#someone tell me more ya books that follow this formula

[whitexwingedxdoves]

waterfall   [request]

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Pronouns: She/Her Warnings: babe its just fluffy as heck. Summary: Now he had a ring, Daryl Dixon needed the perfect way to propose to you and after many dead ends, he finally cooks up the perfect plan. A/N: Requested by @witch-of-letters​ . Erm this is just the cutest request ever though. My heart is so full. (this has fully let me live out my Mrs Daryl Dixon fantasy) Tags: @chloe-skywalker​

Marriage had never even been a passing thought in Daryl’s mind before, though with Negan behind bars now and the fact you were carrying his child something seemed to switch in his mind. He spent a good week searching for the perfect ring for you despite the limited options, he even considered mugging a walker for one at some point.  He found a lucky escape one day when Carol, who was also searching for the perfect ring for you in between her time at the kingdom, found a perfect silver band with a singular diamond that glistened in the sun. She managed to disguise the delivery to Daryl as a visit and you thought nothing of it, soaking up most of her time talking about how hard you found the first trimester of your pregnancy and how everything seemed so much easier in your second.  

Cursing under his voice as he sat on the porch of your home, Daryl caressed the ring in-between his fingers. Now he had the ring he would have to come up with the perfect way to propose to you, feeling you deserved so much more than a kitchen floor proposal.  The advice he managed to pull from Carol before she left was nothing other than ‘as long as it comes from the heart’ which was no help to him. The sound of the front door opening almost made him drop the ring, he scrambled to tuck it away into his vest turning to face you. His eyes landed on the bump that had finally formed on your stomach, a smile cracking his face. You gave him a small smile, rubbing your bump before looking outwards to the street, letting a small sigh pass your lips. “I’m gonna go see if the infirmary has any more vitamins left” you finally spoke, the man just nodding your direction, chewing on the corner of his mouth. “I won't be long” with that, Daryl scrambled to be by your side and planted a soft kiss on your cheek before waving you goodbye.

-

Daryl was sure his brain was fried after straining to come up with a proposal idea, not understanding why it was so hard, he had come up with plans for tracking and war on the spot but this was the first time he encountered a block. He knew it was time to pull in some reinforcements and who better than Michonne.  When he found her, he just pulled the ring from his pocket and showed it to her. Michonne could barely hide her wide smile as she saw the band, not that she wanted to hide it.

“Are you asking me to marry you?” she joked as her eyes finally met his, a soft grunt left Daryl’s lips as he placed the ring back into his pocket. “So, when you asking her?” Her grin resembled that of a girl who had just witnessed her friend get asked to prom by their crush, it made the archer a little uncomfortable as he shifted on his feet.

“tha’s the problem” a sigh filled his words “Dono how ‘m gonna do it” his brow cocked at the sound of Michonne’s teasing laughter

“You know you don’t need to make a big deal out of it!” Finally making her way around the kitchen, cleaning up what was left of Judith’s lunch, Michonne just shook her head at the man. “She’ll say yes, whatever you do” even though her words were confident, it didn’t convince Daryl.

“Na, she deserves a big gesture” he argued, Michonne shot him a look but chose not to argue with the man as she placed plates into the sink. “Don’t go tellin’ e’ryone!” he added before turning on his feet to leave the house.

“Your secret is safe with me”

With the lack of help from Michonne, Daryl sort out other people for ideas – all having the same results, Nothing! Aaron was far to giddy to even think of anything on the spot, Gabriel just spoke about the beauty of marriage and the ceremony, not really answering any of Daryl’s questions and Rosita... well Rosita suggested he propose over a hog’s carcass, even going as far as telling him to hide the ring on one of the ribs – of course she was joking but even Daryl couldn’t deny that you loved hunting just as much as he did. He only had one person left he could ask and he scolded himself for not thinking of it first, Rick.

Of course Rick was at your home, talking to you when he found him, Daryl just waited and waited for the conversation to come to an end, shifting on his feet throughout Rick’s visit. He never caught the sly looks Rick would send Daryl’s way every so often when you weren’t looking, he was too focused on the task at hand to notice much of anything. When Rick finally announced he was leaving, Daryl followed after him making sure the front door was closed before he started to talk.

“Hey, can I ask ya somethin’” Daryl shouted after the sheriff, making him turn on the bottom steps to your porch.

“Is this about askin’ Y/N to marry ya?” Rick teased, sending Daryl a knowing look which only caused the archers' brows to furrow slightly “Michonne told me!” he admitted with a small laugh.

“I told ‘er not to tell anyone!” Rick shook his head at the angry tone in Daryl’s voice, the smile never leaving his features.

“She’s right, ya dont need no fancy candle lit dinner – just ask her. She’ll say yes” The advice offered to Daryl only made him roll his eyes, Rick didn’t stay long and left with barely another word leaving Daryl with no new ideas and just as confused as he had started the day.

-

The next day he woke up with an extra spring in his step, he finally had an idea. You couldn’t help but be baffled by his sudden mood change, yesterday he spent all day on edge and every time you brought it up he would just brush it off as if nothing was the matter or when he massaged your feet while you read a book, he seemed to press a little harder than usual and jump every time you spoke to him. Today though, he told you to spend the full day relaxing and gave you a soft kiss before he went out on a hunt, which you did, you spent half the day reminiscing on the hunts you’d go on together, how he always seemed impressed with how skilful you were with a knife or how he’d comment on how much of a magpie you were when you’d come home on a run with the most impressive treasures. It wasn’t long until Daryl showed up again, he wasn’t the usual messy Daryl that you’d encounter after a hunt, nor did he have a belt full of squirrels. You didn’t question him, scared to make him just as jumpy as he was yesterday and just offered him a kiss when he walked through the door.

You noticed how proud he looked as he set his cross bow on the kitchen counter “M goin back out, just wanted to know if ya wanna join?” he questioned you which confused you even more. Since the day you found out that you were pregnant, he had practically wrapped you in bubble wrap, arguing with you every time you wanted to leave the gates.

“You want me to go on a hunt with you?” Your hands naturally settled on your stomach as you cocked your brow at the man.

“It’s safe, made sure before I got ya.” His tone was convincing but you still questioned his motives “Figured ya’d wanna get out for a bit” he finally added and you accepted his invitation. He was right, you needed to get out of Alexandria badly, you loved it there but every day it seemed to get smaller.

-

He took you in a spare car, refusing to let you get on the back of his bike while you were carrying his ‘son’. It wasn’t long until he had parked up at the side of a road, and led you into the forest. You watched his movements carefully and questioned every step he took, not seeming to follow the same formula he used every time he tracked.

“What are you doing?” you questioned, noticing the obvious tracks in the ground that he ignored.

“Trackin’” he argued, mimicking his past actions to seem more convincing as he led you further into the woods. You figured it was best not to question him anymore, despite your knowledge of tracking, it was nothing in comparison to Daryl’s.  He finally stopped at a waterfall, one you didn’t even know existed, it was small but god it was beautiful you could barely peel your eyes from the view. You stood there for a moment, allowing the tranquil energy to take over.

When you finally turned to Daryl, he seemed to be fumbling in his pocket for something which only made you laugh a little. He took a few steps closer to you with something buried in his fist, you weren't sure what it was but your heart seemed to race a little at the possibilities. He looked around at the waterfall only confirming this was the best place to propose to you; the sun now had a golden hue as it fought with the leaves on the trees to find the ground. His eyes finally met you as he took your hand in his.

“I aint ever done this shit before” he whispered which only made your giggle reappear.  “Ya the most importan’ person in my life. Fer god sake, ya carryin’ ma son” you rolled your eyes at his assumption but couldn’t wipe the smile from your face as you watched him awkwardly try to find the right words to say. “ a love you” he finished which only made your smile widen, you opened your mouth to respond to his loving words but nothing left as he knelt down on one knee in front of you. Your heart seemed to beat harder than it ever had done in your life, your eyes filling with tears as you watched the scene unfold, secretly wishing someone would capture the perfect moment on film for you to watch forever. “Y/N Will ya marry me?” he held out his palm to show you the perfect ring, you couldn’t believe something so beautiful existed in this world let alone the fact you’d get to wear it.

You stood speechless for a moment, the only sound you managed to get out was a squeak of some kind, you nodded your head a little too vigorously holding out your hand for the man to squeeze the ring on, it was a little small but with enough pressure it fit. Before he could find his way back to his feet, you managed to knock him onto the ground, his arms wrapping around you as you attacked his face with small, sweet kisses. “I love you, Daryl Dixon” you whispered in between the kisses, only making the southerner laugh.

You sat there watching the waterfall between Daryl’s legs, his back providing the perfect back rest, only turning away to glance at your ring, not sure what was more beautiful. Finally you looked up behind you to find his eyes had been on you the entire time. He lent down to place one of his tender kisses on your lips as you reached your hand to his face. You sighed on his lips before he pulled away, your eyes remaining close as you let the feeling linger. “Mrs Y/N Dixon, I like how it sounds”

“Me too”

#daryl dixon #norman reedus #twd daryl #daryl dixon fanfiction #the walking dead fanfiction #twd fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x y/n

[mythiccheroacademia]

My bad, I’m just now seeing the rules😭 I’ll choose shiguraki, dabi, and Hawks for the time traveling kids reaction

A/N: You’re all good baby! I kept looking at this trying to come up with a fitting situation for them and then I dreamt about being in all three situations last night??? lmaooo it was both terrifying and lucky hehe~ Hopefully, it’s as good as I’m imagining it

Side Note: I’m writing this with a baby (thankfully, but unfortunately, not mine!) on my chest. Get on my level. Jk, but everyone say hi <3

Warnings: Cursing 

Shigaraki Tomura:

you and shigaraki came back from your daily walks 

aka, people watching

and you two planned to play on the PS4 later

whiles you’re setting up the TV in the living room, he goes to his room to get the console and remotes

he opens the door, sees a baby on his bed, then immediately shuts the door

goes to you and kurogiri

him: “any of you know why there’s a baby on my bed?”

kurogiri: a baby? 😐

you: a BABY!!!?? 😍💞💞

you rush in there and to your amazement, there is a baby no more than six or seven months, gurgling on the bed

kurogiri is giving tomura the most judgemental look and shigaraki kinda feels embarrassed even though he swears he didn’t do anything

“please don't tell me it’s yours”

“i can assure you, y/n and i use prot--”

“oh my gosh, shiggy, she looks just like you with my hair and nose!”

kurogiri is over it 

tomura is malfunctioning

you’re gushing over the baby girl, totally ignoring the fact that a literal child, who just so happened to look like a perfect mix between you and tomura, just appeared like a sick magic trick

was it a quirk?

was it time travel??

did tomura knock you up and everybody just somehow forgot???

so many questions, so little answers

in order to keep from getting a migraine, everybody followed your train of thought and just went along with it for now

shigaraki was less than pleased that his plans with you had been scrapped

he spent the day going shopping (stealing) for diapers, getting formula, buying clothes, and buying toys

feeding the baby was annoying

changing her was a nightmare

shigaraki threatened to disintegrate the child if she puked on him one more time

but everyone just adores her

she’s such a cutie

her toothless smile just warms up everybody’s hearts

even kurogiri is smitten

the day ends with you, the baby, and shigaraki in his room, getting ready for bed

he’s grumbling bc “can’t we just leave her on the couch or something”

you ignore him and he’s forced to get in bed bc no matter what, he’d never give up the chance to cuddle with you...even if it is with some stupid baby

after she falls asleep, you sigh and lean on his shoulder

“you really think she’s ours?” you ask

he wants to say i hope not, but the way you look at him with all the hope in the world makes his heart tingle 

instead of answering, he softly kisses your lips and tucks the both of you in

when you both wake up, the baby is gone--probably back to her timeline

you're a little sad and shigaraki only says what he says NOT BC HE THINKS IT’S TRUE OR SOMETHING but bc your misery makes him itch

“don’t worry. i’m sure we’ll see the brat again someday”

Dabi:

when you came back to your apartment, holding a load of groceries, you were quite surprised to see the situation at hand 

in the middle of your living room was dabi, at his big ass age, wrestling with a kid that couldn't be older than 12 

least to say, you were pissed 

“come on, fess up you little runt. did my old man have another kid”

“for the last time, NO! i’m yours!!”

“stop lying! my pull out game is too strong for that”

“EW! get off of me you staple-faced, burnt chicken nugget lookin’ fu--”

that’s when you intervened

“chicken nugget lookin’ what?” you questioned, looking at the boy with the look™️  

 the boy’s expression went from angry to scared in 0.2 seconds

dabi’s kind of impressed

“father. i-i was gonna say father”

“oh, that’s what i thought bc if you were gonna say what i thought your were gonna say, then i’d have to whoop your ass. but you weren’t, correct?”

“no ma’am”

“so we’re good?”

“yes ma’am”

“perfect. now what’s this about him being your father?”

dabi is taking out of his smugness and flinches under the heat of your glare

you ask him one time who he slept with and when he tells you you're crazy, you lunge at him

your kid lets you get a couple of good hits in before he decides to drop the news that he’s you two’s son of three from the future

you pause, his hand on your face and your fist in his hair

“deadass?” dabi says 

the boy nods his head and you two take the time to look at him

his features are undeniably yours and dabi’s; he was one of those kids that if you sat them next to one or the other, they could look like both parents

you two take it better than he thought you would 

“i always knew you wanted kids with me. simp”

dabi can’t even deny it. he just rolls his eyes and acts all tough 

then he asks, “you sure you’re not gonna get erased from the time continuum by telling us?”

the boy shrugs “i mean...i hope not”

it’s beyond y’all at this point

so you spend the day with the kid, who was named after Dabi (Touya Jr.), and it’s so obvious he’s a momma’s boy 

he helps you cook, set the table, and wash the dishes 

smiles at you like you’re the entire world

dabi is kind of jealous from all the attention you’re giving him 

fumes at the middle finger junior sneakily flips at him 

does it back 

claims to hate the kid but wipes the crumbs off his lip without hesitation

junior got the itis and is down for a nap

calls you two mom and dad before falling asleep 

you get all 🥺 and even dabi is a little nostalgic when junior disappears 

it’s quiet for a moment and then he says, 

“wanna do a practice round in baby-making. yknow? for the future”

you roll your eyes but you aint say no! 

Takami Keigo (Hawks):

hawks didn't expect to see a tiny kid on the edge of a building on his day off

there wasn't a lot that scared him, but he couldn't deny the fear hammering against his ribcage as he saw the child look around before jumping

thank goodness his speed wasn’t just talk

he caught the girl who didn't look a day past six 

he’s in the middle of giving her a huge lecture about safety and mental health, she just giggles and gives him the biggest kiss on the cheek 

“haha! i knew you’d catch me if i fall, papa~”

he’s too angry to even register what she called him

“that was totally dangerous, kid! what if i hadn't seen you? then what?”

“then i would fly” she said like it was the most obvious thing

he’s dumbstruck as two beautiful white wings sprout out of thin air and allow her to float next to the hero with ease 

hawks blinks bc yeah anyone could have wings, but he could tell that feather pattern from anywhere

it was his 

it was like his own fingerprint was staring at him 

did he accidentally knock someone up bc that would be a big uh-oh

y/n wouldn't like that at all

he asks the child who he is to her and she repeats, “papa~”

he then asks who the mother was and she goes, “mommy~”

she’s not the brightest crayon in the box, that’s for sure 

“what’s mommy’s name, kid,” he asks with the patience of a saint

“Takami Y/N~”

“you’re coming with me”

flys across the city with conviction

you’re lying on your bed, face mask on and reading a book in peace before your oh so wonderful boyfriend comes crashing through your open window

you don’t even flinch. so used to his surprise visits, you close the book and sigh

“to what do i owe the great pleasure of having you break into my house? again”

hawks holds the cute girl up, squishing her cheek as she laughs from the adventure they just went on

“mommy!”

“surprise!”

this time, you drop the book

eventually, with some cupcakes and chicken, the little girl tells you two about how she went to play with some kid and got zapped by a quirk and ended up here 

you also find out she’s the youngest of four

you look a little sick but keigo gives you a shit-eating grin

he’s so excited about having a family with you

you can’t deny the tingle in your heart

parades the girl around the house and they’re both laughing the same laugh, eyes bright with joy

it makes your heart hurt and now you have to join into the shenanigans 

you spend the day playing games, doing face masks, and reading books to fall asleep to

when you wake up, she’s gone but keigo’s arms are still firmly wrapped around your waist

“so now that you know i’m gonna trap you with four kids, when are you gonna pop the question?”  you joke 

but hawks isn’t laughing. instead, he’s smiling at you in a way that makes your eyes widen

he digs in his coat and pulls out the ring

“i was gonna try and make it a little more romantic. but why wait? so, what do ya say to taking my last name?”

