typical non-con)
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2. Hi! So I'm looking for this one fic, I remember that it was set in post-canon & Wangxian go to help this village, I remember that the Juniors (all four) followed them without their knowledge & the village had a barrier preventing people from leaving, the village had a curse where they got to see their close-ones negative memories, the juniors learnt of what actually happened to WWX & the villain turns out to be a "god" like on Dafan, it had 4 chapter (I think) & was finished. @i-like-snakes-and-spiders
FOUND? Down comes the night by danegen (E, 67k, wangxian, Alternate Universe, Canon Era, inspired by From, Horror, Sharing a Room, POV LWJ, no jiangs, a whole village of OCs, tiny mention of past wwx/omc, Happy Ending)
FOUND? unhappy stories with happy endings by Last_for_Hell (M, 30k, WangXian, Memories, Memory Fic, Kinda, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, sexual content maybe, References to Torture, PTSD, Characters Watching Their Series, kinda, but not entirely, very light consensual non-consent)
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3. good day! 😊 I read this fic before and I know that I've bookmarked it but I can't find it in the list. So the story is after wwx fell, baoshan sanren and lan yi rescued him, nursed him back to health, and waited for him to wake up. I remember that when he woke up, they also taught him cultivation (he got a new sword). He also hid his face (i think he also wore a different name and different voice(?)). There's a yi city scene where xxc asked them who they were because he cant see, then bssr is also with them at that time. thank yoooooou! 💓💓💓
FOUND! Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, war changes people, resulting to OOC, no pinning, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, mainly CQL verse but has scenes from the novel as well, LSZ is WangXian's Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts)
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4. hi, I hope you can help me find this fic I've been looking for, I'm sorry I don't really remember much, just that WWX can cook non-spicy food but he does it on purpose, it might have been because of his time in the streets? or because someone would take his food? (maybe JC???)
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5. I cannot for the life of me remember anything else about the fic but I think it was cql based with lwj as chief cultivator? wwx returned to cloud recesses and the first thing he did was beat someone up for saying horrible things about lwj. I can't remember if it was multichapter or not so it might have been in the middle of a longfic?
FOUND? 🔒make this chaos count by devotedbones (E, 15k, WangXian, Post-Canon, CQL Compliant, canon compliant until the very last scene of episode 50, Getting Together, First Time, First Kiss, Hand Jobs, Chief Cultivator LWJ, a flute used as a melee weapon, Fist Fights, Gossip, Self-Worth Issues, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Mentions of Canonical Abuse, Minor Misunderstandings, [podfic] make this chaos count, by devotedbones by inkpens)
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6. this may as well be an itmf for its general nature, but it's actually a ficfinder! except. i only remember a single detail LMAO, and it's that wwx and lwj consider all four juniors to be their children, blood relation be damned. I'm so sorry i have literally nothing else to go on 😅 i think there's a similar theme in 'tragedy is not the end' specifically with zizhen, but not the exact detail im looking for... thank you for the help!
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7. Hi, first of all I want to thank y'all for the hard work, and I wanted to know if a fic has been deleted or if anyone has it, I don't remember the name but it was a time travel fic where Qishan Wen win the sunshot campaign and asked for war prizes (?) Zewu-Jun goes instead of his brother, Yanli is alive, they all have them captive, Meng Yao betrayed them and ultimately sided with the Wen's who were winning the war, and I think no one remembers Wei Wuxian, something like that, it would be great if someone could help! Thanks so much 🩷🩷
FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)
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8. Hi!!! Its me again!! Thanknyiu so much again!!! This time im looking for a time travel fic with lan qiren as the timentraveller. Pretty sure him and wen ruohan travelled together and MAYBE involved with each other??? Im not so sure but i do know that lan qiren time travelled. Sorry its not much thats all i remember hehe @sirius-bus1ness
might be one of Nirejseki's works. They wrote several on that subject (including in a big anthology work, so finding it might take some time)
FOUND? Cursed Couple by shorimochi (M, 121k, LQR/WRH, CSSR/WCZ, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Out of Character)
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9. Hello, I am looking for a fic but I only remember a scene from it
It was a fic wwhere wwx died and there was a scene where a-yuan was crying while laying above wwx's grave in the burial mounds. Thank you!
FOUND? To Offer a Heart by WhiteCrane (M, 111k, wangxian, major character death, Sad WWX, Hurt WWX, YLLZ WWX, soft wangxian, Cinnamon Roll WN, WWX Whump, WQ is a good sister, WN is a good brother, everybody loves wwx, yunmeng siblings, Triggers, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst with a Happy Ending, Taking care of WWX, Give WWX a break, Canon Divergence, Disturbing Themes, Changing Perspectives, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Grief/Mourning, Temporary Character Death, Getting Together, Redemption, Sibling Bonding, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brother-Sister Relationships, Parent-Child Relationship, Sad and Sweet, Tragedy, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF JYL, BAMF WQ, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Everyone Needs A Hug, WIP)
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10. Hi Mods (^◡^) I really hope that you can help me find some fics I've been looking for! (^◡^) if you can't that's ok, if you can then many thanks in advance! y'all are awesome!
A) this one is set during CR studies, and wangxian go on a date? in Caiyi and I think WWX gets emotional about something they are talking about? and I know they hug, and WWX don't want to let go.
B) this one wangxian gets married, WWX marries into the Lan, and there are a lot of rules specifically for married people/how to be in a relationship, I'm pretty sure that is a very big part of the story
10A)
FOUND! 🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 712k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement) The scene described sounds like something that happens pretty early on
10B)
NOT FOUND! Into the Oubliette by Ruixx (M, 124k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, graphic depictions of violence, underage, Growing Up, Fix-It of Sorts, Arranged Marriage, Time Travel, Sibling Bonding, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Canon Divergence, Light BDSM, Breathplay, WWX protection squad, Sunshot Campaign, War, Politics, Hostage JYL, Visions, LXC Redemption, general LWJ, Internal Sect Politics, Good Uncle LQR, Lan OCs, No Golden Core Transfer, Empire Building, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence)
NOT FOUND! seldom all they seem by Fahye (E, 25k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, or rather Arranged Betrothal, followed by Weapons-Grade Thirst)
FOUND? Wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave by failedcharismacheck (M, 15k, WIP, WangXian, Marriage Proposal, Fluff, Protective LWJ, Domestic Fluff, Kissing, POV LWJ, Hair Brushing, Implied Sexual Content, soft horny)
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11. Noncon tw. Looking for a fic where when the wens burn lotus pier, they threaten to rape yanli but Wei Wuxian offers himself instead. So the wen soldiers rape Wei Wuxian in front of the Jiang sect,l. Yanli cries
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12. Looking for a specific fix where Wei Ying is dead and the sects come together to watch through his memories and end up finding out for selfless he was. @aviidaviibiitchboii
FOUND! Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 (M, 250k, WIP, WangXian, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Heavy Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Canon-Typical Violence, Self-Worth Issues)
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13. Hi, I'm looking for a modern au where Wei Ying is a grad student in an orchestra and A-yuan is dropped off at his door by his cousin Mo Xuanyu. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan get together while caring for A-yuan and end up getting married. A-yuan has a fear of airports in this fic because of his abandonment issues. This was on AO3 but I can't seem to find it. @amindonbreak
FOUND! The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane (E, 70k, WangXian, Modern AU, Accidental baby acquisition, Kid fic, Green card marriage (but not really), Slow Burn, Endless Pining, Happy ending, [Podfic of] The Simplest Way Forward by knight_tracer, Translation into Русский: Самый Простой Путь Вперёд (The Simplest Way Forward) by grand_R, Spanish Translation, Turkish translation )
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14. hello! im looking for specific fic, where after burial mounds wwx thinks he's dead. instead of joining sunshot campain he storms nightless city and kills all cultivators without anyone knowing it was him (exept meng yao who survived but is wounded)
he then "haunts" yumeng for a while until he runs into wen quing and takes wens to burrial mounds
eventually ppl find out and together with meng yao they outsmart jgs to pardon all wens @chellsky
I can't find 14, but I do remember reading it; they ended up pretending Wen Qing was the one controling the dead and killing the Wen, and they faked her death
FOUND! can't find a way home by KouriArashi (M, 109k, WangXian, XiYao, XuanLi, ChengQing, Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Politics, Family Feels, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Developing Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, canon-typical political bullshit, Mental Health Issues, Eventual Happy Ending, Descriptions of suicide, (caused by dark magic))
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15. Hello! I'm looking for a fic where Sizhui's bio parents are alive and come to Cloud Recesses looking for him (post-canon, iirc)
Hello! I'm #15 from the latest fic finder. I'm quite sure that the fic was on ao3. It may have been inspired from the angstymdzsthoughts posts but it was a proper fic posted on ao3
NOT FOUND! This Post by angstymdzsthoughts Mad idea, could 15 be from angstymdzsthoughts?
