#...a comic I read months ago idk why I'm thinking about this again

[oliveroctavius]

It's been a while since I read the first Agents of Atlas lineup but I think about it intermittently because it's the most tailored-to-me concept ever despite fumbling the ball in the second half so bad. It's a modern era lineup made of entirely 1950s stock characters (both on a publishing history level and an in-universe lore level, they're from the '50s) that faces mostly fifties type pulp scifi threats. But it centers on James Woo as an interesting comic history anomaly. He's from a Jack Kirby yellow-peril esque comic that made the unusual move of making the protagonist secret agent Chinese-American presumably to try to offset the grossly caricatured Chinese villain.

The comic starts to do this thing that I'm always wishing adaptations of old comics would do: it addresses the foundation of the era the character is from and the biases that shaped them. It gets into the fact that Jimmy Woo would never have been "allowed" as a '50s hero if he wasn't given a caricatured Foreign Chinese enemy to fight against. It observes how Jimmy's relationship with his own heritage is never addressed (in a Doylist sense because he's a re-skinning (lol) of the generic American secret agent, in a Watsonian one because of the pressures of assimilationism). And it makes gestures to start undoing this; for instance we learn James' birth Chinese name and it's Woo Yen Jet,

and then they're like "and of course Yellow Claw's real name isn't Yellow Claw that would be silly" and you're like "of course" and they're like "yeah his real name is Plan Chu aka Master Plan" fuckin Master Plan. are you for real

It's like there's an understanding that posing everything culturally Chinese as evil is stupid and xenophobic even where it can be claimed to be not racist, so they try to give a Chinese heritage back to Woo, but they're "giving him back" this super caricatured fifties style conception of Chinese culture with only slight corrections for authenticity (why does chinese dragon have wing on it?) and it's like, you made us sit through this much repetition of fifties xenophobia only to give up after deconstructing it only maybe halfway? and putting the job of both owning and removing traces of caricaturedly evil Chinese business influence as Jimmy's responsibility? At some point ignorance holds open the gap that hatred opened.

It's a shame because I love Jimmy as a Guy (I love time-displaced weirdos who have developed bizarre attitudes from growing up in an era unfriendly to one or more facets of their identity) and I love the team lineup. (There's some other weird stuff going on there including Venus hiding out in Africa which isn't even imported from the 50s iirc but in general they were just really well chosen and interestingly characterized.) AND I love stories that sink angry teeth into questionable comics history instead of sweeping it under the rug but it turns out that can be botched badly enough that I just wish we were fighting actual aliens or hollow earth robots or something instead.

#watch this guys we're gonna get something enlightening by integrating the stereotyped villain with the assimilationist hero #[sticks the still-uncomfortable hero into a stereotyped setting] #anyways #oliverliveblogs #...a comic I read months ago idk why I'm thinking about this again #agents of atlas #jimmy woo

[wandapinkay]

HIIIII it's friendly anon back again!! ヾ(ゝω・)ノ

the pleasure is all mine, i assure you! :D i was a bit apprehensive to drop in your inbox at first - since i'm not well-versed in self-shipping culture and ask culture on this site is tragically dead - but i got a cool new parasocial friendship out of it and i discovered a new and exciting way to consume media and enjoy characters, so i'm glad that i did!! \^o^/ it took me a long time to realize it, but i truly think self-shipping was the last piece of the puzzle that i was missing in my previous hyperfixations. so what if that man is fictional, what do you mean he can't be mine??

in other news, i've already gotten four of my friends to watch steins;gate and i also recently convinced my sister and her husband to give it a try! i have rewatched the entire show three times alone this month, i am fully insane 🙏

WAITTTT THOSE CATBOY EDITS ARE SO CUTE ACTUALLY 🥺🥺i'm so impressed with how authentic they look, how did you capture the steins;gate style so well?? the second one on particular looks so real, suddenly i'm convinced daru was a catboy the whole time and i just never noticed lol

MAD respect for that 200-unit daru pic collection btw, i've been deep-diving in the darkest corners of the internet for fanart of okabe and i have found some amazing comics featuring daru that made me think of you ( ¯ ³¯)♡! on that note, i've also seen some very sweet drawings of daru with baby suzuha which, out of curiosity, made me wonder what your thoughts on them are together as father and daughter! i adore them honestly, but i'm curious to know if you feel differently about them since you self-ship with daru! i've seen a couple selfshippers in another fandom i frequent who have drawn fankids with their f/o's before and that got me wondering since suzuha is a unique case :)