#shigaraki tomura #mha shigaraki #tenko shimura #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki x y/n #mha oc #dabi #todoroki touya #dabi x reader #dabi todoroki #hawks mha #hawks x reader #mha keigo takami #takami keigo #takami keigo x reader #mha scenarios #bnha scenarios #mha imagines #bnha imagines #honorable mentions: #kurogiri #mha domestic #bnha domestic #mha children #bnha children #bnha next gen #mha babies! #mha x poc!reader #mha x black reader

[frumfrumfroo]

"#also american franchises based on ya novels need some seriously enticing incentives for me to give them a chance" If you don't mind talking about it, I'd love to hear this explained more! I'm really curious about why this is and what about American YA franchise novels puts you off...? Also more generally, what makes these types of stories cowardly and how writers can avoid being cowards/making cowardly choices/examples of when they do? Like what is a cowardly choice and what is a brave one?

Well, it’s basically a pile up of red flags for me. First, that I don’t like YA. By which I mean the American publishing industry standard that constitutes the ‘genre’, not the concept of stories for young adults.

There’s an (enforced?) house style of basic, utilitarian prose I find extremely boring to read and YA novels are overall simplistic even when they engage with nuanced ideas. Obviously that’s by design because they’re meant to be really accessible, but for me it’s frustrating and unsatisfying. It’s possible to be simple and accessible while still offering a lot of thematic richness and subtext, but you don’t often get that. It’s possible to write beautiful prose for even small children, so there’s no excuse for how dry and beige and lacking colour the writing tends to be. 

I’ve made repeated exceptions because of an exciting premise or someone’s rec and it’s just... never been worth it. I prefer to read something unconstrained by those standards, both stylistically and regarding the content. I like complex prose and complex (or at least deeply resonant) characters. If I’m going to read something that’s pure formula or where I might have to look past weak prose, I’d rather read fanfiction and have it star characters I already care about.

And I’m just tired of the American cultural death cult and the attitudes to storytelling that go with it, so I’d rather have less of that in my life. There’s some writers/directors/actors I really like and will continue to follow, but I want to mostly take a break from US media. The relentless propaganda in their mainstream entertainment is also very... wearying.

I was kinda being facetious about writers being cowards, but I just mean doing a cautionary tale about a girl who stays with her NiceGuy childhood friend who’s afraid of her agency and gives up her power because actualising into an adult hero is scary and dangerous and sexual desire is scary and dangerous and making a human connection with the woobie villain is Bad... like, that’s a ‘safe’ choice that was passé for women’s fiction in the nineteenth century. It’s like Romanticism didn’t even happen for some people.

Courageous storytelling to me is actually challenging either your protagonist or your current cultural milieu. Interrogating the received wisdom you and your audience probably take for granted. Coming of age stories need to ask what adulthood actually means and whether the ‘expected’ choices are really the right ones; they have to show the person who is growing up wrestle with the discovery that their authority figures and foundational assumptions are fallible. That doesn’t mean you have to decide it was all wrong, maybe you reaffirm your original beliefs, but they should still be questioned and an adult understanding of them should be more nuanced. If your protagonist ends up back where they started, your story better have been about resolving why they weren’t content with that at the beginning and how it was their perspective that needed to change rather than their circumstances. Otherwise your message is just ‘give up and don’t hope for something better’.

So many stories now are ‘cowardly’ to me because they’re entirely unchallenging, even at the most basic level, and are about protagonists who never struggle or fail. Or they’re simply credulously cynical and complacent, which is just lazy imo. Standing for something, saying something, takes courage. Saying ‘pfft, it’s whatever, nothing matters’ as if a thin veneer of pseudo-nihilism makes you intelligent is juvenile. We’ve seen how often hacks will dismiss the entire concept of art as having meaning in order to deflect criticism (’themes are for eighth grade book reports’, ‘I don’t like to think about the meaning of anything I write’, etc.), as if only a pretentious snob could possibly care about this most essentially human activity of interpersonal communion through storytelling and searching for purpose. The truth is that these people are embarrassed by their incompetence and the fact that they’ve been caught totally uncritically regurgitating a shitty reactionary narrative without a hint of self-awareness so they pretend they ~weren’t even trying~ and never wanted to tell a real story in the first place.

#I get a lot of YA recs and I hope people are not offended but it's just not for me #I've tried #it's absolutely fine to like it I just don't #I do think people shouldn't read exclusively YA but that's another issue #I could get into a whole new rant about how idealism is constantly demeaned as naive or childish #where idealism actually takes enormous moral courage #and there is literally nothing more juvenile than shallow cynicism #but I have a problem with the old tumblr credo about YA being superior for having optimism and dealing with ethical quandries #a) read better adult fiction b) is much YA really optimistic or are we talking about anti standards of what 'positive' means #because it seems to me a lot of the time what they mean by positive is 'unchallenging' and what they mean by happy ending is 'affirms my #biases and assumptions and keeps all the labels on characters the same' #where genuine optimism involves a rejection of this ubiquitous Calvinist streak #hope not that you can beat the bad guys but hope that you won't have to fight because you got through to them

[salmonmakiii]

omg i adored your akaashi timestamp! can you write fluff timestamp 16;03 with boyfriend!akaashi? thank you!

Here ya are! I’m starting college tomorrow, so it might take a while to answer your requests HUHUHU.

[16:03]

About : Akaashi x reader Note : Fluffy, sorry if I have any mistakes in this!

Akaashi looked at his watch as he stopped on your front door, the needle showing 16:03. He’s 3 minutes late. He pressed the doorbell and a few seconds later he hears your voice. A small smile was on his lips when he hears footsteps. The door clicked open and his face brightens when he saw you.

“Sorry, I’m late,” He breathed out, still mesmerized by your appearance. You were wearing the oversized hoodie he bought you. You wouldn’t shut up about how comfortable his hoodie was, so he bought you the same size and brand as his just for you.

It doesn’t have the same feel to it, but you appreciate his efforts. You may have melted when he gave it to you.

“You’re only 3 minutes late, Keiji.” You chuckled, moving away from the entrance to let him in.

Keiji… he likes the sound of his name rolling off your tongue like that.

Akaashi thanked you and excused himself inside your house. He took off his shoes as you closed the door. He took a moment to examine your house. He’s been to your house a few times – He likes to walk you back home! – but he’s never seen what the inside looked like. So this is his first time.

It’s also his first time coming to your home as your boyfriend.

You guys had just made it official a week ago. After 3 months of shy smiles and compliments, Akaashi finally asked you out. Your friends were happy for you two and the constant teasing from Akaashi’s volleyball team, whenever you come to see him at his practice, proves that they were supportive about the relationship.

“Are your parents home?” Akaashi walked over to the counter where you were.

“No, they’re not back until tomorrow.” You said as you poured ice tea to glass for him.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come?” He asked whilst fiddling with his fingers, a habit of his you’ve grown to love.

“It’s fine. They already trusted you,” you smiled, “And you promised to help me with chemistry!” You smiled, reaching inside the microwave to get a two pieces of onigiri for your boyfriend. Akaashi sighed, a smile on his lips as he nodded his head.

He watched you put the onigiris on a plate before putting the drink and the onigiri on the tray. You lifted the tray in your hands and Akaashi was already in front of you.

“Let me help you,” Akaashi offered, reaching his hands to take the tray from you.

“No. You’re the guest.” You shook your head and walked past him. Akaashi blinked a few times before following you towards your room.

“Wait a moment,” You said. With your hands full, you reached to open the sliding door with your feet. Seeing your struggle, Akaashi opened the sliding door with ease and gave you a knowing look. Letting out a nervous chuckle, you head in and put the tray on the short table, books and notes already spread towards one corner of the table. You sat down and Akaashi followed suit, rummaging his backpack to get his notes.

“You should eat up first, practice must’ve been hard.”

Akaashi took the plate of onigiri from the tray and let out a sigh.

“We only have meetings on Fridays. But it did make me hungry.” He bit down onto the onigiri as he looked through his notes.

You watched him munch on his onigiri with a smile. The way his cheeks puffed and how his eyes scanned his book, he was also still wearing his volleyball jacket, arms completely covered and only his hands were visible. He looked so soft. You were still admiring him, you absentmindedly agree to his question.

He held the zipper to his jacket and pulled it down. He shrugged his jacket off and revealed his blue t-shirt under it. You were caught off guard by his actions and your mind couldn’t help but wonder how ethereal he looked right now. Unbeknownst to you, there was a visible pink blush on your cheeks. Akaashi turned his head to your bashful face and a grin decorated his features.

“I hope you’re not thinking anything weird, (Y/n).”

You flinched at his voice and shook your head vigorously.

“I-I’m not thinking anything! Y-You caught me off guard!” You waved your hands frantically.

“How come? I asked you if I could take off my jacket and you said yes.”

You paused and stared at your boyfriend, cheeks red.

“Let’s start this study session, shall we?” You cleared your throat as you picked up your chemistry book.

After an hour of studying, your forehead was on the table. Akaashi’s explanation about chemical equilibrium felt like someone putting an anvil to your head.

“I’m gonna fail that test on Monday,” You said, head still on the table.

“No, you’re not,”

“But it’s so hard! Can I just eat the paper and be smart?” You sighed, turning your head as you laid on your cheek.

Akaashi pursed his lips as he noticed your clenched fists. He reached your hand, gently open your fingers, and finally slid his fingers to intertwine it with yours. Looking up, you saw your boyfriend giving you the gentlest smile you’ve ever seen on him.

“Let’s try this one more time and if you’re frustrated, just squeeze my hand.”

You blinked your eyes a few times. Your heart felt like popping out of your chest when he gave your hand a squeeze.

“O-okay.”

Akaashi began explaining the subject once more, his hand still intertwined with yours. You squeeze his hands from time to time – you’d even wave your intertwined hands up in the air out of frustration – whenever he explained about the formulas that you needed to remember and he’ll help you calm down by caressing his thumb on your backhand softly, telling you to re-read the sentences again.

Slowly, Akaashi could see the improvement. You’d easily answer the problems given and his question, your hands still bound together but you squeezed less and less, and you finally had a smile after frowning for the past two hours.

“Ah! I finally get it!” You cheered, throwing your hands up in the air. Akaashi puts on a smile at your cheerful face.

“Good job,” He said. You turned to him and nodded your head as you put on a smile, “Thank you, Keiji!” Akaashi nodded. You looked towards his empty glass and offered to get him another drink.

Akaashi took the offer since he’s been talking to you a lot and his mouth was a little dry. You picked up the glass and stood up, letting his hand go. Your boyfriend watched you walk out of the room, staring blankly at the door. He looked down to his hand, closing and opening it.

Huh… His hand felt empty.

His hand was a bit warm and a little damp from an hour of hand-holding but he doesn’t mind. Holding your hand felt nice to him and he wanted to do it again. A few seconds later, you came back with his drink, placing it in front of him.

“I owe you for helping me, Keiji.” You chuckled as you sat down beside him.

“You don’t have to. You owe me if you ace the chemistry exam.”

“Then, what can I do to repay you for this one?” You asked, taking a sip of your own drink.

An Idea pops up in his head.

“You’re good at English. You can help me with this essay I have to do,” Akaashi said, taking out his English notebook.

“Oh, sure-“

“But you have to hold my hand as I write it.”

You blink your eyes.

“It’s only fair, right?” Akaashi said, his usually stoic face reappearing.

“I-I- Yeah! Sure,”

Akaashi opened his notebook and placed his hand, palm side up, in front of you. You chuckled and intertwined your hand with his.

“But you owe me if you get an A on your essay, okay?”

“Of course.”

Let’s just say you two might have to go on a date next Friday.

#Haikyuu #Haikyuu!! #Haikyuu Fluff #Haikyuu!! fluff #Haikyuu!! x reader #Haikyuu x reader #Akaashi Keiji #Akaashi #Akaashi Keiji fluff #Akaashi fluff #Akaashi Keiji x reader #Akaashi x reader #Akaashi Imagines #Akaashi Scenario #Akaashi Keiji Imagines #Akaashi Keiji Scenario

[atopfourthwall]

how has being a reviewer changed in the past few years? I've been interested in reviewing different forms of media, inspired by several people including yourself, and it's definitely been shoved aside for video games and "lifestyle" channels. Do you think there's a way to get good revenue these days as a reviewer if you haven't been on here for years?

Yes, but it’s harder. Back when I started, the internet was VERY hungry for AVGN-style content - negative reviews talking about terrible media in an over the top manner, particularly because frustration can be funny and a lot of people hadn’t heard of a lot of the terrible movies of the past or present (or if they did, it was at least always fun to have a new perspective on it). It’s why we all tended to follow the same basic model - play-by-play of the movie/comic/game/etc., clip of the thing in question, then cut to us for pithy or sarcastic remark. However, like with any trend, audience tastes end up shifting. Even back in the day, people wanted me to talk more about good comics. Part of that was because a lot of my audience WEREN’T comic fans but wanted to get into them, while others were getting bored by the constant barrage of hate. Even creators themselves were getting burnt out on it - assuming you’re not genuinely annoyed at the thing you’re talking about (and truth be told, even when we’re looking at something we genuinely dislike, anger takes up a lot of energy, so it makes it that much harder to get that across so there’s a degree of acting required so that it doesn’t sound like you’re just bored or mildly annoyed), performing the same similar thing for years can wear down on ya, especially if you’re a creative person who wants some variety in the things you’re doing. As such, with a combination of people who were of DOING the same old thing combined with an audience who WANTED something different, you’ve got the rise of video essayists, less scripted content, or people being willing to do videos on media they actually enjoy. And because the longer-form content of video essays and the like requires a lot more time and research rather than just riffing, people tend to gravitate towards those more these days because it’s entertaining material that looks at media in ways that the mainstream doesn’t really do. You’re not seeing 40-minute deconstructions of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and how it relates to complicated relationships with abusive family on NBC or the like. The advantage of an independent Youtube/New Media channel is that they usually have zero oversight - no one you have to seek approval of to cover a subject. You just do what you want to do. Now, that of course has its flipside that sometimes someone needs to tell you “No, this is a terrible idea,” but that’s a risk even if you DID have some oversight if they don’t recognize potential issues. Now, reviewers of course are still around. Some newer ones, some older ones like me. The formula still exists and still works, but of course because it’s been around for over a decade the problem that exists with starting a new one now is standing out in the crowd. A lot of it comes down to genuine talent - express opinions and jokes that are unique (or at least uniquely presented), well-executed, and just have a good eye for material that people WANT to see talked about (or at least something no one else is doing that makes you different from anyone else) and you’ve got a leg-up. The downside of course is that the algorithm favors the predictable, samey type of stuff which is why you have entire channels devoted exclusively to a single franchise (or in my case, why History of Power Rangers is more popular than AT4W despite AT4W being my regular content) so you might not get the promotion you need. There is no surefire trick to BEING successful at this, I’m sorry to say. I lucked out in getting in at a good time when there were less people doing this (and very few doing comic books) and getting promoted on a very popular site, but you won’t necessarily have that advantage. It’s why when you start, you’ve got to do it more because you enjoy doing it rather than simply going for the money, because there’s no guarantee you’ll make it. Hell, even after 12 years of this, while I make more than enough to live on (and that’s with both Youtube AND Patreon), I’m not exactly living the high life.

[sailorbadger]

Book Review - 6 modern female-led Robin Hood adaptations

In the past 8 months or so I have read/watched/listened to over 30 different Robin Hood adaptations. Over the summer I found myself reading almost exclusively adaptations that were written by women and centered women in the story one way or another. (I also found out that “lesbian Robin Hood” is a whole genre on its own.) I decided to write short reviews for 6 of these books since I know I have followers that probably share my enjoyment of this particular niche. 

This post includes spoiler-free reviews for the following books

Outlaw and Scarlet by Niamh Murphy

Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke

Hood by Jenny Elder Moke

Marian, Princess Thief by C.K. Brooke

Heart of Sherwood by Edale Lane

The rest of the post will be under the cut since this is quite long.

Despite the fact that I read other books that could technically fit this same category, I decided to focus on these six in my review because these ones are easily accessible to most of my audience (meaning that they are in English and new enough - the oldest one being from 2018 I think - so that you should be able to find them easily). 

I tried to keep these reviews relatively short and spoiler-free. That means that describing specific plot points is impossible because in most of these, the basic premise is the typical Robin Hood origin story. I tried to focus on my general feelings about the books and the characters and their relationships. 

