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c-is-for-circinate · 3 years

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For a long, large part of my life, being queer in a media landscape--finding queerness in a media landscape--has meant theft.

I'm a Fandom Old, somehow, these days, older than most and younger than some, in that way that's grown associated with grumpy crotchetyness and shotguns on porches and back in my day, we had to wade through our Yahoo Groups mailing lists uphill both ways, boring and irrelevant anecdotes from Back In Those Days when homophobia clearly worked differently than it does now, probably because we weren't trying hard enough. I've seen a lot of stories through the years. I've read a lot of fanfic. (More days than not, for the past twenty years. I've read a lot of fanfic.)

When people my age start groaning and sighing at conversations about representation and queerbaiting, when we roll our eyes and drag all the old war stories out again in the face of AO3 is terrible and Not Good Enough, so often what we say is: you Young Folks Today have no idea how hard, how scary, how limiting it was to be queer anywhere Back In Those Days. Including online, maybe especially online, including in a media landscape that hated us so much more than any one you've ever known. And that is true. Always and everywhere, again and again, it's true, we remember, it's true.

We don't talk so much about the joy of it.

Online fan spaces were my very first queer communities, ever. I was thirteen, I was fourteen, I was fifteen--I was a lonely, over-precocious "gifted kid" two years too young for my grade level in an all-girls' Catholic school in the suburbs--I lived in a world where gay people were a rumor and an insult and a news story about murder. I was straight, of course, obviously, because real people were straight and anyway I was weird enough already--I couldn't be two things strange, couldn't be gay too, but--well, I could read the stories. I could feel things about that. I would have those stories to help me, a few years later, when I knew I couldn't call myself straight any more.

And those stories were theft. There was never any doubt about that. We wrote disclaimers at the top of every fic, with the specter of Anne Rice's lawyers around every corner. We hid in back-corners of the internet, places you could only find through a link from a link from a link on somebody else's recs page, being grateful for the tiny single-fandom archives when you found them, grateful for the webrings where they existed. It was theft, all of it, the stories about characters we did not own, the videotaped episodes on your best friend's VHS player, one single episode pulled off of Limewire over the course of three days.

It was theft, we knew, to even try and find ourselves in these stories to begin with. How many fics did I read in those days about two men who'd always been straight, except for each other, in this one case, when love was stronger than sexual orientation? We stole our characters away from the heterosexual lives they were destined to have. We stole them away from writers and producers and TV networks who work overtime to shower them in Babes of the Week, to pretend that queerness was never even an option. This wasn't given to us. This wasn't meant for us. This wasn't ours to have, ever, ever in the first place. But we took it anyway.

And oh, my friends, it was glorious.

We took it. We stole. And again and again, for years and years and years, we turned that theft into an art. We looked for every opening, every crack in every sidewalk where a little sprout of queerness might grow, and we claimed it for our own and we grew whole gardens. We grew so sly and so skilled with it, learning to spot the hints of oh, this could be slashy in every new show and movie to come our way. Do you see how they left these character dynamics here, unattended on the table? How ripe they are for the pocketing. Here, I'll help you carry them. We'll make off with these so-called straight boys, and we only have to look back if somebody sets out another scene we want for our own.

We were thieves, all of us, and that was fine and that was fair, because to exist as queer in the world was theft to begin with. Stolen time, stolen moments--grand larceny of the institution of marriage, breaking and entering to rob my mother's hopes for grandchildren. Every shoplifted glance at the wrong person in the locker room (and it didn't matter if we never peeked, never dared, they called us out on it anyway). Every character in every fic whose queerness became a crime against this ex-wife, that new love interest. Every time we dared steal ourselves away from the good straight partners we didn't want to date.

And: we built ourselves a den, we thieves, wallpapered in stolen images and filled to the brim with all the words we'd written ourselves. We built ourselves a home, and we filled it with joy. Every vid and art and fic, every ship, every squee. Over and over, every straight boy protagonist who abandoned all womankind for just this one exception with his straight boy protagonist partner found gay orgasms and true love at the end.

Over and over, we said: this isn't ours, this isn't meant to be ours, you did not give this to us--but we are taking it anyway. We will burglarize you for building blocks and build ourselves a palace. These stories and this place in the world is not for us, but we exist, and you can't stop us. It's ours now, full of color and noise, a thousand peoples' ideas mosaic'ed together in celebration. We made this, and it will never be just yours again. You won't ever truly get it back, no matter how many lawyers you send, not completely. We keep what we steal.

Things shifted over time, of course. That's good. That's to be celebrated. Nobody should have to steal to survive. It should not be a crime, should not feel like a crime, to find yourself and your space in the world.

There were always content creators who could slip a little wink in when they laid out their wares, oh what's this over here, silly me leaving this unattended where anybody could grab it, of course there might be more over by the side door if you come around the alleyway (but if anybody asks, you didn't get this from ME). We all watched Xena marry Gabrielle, in body language and between the lines. We sat around and traded theories and rumors about whether the people writing Due South knew what they were doing when they sent their buddy cops off into the frozen north alone together at the end of the show, if they'd done it on purpose, if they knew. But over the years, slowly, thankfully, the winks became less sly.

A teenage boy put his hand on another teenage boy's hand and said, you move me, and they kissed on network TV, in a prime-time show, on FOX, and the world didn't burn down. Here and there, where they wanted to, where they could without getting caught by their bosses and managers, content creators stopped subtly nudging people around the back door and started saying, "Here. This is on offer here too, on purpose. You get to have this, too."

And of course, of course that came with a whole host of problems too. Slide around to the back door but you didn't get this from me turned into it's an item on our special menu, totally legit, you've just got to ask because the boss throws a fit if we put it out front. Shopkeepers and content creators started advertising on the sly, come buy your fix here!, hiding the fine print that says you still have to take what you've purchased home and rebuild it with your semi-legal IKEA hacks. Maybe they'll consider listing that Destiel or Sterek as a full-service menu item next year. Is that Crowley/Aziraphale the real thing or is it lite?

And those problems are real and the conversations are worth having, and it's absolutely fair to be frustrated that you can't find the ship you want on sale in anything like your color and size in a vast media landscape packed full of discount hetships and fast-fashion m/f. It's fair to be angry. It's fair to be frustrated. Queerbait is a word that exists for a reason.

There's a part of me that hurts, though, every time the topic comes up. It's a confusing, bad-mannered part of me, but it's still very real. And it's not because I'm fawning for crumbs, trying to be the Good, Non-Threatening Gay. It's not that I'm scared and traumatized by the thought of what might happen if we dare raise our voices and ask for attention. (Well. Not mostly. I'll always remember being quiet and scared and fifteen, but it's been a long two decades since then. I know how to ask for a hell of a lot more now.)

It's because I remember that cozy, plush-wallpapered den of joyful thieves. I remember you keep what you steal.

Every single time--every time--when a story I love sets a couple of characters out on a low, unguarded table, perfectly placed to be pilfered on the sly and taken home and smushed together like a couple of dolls, my very first thought is always, always joy. Always, that instinct says, yay! Says, this is ours now. As soon as I go home and crawl into that pillow-fort den, my instincts say, I will surely find people already at work combing through spoils and finding new ways to combine them, new ways to make them our own. I know there's fic for that. I've already seen fic for that, and I wasn't really interested last time, but the new store display's got my brain churning, and I can't wait to see what the crew back at the hideout does with this.

Every time, that's where my brain goes. And oh, when I realize the display's put out on purpose, that somebody snuck in a legitimate special menu item, when the proprietor gives me the nod and wink and says, you don't have to come around the side, I know it's not much but here--there is so much joy and relief and hope in me from that! Oh, what we can make with these beautiful building blocks. Oh what a story we can craft from the pieces. Oh, the things we can cobble together. Look at that, this one's a little skimpy on parts but we can supplement it, this one's got a whole outline we can fill in however we want. This one technically comes semi-preassembled, and that's boring as shit and a pain to take back apart, but that's fine, we'll manage. We're artists and thieves. I bet someone's pulling out the AU saw to cut it to pieces already.

And then I get back to our den, which has moved addresses a dozen times over the years and mostly hangs out on Tumblr now (and the roof leaks and the landlord's sketchy as fuck but at least they don't charge rent, and we've made worse places our own). And I show up, ready for joy--ready for a dozen other people who saw that low-hanging fruit on that unguarded table, who got the nod and wink about the special menu item, who're ready to get so excited about this newest haul. Did you see what we picked up? The theft was so easy, practically begging to be stolen. The last owner was an idiot with no idea what to do with it. The last owner knew exactly what it could become, bless their heart, under a craftsman with more time on their hands, so they looked away on purpose at just the right time to let me take it home. I show up every time ready for our space, the place that fed me on joy and self-confidence when I was fifteen and starving. The place that taught me, yes, we are thieves, because it is RIGHT to take what we need, and the beautiful things we create are their own justification. We are thieves, and that's wonderful, because nothing is handed to us and that means we get to build our own palaces. We get to keep everything we steal.

I go home, and even knowing the world is different, my instincts and heart are waiting for that. And I walk in the door, and I look at my dash, and I glance over at twitter, and--

And people are angry, again. Angry at the slim pickings from the hidden special menu. So, so tired and angry, at once again having to steal.

And they're right to be! Sometimes (often, maybe) I think they're angry at the wrong people--more angry with the shopkeeper who offers the bite-sized sampler platter of side characters or sneaks their queer content in on the special menu than the ones who don't include it at all. But it's not wrong to be mad that Disney's once again advertising their First Gay Character only to find out it's a tiny sprinkle of a one-line extra on an otherwise straight sundae. It's not wrong to be furious at the world because you've spent your whole life needing to be a thief to survive. It's far from wrong. I'm angry about it too.

But this was my den of thieves, my chop shop, my makerspace. Growing up in fandom, I learned to pick the locks on stories and crack the safes of subtext at the very same time I learned to create. They were the same thing, the same art. We are thieves, my heart says, we are thieves, and that's what makes us better than the people we steal from. We deconstruct every time we create. We build better things out of the pieces.

And people are angry that the pre-fab materials are too hard to find, the pickings too slim, the items on sale too limited? Yes, of course they are, of course they should be--but my heart. Oh, my heart. Every single time, just a little bit, it breaks.

Of course the stories are terrible (they have always been terrible). Of course they are, but we are thieves. We steal the best parts and cobble them back together and what we make is better than it was before. The craftsman's eye that cases a story for weak points, for blank spaces, for anywhere we can fit a crowbar and pry apart this casing--that's skill and art and joy. Of course we shouldn't have to, of course we shouldn't have to, but I still love it. I still want it, crave it. I still thrill every time I see it, a story with hairline cracks that we can work open with clever hands to let the queer in.

That used to be cause for celebration, around here. I ask him to go back to the ruins of Aeor with me, two men together alone on an expedition in the frozen north, it feels like a gift. And I understand why some people take it as an insult. I understand not good enough. I understand how something can feel like a few drops of water to someone dying of thirst, like a slap in the face. If it was so easy to sneak it hidden onto the special menu, to place it on the unguarded side table for someone else to run off to, why not let it sit out front and center in the first place? I know it's frustrating. It should be. We should fight. We should always fight. I know why.

But my heart, oh, my heart. My heart only knows what it's been taught. My heart sees, this thing right here, the proprietor left it there for you with a nod and a wink because they Get It. It's not put together yet, but it's better that way anyway. It's so full of pieces to pull apart and reassemble. I bet they've got a whole mosaic wall going up at home already. We can bring it home and make it OURS, more than it was ever theirs, forget half of what it came from and grow a new garden in what remains.

And I go home to find anger, and my heart breaks instead.

#I don't actually know how to tag this #representation #maybe?#C needs help feeding the dinosaurs #because this is very much about being a fandom old #probably also #driveby meta attack #because that's where I keep my impromptu rambles #CR spoilers #technically I guess?#there's one line that references the finale #fandom history

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justonecitizenoftheearth · 3 years

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The Saga of Rögnvald réttilbeini

Notes: This is a fanfiction about an old norse text! My friend proofread my final thesis about men who used a certain kind of magic in ancient northern Europe. This kind of magic is very strongly connected to women, so men using it were seen as unmanly, or ergi in old norse, which is also a term used for gay men. There is one story in the Heimskringla, a text about the first kings of Norway, about 80 wizards who practice this magic called seiðr living together. My friend liked the gay wizard commune very much, was very disappointed by their gruesome end, and asked for a fix-it. So here it is: The Saga of Rögnvald réttilbeini!

I feel a bit blasphemous writing fanfiction about a 13th century text, but I think it turned out fine. Also, I know now a thing or two about norse magic now, but I took some creative liberties, this is fiction after all. ENJOY!!

@disorganisedautodidact

@fiifuchs

Rating: T

Content warning: Era-typical homophobia, era-typical gender roles, violence (not very graphic though)

Read it on AO3!

The Saga of Rögnvald réttilbeini

There was a man called Rögnvald. He was the son of the famous Harald hárfagra, the mighty king of Norway. But he wasn´t like Haralds other children. His fate led him to a different path.

The first time Rögnvald thought that there was something wrong with him, was the day he lost a swordfight and won a bet. He was nine years old and tried to be a good warrior, a good fighter, a good viking, so he could follow in his father´s footsteps. His father, who cast such a long shadow over the land and over the lives of his sons and daughters that Rögnvald wasn´t sure what the sun even looked like. But the axe and sword lay heavy in his hands and the anger and violence of his opponent hit him way before the wood did, let him stumble in fear and confusion. He wasn´t a good fighter. He was scared of his first raid. Of the pain and suffering he would have to endure. Of the pain and suffering he would cause. So he lost the swordfight against his older brother Eirik, who looked at his tears with a mix of pity and disgust. Men didn´t cry. Men didn´t lose. Men didn´t run into the woods afterwards, hands clutching the bruises on his arms and waist.

The woods were Rögnvalds friends. They held their own dangers, big animals, bad weather, you could trip and nobody would find you for days. But sometimes, when he allowed himself to dream, it seemed as if the vines opened a path for him, as if the birds sang louder when he came along, as if the rain fell warmer on his skin, as if the branches of the trees bowed down to him. Rögnvald had seen a bear or two, and there was a pack of wolves living nearby. He didn´t look for them in the vast forests, but he had seen their gray fur in the underbrush. But he never felt the same anger and violence in them that he did in his own brother, and Eirik had yet to kill him, so he decided to let them be as they let him be. Yes, the woods held dangers. But nowhere else seemed his father´s shadow so weak, nowhere else could Rögnvald breathe so deeply. His favorite place was on a cliff, looking over the fjord and away from the town. The sea breeze carried the smell of water, salt, and algae up to him and the trees sang their whispering songs in his back. It was his other brother who found him, Håkon, who sat down beside him and began throwing stones down into the grey-green waters below. It annoyed Rögnvald, but what was he supposed to do? So he looked away and up into the clouds.

“I think it´s going to start raining soon.”

Håkon looked up and frowned. “No, I think we have time before the rain starts. At least until we get back if we get going now, I bet.”

Rögnvald closed his eyes. The trees whispered. The wind sang. And up, way up in the clouds, he swore he could hear the soft tinkle of raindrops. He concentrated. He counted aloud. “One. Two. Three. Four.” The wind fell silent. “Five. Six. Seven.” The tinkle filled his senses. He sat up straight. “Eight. Nine. Ten.” He opened his eyes. The first raindrop hit his nose. He looked at his brother with wide eyes, who stared back through the downpour with disbelief and something between awe and mistrust in his eyes. Rögnvald didn´t know yet that he would get to know that look very well.

Rögnvalds grandmother Solveig was a Völva, a seer. She lived on her own and people came to her for advice or healing. They came with wounds and insecurities, with hurt in their hearts and sickness in their stomach. She had wise words and herbs for them. She could see what plagued them in their eyes and their future in clouds and the ashes of the hearth. Harald didn´t like her very much, he never came to her cottage, which was one more reason for Rögnvald to go there as often as possible. He sat at the fire in silence, watched her cut and dry herbs and listened to the sagas she told time and time again. He hid in her sleeping chambers when visitors came, listened to their stories of battle and love, of heartbreak and marriage, fishing and farming, the hardships and wonders of raising children and the weight of keeping secrets. Solveig didn´t judge. She listened patiently, gave advice when needed, warm tea for cold hands and hearts and an open ear for words that had to be said. It was in the darkness of her chambers in his eleventh summer that Rögnvald first heard of a man loving another.

The boy fled into the sleeping chambers of his grandmother as soon as he heard footsteps at her door. He sat down leaning against the wooden wall, and listened to the heavy steps of a man entering the house, bent down by grief. The voice of the man was surprisingly soft as he spoke, although Rögnvald had heard the heavy thud of an axe being set to the ground next to him. His name was Þorsteinn, and he had just come back from a raid to the Eastern coast. The raid had been a success, but not for him. His voice broke when he told Solveig about his friend Halvdan. How his eyes had gleamed under the moonlight when they got there. How his face had lit up by the fires of the first building burning. How ragged his breath sounded when he fell to the ground with an arrow in his chest. How cold his skin became when he died in his arms. Rögnvald cried Þorsteinns tears when the whole story broke free. After that, there was just the sound of grief for a long time. When he regained a little bit of his composure, Þorsteinn started to tell their story with faltering words. He told about a life-long friendship. About strange and secret feelings blooming. About the sweetness and terror of a first kiss. About two hands reaching for each other when everything they had been taught tried to pry them apart. About the thrill of fighting together and loving each other. About the hole left in his soul that he wasn´t allowed to show anywhere else. About the suspicion. About unmanliness, ergi, that they had been accused of, and the painful weeks apart to convince their families that nothing had happened that shouldn´t have. Solveig didn´t say anything. She brought tea and herbs for easier sleep. When Þorsteinns cries turned muffled, Rögnvald suspected that she held him while he fell apart. But he couldn´t move, couldn´t even wipe his face, was frozen in terror and excitement. It was forbidden. It was shameful. But he couldn´t help but wonder what it felt like to love another man so much. To touch his skin and know his soul, and his heart pounded, overwhelmed by the feeling of coming alive.

When Þorsteinn left, his steps were lighter, as was his heart, he had said that much. It took some more time until Rögnvald could make himself move. Solveig didn´t come to check on him, she let him be, let him take his time. It was one of the reasons he loved being with her so much. When he came back to the room, he just stared at her with wide, wet eyes. She looked back for a long moment, listening to the words unspoken. Then she kneeled down and held him, soothing his shivering, and humming a soft tone. When she got up again, she caressed his hair and lifted his chin. The light of the fire danced in her eyes.

“Fate is not always merciful, but it is never wrong.”

The problems of his childhood grew heavier with every year of age that Rögnvald lived among his family. He had to learn how to fight eventually, it was the only way. He also learned to dread his growing feelings when fighting other boys hand to hand, his heart pounding with more than fear, his skin prickling with more than pain, pleasure and torment taking his breath away. There were, however, things he enjoyed, like hunting and learning how to provide for himself in the wilderness. Solveig taught him about herbs and plants, about the weather and the wind, the waves and the frost and every growing thing. But he had to come more secretly with every year, the disapproval of his father and his brothers weighed heavier with every spring. He didn´t understand it, until a skald came to Harald in his 14th summer, and was allowed to sing at the feast. He sang about Haralds deeds as the king of Norway, about the gods and the nine worlds. But then came another song, one that took Rögnvald back to ancient times. The woods were even wilder then, the cold harsher, the people more violent. But there was one more danger out in the wild. A man, half human, half beast. A man who could control the wind and the wild creatures of the woods. A man who sang forbidden songs to the sea and the rain, soothing or enraging. A man who was hunted. A man who killed his brothers like prey. A man who wasn´t a man but a monster. And Rögnvald thought of the woods and the wind and the rain that felt more like his family sometimes than his older brothers. He didn´t know when or how he left the hall. He came to himself when his own voice interrupted his ragged breathing and he whispered into the bark of the tree he was clinging to: “I am a monster.”

Rögnvald kept away from his grandmother for some time. He fought hard to be what he was supposed to be, and kept himself away from the woods. His brothers approved, even his father seemed reluctantly pleased, but he failed to be happy about it. The woods called to him at night, his dreams haunted by visions. He saw a storm roll over the town, ripping down the mast of a ships and killing a man. He woke up in a cold sweat, dread heavy on his chest. Three days later he stood at the grave of the man killed by a falling mast in an autumn storm, and he thought he couldn´t breathe, he told himself that it was a coincidence and went hunting. Two days in the woods calmed his spirit, but he never forgot. The dreams became more frequent, his predictions more precise and he refused to sleep. He kept himself up and useful, stood guard in the dead of night and in the coldest days of the winter. Rögnvald shivered his way through the darkness and went to sleep in the morning. He dreamt of fire and rage, his skin turning black under the relentless flames, and when he woke up, the fire refused to leave his mind and veins. Rögnvald burned.

The fever ravaged his body for two weeks. Rögnvald barely ate, bare drank, wasn´t conscious for most of it. He screamed at the gods and begged them to take the foresight away from him. He swore to never touch a man, to never look at one, to never listen to the wind and the water again. He thrashed on his bed until he had to be bound to it and then he chaffed his skin raw on the ropes.

In the middle of his delirium, he had a moment of clarity. His grandmother sat at his bedside, bent over with worry, and she took his hand.

“The gods don´t make mistakes. You are what you are. Stop fighting it. If you are a seiðmaðr, you are supposed to be one. It´s alright, my dear Rögnvald. Your gift is not a curse.”

“It is alright?”

“It is alright.”

Rögnvald slept for four days. When he woke up, weak and nauseous and thin as a bear in spring, his mind was clear for the first time in months. He smiled at his grandmother and stayed in her house during his recovery. He learned everything he could from her, every herb, every spell, every secret. He learned to understand the voices of the forest, he learned how to bribe the wind to do his bidding, and how to coax the fish to the surface of the ocean. She told him about Freyr and Freyja and the Vanir. About growth and death and the afterlife. He spent his days in the forest and avoided his brothers and parents. The people of his town started to turn their heads when he passed by, whispering filthy words, and uttering unfriendly suspicions. But he kept his head high, his sight clear and his mind calm.

When Rögnvald turned 17, his grandmother passed away. It didn´t come as a surprise. She had grown weak and slow over the past months. He had been the one to look for herbs in the fields and forests, he had talked to everyone who was willing to confide in him. Rögnvald had been sitting at her bedside and had carried her out to the cliff. They had watched as the sun climbed down towards the gray-green waves, tinted the mountains red and the sky golden. The sun took Solveig with her to the lands of the dead. Rögnvald buried her on a hill close to the water, where she could look over the sea and far into the forest covered mountains. Then he announced that he would leave his family and travel to find adventure. Nobody stopped him. Nobody thought he would return. Rögnvald knew he wouldn´t.