ASDFJAKSFKSF YES THAT WAS THE NAME OF THE VN idk why i called it that, i think someone else called it that in a reddit post-

nevertheless, my point stands. i cannot even begin to express my disappointment that we didn't get to see daru OR okabe in a maid outfit. heck, we didn't even get to see daru in his penguin suit (though the fact that he was really popular in it made me cackle)! i mean it when i say that if the devs hadn't been cowards and gave us frilly daru and okabe, i would not have looked even twice at the girls. the men yearn for the frills!!! \o/

wahhhh you really are so nice, i appreciate you a bunch :) :) and wow, i thought for sure you'd been part of the community for longer than a year, you seem so comfortable here! was it easy for you to get settled in the community? you've been so nice, but i'm a bit scared to dip my toes in the self-shipping tag if you have any advice👉👈 (thank you again for being so kind and accommodating!! ^^;)

I DID, I SAID THE LINE!! WHERE IS MY PRIZE

your message has been delivered and summarily ignored except for the kiss which he accepted with dignity :3

to sign off, i am blowing both you and daru a pair of friendly kisses! i wish you both a very good night AND OH MAN I ALMOST FORGOT IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY IN TWO DAYS??? in that case, i wish you both a good night AND a wonderful valentine's day if you have any plans!!

thank you again for reading!! i will most assuredly be back if i am still welcome! (ᴗ͈ ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ.ﾟ

OMG HI ONCE AGAIN!! SO SORRY IF I TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER YOUR ASK, I WAS BUSYY 😭 Still so happy for the fact you're enjoying your new hobbie, I think everyone should try selfshipping at least once in their lives.. and woAHH amazing steins;gate propaganda you've done there! Wish I could do that to most of my friends but some have already seen it ages ago and some aren't just interested so I just kinda gave up HFH ALSO HOOOLY and I thought finishing the series in like,, 2 months was mental but you got me there I'm honest /lh I SERIOUSLY DON'T KNOW HOW I DID IT?? I just kinda went with it by using a small brush with no pressure and blurring out everything a little bit so it matched the og pic's quality I suppose?? I'm happy you think they seem legit, I did my job well then ; u ; <3 OMG THAT'S SO SWEET OF YOU THOUGHH 🥺🥺 now you got me curious on which ones you're referring to waa.. ALSO UMM.. ABOUT SUZUHA- I had a few concepts for how my relationship with Daru would work in-universe.. so I made a couple of them: one is the "good" ending I guess, while another is just "angst™"

.. yeah, can you tell I felt awful while coming up with the second one? GDGSFGFSD IT'S FINE THOUGH, I'M OK NOW But this is besides the point; I actually really love Suzuha's character and I prefer her over the other girls.. and my favorite dynamic is hers with Daru and Yuki (ironically).. seeing Daru being a dad melts my heart because sometimes I wish I had a father figure as sweet as he is aaa I prefer to see myself with Daru than project myself onto Yuki though, because I'd treat him differently than he does sometimes if I gotta be honest Still, hope you like the silly ideas- WAIT,, UH?? DARU HAS A PENGUIN SUIT?? I NEED TO SEE IT SO BADD 😭😭 Also fr, why can't they just satisfy the boy's fans for once,, I feel like they're leaving us out on purpose at this point- /j

Btw, for the selfship community part, I didn't really do much! I just started to post my artwork in the tag and started following and interacting with some peeps, although rarely because I'm still akward about it, but the people in it are so nice!! In my opinion, it's worth a shot!

Also thank you so much!! I hope you had a great Valentine's day with Okabe as well, sending you kisses as well! I posted a fanart that is kinda vday themed but nothing selfshippy unfortunately, but me and Daru would have probably chilled at home, exchanging eachother chocolates and stuff like that! Idk, I'm not a very "outside" person but if we had in plan to go somewhere like the May Queen to get something together, I wouldn't have minded either!