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16. Hi! I was reading a really interesting story about LWJ being cursed and WWX helping him and I lost it! Arg, now I'm so curious to know how it ends, I hope you can help me!
The story is about LWJ being cursed with a change in his private body parts. (The curse changes his p to a v). Then WWX notices this and decide to help LWJ and the way to revert the curse is that LWJ has to have an org@sm.
Can you help me? I'm dying to know how to continues!! 🤗🤗 @wangxiansgirl
FOUND! Coming Back to Yourself by acernor (E, 21k, wangxian, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Oral Sex, Pining, Gender or Sex Swap, Vaginal Sex)
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17. Hi! Looking for a fic wherein wangxian married and suddenly Mo Xuanyu woke up again in his body, he fell in love with Lan Wangji but Lan Wangji just ignore or formal with him. Mo Xuanyu heartbroken tried to bring back Wei Wuxian Soul on his body
I feel like this might be in the angstymdzs collection, since I think it's was inspired by one of those asks?
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18. Kind of random, but I’m trying to find a fic I read awhile ago that featured hagfish? My memory of it is kind of vague, it was a college au and wwx was some sort of biology major i think and there were hagfish. Compelled to read it again because of hagfish reasons.
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19. Hello! I'm looking for a specific fic which I've seen in a few people's bookmarks but for some reason neglected to even mark for later. It's a modern AU where LWJ is looking for a pet sitter for his bunnies and is recommended WWX's pet sitting/walking venture (no dogs allowed ofc). Can you help? 🐇 @linderel
FOUND! A Single Note by airinshaw (E, 19k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Kissing, Anal Sex, Fluff and Smut, Light Dom/sub)
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20. I search a fic where Jiang Cheng tries to ask Lan Xichen to marry him and Lan Xichen is super offended by it. Nie Huaisang may have done something to make JC fail even more in his proposal.
FOUND? To Take A Wife- Or Perhaps A Husband by Admiranda (T, 2k, one-sided LXC/JC, one-sided NHS/JC, JC's canonical homophobia, JC's canonical inability to get married, Decides to solve his problems with spite, not JC friendly, We all love NHS in this household, JC's canonical blind spots, Post-Canon, JC's canonical classism)
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cartoontees · 4 months
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damn martin walls was not joking around when he said he was going to take the walten files in a more cinematic direction. i have to admit i was hesitant when i first heard that because i didn't know how much the series would change, but man. i was sold the second i saw the opening scene with edd and molly animated in the school gym.
everything looked great, the atmosphere was amazing, the distinct style is there still but more polished and it's so cool to see these characters moving and talking. episodes 1-3 had the scary factor (which walls himself later described as 'over-the-top') but you can really tell that walls must have an extra special talent for this new kind of storytelling. can't wait to see what episodes 5 and 6 bring, i'm sure they'll knock even this last episode out of the park.
if the walten files team can continue these types of episodes but manage to bring back some of that insane dreadful horror that made the series so famous in the first place (in a way that martin walls can still approve of; because i kind of see what he meant by calling the first three episodes 'over-the-top'), i think this fnaf knockoff scary youtube show could actually end up being, no exaggerating, a masterpiece. the three year wait was worth it. fantastic job to the entire team.
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rivalry-trope-enjoyer · 11 months
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In this life... (Pt. 1 ?)
Summary: Getting married and married life with Welt Yang, domestic, fluffy and wholesome hcs <3
The Proposal:
It took him a while to propose! Taking into consideration how much he's seen within his lifetime, he was very patient and methodical as to when he would be able to pop the question. It kept you on edge, but when time came down to it, it was more than worth it.
It was a private proposal, but extremely personalized and thoughtful gesture. He snuck in an extra scene in a preview of his new Arahato animation with just the two of you at the screening where the mechs shoot fireworks instead of rockets that spelled out the question into the stars.
Welt was so nervous about it the entire time on what you would say. While drafting out a plan, March and Himeko definitely teased him a little bit about the unique idea, but neither could contain their excitement for when it would happen.
When you said yes Welt couldn't believe what he was hearing, smiling fondly at you and barely able to contain his excitement. He holds your hand gently and presses soft kisses against your knuckles, swearing to you that you won't regret this as well as several other sweet promises to be the best husband he could be for you (and boy does he fulfill that promise).
Once word got out that you've said yes, March gave the idea to celebrate accompanied with a commemorative photo.
The Wedding:
Everything runs smoothly thanks to him.
It was a collective effort for the both of you to plan it, fulfilling as many wishes as you had on any possible wedding dreams you’ve had, while also combining it with some of his own!
He volunteers to do lots of the nitty gritty as to how those dreams were to be fulfilled, making the calls and scheduling, it takes off lots of pressures off your shoulder (bless him).
The venue would be on the space station, a beautiful display of the galaxy and well-decorated area. There would be ships that would help get various friends across the galaxy to arrive and watch you two get married and to celebrate!
His vows are very sweet, the kind that’ll pull not only your heart strings but the audience’s as well, every word carrying it’s weight in gold.
March is wailing at this point.
The reception to the two of you was such a blur. Both of you were in a collective daze over the fact you were married, and your dreams made you question if what just occurred was a mere dream, too.
Yet waking up to a peacefully slumbering Welt, your now husband, was an indication that this was as real as it gets.