The mountains were harsh in their beauty. Survival was hard, but Rögnvald learned to become a part of the land. He listened to the sky for rain and to the ground for shelter and prey. He read his fortune in the flight of the birds and the turn of the seasons in the clouds. His first winter was spent in a cave that he made into a home. But the cold wind found a way into his shelter, and the loneliness into his heart. When spring came, he swore he wouldn´t spend another winter like that.

Rögnvald had crossed Vestfold and came to Gulbrandsdalen. It was a lovely place, but the people were not fond of the name Harald hárfager, so he turned west into the mountains and towards the Hardanger fjord. Autumn sent it´s first cold breath over the lands when he crossed a meadow, the mountains in his back and the sea ahead. Sheep grazed peacefully and he stayed for a moment to admire the view. The rustling sound of steps behind him made him turn around. A man smiled at him; his face alit by the soft glow of the sunset. Rögnvald noticed long blond hair, shining green eyes and a firm grip as they greeted each other. The strangers´ voice was deep and rich as he announced his name:

“Frodi”

“Rögnvald”

They smiled at each other and Rögnvald followed back to Frodis hut. He stayed for the night and they talked much about Rögnvalds travels and Frodis sheep. About the summer passed and the winter ahead. Rögnvald helped Frodi with the harvest and the sheep. He hunted and fished for them both. When he called the fish to the surface of the pool out of habit, he turned in terror, expecting to see the same awe and suspicion as in his brother´s eyes, but Frodi met his gaze unafraid and full of warmth. Rögnvald couldn´t look away. The fishing net glided from his fingers. He took a step forward, heart in his throat, but he didn´t dare to go further. Instead, he turned, took up the net and caught the fish he had called. Frodi helped him to pull out the catch, fingers brushing and cheeks burning.

Rögnvald stayed another day. And another. They saw the first snow together. Every night came earlier and left more reluctantly. Every night found them laying down closer to each other. When Frodi took Rögnvalds hand and asked him to stay the winter, it didn´t come as a surprise, but that didn´t damp the happiness Rögnvald felt. His heart pounded in his chest and for the first time in his life, he felt as if he could stay.

Only the fire and the howling wind outside their hut witnessed them as they sat by the hearth one evening, shifting closer and closer together, fingers and hearts shaking as their hands found each other. For one eternal moment they looked into each other’s eyes, question and answer in one. The first brush of lips was sweet as the first touch of spring and as overwhelming as the first winter storm. Rögnvald wrapped his arms around Frodi when it ended, and held on as if his life depended on it, and maybe it did.

Winter went by slowly, in darkness and bitter cold, but Rögnvald barely noticed. He spent his days under warm furs, wrapped around an even warmer body. He learned what it meant to feel another mans skin on his own, how lips could burn and what pleasures another one’s company held. They talked a lot and by the end of winter, they knew each other so well that words were mostly unnecessary. Touches and looks were enough. Rögnvald learned what it was to love and to be loved in return, and a part of him lived in this time until the end of his life.

Spring came, and they saw the rise of the sun with soaring hearts. They sat in front of their hut, holding hands, and looking over the endless ocean, sure about their place in the world. Summer came and they rolled around in the soft grass, the sun witnessing their joy and pleasure. Autumn came and they brought in the harvest together and reveled in the riches that nature gave them. Winter came and Rögnvald told Frodi everything he had learned from his grandmother. They talked about the power of nature, about the prejudice of humans, what it meant to be a man and what it meant to be a seiðmaðr. They dreamed about finding others of their kind. About finding and shaping a place that would allow them to be who they were. When spring came, they were ready. As the snow climbed up the mountains, they did too, hope and sorrow both heavy in their hearts as they left their sanctuary. They turned southeast, towards lands where they would be able to grow the plants they needed to feed their people, and towards the border of king Haralds influence. In the middle of summer, they found a remote valley in Haðaland, green and lush, secluded, and safe. They built a home for themselves and their sheep, and prepared for the winter. A wandering skald came through. They saw a longing in his heart they recognized. His name was Kjell. He stayed for one day that turned into ten and then into all winter. They shared with him what they had, their food, their shelter, their bed, and their hearts. Food became scarce, but house and hearth stayed warm, and they made it to the next spring. But Kjell wasn´t one to stay in one place for a long time. He longed to roam the land, but promised to spread the word among others like them, and to return for the winter. Their farewell was heartfelt and warm.

Rögnvald and Frodi began to prepare the land for their reign. They cut down some trees, but they didn´t clear the land as their people had done. They planted what they needed in the half shade of the birch forest. They dreamt of others coming to join them, and prepared shelters in time for their arrival. Three other men arrived, Erik, Þorgrim and Ragnar, they had met Kjell and were in awe about the bravery of the two seiðmenn. Two others came, Þorleik and Reik, led to them by their dreams. Two were led there by fate, Halvdan and Leif. Rögnvald and Frodi listened to their stories of violence and abuse, broken families and broken trust. They dried the tears of their new friends as well as they could and gave them something to believe in. Together, they built more houses between the trees. The men had brought goats with them that mingled with Frodis sheep. Summer was as warm and rich as the season could be, and their gardens and fields flourished. They bathed in the river nearby and watched the birds fly by overhead. Rögnvald and Frodi stayed close together, in awe of how their lands and lives bloomed. Autumn brought rich harvest and good hunt. Halvdan and Reik, who had found shelter in each other´s arms, went down to the fjord, with furs and art to trade for salt. Rögnvald, Erik and Þorgrim went hunting and came back in time to pickle the meat. Kjell returned with the first snow and Rögnvald and Frodi welcomed him back into their lives and bed with open arms.

Years went by. More men came. Bonds were made. They spread their houses far and wide over the valley. Some of them preferred more secluded, remote places where they lived in harmony with nature. Some were happy to have found company that didn´t judge them for who they were. However, they were human, naturally there were some fights, jealousy over lands and hearts, or power. But those fights could be solved quickly, and most were aware that there was no better place to be for people like them. Women joined them, too. Mostly those unhappy with the role that they had been assigned for by their communities. They were women who loved another, who had no interest in settling down with a man, or to bear children. Many of them had learned the things that Rögnvald had learned from Solveig from their own mothers and grandmothers and didn´t want to hide who they were.

Of course, there were hardships, too. Being able to influence the weather didn´t mean that they could change the climate. Sometimes all attempts to call for rain were in vain. Sometimes even the nightly fires couldn´t keep the apple blossoms from freezing in the early spring. Mud and cold weather were as uncomfortable as ever, and sometimes the healers tried in vain to chase the sickness from a friend. But they helped each other out through all grievances and held each other up and laughter was heard more often than weeping.

Life flourished, and after ten years, about 80 people lived in the valley in Haðaland, some all year, some all summer, some came back for winter like Kjell. Music and dance were omnipresent, and they dressed as they wished to. Frodi had taken a liking to dresses while some of the women, like Þora and Ragnhild, who had fled their husbands together with their children, preferred breeches. Rögnvald and Frodi loved to take care of the children while their mothers were out and hunting, or fishing, or taking some time for themselves under the warm glow of the summer sun. The longing for Kjell was a permanent ache in their hearts, but one they shared.

Summer and winter solstices were celebrated with great fires, with drums and song, and many ate mushrooms or inhaled the smoke of burning herbs to widen their minds and leave the confines of their bodies to look for truth and vision in the depth of the space between the worlds. Rögnvald led those dances, and it was Frodi who brought him back from the vast emptiness of a space beyond sense and reason with gentle kisses and touches. Frodi, who brought him tea for his aching head and held him close and safe as he sank into an exhausted sleep. As they enjoyed the company of Kjell during the winters, there were many who didn´t exclude others from their pleasures, as well as those who preferred to stay by themselves. Live in Haðaland was free, and easy, and in harmony with nature and each other. But darkness tends to be drawn to places of light, and Rögnvald and his 80 seiðmenn and völvas were no exception. Dark dreams came as a messenger of hardship to come, and while they lived in peace and prosperity, the dread sank in like ink seeping through a piece of parchment.

It was Kjell who brought the news. He had been at the court of Harald hárfager and he had ridden his horse half to death to get to them in time. He jumped from his exhausted steed, far too early for his return, in the beginning of autumn. With wide strides, he crossed the village to get to Frodi, who was pulling up weeds. His green eyes gleamed when he saw his beloved return, but his gaze quickly darkened when he noticed the pain and regret in Kjell´s face.

“Call everyone together! I will look for Rögnvald! Quickly, we don´t have time!”

Frodi nodded, but pulled Kjell in for a desperate kiss. “I will. Rögnvald is in the woods. Listen to the birds, they will lead you. Everything will be alright!”

Kjell nodded and ran into the forest, leaving Frodi with dread and fear in his heart.

Harald was coming. Harald hárfager, who hated seiðr-magic, had sent Rögnvalds brother Eirik to them, to come and clear his father´s name of the shame that was a seiðmaðr as a son.

“I´m sorry. It is my fault. I told the seer Vitgeir about you, about us. I thought he would join us, but he revealed your gifts to your father. It is no secret where you dwell, but the nature of our community was, and is no longer, because of me. Please, forgive me, my love.”

Rögnvald stood and pulled Kjell up into his arms.

“There is nothing to forgive, beloved one. There was no reason to distrust one of our own. What has been done has been done. But the wheel of fortune spins quickly.”

He turned towards his people. He saw their frightened eyes and the hope shattered in their hearts and a fire roared in his ears unlike any he had ever felt before. These people were his family, his kin. He would rather burn than let anything happen to them by his brother’s hand. He´d rather turn the land itself against the men coming for them. He´d rather perish with them then let them touch what was his to protect. He spoke:

“Pack what you can. Hide in the mountains. Let Eirik come, he will find no living soul on this ground.”

Frodi took his hand, worry clearly visible in his frown.

“They will know we have left. They will hunt us like deer.”

Rögnvalds gaze turned to steel. “No, they won´t.”

Nightfall saw the village empty. Everything that could be carried had been packed. The animals had been led far into the forest. The children had been silent and scared. Rögnvald saw the last of his people disappear into the dark of the forest at night. Frodi pulled at his hand as Kjell watched the horizon with growing dread.

“We have to go.”

“No.”

Rögnvald saw the pain and fear in both his lover´s faces. He pulled them close.

“I will not let them get those I love. They will leave here believing that we have all perished. Then we will go and find another place to live.”

“How?”

“You will see.”

Rögnvald felt the faint vibrations of many feet approaching the village.

“Go, go now! Return with the sun!”

Kjell hesitated. Then he spoke:

“I have travelled many dangerous roads, and you always trusted me to come back. I trust you now.”

Then he pulled Frodi up and muffled his cries with his hand as he dragged him into the safety of the forest. Rögnvald stayed behind and sank to the ground. He beckoned the wind to do his bidding. He asked the clouds to cover the moon. He asked the animals around him to flee to safety. He waited and felt his fate approach. When the darkness was deepest, they came. And he was ready.

Rögnvald asked the wind to lift the dust up to form running humans, darting across the village. He asked it to cry with children´s voices. He let it carry his voice down to his brother, to beg him to turn back. He didn´t. Rögnvald wasn´t surprised, but he felt fire and rage burning in his veins like never before. For a moment he realized that he understood his brother now more than ever. Here, at the crossroads, before they would part ways forever, they were closest to each other. Then the thought vanished, drowned out by fire and fury.

Rögnvald let the doors of the great hall in the middle of his village fly open and let the wind carry the dust inside. He rattled with the swords and axes left behind as a cover. He clouded the minds of these people he had once called his own, as he had clouded the sky. And when they threw the first torch into the house that had once been his home, he let his rage fuel the flames, let the fire scream with the voices of his family, let the light lead them to all their houses. He let the wind carry embers into their faces and away from the trees. He raged with the roaring inferno as it devoured everything they had built up with their bare hands. Rögnvald bowed down and begged the bones of the land to imitate the bones of the people closest to him as the rain poured down and tamed the raging flames. His words died down with the flickering fires and the silence of death sank heavily onto the land. He sank down with the ashes, too drained to move, and watched as they looked through the buildings, taking everything that hadn´t been burned to a crisp, too tired to listen to their laughter and delight. He watched as they pissed on what they thought were his bones. He watched as the last one disappeared with the first light of morning. The black, scorched earth came closer, blocked out the light of the sun and pulled him down into the cold and dark, and then there was nothing.

The first thing Rögnvald felt was water dripping onto his face. It was salty. The ground seemed to sway underneath him. He opened his eyes and saw the faces of his lovers, distorted by desperation, their tears falling onto his lips and cheeks. He wanted to reassure them, but the black earth called him back.

The second thing Rögnvald felt was water dripping onto his face. It was sweet. His body swayed as if carried. He opened his eyes to a cloudy sky. Rain fell into his eyes as he was carried to a wagon and laid down carefully by Kjell. He wanted to ask something, but the darkness called him back before he could find his tongue.

The third thing Rögnvald felt was water dripping onto his face. It was salty. His body swayed and as he opened his eyes, he found himself on a ship. His head rested in Frodis lap and as he slowly sat up, he saw the coast of Norway disappear in the distance. His hands were cradled in those of his lovers and together, they turned their backs on the land and people who had never wanted them in the first place.

They sailed west until they came to the coast of a green land. Mountains rose into a clear blue sky. They didn´t want to go to Iceland, which was too far away to settle down before winter. They didn´t want to go to the Orkney islands, which Harald had shown interest in even before Rögnvald left. They sailed around the land called Alba, and were welcomed with open arms. The people helped them over the winter. They shared stories of a god with antlers, and an island covered in mist. They tended their wounds and shared what they had and stayed their friends over many winters to come.

In the spring, Rögnvald and his family sailed over to an island barely visible from the mainland. It was partly covered in forests, with a steep northern coast and soft slopes leading down to the waters in the south. It wasn´t as lush as their old home, but it was more than enough.

They sowed the seeds of their old home and watched them grow over the springs to come. Getting enough wood to build all the houses was difficult, so they started building with clay and earth, let grass cover their roofs and protect them from unwanted eyes. Some of the people from the mainland joined them and some of their own decided to live there. Kjell started to roam the lands again during summer, after being afraid to leave for some years. The island stopped being their exile and started feeling like home.

They took the legends of the land they had settled in to heart, and whenever foreign ships approached, they surrounded their island with mist, impenetrable for the eye and frightening to the heart. Only those who had been led there once were allowed to set foot on the land. Rögnvald and the others built a seat on the steep northern cliff, and there was a guard watching over the island at all times, who called the mist in and warned his friends when strangers approached. The land beneath their feet started to recognize their footsteps, just as they learned to hear the song in the old bones of the land, and they became one before the first one of Rögnvalds family realized it.

One morning, Rögnvald stood on the watchtower with Frodi. It was spring, and a small ship sailed out towards the mainland. On board was Kjell, who sailed out to his annual journeys. He had been more reluctant to go than ever before. They all suspected that he would one day grow tired of his wanderings, but it wasn´t this year and it was his decision to make. So they watched him go with a familiar longing in their hearts. After the boat had passed from view, Rögnvald turned his head towards Frodi. The first silver strands had started to sneak into his golden hair. But the green eyes were alive and warm as ever, just as the arm he wrapped around Rögnvald. They watched the sun rise over Alba and the light flood the land to their feet, where their family slowly awoke to a new day.

#norse mythology #norse folklore #heimskringla #snorri sturluson #seidr #seidmadr #I can´t believe this is a tag that existed beforehand!!#ragnvaldr #rögnvald rettilbeini #freyr #freyja #vanir #fanfiction

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scottspack · 4 years

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SO YOU JUST FINISHED THE UNTAMED AND YOU WANT TO READ SOME FIC

Congratulations Jen @jlf23tumble on finishing The Untamed (tomorrow)! Now that you’re done with the show (tomorrow), you can finally dive into the wide and wonderful world of untamed fic!!! I’m ecstatic to be personally curating your reading experience! LET’S BEGIN!

I’ve started off with a list of 5 fics I think you should read in this specific order to 1. get some resolution from the end of the show and 2. get you acclimated to untamed fics! Then, I’ve listed a bunch of fics in different categories for your perusal to read at your leisure! This is an unbelievably long post holy shit brace yourself.

I’m like fairly certain that all of these follow the tv show canon BUT also its very typical for authors to combine many aspects of all of the different forms of canons to their liking. Therefore, I feel like I need to give a quick explanation of a couple things from the novel that show up frequently in fics that idk if you know already or not:

In the book, when Wei Wuxian is resurrected, he is brought back in Mo Xuanyu’s actual body and has his face and everything. Mo Xuanyu was pretty young when he died, I wanna say maybe 17 or 18??? and he was also short and pretty and flamboyantly gay. This is where the references to their crazy height difference come from, but again, I think I tried to include mostly fics that skew more heavily to the tv version where WWX keeps his same body and he and LWJ are more evenly matched physically.

Its novel canon that LWJ smells like sandalwood incense and has golden colored eyes. This is mentioned in like almost every single wangxian fic ive ever read, even if the author said they were strictly adhering to show canon lol

At the end of the novel wangxian run away together and elope! Obviously in the show that’s not how it goes down, but I think a couple of the fics I’ve recced might mention it in passing. (Oh also when they elope they make a pact to fuck “everyday,” a concept that might be mentioned as well.

Obviously, we have to kick it off with some fics that both reunite wangxian and give more resolution to the actual show. If you’re like me, it both took you a while to get all the way through the show AND took 100% of your brain power to remember all of the characters and plot lines. If that’s that case: these fics should be helpful in serving as a kind of emotional refresher for the show to wrap up some loose ends and to dive deeper into some of the things the show glosses over for one reason or another!

1. A Lot of Edges Called Perhaps by hansbekhart (Wangxian, E, 21k)

The funny part is - and it is a little funny, even if Wei Wuxian has no one left to share the joke with - they never have. Not anything. He has never kissed any part of Lan Zhan besides his slim hands; never been even partially undressed with him anywhere besides a miserable, xuanwu-infested cave. It’s always been like this between them, this simmering need, this desperate understanding: a knowledge so deep that it lives somewhere in his bones, that if he wanted to have Lan Zhan he could have him, and if Lan Zhan wanted Wei Wuxian he could have that too. But they never have.

I found this fic on someone’s blog when they said that it was the definitive fic to read directly after finishing the series so i saved it, read it directly after finishing the series, and felt COMPLETE. Beautifully written, seamlessly fits with canon, and has a super fulfilling resolution. The perfect way to kick off reading untamed fic!

2. One Rogue Spark In My Direction by hansbekhart (Lan Wangji/Xiao Xingchen/Song Lan, E, 5k)

He’d thought, in Yueyang, that they’d seen something in each other, something familiar. That maybe they’d recognized something in him. But it’s been many years, and many things have happened since, and he’s guessed wrongly at other people’s hearts before. Lan Wangji looks back down at the table, at his steaming, bitter tea. He’ll beg if he has to.

In “A Lot Of Edges Called Perhaps” Wangji mentions that he has had sex before and this is the in-universe story of that time and WHEW BABY!!!! AHHHHHH!!! While this fic is like, almost pure smut, I think there is a ton of value to it in terms of emotional perspective on how fucked up LWJ was after WWX’s death. Also, it’s very hot.

3. Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Laz Sizhui & Lan Wangji, G, 19k)

Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.

This is a fic about Lan Wangji raising Sizhui from when he rescues Sizhui from the Burial Mounds until they bring WWX back to the Cloud Recesses after he’s resurrected. It made me cry about 18 times and I consider it fully canon in relation to the show. I think this gives a lot of emotional depth to the Wangji/Sizhui family relationship that is very important in most fics, so this acts as a good base since the show doesn’t really talk about it too much.

4. Your Name, Safe In Their Mouth by astrolesbian (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, G, 10k)

“You’ve got a fever,” Wei Wuxian says soothingly. “You just keep still as well as you can. We’ll have you fixed up soon.”

Lan Sizhui recognizes his tone—this is the voice that Wei Wuxian uses on hurt people and young children, a very calm and no-nonsense voice that has none of the mischief and cheer of the way he sounds the rest of the time. Lan Sizhui looks up and meets his eyes, and they are dark, stormy gray, muddled and concerned.

“I’m all right,” he croaks.

“Hush,” Wei Wuxian says, in a low croon, like someone quieting a baby. Then he blinks, and looks away, awkward. “I mean—you shouldn’t speak. You’re tired. Rest if you need to.”

or: lan sizhui gets sick on a night hunt. wei wuxian comforts him. they both have a lot of feelings about it.

The Wei Wuxian and Sizhui bonding fic that I so desperately desperately needed to read. Since we got the emotional depth to Wangji/Sizhui in the last fic, here’s some emotional resolution for Sizhui and his other dad!!!!!!!!!! Scratched the very particular itch of “but have they REALLY talked about what it means that they’re reunited after 16 years???”

5. climbing up that coastal shelf by Sour_Idealist (Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng, & Wei Wuxian, T, 15k)

Jin Ling had begun to suspect years ago that there were parts of his family history that had been crossed out; long streaks of black where Wei Wuxian had been. The truth is more like whole books being brought up from their hiding places again.

Or: Jin Ling tries to figure out what family means, now.

OKAY!!!! Last emotional resolution before I send you on your way to explore! This is the emotional resolution for the other half of WWX’s family. Featuring just a FUCK TON of family feels and a lot of TALKING that this fucked up family needs so damn bad. *chefs kiss* muy delicioso! ALSO i think this is a good introduction to a lot of the naming conventions that are used frequently in untamed fic that took me a while to pick up on!

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that you’ve gotten some post-show catharsis in the form of a few extremely well-written fics, it’s time for a full rec! I’ve divided it up into seven categories: long fics, smutty one-shots, 3zun (lan xichen/nie mingjue/meng yao) fics, fics about the juniors, family fun fics, some miscellaneous fics, and then some yizhan RPF! I wouldn’t have put any of these fics on here if I didn’t think they were worth reading, BUT! I did mark my particular favorites with asterisks to demark the crème de la crème of the bunch. SO! LET’S DIVE IN!

EPIC TALES (LONG AND/OR IMMERSIVE)

My Age Has Never Made Me Wise by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 63k) ***

“We hear that His Excellency might be married by summer’s end,” the merchant’s wife says and Wei Wuxian freezes, his heart in his throat. “The Gusu Lan sect has been buying enough red silk and brocade that the merchants in Caiyi can’t satisfy the demand.”

He feels himself grow brittle inside, like a flick of a finger to his temple might make him shatter. His ears are ringing.

“Who’s the lucky bride?” he asks despite himself. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.