Of course you're welcome to come back, it's always a pleasure! Since I don't get asks often, it brightens up my day to see something in my inbox once in a while, so thank you still for feeling comfy enough to come back! Have a great day/night! 💕💕

#wanda's replies #wandapinkay's ask #steins;gate #daru #itaru hashida #suzuha #suzuha amane #yuki #yuki amane #selfship #selfshipping #selfshipping community #okabe #okabe rintaro #super hacking my heart 💻💖

[incoherentbabblings]

Now I need to know why you don't like harper 👀 I don't like her either (I also I get if you don't want to answer this)

Assfgghgfr Oh God okay. There are a couple of asks I answered about her a year and a bit ago when I was writing my new 52 missing scenes fic. I went back you see and re read every appearance for Tim and Steph from Batman Eternal #1 until Detective Comics #940. And whilst I was doing that re-read I was struck by how much I positively loathed Harper.

It's partially totally subjective and my own personal issues coupled with she just isn't well integrated into the family.

So I should be clear that, like Jason, I have a general disdain for characters who are associated with violence. I know that sounds really dumb as I read comic books and thoroughly enjoy gory panels from time to time but what I mean is - Harper in a good 80 percent of her conversations with people is threatening violence, whether that be physical or more abstract such a violating people's privacy with not a glimmer of self awareness.

Like, I don't think it's a coincidence that my three favourite batfam characters also Dick, Steph and Tim, the three characters who are most often shown to either a) avoid violence as a first option or b) choose an open hand versus a close fist when confronting danger.

Harper also happens to have really... Bad... Moments with all three so its like this really petty thing of mine which is that toxic stan mentality of 'you insult my blorbo? MY BLORBO?' if you catch my drift.

For Steph, it's the constant threat of violence. She genuinely threatens to electrocute, slap or punch Steph in a good fifty percent of their interactions, when the worst Steph is doing is potentially being too perky or not immediately trusting the man in a bat suit. Especially the latter, when she has been sleeping rough and not eating for upwards of a month. When Steph is forced to run from the mob, Harper doesn't seem to notice or care, leaving Babs to do the majority of the work in helping.

For Tim, she just straight-up commits sexual assault. You can say I'm being overly sensitive but she spies on Tim when he's showering and bemoans that she didn't see his dick to her younger brother. Am I supposed to just pretend that didn't happen? And yet much later in the run when Steph knocks on her door to have the chance to say hi to Tim Harper (again) threatens to beat her for invading boundaries.

For Dick, we have the 'my life sucks' speech to chide Dick as if he's done anything wrong in telling her to get her shit together, which is only made worse by Harper literally telling Steph in the previous run that she's a spoiled princess and everyone has daddy issues and she's not special. Like mmm. Hypocrite.

Anyway see here and here for me bemoaning her character and the way the writers' failed to integrate her into the batfam with like actual panels and such.

Idk. I don't like her because I read her as a violent hypocrite whose presence was extremely detrimental to Cass' story and did some pretty horrid things to Steph and Tim that never got called out. So I got very frustrated with her.

And that's why I don't like her 😅.

#dc #ask and I'll babble #are there any Harper fans following me? I'm sorry #😩 #anti harper row

[msgrumpygills]

I'm sorry, didn't Jensen say Chaos Machine was working on something SPN related with SPN alum in their virtual pannel? It's not like JP was completely blindsided. He said he was doing it months ago, just didn't give details. Also, isn't JP working on Walker? Didn't he say he wanted to work close to home? Didn't he say that overworking himself lead to his breakdown? Doesn't he already have like 4 other side projects going on? Like, why would Jensen involve him if JP was already busy enough? Doesn't he have a family to worry about? J and D are working together on this so it makes sense that wherever the might have to go for it, the kids will be with them, but Gen would most likely not be involved, so why bother? Is he itching to get away from his family that bad?

And you are absolutely right. It's a little (a lot) hypocritical for JP to hijack the spnfamily and turn it in to the walkerfamily, use spn easter eggs and actors to promote his show and get views, claim that his show will last longer than the show that gave him a majority of his fame, then get butthurt when Jensen ( who was equally involved in said show) makes his own spn project. Do the people who are pissed honestly think JP consulted Jensen about all the SPN junk he used? Also,it's a prequel about John and Mary. Dean and Sam weren't even born yet. "Sam Winchester won't be involved whatsoever" yeah no sh*t sherlock. He didn't exist yet. Jensen said he wasn't going to talk about it (again in the virtual panel) until he got the ball rolling. The other cast members made jokes about being on the show because they knew their characters weren't even involved in the story at that point. No one was except, John and Mary.