I won’t be doing any numerical ratings. I know that the order in which I read these impacted on how I felt about them. If I had read them in a different order, I would probably feel differently about some of them. That’s why it’s difficult for me to give any real ratings. The reviews are not in any real order either, apart from my favorite being the last one.

These reviews are also about 75% serious and 25% not serious. When my friend and I started to go through all these different Robin Hood adaptations, we made a bingo card that features tropes/themes/details found in a lot of different versions of the story. I’ll leave quick comments on the reviews on how each of these did, but I won’t go too much into detail on those.

Niamh Murphy: Outlaw & Scarlet

I grouped these two books together because they are the first two parts of a series. My understanding is that the author does plan on eventually releasing more, but since Scarlet was released this year, it might take a while. If a third book does come out, I might read it, but I’m not in a hurry to reread these two.

Outlaw tells the story of how Robyn, the daughter of a baron, ends up becoming an outlaw. If you are familiar with at least a few Robin Hood adaptations, you will know how it goes. There are no big surprises, but I suppose the purpose of this story is to introduce us to the characters and set the scene for the later books. Scarlet continues Robyn’s story and introduces a new character to the story. (I won’t go too much into details on the second book to avoid spoilers, since its plot does not follow familiar beats as much as the first one.)

Besides the books on this list, I have also read/watched/listened to several other Robin Hood adaptations as well, and when it comes to plot, Outlaw lands in the “uninteresting” section. There was nothing new or exciting there, and seeing that I have spent most of the year in a Robin Hood -bubble, I was left wanting more. Scarlet was a slight improvement seeing as Outlaw was mostly a very generic Robin Hood origin story. Together they still feel like this is just the beginning of a longer story, so I hope that if a third book comes out we get into the real action.

Outlaw is marketed as a “lesbian retelling” of the Robin Hood story, but compared to some of the other titles on this list, I was left wanting more. The romance aspect is barely there, so if you’re going to pick these up for Robyn and Marian’s relationship, prepare for slow burn. 

The characters didn’t leave a huge impression on me. I do have to say that the Sheriff’s wife was interesting and I wish we had gotten more of her. Other than her, I felt that at times many of the characters could have been from any adaptation. 

Overall, there wasn’t anything really wrong with these books, but they just didn’t entertain me as much as the others. I feel that if I had read these before all the other ones on this list, I would have enjoyed them more. Outlaw and Scarlet are a good read for someone who wants a basic Robin Hood story with a lesbian lead. I still think that marketing the first book as a “lesbian retelling” is setting unrealistic expectations for some, but I hope that in the future the series really earns that title.

I completely forgot to fill out a bingo card for these two and at this point I have forgotten many of the details so unfortunately we’ll never know the result. Most of the tropes hit were so general they probably weren’t on our card anyway.

Anna Burke: Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood

Out of all of the books in this list, Anna Burke’s Nottingham is perhaps the most explicit in its queerness. Although the story obviously doesn’t use modern labels, I would say that it includes representation for (at least) lesbian, bi and trans character(s). None of this feels too out-of-place, and instead Nottingham offers a (mostly) historically accurate Robin Hood tale with a queer main cast.

The plot mostly follows your typical Robin Hood -formula: After a hunting accident, Robyn becomes an outlaw, surrounds herself with loyal friends and helps those in need. This aspect of the book doesn’t offer any new ideas or challenge the existing ideas about Robin Hood as a story. However, it focuses more on the characters, so it doesn’t really need anything new. Marian especially has to come to terms with her feelings towards Robyn and women in general. I do have to say though, that the romance between Robyn and Marian happens a little fast - they only meet a few times before falling in love. [Insert joke about lesbians moving too fast here] It didn’t bother me too much, but I do wish there had been a little more buildup. 

From this list, I read this book the most recently. It may be that I was just so burned out from reading all these Robin Hood -stories but I didn’t connect with the book that well. I enjoyed it, but I wish there had been more of that fun sense of adventure I look for in these stories. 

I would recommend Nottingham to anyone who wants to read a story that manages to be historically accurate and use the Robin Hood mythos to its advantage while not shying away from its portrayal of queerness. Although it did not hold my attention as well as some of the other books, it is still written well and has a good story.

This book didn’t get a bingo unless you interpret “lähentely* which is uncomfortable for the audience” as the sex scene (there is sex in this book but nothing that explicit, I would say high T/low M in Ao3-ratings) being uncomfortable for the reader OR the third person in that scene being uncomfortable. About half of the bingo card was still filled.

*I couldn’t come up with a good translation for this word, it means something along the lines of making moves/coming onto someone/making advances, though for this bingo I use it to generally mean anything flirty/intimate/sexual/etc.

 Jenny Elder Moke: Hood

This book was the first one on this list I read. Compared to the other novels, I would say that Hood is the least like your typical Robin Hood story. The book follows Isabelle, Robin and Marian’s daughter, who has to find her father in order to save her mother. The adventure is brand new, though there are still familiar characters and the basic concept of Robin Hood is honored. This is a story about the next generation of outlaws, so if you’re looking for something that focuses on characters from the legends, you may be disappointed.

Speaking of the characters, I loved Little, Patrick and Helena. I could have just read a book where this group of young outlaws has adventures and been satisfied. Unfortunately I didn’t connect well with the main lead, Isabelle, and the love interest, Adam, felt like a very generic hot guy from a YA novel. The romance itself is practically non-existent, and honestly I could have done without it. Seriously, I had completely forgotten about that whole thing until I started writing this review. This story is more about Isabelle’s relationship with her parents, which I like. She also gets to build genuine friendships with the other characters. I just wish the book had been a little longer so that it could have spent more time developing some of these relationships.

Had I read this book when I was a teenager, I most likely would have loved it a lot more. It is YA, and at times it really shows. As far as Robin Hood stories go, I generally enjoy the “outlaws being outlaws in the forest” content the most, and unfortunately this featured surprisingly little of it. It still offered its own take on what could happen after the legends everyone knows, even if it doesn’t add much to the legends themselves.

It is important that I mention here that if Allan has a child in an adaptation, this child must be named either Allan jr. or Alana. This book fulfills this basic need for me and I am satisfied. It also checked most of the boxes on the bingo, and I almost filled the whole sheet. So somehow, despite not really following the typical Robin Hood formula, Hood managed to include all the important tropes.

If you are a teenager who enjoys Robin Hood -stories, I would definitely recommend this book. It’s not the best YA novel out there, but it’s a good standalone story. I think that for adults, this can be a good read if you are a fan of Robin Hood -stories and/or enjoy this type of YA anyway. I wasn’t sure what type of book this was when I started reading, but if you just prepare yourself for a fun adventure aimed at young teens, you can enjoy this. It’s very quick to read, I think I read it in one day.

Also, I must quote a review I saw on Storygraph (imagine this is in all caps) : “hjsxhfjsdksfjk???????????? Patrick best character no cap”

C. K. Brooke: Marian, Princess Thief

In Marian, Princess Thief, Robin Hood doesn’t exist at all. Instead the story follows Marian, who in this version is a princess, who escaped an assassination attempt and is now living in the forest as an outlaw with six other women - the genderbent versions of the Merry Men. Eventually there is a romance in this book as well, but the biggest force carrying through the book is the friendship between the women. If I had to describe the novel in just one word, I would say it’s lovable. If I had to describe it in two, I would say it’s dissappointingly heterosexual. 

Maybe the fact that I found a genre that is basically “lesbian Robin Hood” has ruined me, but how can you write a story that features seven women living in the forest as outlaws, and not one of them is queer? This is entirely a thing that bothers me personally, and the book doesn’t need queer representation to be good, but there is no reason to not include it. Headcanons can fortunately go a long way, but I’m just saying that you could easily keep everything about Scarlett’s backstory the same except make her a lesbian. (In fact, I’m 98% joking when I say that her not being a lesbian is a homophobic choice. I will elaborate on this if you ask me but I won’t go too much into it here because I would have to explain things about other adaptations as well.)

As for the straight romance, I can’t say that I was feeling it. I could see the points where I was supposed to feel something, so maybe it’s just the fact that I’m aspec myself, but I didn’t care that much about it. Still, it was refreshing to see a story where the romance doesn’t overshadow the friendships between the women, and instead they are valued just as much (if not more) as the romantic relationship. The story doesn’t dig too deeply into the characters, but I still loved all the women. (I don’t care about the male lead. But I know others who would.)

I think the biggest “problem” this book has (apart from not making Scarlett a lesbian) is that the ending feels just a little bit rushed compared to the rest of the novel. I still think that the novel achieves everything it tries to do, but I could have used one more chapter to flesh out the climax.

The bingo card wasn’t even close to being full, but you know what, Marian, Princess Thief is good enough as it is and doesn’t need to follow all the familiar tropes. Still, how hard is it to include a bird?

This was a very quick read, in fact I basically just read it all in one go. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read something lighthearted and, like me, is often disappointed by the lack of women in Robin Hood stories.

To end this, I will leave you with a translated quote from my WhatsApp commentary: “What is it that in all these Robin Hood stories these old dudes are all after these young maidens like get yourself a hot milf and leave the kids alone”

Edale Lane: Heart of Sherwood

Heart of Sherwood is my favorite Robin Hood -novel that I have read so far. It has just about everything I could want: good characters, a fun sense of adventure, political scheming, great relationships (both romantic and platonic) and a good ending. I was less than two chapters into this book when I knew that this would be a difficult one to top.

The premise of this book is very similar to Burke’s Nottingham: both follow the story of Robyn becoming an outlaw, making friends with the other Merry (Wo)Men and developing a relationship with Marian. I don’t want to compare these two stories too much, but I did prefer the more lighthearted tone of Heart of Sherwood. This was also the first book where I was actually invested in the romance. Normally in pretty much all Robin Hood adaptations, the relationship between Robin and Marian doesn’t interest me greatly; I don’t mind it, but it’s not something I have too many personal feelings about. However, only a few chapters into Heart of Sherwood I thought: “If these two don’t get a happy ending I’m going to jump out of the window.” (I won’t spoil where this threat ended up going.)

One thing I appreciate about the romance in this one is that Robyn and Marian already know each other, so I didn’t have to deal with a romance that develops too fast. The novel also had other things to offer besides being a “lesbian Robin Hood” story, so I didn’t feel like I had to enjoy the romance to enjoy the whole story. I was very invested the whole way through, and out of all the books I’ve reviewed here, this one made me the most emotional. 

As a fan of the BBC show, I do have to say that this novel had a very similar vibe; there was a good balance of action and humor. Maybe that was a part of why I enjoyed this so much. I was also able to predict exactly how certain things would end up. I kind of wish I would have been more surprised. 

This novel is well paced, it is exactly the right length for the story it’s telling and overall I can’t really find things to complain about. If I wasn’t petty, I would give this book full five stars, but because I am petty, for very personal reasons I’m giving it 4,99999… stars. As for the bingo, this one filled most of the sheet.

I’ll end this review with this random line I had shared on WhatsApp for some reason: ""Does this mean I am dead?" Alan asked in jest. - - - "Nay; same annoying jester, alive as ever, and likely wanting for a pint about now."”

Conclusion

Writing these reviews was surprisingly difficult because most of the stories follow the same formula, so commenting on anything that moves away from said formula could be considered a spoiler. Hopefully if you read this far you were still interested enough in at least one of these books and feel inspired to read them. I would happily recommend any of them, and if you want to know my more detailed thoughts on them, feel free to message me. The same applies to all the adaptations I’ve gone through. I have Thoughts that I’m dying to share. 

#robin hood #my post #I have no idea how to tag this??? #my own tag for the bbc robin hood is pretty much my general rh tag but I don't want to put this in the public tag since this technically has #nothing to do with it

[brooklynislandgirl]

3. Would you ever fuck someone in exchange for something? Money, business deal, gifts, etc? What’s your price? {Swamp Sharklette}

A Little Light/A Little Dark || Accepting

Immediate knee-jerk reaction is to say no. To be so indignant that there would come the resounding sting of flesh striking flesh at the velocity of a gunshot. Or at the very least and less harmful a drink thrown in a face before she rises like a Tsunami wave and marches out with her dignity intact. Several factors though go a long way from stopping that.

First is that this is not a public venue. It's the formal dining room of their home, where in Beth and Anakin are putting together survival packages for the up-coming hurricane season. Most of the items were gathered donations from the kinds of friends that have no idea what they're actually giving to; people up north that Beth has been immensely popular with even if she never really fit in amongst them. Supplemented by church organisations, local folk, and literally anywhere else that Beth could find help. Even if some of those were at best questionable, and at worst? Evil. Well, from a human stand-point. She was very careful not to take anything from Pentex, or its millions of subsidiaries. She wouldn't accept help, not even in the form of money, from places like O'Tooley's, or Pangloss Cosmetics, or Shenzhen Tianming, no matter what kind of electronics and NOAA weather radios they offered. Whenever he asks about those, she only shakes her head and tells him 'mebbe laddah'. But that later never comes. As if she through ignorance she can keep him safe, though for how long is the question that she likewise puts off. Spread out on every available surface at things like flashlights with extra batteries, whistles to signal for help, personal hygiene items, can openers, nonperishable, water tight food stuffs {canned goods that didn't require heating, and MREs}, potable water, baby formula and diapers, and even books and games for children. All being meticulously sorted into storage containers and backpacks.

The work is surprisingly sweltering and even the central air is having a hard time moving the oppressive wet-blanket heat. No matter how high up and in a bun she pins her hair, no matter how thin the bandeau and sarong she's wearing are, no matter how comfortable the board shorts and no shirt Anakin is wearing, it feels like a shallow layer of sweat covers...everything.

It's that fact that puts a sour look on her face as she reaches up to mop her brow with the inside of one arm and leaves the question lingering between them.

The second reason is... It's rare that his use of that one particular word offends her, she's heard it more times than she can count with a rather shocking frequency growing up and again from her brothers. And there's certain ways that Anakin uses it in certain context that gets under her skin in the worst ways, turning everything in its wake to lava. He uses it to great effect sometimes and it almost has become a playful game between them. But he's not talking about love making, not now, at least. He uses the vulgarity to imply the exact opposite of that. Carnality without emotion; a disconnect from the heart, the soul, the brain that leaves the body an empty shell of a vessel to be filled...or to fill someone else...with the same abject nothingness. She knows the implication hurts him as much as it would her because they are very much alike in regards to physical forms expressing love. And lastly, because while he doesn't often talk about it and she can't bear to really ask because she knows even the slightest facial expression will burrow its way into her and she will rage like one of her changing cousins until nothing is left when he answers truthfully, as he always does. She knows he has been abused. She knows he's been mistreated. She knows that he has, at least before moving into the house, and maybe after...it's not her place to pry... participated in some kind of sex-work. The only difference she treats him with than she would the sex workers back in New York? It's plain to anyone with the ability to see, who possesses a single ounce of empathy, that Beth loves him. And that love is without condition or reservation.

She stretches. Pushes away from the table and pads barefoot toward the kitchen, circumnavigating the fortress they've built up around them with a preternatural grace. A flutter of fingers in the air is all the invitation she offers for him to follow her.

The door of the fridge groans in protest of being opened, sighing before letting a floor of cold air waft over her and for a moment she closes her eyes and takes pleasure at the rush of chill. All too soon though she reaches in and pulls out an icy pitcher of cold water that immediately clouds over from condensation so it looks like a foggy morning with slices of lemon floating near the top, slivers of sunlight. She's half tempted to hold it to her chest until it becomes as tepid as possible. Let Anakin fend for himself with the other pitcher in there, the ubiquitous Sweet Tea that she made by directions left by the housekeeper. Unfortunately, it could pull double-duty as hummingbird nectar.

She sets it down on the counter. Retrieves two glasses and fills one up. The other is left beside the lemon water with the idea that he should hydrate since she isn't getting him into the pool without extreme measures, and she doesn't feel like forcing him to do anything. She lifts the glass to her lips and indelicately gulps down half of the contents before she presses the wet, cold glass to her brow. Her eyes shut the too bright world away. They cut off the pallor of Anakin's slight chest, the way the sheen catches the light in splashes of dampness. Not unlike the occasional bead of sweat that runs like an errant fingertip down her spine. And she's stalled as long as she can in answering him. She doesn't like to keep him waiting, a long enough pause can come across in the worst ways; at best it implies that he is undeserving of an answer, which isn't true in the least, and at worst, whatever she might say would come across as the softest kind of lie, the sin of selective omission.

"Growin' up...I t'ink I was near enough fifteen or sixteen... before I really had any curiosity about sex, an' you know dat already, so not shockin' dere. Dat curiosity nevah bloomed beyond a lil self-exploration before it was disregard as...mos'ly unimportant t' me. Of course, nevah gonna lie an' say dere was no ah..." She searches for the right word, the right explanation and comes up with exactly none.