Or: The story of a marriage.

I LOVE THIS FIC. YOU MUST PROMISE ME YOU’LL READ THIS FIC. The absolute best kind of slow burn and I think such an extremely accurate representation of the canon material. I’m always surprised by the authors in this fandom’s ability to write shit that is so concretely grounded in the universe. This could and should be a real companion novel. Amazing. I love it. (Also I know you said you’re not into fics that are long just to be long and I think this fic is the exact opposite of that, it’s long but for good reason and has such an insanely satisfying payoff that it’s completely worth dedicating a few hours to!)

The Year of Drought by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 24k)

Wei Ying could not be contained by the walls of the Cloud Recesses, alive again and overflowing with it, bursting like a dam in spring with the force of two lives unspent. And so he had to go. Lan Wangji understands that—he understood it when Wei Ying told him of his plans, looking at Lan Wangji above the rim of his cup with an apologetic smile, like craving freedom was something to apologize for.

Wei Ying would go, and Lan Wangji would see him off; this has always been the only way it could be.

Or: In the absence of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji waits.

The previous fic but from Wangji’s perspective. Absolutely required reading if you read the other one. Wangji baby.......i love you.....

further than the grave by idrilka (Wangxian, E, 32k)

There is something about grief that turns Lan Wangji numb. He cannot be certain if it is not some kind of defect inside him that makes him so. But just as he grieved his mother’s passing with dry eyes and a stone in his chest, so he grieves Wei Ying: quietly, frozen inside, without tears. Beyond the Jingshi window it might be spring, but Lan Wangji’s body and mind are still held within the winter’s grasp.

As the anniversary of his leaving seclusion approaches, Lan Wangji ponders the nature of grief and healing.

One last fic from the same verse as the previous two, this talks about Wangji post-WWX’s death and then them dealing with the past post-marriage. Its just as good and immersive and amazing as the previous two parts, but this is the only untamed fic that actually made me gasp out loud and if you read this and can guess what it was we will be best friends forever. (There are two other fics in this verse that are also good but these three in particular are god-tier in my eyes.)

Vagabond by xantissa (Wangxian, E, 66k)

Wei Wuxian comes back to Cloud Recesses after a year of wandering the world, hoping to start a relationship with Lan Zhan. He doesn’t expect to come into the middle of a case of sleeping sickness mysteriously killing people, nor does he expect what follows, putting everything he holds dear on the line once again.

OOOWEE CASE FIC! CASE FIC! This is truly the twisty turny intense and INTERESTING type of fic from this fandom that blows my mind. This could fully be a stand alone novel its that good and there’s that much to it. Another one that isn’t long just to be long, it has so much PLOT!!!!! REAL GOOD SHIT!

Seldom All They Seem by Fahye (Wangxian, E, 25k)

or, one hundred and thirty-three principles of the Gusu Lan, pertaining to the state of marriage

***

He bows to Wei Wuxian, sword in hand, sleeves falling properly. Wei Wuxian bows in return, and the sect leaders begin the opening courtesies, and for all of ten minutes Lan Wangji is under the impression that he is betrothed to a boy who is perfectly normal and acceptable apart from an unfortunate tendency to fidget with his clothes.

That impression does not last.

A canon-divergent fic exploring “what if Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were betrothed from when they were young like Yanli and Jin Zixuan?” It’s extremely good and very compelling and also made me cry multiple times. (The confrontation in the rain doesn’t get any easier even if they’re betrothed!)

Half Cloak & Half Dagger by Fahye (Lan Xichen/Meng Yao, E, 13k)

Jin Guangyao lifts his head and smiles. "I'm considering a problem."

"Can I be of any assistance with it?"

He drops a kiss on Lan Xichen's chest. With the nail of one finger he lightly traces the characters for irony on Lan Xichen's side. "Not this one, er-ge."

A follow-up fic set in the “Seldom All They Seem” universe but focused on xiyao. Has hands down the best written characterization of meng yao in any fic ive read so far. I continuously come back to this fic just to read the absolutely genius way this author writes the Head Bitch In Control of the cultivation world.

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (Wangxian, T, 20k)

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

I kept avoiding this fic, even though it was really high up on the list of most popular fics in the fandom, bc the premise sounded pretty goofy BUT I finally bit the bullet one day and AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Very very very cute and fun, made me smile like an idiot throughout the entire thing. Heartwarming and very well written!!!

never let me go by yiqie (Wangxian, E, 69k)

Wei Wuxian has certainly hoped so ardently in his two lifetimes, for so many different things, in so many different ways, that he could have summoned the demon to his front door with his bare hands. His eyes wander to Lan Zhan, settle on the back of his head, the blue-black curtain of his hair. Oh, how he has hoped.

Another extremely good and super immersive case fic. If you ever just want to sink really deep into an untamed fic, this is a great one for it.

hunters seeking solid ground by Attila (Wangxian, E, 24k)

“Hanguang-jun,” Wei Wuxian repeats. His heart clenches. He wants—but he’d really meant to have this nightmare stuff down before they met again, so he wouldn’t find himself relying on Lan Wangji’s nearness. He’s not supposed to go back yet. But he’s so tired, and his will crumbles. “Yeah,” he says. “All right. Take me back to Gusu with you.”

You want hurt/comfort? I gotcha hurt/comfort RIGHT HERE!

shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi (Wangxian, E, 25k) ***

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, voice slow and a pitch too quiet. A second later Wei Wuxian understands why. “I cannot hear.”

Or; Lan Wangji is cursed into internal isolation. Their ability to understand one another remains as unwavering as ever.

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD. I have been thinking about this fic nonstop since I read it. It is…..fucking incredible. One of the best qualities of wangxian is that they’re so in tune with each other and able to work so cohesively with little communication and this fic is like “what if we take that and DIAL IT UP TO ELEVEN” and i was like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I hope that you will come and meet me by feyburner (Wangxian, M, 28k) ***

The second time Lan Zhan said Wei Ying, come back, Wei Wuxian did.

okay so this is literally getting added to the fic rec one day before i send it to you because i just finished it and WHEW BABY!!!!! YES it is just another wangxian post-canon reunion get-together fic, BUT 1. i cant get enough of that specific brand of fic and 2. ITS SO GOOD. ITS. SO. GOOD. achingly tender and incredibly soft but also funny and sweet and very in-character! i love it!

THE BONE ZONE (WANGXIAN SMUT)

Sweet Night by corteae (Wangxian, E, 10k)

It was like coming back to life again, like being restitched into existence, cell by cell, nerve by nerve. From the surface of his skin to the marrow of his bones, everything new and purposeful. Like being pulled back from oblivion into an embrace of pure light. A feeling of absolute asylum.

That’s what it felt like, to realize Lan Wangji was in love with him.

An in-show au of “what if they just admitted they’re in love and fucked during episode 43?” Soft and romantic and hot!

the crucial point by dissembler (Wangxian, E, 7k) ***

Months after parting on the mountain, Lan Wangji makes up his mind, plots his course on a map, and has faith.

I LOVE THIS FIC! Very realistic and sweet wangxian reunion fic from wangji’s perspective. Has so many good little details and is very true to their characters. Good shit. Great.

Stainless by Fahye (Wangxian, E, 6k)

"I'm starting to feel," says Lan Xichen, "that this was a counterproductive suggestion."

Wei Wuxian looks down onto the pristine, tranquil cold springs of the Cloud Recesses. Sitting in the water, their bare shoulders rising like dumplings carefully spaced in a steaming-basket, are a large number of Lan disciples.

"They seem to be doing better," he says, encouragingly. "If they--oh, no, I see what you mean."

At the near bank, someone has pressed someone else against the rocks and is kissing them frantically.

What is getting into a new pairing if not an excuse to read sex pollen in new and exciting ways!

To Recklessly Confess by la_dissonance (Wangxian, E, 8k)

Lan Wangji has a fantasy. Wei Wuxian gets several clues.

The “what if they just fucked in episode 43” au but from a different angle.

all the depths of me, real by northofallmusic (Wangxian, E, 15k)

Wei Wuxian is dealing with a curse a little worse than he'd like to let on, and Lan Zhan is a little less than willing to let it slide.

Another “what if they just fucked in the show” fic, this time set when WWX has the curse on his leg and Wangji has to carry him back to the inn.

Every Day, Learning More by phnelt (Wangxian, E, 6k)

The pink was high on Wei Wuxian’s cheeks. “I mean I haven’t been able to… that I can’t. Not without you.”

Lan Wangji stared. “In this body, the whole time you’ve had it -- you’ve never…”

Wei Wuxian kicked his heels into Lan Wangji’s back. “I just said that!”

I knew at least one of these was more book verse than show! WWX hasn’t been able to jerk off in his new body, LWJ helps him out :-)

the meaning of the ritual by newamsterdam (Wangxian, E, 8k)

“Lan Zhan… wants to bed me?”

The hand on his chest is shaking, slightly. “Mn.”

“Oh,” Wei Wuxian breaths out.

There’s something— something powerful, about that. Lan Wangji wants to bed him. Lan Wangji wants to sleep with him. Lan Wangji wants to touch him, and kiss him. The immovable, implacable Second Master of Lan, with a face and principles both carved from jade, wants him.

“Is this a fantasy of yours?” Wei Wuxian asks. “Forcing all the demonic energy out of me with your—”

Lan Wangji claps a hand over his mouth. “Silence, now.”

When the entire cultivation world turns against the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian makes a risky gamble— he'll agree to participate in an ancient ritual for cleansing the spirit, so that his character can no longer be called into question. The catch? He has no idea who his partner for the ritual will be.

This is also book-verse! As the tag says “Let Lan Wangji Fuck the Yiling Patriarch”!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurricane by gdgdbaby (Wangxian, E, 6k) ***

"Haven't you heard?" Nie Huaisang replied, clicking his tongue, though he was clearly pleased that he could be the one to break the news. He leaned in to announce with a dramatic flourish: "Lan Wangji just took emergency family leave this past weekend."

WANGXIAN AS SPIRK STAR TREK PON FAR AU!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEWOO WEEWOO WEEWOO!!!!!!!! This was actually recced to ME by CHI and I have not stopped thinking about this fic for a full month. It’s like author gdgdbaby sat down one day and was like “Tumblr user Liv Scottspack deserves everything she wants in this life.” and then wrote this fic. Thank you author gdgdbaby, I love you.

WORLD’S WORST THROUPLE (3ZUN)

The body is a blade by rheawrites (3zun, E, 2k) ***

In which Lan Xichen is taken by surprise, Nie Mingjue takes what he can get, and Meng Yao gets what he wants.

This was the first 3zun fic I ever read and whew baby, got it in one! It’s actually a slight AU but it gets their characterization so right and is a very fun read. One of those fics I go back to frequently because it does so much with so few words.

shang tiantang by fuckwarlock (3zun, E, 4k)

They wanted so much, and with the way A-Yao gasps at the saber-calloused hand unfastening his belts, he does, too. The night air twirls with the scents of osmanthus and cinnamon and melon. Lan Xichen smiles, leans in, and ghosts his lips over the crook of A-Yao’s neck. What kind of brother would he be if he didn’t give A-Yao what he wanted? “I think it’s your turn to ascend, A-Yao.”

The Venerated Triad celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival the best way they know how.

Truly the only way the venerated triad works is if meng yao gets Destroyed :-)

Favour and Fate by soulgusttheguardian (3zun, E, 8k)

There have been times in Meng Yao’s life when he couldn’t help but wonder how he came to be in his current situation. Found himself reflecting on the choices leading up to whatever misfortune had befallen him that day, and pondering why fate hated him so.

Granted, there had also been times when he couldn't help but wonder just what he had done to earn the favour necessary to be rewarded with certain things...

The current situation he found himself to be in, however, was definitely the latter.

More of the same! Truly I personally can never get enough of the 3zun dynamic in smut fics its just too goddamn motherfucking GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

the stars do not take sides by everyearning (3zun, E, 4k)

Mingjue isn’t sure he’s ever seen Xichen do anything other than treat the boy like a porcelain doll and it’s laughable to him, to think of Meng Yao as something breakable, instead of the sharp, deadly object he is.

Okay one last “Destroy Meng Yao” 3zun fic! Enjoy!

never as alive as we are right now by ThirtySixSaveFiles (3zun, E, 12k)

Three perspectives on three sworn brothers, at three different times in their relationship.

(Or, three times 3zun got it on and some of the feelings they had along the way.)

Wait actually I want to end the 3zun fics on this one because it has true Emotional Resolution at the end and I think they deserve a little healing.

BABY BOYS. BABIES. (THE JUNIORS)

A Civil Combpaign by Ariaste (Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui, T, 20k) ***

“And,” said one of the pompous ministers, “there’s the matter of a marriage to consider as well!”

Jin Ling, who at the beginning of that sentence had expected to slam into the very last wall of his patience and lose his temper entirely, paused. “A what?”

Thing was… it wasn’t such a bad idea.

A MUST-FUCKING-READ!!! Jin Ling gets it in his head that as sect leader he should get married and sets his sights on Lan Sizhui. I cannot stress enough how FUCKING CUTE this fic is!!! Sizhui being the best boy! Jin Ling having more uncles than he knows what to do with! Jiang Cheng being the worst at relationship advice! It’s so fucking good it love it so much.

Anyway, Here’s Wuji by kakikaeru (Lan Jingyi/Lan Sizhui, T, 18k)

The melody gets a little clearer when he breaks out of the trees, and Jingyi changes course with certainty, barreling down the back hill and through the Cloud Recesses, dodging scandalized disciples left and right. He throws open the doors to the Receiving Hall without announcement and bows nearly double, eyes on the floor instead of on the shocked faces of the Mei delegation and the impenetrable gaze of the Chief Cultivator.

"Forgive this disciple," Jingyi shouts, because he's going to get punished for rule breaking regardless. "From the back hill, Hanguang-jun, there is a song in the wind!"

Lan Jingyi comes of age.

A Jingyi-central fic about Jingyi growing up and falling in love and being a hero and being the second best boy of my heart right after Sizhui. Not only is this fic sweet and romantic but it’s another one that explores a lot of interesting things within canon and all of the supporting characters are written very well and are just as interesting as second best boy Jingyi.

Ok, JiuJiu by kakikaeru (Jin Ling/Ouyang Zizhen, T, 16k)

Uncle's jaw works in the way that suggests he's about to say something irredeemable. Jin Ling, in a move of diplomacy he hopes the Chief Cultivator appreciates, distracts him with spicy food and his favourite subject: the incompetence of his own officials.

"I hear the lakes in the south east are having drainage problems?" he asks nonchalantly, sticking three big slices of braised pork belly into his Uncle's bowl.

Jin Ling just wants to get through the Discussion Conference with his Sect, his dignity, and his heart intact.

A follow up fic to “Anyways, Here’s Wuji.” I LOVE the Jin Ling/Ouyang Zizhen dynamic of Jin Ling having been raised by Jiang “I keep all my emotions right here and then one day I’ll die” Cheng AND being hopelessly charmed and smitten with Ouyang “President of the I Love Love Romance Novel Book Club” Zizhen! I LOVE IT! EXTREMELY CUTE!

Lan Sizhui's Guide to Courtship by Kimblydot (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, T, 23k)

In which Jingyi is a little oblivious, Sizhui is patient (and should have said something in the beginning), and everyone else is resigned to watching them dance around each other for far longer than necessary.

(Or: five things Sizhui tries to do in his courtship, and the one time Jingyi realizes there was one happening in the first place.)

I’ll stop describing fics about the juniors as being “cute” when they stop being SO FUCKING CUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

His Merit All My Fear by violettressed (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, G, 16k)

It’s too late for any of Hanguang-Jun’s rabbits to be awake -- one of the sundown chores for young disciples is to herd them back into their hutch -- but the rabbit field is as good a spot as any for quality sulking, so Lan Jingyi makes his way there.

Someone has beat him to it.

Lan Jingyi stares at Hanguang-Jun. Hanguang-Jun stares passively back.

When Lan Sizhui is swept away with the Ghost General, off on a new adventure, Lan Jingyi is the one who returns to Cloud Recesses alone.

Not only another extremely cute Sizhui/Jingyi fic BUT one that includes a Wangji/Jingyi friendship??? Incroyable! *chefs kiss*

spirit running wild by idrilka (Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, E, 17k)

He doesn’t know, exactly, when the friendship he shared with Sizhui over the years has changed into something that’s made Jingyi finally understand why Hanguang-Jun always wears that expression whenever he looks at Senior Wei. There hasn’t been one single moment that he can point to and say, yes, this is where it started, because the thing about falling in love with your best friend is that it happens gradually, until it’s impossible to tell which step has been the deciding one.

Jingyi goes to Baling with a crush.

Written by the same genius that wrote the first three fics I made you read so you know it’s good. Its truly the childhood best friends to lovers of it all! Sizhui is adorable and Jingyi is a mess! *muah!*

FAMILY FUN TIME (NO ROMANCE, JUST FEELS)

Grow by cafecliche (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, T, 14k)

“Okay,” Jingyi says, as Sizhui puzzles this out aloud. “Okay! So the demon has been turning its victims into children.”

“I think so,” Sizhui says.

“To make them easier prey,” Jingyi says.

“Yes,” Sizhui says.

“So—” Jingyi’s voice cracks here, “this kid is Senior Wei.”

Wei Wuxian, still tangled in his own massive robes, blinks politely at them.

(Or: Wei Wuxian is cursed on a night-hunt, and the junior quartet rapidly finds themselves in over their heads.)

What I expected to be a goofy, silly fic turned out to be extremely emotional and made me FULLY CRY! It’s a very moving fic about Sizhui coming to understand himself and Wei Wuxian a lot better AND features all of the juniors arguing over who’s turn it is to hold 6 year old Wei Wuxian. A true win/win of a fic.

To The Act of Making Noise by words-writ-in-starlight (Lan Sizhui & Lan Wangji, G, 19k)

His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep.

Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.

Another very moving and heartwarming fic about Lan Wangji raising Sizhui and Sizhui figuring out Wangji’s past and then eventually reconnecting with Wei Wuxian. It’s cute and soft and Sizhui is my best boy!

History (Proud To Call Your Own) by words-writ-in-starlight (Wen Ning, G, 5k)

“A-Yuan? Um—Lan-gongzi,” Wen Ning corrects, trying to set a good example. The children are young, seven and eight, exactly a dozen of them lined up in two crisp lines of tiny blue and white robes. Wen Ning can feel them staring at him, even though most of them have already mastered that Lan trick of neutrality. The smallest, a little girl with liquid dark eyes, is clinging to her nearest shijie’s sleeve and half-hiding. “Can I—what can I do for you?”

Wen Ning gets himself recruited for services, while he and Sizhui are visiting Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian gets a fan club.

Set in the same universe as “To The Act of Making Noise,” a very cute fic about Wen Ning finding his place in the post-canon world and being proud of Sizhui and being the world’s best substitute teacher. As the official Wen Ning Fan Club President, I had to include this.

the stone-filled sea by yukla (Lan Sizhui & Wei Wuxian, T, 9k) ***

He forgets how quickly Wei-qianbei changes faces, sometimes. Like pulling a theater mask over a bruise—color over color, a diversion with the swipe of his hand.

Lan Sizhui navigates a world that hates his father, one endless wave at a time.

Oh man oh man. I will never get enough of the fics where Sizhui (and the rest of the juniors) get ANGRY on Wei Wuxian’s behalf!! That’s their dad and their teacher and their friend and they will DEFEND HIM!!! YEAH BAYBEEEEEEEEEE!!!

PICK & MIX (MISCELLANEOUS)

This Side of Paradise by greenfionn (Wei Wuxian/Wen Qing, E, 3k)

Wei Wuxian does some very quick math in his head that goes something like this: He is pretty sure he’s in love with Lan Zhan - Lan Zhan is not here and likely never will be here - Wen Qing is here, not to mention very hot and let us not forget, actually interested in sex with him - there’s a solid chance he goes genuinely crazy or dies, or both, in the next few months and really, who wants to die a virgin?

Listen.......the fic premise is “Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing, noted bisexuals, figure life sucks enough at the Burial Mounds, they might as well have any fun they can before they die” and........I Am Looking Directly At It. It features Wen Qing bossing Wei Wuxian around and Wei Wuxian’s canon he-wants-to-be-pregnant kink. It’s........I liked it.

palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss by iodhadh (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, M, 15k) ***

The realization strikes Song Lan like a bolt of lightning: Xiao Xingchen laughs, and he wants with a sudden, stunning desperation to kiss the mirth from his beautiful mouth. How, precisely, he is meant to manage that—that, he has no idea at all.

Or: introspective meditations on touch, trust, and the problem of desire.

I Am Baby and for some reason cannot handle how sad the entire Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen storyline ended up so I rarely read songchen fics, and when I do they’re always soft pre-canon fics like this one. Luckily there are some very beautiful and moving pre-canon songchen fics!!! I love you fandom!!

purpose and ritual by iodhadh (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, E, 8k)

Song Zichen has beautiful hands. He's a powerful swordsman, strong and skilled, unfairly impressive and unreasonably handsome. He is devoted and self-disciplined and he takes direction like a dream. And he doesn't touch people—no one at all, if he can help it, except for Xiao Xingchen.

The poets might call him a saint, but Xiao Xingchen is so very, very human.

More of the same :-)

born to sweet delight by la_dissonance (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, E, 10k)

Xiao Xingchen lightly jumps into the center of the pool, the water a shock that cools his sticky, heated skin, and does nothing for the heat building inside him. When he surfaces, pushing the hair out of his face, he finds Song Lan's gaze and meets it. Between them, everything goes both ways. What Song Lan will offer, Xiao Xingchen will freely give too.

Or, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan meet, pledge their lives to each other, and then fall in love.

This is about the angstiest I will go for songchen and its still absolutely Baby Soft lmfao!!!!!!

Pin it down by rheawrites (Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan, Jin Zixuan/Nie Mingjue, E, 2k)

“Yanli, I did not lie on our wedding night. You are the only woman I have gone to bed with. But… there was a man.”

“Oh?” Yanli blinks up at him. She does not appear horrified, or betrayed, which is surely a good sign.

Jin Zixuan swallows. “It was Sect Leader Nie,” he says quickly, as though that will make it easier.

“…Oh,” says Yanli, and her eyes are dark.

Jin Zixuan tells his wife a war story. Or, two thousand words of Jin Zixuan getting railed.

Have you ever looked at Jin Zixuan and been like “I bet that mf likes getting PEGGED!!!!!!!!” Well here’s the fic for you.

*YIBO VOICE* DIDI LOVES YOU! (YIZHAN RPF)

never really over by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 10k)

The thing is: it would be good to see Xiao Zhan again — if Yibo could just trust himself to be normal.