Like, the two of them worked together for 16 years, they are allowed to do their own thing without involving the other.

And as for the people saying " Well I guess Soldier Boy isn't going to be such a big role after all if Jensen already has another project lined up"... uh yeah..no shit. For a group of people who were complaining about h*llers joining The Boys fandom for Jensen, y'all sure act like you don't know how that show works either. I've read the comics so I knew SB wasn't gonna last long ( it could change idk) but like, no one is safe on that show except for The Boys themselves and select members of the Seven. Literally everyone dies. Have they even watched the show? The killed a main supe a few episodes in. Did they join the fandom for Jensen? Were they projecting? The character they made a big deal about last season got torn to shreds in the season finale. Like, c'mon pay attention. The supes are the bad guys.

And how does JP know Jensen wasn't going to involve him later? He doesn't. Instead he created public dramathis fandom is absolutely ridiculous sometimes, I swear.

You win the award for best ask today because you have brought ALL the points!

I doubt Jared asked Jensen's permission or anything like that before using SPN for his show, using the "family" thing for his new projects, or using his face for views and interest for his own personal gain. I can see him being upset if it was about Sam and Dean because of course he'd need to be involved, but a prequel before the boys' time? Why would Sam or Dean be involved?

We don't know if Jensen tried to tell Jared behind the scenes, but knowing what we know about Jensen, I don't think he did this as a dick move. He probably figured he wouldn't need to warn Jared considering SAM AND DEAN AREN'T EVEN INVOLVED. Also, HE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IT WITH JARED. So him acting like this is some big surprise is shitty and manipulative. Can't let the CW golden child be outshined, now can we?

Maybe he's just worried that this show (if it even gets picked up, I think it's just in the works right now, no?) will do better than Walker and will further prove that Jared can't seem to hold his own. You can't sit there and distance yourself from the show to try and make yourself a big star (except when it comes to using it for your own personal gain) and then get pissed off when someone else takes the opportunity you didn't want.

Jared could have done something with SPN, a prequel, a sequel, whatever. He chose to take the job that was handed to him on a silver platter instead and wanted to try and be the next big thing. Jensen decided to do something with the show and that's his right.

The stans trying to downplay Jensen's role on The Boys seems like they're just looking for things to use against him. I don't think Jensen was acting like this was going to be his next big break and that he was going to be on a 15 season arc (cough cough), so the only people who thought that were the stans. Jensen has talked about being behind the camera for years, no? So it's no surprise that he's going to try and do something behind the scenes, and why not have it be SPN related for that debut?

Also, it was easy for Jared to just piss off to his new life as long as the fans keep lining his pocket. Jensen seems to want to do something for the fans that have been there since the beginning. Just comparing their behaviors since SPN ended, Jensen seems to want to do something for the fans rather than seeing them as dollar signs.

Again, Jared knew exactly what he was doing with those tweets. He doesn't have a very good track record with handling things privately, and I'm just glad he didn't doxx the Ackles' for being mean to him like he does with customer service workers.

I don't want to make assumptions about Jensen talking to Jared or not until we hear from him because it seems out of character for him. If he really didn't reach out, then yeah that's kinda crappy, but Jared is also getting karma for his shit behavior lately so it's a catch 22.

All in all, this might be the thing that officially makes me anti Jared.

#grumpy answers #jared padalecki #jensen ackles

[vole-mon-amour]

OTP tag game.

Tagged by @captainjowl. You know for sure than I'm struggling to pick only 10 & fit them in here. But hell, that’s fun, thank you <3

Rules: Choose 10 OTPs BEFORE reading the questions, and then get to answering

1) Harry James Potter & Sirius Orion Black

2) Daniel Le Domas & Grace (Ready or Not 2019)

3) Samuel & Nathan Drake (Uncharted 4)

4) Corvo Attano & The Outsider (+probably Emily Kaldwin; Dishonored series)

5) Steve Grant Rogers & Bucky Buchanan Barnes (Marvel)

6) Tony Edward Stark & Peter Benjamin Parker (Marvel)

7) Handsome Jack & Rhys (Borderlands video game series)

8) Damon Salvatore & Elena Gilbert (TVD Books & a tv show)

9) Batman & Joker (in every universe, really)

10) Adam Jensen x Francis Pritchard (Deus Ex video game series)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