The Life:
Welt is such husband material;;
Even before you two were married, he already starts calling you his spouse, his lovely wife/husband before the day even comes <3.
Lays awake at night talking about all the sweet and domestic things to happen in the future, adopting any pets, possibilities of children to raise together.
Welt wakes up earlier than you without fail, and you wake up every morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee/tea wafting in the bedroom that he prepares for you, ready for the second you wake up.
It’s his way of waking you up gently if you have places to be <3
Some days he’ll wait for you in the kitchen reading up on some past history studies or comic books just so he can share a nice morning with you before he has to do any sort of work.
“How did you sleep last night, honey?” “I hope it’s not too early for you” “Any thoughts for dinner later tonight? I was thinking of going on a grocery run later in the day” “We could go and see a new movie together. It’s about…”
Welt wants to spend as much time with you as possible as your husband. He wants to make sure you’re feeling loved and cared for every second you’re together <33. Now that he doesn’t do as much of the adventuring as he did years prior, all he has is time, and is intent on spending it all with you.
There was one time where Welt was running late for a task at hand and he was rushing to get out of the house. He managed to do everything he needed for you but forgot to dress for the bad weather he had to greet him.
“Wait, dear, you forgot your scarf!” once you manage to stop him by tugging at his coat sleeve, you quickly wrap his token scarf loosely around his neck and messily draping over his shoulders.
Such a simple act of kindness and Welt was absolutely smitten. He gives you a small peck on the lips, not having much time to thank you before bolting off to work.
Welt started leaving behind his scarf on purpose so you could help him with it. It felt like an act of endearment, although he’d never admit it he forgot on purpose until you just wordlessly figure it out on your own.
“Oh, honey… you could easily do this yourself, you know.”
“But like all things in my life, my love, it’s much more fun with you.”
206 notes · View notes
autisticlenaluthor · 8 months
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Vigilante
thank you thank you to @2-the-moon-and-2-saturnfor betaing <3
“Kara Zor-El, what the fuck were you thinking?” 
The sound of Lena’s roar is quickly followed by heels snapping against the linoleum floor. Alex and Kara both shoot each other looks, like two kids about to get caught screwing around by the principal. 
Within the second, Alex has hopped off of Kara’s bed and is carefully backing away.
The med-bay door slides open and Lena enters, her arms folded across her chest and brow raised. For a moment, she remains quiet as she takes in the scene. Kara’s lying in her suit on a stretcher, surrounded by red sun lamps, and connected to an IV drip. 
Lena nods to herself and draws in a breath, shooting Alex a look before turning back to Kara.
“Two days,” she remarks and holds up two fingers. “You couldn’t wait two days for the kryptonite suit to be finished?” 
Kara goes to respond, getting out a meek ‘I know, I-’ before realizing the question must’ve been rhetorical because Lena’s already cut her off. 
“You promised you were going to lay low until it was done.” 
“I didn’t know he’d have kryptonite!” Kara exclaims. (She regrets it as soon as she does.) 
“Well, I don’t think that’s something criminals like to advertise.”
“Look, she took a calculated risk,” Alex interjects. “Maybe not the smartest one. But this is what she does– there’s always a chance of this happening, it just comes with the territory.” 
Lena raises an eyebrow. “The territory? Kara’s life is not collateral, Director. It’s not worth the risk.” 
“I’m not saying it is.” 
“Then stop treating her like she’s indestructible. You know, I’m getting really tired of this vigilante shit and the DEO acting like–”
“Woah, this is not vigilante shit, Supergirl is a nationally recognized hero. She’s basically a member of law enforcement!” Alex argues. 
“NCPD officers always have back-up. If Supergirl is a cop, then where the hell is her team?” 
“Right here! The entire DEO is behind her, she–”
“Alex–” Kara cuts in. “Both of you, just stop.” 
Lena retracts. She rubs her palms together and looks down at the floor. 
“Could we just have a minute?” Kara asks, looking over at her sister. “Alone?” 
Alex hesitates. She looks from Kara, to Lena, then back at Kara. 
“We’ll be fine,” Kara adds and tilts her head towards Lena. “I’m okay.” 
“Okay.” Alex exhales. “I’ll be in the conference room.” 
Kara nods. She folds her hands together and scrapes the dried blood from beneath her fingernails as she waits for Lena’s rant to pick back up. After all, it isn’t like she doesn’t deserve it. She made a promise and she broke it. Broke Lena’s trust after years of building it up. 
But the spiral never comes. Lena’s silent as her eyes graze the med bay again, watching the monitors on the wall, and the cuts on Kara’s chin. 
“I… I’m sorry,” Kara speaks up eventually. She looks up with round, worried eyes, trying to feel out a response before she continues. “I didn’t want to make you mad.” 
“I’m not mad,” Lena responds. She drops her arms by her side and then picks them back up again so she can tap her thumbs together. She needs something to do with her hands so the pent-energy circling inside won’t start to seep out again. “I know, with the yelling, but…” 
She pauses and approaches the bed, sitting on the edge beside her girlfriend. 
“I’m not mad.” 
“I’d understand if you were,” Kara says. “I told you I’d wait and I didn’t.”
Lena nods. She gestures with her hand, her expression softening. When she goes to speak, all that comes out is a sigh. 
She looks down and folds her hands together. They’re shaking– it’s practically imperceivable but they are. Kara reaches out to gently cover them with her own. 
“You know, for three years I’ve been Supergirl without an anti-Kryptonite suit and I’ve always made it out okay,” she says. “And today was bad, I- I know how bad it was. But I’ll bounce back. I’ll be safer.” 
Again, Lena nods and her eyes gloss over. 
“I know.”
She smiles as she says it, the way she always does when she’s fighting back tears. 
“But you’re…” Sniffing, Lena reaches out to trace the area by Kara’s scrape with her thumb. “You’re all cut up. You’re– you’re bleeding. You never bleed.” 
“I’m okay,” Kara whispers. 
But Lena doesn’t believe her. She shakes her head and sets her hand down, beginning to fidget with her fingers once more. 
“You’re hurt.” 
“I am… a little.”
“I don’t like seeing you hurt.” 
“You’ve seen it before.” 
“And I didn’t like it then either.” 
Kara sighs. She reaches out to take Lena’s hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. 
“I’ll be okay,” she says again. “I promise.” 
“Yeah… you better be,” Lena says, her voice shaky. “Because I’m really fond of my girlfriend and I’d hate to lose her to some anti-Kryptonian creep.” 
“You’re not gonna lose me.” 
“Sure.” 
“You’re not.” 
Lena looks up and meets Kara’s eyes. 
“How am I supposed to believe that?” She asks. “All I asked for was two days to finish your suit… and you went out anyway.” 
Kara averts her gaze, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. 
“And I know you’ll be fine this time. But what if next time is different? I don’t…” 
The words get caught in Lena’s throat. They’re heavy in her mouth, she wishes she could swallow them. 
“I can’t do this without you.” 
She isn’t sure what this is referring to. These relationships, these friendships, this job.