Author gdgdbaby is the yizhan master, so here are five of my personal favorites of their fics, starting with this post-filming reunion fic that was the first yizhan fic I ever read and HIT real good after having just finished the show myself.

pedagogy by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 17k) ***

Yibo opens his mouth and says, "I want to learn," barreling past the rapid rise of Xiao Zhan's eyebrows. "To last longer. Will you teach me?"

Quick-fire Yibo comes too easily and Xiao Zhan helps train him to last longer :-)

you’re the reason that i just can’t concentrate by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 10k)

Xiao Zhan hears about it from Yu Bin, which probably should've been the first warning sign.

Yibo was only 20 when they filmed the untamed, which lends itself perfectly to fics like this.

a truth so loud you can’t ignore by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 5k)

It's their last day of filming in Hengdian when the secret comes out.

If yibo has to be a fictional virgin than SO DOES XIAO ZHAN!

if you would only let you by gdgdbaby (Yizhan, E, 32k) ***

"Well?" Yibo demands. Past the severe frown tugging at the corners of his mouth, a flicker of the old him slips through, the persistent boy who shoved his way into Xiao Zhan's space without a second thought and made a home for himself there. "Are you coming or not?"

Xiao Zhan's heart twists. He forcibly settles it back in his chest. He's only told Yibo no once in his entire life, and it was already the hardest thing he's ever had to do. "Okay," Xiao Zhan murmurs, quiet but decisive, and thumbs his phone off. "Let's go."

Like I said, all gdgdbaby fics are incredibly good, super well written, and very hot, but this one does stand out from the bunch for being a Full Epic Romance! This is one of Chi’s favorite fics so that should speak to it’s quality!

baby, who’s counting by nobirdstofly (Yizhan, E, 12k)

Xiao Zhan gasps, trying to rein in another peal of giggles. “What do I owe you anyway?”

Yibo shrugs one shoulder, and his smirk deepens. “Haven’t decided.”

Xiao Zhan’s still staring at him, laughter gone in his dry throat, when he hears someone yell for a reset. Yibo’s eyes are so, so dark, and he hasn’t stopped watching Xiao Zhan this whole time. Xiao Zhan swallows, nods, and pushes every dirty thought out of his head.

(Or: Yibo bets Xiao Zhan he'll break first during a take, Xiao Zhan loses, and it's all downhill from there.)

Ah sex bets, who doesn’t love sex bets!

Mystery Dance by mrsronweasley (Yizhan, E, 16k)

"That? That's your confession?" Yibo's toppled onto Xiao Zhan's side and is clutching his shoulder, trying not to fall over. "That's pathetic!"

"Oh, what, you can do better?" Zhuocheng is pretty flushed and there's a challenge in his voice that Yibo just can't walk away from.

"Hell yeah, I can. Hit me, Yu Bin." Yu Bin cheers and refills Yibo's shot glass. "All right!" Yibo downs the shot, gags only slightly, and says, "Everyone! I'm a fucking virgin!"

WHAT’S better than a Yibo virgin fic? A SECOND YIBO VIRGIN FIC!

This author also writes extremely good yizhan threesomes so here’s three of them!

Some Nights by mrsronweasley (Yizhan/Xuan Lu (Jiang Yanli), E, 2k)

Xuan Lu opened her legs to him and Xiao Zhan wasted no time diving in. He pressed his mouth against her pussy, licking her out steadily as her thighs trembled around him. She was nestled between Yibo's legs and if Xiao Zhan looked up, not only could he see the planes of her body, her small breasts going up and down with her breathing, ribs expanding, her tipped back head and open mouth, but Yibo, gaze boring into Xiao Zhan's as he ate Xuan Lu out.

The entire cast is hot and there is no reason they shouldn’t ALL fuck! Not one reason!!!!!!

gege loves you by mrsronweasley (Yizhan/Wang Zhuocheng (Jiang Cheng)), E, 7k)

"We are very sorry," Xiao Zhan murmured as he unbuttoned Zhuocheng's jeans while Yibo kissed his ear, "for how we've been acting."

"Is this how you apologize to everyone," Zhuocheng panted, hands already going for his zipper to help Xiao Zhan along, "or am I special?"

WHEW LORD!!!!!!!!! WHEW!!!!!!!

Talking in the Dark by mrsronweasley (Yizhan (Side Xiao Zhan/M/F), E, 14k)

Xiao Zhan has a light-hearted romp of a threeway with some friends, then makes the mistake of telling Yibo. It goes down.

A non-yizhan threesome BUT features jealous!yibo which is a ton of fun.

Finally, a couple AUs!

With Joy and Purpose by feenwitch (Yizhan, E, 30k) ***

Yibo has been alone for approximately five Earth years when Xiao Zhan crash lands on his planet.

YIZHAN ANDROID AU!!!!!!!! This is a very star trek-esque universe which is fun, but the fic itself is also CRAZY interesting and moving and beautiful!!!!!!!!! It’s A LOT! This was a rec from Nina, so thank you Nina!

Bound With a Same-Heart Knot by mrsronweasley (Yizhan, E, 59k)

London, 1892. Xiao Zhan, a promising young attache at the Chinese embassy is tasked with showing the new ambassador's son Wang Yibo around London. The inevitable happens.

Victorian AU! I actually think you already read this, but included for posterity.

AND SCENE! This is the result of two months of daily fic reading, having 50 tabs of fic open at any given time, reading truly anything and everything, and Loving The Untamed. I’m SO EXCITED you’re diving into fic for this show and I can’t wait to talk to you about all of them and to have someone to scream with! WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

#the untamed #fic #the untamed fic rec #holy gosh diddly darn moly #this is long as hell and has approximately 950k words of fic in it #my magnum opus!!!!#what's even more wild is that this literally doesnt even scratch the surface #i am constantly reading more #from the time i started putting this rec together until now #i added two new fics that i read and thought were amazing #there is no dearth of good shit to read in this fandom #ANYWAYS congrats on finishing (tomorrow)!#i cant wait to talk fic!#i hope you enjoy this list!#sorry it is genuinely absurdly long!

70 notes · View notes

earnestly-endlessly · 4 years

Note

hello! do you have any long, slow-burn fics to recommend? thank youuuu 💜

Dear anon, thanks for the request. I love long, slow-burn fics, so this is right up my alley. Some of these are on my favourite cherik fic list (which I am working on at the moment). I hope you enjoy these!

Slow-burn Cherik Fic Recs

Dark Embrace – blackwingsinthecold

Summary: Mutants are rare and far between. Enough so that much of humanity believes they don’t exist, despite numerous reports throughout the centuries. All that is about to change.

Charles Xavier used to be a criminal psychologist for the FBI and now he’s changed his career path to detective. Thanks to him, the crime rate in New York City has dropped over thirty percent. In large part due to Charles’s telepathic abilities that only a handful of people at the bureau know about.

Everything seems to spiral when a mysterious assassin touches down in the city and Charles can’t get a read on him like everyone else. At the same time, the loft next to Charles’s finally gets a new occupant after two years that provides a certain level of…distraction.

The boy with the heart on his sleeve – euphorbic

Summary: Charles loses a high-stakes bet to Raven and is required to get a tattoo. However, when he makes a disparaging remark about the art form, Raven’s acerbic mentor, Erik, steps in.

Or, the one where Erik and Raven are tattoo artists.

Anarchy in the U.K. – Yahtzee

Summary: “Good God, Erik thought. The Prince of Wales is gay.”

Charles lives in the unceasing glare of the public spotlight, yet keeps his sexual orientation a closely held secret, afraid he could lose his throne and force his deeply troubled younger sister into a role that would crush her. Erik, journalist and world traveler, has been a loner most of his life; he has little patience for closet cases. But a chance meeting in Kenya brings these two opposites together and sets in motion a love affair that will challenge the British monarchy – and their most deeply held beliefs about who they are, and who they should be.

The Marriage Bargain – kianspo

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr had made a fortune manufacturing steel in Europe. When he wished to expand to the New World, he discovered that no one would do business with him unless he was affiliated with one of the First Families, the creme de la creme of the NW aristocracy. When Lord Marko holds an auction to give away his 14-year-old stepson’s hand in marriage, Erik sees his chance and takes it. He has no interest in Charles himself, but now that he has him, can they make it work?

Comment: This story is amazing but is still a WIP as far as I know. Please don’t let that discourage you from reading because it’s amazing.

Sink or Swim – endingthemes

Summary: Erik is a struggling single dad of three kids with a burning hatred for Sebastian Shaw, the man who wronged him years ago. He’s tried to move on with his life, but a run-in with Shaw’s rude, spoiled omega, Charles, drags up old anger.

When Charles ends up in the hospital after an accident, Erik goes to confront him only to find that Charles has amnesia. In the confusion, Charles mistakenly assumes that Erik is his mate.

Erik knows he should clear up the misunderstanding, but how can he pass up this perfect chance for a little revenge?

(An Overboard AU)

White Nights – spicedpiano, tahariel

Summary: Duke Erik Lehnsherr of Ironhold needs an omega to carry on his line, and Earl Charles Xavier of Westchester needs an alpha to give him the political leverage he needs in order to make his sister Queen. An arranged marriage brings them together, but Erik’s lust for war and Charles’ hidden agenda threaten to tear them apart. In the frozen Northlands of Ironhold life is hard and cold, and both Charles and Erik must give up their pretense and see each other as they really are: perfect for each other, if only they’ll acknowledge it.

All the Rest is Rust and Stardust – spicedpiano, tahariel

Summary: Charles Xavier is the world’s preeminent mutant psychologist, called in to consult for the CIA when a raid on a Hellfire Club safehouse discovers a severely abused teenager, Erik Lehnsherr. Taking Erik in soon leads Charles to struggle between his conflicting responsibilities as Erik’s guardian and psychologist, and his desire to give in to the dangerous dynamic that is developing between them.

Tuesday Plays the Piper – Sperare

Summary: In a world where the population is barely holding steady, those of either gender who are capable of bearing children are considered a prized commodity. In all places beyond Westchester, their rights are few–and, with Erik Lehnsherr poised to tear down the gates of the city, even that last haven is on the brink of destruction. But, for Charles Xavier, the consequences of conquest may prove to be more personal than political. No one quite knows why Erik is so set on capturing his old friend and partner in the war against Shaw: Charles is no bearer, and he’s disinclined to aid Erik in firmly establishing mutant supremacy once and for all.

Charles, however, is all too aware of Erik’s reasons. Erik knows things about him that no one else does–things which, if brought to light, would would mean surrendering far more than just a kingdom.

Ritual in Self-Torture – TurtleTotem

Summary: Shaw is King, Charles is his royal consort and Erik is a Knight/Lord. Shaw is sterile but his kingdom can’t find out, so he asks Erik to impregnate Charles.

He doesn’t know Erik and Charles are in love.

City by the sea – Black_Betty

Summary: It never bothered Charles that he essentially belonged to someone else from birth. Ever since he could remember he had been told stories about the mysterious prince who was his betrothed, and who one day would be called husband. As he grew older, Charles caught his thoughts drifting away from lessons under strict tutors, his mind slipping into the hazy daydream of his life yet to come…

These ties, how fast they break – ikeracity

Summary: When Brian Xavier died, he left behind his widow and three children: Emma, Charles, and Raven. But having only omega-heirs, Brian’s estate is entailed away to a distant relative, Kurt Marko and his son Cain. Emma was supposed to provide for them by marrying the very wealthy Erik Lernsherr, but two days after the engagement was announced, Emma elopes with her lover Sebastian Shaw. Left penniless and their family’s reputation in shambles, the suitors stop courting and society shuns them. Charles is forced to seek employment as a governess (or the omega equivalent) to support his sister and mother.

Surprisingly, the only one willing to hire Charles is actually Emma’s jilted fiancee, who recently gained custody of his deceased sister and brother-in-law’s daughter, Anya. Erik wants the best for his niece, and recalls Charles to be a clever and accomplished gentleman, though he by no means lets Charles forget that he’s there at his charity, and one wrong move and Charles will be out on the streets.

Charles bonds with Anya, eventually bonding with Erik and then feelings happen until the Markos arrive to claim their inheritance, when Cain falls deeply in lust with Charles. Despite Cain being boorish, crude, and having no respect for social mores, Charles accepts Cain’s proposal. Now he has to deal with jealous!Erik and the humiliation of a fiancee who loudly discusses the scent of his heat in public and privately threatens to fuck him ‘til he bleeds so he can’t even walk without remembering to whom Charles belongs.

Comments: I adore this fic so much. Unfortunately, it’s unfinished but this is an amazing read, especially if you’re looking for a proper slow-burn. Also, this one is on the kinkmeme at LiveJournal, and the format is annoying. Please don’t let that stop you from reading it though!

#cherik #fic recs #cherik fic recs #slow-burn #asks

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ghostlyscreamss · 3 years

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First Rant I Guess :/

Aight, so hi i guess, I’m Yumi, 18 almost 19 year old chick who has a bit to get off my chest. So, most of the things that are bothering me right now are the things me and my boyfriend don’t see eye to eye on. See he is more of a left leaning centrist and me im more conservitive, but not fucking a trump ass kisser like a lot of people are that have simmilar beliefs than me.

I have no problem dating someone whos more liberal than me as we both generally think the same way when it comes to social issues: hating someone off of something that they can’t control (race, sexuality, gender, etc.) is fucking stupid. We both aren’t religious, as I like to base my true beliefs off of science and facts, like science has proved being gay is just something you’re born with, same thing with being born in the wrong sex’s body, and eugenics is fucking stupid, cause real science calls its bullshit. But like I also believe in the possibility of ghosts n shit, but again I don’t think it’s 100% real but, it’s like how people believe in aliens n shit.

But because I put most of my beliefs into what science says, I am Pro-Life on every level. I want contraceptives to be more readily avalible, better sex-ed, more access to wellfare for struggling familes, teen parents, and single parents, and abortion to be restricted to only if the mother’s life is in danger and either one is gonna die anyways. I also don’t support the death penalty.

Growing up in a mostly liberal home, has it rough times, especially getting into arguments with my very democrat sister. But my boyfriend can be just as stubborn as her.

We have arguments a lot about abortion. If I knew life didn’t start at conception, I wouldn’t give a shit, but because it does I hate the fact people get abortions, it makes me physically ill. But he thinks that life starts when you think or have a brain, but in most high school biology says that life starts when the sperm and the egg meets and creates a zygote. He says I base my opinions too much off emotion, even though he rather force me to get an abortion than step up and be a father at 20.

My dream is to get married and become a mother, I want to be a mom more than anything in the world. Now he doesn’t want to have sex with me as often because i’m not on birth control and I don’t believe in abortion. We use condoms, so its not like we rely on withdrawl, which we never did, but he’s like fucking paranoid about getting me pregnant. He thinks that if I get pregnant before he’s 25, the kid is gonna grow up in poverty, in a home that doesn’t love him and wish he was just aborted. No, that kid would know that his mother loved him and his father wish he died in the womb.

I truly love my boyfriend with all my heart, and I want to get married to him one day, but I know damn well, it’s my baby over him any day. If he didn’t get his shit together and stepped up, I don’t want his unstable ass near my kid. But he thinks I would be in the same mental space as him, but I wouldn’t. Ever since I became sexually active in my last year of high school, I had a plan that if I got pregnant before I’m moved out and married, I’ll get a job and grow a pair. All on my own. And it’s not like i’m oblivious to what struggles parent hood brings, my mom raised me by herself after my dad died. We did struggle but it was because of my mom’s desicions when it came to where and how she worked. I’d get a nothing job and start college online so I can give my child a better future than what I had.

But I wouldn’t even be thinking of having kids right now if he was moving along in our relationship. He’s 6 months older than me but acts like he’s younger. He kept saying that we’d move in together, we never did. Now he doesn’t even have a set plan when he wants to get married, at least I know when he wants to have kids. I feel like we’ve been frozen in place and we aren’t moving forwards or backwards. I want to have a future with this guy but i don’t know how to make i happen if he keeps playing chicken with our relationship.

I try to talk to him about it, but he’ll just say he doesn’t remember agreeing to move in with me, or we’re just teenagers we can’t get married. we’re too young, blah blah blah.

He goes by whatever his narc of mother tells him about relationships (even though she’s been in three failed marriages and lied about how bad of men they were/are), his sister that sometimes is too up high on her high horse until she does what she said not to do, and his brother that says he cares about his but tortured him as a child and now finacially fucking him as an adult. I don’t think anything besides the whole being a parent thing is his own choice and not just things his family told him what is right or wrong.

#relationship issues #pro life #anti abortion

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nerdasaurus1200 · 5 years

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AU Masterlist

Any and all asks for these AUs are more than welcome.

Kwaminette AU- AU where Marinette is Plagg and Tikki’s daughter. She’s a Kwami instead of a human, but she prefers to take on a human form because she likes interacting with humans. She’s the Panda Kwami of Balance, and the kwami of Cory Bernard/Panda Girl, my Miracusona. When she’s not helping out Cory, she’s busy trying to bond with Adrien. This one takes place within the show.

Miraculous Injustice AU- AU where the members of Team Miraculous are placed in the Injustice video game. The canon Team Miraculous gets sent to a dimension where the team is split up and akumas fight for both good and evil because Cat Noir turned evil after they found out Gabriel was Hawkmoth. The Quantic Kids (Felix, Bridgette, Melodie, Sparrow, Gavroche, Kim Mime, and Mercury) are included in this AU as well.

Dupain Cheng Kids AU- AU where Tom and Sabine adopt everyone in the Miracuclass as their child (except Adrien cause he’s their future son in law). Marinette keeps an eye for fellow classmates that don’t have the best home life. She then passes word to her parents, who fight tooth and nail to earn legal custody of said child (We don’t care they aren’t on the adoption list, they deserve to be in a home FULL OF LOVE).

Catbug AU- AU where Marinette has both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses. She calls herself Catbug. Plagg and Tikki are like a second set of parents to her, and she eventually develops a harem.

Mike and Mari AU- AU where Marinette has an older brother named Michael. He is her favorite thorn in her side as well as her go-to Miraculous Holder. He’s dating Miss Bustier and is going to school to become an interior designer.

Role Reversal AU- AU where Marinette and Adrien are switched Miraculouses. Lady Noire and Mister Bug protect Paris against Pavona and Hudie (Gina and Sabine); who want the Miraculouses to bring back Tom. Involves reverse crush and somewhat reverse life.

Adrien’s Monster AU- AU where Duusu summons a full time sentimonster to protect Adrien. He names it Hiss and it follows him everywhere he goes. Hiss and Plagg hate each other.

Supernatural AU- AU where everyone except Adrien (who’s still human) is a mythological creature. Marinette is a fairy, Kim and Rose are werewolves, Alix is a Hobbit, Mylene is a Dwarf. Juleka and Luka are vampires, Ondine is a mermaid, Ivan is an ogre, Alya is one of the last of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan, Chloe is an elf, Lila is a changeling, Max is half-sphinx, Nathaniel is a brownie, Kagami is a yokai, Marc is a leprechaun, and Nino is a Kappa (though nobody knows). The Kwmais are fae creatures that run/protect the school. Miss Bustier is a pixie, Ms Mendeleiev is a witch, and Principal Damocles is the owl of Athena. Gabriel is secretly a hunter of mythical creatures and sent Adrien to the school so he could get closer to them. (Courtesy to @miraclesoup for some of these ideas)

Hive Guard AU- AU where Chloe keeps her Miraculous at the end of Miraculer, runs away, and becomes a freelance hero of sorts. She’s extremely active is trying to find and stop Hawkmoth and Mayura. She lives in the eiffel tower, and trains with Pollen every day. Nobody but Sabrina knows her location; and she becomes Queen Bee’s right hand.

Jurassic AU- AU where Emilie’s maiden name was Hammond, and one day Adrien discovers is grandfathers work and reopens Jurassic Park.

House Cat AU- AU where Cat Noir actually decides to date Marinette in Weredad and becomes the Dupain Cheng housecat.

Mother Peahen and Papallion AU- also known as the MP3 AU. AU where Duusu and Nooroo adopt Adrien after Heroes Day with Plagg as the greasy uncle.

Road Trip AU- An AU where Team Miraculous travels around the world looking for Lost Miraculouses after defeating Hawkmoth and Mayura. Ali and Aurore bear the Moth and Peacock Miraculouses in this AU.

Miraculous Descendants AU- An AU where Miraculous characters are in the movie Descendants. Most of them are the children of Akumas.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 AU- An AU where there are two boys that like Kagami. Conner (a new student from America who tries to make Kagami jealous by lying about Ryuuko being into him) & Hiroki (a rival from Japan that she beat who believes that she should be his girlfriend) & Luka/Viperion doesn't like how uncomfortable they make her or how angry they make her feel.

Guard Dragon AU (Rockstar!Luka & Bodyguard!Ryuuko AU)- An AU where Kitty Section's new bodyguard is so mysterious and tough. Anarka trusts her to keep her children and their friends (Juleka and Rose dating) safe. Ryuuko does not plan on letting her down, but with Luka? It's hard for our Lady in red black & gold to stay professional.

SongHeart & The Queen (Ryuuka's Beauty and The Beast AU)- Kim is Lumiere, Anarka as Maurice (great parents are great), Chloé and Sabrina as Gaston and LeFou (duh), Emilie and Adrien as Mrs Potts and Chip (need that adorable mother/son bond), Marinette is (a younger) Wardrobe (fashion girl!) and Luka's closest friend in the place. Luka is Belle and Ryuuko is the Beast. Instead of inanimate objects, they’re cursed to be akumas.

Scales and Whiskers AU- An AU where Ryuuko and Cat Noir fight over who gets to date Marinette. She eventually gets so sick of it that she just tells both of them to date her. Before she knows it, she’s got a superhero boyfriend and girlfriend.

Behind the Scenes AU- An AU where Miraculous actually is a show in the canon universe and the characters are all actors. Chloe and Rose are sisters from the South. Jagged, Marinette, and Kagami are siblings. Gabriel and Adrien are Uncle and Nephew, and Lila is Marinette’s best friend.

Akumavillian AU- An AU where everyone who has been akumatized has the ability to turn into their Akumas without the power of the Moth.

Cat’s Shipping Show AU- An AU where Cat Noir runs a blog dedicated to all the ships of Team Miraculous, because he’s shipper trash. He gives people the news on certain ships, and reviews ships as well.

Ghost Bug AU- An AU where the past Ladybug’s are attached to Marinette. They’re like her 24/7 Obi-Wan, and they’re a little Ladybug family. Turns out, everyone on Team Miraculous (plus Hawkmoth and Mayura) are in the same boat.