"Experimentation wi' a receptive partner, but even dat result same-same f' me as on my own. I t'ink it no was a matter of attraction, oddah person was one of da few times I did feel da kine. Uhm...desirous...for lack of mo' beddah word. Now, ovah da years I been on da fringes of various covens wi' da Verbena. Small an' big an' in between...an' as ya know... Beltane one of our most sacred rites. An' I keep meanin' t' take ya proper, an' introduce ya...but..." But? ...But there's a part of her that is neither properly territorial or jealous but that IS adamant about taking Anakin before a gathering of priestesses and druids, of bards and fairly mediocre witches. The Verbena are a myriad of theologies and philosophies banded together to uphold their paradigm. They hold the Seat of Life on the Council of Nine, and have since the Council was formed, before the betrayal of the first Cabal. They are her friends, her peers, her sisters and brothers in a hanai sort of way. But she doesn't want to share him, not yet. Maybe once she's taught him a little more, maybe once she's sure he can survive the pit of flesh, politics, and chaos that mage gatherings can be.

"Not jus' yet. You might catch chill." She half laughs at her own little joke but it dies out almost before it ever stood a chance of surviving.

"I was offer da chance t' play da Maiden aspect of da Goddess in da Great Rite, an' still get aks ow and again. An' it nevah appeal to me even wine-soaked an' head stuffed wi' sacred incense. I nevah go out into da fields or under da trees eiddah, for more intimate an' less ritual...couplin'. I know fertility rites are important but not enough. Even if we could bring back magick like it was durin' da Mythic age....I still no would." While it might not mean anything to anyone else, Beth's belief in being a guardian of the mythic threads, a branch of the World Tree, she cannot imagine giving a part of herself for it.

"Money? I got dat...an' of alla da kine dat make me real angry? Is when women are led t' believe da only way dey got of improvin' deir situation is by allowin' someone f' slide between deir leg, an' I hate t' put it so cruelly. If a woman wanna do dat of her own accord...dat's one kine, but to be seen as only chattel, as only an object...an' not really jus' women, but anyone, regardless of how dey identify. "Business is usually about avarice...about acquirin' money, or power, or any number of stuff...an' it's all same-same. A gi nevah come wi' a price. Anyone who tell ya oddahwise...lyin' to ya. I give da kine to ya because I know ya need. I know ya nevah aks f' it. I know it makes us bot' choke happy. I would nevah aks ya for any kine in return, nevah expect it...not'ing li'dat. It's not my way. It's not livin' pono, an' I nevah would corrupt eiddah one in dat way." She pauses, finishes the glass, then starts pouring herself another. "F'I were force t' choose a price? I would only give myself for one kine, an' as stupid an' cheesy it might sound? It would be for love. An' love nevah ask f' any kine but to be and to grow. No maddah who or what is bein' loved."

#Mahalo!Shady <333 #Like A Sad Hallucination|Anakin Skywalker #Like a Memory in Motion|Anibeth #The Trunk You Kept Your Life In|Mage The Ascension #Strange Days|New Orleans #Reborn on the Bayou|Louisiana

[shekissesturians]

~Sun Showers ~ Mirio x Fem!Reader/Oc (Chapter 1)

Synopsis~ Quirks are as much a blessing as they are a curse.

This is the reality Toogata Mirio is confronted with upon interning with Nighteye Agency. It is hard to create a program that can counsel all the different varieties of abilities that can manifest in a quirk. Most follow a basic formula that is easy to adapt and control... while others fall through the crack with a quirk that does not fit into counseling parameters.

When Mirio responds to a flyer that is seeking help for a final art project, he encounters a girl who clearly is one the few who has fallen through the cracks. The more he gets to know her the more he learns how unstable her quirk is.If she doesn't gain control, he fears that she might become one of the many who become another problem in the system. A statistic that is "treated" and lost.

He can't let that happen.

He won't let her fall. ~

Chapter 1- 3,520 words - Ao3 link 

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Wanted to post a full version on Tumblr as it might be easier for some to read. Hope you enjoy <3

                                                  *    *    *

Mirio thoughtfully thumbed the green flyer in his hand as he looked around himself trying to gain somewhat of a handle on his surroundings. The one thing he knew was that he was currently at Tsukuru High School…. And that was the current extent of his knowledge. Currently, he was in decent sized courtyard that had a strip of grass planted down the center with benches dashed along on either side. Around the courtyard was a string of tan doors situated under white awnings, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out where their room markers were. This school wasn’t nearly as big as U.A. so he had figured it would be no problem finding the room mentioned on the flyer! Alas… he was gravely mistaken.

Mirio quickly brought the flier back up to his face reading it over for a third time now-

~Wanted ~

Nude models for final art project.

3 session commitment.

Will compensate time with a paid in full dinner.

This is professional - I really need to pass my class.

I promise it will be a good dinner!

If interested meetup time is from 3pm-5pm at classroom B32a at Tsukuru High School.

I will be there every day, please consider!!

Please!!

- 3rd year, Ueno Yua

He had discovered the flier while patrolling with Bubble Girl and knew immediately he needed to help out a fellow student in need! Especially after they asked so kindly, and he would get free dinner out of it which was an especially nice bonus!

It all worked out perfectly, Sir Nighteye had him doing patrols from 11am till 1pm, then a check in from 1pm till 2pm, which would give him more than enough time to get across town to Tsukuru High within the time stated on the flier! Unless he got horribly lost… which he did- because for some reason this school decided not to mark their classrooms!

Mirio released a deep sigh just as he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He froze, glancing over his shoulder to see a pair of big grey eyes looking up at him from underneath deep cyan hued bangs.

“Excuse me? Are you lost?” The girl’s voice was gentle and soft, so soft it took Mirio a second to hear what she had said, “ Um, pardon? Are you lost?” She repeated a second time a bit louder when she realized he couldn’t hear her.

“Oh!” He brightened into a smile, finally pulling the flier away from his face, “I am lost, how’d ya know!?”

The girl, who appeared to be around his age, pointed to his uniform. Mirio’s gaze followed her finger to where it was pointing inches away from his chest.

“We have different uniforms.” She stated politely, but very matter of fact.

He looked back and forth between the two of them, quickly noticing the differences. While his uniform was the standard U.A. green and white, this girls’ was white with a red and blue plaid on her short skirt and tie.

Mirio released a quick laugh, “ Yeah I guess that is an easy tell, isn’t it?” He looked back over to her and held out the flier for her to see, “ I’m here because of this flier. I am looking for room B32a, do you know where that is?”

The girl blinked as the flier was thrusted in her direction. She looked over it briefly before her eyes widened and a huge smile spread across her face.

“That’s me!” She suddenly pressed her hands together in a cheer. Her voice still soft but now filled with excitement, “That’s my flier!”

“Wait, this is your flier!?” Mirio couldn’t help but smile along with the girl’s new infections excitement. It was a complete switch from the quiet demeanor she had displayed just moments ago. Now she was bouncing in place, her short hair bobbing on her shoulders, while she practically glowed from ear to ear.

… It was pretty cute.

“Yes! I’m Ueno Yua!” She quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him into an overly excited handshake.

Mirio laughed, “I’m Toogata Mirio, nice to meet you, Ueno!”

“Oh, thank you so much for coming!” She quickly turned, shifting her grip to pull him towards a nearby room, “B32a is right over here!”

Mirio stumbled behind her as she practically dragged him under the awning pathway that lined all the classroom entrances. It wasn’t until he was underneath that he finally spotted the classroom numbers above the door.

They were there the whole time!?

Jeesh.

“You can’t see the numbers if you aren’t under the pathway.” Yua pointed above the door. She looked back at Mirio to see defeated realization etched across his face.

Her smile instantly sunk with concern, “Ah…I should have wrote it in the flier! Maybe that’s why others haven’t shown up…”

“You mean, you haven’t gotten any other models?” Mirio straightened his posture as she released his hand to pull an ID card out of her skirt pocket.

“You’re the first.” Yua pressed the card to a black reader pad next to the classroom door. With a light click, the door was pulled open and instantly the smells of solvents and paints waft out of the room.

Mirio was instantly consumed with curiosity as he entered. It was nothing like any classroom he had seen before! There was a whimsical chaotic-ness to the room. Wood easels were spewed about with no real organization in mind. Some held canvas’, some did not, but all of them were spattered in an array of paint stains which gave each easel its own unique character.

Behind the forest of easels, on the far back wall, was a large metal trough sink. The counter space surrounding it was piled with different sized cups and containers. Mirio grinned as he continued to take in the room. While the classroom was colored in grey and white tones it was the aftermath paint splatters and spills across the floor and even the walls that gave the classroom its warmth and color.

While Mirio explored the room further, Yua walked over to her easel that was set up near the center of the room and began to prep her station.

“Thank you again by the way,” She spoke out to Mirio. He paused in his current exploration of a large shelved wall that house nearly every color of paint one could imagine. “- for coming to model. You saved me, I would have failed my project.”

He grinned back rubbing a finger under his nose.“Well, that is what heroes do!”

Yua curiously tilted her head as she fiddled with some of the paints on the small table next to her easel, “Oh! You’re a hero?”

“Well, working on it.” Mirio made his way back towards her, “I go to U.A.”

“Really!? Wow, you must be something then!” Yua excitedly squeezed the brushes in her hands tighter, “I get to capture a future Pro- hero in my painting!? It really is my lucky day!”

Her actions caused him to chuckle, she was definitely an easily excited person.

Now Yua’s attention wasn’t even on him anymore. She was looking up towards the ceiling completely encapsulated by her thoughts, whatever they might be.

Mirio had a hunch though.

He could see it, the passion she had about her work. It made him even more pleased that he decided to answer the flier. It wasn’t what one would consider “normal” hero work but he was helping someone in need so it definitely counted in his book! As a bonus, she seemed to be really nice as well.

“Okay.” Yua finally breathed out seeming to gather her thoughts just as Mirio reached the painting station she had created around her easel, “I know exactly what I want now.”

She sat down her brushes before walking towards the center of the room. Yua turned motioning for Mirio to follow her as stepped up onto a raised platform that was draped with a thick red sheet.

“So you will be posed here,” She gestured beside herself, “ - and If you could go ahead and get undress I will adjust the lighting.” Again her eyes drifting to the ceiling in thought while she chewed lightly on her bottom lip, “I was thinking about a kneeling pose.”

Mirio watched as Yua knelt down on the platform resting on her right knee while her left leg stayed up in a bent position.

“Like this!” Yua guided, “Oh I will need to get you a cushion for your knee…” She noted feeling the pressure of her own on the hard surface, “- but then I’ll have you lean over your leg and look to the ground.”

Mirio nodded, studying her examples carefully, “I can definitely do that!”

“Wonderful!” She popped back up to her feet with a smile. Once again she pressed the palms of her hands together happily, “I have a cushion over here we can put under your knee once you cha-”

Yua’s voice froze she turned to see Mirio instantly phase out of his entire school uniform,

“What happened to your clothes!?” She quickly rubbed her eyes with her fists making sure she had just correctly seen a man permeate through clothing.

“Oh that’s just my quirk. Pretty nifty huh??” Mirio stepped away from his clothes with a smile, “So you just want me over here?” He stepped up onto the platform.

Yua stared at him with unwavering eyes as he stepped up next to her. She had figured he was in shape being at U.A. and all but she never imagined him being in that good of shape. His physique completely through her off guard, but in a great way, this was better than anything she could have hoped for!

Mirio could feel her gaze carefully trailing over his form, examining him with what he could only describe as… inquisitive intrigue. Still, when her bottom lip was captured between her teeth as she slipped into another bout of deep thought, he couldn’t help the tint that rose to his cheeks.

She was really too cute to be making a face like that while he stood next to her naked!

“...You really work out huh?” Yua finally released her lip.

Mirio couldn’t help the snort of a laugh that escaped him, “Oh you know, on occasion.” He teased.

His voice seemed to snap Yua out of her daze as she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. A mortified wave of emotion washed over her features upon the realization she had just been staring at him in the most unprofessional way possible.

“Sorry!” She quickly bowed, hoping that she had not made him too uncomfortable…. That was until she realized she was now face to face with his crotch.

Yua’s eyes widened in absolute horror, “Sorry again!!” She squeaked, immediately covering her hands over her eyes and tripping over her feet as she tried to turn away from him.

“It’s okay!! It’s okay!!” Mirio kept repeating. He slapped a hand over his mouth in an attempt to conceal his laughter and not embarrass the poor girl even more, but the series of antics that had just unfolded was too much.

While Yua squatted down into a ball rambling of apologies, Mirio suddenly felt himself begin to sweat as an intense wave of heat hit the room.

“It’s alright Ueno! No worries!!” He tried to reassure her as his laughter finally calmed.

The shroud of heat that suddenly encompassed the classroom was now thickening the air like a sauna.

“Ueno, I’m sorry, but do you feel like it got really hot in here all of the sudden??” Large beads of sweat were now accumulating his skin. This wasn’t in his head, the temperature definitely changed in the room.

As soon as the words left his mouth Yua’s string of apologies halted. She removed her hands from over her eyes, lifting up her palms to take in the new sensation around them.

“… It’s me.” Yua’s voice softened as she returned her hands to cover her face, the red tint on her cheeks deepening.

“Pardon?” Mirio leaned down trying to hear her better. She was talking softly again and he could barely hear her. His hands fanned his face furiously as he waited for her response, it was getting hotter by the second!

“My quirk!” Yua forced her voice to speak up, “It’s … it’s because I’m embarrassed.” She slapped her face a few times with the palms of her hands in an attempt to knock out the embarrassment.

At her words, a light suddenly clicked on in Mirio’s head, everything made complete sense now!

“You don’t need to be embarrassed Ueno!” He quickly jumped into a crouch in front of her, “I’m the one that's naked, I should be embarrassed!”

“No, no.” She shook her head and began to pinch her own cheeks, “ You’re the model, I’m supposed to make you feel comfortable, but I just bowed my head into your crotch!”

There was a warm haze to everything in the room now. The temperature was getting close to unbearable. It quickly became obvious to Mirio that Yua did not have very good control of her quirk…. If any at all.

“You’re not the first person to get up close and personal with my willy, I’m used to it!” He tried to brush off her concern, until he saw her eyes widen through her fingers, “ Wait… that didn’t come out right.”

A sudden spike in heat forced Mirio to cringe. He could barely breathe at this point, it felt as though he was about to burn alive, but he couldn’t just run out and leave her alone. He had to think of a way to help her. He was a hero, he could do this!

“So get this,” Mirio forced up a smile, steam was now beginning to swirl around them. He had to work quickly, “I tell dad jokes, but I don't have any kids…. Guess that makes me a faux pa.”

Yua peaked up at him through her fingers to see the huge grin he was holding even though his face was turning beet red from the heat.

“So when does a joke become a dad joke?” Mirio paused for a beat, “….When it becomes apparent!”

Yua couldn’t contain the smile that broke through the cover of her hands as he continued.

It was working! Mirio could feel the heaviness of heat in the room begin to dissipate along with the swirls of steam. Now he just had to land the big finisher!

“Did you know… your Japanese when you go into the bathroom, and you’re Japanese when you come out of the bathroom, but do you know what you are while you’re in there?” He raised a brow in Yua’s direction with a pause making sure he had her full attention, “European!”

At his last word, Yua’s laughter broke into the room instantly causing the wave of intense heat to dissipate.

Mirio couldn’t contain the deep sigh he released at the sudden temperature change. He felt like he could breathe again! His chest rose and fell with each breath as he began to cool down. Sweat was dripping down his face but he couldn’t help but genuinely smile as he watched Yua laugh.

It was a deep laugh, a hearty laugh… a nice laugh.

“Those... were horrible.” Yua’s laughter slowed into a chuckle before she flashed Mirio a grateful smile.

“Hey now!” He tried to wipe the sweat that was still dripping into his eyes away with his forearm, “You laughed. You thought they were funny!”

“They were funny and horrible.” She locked her eyes with his, “Thank you, Toogata.”

“Any time!” Mirio straightened his posture, “Though I’m sorry, I’m so sweaty now.” He looked down at himself, he was literally drenched in a sheen of sweat.

“No, no,” Yua looked over his form with him, “This is actually perfect, don’t wipe any off! It’s defining your physique, and with the right lighting you’ll be even better to paint now!” An excited glow was back on her features.

Mirio smiled as he watched her quickly rush about - grabbing a pillow, adjusting the standing lights around the platform, and situating the red sheet across the pedestal to her liking. She was back to being passionate and focused as though they both weren’t just nearly baked alive.