All Lena knows is she’s gotten used to her life and for the first time in as long as she can remember, she really fucking likes it. She likes that she gets to come home from work to her best friend and the penthouse they made a home together. She likes that there are two toothbrushes in the holder on her bathroom sink, and a pair of sneakers next to her heels by the front door. She likes that when Kara showers, she can hear her singing in the other room, and that they have Fast Food Fridays because, at the end of the week, neither of them ever wants to cook. 
So maybe it’s all of it. Lena likes her life– loves it, even. Kara is the one person she can’t imagine doing it without. 
“You won’t have to,” Kara breathes. “I promise.” 
Lena doesn’t say anything. She soaks in the silence until Kara feels ready to continue. 
“Today, when I fell and the wind got knocked out of me… I felt this… this rush. Like… you know how people talk about their life flashing before their eyes?” 
Lena nods. 
“It was like that except it wasn’t my life, it was like, I was seeing what I’d miss if… if something really did happen. It was all of these moments a- and all I could think was, I can’t miss this… I can’t not live it.” 
“What did you see?” Lena asks, her voice hardly above a whisper. 
“So much.” Kara smiles and sits up, leaning her weight on her hands. “It was me and you in this big house. And we had pets– a dog and a cat. And we were so happy.” 
Lena draws her bottom lip between her teeth, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t had similar fantasies. 
“That sounds nice.” 
“Yeah,” Kara agrees. “And then I… I hit the ground and I knew I’d messed up. And I- I regretted it so much– I still do.”
Lena looks over at her. She wants to ask what that means, what all of it means. The flash forward and the regret, what it really is to mess up. But again, she’s quiet. 
“I want that life with you,” Kara continues. “And I was so stupid to risk it today when all you’d needed was two more days.”
“You’re not stupid.” 
“I know. But the choice I made was.” 
Lena nods. 
“I want the big house and the dogs and all of those moments with you. Supergirl is… I love Supergirl but you are my family. She’s just a job.” 
“Kara… what are you saying?” 
Kara smiles. Her heart’s beating so fast it could burst right out of her chest, but this feels right. It feels good.
And before she knows it, two more words have slipped out. “Marry me?” 
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𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝? 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. | 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐯 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
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part nine of do you feel my hand? it is there. | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | part eight | part ten | part eleven | part twelve
pairing: minho x fem!reader (afab)
genre: veterinarian!minho (this includes a few of the skz members working in his clinic). client!reader. hurt/comfort. angst. fluff. smut - MDNI, 18+ only. reader pov. strangers to lovers au. slowburn romance. lots of pining.
content & warnings: explicit & strong language. very thematic elements. minho is reader's vet. reader is now his past client. this is the third part of the spicy stuff. 18+ warnings under cut.
word count: 3.3k
summary: dr. lee minho is known throughout your area as the city's hottest veterinarian, and he's also the very man that's been taking good care of your two cats for the past three years. but one day, you're thrown down a dark path of heartache when the cat that you've grown up with - nyx - is diagnosed with an acute form of bone cancer. burdened with the hardest decision of your entire life, you come at a crossroads of what to do. and throughout it all, minho is the single most person who continually stays by your side.
18+ warnings: minho and reader are extremely horny for each other. softdom!minho. subby!femreader. teasing from minho. the beginnings of fingering/oral (f receiving). pet names (pretty, darling, kitten, good girl, baby girl, nothing degrading tho). hints of dirty talk. this one isn't too sexy as the others, and more on the fluffy side of things in the beginning, as the big smut scene is built up to... 😍
a/n: I literally almost forgot to update this part for today lmao since I've had a very busy start to my week (what's new?? 💀). anyways, this one is kindaa giving ya'll a break from the past 2 parts that were just completely hot smut all around lol. but trust me- the next 3 remaining parts will be well worth the wait and veryyy sexy!! 🥵 enjoy, you guys, and let me know your thoughts! ❤️
🐈‍⬛ - ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛ other cool stuff ❜┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋread my rules & guidelines here! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋcheck out my skz masterlist! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋmy wip list! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ skz fic recs [sfw ver]! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋskz fic recs [nsfw ver]! :: 18+, MDNI! ࿐ྂ
. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋback to navigation! ࿐ྂ
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ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇᴘᴏsᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ sɪᴛᴇs (ᴛʜɪs ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇs ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴs). ©ʙʟᴏssᴏᴍᴡʀɪᴛᴇsᴛʜɪɴɢs ⤐ ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛs ʀᴇsᴇʀᴠᴇᴅ
Ever since that night of the party - of the night when the two of you had revealed such inner, vulnerable parts of yourselves to each other, you and Minho had been virtually inseparable. 
 You dropped your new veterinarian like a hot cake and decided to start visiting Starry Skies again, using Minho as your primary veterinarian. Taffy was more than happy about the change, and her temperament at home visibly improved upon getting to see more of Dr. Lee. 
 And you had to say that your mood improved too. 
 Maybe it was the gentleness and care that he still used on your cat. 
 Or maybe, it was the make-out sessions that the two of you would get away with during your visits. 
 And in just three months after the infamous party, almost everyone in the area knew of your relationship. You made it so abundantly clear, from how you’d meet Minho outside the clinic after he closed up shop to go out to dinner with you. Or how, whenever you sat in the front office, you were on the edge of your seat, just waiting to see him again, even though you saw him - and talked to him - almost every day. The boys were incredibly supportive of your newfound relationship, with Chan being the most vocal about his approval, claiming that he thought ‘the time would never come.’
 It turned out that Minho had been in love with you since the very beginning, even before you even had a chance to recognize your feelings. He confessed to you one night when the two of you were in a deep conversation over an Italian dinner that the moment you had walked through the clinic’s front doors, he was head-over-heels. And it soon became abundantly clear to you how agonizing it was for him to deny his feelings in fear that you would reject him because of your position in life. 
 He told you about how after your visits, he’d find his mind infected with the very thought of you as soon as he was done with work. He’d lay awake in bed all night, tossing and turning and dreaming about you. 
 Just like you had done with him. 
 Even still, the two of you never took anything too… far. 
 And the times that you guys had done anything sexual were few and far between. Minho kept telling you that he wanted to take things slow and do things right and not rush into the sexual part of the relationship. And you respected and understood and agreed with his wishes. 
 But it was sometimes so hard - so annoying - to have to face him every single day and suppress your urges once more. 
 Sure, the two of you had had plenty of make-out sessions, which sometimes turned into quite heated moments, but nothing went any further than that. 
 This is why, on that particular Saturday night, you had jumped at the opportunity to have a night in at your place with him. Maybe, you’d finally get a chance to taste him after so much waiting and longing. 
 Throughout the three months that you had started dating, you rarely went over to each other’s places, instead opting to see each other at the clinic when you’d stop by for an appointment or just to chat, or when you’d go on dates around the town. 
 So he had never seen your apartment. 
 And now here he was, standing on your doorstep. 
 You had taken great care that weekend to clean it up as best as you could, but since it was in such an old, shitty building, there wasn’t too much you could do. The small living room was picked up and your bed was made and the ingredients for dinner were laid out across the kitchen counter. Because you had recently stumbled upon the knowledge that Minho was an amazing cook and it was one of his biggest hobbies outside of work and the gym, you made it one of your #1 goals in life to get in the kitchen with him. 