I believe it didn't hit me before Spider-Man: Homecoming. Civil War was about Steve & Bucky for me, but when I saw that growing up Peter with Tony, their dynamic, chemistry. Tom & Robert are really just like that.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Lmao. I've read like 50% of the tag on AO3, I wrote my own & started a few wips on them. They are amazing. Plus, with that shitty canon? We didn't get enough of them & they deserved better, so it's only logical to save yourself with fanfiction.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

I was living with The Outsider icon on my twitter & tumblr. That one is still my Google profile picture I believe. Don't remember about having an icon with the two of them. Also had The Outsider as my lockscreen on my smartphone for a while.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Funny how it fits canon, lmao. Rhys literally tried to erase Jack's AI in TFTBL, so I guess another day on Pandora, nothing new. They torture each other, they kiss each other, they kill other people in the process. It'll be fiiine.

5. Why is 1 so important?

I love them since the first time I met them, which was much more than 10 years ago, I don't even remember when. At some point they were the reason I was waking up & forcing myself to eat just to read more fanfiction & feel something. Even if I was drowning in pain (I was extremely depressed), it was still something. I read every fic I could find at that time. The depression that Harry went through, all these feelings, his love for Sirius. I was living through it, I could relate.

I'm currently drowning in these two again, though in a much healthier & happier state. I see their flaws & I know as much as I can. I see them differently as an adult. They saved me, they keep being my number one, I still consider making a tattoo of Padfoot/Sirius or of both Harry & Sirius together. I have many headcanons, ideas, I write fics about them. They are everything, you see? They were my choice when there was nothing, no one. They are HOME.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Both. There goes the dynamic of Jack & Rhys: torture, fighting, flirting, a lot of trauma. I'd definitely say that they are wild and comical sometimes, but they are definitely serious. With the Asylum, the mental health issues. There is so much more to it, the complexity of their relationship. The struggle of loving who you probably shouldn't (but hey, when does it work like that?) Thinking about Tettlate's Batman, about Batman: Europa & how Joker was: "You must be crazy, putting me in charge of the plan, letting me decide. Okay, well..."

Nah, they are entertaining, but this is a serious ship.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Are you kidding me? They are all the definition of CHEMISTRY. I'd say 5, but then go 2, 6, 7, 8. Come on. I'm not choosing. Most of they are WILD.

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

The fandom itself? Idk. I found one of my favourite artists through this fandom. If it's about the characters themselves, I played the first game with the DLC from start to beginning, looking around every corner. Spent more than 60 hours in there. Watched a second game (my laptop can't run the game) and the DLC (obviously), since Francis is in the DLC & not in the main game. I have a tag for them on tumblr, I read fanfiction, I tried to write my own. I still follow Elias & want a third game. Elias liked my tweets about Adam and Jensen being an actual couple a few times. I'd say I interacted with all of this a lot? Still do, actually.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

5. Best friends since childhood, fought & died for each other, still found their way back to each other. "It would break your Captain's heart, to see what they did to you." That only the MENTION of Steve can pull Bucky out of this brain washing(ed?) state, distract him in the middle of a fight. When Steve died in the comics because of Sharon & Tony sent Natasha to take Steve's shield from Bucky because even Tony knew how much Steve means to Bucky. And Bucky was like: "Oh, I see what he did. Not happening!" Fought Natasha (that is his ex in the comics) & kept going for Steve's sake.

Well, you see the point, I can go on and on.

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They're not actually canon so none? They had a few fights: In Civil war (the comics), in Homecoming (the movie).  That only means that they’ve got history & love each other.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

As fierce Grace is, they wouldn't stand a chance against Damon & Elena. Those two had to deal with worst thing than brainless stupid zombies. On the other hand, if there were no alive humans to drink their blood... It's either an animal diet that Damon hates so much or I don't know? Still, they're faster & more powerful. Their bodies have advantage of healing the wounds as well.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

From some people, yeah. Don't tell Athena, don't tell Vaughn, don't tell Fiona. Though Rhys wasn't very subtle about it & Jack just doesn't give a fuck. You will probably end up dead if you disagree or bore him, or if you're useless.

"I can take you to the top, but you gotta know where the top is" & Rhys doesn't tell anybody until Jack makes him the President for like whole 20 minutes lol.

Fiona & Sasha: "This can't be happening." Sure it can, darling.