Sentibug AU- An AU where Bugette wasn’t destroyed by Mayura and instead becomes Ladybug and Cat Noir’s sidekick/daughter

Mom Pink AU- An AU where Pink appeared instead of Steven when his gem was taken out. Somehow they can both exist now and mother and son are reunited.

Adrien Universe AU- Steven Universe, but with Miraculous characters.

Momma Mayura AU- An AU where as soon as Stoneheart appeared, Nathalie grabbed the Peacock Miraculous and became Mayura. She fights on Ladybug and Cat Noir’s side to bring down Hawkmoth and quickly becomes the team mom.

Tales of Pegasus and King Monkey AU- An AU where Master Fu instead distributed the Horse and Monkey Miraculous and Kim and Max are the main characters of the show.

Chatroom AU- An AU where Team Miraculous has a group chat

Genderbend AU- An AU where everyone’s genders are swapped.

Teacher Kwamis AU- An AU where Miss Bustier is fired and the Kwamis take over teaching.

Frozen Dragons AU- A Hiccelsa AU that combines Frozen and How To Train Your Dragon. Basically, just before the events of Race To The Edge, Elsa and Hiccup have an arranged marriage and her, Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, and Anna are present for the events of the show and Dragons 2

Kumafeather AU- An AU where Max and Kim have the Moth and Peacock Miraculous and are trying to bring Max’s dad back. They call themselves Kuma and Dark Feather and are like that classic supervillain and dumb sidekick trope but they’re gay.

GrayBlue AU- An AU where Adrien and Marinette have the Moth and Peacock Miraculous and are trying to bring Emilie back. They call themselves Grayling and Beau Blue.

Mastermind Fu AU- An AU where Master Fu is evil and the Miraculass steal the Miracle Box to fight him.

Evil Miracuclass AU- An AU where the Miracuclass is evil and steals the Miracle Box. Master Fu must use the remaining Miraculous he has to fight them.

Marigod AU- An AU where Marinette and her parents are Gods.

Tangled Sisters AU- an AU where Cassandra grew up in the tower with Rapunzel and Varian is Flynn’s protege/adopted little brother. It’s be the same as the movie, just Cassarian, Aged Up!Varian of course, and the sister duo we deserve.

Apprentice AU- An AU where Master Fu was Emilie’s mentor. They have a father-daughter bond

Killer Princess AU- An AU where Juleka has the Moth and Rose has the Peacock

Timmy Dupain Cheng AU- An AU where Timmy (Sandboy) is Marinette’s foster brother and earns the Dog Miraculous under the name of Pup Fidele

Forbidden Love AU- An AU where Flynn is still a thief and Rapunzel is the ruler of Corona. The two of them have a little flirty to and fro, as he’s the most wanted theif in the kindgom and they both really dig each other but don’t want to admit it, not even to themselves. Lance is his sidekick and Kiera and Catalina are their young protégés. Meanwhile, Varian and Cass work under Raps. Cass as her royal adviser and personal bodyguard, and Varian’s her little brother and the royal alchemist.

Cousins AU- Inspired by the theory that Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna are cousins. An AU where they were there to celebrate her birthday in Secret of the Sundrop and went with her and the gang to the Dark Kingdom! Sven, Kristoff, and Olaf tag along too, of course.

Twins AU- An AU where Marinette and Kagami are long lost twins

The Prince and The Pup AU- An AU where Prince Ali starts going to Marinette's school after falling for the heroine known as Chien De Guarde after his first encounter with her. What he doesn't know is that Chien De Guarde is Sabrina Raincomprix.

Tales of Monarch and Chien de Guarde AU- An AU where Monarch and Chien are the main heroes

Tales of Ryuuko and Viperion AU- An AU where Ryuuko and Viperion are the main heroes

Tales of Ryuuko and King Monkey AU- An AU where Ryuuko and King Monkey are the main heroes

Elsa Padare AU- an au where Elsa is adopted by Cass and Varian

Gandalf Swears AU- An au where everything is the same except Gandalf swears

#miraculous ladybug #masterlist #ml au #miraculous au #frozen #How To Train Your Dragon #httyd au

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edwardslostalchemy · 4 years

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I want to share some Shouto headcanons with y’all because I love that boy so much. They range from his high school days to his pro hero days so they’re all over the place. Also there are some with tododeku so there’s that. I’ve had discussions with @brightismarstonight and @alartes-draws over some of these, too. :)

His nerves can get damaged if he uses too much of his power. So he can have like fried nerves on his left side and frozen nerves on his right side.

Because of this, he feels numbness at times.

It’s gonna sound gross, but he carries a bottle/vile of Katsuki’s sweat. Whenever he needs some fire power (haha pun intended), he throws it at a villain and then shoots his fire and BOOM.

He’s more of a long-range fighter, but he’s been training for short-range attacks, too. When he’s fighting an opponent and dodges them with his arms, he activates his quirk so by touching them, he can freeze or burn them, depending where he’s touching like an arm or a leg.

He has multiple burns on his left side.

Because of the burn on his left eye, he lost sight in it and now he’s blind in that eye. He has a kick ass support item/prosthetic eye designed by Mei and she has all these features he can use like infrared/heat-sensing/night vision. So he has that advantage over people because nobody can sneak up on him from behind.

That prosthetic requires a support item to be attached to his head so that it can receive environmental signals and relay it to his prosthetic so he has a green earring on his left ear. It also records information and stores data so it’s useful when he’s working on investigations.

He and Ochako train together because she needs training against long-range fighters and Shouto needs training against short-range fighters. Even though Shouto can freeze her in place, she touches him and sends him out of the space they train in.

The dekusquad works out together and helps each other out, especially when motivating each other while lifting weights and working on particularly difficult exercises.

Shouto likes sitting on Izuku’s back while Izuku does push-ups. He usually reads a book or eats soba, or he counts for Izuku and cheers for him. Yes, this is a reference to that one fanart, but I can’t find it so if someone could get the link for me, I’d really appreciate it.

Izuku is the toughest when it comes to working out. Shouto likes to train with him when he wants a solid workout because Izuku is not his boyfriend when they train. Izuku takes things very seriously and Shouto enjoys that attitude. He also thinks it’s hot when Izuku yells at him.

He believes he is not fast enough, so he trains with Tenya and has asked him about exercises to help with his speed.

Shouto lets his hair grow long because he wants to look like his mom. He’s tried dying it to cover his crimson hair, but the dye dissolves when he uses his flames. He asked Mei to make him a special, fire/heat resistant dye and she was more than happy to oblige.

Honestly he’s her favorite customer besides Izuku and Tenya.

He is weak around children. To the point where he will weep if they are being extra cute or if they dress up like him. When he is a pro hero and he sees kids dressed up as him, he feels so happy about it and tells them they look amazing.

He doesn’t get involved in politics, but he has spoken out on his disapproval of quirk marriages and they should be illegal. He also advocates/supports people who have been abused and visits centers to volunteer.

When he rescues kids, he makes sure to give them a smile and to reassure them that they will be alright. He provides warmth with his left side to help them feel safer. It’s always a great feeling when the kids hold on to him and smile back even if they were just rescued from danger.

Izuku and him have the best teamwork and Aizawa has praised them for it. “You don’t have synergy with your quirks, but your teamwork is so good it doesn’t matter.”

As a pro hero, he likes to take on interns who have fire/ice/strength quirks. The first two because he himself has them, and the latter because he knows the mechanics of a strength quirk thanks to Izuku.

He doesn’t like to use kettles to boil water, so he uses a pan and boils water there or heats water in the microwave instead. Kettles give him anxiety and when they whistle, he panics. So no kettles allowed whenever he is in the general vicinity. The dekusquad will kill the kettle. I got inspired by this fanart/headcanon set for this one.

When he’s older and he and Izuku are together/married, he wears his t-shirts, like 100% Beef or Training To Be Like All Might, and because Izuku has worn them in public before, there’s pictures of him with them on. So if Shouto gets asked about the shirts, he just says they’re Izuku’s. That’s it, nobody needs that much context.

When his mother is released from the hospital, Shouto goes to live with her. He takes her out to eat or to go shopping or just to spend time together. He buys her gifts and spoils her. And he is always hugging and kissing her.

When he’s older, he becomes less oblivious, but he pretends to not understand so people can back off, mainly reporters.

Speaking of the media, he doesn’t like to share his personal/private information with the media except for a few occasions. When a reporter was curious about his orientation, he didn’t want to answer because he didn’t think it mattered what his preference was. But the reporter asked him if it would embarrass his father and that instantly convinced him to grab the microphone, look at the camera, and announce he was gay. RIP Endeav*r.

Again speaking of the media, he may not like talking to them, but he isn’t rude about it. He answers quick questions and then excuses himself. But he is VERY nice to the public and will sign autographs and take pictures with people.

He likes to talk about All Might so whenever he and Izuku start talking, they don’t stop. They can talk for DAYS and won’t run out of things to discuss.

He focuses a lot more on teamwork rather than working alone because he has experienced that working with others gets better results than working individually. He also never takes credit for what he does, even if he was involved. He doesn’t need to take credit to know he did his job.

Because of this, he doesn’t care about ranks anymore. If he’s a top hero, that’s great, but he doesn’t need a rank to be a hero. He’s a hero because he wants to save people and be like All Might, and be the kind of hero he wants to be. Doing it just for a rank would make him feel hollow and hypocritical.

He refuses to work for his father after he graduates from UA. Instead, he works for Tensei Iida over at his agency and gets great experience and grows as a person and as a hero because Tensei is an open and honest boss with ideals that match Shouto’s.

When he and Izuku have more experience and money, they set up their own hero agency and become a duo. They have multiple sidekicks and heroes working for them. They also accept interns and have even request the whole Class 1A from UA every year, but they always get turned down and are told they can only have up to 2 interns.

He’s very careful with his quirk output, when he has to, he goes all out and lets loose. Like he will use both fire and ice together and cause big ass explosions like he did in the sports festival. He has multiple attacks like this that work well against larger villains.

He is intimidating even when he isn’t mad. He has a resting bitch face and people are scared of him. But when he opens his mouth and starts talking, it’s all Gucci because he’s not that scary once he talks about random things like his favorite heroes.

Speaking of his favorites, he shamelessly wears their merch and will promote them, like All Might and his classmates from 1A. (You think Izuku is the only one doing this??? Of course not! 1A is family and love and support each other throughout their careers. Shouto does his part and wears their shirts.)

He loves Izuku’s mother. When they met, they instantly clicked and wouldn’t stop talking about cooking and baking and other things (like Izuku). She showed him baby pictures of Izuku and he came so close to crying because he couldn’t believe how cute he was as a kid. He fawned over the pictures and asked for copies. This made Izuku very flustered and Inko very happy. Instant son-in-law.

When he gets the chance, he can sleep all day. His friends get concerned when they don’t see him come out of his room and think he’s hurt or dead, but he was just sleeping. After living in the dorms for a few weeks, the kids are used to it by now and don’t worry it.

He and Aizawa have talks sometimes and it gets very deep. They both have monotone voices so when someone overhears them, it sounds funny even if they’re both being serious.

#shouto todoroki #tododeku #dekusquad #ensemble #headcanons #bnha rambles #oof this is a lot #enjoy #i have a lot more but they're part of my fics and i don't want to spoil more than i already have on here lol #still i hope you guys like these #i don't take constructive criticism #but i do take suggestions #if youre wondering about shouto embarrassing endeav*r by announcing #that he's gay then from experience #my parents are homophobic and my saying i'm bi would embarrass them #but do it to be petty!!!

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msjr0119 · 4 years

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One night in New York

This one shot is linked to my series ‘Forgive me’.. Riley managed to save Leo, the first few paragraphs are the same as the ‘Forgive Me’ introduction.

Tags: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @dcbbw @qammh-blog @nz1091 @beardedoafdonutwagon

*****

Liam Rhys the Crown prince of Cordonia, had hesitantly agreed to his friends plans about visiting New York for his bachelor party. His brother, the former Crown Prince had recently moved to New York but Liam hadn’t kept in touch with him. They were close as children, but since his abdication they became more like strangers. Leo returned to Cordonia as and when he liked. Drake walker had chosen quite possibly the most run down dive bar he could find to start the nights events off.

“Welcome to the states, your highness. Nothing beats alcohol and greasy food...”

Liam sighed, he didn’t even want to be here- he didn’t even want to be the prince anymore. If his paths crossed with his older brother he could quite easily throttle the playboy who thought more about his dick than his royal responsibilities.

Walking through the doors, this really was a dive bar- it was empty and quiet. The bar stools looked as if they would potentially snap if you lent on it, covered in dust.

“Where’s the music?” Exclaimed Max feeling disappointed- he loved music and to dance. This place felt like they were in a morgue.

“Forget the music! Waiter!” Drake clicked his fingers. The waiter ambled up towards the men forcing a fake smile.

“Yes Sir. What can I get ya?”

“Four deluxe burgers and a bottle of whiskey.”

“Yes sir, my colleague will bring your drinks shortly as I have finished my shift.”

*****

The men looked over at the waiting staff, the waiter that had taken their original order was just leaving- he kissed a girl on the cheek before he left. The four men’s eyes all fixated on the beautiful goddess stood in front of them.

Smirking at the four men, she knew she was ready to play games after the text she had just received.

“Liam it’s so good to see you!” She shrieked with an enthusiastic tone of voice.

“Do I know you?” The colour drained from his face, thinking of the worse possible ways a waitress could know him.

“Have you forgotten me already? Shame on you!” She placed a comforting arm on him, before running her delicate hand through his blonde locks.

The three men looked bewildered, Liam swallowed hard. He felt his dick twinge with every movement she made. Swallowing hard he had to remove her away from him in a polite manner.

“I’m really sorry, I don’t know you.” Shaking her head, she looked disappointed. She needed to keep up this game- his face was too hilarious to give in now.

“How could you forget about this diamond stood in front of us Li? I’m Maxwell.”

“I know Max. How’s Bertrand? Is he still all stern looking wearing his infamous vests?” Maxwell’s jaw was agape, his mind was about to explode- trying to think who this ‘mystery’ woman was.

“You know us?” Drake said whilst smirking, assuming she was a crown chaser and who had stalked Cordonian press.

“Yes, Drake. I assume you are still drinking whiskey and sulking?” Drake looked at his whiskey- wondering if he was hallucinating, or if they had spiked his drink. She described him to a t but he was confused as to who she was.

“Tariq I see you still have exquisite taste in fashion.” Looking at him she did the Italian chef kiss gesture.

“Well Of course I do.” Unlike the others being confused, he was pleased with her observation.

“Well gentlemen, I hope our paths cross again. Enjoy your night! As you are miles away from Cordonia I’d advise that you end your night in Kismet. It’s the most popular club in the city.”

You should have seen their faces! See you at Kismet 😘

*****

The men all entered the SUV, and made their way over to Kismet. Maxwell was in his element, Tariq was disgusted at the sight surrounding him. Liam and Drake were trying to figure out how a mystery woman knew so much about them. Feeling awkward not being in their neck of the woods, they were all about to return to the hotel. Until their eyes laid on the two people who arrived through the door. The man, kissed the woman on the cheek before leaving her at the bar. He made his way over to the four men.

“Well well well, I didn’t think this place was your type of scene little brother.”

“Leo!”

“In the flesh. You really shouldn’t allow Maxwell to confirm your every move on social media. I’d like you to meet someone, someone close to my heart.”

“Hello again, gentlemen.” Riley smirked at them all, still laughing deep down about their first meeting.

“Wow!” Drake and Maxwell said in unison, both couldn’t remove their gaze away from her.

“That uniform wasn’t doing you any justice.” Tariq stated, eyeing her up and down. She was waiting for a comment from Liam- he was just looking bemused, trying to take everything in.

“Liam, I don’t know you. I’m sorry for the shock. Leo asked me to do it. I couldn’t stop laughing at all of your reactions. Leo, I’m just going to see Beth. I’ll be right back.”

“So are you going to explain?” Drake snapped, now Riley was out of view. He didn’t want to give her another stereotypical attitude that she could use against him.

“Don’t have a heart attack Drake! Liam I need to speak to you.” His usual cheeky grin, faded- not knowing how his brother would react to the bombshell he was going to hit his brother with.

“Damn right you do! Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“Erm... she’s a fake girlfriend. That’s what I want to talk about....” The men all stood waiting for Leo to elaborate.

“Li, the real reason I abdicated.... I... I’m gay. I couldn’t go through living a lie. Then I met Riley, she figured me out straight away. She saved my life- I went through a dark stage of my life, I tried to take my own life. She gave me a way out. A way that I could live my true life.” Liam looked at his older brother with a perplexed expression. Why couldn’t he tell him? He would have supported him. He wouldn’t think any different of him.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I’m your brother! If I’d have known I wouldn’t hate you as much as I do. But you were always sleeping with different women.”

“It was all an act Li. I didn’t want to be forced into an arranged marriage.”

“So what does Riley gain from all of this? This isn’t fair on her.” Looking over to Riley, she was smiling with her friend- wondering why someone would do something like this for just a friend.

“She knows the deal Li, if she ever finds someone who she wants to settle down with that’s fine. We have already discussed this.”

Riley walked back over to the men with her friend Beth. The men all stood frozen, she knew now that Leo had finally disclosed his secret.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I’ve told them Ri.” Riley pulled him in for a hug, her smile showed proudness.

“Good. Don’t you ever feel ashamed for who you really are Leo. Are you ready to go to the gay bar?”

“Of course. Li, it’s been good to see you all.” Pulling his brother into the tightest squeeze, he had hoped that his brother wouldn’t discriminate him. He was still the same person.

“Leo. Wait! We will come with you.”

“Excuse me? I am not setting foot in another place in this disgusting city. I’m going back to the hotel, you coming Max and Drake?”

“Well fuck you then Tariq! Guys a gay bar is fun. Full of shots.... full of music.... full of whiskeyyy... heterosexual people go too.” Riley knew the mention of whiskey and music would sway Drake and Maxwell to go with them.

“I’m in! Drake?” Squealed Maxwell.

“You got me at whiskey Riley.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

****

Maxwell’s eyes lit up, the music was blasting and he soon headed over to the dance floor. Riley went to the bar ordering drinks, talking to the local drag queen Fanny Bacardi- leaving Beth with Liam and Drake.

“Ah look at Leo, he’s in his element.” Beth said pointing towards Leo who had his tongue down an attractive mans throat.

Liam and Drake looked shocked. They couldn’t believe what they was seeing, but they both only wanted Leo to be happy. Riley returned to the table, she looked over to Leo and began to smile. Sitting next to Drake, he was staring vacantly into the whiskey that she had handed him.

“Hey Drake, I’m so sorry I said you was sulky- it’s just the description Leo gave me. Are you really that bad?”

“I can be. But I do smile.... At times.”

Before she could respond her eyes went wide- Liam and Beth were kissing passionately, his hands lingering over her breasts. Drake mimicked the same expression that Riley wore.

“Please don’t leave me, I don’t feel like playing gooseberry. Does she know he’s getting married soon?”

“Of course. Leo’s told us all about Cordonia. What happens in New York stays in New York.”

He smirked at her. This girl’s forte obviously isn’t geography.

“I thought that was the case in Vegas.” Shrugging her shoulders, did it matter? They were in USA still- one phrase could be used anywhere. Once the visitors left New York to return to Cordonia, tonight would just be a distant memory.

“Same old. Do you want a dance?” Drake looked horrified. He didn’t like to dance- he barely knew how to dance, but some part of him wanted to dance to be close to her. Not wanting to show himself up, he just politely shook his head.

“I don’t dance.”

“Let your hair down grump!” She wasn’t giving him a choice, dragging him up to the dance floor, the miserable member of the group could surely leave his whiskey unattended for five minutes.

****

On the dance floor, Drake just stood frozen. He was contemplating returning to playing gooseberry. Riley and Maxwell were having a competition at who could do the best slut drop. Drake swallowed hard, he thought Riley was sexy as hell. Shaking his head he had to think about something else- think of Bastien, that’ll do.

“Come On Drake! Join in!”

Maxwell forced him into Riley. Her hand lingered on his chest. Maxwell witnessed them both just staring at each other as if they were having a stand off- Maxwell felt like becoming matchmaker even if it was for one night. They decided to sit down for a breather- Drake bought a round of drinks. Beth and Liam had eventually put each other down. The friends just laughed at the two blushing. Leo joined them hand in hand with his secret boyfriend Rob- Riley and Beth both jumped up and gave him a tight hug.

“Li, this is my partner Rob. Rob this is my little brother Liam and two closest friends; Drake and Maxwell.” Rob sat down and immediately got on well with the men. They all wanted to know more about the man who brought out the sparkle in Leo’s eyes.

“Ri, I was wondering if you could stay at Beth’s tonight- give me and Rob a bit of alone time.”

“Oh of course. Don’t be making a mess like last time though.” Last time she allowed them to do this, it ended up with smashed glasses everywhere, a broken lampshade, and stains in the carpet. Thinking about last time she shuddered.

“Er Riley. Liam has invited me back to the hotel...” Beth said quietly, whilst holding Liam’s hand.

“Ohhh... I’ll go to Daniels then?” Fuck he lives miles away- the cab fare will cost a bomb.

“He’s at Lola’s.” Beth explained, feeling guilty for ditching her friend. But it’s not every day that a Prince kisses you.

“Oh for fuck sake. Can I have your keys then?” Riley’s eyes pleaded, knowing she was going to get rejected immediately.

“No not after last time. Sorry Ri.” Fuck where am I going tonight?

“Well Riley can go back to the hotel with us... Drake has a double bed.” Maxwell winked at Drake, then at Riley.

“No!” Drake and Riley said in unison.

“Why not? I’d share with you Riley but I’m bunked up with Mr snob.”

“I think it’s a great idea. Myself and Beth, Max and Tariq, Leo and Rob and Drake and Riley. We’re all sorted. Are we ready to call it a night then?” Liam organised the sleeping arrangements, neither wanted to argue- he was the Prince after all.

*****

Both Riley and Drake entered his room, there was a silent awkwardness. Neither having a say in this arrangement. Sitting down at the table, Drake slid her a whiskey over.

“So Leo said you saved his life. Was that because you offered to be a fake girlfriend.”

“Oh no. I literally saved his life. His father wanted him to reconsider the abdication, he felt he had no other way. I returned to the apartment just in time. He had taken lots of pills and booze. He even wrote a goodbye letter. I thought it was a prank at first. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Jesus!”

“I know. That’s why I said if there was any press that would be following him around that I would act as the loving wifey. It was horrible Drake. Traumatising. I still can’t believe he nearly died. If I hadn’t have left work early, he would have taken his own life due to not having the opportunity to be happy and loved.”