 So it turned out to be perfect timing then- since you had planned to have a date night out on the town that Saturday night. But instead, you suggested making dinner together in your apartment’s kitchen. Minho had jumped at the chance of seeing your skills with a knife, but also getting a glimpse of your place… so it truly was a win-win situation. 
 “It’s not much, but it’s home,” you said, awkwardly rubbing the back of your neck and stepping away from the threshold of your place so Minho could take off his shoes. 
 He shut the front door behind him, locking it in place before offering you one of those warm, comforting smiles. The ones you had grown accustomed to over the years. The ones that caused that gooey, lovely thing to stir in the pit of your stomach. “Baby- it’s really nice, I love it.” He said, slipping off his shoes and hanging up his jacket on the nearby coat hanger that you had placed in the door. Although it was the beginning of summer, he liked to carry a jacket around with him wherever he went, a habit that you had quickly picked up on the more you started dating.  
 You shrugged, making your way into the kitchen and positioning the vegetables onto the cutting board. You had decided to make homemade black bean noodles for dinner. It wasn’t too complicated, and one of your guys' favorite meals. You looked up from the daikon you were washing in the sink at the sight of Minho placing a small box down on the countertop. 
 “I thought we said we weren’t going to cheat and do takeout.” You laughed, as you finished washing off the radish and placed it back on the cutting board. 
 Minho shrugged, “It’s not takeout… I picked it up on the way here at this cute little place just down the road.” He motioned with a tilt of his head for you to open it, and you lifted a questioning brow his way as you unfolded the small white box. 
 Inside it were two perfect slices of cake. They were a dark green colour with swirls of creamy white frosting and flecks of edible gold across the top. You stared up at him with a smile already stretching across your mouth, “Wow- I didn’t expect cake.” 
 “They’re matcha flavour, thought we could have them after dinner…” Minho’s voice trailed off, as he reached out to you and pulled you into his grasp. 
 Immediately melting into him, you reached up and carded a few fingers through his hair, giving his lips a chaste peck. “Thanks so much, babe, I love matcha.” 
 He smiled against your mouth, returning the kiss tenfold and holding onto you a little tighter. If you continued to stay in that position, things would surely escalate into a makeout session and then dinner wouldn’t be made. So against his whine of protest, you pulled away from him, slapping his shoulder rather playfully. 
 “Now c’mon and focus on helping me with dinner, I’m starving here.” 
 In no time at all, you had the veggies - which consisted of squash, potatoes, onions, and radish - cooking in a large wok over a single burner. While you were busy whipping up a quick thickening paste for the sauce, Minho was preparing the cooked noodles by blanching them in cold water at the sink. 
 “I’m honestly surprised by how good at this you are.” He said in a light tone, just as he strained the noodles and placed them in two separate bowls. 
 “Why? Because you just assumed I lied to you about my skills?” 
 “No- I mean, in the past, women have told me that they're adept in the kitchen, but then when they finally get in it they’re… clueless.” 
 “So you admit that you’ve dated a lot of women, then?” You eyed him as soon as you were finished with your task and washed your hands under some warm water. The subject of his exes hadn’t come up too much, but you just assumed that he had been with many women before you - or at least a handful - since he was such a good catch. 
 “Actually, no,” he started, leaning back against the kitchen counter and watching you with an intense stare - the one he only ever seemed to use on you - while you stirred the cooking veggies with a wooden paddle. “I don’t count one-night stands as dating so, I’ve only long-term dated three women before you.” 
 “And I’ve dated a whopping one man before you.” You threw back at him, flashing a smile his way. His eyes scanned over your face, catching at your lips. 
 Then he was moving towards you, kissing you so suddenly that you stumbled back a few paces. His tongue swiped over your bottom lip, and when you pulled apart just enough to catch your breath, a small smirk adorned his face. “Yeah, but I wish that I was your first… first in everything, for that matter. I hate the thought that some man has already taken all of you. It makes me angry, to be honest.” 
 His dark confession danced across your ears, fluttering into your chest and causing your heart to stir restlessly. You reached up, tracing your fingers against his right cheekbone. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t count… that man as an actual relationship anymore. He was just a fling of the past during my university days.” 
 Just before Minho could say anything else, or kiss you anymore, the timer for the veggies was going off. The loud beeps rang across the whole of your small apartment and you yanked away from him to turn it off. 
 The dinner activities were once again taken up, as the two of you prepared the final stages of the meal. And it was only a few minutes later that the two of you were sitting on your living room couch, tv switched on, and paused at the start of one of your comfort rom-com films. Two steaming bowls of black bean noodles sat in front of the two of you on the coffee table, with small dishes of pickled radish and kimchi on the side. 
 Everything looked fucking amazing, and you found yourself digging in as soon as you sat down. Minho let out a hearty chuckle at your ravenous hunger as he took small bites out of his bowl. You mostly ate in silence, only commenting on the food when necessary, since you were engrossed in the film playing on the tv. 
 It wasn’t until you were finished with your dinner and laying back with a contented, full sigh that Minho made to turn down the volume on the tv. You tipped into his side, snuggling up to his arm as you pulled the fuzzy blanket around you a little tighter to your chest. 
 Minho’s hand found your knee underneath the blanket soon after, and your heart skipped a few beats at the feeling of his fingers drawing nonsensical, languid shapes into your skin. Since the date night was inside your own place for once, you felt no obligation to dress up, so you stayed in your usual attire for the weekend - tight, black yoga pants and an oversized, baggy rock band t-shirt. It was nothing special, but Minho always claimed that you could be wearing a paper bag and he’d still find you attractive as hell. 
 So there you were, dressed in your comfy clothes. Minho looked quite similar, outfitted in a matching set of navy-blue sweats and a hoodie. He utterly surprised you the first time you had seen him dressed down in casual clothes, since every time you had ever witnessed him before, he had been in his doctor's coat and formal slacks. 
 The casual style suited him quite well. And honestly, it was a turn on too. 
 To know that he was comfortable enough around you to let his guard down, 
 To not have to dress the part all of the time. 
“I remember that night at the party - when you sat down beside me on my couch for the movie - and how crazy it all made me,” his voice was deep and a little gravelly from disuse. His words cut through the faint sound of the movie playing, and you completely froze up, trying to understand the meaning behind it all. “Like- you smelled so fucking good, and that dress… shit, I still can’t get the sight of you in it out of my head. I remember how it rode up so much when you sat down beside me, flimsy hemline pushing towards your upper thighs and hinting at everything that lay just beneath the fabric.” 
 You swallowed down the moan that was suddenly trying to force its way up your throat. And then you felt the hand on your kneecap moving, inching up ever so slowly. Past your knee, and drawing close to your thighs. 
 But you couldn’t find the right words just then, too breathless and needy to formulate any kind of coherent sentence. 
 Because you had been needy. 
 Since the very day you realized your feelings for him, you had wanted nothing more but to be fucked senseless by Lee Minho. 
 And then he revealed himself to you that night, after all of the confessions, 
 Unraveling irrevocably underneath his fingers. 