14. Is 4 still together?

I have a headcanon about The Outsider finding Emily & Corvo after Billie frees him from the Void. He doesn't have anybody & they are his only friends aside from a potential friendship with Billie. And if we don't consider TOTO dlc, they definitely are! The Outsider visits them both when they sleep & takes them to the void sometimes. How could he not?

15. Is 10 canon?

Not really but also sort of? Let's say that they really care about each other in canon, despite Adam pushing Francis away because of his trauma & fear that Megan caused him. :/

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Can you imagine wizards fighting extremely powerful vampires? Superheroes with venom in their bodies that make them super strong with people that made a deal with the Devil himself (hi Le Bail)? 5000 y.o. God and his lover that share his powers and an augmented human protecting his tired IT guy? Combine mental health issues to that, Jack and Rhys with Batman and Joker. Corvo & The Outsider would probably slay them all as Corvo and Emily did in both games with entire islands, though it will still be a slaughter anyway.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

All the fucking time, lmaooo. I’m not even talking about it.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

I feel like I already did with Steve & Bucky after many Marvel movies (we're not even mentioning Endg*me, I fucking died & was dead for full 4-5 months).

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

I used to do that a few years back, but not anymore. There is not much content since the trilogy is finished.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

1 already went through it & fandom lives, so I'd say maybe 7? Rhys will find a way to bring Jack back & they are both so wild. It’s what happened in canon anyway. Jack kidnapped Lilith & forced her to do Angel's job, so I'd like to see that witch try at first. Jack is an immortal bastard. <3

Now that I think about it, Corvo would also deal with her in seconds as she waits to curse them.

As a conclusion: no one breaks up forever, we're killing the witch.

I tag: @ianmillkovichgallagher​ & @aledbr​

Whoever else wants to join the game, please do.

#otp #me #tumblr #harry x sirius #delena #corvosider #rhack #tony x peter #batjokes #jensard #steve x bucky #ready or not #drakecest

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Oh okay! Well I guess to ship me with them you need to know about me lol I'm quite short with short dark hair and really dark eyes. I love reading books and comics, watching movies and tv shows. I'm also really into sports and I can't go a day without drinking tea. A lot of my friends say the only time I talk is when I'm being sarcastic but idk haha anyways thank you so much!!

GOSH i’m so sorry this took five yrs

but i’m here now!!!

anyways ship below the cuttttt!!!!

For Queen, I ship you with Roger Taylor!

Although you’re quiet, I think that would contrast quite perfectly with Roger’s outspoken nature. Although he’s not always a talker, his tendency to speak up in most situations only highlights your contributions when you do choose to pipe in. As a result, the rest of the band thinks you’re the second funniest thing around. First is John Deacon - even he thinks so, let’s be honest.

Your sarcasm is what drew Roger to you in the first place. Both of you happened to run into each other outside of a pub at around mid-afternoon one time. 

You worked at the pub, tending bar, because as a bartender, it was always important to listen. You were good at listening - you’d rather hear other people talk and then give a good, witty piece of advice, rather than talk someone’s ear off.

Although you’d briefly seen each other before when he played gigs there, he’d never got the chance to come over and talk to you. Tending the bar was simply too hectic.

Roger had approached you when he saw you hanging up posters for upcoming shows. He thought you were quite a cute little thing when he’d first seen you months ago, short and sweet but still alluring with your dark hair/eye combo. And he was never one to shy away from a girl he felt interest in, so when he saw you, he had to come over.

“Smile? Who’s that?” he asked when he saw the poster you were currently tacking up. Although your back was to him, you faintly recognized the soft, Cornish voice that drifted into your eardrums, and you rolled your eyes playfully as you turned to face the drummer of Smile himself.

“Ha ha. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a regular joker?” you teased, handing him the box of tacks as you tried to reshuffle the posters in your hand and find the one for another local band.

“Actually, no,” he laughed, holding the box for you as he shifted his weight to one foot, standing with his other hand casually resting in his pocket.

“Really? Personally, I’m not shocked,” you replied without missing a beat, finally finding the poster and grabbing a few tacks from the box in his hand before starting to put the poster up directly above Smile’s. 

The space left on the board was minimal, and far above your head, so when you started to struggle to reach the top, Roger chuckled before reaching over your head and nicking the tack from your fingers, then tacking it up himself.