He could tell though, this probably wasn’t the first time an incident like this occurred. Though her overall disposition was bright there was a lingering sullenness in her eyes he just couldn’t shake concern for.

Once Mirio was in the position Yua wanted, she quickly skipped over to her easel and got right into laying paint down onto the canvas.

“So if you don’t mind me asking, what is your quirk? Cus honestly that was pretty crazy!” He tried to speak as upbeat as possible, he was so curious but hated to trigger another occurrence.

“Oh….” Yua responded, slowing in her painting a bit as she thought through how to answer his question.

“- And I mean crazy in a good way!” Mirio quickly added, turning his head towards her so she could see his smile.

“It’s weather.” Yua spoke up after finishing a few strokes on the canvas, “It’s triggered by my emotions, so… I have a hard time controlling it….”

“That’s pretty sweet though!” Mirio chimed in making sure she wouldn’t have a chance to feel negative. He could tell from the way her voice was softening it wasn’t something she was necessarily comfortable talking about, “ So you could make it rain, or snow, or anything like that?”

Yua couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips from the enthusiasm of Mirio’s questions. She found the positivity over her quirk pretty refreshing.

“I can.” She answered, splitting her attention between him and the canvas in front of her.

“So which emotion would make it snow?” Mirio thoughtfully inquired, “That would be awesome for on a hot summer day!”

Yua paused from her painting to study Mirio for a moment, she had never thought about her quirk in such a way before,

“… I don’t know,” She went back to her work, shading in the contours of his back, “It’s often rather random, …many times I don’t even realize it's me right away… Honestly, I try to avoid triggering it.”

“All quirks take practice, gosh I still lose my clothes on a regular basis!” Mirio poked fun at himself, trying to lift her own spirits.

He didn’t know Yua at all, but the thought of her feeling such turmoil with her quirk made he himself feel downhearted. There were still red marks on her cheeks from where she had been pinching herself earlier, trying to get her quirk to stop. She was really struggling, perhaps even more than he initially realized in the moment.

“I can only imagine.” She giggled, “Doesn’t it get frustrating though?”

“Well yeah, of course!” Mirio glanced over his leg to watch her paint for a moment, “But it also makes people laugh, so I think that’s a pretty great trade-off.”

He watched Yua captured her bottom lip in her teeth, she was thinking again, contemplating something important.

“You really like to make others laugh, don’t you Toogata?” She finally released her lip, turning to dip her brush into a jar of gamsol before dipping it into a new color of paint.

“Absolutely! I mean you never know whose around that might need a pick-me-up. Laughter can really change a lot for people, also… it’s just fun don’t yah think?” He flashed her a bright grin.

“Yeah… ” Yua made eye contact with him for a moment before turning back to her work, “It is…. so where would you like to eat after we are done?” She completed a few more strokes before picking up some more paint on the tip of her brush, “I definitely owe you a good dinner after this session.”

“Oh yeah!” Mirio nearly forgot, “My payment!”

“Have you been to Kaiyo Joō?” Yua smiled, focusing on her work, but keeping her attention on Mirio.

“Oh that’s good! I won’t get sushi there though.” Mirio responded.

“Really why?” Yua tilted her head in question.

“It’s a little fishy.”

Yua nearly knocked over her canvas at his comment as she snorted out a laugh.

Mirio couldn’t help but laugh along with her, and he was sure for a second he felt a crisp breeze swirl throughout the room.

... She really did have a nice laugh.

Next- Chapter 2

#mirio toogata #toogata mirio x oc #mirio fanfic #mirio x oc #mirio x reader #mirio fanfiction #toogata mirio fanfic #bnha fanfic #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfic #mha fanfiction #my hero academia fanfiction #boku no hero academia fanfiction #lemillion x reader #lemillion x oc #lemillion fanfic #lemillion fanfiction #lemillion #mirio #toogata mirio #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha #mha #my fanfiction #my writing #all the dad jokes #bad puns

[bloody-wonder]

Hey I feel like ur the best person to ask about this, have u ever read any romances liked u rlly liked other than andreil in tfc? Specifically any similar to them, possibly with acespec characters

tbh i like many romance stories, especially among the classic ones, but never have i ever read anything like andreil. i wish someone could recommend me a book with a romance like that. so you’ll have to lower your expectations for this rec list, my friend ://

last year i was specifically searching for romances featuring aroace characters through the aroace characters database and managed to find two books i ended up liking - however neither of them is technically a romance.

the first one is seven ways we lie by riley redgate. it’s a ya mystery that follows seven pov and one of them is an aroace guy who develops a relationship with another guy throughout the book. it’s not a romance, but it’s not a friendship either (can’t tell why cause spoilers). anyway i read this book in one sitting, liked it very much and could relate to the aroace character and his experiences (much more than to anything alice oseman has written on the subject btw). although the book isn’t focused on him, still i found his pov and what he had going on with that other guy very neat.

the other book is mindtouch by mca hogarth. it’s a slice of life sci fi fantasy about two aliens studying xenopsychology at an intergalactic university. there’s no plot, it just follows their day-to-day life and developing relationship which is “a special kind of friendship”. one of them is aroace-coded ig, the other one is even touch-averse - which like,, extra kudos from me :D in general this book is weird in a very refreshing kind of way, but it’s only part one so i can’t vouch for the rest of the books in the series. 

*both of these books got some negative reviews from the moderators of the aroace characters database for allegedly using aphobic tropes but idk i don’t agree with that. in any case do some research before reading in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.

the next category i call ✨aroace friendly romances✨ - these are regular romances that either don’t focus on attraction very much or even if they do they frame it in a way that i personally approve of hehe

howl’s moving castle - ig this needs no introduction. i will only say that in the animated movie miyazaki has really doubled down on romance and war whereas the og book is more about being weird and magical and avoiding the responsibilities of adulthood at all costs. this is a must read okay

spinning silver and uprooted by naomi novik are eastern europe inspired fantasy books that feature awesome romances between clever women with lots of agency and aloof supernatural men who are low key assholes - aka the only acceptable straight ship dynamic for me. between the two books there are three romances and each is aroace friendly in a different manner: for one of the couples in spinning silver the book covers only the pre-relationship phase (aka the best stuff) whereas the couple in uprooted has it all in a more traditional romance way but the language the main character uses to describe what essentially is her attraction towards the guy is very non-formulaic and engaging. just in general, there were a few remarks here and there throughout these books which made me think that maybe naomi novik knows about the aspec agenda. or maybe she’s just a very good and attentive writer, you never know🤷

other romances i’ve liked in recent years are captive prince, a charm of magpies, the folk of the air and the grandmaster of demonic cultivation but these hardly have anything aspec about them😬

#asks #book tag #i mean if i squinted really hard through my aspec glasses i would find something aspec about why i like these latter books #but it would be contrived #also i forgot a little life but i promised to myself that i won't ever rec that book to anyone #anyway the perfect aroace romance i'm still waiting for is something along the lines of jaime & brienne in asoiaf #which isn't really a romance - but that's the point

[aro-throughyourchest]

VARIAN’S GOT A CRUSHHHHH

CHAPTER 5

THE END BUT STILL GO READ THE OTHER CHAPTERS

WORD COUNT: 2,437

Yeah, if you wanna skim you can... This is really long, but I’m proud of it.

Varian swung open the door to Rapunzel’s room.

“RAPUNZEL! The experiment works even better than I’d hoped!”

Raps nearly dropped her book and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Woah! Varian, what happened with the experiment?”

Raps set down her book and looked to Varian.

“I- I don’t know how, but it responds to emotions and changes color!”

He beamed and handed it to her. She took it and examined it. The color did indeed change, and she smiled.

“Varian, that’s so cool!”

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “Heh, Eugene said the same thing...”

She smiled and said, “Because it’s true.”

He leaned against the bedpost, and Raps asked, “So, why’d you two steal the boat?”

He cringed and tried to come up with an explanation, but nothing came to mind other than’ it was easier than paying.’

Varian laughed sheepishly, and Rapunzel folded her arms. Varian looked out of the corner of his eye, avoiding Raps’ gaze. Despite how positive she was, she had the glare of a disappointed mother. He kept staring at the ground and so did she (at him.)

Eventually, she won. Took about a few seconds. Varian whipped around anxiously and started babbling an attempt to defend himself, “I mean, we were going to give it back, and you know Simon, he never uses the old thing, so it just gathers dust-“

Raps held her hand up. “Varian! Calm down, now, tell me what happened, slowly...”

Varian took a deep breath and muttered nervously, “We just... took it? I don’t think there’s a good explanation here.”

Raps sighed and laid her hands in her lap, and Ruddiger chittered skittishly.

After about half a minute of silence, trust me, it’s very long, Varian said, “He spent a good 10 minutes yelling at me; I didn’t know Simon could scream like that, and it’s scary.”

Rapunzel laughed slightly. “He just seems so quiet, but he goes berserk when go near his stuff.”

Varian folded his arms and pouted jokingly. “No one else had a boat out-“

She scowled at him, and Varian waved his hands. “Kidding, kidding.”

She sighed and leaned against a pillow while Ruddiger and Pascal played chess (only one of them knowing how.)

“So, the date went fine?”

Varian blushed and cleared his throat. “It wasn’t a date; we were just hanging out, having fun at the Snuggly Duckling...”

He held his hands up. “Well, not having ‘fun,’ just talking, heh... You know.”

Varian, ignoring all the voice cracks in his throat from those sentences (that the author didn’t include) smiled, full of chagrin.

Raps gave him a sympathetic smile as he finished, “B-but, yeah, it wasn’t a date.”

He picked up, Ruddiger, who just lost the chess game.

“Well, I’ll see you later, Raps! Love you!” He yelled, already at the door. He shut the door behind and ran back to the lab.

<•>

Varian did get sleep that night, but he spent most of it working on trying to replicate the formula he made. By the time he went back to sleep, he had three vials of the formula including the original.

He would’ve made more, but he fell asleep before he could. Sunlight beams shining right in his eye awoke him, and he sat up. (Yes, the poor boy fell asleep at his desk again.)

Looking around lazily, he tried to wake his brain up and rubbed his eyes. He squinted at the clock and tried to read it.

‘9... No, that’s a 8...’ 

8:40.

Hm.

He stretched and heard a knock at the door. A second passed and no one burst in, meaning it wasn’t Rapunzel. Not processing his appearance, he wiped his mouth of sleep-drool and headed over. He opened it to see Vex. He blinked and immediately straightened his spine (the best he could in his tired state.)

Vex cleared her throat and attempted to appear nonchalant. “Hey, Varian, you wanna hang out on the other side of town... At, I don’t know, 1:00? 2:00?”

She examined her nails (not really) while Varian tried to process what she said. Keep in mind, this boy had just woke up; his brain hadn’t kept up with the morning. Vex noticed. She sighed and grabbed the door handle.

“Yeah, I should’ve come at a later time; I’ll come back when you’ve actually woken up.”

She shut the door, and Varian yawned.

Well, if she was going to come back; he could get some more sleep....

He woke up the next hour, this time on the bed, and yawned. That was a crazy dream. He blinked and gears turned in his head. That was a dream, right? (SIDE NOTE: It wasn’t.)

He shrugged it off and went to get ready.

<•>

About 2 hours later, someone, (*cough* Vex,) knocked at the door. Now fully awake and not drowsy, Varian opened up. “Hey Vex!”

He leaned against the doorframe and Vex greeted, “Hey Varian.”

She muttered something and repeated what she asked earlier not bringing up that this was her second time saying this.

Varian blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure! 1:00 works!”

“Oh, good! See ya!”

She tipped an imaginary hat, smiled weakly and left.

A thought manifested in Varian’s head, and he grinned. He grabbed a vial of the experiment delicately and shoved it in his bag not so delicately.

What? They were unbreakable and-

Another knock came, and Raps let herself in.

“Daily check-in!” She declared extravagantly. Varian rolled his eyes and placed his bag on the bed.

She sat down next to Varian, who told her, “So far, I’ve recreated the experiment times, including this morning, and it’s going well!”

Rapunzel chimed in, “That’s great! You know what it’s made of?”

He nodded eagerly and told her the ingredients. (I’m not telling you because I know nothing about science and the elements. While I do know the ingredients of a regular glow stick, I don’t know how Tangled-ify them.)

Rap inquired, “Isn’t [redacted] a little hard to come by?”

He nodded but said, “I still have enough to make a few more, like 5 or 6...”

He shrugged and stated, “If I remove that element, guess I’ll just have a regular glow stick.”

His eyes widened before he shook his head. “That’s a silly name.”

They talked for the rest of hour, without bringing up Vex, and Rapunzel’s time was up. She got up and stretched. “Back to being a princess...”

She told Varian farewell and headed out to do her royal duties. The boy exhaled and went to work. He would get ready in a minute, but he could work on a formula or two before one o’ clock.

After making about three, Varian glanced at the clock, then did a double take.

5 minutes to get to the other side of town...

He slammed down the formulas and quickly grabbed his bag. Ruddiger followed after him as he ran out the door.

He arrived ten minutes later to see Vex already there. Vex turned and winked.

“Hey, Royal Nerd, took you long enough.”

He smiled and leaned against a post. “Well, I’m sorry-“

He tried to think up something to call her.

“...Well, I’m sorry, Deputy; I tried my best.”

Ruddiger rolled his eyes, and Vex looked down at the raccoon.

“Well, who’s this?” She asked, humor in her eyes.

Varian looked down.

“Oh!” He exclaimed and picked up his pet.

“This is Ruddiger!”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

She shook his paw playfully, and Ruddiger shook back before crawling onto Varian’s shoulder.

He smiled, and his eyes widened. He immediately reached into his bag and pulled out the vial.

“I made this!”

He realized how brash and out of nowhere that was and pulled back embarrassedly, but Vex seemed intrigued.

“It’s a... light?”

“Oh no- Well yes, but it’s a light that when you break it; it activates! But that’s not the coolest part!”

He did the same thing he did to test it before, and bang his arm on a wall, and it flashed red.

“OW! Heh, see? Changes color based on your mood!”

Varian cringed in pain again, and Vex reached out concerned.

She grabbed his arm gently and joshed with a weak grin, “That’s amazing, but of all the ways to show me how it works...”

He chuckled, still in pain, and looked down her hand as did she, and the two quickly retracted from each other’s grasp awkwardly.

Ruddiger again rolled his eyes at the painful-to-watch teenagers and glanced around. He noticed Monty’s Sweet Shop and squeaked to grab Varian’s attention.

“Hm?”

The raccoon pointed towards it, and Varian asked, “Oh, the sweet shop?”

Ruddiger nodded eagerly, and Vex interjected, “Guess we listen to Ruddiger; the sweet shop doesn’t look so bad.”

Varian added, “But no stealing.”

“Yeah, we both got in hard enough trouble for that.”

“Heh, yeah... Now shall we?”

Vex nodded her head, Varian linked arms with her, and she blinked in surprise. She proceeded to blush and simper.

‘Heh... Dork.’

<•>

They spent the next two weeks meeting up, talking, occasionally flirting, went home, and went back the next day. This time would be different.

Today was Rapunzel’s birthday, meaning the lanterns would light up the night, and he planned on asking Vex as an official date.

Yes, of course he would be there for Raps in her birthday, but she always watched the lanterns with her parents and Eugene anyway so...

He brushed his hair, dabbed on some makeup, and looked at his attire. Maybe today would be a good idea to wear something different.

He thought and decided, why not, ‘I’ma go shopping.’

He ran down to the store, bought a nice outfit, and that was that.

He headed down to Vex’s hotel and knocked.

Vex opened the door, and she waved. “Hey, Varian.”

He waved back and tucked his hands behind him.

“Hey Vex, you want to go see the lanterns tonight? As a date?”

At the word ‘date,’ Vex’s eyes widened, and she blushed. She cleared her throat and muttered, tugging at her hair, “Yeah, sure, that’s a good- That’s not so bad.”

Varian beamed and told her, “Oh! Great! See ya then!”

He waved goodbye, and Vex shut the door. She grinned happily and tried not to show too much excitement. Wow, she never really thought this would happen especially to her... She quickly realized she needed to get ready.

She skipped out on makeup, did her hair, put on a dress, and waited.

<•>

They met at the dock, and Varian waved her over, a lantern in his hand.

Vex walked up with her own lantern. She noticed the new outfit because of how ironed it was (totally not because Varian forgot to take off the price tag.)

He took her hand in his and led her up one of the ships on the dock. (This time paying to get on.)

They sat next to each other and waited for Rap’s to let the first lantern go.