 But you never wanted him to come undone just beneath his fingers, 
 No- you wanted him to lose it all with you under the surface. Under him. 
“When Chan called you darling that night I silently wanted to wring his neck,” he chuckled darkly, just as his hand crested across your upper thigh. Fingers played with the thin material of your black yoga pants, whispery tips pressing into sensitive flesh there. “Because he knew what he was doing- knew he’d get a reaction out of me if he used such a word on you.”
 The breath flooded out of you at the feeling of his hand coming in contact with your right hip. The two of you were laying on the couch, facing the tv, but he was turned slightly towards you and you could feel his stare boring into your face, watching for any reaction you had to his movements. You kept your eyes trailed on the flashing tv screen, hanging on every word that fell from his lips. 
 “And did it?” You finally found your voice, asking in a shaky tone. The air shuddered out of you, halting in your chest as his palm just barely ghosted over your clothed core. That was hidden away by two fucking layers. “Did he manage to get a rise out of you?” 
 One beat of silence, 
 A brush of fingers. 
 Two beats of silence, 
 Toying with the drawstring of your yoga pants. 
 Three beats of silence, 
 Stretching the waistband away from your hips. 
 “Yes, it sure fucking did,” he began, practically grumbling. You could feel his warm breath fan across the shell of your ear, he was suddenly that close to you. You completely froze up, limbs growing rock-stiff and mind racing a mile a minute as you anticipated his next move. “Almost combusted right then from the thought of me getting to call you darling.”
 His hand dipped into the front of you then, fingers playfully dancing across your insubstantial lace panties. Agonizingly, just tracing the outlines of the silhouette of you. 
 Not giving in to anything yet. 
 Not quite.
When he stopped moving altogether, you were afraid that he’d yank his hand out and thwart whatever he had originally planned to do. You had never gone this far - the make-outs had never gone as far as wandering hands. But suddenly, it felt like you couldn’t live without it anymore. 
 It was a necessity, you deemed. 
 To have him fully and wholly. 
 Panicking, you reached for his hands and slotted your fingers between his, which were halfway stuffed down the front of your pants. Your head snapped his way, and you registered the lustful look on his face. The way his lips were pursed in that way whenever he was horny, and the way his eyes shined with liquid fire. 
 “Please, Min-” You whimpered like a cat in heat, ready to go to any means necessary to finally get a feel for him. “Need it so bad- I’ve waited so long for you, please-”
 His other, free hand reached out, thumb brushing across your bottom lip, tracing the outline of your mouth. You were desperately holding onto his other hand, fingers between fingers as you willed him not to move away from your entirely. “And what do you need so badly, hmm?” He was asking, but he already knew what you were insinuating. He knew, yet he was still willing to push you enough to admit your innermost wants. “What does my baby girl need so desperately that she’d stop me from doing anything else?” 
 “Y-You,” you whined out, eyes widening at the way his thumb was slowly pressing between your lips and past your teeth. You swiped at his digit rabidly, tongue-sucking as best as you could. “Your cock- need it so much, Min-”
 Throughout the months that you had been dating, you had quickly learned of his turn-ons. 
 And one of the biggest ones included begging. 
 Groveling, on your part. 
 And lots of it. 
 You had used the trick many times before on him for innocent things, like when you wanted an extra scoop of ice cream or another teddy bear at the spring fair while out of a date. 
 He liked to see you desperate for him- in any capacity. 
 But sexually? 
 That really got him going. 
 So you did just that. 
 Softening your eyes as you peered up at him, the tv casting a dim blue light across his sharp-toned face. “B-Been wanting it for so long, I can’t wait any longer…” You all but pleaded in a wavering voice, words muffled around his thumb that was still stuffed between either of your lips. 
 You watched, as something flipped in him. 
 A coin was tossed, and you landed on the dark, sensuous side of things. 
 In one swift movement, he was brushing your hand away from his, leaving only his fingers buried deep inside your pants. He leaned into you then, mouth hovering so close to yours, but not close enough. 
 Minho breathed out, the hot air hitting your face and forcing gooseflesh to erupt across your whole body. “Take a deep breath for me, kitten.” Once again, he said the command in that sweet, saccharine tone. The one he had used on you in his bedroom, late at night after the party, when you had mutually come undone while watching each other. 
 You did as you were told, drawing in a billow of air as he slipped his thumb from your mouth. When you were finished breathing, his lips were coming upon you and capturing you up in a heart-stopping, heated kiss. 
 “Good girl… you won’t be able to do such a thing for a long time...” He said in between the swipes of tongue and clash of teeth. 
 And you had no time to register what his cryptic message meant. 
 Because his hands were moving again, one coming up to your face and grasping at your chin, angling your head just so.
 While the other- 
 The other was finally slipping past the thin band of your panties. 
 Fingers catching on sensitive skin and instantly turning slick with so much arousal. 
 And just like that, you began to unravel. 
 Just like that, you understood his words. 
 Because so suddenly, it was getting really fucking hard to breathe. Lungs constricting in pain, heart pounding against your ribcage, throat shrinking with the shock and pleasure of it all. 
To be continued
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AITA if I didn’t side with my mom in an argument at the checkout of a department store?
To be clear, I didn’t think I was the AH here but my mom did.
This was a few years ago, and I (early 20s M) was at the department store with my sister (late teens F) and my mom (50s F). I saw a cool coat I wanted to buy. I don’t often find stuff I like that’s also my size, and although it was missing the decorative belt thing, I thought that’s fine and put it together with the other clothes we wanted to get. My mom said she’s gonna ask for a discount on it bc it was defective and I shrugged bc sure, why not, it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?
Clearly, I was wrong. We go to check out, and the lady working there was probably a new hire because she was having trouble with the machines. I didn’t see an issue with it, bc everybody’s gotta learn, but my mom took offense. This was compounded by the fact that neither the lady nor my mom are native English speakers and both spoke with an accent (the lady’s was a bit heavier than my mom’s). So both of them were having trouble understanding each other, and my mom’s solution to “I don’t understand you” is to speak more loudly, which ends up as yelling. Obviously, this makes everyone uncomfortable and probably scared the lady a lot.
My mom asks for the discount, the lady says she can’t/doesn’t know how, and I say something like “that’s okay we’ll just buy it bc I still really like the coat”. But my mom refused to back down and insisted that because it’s defective we deserve a discount.
So the lady starts trying to help, except the system isn’t working or she doesn’t know how, and my mom got even angrier. I speak up again and try to help by translating what the lady is saying into my mom’s native language (I’m conversationally fluent in her language, and English is my native language). Keep in mind the entire time I’m ALSO trying to tell my mom it’s okay we should just buy the damn coat at its listed sale price. I even offered to put the coat back if it’s too expensive, bc the coat wasn’t worth the public humiliation of standing there for 30 minutes arguing with some poor clerk. My sister and I were so uncomfortable. There was even another lady who was also waiting in line who made a snide comment to the tune of “just leave the poor lady alone she’s just trying to do her job” and I felt so awful because I was genuinely trying my best to tell my mom to stop and that this isn’t worth it. My mom even turned to me at one point (when the lady left to find a manager) and scolded me for trying to speak over her and told me that I wanted that coat so I will get it. Which really hurt my feelings because she wasn’t listening at all to what I was trying to say especially when I made it clear already that we don’t have to get it if it means making a huge scene.