“Thanks,” you laughed softly as you pushed a very short, stray lock of hair out of your face. Turning to face him again, you noticed he was a bit closer than before, but you had nowhere to go and didn’t really feel like backing down from his friendliness. You honestly found him attractive, and had been hoping secretly that he’d try to talk you up one day. Now, your wish was coming true.

“No problem. Say, are you going to be tending bar tomorrow night after the show?” he asked, leaning against the board and flashing you a charming smile as you rolled up the remaining posters that you’d have to tape up in the surrounding blocks.

“Tomorrow’s my night off. Why?” you asked, raising an eyebrow as you reached for the tacks in his hand. But he retracted it, refusing to let you take it, and you squinted a bit as you tried to figure out what angle he was trying to take.

“No, don’t worry, love, I’ll carry these for you. After all, you were the one who gave them to me.” He had a point, so you shrugged and started to make your way back into the bar, Roger following you into the entrance and continuing on. “How about we go out after the show? You and me, on the town. My treat.”

Your cheeks flushed a bit as you registered that Roger was asking you out. But you kept trekking into the bar, walking to the office and letting Roger in as you went to find the tape, giggling to yourself. “Are you asking me out? Do you even know my name?”

“Sure, I do, Y/N. When you see a pretty bartender, you ask for their name. Duh.” He was grinning toothily at this point, a mischievous look about him, and you raised an eyebrow before sighing playfully and snatching the tacks from his hand, replacing it with a roll of duct tape. 

“I suppose that can be arranged. But you have to help me put the rest of these up.”

That next night, you had a whirlwind of a time, and ended up crashing at Roger because of how sloshed the two of you had gotten. But he slept on the couch like a gentleman, and when you realized he wasn’t just trying to get a petty fuck out of you, you started to entertain his advances more. Then, before you knew it, you were his girlfriend.

And Roger was an angel of a boyfriend - any time you were feeling like staying in, he’d be there in a heartbeat with a cup of tea and a new book he’d bought for you.

“I saw it and thought of you,” he said cheerily, handing it to you as you sunk down into the couch with your steaming mug of tea. Blowing on the surface on the liquid, you couldn’t help but smile as you took the book from his hand, and he returned a loving smile before he seated himself next to you, getting comfortable and wrapping his arm around you. Drizzly rain pattered against the window of his flat, but the sound only relaxed you further.

Sitting your tea on the side table for a moment, you snuggled up close to him and pulled a blanket over the two of you as he watched the TV, which he’d turned to one of his favorite game shows.

A domestic scene like this was certainly not one you’d ever expected to see Roger in. As you grabbed your tea and opened the book to page one, you couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you felt Roger’s hand weave through your hair, just brushing through it barely and absentmindedly as he watched the game show.

When you’d first seen Roger, he was practically shirtless, on stage, beating his drums like an animal, singing his heart out, and all else. But now, he was here, cuddling with you, so serene it made your heart swell.

Just so your heart wouldn’t burst into a million pieces from how happy you currently were, you leaned up and pressed a few gentle, affectionate kisses on his jaw, then returned to your reading with a content heart as a smile crossed Roger’s face.

“What was that for?” he asked, gently tugging on your hair to get your attention. And you blushed, just a bit, overwhelmed with fondness for him, but you couldn’t be gushy right now or you might melt, so you chose the coy approach.

“Return the favor and maybe you’ll find out.”

And for BoRhap, I ship you with Gwilym Lee!

What a sweet boy. And somehow, he looks so innocently devilish doing that. 

ANYWAYS

Yes, I know, height differences. But Gwilym loves that you’re short! Your height was actually indirectly what had led him to meeting you in the first place. 

You were seated directly behind him at a rugby match, a very important one to you AND him - your favorite teams were playing, coincidentally opposite each others, and of course you got sat behind the most obnoxiously tall fan of the other team’s fanbase.

But you weren’t going to be rude about it - in fact, it seemed like he was just there to have a good time. He was drunk, but not aggressively or annoyingly so. He was just too god damn tall, and he seemed painfully unaware of that.

After about 15 minutes of watching the back of his head, you sighed, quite audibly. Your friends had left a couple minutes ago so they could go to the stadium’s bar, so you were alone with your beer you’d got on your way to your seat, and staring at the back of this guy’s head.

When you noticed that he had an empty seat next to him, you jumped at the opportunity. Even though you weren’t exactly the bold type, this game was important to you, and if that meant you had to bother a Welsh fan for a seat, you were all about it.