“So... I actually decided a name for this.”

He pulled out the vial and held it up.

“I’ve decided to call it, Vexium!”

Vex stared at him in shock before bursting out into giggles. Varian’s heart sank, and Vex immediately began to explain, “Hey, I don’t mean anything bad by it; I’m flattered! But name it something cooler than just my name, like how about we just call it a glow stick, dork.”

She punched him in the arm, and he smiled weakly. A light passed through his peripheral, signaling everyone to follow suit and let their lanterns go.

Varian and Vex lit their and let them float into the sky. While this was a sight familiar to Varian, this was a sight completely new to Vex, and her eyes said it. He blushed and smiled before thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, Eugene did this exact same thing with Rapunzel.’

Not gonna tell Eugene about this. Well, he wasn’t going to anyway-

Vex slipped her hand in his, and Varian’s ears heated. He focused his attention on the lights; they really were amazing to behold. He wondered what it was like for Rapunzel, seeing these on her birthday but never knowing they were meant to bring her back home.

“Vex... I like you.”

The words slipped out of my mouth, and he turned red. Vex’s eyes widened, and they darted to look at him.

“Like, more than a friend?” She asked.

“Yeah, more than a friend...”

He glanced at her, and she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I like you too. More than a friend...”

He smiled warmly and leaned his head on her shoulder. She blushed and continued look at the lights.

After the show, Vex and Varian stopped at the door. “Well, I’ll be leaving tomorrow evening,” she grimaced.

Varian held her hands. “We can write to each other.”

She smiled and said, “Well, if you get a letter from Vardaros...”

His eyes widened, and he reached into the bag, bringing out a formula. “Before I forget, here. You get to keep one-“

She kissed him before he could fully finish the sentence, and the formula turned a bright shade of pink.

(As did Varian *cough*.)

She pulled away and grinned. “See you tomorrow, Royal Nerd.”

He waved goodbye, still in shock, as she walked away. (She did grab her gift.)

He slowly entered the castle and shut the door behind him. Varian grinned widely and jumped for joy. He leaned against the door and brushed his hair out of his face.

“Oh my God...”

He ran up the stairs and almost tripped over Raps. “Woah, Varian, slow down, I-“

She noticed how red Varian’s face was and laid a hand to it. “Are you OK? You don’t have a fever?”

He brushed her hand away gently, still giddy. “No, no, Raps, I’m fine! Better than ever!”

He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “I’ll tell you what happened later...”

He went back to speeding down the hall.

He slammed the door of the alchemical study behind him, blood still rushing through him.

He spun around a bunch and landed on his bed, Ruddiger behind him.

The raccoon started making kissy faces and teasing Varian, and Varian sarcastically responded, “Ha ha.”

He stared at the ceiling with a grin. Maybe life wasn’t happily ever after, but life was okay.

THE END

#tangled the series #tangled #varian #vex tangled #rapunzel #eugene fitzherbert #ruddiger #pascal the chameleon #quaid tangled #fic #fluff #varian has a crushhhhh

[yumeno-kanade]

Student council president! Tokiya x Rule breaker! Kanade

"Using this triangle sin(35°) = OppositeHypotenuse = 2.84.9 = 0.57..." The sound of his voice was soothing. It was such a beautiful mellow tone that I didn't bother listening to the words he was saying. I stared blankly at his pen as he pointed to figures in the book. My eyelids started to feel heavy as my mind faded in and out of consciousness. "....llo?" A faint voice asked. "Miyamoto-san, I would appreciate if you would keep yourself from sleeping while I'm trying to tutor you in detention." The sudden harshness in his voice woke me up completely. His icy blue eyes stared into mine for a second until I realized just how close he actually was. I quickly backed away, maybe overreacting a bit as I stood up and let my chair fall behind me. It didn't matter either way. We were the only people in the room. Just the student council president and the somewhat delinquent in detention. I wasn't a complete delinquent of course, but I happen to break a lot of the minor rules of our strict school. Things like having my hair down, having earrings, altering my uniform, minor crimes. At first it was more of an accident but ever since I ran into him I would do it more and more often. Truly the prince of the school. He was smart, decently athletic and easy on the eyes. The teachers loved him for being an iron fisted ruler of the school, only second to the principal who depended on him to take care of the school instead of interjecting himself in student affairs. Tokiya was a third year, transfering in as a second year. I was invisible during my first year, following all the rules in fear of getting in trouble but now it was all I did. It was when he started reprimanding me himself that I started to do it more often. I hated to admit it but I really liked him and this was the only way I could see myself being able to get closer to him. He even took the time to tutor me and watch over me himself to make sure that I was using my time wisely in the 2 hours I had to stay after.

"Come on Tokki, we've been over this a million times! I'm getting bored of it!" And his soothing voice wasn't helping the boring lecture either. He frowned and stood up, him being a couple feet taller them me.

"I have told you to refer to me properly." I stuck my tongue out at him uttering some curses. He took me into his arms, one hand around my waist and the other tilting my face up to look at a sadistic smirk. "Come on, let me hear you call me Ichinose-senpai~" I couldn't help my face from becoming red at his patronizing tone. That and the fact that his nose was practically touching my own. His arm was wrapped firmly around my waist, so wiggling out of his grasp wasn't an option. Why did I want to escape either way? I liked him. I wanted to be close to him but it was too much and too embarrassing for me to handle. My whole body could only stare back at him with pure embarrassment painted on my face. His hand that was formerly resting on my chin slid up, framing my face for a bit, before holding up the strands of hair covering my face. "You really should tie your hair up more. Not only is it school regulation..." he paused as he brought the hair up to his lips and kissed it. "...but it also covers up your lovely face."

"I-...Ichinose-senpai..." His smirk became a satisfied one. Finally he let go of me, sat back down and started lecturing me again as if nothing happened. I was aghast. Yes I would sometimes flirt with him as a joke and as a cover up for my own feelings, and yes sometimes he would respond back, most of the time unamused, but nothing ever like this. Eventually my time in detention was over and I quickly grabbed my stuff.

"Let me walk you home. Because of special circumstances, everyone has gone home already." I looked out the window to see the sun starting to set as well. I didn't live too far but I knew it was far enough that it would be dark when I got home. A part of me wanted to flat out reject him, not wanting to let him see my homelife or path towards so. Yet the other half of me wanted to let him since I was kinds scared of what might happen in the dark on my own. I didn't answer him and just left the classroom, rushed to put my shoes on and left the campus. To little surprise he was right beside me the entire time. We got to the station and sat next to eachother as the train was slightly empty and allowed us to do so, even if we were squished together. His hand landed on my hand held it tightly as he looked beside me and into the crowd standing on the train. I didn't look back but just looked at him in surprise. "Don't let go." The tone of his voice was completely different from the smile he was quite forcibly wearing. I just looked down at my feet and let him do as he pleased. It wasn't hurting and it fed my fantasies, so really what was the harm? One long train ride and 3 stops later, I finally stood up and got off, Tokiya still holding my hand and sticking closely beside me. We walked out of the station, still holding hands. At this point my face was starting to burn. I kept walking to my house, getting some looks from strangers to what they probably assumed was my hot boyfriend. As much as I didn't want them to be wrong, they were, but the embarrassment just kept rising. Finally we got to my house, or well, we got to my apartment.

"You can go now. This is were I live. Now you know." I started to take my keys out of my bag, having to let go of his hand. It felt wrong to do so, holding onto it for such a long time. My hand felt cold and empty but I continued to open my door.

"Are your parents home? Since we're here I might as well speak to them about your behavior at school." I paused for a minute.

"My parents... are abroad... I live by myself." My voice wavered a bit since it wasn't exactly the truth. The night sky and the twinkling stars in the background made him shine even more as I looked at him from my door.

"...I...See..." I turned to my apartment, then turned back to at least thank him for bringing me all the way to my home, even though I don't understand why he did so. As I turned and started to look up at him, I was enveloped with a warm feeling. I wasn't staring at him but rather some of the side of his face and directly at the night sky. The warm feeling stemmed from my lips and I finally realized there was something soft and warm against them. He pulled away with a smile at my shocked face. "Please come to school properly tomorrow. Good night." I watched as he starred to walk away. My mind was both empty and flooded with thoughts. I found myself absentmindedly throwing my chapstick at him in angry embarrassment.

"YA DON'T JUST KISS SOMEONE WITHOUT TELLING 'EM WHY Y'KNOW!" He only smiled and grabbed the chapstick I had thrown at him, looking at it closely.

"I knew I recognized the flavor. Strawberry. It's nice." He smiled and put it in his pocket, walking away.

"Hey Hey! Kana-chan!" My group of friends ran up to me the next day, eagerness in their voices.

"Is it true that the President walked you home yesterday?! Someone said they saw you on the train together!"

"Plus, you're not dressed like usual. You're actually wearing your uniform correctly and aren't wearing anything extra."

"Is it because of the president?!"

"Kana-chan!! Tell us! Tell us!!" My face started to burn remembering the events of last night.

"I-I mean... yes he walked me home... B-BUT NOT BECAUSE I WANTED HIM TO!" My friends quickly got a confused look. "H-He just followed me home! Okay?!"

"And it's a good thing I did." The same smooth voice I was so used to hearing suddenly came from behind me and made me jump. He smiled at me and at all of my friends, greeting them all. "I see you've dressed properly this morning. I'm glad that I won't have to add on more detentions to the ones you already have." He smirked as he came closer towards me. "Although I don't mind being in a room alone with you that much. I think I displayed that very well last night." As my face got red, my friends truly went silent for a second. Tokiya left, obviously proud of the small chaos he left behind.

"KANA-CHAN, ARE YOU AND THE PRESIDENT DATING?!" The whole school apparently heard that one question and I was suddenly the president's girlfriend. Even though I wasn't quite against people thinking so I would have rather had him ask me himself then to cause such a commotion.

"The chemical formula is C8H11NO2+C10H12N2O+C43H66N12O12S2 dopamine, seratonin, oxytocin..." once again his voice started to fade out as he continued to explain things I had already learned in class. "Kanade, please pay attention."

"I am paying attention Tokkiー" the realization hit late. "DID YOU JUST CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME WITHOUT HONORIFICS?!" He looked genuinely and almost innocently confused.

"You're my girlfriend. Typically couples refer to each other by first name." I couldn't say a word back. My fantasies were becoming reality and I was dating the student council president. I was lost in my thoughts when a sudden quick peck on my lips brought me back to focus on his face. "I'll give you a kiss for each answer you get right so pay attention alright?" His lips tasted like strawberries.

#utapri au #utapri #Ichinose Tokiya

[ginnyzero]

A Reason Why I’m Indie

Traditional publishing isn’t for everybody. And I’ve seen attitudes that if you don’t conform to word counts and genre conventions and all the rules, then you’re never going to get anywhere in publishing/as a traditionally published author. So, I guess you should suck it up and do it. Then, I’m proudly never going to get anywhere.

Before we go any further, I want to make a disclaimer. Agents do hard jobs. They became agents (most of them) because they love books and reading and want to see authors succeed. They don’t get PAID unless an author succeeds. They are as invested in an author’s book as much as the author is. Or, at least, the good ones are. (Yes, there are a few bad apples that you must be aware of.)

BUT

Agents can’t sell your book if there is no one in their contacts/on their list that will buy it for reasons.

And these reasons may not have anything to do with your writing quality, your world building, your storytelling or your creativity. These reasons have everything to do with the publishing world and the little arbitrary writing rules that they impose on well, everything. I’m squeezing my hands together so hard right now my knuckles are turning white because these rules make me angry.

It takes a lot to make me angry. I get frustrated sometimes fairly easily. But angry?

Well, bullshit makes me angry.

I have spent time going through the querying process. I have helped and watched my best friend, writing bff, collaborator and editor go through her querying process. And I have comforted and I have encouraged and I was there for her last night when she figured out that her book was being rejected not because of writing quality and or bad story or because she had unicorns.

Instead, it was being rejected because someone in the last four years decided that the themes of the types of stories she tells belong and only belong to a certain age group category younger than what she writes. And if she wants to write the type of stories she wants to write, the type of stories that she loves and she needed at the YA age level, she would have to change essentially everything about her story that she adores to get it traditionally published.

Or self-publish.

And as we know, self-publishing closes a lot of doors.

All because, she isn’t writing the “correct” theme for the “correct” age group.

And this pisses me off. (My friend is devastated because the book series she’s lovingly crafted and all her other ideas now won’t supposedly work for traditional publishing all without her knowing because someone instituted new rules. She's been in limbo for months over this.)

Because these things aren’t written down anywhere. And if they are, they’re in weird little articles that aren’t being taught in schools because probably the teachers themselves don’t know them. Or, they were things decided in the last half a decade and no one decided to you know, spread the word in such a way that authors querying would hear it.

Or maybe, just maybe, restricting themes to a genre or an age level is such extreme limiting and inappropriate bullshit it needs to be burned in a fire.

-Takes a deep breathe- See. Angry.

There are certain themes and certain plot structures/character constructions that defined or launched each genre. Romance being the most heavily structured in the traditional publishing world (and a lot of indies following the same rules/structure.)

Science Fiction (as we know it) was born out of the Cold War and the space race and the feeling of alienation and how is having world destroying weapons going to guide us as a species. It was a lot of “humans versus alien invaders” ID4 type of storytelling. Shelley’s Frankenstein started it. And there were different views of it in the beginning, Asimov delved into the perils of robotics and space flight. Herbert talked about ecological scifi. Heinlein tended to go political and then time traveling sexual hijinks. Star Trek was Horatio Hornblower IN SPACE.

Fantasy, especially high and epic fantasy, was born of the retelling of old legends, myths and religions and the triumph of the goodness of mankind in the hero's journey. Star Wars and stories like it (Andre Norton, Anne McCaffery’s Pern) merged the two into science fantasy (my favorite.) Urban fantasy became Sherlock Holmes solves/fights crime with vampires, werewolves and the rest of the fantasy kitchen sink.

Just some examples here.

Much of the science fiction I’ve seen on the shelves still follows the formulas of Asimov and Heinlein and Orson Scott Card. The lone soldier against the terrible aliens must fight to save humanity. (In some instances, these are still the top authors hogging all the shelf space, add Herbert and Bova and Brian Sanderson the successor of Robert Jordan and LE Modesitt. And…….. yeah.)

And it’s boring. It’s tiresome. It’s time for a change. Our culture is changing and the media on our shelves isn’t. Tumblr is full of posts about how Earth is Space Australia and aliens that are simultaneously fascinated and accepting of the oddities of humans because their culture isn’t like that! We adopt strange little vacuum robots as easily as we bond to small furry creatures that OMG OMG it could KILL US. (And some not so furry creatures.) We have different types of friends. We do stupid shit for the fun of it. It’s funny. It’s heartwarming. It’s different.

People don’t want angry patriarchal werewolves anymore. They want more than dwarves that just love mining and speak in bad Scottish accents. (Best one I saw was Australian accents actually.) Readers are tired of gratuitous rape. They’re tired of abusive and bad relationships being portrayed as good. Toxic masculinity is getting old as is misogyny. Princesses no longer want to be rescued by dragons, they want to be protected by dragons from being forced into marriages they don’t want. Why must readers go through a sewer when they open a book to escape?

No. Not a lot of these new ideas have conflict or plot. But that’s not really up to the idea thinkers on Tumblr, that’s up to us the writers to see what the idea makers are looking for and come up with plots to fit those settings (if we like those ideas/settings.)

I doubt you’ll find it on bookshelves.

Fantasy has fallen into the grim dark crap sack worlds looking for the next GRRM. Storytelling that hasn’t advanced past trying to emulate Tolkien. Authors that emulate Lackey and McCaffery in the style of romantic fantasy being passed over for grim dark fantasy with assassins and the hot “urban fantasy.”

And understandably, Urban Fantasy is pretty new. LKH and Jim Butcher and other writers like Kim Harrison, Seanan Mcguire and Patty Briggs have been instrumental in making urban fantasy a ‘big deal.’ And I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy and finally I had to give up. I couldn’t take it anymore. Because it was all the same thing in different trappings. And I’m down for the same thing in different trappings to an extent. I really am. I’d just hope that at some point we can have more than Urban Fantasy mysteries. But no one is selling them on traditional shelves because publishers decided that Urban Fantasy people SOLVE CRIME is what the genre is.

This kills innovation coming to publishing houses. We see it in movies as well as books, new ideas, good ideas, are being passed over for the rehash of something from 20 to 30 years ago. (Think closer to 60 for some scifi, more for fantasy.) Because publishers have "genre rules" and are risk adverse because 'what if it doesn't sell?'