In the end the lady finally managed to reach her manager and he arrives and charms the socks off my mom bc he’s 1, a tall handsome guy, 2, fluent native English speaker, and 3, gave her the damn discount. Fortunately the guy was kind to the employee too bc I think at least one of us would’ve started crying if he started berating her (either her or me bc I felt so fucking horrible about this). And guess what? It came out to a grand total of twenty dollars or something. It’s nothing to sneeze at but it’s also not worth 30 minutes of arguing and making everybody uncomfortable, especially when I literally offered to not even bother anymore with the coat and put it back on the rack.
After we walked out of the store my mom was still really upset and she turned to me and said she felt humiliated when I didn’t stand up for her, and that it’s not about the discount, it’s about “principles” or something. Which made me even more upset, because that wasn’t what I was trying to do and I don’t agree with the “principle” or whatever. I told her I was just trying to deescalate the situation. She still insisted that the woman was incompetent and she didn’t want to deal with incompetent new hires. In the end, I did get her to at least agree that it’s not worth arguing over a $20 discount when there are other solutions available such as just not buying it anymore.
So I guess I’ll ask: AITA for not siding with my mom in an argument over a discount at a department store?
What are these acronyms?
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livesworthlivingau · 8 days
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Lives Worth Living Chapter 3
General ISAT Spoilers possible below
"Oh hey, welcome back Sif! You're just in time, Bonnie's finishing up dinner now"
"Where's Loop? They shouldn't miss dinner!... Wait... Can Loop actually eat food?" (You pause... Mira brings up a very good point actually...) "Uhh… I'm actually not sure... But they said don't wait up, they uh... have some stuff to think about." (You respond, worried about them, but just glad to be back with your family for now. You take a seat at the table next to Isabeau, placing your hand in his and entwining your fingers, laying your head on his shoulder with a content sigh... wait... why is everyone staring at you?) "Uhh… S-Sif?..." (Isa asked, you could feel he was incredible tense all of the sudden, his palm soaking wet, even shaking a little... OH STARS! You quickly pull away, face burning darker as you realize what just happened. It was a leftover reflex from your former life. It was so natural you didn't even think about doing it. Mirabelle just gave a cute giggle and smile, almost as if she was enjoying one of her silly romance books.) "I didn't expect you to be so forward Siffrin." (Odile noted with a raised brow and a bit of a smirk, seeming to at least be glad the two of you were progressing in the relationship.) "I-I-... I'm sorry Isa I-I... I don't know, I wasn't thinking..." (You have no way to explain the actions you just took, just hiding your face in your cloak like you used to, tipping your hat forward as well to hide your shame.) "N-No it's okay!... I-It... was really nice actually..." (Isa was blushing just as brightly, slowly extending his hand, inviting you to place yours in it again. You know things didn't progress this quickly before, but... it couldn't hurt to get a tiny head start, could it? You return your hand to his, the both of you just flustered and looking away, still holding hands... the entire display must look terribly stupid... but it was worth it.) "MALANGA FRITTERS TIME!" (Bonnie shouts as they barge in, holding a large plate of your favorite dish... stopping and staring at the awkward scene before them) "... Why's everyone being weird?" --------------------------------------------------------- (You sigh some to yourself as you walked through the hall that night, it was a long day with a lot of surprises, so it was nice to finally have a moment to yourself, heading for the living space to relax on your own, only to find...) "Siffrin... I don't mean to force you, but considering everything that happened recently, I think you'll understand why I feel the need to pry. You've been acting strange, and not in the expected way. Do you care to explain?" (Odile... always so crabbing smart... She sat there with a serious yet caring face, and she clearly wouldn't let this go easily... Oh boy, how to handle this?) "Are you sure you wanna open this can of worms right now?" "I promise you I won't tell the other's unless I absolutely feel the need to, if that would make you feel better." "... I watched you die Odile... I watched you take your last breath... 30 years from now." (Odile's expression quickly shifted from studious to shocked, horrified even. She takes a while to process this, and will likely need longer than she'd allow herself) "Tell you what... bring a bottle, we'll have some fun with it, hehe~" (You instruct, shifting to a bittersweet look, and 'winking'. This seems to relieve at least some of Odile's worry, nodding and getting up to find a trusty bottle of vodka.) ----------------------------------------------------------- That's the end of this chapter but if anyone wants to suggest questions for Odile to ask in Sus 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'd love to hear them!~
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Okay so I have a lot of thoughts. Ant-Man: Quantumania spoilers
This.
Okay. I love the first Ant-Man movie. It's a comfort film, it's what made me watch the rest of the MCU. So you can imagine my utter lack of enthusiasm when I was told that quantumania was going to be large scale. Scott, is small scale. He just wants to be a good dad to Cassie and ogle at all the handsome guys he sees when he meets up with avengers.
He's a light character. He's optimistic. He's the comedic relief in every guest star he's in. His lightness works so well to keep people, viewer and villain alike, underestimating him. It has always been used to give him the upper hand both emotionally and intellectually. Knowing this? Makes Kang's introduction—because that's what this really is, Kang The Conqueror not He Who Remains, is why this movie was made—all the more perfect. Well, it would've been had the writers given it the chance that was so clearly there, had they tried to give it focus.
Kang was mostly a mysterious figurehead who spoke of horrors and wars and destroyed little children's worlds like Sylvie’s for the "sacred timeline" with just the promise of more of his destruction if variations were allowed. That is what I've always considered to be his Thanos introduction. His single appearance in Loki was Kang's version of the multiple teasers throughout phases 1-3 that Thanos had. It was faster, more efficient and more powerful because it told you exactly what he is capable of without making you figure it out or wait. It told you he is the end, no half of the universe no half of our heroes will survive. He did it all in a single episode. He did it all to make you know, so when we next see him we can feel.
Kang and Scott are extreme contrasts. They are light and dark personified. Their power difference ("you're out of your league") is so severe that they don't just not belong in the same fight they don't belong in the same movie. And that's exactly why Scott was the perfect person to introduce Kang.
Scott, while incredibly intelligent and did outsmart the forced field Kang set up, and did destroy the power source, is physically helpless to Kang. He was stepped on, broken and bloodied in just a few seconds under Kang's strength. Just his body's strength. And as Scott was forced to ground Kang looked at him in pity. Kang pitied the man he was killing because it was, laughably, inevitable. Scott has no way of winning. He knew that and said so himself. He knew the only way to get rid of Kang was to lose, for them both to lose and—isn't that a thought. "Our hero was entirely helpless, he could only get rid of Kang if he also lost, are all our hero's going to be helpless? Lose everything to Kang. Is that the only way to be rid of him?" This is how it should've felt at the end of quantumania to properly build the foundation for phase 5.