Tapping on his shoulder, you grabbed your beer as he turned around to look at you, a look of genuine confusion smeared across his unbelievably handsome face. He was quite a looker, and you mentally smacked yourself for getting into this situation without planning first.

“Hi,” you laughed a bit awkwardly, nodding to the seat next to him. “Is that seat taken?”

“Er, no, my mate couldn’t make it,” he replied slowly, shaking his head as the confusion slowly wore off. But there was still a trace of it left as he raised an eyebrow at you standing up and grabbing your things. “Why?”

“Want to know the truth?” you asked, tossing your coat and purse down on the bleacher floor in front of the open seat next to him. When he nodded, you took a sip of your beer before handing it to him. “Would you put that in the cupholder, please? And if I’m going to be frank, it’s because I didn’t buy a ticket to this match to watch the back of a Wales fan’s head, however nice your hair is.”

That got a laugh out of him, and he sat your beer down in the cupholder in front of him before holding out a hand and helping you over the back of the seat, only getting a mildly questioning look from his friend to his left. Once you’d successfully gotten over the chair, he turned his helping hand into a handshake, looking down at you with an amused smile as he easily towered over you.

“My name’s Gwilym. What’s yours?”

“Y/N,” you replied, shooting him a sweet smile before giving his jersey a pointed look as you dropped his hand. “Hope you guys are ready to get your shit handed to you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You want to put your money where your mouth is?”

His team won. You should have known, but when he wagered a date on the game, you couldn’t say no. And when he took you on that date, he only made a few jokes about how much of a shitshow your team was that day.

And when he managed to drag you to a Wales match that wasn’t against your team a few months later, he was presented the perfect opportunity to ask you to be his girlfriend.

“I get that you’re from there, but why continue to support the team if it’s genuine garbage?” he asked laughingly, amused by the playfully sour look your face had taken on. Once again, he was reminding you of how sorely your team was performing this season. The only way to make him stop was to start pouting, after which he’d apologize profusely and promise not to be a big bully anymore.

“I came out to this match to have a good time with you, Gwil, and I’m beginning to feel a bit attacked here, truly.”

“Aw, come on, I was just teasing!” he whined, nudging you with his shoulder as you stared up at the scoreboard and refused to look at him despite the smile playing on your lips. They were doing the routine halftime kiss cam, and you watched as a cute older couple gave each other a chaste peck on the lips.

His arm then wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you into his side, and though you were faking being mad at him, you still let your head rest on his shoulder as he squeezed you a bit. “Don’t be mad at me, sweetheart. I promise I’ll buy you a beer if it makes you feel better.”

“You better,” you mumbled, still looking up at the scoreboard, and to your surprise (and admittedly, excitement), you suddenly saw a Welsh man with his arm around a young woman with dark eyes and short dark hair, who was leaning on him. 

Yep, you guessed it. It was kiss cam time.

“Gwil, look,” you murmured, pointing up to the scoreboard/jumbotron, and a blissfully unaware, smiley Gwilym looked up to the scoreboard just to be met with his own expression.

“Oh shit,” he blurted out, immediately taking on an embarrassed look as he laughed at his own obliviousness. After glancing between you and the screen, he nudged your head gently with his shoulder. “Suppose it would be a good time to ask you if you’d fancy being my girlfriend.”

“Are you joking?!” you choked out, your head flying up so that you were staring at him with a flabbergasted, ecstatic expression. “Yes, yes! God, it took you long enough!”

With that, you quickly glanced at the kiss cam before grinning widely and taking Gwilym’s face in your hands, planting a big, affectionate kiss directly on his lips. It wasn’t a sloppy kiss, and there wasn’t anything too racy about it - it was pure joy, and the way Gwilym pulled you closer for a moment while he kissed back was enough to make your heart race even faster than it already was.

When you pulled away to a few cheers around you, you gave a wide grin to the camera before looking back at Gwilym, who was absolutely pleased with himself as he kept his arm firmly around you, waving for the camera and giving your cheek a quick kiss.

As the cheers died down, you giggled and rested your head on his shoulder again, completely content with what events had just transpired. But, of course, you weren’t letting him off that easy.

“I haven’t forgot about the beer, you know.”

“Of course you haven’t, love. Wouldn’t expect any less of you.”