“He may be a dick at times, but we all love him. And Constantine is a dick too. He wouldn’t understand Leo’s situation. But surely now Liam is the crown prince the paparazzi have backed off from Leo?”

“That’s just the thing- even though he’s abdicated, he’s still royalty. There’s always someone with a camera- we don’t know why? Hence why Leo asked for some private time in our apartment with Rob. Leo just bought me a cheap tacky ring, in case any press questioned his relationship- I should have worn it tonight but I forgot.”

“It must be hard for you both. It’s not fair on you.” Drake fixated his gaze on her, she was beautiful- he couldn’t still grasp why she wasn’t in a relationship herself. Why would she be selfless enough to for go her own happiness?

“He’s my friend. I’ll do anything for my close friends....” Before Riley could continue they were both disturbed and disgusted by the sounds coming from next door.

“Jesus fucking Christ Li.”

“Oh Beth!” Drake handed Riley another drink- another strong one, they both needed to do anything to block the moans echoing through the walls.

“She’s going to get pregnant in a flash if they carry on going... I don’t think I can cope anymore. I should have just stolen her keys.”

“And I’d have been following you. At this rate there’s going to be no social season as he’s got too lost in her.”

“I’m sure Liam and Leo’s father would love that.” They both burst out laughing, deciding to watch tv- the volume would hopefully overrule the other noises.

*****

Two hours later there was finally silence, Riley and Drakes eyes were like piss holes in the snow. Riley noticed Drake stand up, walking towards the couch he began to puff the pillows up.

“What are you doing?” Riley asked him.

“Erm, going to sleep now it’s quiet. We’re not sharing a bed.”

“Oh...” Shit she looks disappointed, she wants to sleep in the same bed.

“Oh?”

“I mean ‘oh’ as in I was going to sleep on the sofa. I’m the guest. This is your bed- you paid for it.”

“You don’t have to sleep on it. I’m fine. And technically the royal family paid for it.” Riley walked over to Drake, taking the pillow away from him effortlessly.

“Drake honestly, I’ll take the sofa.”

Drake tried to snatch the pillow back from her, as they both tugged at it - Riley fell on the sofa with Drake falling on top of her. Both laying frozen, fixating their eyes on each other- Riley eventually broke the silence. “Told you id take the sofa. I win.”

“I was never going to win this argument was I?” Shaking her head he admired her smile.

*****

Drake laid in bed, whilst Riley slept on the sofa. He kept looking over at her, she looked so peaceful- he was cursing Maxwell for suggesting this sleepover. It was too tempting- on a few occasions that night he wanted to kiss her. He imagined what it would be like to kiss her. He was awoken from his thoughts hearing his best friend make the most out of his night away from Cordonia. For fucks sake Liam. Tiptoeing past the sleeping beauty he walked on to the balcony, sparking a cigarette up and necking back the remainder of the whiskey left in the bottle. “For god sake!” Riley muttered as she was disturbed from her sleep. forgetting that she was just wearing her underwear she walked over to the wall, banging it telling Liam and Beth to shut the fuck up. Turning back towards the sofa, she had forgotten that she was in Drake’s room. He walked into room, closing the balcony door- just staring at her curves. “Shit! Would you believe that I actually forgot that you was here. I’m so used to walking around the apartment like this in front of Leo.” “I’ll cover my eyes. Even though I’ve seen you ... Erm... I’ll just pretend that I didn’t see you.... I needed a cig and a drink... I don’t think I’m getting any sleep tonight...” “This is so awkward... Pick your jaw up from the floor Mr Walker. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of women in their underwear.” She said seductively, much to Drake’s annoyance.

“I have. But none have looked as good as you. Shit. I didn’t mean to say that. I.. Erm... I’ll go back to bed.” Walking past her, she grabbed his wrist- needing him to look at her.

“Thank you.” She said smiling.

“What for?”

“Boosting my ego. Saying I look good.”

“No probs. Just speaking the truth.” Gulping hard, he was never one to speak his true feelings. He just believed it was the alcohol intake giving him that slight bit of confidence.

“You’re not too bad yourself.”

Drake smiled at her and blushed, she bit her lip. He walked closer to her, placing his hands on her cheeks- she could feel his breathing increasing. Closing her eyes, she slowly kissed him. Breaking the kiss, they both stared at each other- electricity running through their veins. Drake immediately crashed his lips onto hers kissing like crazy as if their lives depended on it. His tongue slipped inside her mouth, starting off gentle but soon turned demanding. Rileys fingers ran through his hair, pulling him closer- his hands holding her petite frame.

“What happens in New York stays in New York, right?” Before she could react he picked her up and carried her over to the bed.

“Would Leo mind if I fuck his fake girlfriend senseless?”

“No. We have a kind of what you’d say... open relationship.”

“Good. Thank you for saving our friend.”

#theroyalromance #choices trr #riley brooks #drakewalker #maxwell beaumont #liam rhys #leo rhys #trr one night in new york #trr forgive me

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antiquecompass · 4 years

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Untamed Winter Fest Day 25: Celebration

Anyone who knew the two of them were completely unsurprised when they announced it would be a winter wedding. Mo Xuanyu’s love for the season was well-known among their friends and family and Nei Huaisang’s indulgence for everything Xuanyu loved was equally as well-known. Huaisang had always said he didn’t care where or when or how he and Xuanyu married. He just wanted to marry him and he’d do that in the county courthouse or in the middle of a frozen pond, he truly didn’t care.

They hadn’t wound up on a pond or in a courthouse, but instead at the Boston Public Library. A beautiful, if cold, outdoor ceremony, both grooms in dashing winter capes. A dinner inside Bates Hall among the iconic green lampshades. And dancing, now, in the Abbey Room, transformed into a winter wonderland that perfectly fit Little Sparkle Xuanyu and Master Even Planner Huaisang.

Nie Mingjue had never been prouder of, and happier for, his baby brother. Brothers. Xuanyu had legally become his half-brother upon his own marriage, but it was an even closer tie now. Xuanyu was as much of his brother now as Huaisang and he’d fiercely protect both of them until the very end.

They were so happy, still staring at each other, oblivious to everyone else around them on the dance floor. Their faces held that stunned amazement that came on a wedding day, still somehow running on adrenaline and stress and all the emotions.

“Is that a tear I dare see in your eye?”

“Nobody asked you, Xichen,” Mingjue said, giving his best friend a playful shove.

Xichen laughed at him, but laid a friendly, grounding arm across his shoulders.

It’d been an emotional day for Mingjue as well. It didn’t matter that they were all basically living at the Nie Farmhouse these days. It didn’t matter that he loved and trusted Xuanyu with his brother, one of the most precious things in his life. He had zero hesitation walking down that aisle in the Courtyard this afternoon, giving his brother ‘away’ to the man who loved him.

His baby brother was married now. Had sought and found and achieved his own fairytale happy ending. Had told the supposed Nie curse to fuck right off and stood now, surrounded by everyone they loved, stealing kisses from his new husband as they whirled around.

“He’s just--”

Mingjue couldn’t put it into words.

“He’s all grown-up,” Xichen said. “And you know he has been for years, but it’s different now. He’ll always be your baby brother, and in your case, even more like your son.” He laughed. “But just look at them.”

Two bright and shiny spots of smiles and love and joy, and yes, some glitter, on the dance floor.

It took longer than any of them thought to get to the actual wedding. Mingjue knew they wouldn’t be like him and his little fox. They’d gotten married months after the engagement. Huaisang was a planner though, and he certainly wasn’t going to let anyone else plan his wedding (he’d explained to Mingjue one day in the midst of all of it about the ridiculous ‘wedding surcharge’ that came with so many things. While he couldn’t control the catering company because it was in-house, he’d argued and bartered and worked his magic to get the best price. The event organizers didn’t need it getting out that they managed to acquire, and then lose, the wedding of THE Nie Huaisang). He wanted it to be perfect as it could be for Xuanyu and up to his own exacting standards, and so that took time. Almost a year and a half. Mingjue would’ve said that was too much fucking time, but tonight had been magical for them, for the guests, for everyone.

A perfect celebration of the two new husbands and their relationship.

From the little petit fours decorated with icing in the designs of fans and theater masks to the centerpieces made of dark red and purple amaryllis, orchid, and roses to bring spots of color, to the silver and white and sparkling theme of everything else. Classy, but still them. Fashionable and sleek and yet still full of warmth.

“Speaking of happiness beyond measure,” Xichen said. “Where have your husband and the ring-bearer gone?”

Mingjue felt his smile soften even more as he thought of his husband and son.

Jesse had been one of the youngest kids to visit the farm that first year they hosted the children’s homes for the winter wonderland spectacular. He’d been quiet and a little terrified, but absolutely struck by the horses. Yao had asked permission of the caretakers, and of Jesse himself, to pick him up and introduce him to Moonshadow and Shadowfax.

He hadn’t put him down until it was time for the children to leave.

Mingjue had asked Priya to start looking into adoption laws and procedures the next day.

Two years later, here they were.

“The ring-bearer needed the restroom,” Mingjue said.

Mingjue grinned as he saw his husband and son enter the room. Jesse, in all his six-year-old enthusiasm, dragged his father to the dance floor as The Jets’ Crush on You started playing.

“Meng Shi’s really pushing those dance lessons on him hard,” Xichen observed.

“He loves it,” Mingjue said. “All of the different styles. Though he loves ballet the most. Jenna’s demanding we visit soon so he can sit in on one of the practices with her dance company.”

He laughed as Xuanyu bent to pick Jesse up and hoist him in the air, lifting him like he was a ballet dancer too.

He knew it wouldn’t be an easy dream. Jesse, a black boy adopted by two gay Chinese men, trying to break into the ballet world, but it was always a mistake to underestimate their family. And maybe Jesse’s dreams would change as he got older, but they’d support him, and fight for him, no matter what they were. No matter who stood against them.

“Come on,” Xichen said, guiding them both towards the dance floor. “We can’t keep holding up the wall. Let’s join our family.”

They were all there, around the couple of the hour. Jiang Cheng teasing Huaisang by flipping up his perfectly coiffed hair. All of Springfield Security not working jobs, towering over most of the guests. Everyone from Huaisang’s company; Ebony taking constant pictures, James openly crying in happiness, Aki taking control of the event so Huaisang didn’t have to. And endless sea of Nies, Lans, Jiangs, Yus, the three good Mos, the few good Jins, the decent Wens, even some Delaneys.

Their family, brought together, in a celebration of love.

Huasiang and Xuanyu had done well, so damn well, and Mingjue was so fucking proud of the both of them.

“Look at you,” Mingjue said, his baby brother having stumbled into his arms. He pulled on the sleeve of his tux and started wiping away some of the tears. “You’re a mess.”

“A happy mess,” Huaisang said as he stood still.

“You too,” Mingjue said to Xuanyu who had joined them. “You’re a make-up artist. Don’t you use setting spray,” he asked as he dabbed at traces of mascara on his cheeks.

“It’s been an emotional day,” Xuanyu said.

“Could you please use a handkerchief,” his husband said. “I put them in your pocket for a reason.”

“I don’t have a--”

Yao reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a white handkerchief out, embroidered with silver thread bearing his initials.

“You were saying?” his husband asked.

“Is this grooming ritual just for Nies or can they rest of us get in?” Xichen asked.

Jiang Cheng’s massive eye roll was the final straw that broke the entire group into a round of laughter, one that rang out loud, even over the music.

A perfect family moment on a perfect day.

#long post #untamed winter fest #fandom: the untamed #sangyu #verse: lahl #fic: i will become what i deserve

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gllded · 4 years

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*exhales into the mic* what’s up miles nation --- my name is mac, short for macaroni and cheese. i live on the west coast, i’m of legal drinking age in the US and i go by she / they pronouns ! this rp honestly looks so cute that i had to bring madeline, a character i indie’d for a hot second but really loved writing. take a look under the cut to know more about her and drop me a dm either here or on discord ( 𝖎𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙, 𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖈#3596 ) if you wanna plot !!

THE GOOGLE SEARCH

⋆ ° ⟡ ( LEE SUNG KYUNG, twenty-eight, cis female, she/her ) i saw HYEJEONG “MADELINE” BAEK at the winter palace. did you know that the HEIRESS is originally from SOUTH KOREA? i heard they can be quite BRATTY, but also LOYAL. there’s rumours they’re at the winter palace because HER PARENTS WANT HER TO SETTLE DOWN, but you never know. FRONT SEAT AT FASHION WEEK, RED LIPSTICK STAINS ON WHISKEY GLASSES, and A PRIVATE JET READY TO FLY TO THE NEAREST LUXURY RESORT always remind me of them.

THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE

you’ve seen the dramas. the young and disillusioned chaebol heirs, with their noses turned up at the common folk they toy with. their mothers, a cold and manipulating force with a check ready to ward off any suitors unfit for their children. their fathers, distant and perpetually too busy with work to spend an ounce of their time with their families. they live in their own world, untouchable and impenetrable to the public as they live their lives planned out to the second, all before they’re even given the chance to think for themselves. and maybe it was true, for some people, but it wasn’t true for madeline.

growing up in one of the most important families in south korea, madeline never wanted for anything she couldn’t have. toys, sweets, even spontaneous trips to amusement parks were always given to her without hesitation by the people who were raising her. of course, she still saw her parents at dinnertime: but her parents weren’t as cold and distant like you would expect. sure, they were busy – they were running one of the biggest companies in the country – but they still managed to take an hour out of their busy schedule to spend some time with their children. it was a loving household as much as it could be, with madeline and her older brother being raised by the au pairs and house keepers around their countryside villa, spending most of their time in their own little bubble. madeline just thought this was how all families were, how all childhoods were. she didn’t even realize how much her name was worth, or how important her family was until she entered school.

she enrolled in private school at around eight years old, having been tutored privately before that. it was a change from her old ways, suddenly immersed in an environment where everyone had everything to say. there were children of similar high social, economic, and political status, who weren’t afraid to sharing who they were related to and what their parents did.

madeline felt uneasy by it all, not used to talking about how much her family made, or how much more privileged she was than other students. but she still fell into a group, out of fear of loneliness. they were kids like her, children of extremely wealthy business owners, who became some of her closest friends.

madeline wasn’t so much the sweet girl she once was. being around those kids who knew the power of their wealth turned her sour. she was, for lack of a better word, a brat, then on; pushing the limits of what she could do to those around her and what those around her could do for her. she was the ice queen, the mean girl, the rich bitch. she was superficial, demeaning, demanding. she put up the front of who these people wanted her to be, and excelled at it.

but she was also one her circle of friends could come to. she was their confidante, their shoulder to cry on, someone they could trust. she held her friends’ hands as their parents went through divorces, defended them as scandals poured out into the public, and offered a place to stay when things at home turned nuclear. madeline ended up caring for the people who were compensating for the lack of compassion and intimacy in their earlier years because she understood what lives they lived.

she considered herself lucky that her parents still cared. and that they allowed her to do what she pleased so long as she was safe and didn’t jeopardize the family name. she couldn’t say the same for her friends. it dawned on her early on that their lives were not theirs to live, that every detail, from what they would study in school to how many children they would have, was decided for them. they were heirs, after all. and the fact that madeline didn’t have that expectation on her eventually drove a wedge between her and the others. so she was left in the dust, with the people in her social circles moving on with their lives, leaving madeline to find something – anything to occupy her time.

as the youngest child and only daughter to the ceo of one of south korea’s largest and most established conglomerates, there wasn’t a place for her in the company like there was for her older brother. so after university, she decided she had the freedom to do whatever and whomever she wanted, leaving a trail of broken glass and broken hearts behind her in the prime of her twenties. she became a social media influencer -- getting paid to go to events, to frequent resorts and hotels, to be merely photographed with a designer handbag -- and traveled the world meeting new people and paving her own way apart from the corporate image her family had cultivated.

madeline’s life was a mile high until about two months ago when her father was hospitalized from a minor heart attack. her brother had finally gotten a hold of her after hours of her being awol, partying up in dubai with her latest girlfriend. he had been furious when she answered, nearly forgetting to tell her why he had called in the first place, and summoned her back to seoul. her father had turned out to be okay, in the end, but it was still scary to think she could have missed him had it been more severe and had she actually been unreachable.

her brother and mother ganged up on her while her father made a decision. it was time for madeline to settle down; time for her to be serious about her life and to start being worthy of her family name. no matter how much she would kick and scream about it, she knew it was futile. she cut down on plain disappearing for months at a time and started to receive possible betrothals, though it was plenty difficult to find one in a country as socially conservative as south korea on account of madeline being a “big fat lesbian”.

her parents had just begun to widen their radius, researching bachelorettes from around the world, when the news of crown princess mignonette’s search for a spouse. madeline thought it was a joke that her parents wanted her to throw her hat into the ring until she was seated onto a plane bound for genovia. madeline thinks it’s a long shot to court the crown princess, but at least she’s getting a vacation out of it.

THE MATCH.COM PROFILE

- madeline is a partial heiress to one of south korea’s largest and most established conglomerates, baek100. founded a short time after the korean war, baek100 has a stake in nearly every aspect of people’s lives: apartment complexes, motor engines for public buses, kitchen appliances, cosmetics, department stores, flash-frozen foods, and several branches of entertainment. accumulating a worth of over 10 trillion won ( approx. 9 billion usd ) -- not including the family’s own separate private investments -- the company has contributed greatly to the mass boom in south korea’s gdp in the last three generations.

- while madeline had most of her schooling done in south korea, she spent her university years in the united states, graduating in public relations from usc in southern california. it is in university when she started going by madeline because she was tired of her professors butchering her given name. ( “is there a hi-jung here ? a hi-jung bake ?” )

- she gay. if that wasn’t clear in her being in genovia to court the princess, i’m saying it now. she came out to her parents when they tried to arrange a marriage to the son of a family friend when she was sixteen. they have been surprisingly supportive of her being a lesbian and have made her the poster child of their lgbt campaigns during pride month. ( evidently her mother has also been sending her articles about the emerging science behind two women being able to have a baby without a sperm donor )

- because of her status as a social media influencer, she’s been able to make her own money separate from what she gets from her family. although her endorsement deals are not a match from what her trust fund provides for her, it still fills her with pride when her personal bank account adds on another digit to it’s overall balance. she can easily live a humble life off it, but the influencer gig is really just for fun and only started because someone offered to pay her to show up to their birthday party.

THE FACEBOOK FRIENDS

- close friends. madeline is the type to offer up her life for the people she loves and her tight knit group of friends know this. it could be that they grew up knowing each other or just ended up falling into the same circles, but her life is better because of you and vice versa.

- enemies / frenemies. as loyal and compassionate as she can be to those she’s close to, she can be equally bratty and materialistic to just about anyone. madeline’s personality is not for everyone and she can get a little catty if she feels she needs to be on the defensive.

- exes. first love or passing fling, madeline has always found herself someone to keep herself from feeling lonely. now that she’s trying to buckle down and find a wife, that may irk you considering she was never one to be in a serious committed relationship when you were together.

- social circle. not quite ride or dies, but you see each other at events often enough to know one another well. she respects you and your family enough to walk up to you first, to invite you to places, and to argue about picking up the dinner tab with you.

- brother (wc). while madeline is a bit of the black sheep, she is still considerably close with her family and this is especially true with her brother. on the outside madeline and her older brother are opposites but they are more complimentary than people might think. she respects her brother and knows he wants the best for her.

- mother’s assistant (wc). one of her mother’s many assistants tasked with accompanying madeline to genovia to keep tabs on her. y/m basically reports things back to her mom if she’s misbehaving but she’s constantly trying to go off and do things she’s not supposed to.

#x. madeline baek.#genoviaintro

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quietya · 5 years

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Some YA Books You May Have Missed So Far in 2019

Your mod is here! I meant to do this monthly, then bimonthly, and now we’re a quarter of the way through 2019. I wanted to take a moment and highlight some books that have come out between January and March that deserve more hype.

Please note that this IS a curated list, exclusively featuring books I’ve read or want to read. February and March releases are below the cut.

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer Release: January 15

Echo Alkaev’s safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf—the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes. 96 Words for Love by Rachel Roy and Ava Dash Release: January 15

A modern retelling of a classic Indian legend, 96 Words for Love is a coming-of-age story. Ever since her acceptance to UCLA, 17-year-old Raya Liston has been quietly freaking out. She feels simultaneously lost and trapped by a future already mapped out for her. Then her beloved grandmother dies, and Raya jumps at the chance to spend her last free summer at the ashram in India where her grandmother met and fell in love with her grandfather. Raya hopes to find her center and her true path. But she didn't expect to fall in love... with a country of beautiful contradictions, her fiercely loyal cousin, a local girl with a passion for reading, and a boy who teaches her that in Sanskrit, there are 96 different ways to say the word "love."

Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon Release: January 15

Sophie Orenstein would do anything for Peter Rosenthal-Porter, who’s been on the kidney transplant list as long as she’s known him. Peter is everything to Sophie: best friend, musical collaborator, secret crush. When she learns she’s a match, donating a kidney is an easy, obvious choice. She can’t help wondering if after the transplant, he’ll love her back the way she’s always wanted. But Peter’s life post-transplant isn’t what either of them expected. Though he once had feelings for Sophie too, he’s now drawn to Chase, the guitarist in a band that happens to be looking for a keyboardist. And while neglected parts of Sophie’s world are calling to her—dance opportunities, new friends, a sister and niece she barely knows—she longs for a now-distant Peter more than ever, growing increasingly bitter he doesn’t seem to feel the same connection. Peter fears he’ll forever be indebted to her. Sophie isn’t sure who she is without him. Then one blurry, heartbreaking night twists their relationship into something neither of them recognizes, leading them to question their past, their future, and whether their friendship is even worth fighting for.

All is Fair by Dee Garretson Release: January 22

It's 1918, and war is raging across Europe. Lady Mina Tretheway knows she's destined for greater things than her fancy boarding school, where she's stuck sorting out which fork should be used with which dinner course. When Mina receives a telegram that's written in code, she finally has her chance to do something big. She returns to her childhood home of Hallington Manor, joined by a family friend, Lord Andrew Graham, and a mysterious young American, Lucas. The three of them must band together to work on a dangerous project that could turn the tide of the war. Thrilled that she gets to contribute to the war effort at least, Mina jumps headfirst into the world of cryptic messages, spycraft, and international intrigue. She, Lucas, and Andrew have to work quickly, because if they don't succeed, more soldiers will disappear into the darkness of war.