These two would've been able to bring the full fright and might of the upcoming Kang Dynasty had marvel let the movie be an Ant-Man movie. Quantumania should have been allowed to be like it's previous two in the franchise and been a comedy, had focused on what made this franchise shine: it's relationships: Scott and Cassie, Scott and Hank, Luis and Kurt, the blended family; the light even in the darkest of times. Instead it focused on the VanDyne women. Mainly Janet. Having the focus on Janet, her mysterious-past-arch with knives and fights and guns and the morbidity of being lost from your loved ones—while admittedly intriguing and worth exploring sometime else—that complete lack of light stole that weight the scale put upon this movie desperately needed. And Hope demanded darkness in her scenes with her curiosity of what horrors took her mother from her and ripped her father from her emotionally for years (and this is all interesting and important for her character/viewer and should be expanded upon further and could even be paralleled with Cassie so we can eventually see a bond between those two). However for this film to work, she needed to either learn how to finally accept light with her parents and Scott alike, or have already accepted it. Her scenes with Scott were extremely sweet, I will admit, but her relationship with her parents were more the focal point since the very beginning. Cassie, Hank, and Scott carried the lightness, but it wasn't enough to balance out the scale with the sheer severity of Kang's darkness, and the VanDyne women's additions.
Seeing Janet and Kang interact made me lose the fear of Scott dying. I shouldn’t have lost that fear. Focusing on Janet being relatively fine (considering), and physically unharmed the whole movie, and having escaped Kang even after having destroyed his entire pursuit in life for years eliminated any fear of Scott dying. I walked into the movie believing he was doing to die, and I walked out thinking I was crazy for even entertaining the idea. I shouldn’t lost that fear. We shouldn’t lose the fear of the man who threatened us with multiversal war in Loki. If they used Janet’s and Kang’s bond when he was banished and she was alone, not to show how cool Janet is (though yes she absolutely is for outsmarting and trapping him), but to parallel Janet to Scott it would’ve helped not only the film’s pacing but also to connect the viewer to Kang.
Thanos, he had a reason. His purpose was perhaps one of the simplest motivations to understand. Kang, however, has an infinite amount of variants. What we know so far is that he wants power, he wants to conquer. When he’s done all that he wants to conquer himself; hence the war that started the scared timeline. But. Why did one of his variants decide to stop this? What would cause this variant to suddenly become guilt ridden, compassionate, tired of himself and his suffering he both experiences and causes? Kang is complex. He’s so very interesting. But how can we as the viewers even begin to care about this man who, whenever we see a sympathetic variant, gets killed off (Sylvie, Scott) before we can see why? Why did he change? Why would we care if we’re denied the opportunity to learn.
Paralleling Janet to Scott and only through the eyes of Kang would’ve given the casual viewer the opportunity to ask why. Kang bonded with Janet over her kindness in saving his life, he valued her’s because of it. He wanted to eliminate her pain and bring her home to her daughter. But once she saw who he was she left and tried to stop him. That’s exactly what Scott is trying to do here. Get home to earth and protect his daughter, stop Kang when he tries to hurt others. If Kang saw this and still tries kill him? Still tries to hurt everyone for his “great mission”? It would make Kang so much more approachable to understand. You would want to know why he would still hurt people he saw value in. He considers them good, yet he kills, and still sees himself as good?
Ugh I don’t know. I feel like this franchise was the perfect one to introduce the Kang Dynasty but they just didn’t do it well. And they didn’t do it justice to the original Ant-Man or any of its characters.
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nodirectionhome-ao3 · 3 months
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WIP Tag
Thanks for the tag @kay-elle-cee, @alittlebitofeverything23, and @isahorcrux !!! This is such a fun one. :)
List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)
An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing
Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!
Then tag 10 writer friends
Titles
Kindly Stopped for Me: Chapter 33. Lily lives AU, where Lily falls into a coma on Halloween 1981 and wakes up at the end of GoF. Lots of angst and family feels.
The Joker and The Queen: Chapter 3. A Jily fake-dating fic. Shenanigans abound. An "Idiots in Love" kind of story.
James Lives AU (Title TBA): Outline & Chapter 1. Basically a James version of Kindly Stopped for Me. James survives Halloween 1981 in a way that I will not spoil for you, and wakes up later on when Harry is a teenager.
Forever is the Sweetest Con: Short multi-chapter. Jily as con artists who fall in love while trying to con each other.
Fragile Little Flame: A post-war Hinny fic! Most likely a one-shot, but we'll see what happens.
(I’m not including the KSFM Missing Moments that I’m working on in this, since I don’t post them on AO3, but just know that I haven’t forgotten them!!!)
Upcoming Scenes, Events, Details
I've been making some minor changes to my outline for KSFM, so the exact numbers may change, but looking at it from a birds-eye view—Chapters 35 and 39 are two of the angstiest chapters in the entire fic😅 So...in preparation for that...I'm giving you all a slight break from the heaviness of this fic with chapters 33 and 34. I'm hoping it won't feel like a crazy tone switch after the previous two chapters, but I'm excited! Chapter 33 is a bit of a transition chapter (setting up some important things!) so maybe won't be the most exciting thing to read. But it will include Lily watching Harry in a Gryffindor Quidditch match for the first time and the gang celebrating Sirius’s 36th birthday!🎂🎂🎂 So hopefully you all will enjoy that!! And then Chapter 34 will be a Harry POV and will feature some good old-fashioned teenage romance drama😅
Chapter 3 of The Joker and The Queen has taken soooo long to write because it's something I sort of have to be in the right mindset for. (I still don't have a full outline for it because I posted the first chapter impulsively before I really thought about the plot very much lol) But I'm hoping it will be worth the wait!! The chapter will feature Lily meeting Fleamont and Euphemia (and possibly some Potter extended family members too) for the first time. I've never written James's parents before, so I'm excited!
Oh man, oh man. What can I say about the James lives au?? I'm currently drafting multiple vague outline ideas as I work through the timeline that I want it to take place in. But, despite what I've said previously, I'm finding myself starting to lean towards setting it in the OotP universe after all. (but no promises yet!) I'm staying kind of vague about the plot of this since it's still very much under consideration, but I'll just say that Peter's betrayal and its ramifications will be a major focus. The betrayal will happen slightly differently than it does in canon (as some of you have already guessed!), and I expect it to be devastating😈
Forever is the Sweetest Con is a fic that has been percolating in my brain for a WHILE now. I haven't officially outlined it yet, but I already made the banner so it's officially happening! It will be canon divergent, and I'm excited to explore the cat-and-mouse dynamic that I envision when I think about this one.
Fragile Little Flame is a fic inspired by Taylor Swift's "I Know Places" and is also one that I already have a banner and title for, but no outline. It'll be a post-war Hinny fic (I've been wanting to return to writing them!) and will take place in the 19 years between the end of DH and the epilogue. I haven't really thought about the plot in detail yet, but it probably won't be epilogue-compliant. Harry will (probably) be a Quidditch player rather than an Auror, and the fic will explore Harry and Ginny recovering from the war and rebuilding their relationship amongst the chaos of both grief and fame.
Apologies if you've already been tagged! But here's a no-pressure tag to: @suzyq31 @nena-96 @uncertainwallflower @turanga4 @takearisk-ao3 @annasghosts @practicecourts
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