There are writers out there that are willing to turn themselves into pretzels to make their story fit a certain word count, a certain genre theme or follow these arbitrary rules to “get their foot in the door” and then they are told and believe that “once they are established” they can “break/bend the rules.”

It’s a lie. It’s a tasty lie. It’s so good of a lie you want to believe it. You want to delude yourself that “if I pretend I’m a man, get my book under 80,000 words, follow the exact conventions of my genre, that one day I’ll get big enough to break all of the rules and innovate my genre.”

That’s when you’ve sold your soul to the devil. You’ve stripped yourself of all your self-respect in order to chase that dream of the “traditional publishing deal.”

Indie is pushing back at traditional in good ways and in bad ways. Traditional with either adapt or continue its pushing back and rigidly holding onto the genre structures it has to its own downfall. The readers will decide on what they want to see/read. That, as an indie author is no longer my problem and completely out of my control.

My problem remains with the fact that traditional publishing houses, and agents aren’t being open and honest about their expectations for these genres that they’re pushing onto shelves. Get together. Form a consensus. Get that information out to authors by putting it on agent websites/blogs. Don’t expect newbies to just know it.

We’ve had enough dream crushing. Being rejected is difficult enough. There are enough gates to go through and hoops to jump. Don’t make lack of information that “everybody knows” yet another one. It's about doing the right thing. Anyone can write a fiction book. Anyone. There is no degree necessary. So, do the right thing, the moral thing and be clear about expectations for what you represent and the "rules" of the genre on your website where querying authors can find it.

(There is going to be writer blaming going on here. Writers/Authors aren't at fault. They can't know this if they aren't told it. You can't just "know things" out of thin air. If there is an expectation, then state the expectation clearly and where it's easily found. As agents, as publishers, putting the information out there that will get you the material you want to read and can sell to publishing houses to make it to stores is on you, not the writer. /soapbox)

Now, if you’re a lucky sod and not like me and does write in the box and naturally writes inside the box. Then, you know what, I’m happy for you. Honestly, my life as an author would be so much easier if I could write “X the werewolf solves crime and saves the world.”

I can’t. It’s not in me.

My job as a writer is to put out the best story that I believe in as a person. A story that is true to me, my feelings, my life journey and what I want to see on shelves/would want to read. If that story has too many genres mixed up, doesn’t follow genre conventions, is too long, isn’t the right “theme” or focuses on the wrong thing for the wrong age group, then, fine, it’s probably never going to be traditionally published. I can deal with that.

I’ll self-publish. I’ll continue to self-publish. I’ll be indie despite the reputation that comes with being indie. I’ll do the work to get my books out there to the world and appreciate the few readers I have and support my indie friends even if it's just with a "you can do it. Hang in there. I'm rooting for all of you." Because, it's all I can do and can control.

I still reserve the right to be mad. Cause that's my friend.

[metalandmagi]

March Media Madness!

Hello and welcome to the post where I talk about all the movies, books, and TV I consumed this month in my seemingly never ending quest to shout my feelings into the void. And oh boy all the winter anime is ending so I feel dead inside.

*puts on sunglasses* Let’s do this.

Movies!

Bohemian Rhapsody: The one about Queen Freddie Mercury. And it’s pretty good. It’s a little weird seeing a biopic of a band with literally no struggles getting into the industry, and I wouldn’t say it does wonders for the negative stereotypes about bisexuals...but who cares because if you’re watching this movie, it’s because you just want to sing along to some Queen songs and see some big hair! 8/10

How to Train Your Dragon- The Hidden World: The third and final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, in which Dreamworks pulls a Butterfree on us, but at least we get a happy ending. This franchise holds a special place in my heart for so many reasons, and I’m glad that this one stuck the landing. Each movie has its own specific feeling and message, and they all advance the story in unique ways. Apart from being beautifully animated and hilarious, it also packs the big emotional punch we all were expecting and ends on a satisfying note overall. But it’s still not perfect. The other riders are at their most useless by far, and this is coming from someone who never really minded them before. They’re a lot more irritating if you’ve watched the tv series and can see how they can be useful. And Astrid really only provides emotional support instead of her usual ass-kicking. The villain was...fine...but he didn’t really pack much of a punch. And I really wished they had kept some sort of continuity and embraced the television series (I NEED A DAGUR CAMEO)! But these are mostly small things. If you haven’t given this franchise a try yet, please give it a chance! 9/10

Ralph Breaks the Internet: The poorly named sequel to Wreck It Ralph, in which Ralph and Venelope must travel to the internet to save Sugar Rush and keep the game characters from becoming homeless. It’s a fine follow up, but it definitely doesn’t have the same impact the first one did. There’s a heck of a lot going on in this movie, and it feels like it tried to do too much in terms of plot and character arcs in favor of sacrificing the humor from the first movie. And I really miss Felix and Calhoun. But there are a lot of good things about it too. Everything the Disney princesses do is pure gold, Shank is amazing, and there is a ton of effort put into building the world of the internet. I’m sure it will be pretty dated in a couple years, but it’s not just a quick cash grab full of name dropping and references (even though Disney seems like it wants it to be). It’s still worth checking out. 7.5/10

A Quiet Place: A family must survive in a world where deadly alien monsters that are attracted to sound have invaded the planet. I am the world’s biggest wimp when it comes to scary movies, and even I was interested enough in the premise to want to see this movie. And yes it’s amazing! The performances are all incredibly moving and believable, we get good representation of a Deaf character, the sound design is so creative it should be used in film classes, and it tells a thrilling and heart wrenching family story in only an hour and a half. I think I liked it because the focus wasn’t on the monsters just going around killing people. It’s about a family and what parents will do for their children. People like to say there’s a ton of plot holes, but if you actually think about them for more than five seconds, you’ll see there’s really nothing to pick apart because their decisions all make sense in the end.

My only question is about the cochlear device the daughter (Regan) uses. Was the dad (Lee) trying to make a new cochlear implant? Did Regan already have the internal component implanted in her cochlea? Had she been using one since before the monsters came? Did it break earlier because of the monsters’ connection with electromagnetic waves? Because if not...CIs don’t really work like that. I’m just confused about that situation. But that’s kind of nitpicky when this movie is still amazing. Even if you hate horror movies, I’d highly suggest it simply because of how creative its production is. 9/10

Mary Poppins Returns: It’s exactly what it sounds like...Mary Poppins returns to help the now adult children of the Banks family with the help of Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s fun, but it definitely goes on too long. Though I appreciate Emily Blunt putting her own spin on the character. Odds are if you like the original, you’ll probably like this too. 8/10

Fantastic Beasts- The Crimes of Grindelwald: The second movie in the Harry Potter prequel-verse, where Grindelwald basically becomes wizard Hitler and Newt is more concerned with winning Tina back then saving the world. Okay...this movie is not great. Structurally it’s a mess, the fun is being sucked out of the wizarding world, the characters make decisions that don’t align with previous behavior and make no logical sense, and there really is just the bare bones of a plot. There are also several characters that don’t need to be there and are just thrown in for fanservice (for now anyway). I found myself constantly saying how things don’t work like that and asking why things are happening. But even so, there are still good things about it. Visually it’s...fantastic. Jude Law makes a good young Dumbledore, and even Johnny Depp embodies what I always imagined Grindelwald at the height of his power would be like...I just wish it wasn’t Johnny Depp. I also wish it had more humor, because what was there was funny. It’s really just a transition film, which proves this franchise should never have been five movies, and Rowling should have focused on a Marauders era series or on young Dumbledore and Grindelwald. You just have to form your own opinion. 6.5/10

Maquia- When the Promised Flower Blooms: An immortal girl becomes a teen mom to an orphaned baby after her clan is killed. It’s basically a high fantasy version of Wolf Children. I honestly don’t know what to think about this movie. It does the family relationships so well and really drives home what it means to be a parent. However, its setting really throws me out of the movie because it tries to focus so much on the politics and background of this world without really succeeding. And because it is about a baby growing up, the pacing is so fast it will give you whiplash. But it is beautifully filmed and animated, and I would have bawled my eyes out at the ending if I wasn’t so distracted by how much I didn’t like the other characters and things that were happening at the castle. So...yeah, it’s a well animated, hard hitting movie that will probably mean more to parents overall. I just wish it was a TV series or a trilogy or something other than a two hour film. 7.5/10

Free Solo: A National Geographic documentary covering Alex Honnold, a man who is attempting to climb up the 900 meter side of El Capitan at Yosemite national park...without ropes or safety equipment. Yes, this is an incredible feat and the actual climbing portions are gripping and super intense. But personally, I found who Alex is as a person much more fascinating...and not necessarily in a positive way. Honestly, he can be a jerk. This sounds horrible to say considering he’s a real person and he’s doing something amazing, but seriously watch this movie and tell me this man is not one step away from being a sociopath. It’s completely understandable why he thinks the way he thinks, but it’s not exactly healthy for the other people in his life. I would be just as interested to see a two hour therapy session with him as I was with his climbing. Anyway, if you love gorgeous scenery and butt-clenching thrills with a side of psychologically interesting perspectives, watch this on the biggest screen possible. 8/10

The Matrix: REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD BYE

Yeah I’d never seen The Matrix, but I really didn’t expect it to be EXACTLY like the Oto arc in Tsubasa Chronicles. It’s too long, Neo’s an incredibly flat protagonist (but I feel like that’s on purpose to serve some sort of self-insert fantasy), and it seems like a YA dystopian fantasy series from 2013...but in an endearing sort of way. And hey it’s got a lot of cool slow motion fighting and neat body horror if you’re into that sort of thing. 7/10

Books!

Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman: What happens when California literally just runs out of water one day? A group of teens go on an apocalyptic field trip to find some of course! I’ve only read one other Neal Shusterman series before, but I’m sensing a pattern of how well Shusterman can propose a theoretical question and then build an entire world around it. And this duo knows how to cover as many bases as possible because every time I ask a question about how something world work, the authors answer it almost immediately. This is a great story with very well written characters, and it even has a small hilarious twist in the end that makes you completely rethink everything about one of the characters. Most importantly it doesn’t follow the Scythe series’ formula of terribly written romance. However...it’s definitely a major bummer. It’s very interesting to think about, and it’s a roller coaster of a story...but the roller coaster only goes down and makes you want to scream all the time. If you like books that make you question human behavior and society, definitely check it out, but get ready to start hoarding all the water you own. 8/10

Jackass!: Okay this one’s a manga, but I’m still counting it. Honestly I don’t even know how to describe the plot...there’s two boys...there’s pantyhose...there’s a fun side character who is openly gay and doesn’t take shit from anyone...there’s introspection about how to deal with developing feelings and realizing you care about someone. It has the most awkward premise ever, but it’s unfairly good I promise. The less you know going in the better. 8.5/10

TV Shows!

The Umbrella Academy: A family of seven children with super powers who were “adopted” by an eccentric billionaire become child superheroes. So naturally, they all grow into jaded adults who are now tasked with saving the world from the inevitable apocalypse. And it’s...amazing. Like, this should be the new Stranger Things amazing. It’s a Netflix original based off the Dark Horse comic series, and it has one of the most binge worthy plots I’ve ever seen. It is capable of pulling off some very weird things because it just leans into it. The setting and aesthetic is very similar to A Series of Unfortunate Events where different time periods seem to collide, and it works pretty well. It has (mostly) likable characters, interesting and/or empathetic villains, great use of music and editing, and Emmy worthy performances. The only thing I don’t like (aside from them killing off a perfectly interesting character for no reason at the beginning of the show) is the romantic relationship between two of the siblings. Because naturally they had to put a romance in it, and it just sort of conforms to the idea of “adopted siblings aren’t related so it’s not weird.” But even they have some great scenes together so I can’t be too annoyed. It’s amazing. Please watch it. 10/10

Ducktales (2017): The reboot of Ducktales, in which the three nephews of Donald Duck go on mysterious adventures with their obscenely wealthy uncle. I’m pretty sure we all know this as the cartoon where Scrooge McDuck swims in his giant pool of money. It took me a long time to get to, but I like it! Webby is an amazing character, and even though the boys can be annoying, at least they all have their own personalities. I just wish Launchpad was a little less...stereotypically clueless. I’ve never seen the original series, so I can’t compare them, but I’d recommend it for everyone who likes Gravity Falls style mysteries and satisfying story arcs. 8.5/10

Carmen Sandiego (2019): The Netflix original animated series that focuses on a master thief who travels the world stealing important artifacts before an evil organization can get to them first...AND HOLY CRAP WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS!? I don’t know anything about the original Carmen Sandiego franchise, but dang this revamp is awesome. Carmen is a great character who banters enough to be a Marvel protagonist, there’s unique animation, some mystery, and its own twists. The side characters may not be for everyone, but I like them...well, most of them. Apparently the purpose of the original franchise was to be educational, so they do sound like they’re reading the Wikipedia page for every new place they visit in the beginning of each episode, but at least the cultural things they mention always come back into play later. If you liked the new She-Ra or shows with great heroines, PLEASE WATCH IT! 9/10

Queer Eye (season 3): The third season of the ridiculous makeover show where five fabulous gay men rocket into people’s lives to boost their self confidence and keep them from living in filth. I hate that I love this show so much. I don’t like things that try to be overly emotional, but dang it, this show will just make you feel happy...and then sad...and then happy again. 10/10

Honorable Mentions

THE LAST SEASON OF STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL IS AIRING! Stop sleeping on this gem people!

Netflix finally released the rest of Arrested Development season 5

I started watching Yu Yu Hakusho because it’s a classic and the dub is hilarious.

I also started watching The Librarians. It’s...something that’s for sure.

And I’m currently reading Reign the Earth which is basically Avatar the Last Airbender set all in the desert.

#bohemian rhapsody #the matrix #free solo #maquia: when the promised flower blooms #fantastic beasts #the crimes of grindelwald #mary poppins returns #a quiet place #ralph breaks the internet #how to train your dragon #the hidden world #dry #jackass manga #queer eye #ducktales #the umbrella academy #media madness #long post #carmen sandiego

[magicplanetanime]

Let’s Watch Heartcatch Pretty Cure! Episode 7

Episode 7 - My beloved student council president! A maiden’s heart laid bare!!

The intro here is a pretty typical school scene with the girls reading some poetry, nothing super special, other than I MUST call out Tsubomi for having a picture of her crush in her book. That’s a major no-no, girl! Someone might see it, it might fall out, there’s a million things that could go wrong.

Other than this and the revelation that Tsubomi’s grandma used to read classical Japanese poetry to her, there’s not a ton to this scene, though it is nice.

After the OP, who else but said crush walks in? Acting in his official capacity as the student council president. Not that Tsubomi notices.

How delightfully bishie-bishie.

Sadly, the reason the prez is there is to inform Erika that she still hasn’t handed in her club roster for the council club, and that if she doesn’t--with at least 5 club members--by the end of the school day, the club will have to be disbanded. So while Tsubomi is swooning, Erika’s reaction is rather different.

She immediately solves the roster problem by bribing three of her classmates with a discount at her family’s fashion store and a free notebook for each. Which, hey, is pretty shrewd.

But she runs into a problem upon taking this new register to the student council. Namely, that they are creepy puppets who push their glasses up in unison when they talk and that they’re unwilling to hear her out since the prez has already gone home for the day.

Seriously what’s going on here?

In any case, this just inspires Erika to take an even *more* direct approach. If she can’t talk to the president at school, she’ll talk to him at his house. Tsubomi, of course, is also coming along. You can probably guess roughly what this leads to.

Yes. The two wait for the class prez to finish his martial arts practice, actually in the dojo, and this leads to the enthused Tsubomi you see above. She isn’t coy about it either, she openly trumpets that she’s in love a good three or four times during the course of this scene. It’s honestly pretty funny.

They manage to convince him to talk to the directorial board about keeping the club open. Tsubomi swooning all the while. And then there’s a random, tossed-off line of dialogue from a background character that kind of completely slapped me across the face.

Honestly I feel a little silly for *not* seeing this coming.

So should you, Tsubomi.

Honestly though this is sort of, well, kinda sad? The show treats this as an impassable barrier preventing any kind of romantic relationship. Certainly Tsubomi does, at least.

I can’t imagine the show’s writers considered how this would make young girls who were themselves attracted to girls feel, and given cultural standards in Japan (where depictions of homosexuality remains controversial even in media literally built around it) I am not exactly surprised. Obviously; they’re kids, so it’d be puppy love anyway if you really think about it, but it’s still dispiriting to see.

After Tsubomi’s lamentations we cut to a scene of Itsuki and a new character, who’s introduced as her brother. Her brother seems to have some sort of vaguely defined Anime Illness, he’s both partially wheelchair-bound and at one point begins hacking out of nowhere. Theeeeeeen we get this.