The Cold is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale Release: January 22

Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe. Milla's whole world is her family's farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she's forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next. Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself. The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin Release: January 29

What do a future ambassador, an overly ambitious Francophile, a hospital-volunteering Girl Scout, the new girl from Cleveland, the junior cheer captain, and the vice president of the debate club have in common? It sounds like the ridiculously long lead-up to an astoundingly absurd punchline, right? Except it’s not. Well, unless my life is the joke, which is kind of starting to look like a possibility given how beyond soap opera it’s been since I moved to Lancaster. But anyway, here’s your answer: we’ve all had the questionable privilege of going out with Lancaster High School’s de facto king. Otherwise known as my best friend. Otherwise known as the reason I’ve already helped steal a car, a jet ski, and one hundred spray-painted water bottles when it’s not even Christmas break yet. Otherwise known as Henry. Jersey number 8.

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan Release: January 29

Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations, but lately she’s finding that harder and harder to do. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life in Seattle and her new life at Caltech, where she can pursue her dream of becoming an engineer. But when her parents catch her kissing her girlfriend Ariana, all of Rukhsana’s plans fall apart. Her parents are devastated; being gay may as well be a death sentence in the Bengali community. They immediately whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh, where she is thrown headfirst into a world of arranged marriages and tradition. Only through reading her grandmother’s old diary is Rukhsana able to gain some much needed perspective. Rukhsana realizes she must find the courage to fight for her love, but can she do so without losing everyone and everything in her life?

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf Release: February 5

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied. But there are things that Melati can't protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames. With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.

Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway Release: February 5

Aurelia Isendare is a princess of a small kingdom in the North, raised in privilege but shielded from politics as her brother prepares to step up to the throne. Halfway around the world, Athan Dakar, the youngest son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for a life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is shot and killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his old rival, the Queen of Etania—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover to Etania to gain intel from her children. Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the girl he’s been tasked with spying upon. Aurelia feels the same attraction, all the while desperately seeking to stop the war threatening to break between the Southern territory and the old Northern kingdoms that control it—a war in which Athan’s father is determined to play a role. As diplomatic ties manage to just barely hold, the two teens struggle to remain loyal to their families and each other as they learn that war is not as black and white as they’ve been raised to believe.

The Antidote by Shelley Sackier Release: February 5

Magic is not allowed, under any circumstances — even if it could save someone’s life. Instead, there are herbal remedies and traditional techniques. Fee knows this, so she keeps her magic a secret. Except her best friend, Xavi, is deathly ill. He’s also the crown prince. Saving him is important, not only for her, but for the entire kingdom. Fee’s desperation to save her friend means she can barely contain the magic inside her. And after the tiniest of slips, Fee is thrust into a dark and secretive world that is as alluring as it is dangerous. If she gives in, it could mean she can save Xavi. But it also means that those who wish to snuff out magic might just snuff her out in the process.

The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons Release: February 5

When Brynn Hilder is recruited to Vale Hall, it seems like the elite academy is her chance to start over, away from her mom's loser boyfriend and her rundown neighborhood. But she soon learns that Vale chooses students not so much for their scholastic talent as for their extracurricular activities, such as her time spent conning rich North Shore kids out of their extravagant allowances. At first, Brynn jumps at the chance to help the school in its mission to rid the city of corrupt officials--because what could be better than giving entitled jerks what they deserve? But that's before she meets her mark--a senator's son--and before she discovers the school's headmaster has secrets he'll stop at nothing to protect. As the lines between right and wrong blur, Brynn begins to realize she's in way over head.

Enchantee by Gita Trelease Release: February 5

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible. But when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she's playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns…

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto Release: February 12

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart. Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks. Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

The Blood Spell by C.J. Redwine Release: February 12

Blue de la Cour has her life planned: hide the magic in her blood and continue trying to turn metal into gold so she can help her city’s homeless. But when her father is murdered and a cruel but powerful woman claims custody of Blue and her property, one wrong move could expose her—and doom her once and for all. The only one who can help? The boy she’s loathed since childhood: Prince Kellan. Kellan Renard, crown prince of Balavata, is walking a thin line between political success and devastating violence. Newly returned from boarding school, he must find a bride among the kingdom’s head families and announce his betrothal—but escalating tension among the families makes the search nearly impossible. He’s surprised to discover that the one person who makes him feel like he can breathe is Blue, the girl who once ruined all his best adventures. When mysterious forces lead to disappearances throughout Balavata, Blue and Kellan must work together to find the truth. What they discover will lead them to the darkest reaches of the kingdom, and to the most painful moments of their pasts. When romance is forbidden and evil is rising, can Blue save those she loves, even if it costs her everything?

Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok Release: February 12

Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize each day's new arrivals, a task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until the day she has a vision of the newest body, a young woman, being murdered--from the perspective of the murderer himself. When the body of another woman is retrieved from the Seine days later, Paris begins to buzz with rumors that this victim may not be the last. Nathalie's search for answers sends her down a long, twisty road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer continues to haunt the streets of Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie's strange new ability may make her the only one who can discover the killer's identity--and she'll have to do it before she becomes a target herself.

Immoral Code by Lillian Clark Release: February 19

For Nari, aka Narioka Diane, aka hacker digital alter ego “d0l0s," it’s college and then a career at “one of the big ones," like Google or Apple. Keagan, her sweet, sensitive boyfriend, is happy to follow her wherever she may lead. Reese is an ace/aro visual artist with plans to travel the world. Santiago is off to Stanford on a diving scholarship, with very real Olympic hopes. And Bellamy? Physics genius Bellamy is admitted to MIT—but the student loan she’d been counting on is denied when it turns out her estranged father—one Robert Foster—is loaded. Nari isn’t about to let her friend’s dreams be squashed by a deadbeat billionaire, so she hatches a plan to steal just enough from Foster to allow Bellamy to achieve her goals.

The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason Release: February 19

On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston’s life changes forever. At a party she discovers her younger sister, Audrey, hooking up with her boyfriend, Mike—and she abandons them both in a rage. When Mike drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes and Audrey ends up in a coma. Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her ex-boyfriend (who is relatively unscathed) has a drinking problem. So it’s a surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbor and childhood friend who’s recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. At first Harley doesn’t want to get too close to him. But as Audrey awakens and slowly recovers, Raf starts to show Harley a path forward that she never would have believed possible.

The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee Release: February 19

Stella dreams of being a space engineer. After Stella's mom dies by suicide and her brother runs off to Red Sun, the local hippie commune, Stella is forced to bring her dreams down to Earth to care for her sister Jill. Galliard has only ever known life inside Red Sun. There, people accept his tics, his Tourette's. But when he’s denied Red Sun's resident artist role he believed he was destined for, he starts to imagine a life beyond the gates of the compound...The day Stella and Galliard meet, there is something in the air in their small town. Literally. So begins weeks of pink lightning, blood red rain, unexplained storms... And a countdown clock appears mysteriously above the town hall. With time ticking down to some great, unknowable end they’ll each have to make a choice.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia Release: February 26

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children, but both are promised a life of comfort and luxury. Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her bright future depends upon no one discovering her darkest secret—that her pedigree is a lie. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain forged identification papers so Dani could rise above her station. Now that her marriage to an important politico’s son is fast approaching, she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society, where famine and poverty rule supreme. On her graduation night, Dani seems to be in the clear, despite the surprises that unfold. But nothing prepares her for all the difficult choices she must make, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio. Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or to give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley Release: February 26

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge. Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible―until his path collides with Mirabelle’s. She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?

The Fever King by Victoria Lee Release: March 1

In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia. The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear. Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl Release: March 5

Clover Martinez has always been a survivor, which is the only reason she isn't among the dead when aliens invade and destroy Earth as she knows it. When Clover hears an inexplicable radio message, she's shocked to learn there are other survivors—and that they're all at the former Area 51. When she arrives, she's greeted by a band of misfits who call themselves The Last Teenagers on Earth. Only they aren't the ragtag group of heroes Clover was expecting. The group seems more interested in hiding than fighting back, and Clover starts to wonder if she was better off alone. But then she finds a hidden spaceship, and she doesn't know what to believe…or who to trust.

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman Release: March 5

Senior Ariel Stone is the perfect college applicant: first chair violin, dedicated community volunteer, and expected valedictorian. He works hard - really hard - to make his life look effortless. A failed Calculus quiz is not part of that plan. Not when he’s number one. Not when his peers can smell weakness like a freshman’s body spray. Figuring a few all-nighters will preserve his class rank, Ariel throws himself into studying. His friends will understand if he skips a few plans, and he can sleep when he graduates. Except Ariel’s grade continues to slide. Reluctantly, he gets a tutor. Amir and Ariel have never gotten along, but Amir excels in Calculus, and Ariel is out of options. Ariel may not like Calc, but he might like Amir. Except adding a new relationship to his long list of commitments may just push him past his limit.

Beware the Night by Jessica Fleck Release: March 12

On the island of Bellona, life is peaceful--as long as the citizens dutifully worship the Sun, which protects them from all harm. Seventeen-year-old Veda knows that keeping the Sun happy will protect her and her grandfather from the Night, the dangerous people who snatch innocent citizens from their beds under the cover of darkness, never to be seen again. As long as Veda follows the rules, she will be safe. But when Veda's grandfather is offered up as the next sacrificial offering to keep the Sun's favor, she starts to see that the safety she's been promised comes at a dangerous price. Maybe there is more to fear above than there is below. With a mysterious young man, Dorian, at her side, Veda has to figure out if the scary bedtime stories she grew up hearing are real--or dangerous lies.

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith Release: March 12

Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her. But the ghosts that haunt Aurelia refuse to abandon her, and she finds herself succumbing to their call as they expose a nefarious plot that only she can defeat. Will she be forced to choose between the weight of the crown and the freedom of her new life?

The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees Release: March 12

The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She’s desperate to know more—until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a game. To the Witch, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns. The strangers are just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea’s and the Witch’s paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive?

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum Release: March 19

Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . .

Fear of Missing Out by Kate McGovern Release: March 19

When Astrid learns that her cancer has returned, she hears about a radical technology called cryopreservation that may allow her to have her body frozen until a future time when--and if--a cure is available. With her boyfriend, Mohit, and her best friend, Chloe, Astrid goes on a road trip in search of that possibility. To see if it's real. To see if it's worth it. For fear of missing out on everything.

#this is your mod speaking #ya books #book lists #wndb #mogai

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gimmeanaplease-blog · 5 years

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From Glass Slippers to the Glass Ceiling: 15 Ways Disney has Improved in the Face of our Cultural Shift

Disney has had a long and complicated history with being outdated. Sexism and racism plague the older movies. However, in the past decade it’s been clear that with the shift of public views Disney has been making a run to catch up with the times.

1. Disney’s First African American Princess

Disney’s shift into the new culture all began with their first African American princess. Tiana began as a hard working woman who simply wanted to achieve her dream of owning her own restaurant in New Orleans. With an upbeat attitude and more than a few bumps in the road she meets her prince, falls in love, and defeats the evil witch doctor.

Tiana remains, however, as hardworking as she started out when pursuing her dream. Even when she marries Prince Naveen she doesn’t use her newfound privilege to get her restaurant. Rather she uses the money she’d earned from years working as a waitress in a cafe as well as the allies she’s met along her journey to buy the abandoned building which she envisions as her future restaurant. With her new husband she renovates the place and opens the door to her new life.

2. Breaking Their Own Rules

Merida was Disney’s next great leap into Disney breaking their mold of the standard princess. Merida was messy, ungraceful, and she hated having to act “like a princess”. She’d much rather stuff her face with food, sport her unruly natural hair, and go shooting archery in the woods. Throughout the movie she participates in activities that her mother initially deems unfit for a princess.

In the ultimate act of defiance of the movie, Merida takes off her headwear containing her hair, rips her dress for mobility, and shoots three arrows into their marks in a competition men were engaging in to become her fiance. She obliterates her competition and shows that her hand in marriage isn’t to be won.

3. A Strong Independent Woman

In the past Disney has had heroines that don’t need a man to save them. From Belle to Mulan we saw princesses who saved the day all on their own. Yet time after time we saw they always ended up with their man in the end. Along comes Brave, a story of a young Scottish princess to be betrothed by her family. Merida, however, loathes the concept and in her own act of rebellion she deems that she will be competing for her own hand.

Through a convoluted plot involving bears and family drama at its finest, Merida finds herself at the epicenter of having to repair her broken relationship with her mother. The central conflict isn’t her engagement to a man she just met, it was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. Even at the end of the movie when we’re expecting the stereotypical happily ever after, Merida remains single. “There are no intimate evenings, sparkling jewelry, dazzling gowns (Merida, in fact, hates her formalwear), sweet gestures or smart give-and-take dialogue that foreshadow a final, emotional kiss. The suitors are simply buffoons, not fit to brush Merida’s flowing red hair, much less match up with her archery skills” (Zakarin, 2012). To add onto the quote from The Hollywood Reporter, Brave didn’t even star any men that weren’t Merida’s family. She was the first true Disney princess to end up without a man at the end of her movie.

4. Prince Smarming

During the climax of Disney’s biggest hit in years we’re expecting a Prince Charming saves the day moment. Anna is about to succumb to a frozen heart so a collective breath holds as Prince Hans leans in to deliver True Love’s Kiss in order to reverse the curse. Then through a head spinning twist, we find out that Hans had been our villain all along.

In Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist she details the trials of “Prince Charming”, “The man in most fairy tales, Prince Charming in all his iterations, really isn’t that interesting. In most fairy tales, he is blandly attractive and rarely seems to demonstrate much personality, taste, or intelligence. We’re supposed to believe this is totally fine because he is Prince Charming. His charm is supposedly enough” (Gay, 2014). The writers of frozen use this subconscious ideal of what audiences expect of Prince Charming to disguise his true intentions. In reality Hans wants the kingdom and is willing to kill both princesses in order to achieve a spot on the throne.

5. Maleficent and the Me Too Movement

Maleficent is a movie that came out in 2014 depicting the villain of the same name’s side of the famous story Sleeping Beauty. Starring Angelina Jolie, Maleficent is a tragic hero of sorts as when she was young, she fell for her best friend - and future king - Stefan. Stephan’s father, however, had sent his son off to kill Maleficent as she is the queen of the faeries and keeping him from conquering the land. To prove he’s killed Maleficent, Stephan must deliver her wings to his father. Unable to bring himself to kill her, Stephan gives her a sleeping potion while they are together and cuts off her wings in her sleep.

Sound familiar? That is because this scene is meant to depict a rape scene. Writer Linda Woolverton talked openly about the scene with the press, “I had done some research, and the biggest surprise is that she’s a fairy, not a witch. I’ve always wanted to do a dark fairy story. Then I watched that scene where she curses the baby, and I’m thinking “well if she’s a fairy, where are her wings?” Suddenly it was “boom. Lightbulb. Oh! It’s the wings!” Then I worked backward from there to create the Stefan relationship” (Krischer, 2014). The portrayal of the scene is vastly important to culture as only 3 years later, the Me Too movement brought to light the ever present normalization of sexual harassment and assault that women face every year. The fact that an action is so prevalent in society that it has an allusion in a Disney movie is both heartbreaking and incredibly telling.

6. Queer Eye for the Bad Guy

Disney has had a long history of queer coding their villains. The most basic definition of queer coding is using giving characteristics, behaviors, and actions to their characters so that the audience may read them as gay. Often these are stereotypes such as the Lefou's flamboyance, Hades’ sass, or Ursula’s likeness to a drag queen. Now Disney attempted through their movie to depict a gay character in it’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. However it seems their belief of depicting a gay character is turning Lefou’s flamboyance from a 7/10 to a 12/10. There was even a brief scene of him dancing with a man but if you blink you could miss it. Rani Barker describes how this act is harmful to the LGBT+ community, “The problem, as queer people, is this continues to treat our stories, our yearnings, and our experiences as unspeakable. Something to be whispered, scrutinized and doubted. Keeps it closeted right in front of our faces” (Barker, 2016). It feels like a spit in the face for the first “gay character” in Disney to be such an obvious trove of stereotypes.

All is not lost for Disney’s representation in the LGBT+ community though. Andi Mack, a television show on the Disney Channel features a character that has openly admitted that he is gay and actually approached an arc where he had to come out to his friends. He is not a throwaway character either, he is one of the main characters on the show. Hopefully this character on the small screen will pave the way for proper representation on the big one.

7. Zootopia’s Depiction of Race Relations

Zootopia on the surface appears to be the classic Disney talking animal movie on the surface but underneath the detailed animation and so many puns is an actually complicated statement on race relations. The animals of Zootopia are divided into two types, “predator” and “prey”. As the plot develops Judy, a rabbit cop, and Nick, a civilian fox, discover that there are a series of attacks developing where predators are suddenly “going savage”. As Judy took the lead in the case, she must be the one to talk at the press conference despite them still not knowing the true cause. Chaos ensued as an all out battle broke out between predators and prey.

Not very subtle huh? Charles Pulliam-Moore describes how this scene in particular applies to our society today, “As much as the scene is grounded in the world of Zootopia, it's shot through with elements of many of the real-world police-run press conferences that have followed in the wake of the dozens of high-profile shooting of black people in recent years. Though Judy admits that the ZPD doesn't know the specific details of the case, reporters focus on the few problematic soundbites she feeds them while taking in visuals of rabid, muzzled animals that the police have detained” (Pulliam-Moore, 2016). Both in the movie and in real life it’s media that digs into certain words and forces a fear fueled narrative to cause prejudice in people’s day to day life. Though Zootopia doesn’t quite rise to the ranks in favor of a child’s story happily ever after, it was bold of Disney to try to scale that height in the first place.

8. Realistic Bodies for Women (Finally!)

The proportions for female bodies in Disney has been a rough ride for decades. Since the release of the first princess movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney has long regulated the eurocentric ideals of beauty with large eyes, full lips, and a ridiculously tiny waist. Momentarily it seemed like we’d seen a shift via Nani Pelekai in the 2002 movie Lilo and Stitch. Nani defied the Disney standards of beauty with a large nose, a darker skin tone, and even a more realistic stomach. Yet as the next princess movies rolled around, they resorted right back to their usual bullshit.

The tide shifted yet again in 2016 with the release of another Hawaiian based film, Moana. Unlike Lilo and Stitch, Moana was a titular film for the company as it was it’s next big “princess movie” after their big hit Frozen. Moana was the soon to be chief of her tribe and she sported everything the princesses of the past hadn’t. Moana had wild hair, a darker complexion, realistic muscle tone for the activities she participated in (climbing and sailing), and much more realistic proportions. Moana brings forth a body type that much more girls see when they look in the mirror than those looking at Ariel or Jasmine.

9. The Importance of Female Solidarity in Feminism

Yet another climax of a film yields an entirely different result. This time the movie we focus in on is Moana. She and the demigod Maui have traveled across the ocean to return the Heart of Te Fiti. They are stopped by a lava monster Te Kā. When all seems lost Moana discovers that not only is Te Fiti missing but Te Kā is not who she appears to be at all.

It is Moana who realizes that Te Fiti and Te Kā are one in the same. Valentina Boré remarks on the importance of solidarity in feminism perfectly reflects Moana’s thoughts as she returns her heart “If we don’t try to understand what our other fellow feminists have gone through, how can we really make a change for anyone at all” (Boré, 2015). She makes the connection that Te Fiti had her heart stolen from her by Maui and thus lost herself. Through Moana’s kindness and comfort for another woman, she is able to save her island.

10. Real Portrayals of Diverse Cultures

Moana and Coco are two of the most recent additions to Disney’s animated movies. Both contain great amounts of respect towards the given culture shown. It is clear that a great amount of research went into both of these films, including featuring songs in the native languages. In Moana the song “We Know the Way” features a large portion in the Tokelauan language while a lot of the songs featured in Coco are Spanish.

Coco, especially is a feat to be admired. Director Lee Unkrich early expressed concern of rejection as he, himself, is not hispanic or even latino. However, to combat this Unkrich and producers opened the film to Latino cultural consultants for criticism and the ability to toss around ideas to better improve the film. This was met with initial outrage by the company since, for the longest time, production was meant to be kept under tight wraps. Producer Darla K. Anderson commented in an interview, “We don’t normally open up the doors to let people in to see our early screenings. But we really wanted their voice and their notes and to make sure we got all the details correct” (Ugwu, 2017). To go against traditions in order to assure that they got the movie correct shows true care and love for their story and what it will mean for other people.

11. The Voices of Coco are All Latinx

Coco was a movie unlike any before it. The Pixar film depicted a Mexican story of a young boy Miguel getting trapped in the land of the dead when he tried to connect with his estranged ancestor who shared his love for music. Coco was based around the holiday Dia de los Muertos and surrounded an entirely Mexican family.

What sets Coco apart from other films of Disney’s past is it’s determination to have an entirely latinx cast. Everyone from the lead Miguel to the featured character of Frida Kahlo to unnamed correction officers are played by latinx actors. Even Princess and the Frog, who had a mostly colored set of characters as well didn’t mimic this action.

12. What Makes a Princess?

Disney, like many other industries, has poked fun at itself more than once. This typically involves a playfully jab at character’s affinity to burst into song. Tangled and Moana alike have teased the song filled musicals but none have been so ruthless to Disney’s archetype of a princess as Wreck It Ralph 2.

Vanellope stumbles upon a trailer full of all the princesses we are familiar with, claiming that she is a princess as well. Naturally, they have to question her. In detailing the scene writers describe, “As the princess encounter evolved, the writers played off the fact that not only do Disney princesses often get kidnapped, but that they are forever gazing into “important waters.” (In their attention to detail, one princess fan at the studio noted to Ribon that Mulan does not look into a puddle, but rather a horse trough. Robin’s enthusiastic response: “Even better!”) The scene also skewers the reliance on a lumbering hunk to solve a damsel’s thorny problem” (Cavna, 2018). While Disney is only making these jokes in jest of their past and how each of the princesses have something in common, it’s nice to see that they’re acknowledging Disney’s untold rules of what makes you a princess. It takes Vanellope affirming that people say her problems were all solved because of a man for the princesses to accept her as so. Ironically, this is the one point that connects all of the princesses together.

13. Stories About Mental Health

Outside of physical representation Disney has created a rich environment for representation for mental health as well. Inside Out was a movie that told the story of physical manifestations of a girl’s emotions having to deal with making her happy after a cross country move takes her away from familiar surroundings and friends. Throughout the movie it shows clear depictions of Riley, the girl who houses the emotions, experiencing what many people can recognize as depression.

The standout of them all seems to be a Disney creation that isn’t even a full length film. Before every movie Disney airs a Pixar short. This separate story can hold just as much emotion as a full length movie but sometimes the message can be missed completely based on racism alone. Before Incredibles 2, a short called Bao aired. Bao featured an Asian Woman who became the mother of a dumpling that came to life. However, as the dumpling grew older he became more dismissive of the mother while she became more desperate to hold onto her dumpling child. At the climax as the dumpling tries to leave she eats him. Now, any person with half a mind can recognize this as a metaphor for empty nest syndrome. This is a feeling of loneliness and depression that a parent may feel when their child leaves the home. It is revealed at the end that she was reflecting on her relationship with her human son after all. Given, she did not actually eat her son but more than likely got into a nasty fight to push him away.

Yet, some people simply didn’t get it. Rather than recognizing the story as a mother and son fighting and coming together once more; people saw a dumpling and a woman with Asian features and completely shut down. The thing is, they could’ve told this story with any race of mother and son and food of their given area. “Our cultural signifiers might be different, but basic human emotions are an experience that spans all of us as humans on this planet” (Jitchotvisut, 2018). Any mother who cares for their child would experience empty nest syndrome but the creators of Bao chose to make this character Asian and they didn’t need a reason to do so either.

14. Putting a Woman in Charge

After John Lasseter was asked to step down amid accusations of misconduct a new head of Disney Animation was needed and there was only one man for the job, a woman. By the end of 2018, Jennifer Lee would become the new Head of Disney Animation. Only joining in 2011, Lee quickly gained wins under her belt such as being a co-director for Frozen, being a co-writer for Wreck It Ralph, and being a key component to Zooptopia.

Lee marks a change from Disney’s initial brand of vapid misogyny and truly shows how the brand has taken a turn for the better. In response to her promotion she replies, “My hope is to support the incredible talent we have, find new voices, and work together to tell original stories. The great films of Disney Animation — the films I loved as a kid and my daughter has grown up loving — are magical, timeless, and full of heart, and it is our goal to create films that carry on and grow this 95-year legacy for future generations” (Berger, 2018). We should be able to look forwards to seeing these new groundbreaking stories with a woman at the lead of the studio.

15. Using Their Other Brands to Reinforce this New Image

Along the years the empire that is Disney has bought out many other companies. The cultural shift has created a wave that rippled these industries as well. Star Wars and Marvel alike have seen a move towards the society Disney began reflecting in 2009.

Star Wars revived after 10 years of remaining dormant with an all new story with a female at its center. Not only that but 3 of the other new heroes are all people of color: Finn played by John Boyega is an African American man, Poe Dameron played by Oscar Issac is Guatemalan, and Rose Tico is played by Kelly Marie Tran is a Vietnamese woman.

Marvel’s shift took more time but isn’t any less prevalent. Perhaps the most apparent is the bold move to have an almost entirely African American cast for the 2018 film, Black Panther. With a world of research on the culture backing the project the film broke records and earned Marvel it’s first Oscar.

Disney backing these projects reflect it’s turning tide and the world is more than supportive.

Sources

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inkyardpress · 5 years

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20 Paperbacks to add to your TBR

Real talk: we can all agree hardcovers make for gorgeous collectors’ items, but there are times when only a paperback will do. They’re easier on the wallet, way more portable for reading on the go and they’re easy to conceal (oh, say, for some sneaky reading during family functions). Here are 20 new and upcoming paperbacks we wouldn’t want to live without:

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

Powerful magic. A deadly legacy. A world at the edge of war.

Evil looms on the horizon, and for Elloren Gardner, granddaughter of the last Black Witch, pressure to live up to her magical heritage is building. Elloren’s people, the Gardnerians, believe she will follow in her grandmother’s footsteps. But Elloren is utterly devoid of power—in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

Granted the opportunity to study at the prestigious Verpax University, Elloren sets out to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But the university may be the most treacherous place of all for the granddaughter of the Black Witch, and Elloren soon realizes that the world she knows is not what it seems. If she is to survive the coming danger, she’ll have to free her mind from the assumptions she was raised with, and learn to trust the very people she’s been taught to hate and fear.

Add The Black Witch to your Goodreads Shelf!

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The first day of senior year:

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

Add The Inexplicable Logic of My Life to your Goodreads Shelf!

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, Enne has only one lead: the name Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems.

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play.

Add Ace of Shades to your Goodreads shelf!

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone... except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice — and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

Add Renegades to your Goodreads shelf!

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler

Magic is risen.

When magic returned to the world, it could have saved humanity, but greed and thirst for power caused mankind's downfall instead. Now once-human monsters called Howls prowl abandoned streets, their hunger guided by corrupt necromancers and the all-powerful Kin. Only Hunters have the power to fight back in the unending war, using the same magic that ended civilization in the first place.

But they are losing.

Tenn is a Hunter, resigned to fight even though hope is nearly lost. When he is singled out by a seductive Kin named Tomás and the enigmatic Hunter Jarrett, Tenn realizes he's become a pawn in a bigger game. One that could turn the tides of war. But if his mutinous magic and wayward heart get in the way, his power might not be used in favor of mankind.

If Tenn fails to play his part, it could cost him his friends, his life…and the entire world.

Add Runebinder to your Goodreads shelf!

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health edited by Kelly Jensen

Who’s Crazy?

What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when such a label gets attached to your everyday experiences?

In order to understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people.

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to better understanding how our mental health affects us every day. Thirty-three writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy.

If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages, and let’s get talking.

Add (Don’t) Call me Crazy to your Goodreads shelf!

The First to Know by Abigail Johnson

Dana Fields's father never knew his parents. When Dana secretly does a DNA test for her dad, hoping to find him some distant relatives for his birthday, her entire world implodes. Instead of a few third cousins, Dana discovers a half brother her age whose very existence means her parents' happy marriage is a lie.

Dana's desire to know her half brother, Brandon, and the extent of her dad's deception, clashes with her wish not to destroy her family. When she sees the opportunity to get to know Brandon through his cousin, the intense yet kind Chase, she takes it. But the more she finds out about Brandon, her father's past and the irresistible guy who'll never forgive her if he discovers the truth, the more she sees the inevitable fallout from her own lies. With her family crumbling around her, Dana must own up to her actions and find a way to heal the breach—for everyone—before they're torn apart for good.

Add The First to Know to your Goodreads shelf!

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn't.

And then she died.

Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change. . .

Add The Afterlife of Holly Chase to your Goodreads shelf!

Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz

Constantly in the spotlight thanks to her politician father's rising star, Olivia Blakely feels the pressure to be perfect. As the youngest girl in her class, she tries hard to keep up and to seem mature to the older boy she's crushing on, even as she catches his eye. But the need to look good on camera and at school soon grows into an all-consuming struggle with bulimia.

As Liv works toward her goal of gaining early admission to art school, including taking part in an upcoming student show, her life spirals out of control. Swept up in demands to do more than she's ready for, to always look perfect and to succeed, Liv doesn't know who she is anymore. It will take nearly losing her best friend and even her life for Liv to learn that loving herself is far more important than earning the world's approval.

Add Someone to Love to your Goodreads shelf!

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

When August learns that his best friend, Jack, shows signs of degenerative hallucinatory disorder, he is determined to help Jack cope. Jack’s vivid and long-term visions take the form of an elaborate fantasy world layered over our own—a world ruled by the Wicker King. As Jack leads them on a quest to fulfill a dark prophecy in this alternate world, even August begins to question what is real or not.

August and Jack struggle to keep afloat as they teeter between fantasy and their own emotions. In the end, each must choose his own truth.

Add The Wicker King to your Goodreads shelf!

Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter

A note from Jade Leighton’s journal

Years ago, a tragic accident robbed me of my mother and emotions. Because I find beauty in darkness and thrive outside social norms, I’ve been labeled a “freak” at school. I know my continued apathy hurts my loved ones, but I’m not about to change. Nothing will ever hurt me again.

Then I wake up in an alternate reality…and everything else has changed. Goth is in. I’m considered cool, and my archenemy—the formerly popular Mercedes—is the freak. But my real friends won’t talk to me...and the new boy is getting under my skin. As my world spins out of control, I’m desperate to return to normal. But the more time that passes, the less I’m sure what “normal” really is.

Add Oh My Goth to your Goodreads shelf!

Stealing Snow by Danielle Page

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.

Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.

Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.

Add Stealing Snow to your Goodreads shelf!

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Fifteen-year-old Aki Simon has a theory. And it's mostly about sex.

No, it isn't that kind of theory. Aki already knows she's bisexual—even if, until now, it's mostly been in the hypothetical sense. Aki has dated only guys so far, and her best friend, Lori, is the only person who knows she likes girls, too.

Actually, Aki's theory is that she's got only one shot at living an interesting life—and that means she's got to stop sitting around and thinking so much. It's time for her to actually do something. Or at least try.

So when Aki and Lori set off on a church youth-group trip to a small Mexican town for the summer and Aki meets Christa—slightly older, far more experienced—it seems her theory is prime for the testing.

But it's not going to be easy. For one thing, how exactly do two girls have sex, anyway? And more important, how can you tell if you're in love? It's going to be a summer of testing theories—and the result may just be love.

Add Our Own Private Universe to your Goodreads shelf!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.

Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

Add They Both Die at the End to your Goodreads shelf!

Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu

Obsessive-compulsive teen Clarissa wants to get better, if only so her mother will stop asking her if she's okay.

Andrew wants to overcome his eating disorder so he can get back to his band and their dreams of becoming famous.

Film aficionado Ben would rather live in the movies than in reality.

Gorgeous and overly confident Mason thinks everyone is an idiot.

And Stella just doesn't want to be back for her second summer of wilderness therapy.

As the five teens get to know one another and work to overcome the various disorders that have affected their lives, they find themselves forming bonds they never thought they would, discovering new truths about themselves and actually looking forward to the future.

Add Four Weeks, Five People to your Goodreads shelf!

Mirror Mirror by Cara Delevigne and Rowan Coleman

Friend. Lover. Victim. Traitor.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

Sixteen-year-old friends Red, Leo, Rose, and Naomi are misfits; still figuring out who they are and who they want to be. Life isn't perfect, but music brings them together, and they are excited about what the future holds for their band, Mirror, Mirror. That is until Naomi vanishes before being pulled unconscious out of the river.

She's left fighting for her life in a coma. The police claim it was a failed suicide attempt, but her friends aren't convinced. Will Naomi ever wake up? What - or perhaps who - led her to that hospital bed? And how did Red, the self-styled protector of the group, fail to spot the warning signs?

While Rose turns to wild partying and Leo is shrouded by black moods, Red sets out to uncover the truth. It's a journey that will cause Red's world to crack, exposing the group's darkest secrets. Nothing will ever be the same again, because once a mirror is shattered, it can't be fixed.

Add Mirror Mirror to your Goodreads shelf!

The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics

From the outside, the Cane family looks like they have it all. A successful military father, a loving mother and five beautiful teenage daughters. But on the inside, life isn't quite so idyllic: the Cane sisters can barely stand each other, their father is always away, and their neglectful mother struggles with addiction and depression.

When their youngest and most beloved sister, Rose, dies in a tragic accident, Mona Cane and her sisters are devastated. And when she is brought back from the dead, they are relieved. But soon they discover that Rose must eat human flesh to survive, and when their mother abandons them, the sisters will find out just how far they'll go to keep their family together.

Add The Ravenous to your Goodreads shelf!

Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten

When I looked up, his smile was wide and real. “Ready?” he said.

I faked a smile back. I had gotten so good at faking things.

I thought: You brought this on yourself, Sasha. You will have to pretend forever now. He squeezed my hand again. He couldn’t begin to imagine what this actually was. He had no idea what I’d done. What any of us had.

When Sasha’s best friend Xavier gets back together with his cheating ex, Ivy, Sasha knows she needs to protect him. So she poses as a guy online to lure Ivy away.

But Sasha’s plan goes sickeningly wrong. And she soon learns to be careful of who you pretend to be because you might be surprised by who you become…

Add Bad Girls with Perfect Faces to your Goodreads shelf!

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader.

But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their shipor just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

Add Zenith to your Goodreads shelf!

Dumplin’: Movie Tie-in Edition by Julie Murphy

Soon to be a movie from Netflix—featuring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, Dove Cameron and others, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton!

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

Add Dumplin’ to your Goodreads shelf!

#paperback books #ya books #ya reads #bookworm #book recommendations

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xxhanachanxx · 6 years

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When it comes to shipping, am I the only person that’s like a die-hard fan for a ship yet my mind is not screaming that it needs to be canon? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for people wanting to see their two favorite fictional characters together as a couple; but then again I’m down with whether or not a creator/developer of a film, show, video game, book, etc. can confirm that a couple is canon. Though even if I can find that adorable, let me stick with any other aspects that I want to see in various outlets aside from romance. Or what I find better, for a fictional character I still want to think about portraying them as the way they’re originally portrayed. Sure that I understand that there are AU’s or any form of alternative just so we can make up anything about our precious OTP. Even though I’m all for anyone doing AU’s, sometimes I can’t help but to think that it would corrupt my head; but I’d like to do an AU one day! I’m usually a shipper that doesn’t think that my favorite pairings are the “oh-so perfect OTP and they need to be together forever”, because even for having a ship I do have other shippings that would involve the same character! So, this would probably be the longest text post I’ve ever wrote but at the same time a lot needs to be put down. And with some of the pairings that I will mention, maybe you would be familiar, maybe I’ll not mention your favorite OTP, but do take my conception in consideration!

So my first ship that I’m going to begin with talking about will be Moana x Ariel (or MoAriel). Do I ship them a lot? Well, I’m more in between with they could be great gfs or just best friends, but the way I see it is that they make great ocean buddies! So I cannot deny they’re cute! Do I want them to be canon? No, and here’s where I say that even if MoAriel is cute I still want my mind to be on the right path where I want to portray Moana and Ariel as the way they were originally portrayed in Moana and The Little Mermaid. For Ariel, I still need to keep in mind that she has Eric and Melody (idfc if I’m mentioning the shit sequel, it was one of my favorite direct-to sequels growing up k bye). I also like seeing Ariel and Eric together! Now with Moana, I just think she’s too good for a man and I’m not even headcanoning that she’s lesbian either. While we’re in the topic with the Disney Princesses as all of the news is spilling for Ralph Breaks The Internet, and as an avid LGBT supporter myself, it’s times that I couldn’t take a few people seriously to where they say that Merida, Elsa, Mulan, and many others are lesbian or bi. NOW DON’T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY! I’m all for seeing anything LGBT-related in animation, but sometimes I get a bit iffy on that issue with what will kids think of when they see it. I mean I understand that some people would say that it would mess the kids’ minds up. All I can think for now is that if I were to have kids, I would probably teach them about gay marriage not at a young age but maybe when they get older. I guess I’m that one LGBT supporter who can’t stand some of the SJWs… but hey, if people want to headcanon that they’re gay, well they can do them. I won’t stop them for that. Like for Merida, I’d still think she’s better off without a man but I won’t headcanon about her sexuality. For Elsa, like I get that people want her to be lesbian for the Frozen sequel, but I’d prefer wanting to know about the premise of the sequel more. And with Mulan, okay I get it that her outfit is dope and I’m all for her modern outfit. But I can’t have the mindset screaming “OMFG MULAN’S BI!” I believe that she’s a strong female warrior, and even I can’t help to think that she and Shang are great together! Okay now to get back and wrap up with MoAriel, I will say huge kudos for the shippers for making that happen. Like I can’t deny that it’s an amazing crossover between the land and the sea.

Alright, so another ship I’d like to talk about, and another same-sex ship, will be TwiDash (Twilight Sparkle x Rainbow Dash from MLP:FiM). Oh hey look, Imma throwback to one of my all-time favorite OTPs especially I happen to watch some of the old episodes again! Now let’s get to those 2 questions again: do I ship them a lot? I pretty much do, especially the fact that they happen to be my favorite ponies out of the Mane 6! Do I want them to be canon? No, and it’s not because that I think they should end up with stallions instead (and apparently, I don’t want to have those pairings be canon either!). Obviously RD is one of Twilight’s best friends, so I’d rather stick with whatever chemistry they have for each other! So because I have to bring up the fact that I also have pairings of Twilight and Rainbow with stallions, here’s what I need to say about that: Of course having TwiDash as one of my MLP OTPs, I happen to like SoarinDash and FlashLight (that’s Flash Sentry x Twilight Sparkle just to clarify in case if anyone gets mistaken for literally a flashlight; and yes, I like Flash try me bitch). And as a same-sex shipper, I’m not one for giving another character shit for getting in the way of the same-sex couples that I like. So as a TwiDash fan, I really don’t give flak on Flash if he were to get in the way (and Soarin’ too, I guess). Not even to mention that not only that I’ve had it with the Flash hate, it frustrates me to see some bronies/pegasisters making attack/kill art of him (I do have a vivid memory of seeing an art piece of Flash getting attacked by Trixie just bc the artist likes Twixie.). I mean I get that Flash doesn’t have that much character development (human or pony; in fact I’m more of a pony Flash x pony Twi shipper) aside from appearing near Twilight or Sunset Shimmer to where a lot of people scream “gary-stu” or “waifu stealer”, but I will say that I think Flash deserves better. Now I know saying this as a FlashLight shipper in where they don’t really interact with each other that much, I really couldn’t help myself thinking how cute they are together though. But then again, there’s more to MLP:FiM than just shippings! So to get back and wrap up with TwiDash, sure there’s nothing wrong with having other shippings with one of the same characters! Though at the same time, and just like I mentioned from my previous statement with MoAriel, I’m not headcanoning Twilight or Rainbow’s sexualities at all. So I’ll just let my imagination flow to wherever the hell it wants!

Okay let’s get into another of my favorite ship, and this time it’s a hetero ship, ShadAmy! Yay, time for another throwback to one of my favorite Sonic ships! Though I will get into a later topic that’s kinda like the topic with me as a TwiDash fan and not giving Flash a lot of shit for being in the way. So onto the same two questions: do I ship them a lot? I think shipping Shadow and Amy together was sudden, bc I was a huge SonAmy fan back then (and I still do ship SonAmy don’t worry) and wasn’t really fond with Shadow until to this day. I guess after seeing fan art of ShadAmy, it led me to start shipping them. Do I want them to be canon? Probably not, and it’s not that I think that Amy should be with Sonic (and as an SonAmy fan, I could care less whether or not it’s canon, and if anyone screams at me that it is canon and I can’t change anything about it, leave.); and I don’t think that Shadow and Amy have a huge chemistry with each other (even if they only interacted with each other twice in Sonic Adventure 2). Now here’s the part in where I say that as a ShadAmy fan, I’m not one for giving shit on Sonic or have to make him the bad guy just bc he keeps running away from Amy. And even if I’m more into Shadow than Sonic (I promise y’all I’m not like one of those Shadow fangirls…), that doesn’t mean I won’t stop loving Sonic! And playing the games of that blue blur will always hold a special place in my heart! So what conclusion do I have for ShadAmy? Nothing probably. But no matter what I’m okay with whoever I want to ship with Amy. ShadAmy? SonAmy? I really don’t care!

Now since the pairings that I’ve mentioned so far happen to be my favorite OTPs, let’s take this next topic with talking about a NOTP. And who will I be talking about next? Enter Victor x Emily from Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. As much as I enjoyed this masterpiece of a Tim Burton film, apparently having to think about this does grind my gears. So onto the questions again: do I ship them a lot? I’ve already stated that they’re not my cup of tea. Do I want them to be canon- okay um yeah let’s get right into that! I guess ever since I first saw the film back then, when I saw the ending scene with Emily turning into butterflies and then Victor and Victoria embraced my mind screamed, “welp, at least Victor and Victoria have each other now”. But at the same time it did sadden me to see Emily go away like that, yet then again Victor has freed her from the memories of pain and shit she’d been through with Barkis. So where am I going with this? Oh yes y’all, I actually like Victor x Victoria. And no, it’s not that I think Victor x Emily is necrophiliac. Pretty much, I’ve had it with everyone talking shit about Victoria all bc she was in the way between Victor and Emily. Tbh I could go on and on talking about defending Victoria, but to keep it a bit short it wasn’t her fault for interrupting the wedding; in fact, that can be saved for a later time. Now before I wrap up, and as I mentioned since the beginning, I’m all for alternatives or “what-ifs” made by Victor x Emily fans but at the same time we gotta accept the fact that the ending of Corpse Bride is just the way it is. Get used to it. Emily had her own happy ending.

Alrighty then, I’ll be taking this last topic discussing about WildeHopps just before I wrap this whole post up! Ah yes, our favorite fox-bunny duo; yet I do have some tweaks with what I think about them for the near future.. But anyway, let’s get into the questions one last time: do I ship them a lot? Now for anyone that have followed me for my Zootopia shenanigans, I do need to say that it seemed sudden of me shipping them out of nowhere. Like sure I can’t deny that Nick and Judy have a great chemistry, but there’s more to the film than just the shipping (or any romance outlet for that matter). I guess I should say that after seeing the film and looking at the fan art of the two, it led me to start shipping them! Do I want them to be canon? Okay see, this is where I get iffy about it bc even if Disney confirmed that they’re canon (or at least that’s what I heard) I still think that Nick and Judy need to start off as best friends first and then we shall see what will happen in the future if there were to be a sequel. So yeah, I think I’m that one person who had to cool off from seeing the ending bc yeah it’s cute but I don’t think I’ll be falling for it sorry! Friends? Couple? Again, these two have chemistry and that’s all that matters to me! So for now, I’m in both platonic and romantic sides of their relationship. And even though having this thought never occurring in my head, I don’t want to think about giving in for them to have their own mate by the same species. But hey, if y’all want to ship Nick with a vixen and Judy with another rabbit I ain’t stopping ya! Which would somewhat lead me to talking about how Judy would be shipped with Jack Savage (quick fyi for those who don’t know him, he’s a deleted character that was the main protagonist of the early version of the film); while I may not be into SavageHopps that much (and this is pretty much the same thing with my TwiDash and ShadAmy topics..), but damn some of y’all are salty on him for trying to “steal” Judy from Nick. If people want to like Jack, let them. If people want to ship SavageHopps, let them! I mean hey, he’s got Skye (who’s another deleted character during the early process) and I’m all for SavageSkye y’all! Okay, yeah I know I brought them out of nowhere as this topic is supposed to be about Nick and Judy but at the same time I kinda had to bring that out there haha. Like I said we shall see where will their future will take them, and we can have our imaginations flow wherever the hell they go!

So that wraps up with what I have to say with shippings! Thank you guys for taking your time reading this~ ❤️

#Personal #Shipping #Rant #Essay #Ramble #THIS WAS THE LONGEST I'VE WROTE TBH #Probably not use any of the characters/ships in the hashtags until I feel comfortable about it.

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