And not much else before a cut to the midcard. Getting a bit serious, are we? Not that I necessarily object but it’s a bit sudden to introduce a character and tell us that they’re dying within less than a minute of each other.

Post-midcard we get a brief scene of Kobraja swearing to the leader of the Desert Apostles that he’ll defeat the Precures this time--you starting to notice a formula here yet? Not that I’m complaining, but it is a bit funny. Going to also just stick a picture of the Desert Apostles leader here, along with his so-far silent right hand woman (who astute viewers will note seems to be the same person who killed Cure Moonlight), since I’ve not done that yet I don’t think.

Then we cut to Erika finding out that Tsubomi is staying home sick from school for what might be the most asinine reason imaginable.

There ya go kids. Don’t wanna go to school? Just tell your parents you wanted to smooch a butch and you’ll be all set to skip class.

PARDON ME? 

(Itsuki is apparently quite the ladykiller)

Back at school, Itsuki receives some gifts from a trio of admirers (it’s not clear if they know she’s a girl or not, and given that these are background characters, probably not relevant). She accepts them--causing them to squee and run off--but it’s made clear by the framing that she’s kind of uncomfortable with the position she’s in.

Then Kobraja comes in.

Hey bud she’s like 13 maybe step off (he doesn’t step off).

There is a frankly amazing sequence wherein Itsuki hides behind a statue to hug the stuffed bunny one of her admirers gave her, and is then discovered by Kobraja. Who antagonizes Itsuki by--I wish I was funny enough to make this up--*throwing a razor-sharp photo of himself at the rabbit, which cuts its ear open.* This distracts Itsuki enough that Kobraja can Desertify her.

Ew.

Erika, by herself due to Tsubomi’s absence, witnesses Kobraja’s antics and promptly transforms into Cure Marine.

Itsuki’s Desertrian form is that of a boxy granite statue which uh....yeah, as a transwoman I’m comfortable saying that that is a pretty good visual metaphor for what it’s like to have to pretend to be male. So, good job with that one.

Also hey we’re doing petrification two episodes in a row? That seems like cheating. Incidentally, more than any other before, the Desertrian Statue *really* puts Itsuki’s inner thoughts on full display. It follows Kobraja’s orders to a point, but it also spends a whole lot of time squeeing about how cute various things--the girls’ uniforms, Cure Marine, etc.--are. It’s kind of hilarious. As is Kobraja’s shocked reaction to learning that Itsuki’s a girl. Have people in Japan just never heard of tomboys or what?

Well, I say that, but Kobraja actually *calls* the Desertrian Statue a tomboy, and this is its response.

Amazingly, what happens next is that the statue promptly *throws a temper tantrum.* Ranting about how unfair it is that Itsuki’s not allowed to like cute things and be a martial artist at the same time, and as a cap to all this, it promptly *kicks Kobraja into the sky*. Where he winks out of the episode, Team Rocket-style. It’s quite the finisher, and it helps keep this action sequence from being too run-of-the-mill for the series.

Blossom arrives on the scene not long after to help with cleanup.

Our girls escort Itsuki to the student council room, where she wakes up a little while later. Tsubomi, evidently over the shock from earlier, invites her to join the fashion club, which she promises to consider. A few gags aside at the very end, the episode more or less ends here.

Despite what my little rant about Tsubomi’s crush may have implied, and also despite Kobraja’s...whole existence, I actually really quite liked this episode. I really love the character of Itsuki! I’m definitely projecting on her a little bit since the struggles she goes through here are applicable in a less-literal way to my own experiences growing up, but, still, she just seems really sweet. I hope we see more of her. Maybe she’ll even become a precure herself? Who knows!

I do wish more had been done to at least explore the very notion that two girls cold love each other, but I already expressed my disappointment there, so I’ll avoid beating a dead horse.

Another one-episode post. These are well the norm by now, but I suppose that’s alright if it means I can average more posts. See y’all next time.

#precure #HeartCatch PreCure #pretty cure

[sesamesaysme]

BOOKS COMPLETED IN JUNE 2019

(listed by order of completion)

Bookworm that I am, just thought I’d share.

I normally am in the middle of 2-3 books at any time because one in text, one in audiobook, and lately one in Chinese too because I’m trying to improve on that

SEA OF POPPIES by Amitav Ghosh / Feb.15, 2019 - June 10, 2019 / Set prior to the First Opium War a cast of characters all end up together on a ship from Calcutta to Mauritius.  / Ok, this took me waaaay too long to finish. It wasn’t that it wasn’t good. It was because I wasn’t really paying attention in the beginning which caused me to not have any of the characters’ identities straight in my head which made me have no momentum reading it because I didn’t know what was going on. But once I finally did figure out who everyone was it was good. One scenario that stands out in my mind is when one guy takes care of his shitty jail cellmate (and by shitty I mean literally covered in feces). But, you see, I still can’t remember names. 

THE BEST COOK IN THE WORLD by Rick Bragg / May 30, 2019 - June 10, 2019 / (audiobook version) / Part memoir part cookbook of author’s mother’s recipes from the American south / I was in China for the last 2.5 months. I think I was missing food from back in the U.S. so picture me passing time on long Shanghai bus rides with descriptions of things like buttery biscuits and fried chicken being read to me 😂. Some parts felt like too much of the same thing over and over, but it was a good book to semi tune into while looking out of bus windows.

THE ALICE NETWORK by Kate Quinn / June 10, 2019  - June 12, 2019 / (audiobook version) / A young woman searching for her cousin finds out about the past of a woman who was recruited as a spy in France during WWI / To be honest I suspected going into this exactly what it was going to be but I still listened to it hoping it was gonna surprise me in someway. But nope. It’s another one of those historical fictions with a book cover that shows an image of someone from behind. And it’s that formula in which the author uses a present-day person to gradually reveal pieces of the past. Usually these things involve some sad story of women getting separated or an unfortunate romance or somebody’s child or friend or sister dying tragically but ultimately the present-day person learns a lot from it blah blah. And the past is supposed to be this big mystery but actually it’s pretty predictable for the reader. Another one that I remember being basically the same formula was Before We Were Yours. 

BLACK BEAUTY (黑骏马）by Anna Sewell / April 28, 2019 - June 14, 2019 / Written from the perspective of a horse, you follow it as a young colt in a comfortable home through various other homes it lives in throughout the course of its life, sometimes getting kind treatment, sometimes incredibly inhumane. / I read this one in mandarin Chinese while following along in English for practicing my Chinese reading skills. I would guess my Chinese reading skills are at the level of a 9-10 year old. I read it at the pace of 30 minutes a day--a daily Chinese lesson. So now I know an abnormally large amount of vocabulary in Chinese pertaining to horses 🤣. All jokes aside, I felt so bad for the horses in this book though! omg!!! sob sob

REVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES: LAUGHING THROUGH THE ARAB SPRING by Bassem Youssef / June 13, 2019 - June 14, 2019 / (audiobook version) / The “Jon Stewart of the Arab World” takes you through his experience of creating political comedy that dared to make fun of and critique the Egyptian government. His program was similar to the Daily Show but with a whole lot more life-risking.  / This was very interesting. I don’t know that I ever laughed out loud even though it does have humor. I was more fascinated with just finding out his story. 

EVERY DAY A FRIDAY: HOW TO BE HAPPIER 7 DAYS A WEEK by Joel Osteen / June 16, 2019 - June 18, 2019 /  A pastor gives his advice on how to appreciate life. / Yeah, sometimes I just want to read some inspirational stuff. I’m not really a religious person but I would say the pastor’s writing is suitable for anybody. To sum it up, he basically tells you to appreciate what you have. 

THREE DARK CROWNS by Kendare Blake / June 11, 2019 - June 19, 2019 / Triplet girls, each with their own powers, have been kept apart for years and now are pitted against each other trying to kill one another because only one can be queen.  / Fun, dark YA read

THE WAR ON NORMAL PEOPLE by Andrew Yang / June 19, 2019 - June 20, 2019 / (audiobook version) / This is by the Andrew Yang who is one of the huge number of Democratic candidates. / Seriously, more people need to pay attention to the things this guy is saying. The stats he gives about how many jobs are going to be automated in the next few years...just wow. Totally eye-opening.

ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake / June 20, 2019  - June 21, 2019 / (audiobook version) / 2nd book in the Three Dark Crowns trilogy / It’s not very long so I listened to the entire thing while I was doing the Felix from Stray Kids drawing.

THE WORLD AS IT IS: INSIDE THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE by Ben Rhodes / June 21, 2019 - June 26, 2019 / Author was a speechwriter, policymaker, and friend during Obama’s presidency. / Will make you long for the Obama era the entire time you are reading this.

#books #books read #books completed #sea of poppies #the best cook in the world #the alice network #black beauty #revoution for dummies #every day a friday #three dark crowns #the war on normal people #one dark throne #the world as it is #andrew yang #kendare blake

[zebraslovescupcakestoo]

Boy crush

My name is Felix Lockheart. I'm just an average guy with a first year, high school teenage lifestyle. I'm a bit of a bookworm and play soccer by myself on my week days. I am also a self reserve, a bit of a shy person and....

I got a boy crush...

I have... an explainable crush for over two months.

I hate to admit it but....

I know that this is 201X and that people are more open minded with their 'gender relations' to be polite, but to some like myself, it's not that easy...

I got a heart rush...ain't slowin' down.

The boy I've had a 'crush' on... I don't believed he knew me yet. Let alone my existence.

His name... Oswald 'Walt' Disney. He's the most interesting person I've seen since the entrance ceremony. All it took was just once glance and... It just happened.

I got it real bad, want everything he has.

Since then, I've been watching him from afar like a spectator watching the actor. I watched carefully to everything he's doing. He's one of the most attractive students in the whole school for one thing. He's the top martial art member of the karate club along having some pretty good grades. He's also part of that famous Disney family that made cartoons and TV shows, along with his even more famous younger brother, Mickey Disney.

But in my opinion, I still think he's cooler... and more interesting than his family's background.

That smile and that midnight laugh, he's giving them now.

Despite being under his family's shadow, some people still see him as his own person... I glanced often at him behind my library books that I used to cover my face during class breaks. I see him interact and blend in with the other classmates, both guys and girls...

I want to taste his lips, yeah cause they taste like you...

I watched him talk, laugh, and I also try really hard to hear what they were saying. They all talked mostly the regular stuff like what are they doing on weekends, who's at the top charts this week and who's dating who and got dumped...

There were times after school, he had to meet someone that placed a confession letter in his locker or desk...

I was anxious whenever that happened and I had that tied feeling inside my chest.

I wanna drown myself in a bottle of his cologne.

I've witnessed it after school from behind the buildings, the empty classrooms, and sometimes even next to the separate changing rooms. They were girls from first and second years, each had different personalty and quirks, all confessed to him and they asked “I really like you! Please go out with me, even just once!” This time it was a light brunette girl with buns tied with ribbons. She was those stereotypical cute girls that no guy would turn down.

During those confessions, my heart really started to burst through my chest and I was worried of what he was going to say. “I'm sorry, but there's someone I wanted to ask first before I do.” He told her just like he said to the others.

I quickly averted myself to look like I was just passing by or I'm reviewing one of the subjects we had that day. Oswald passed by me very closely and I could help but admire again his features.

I want his long, dark hair...

He had black hair with a twin pony tails in one that looked like rabbit ears. He had those mysterious deep ocean blue eyes, those pale and smooth skin tone and he had that samurai looks that gave a serious, deep thought vibes... He's also the same height as me cause he glace straight in my eyes as he caught me looking....

OH SNAP! HE'S LOOKING AT ME!

I immediately buried my blushing face in the history book I was holding and pray to God that he did not noticed me staring him. He would think of me like I was a creepy stalker. Few seconds later, that girl came around and faced him. “Fine! But I'll wait for you a bit and trust me, I am much better that whoever she is and cuter!” She declared with confidence. I admire those kinds of people who were determined as she was... I can barely have a normal conversation with just one person without over thinking of what to say.

“What makes you think you're better than that person if you never actually met them once?” He responded to her and that upset her a bit. She didn't wanted to draw the school's attention to her rejection as he walked away until he was out of our sight.

She then glanced at me angrily and dropped her cute act. “Hey you! Bookworm!” I jumped a bit. “H-huh? Yes, wh-what is it?!” Oh snap! Did she noticed me spying or staring at him?! “You wouldn't know anyone who would hang out with the karate prince, would ya?” I lowered my history book and I was about to say 'I don't know' until she cut me off. “Never mind. I doubt it could have been any of the girls that did confessed. At least more than half of the girl's population in this prison got rejected by him and they all have that same answer. I doubt someone like you would understand that... Nerd.” She whispered that as she turned to the opposite direction...

I immediately speed walked to the nearest restroom to take a breather from what happened... As soon as I found one that for single use, I entered it and locked it. Then I took a deep breath and exhaled... “I'm not creepy... I'm just different...”

She didn't have to reminded me that. I've been used to it by now. I know that I'm not one of those 'in crowd' hipster kids and that I'm a little different, but that doesn't mean it's bad! Except... I have a bad crush on a boy...

See, I'm a guy and he's a guy... I still don't know if he's interested of, you now, dating... and stuff. Until recently he is waiting for a confession from someone or waiting to be approved by someone... I had to swallow that pill hard. If one truly cared for that person, he or she wanted to give happiness for them, including of letting go.

As soon as I know who it is, maybe this feeling will go away and I can live my school life in peace... and hope for happiness.

I want his gentle touch...

The next day, we had a two person, team up assignment for a science presentation of our choice. It was the teacher's choice to pair us up by the names that were drawn in the hat... and low and behold...

I got 'lucky' to be paired with Oswald... I nearly fell off my chair. Fortunately, nobody caught that.

While almost all the girls were disappointed, they were still glad that it wasn't one of their female rivals who got picked. If only they knew...

He came over to my seat and asked. “Are you free this afternoon?” This was the first 'actual' question he asked me since the entrance ceremony. I just nodded and he said. “Do you want to go to the school's library then? We might find something there that could give us and idea of what to do.”

I nodded twice and then he smiled softly. He's so... nicer than I thought. I then started to fell more in love... is it love? No... it's just a crush! He did have someone he's waiting for, right?

“Are you feeling well? You look red in the face.” His expression had turned sad. My face is red?! Oh no! “No no! I'm just... a bit hot! I just needed to take some cool fresh air and I'm good. I'll met you there after class.” I tried to came up an excuse for it. He looked at me for a few seconds until he said. “Ah... OK. I'll meet you there.” He then regain that wonderful smile and returned to his seat before class starts. I hope he didn't noticed that was a lie or that he thinks what it really was.

Yeah, cause maybe then, you'd want me just as much...

Apart that there were a few other students scattered in the library that day, there were just the two of us at one table that can fit for four to eight people. He told me first that he needed to finish a few math problems before we get started on what we should do on our science project. I simple said ok and decided to take out one of my own books I've owned.

It was a quiet yet a peaceful treasured moment for me. Just me and him together. I was happy.

I then noticed he made a mistake on one of the equations. “Oh, wait! That's the wrong equation for that problem.” I said to him without raising my indoor voice. This is a school Library. “Hm.” Was his response. “Do you know what should be the correct formula?” He look at me directly in the eyes. “You seem like you have a pretty good grades. You were one of the top in our class last time I've seen the results posted on the classroom's board.” He then answered that detailed. I then started to blush a bit and that feeling had returned.

I got a boy crush...

He complimented me for the first time. I never got noticed like that. Usually people just see who's first or who's last, they don't care much on who's in the middle part. “You... noticed that?” He smiled gently at me. “Of course, you were just above me on the last exams. Now tell me what I did wrong.” I snapped back in reality and immediately looked down at the mistaken equation. I explained on what was the correct way of finding the length of the Pythagorean theorem of a triangle. Just as he said, “Ah, I see.” His right hand partially, gently brushed off mines.

There was a sudden electric rush in my spine, my eyes widen a bit and I blushed a bit deeper. 'He touched my hand...' It may be for a second, but it felt... nice. I then realized that we're still in a 'public' library. I immediately buried my face in my book. Why am I acting this way? He's a guy, but a cool and attractive guy. We're so different and yet why... why... am I so.... getting dizzy of thinking about it..?

I got a boy crush...

“Enough.” He said as he closed off his text book. Huh? I looked at him and he was looking straight at me with a frowning face. “Pack your books, we're changing location.” What? What did I... I then realized he was glaring at me to hurry up. That made me scare. Thankfully I only took out one book. “Wh-where are we going instead?” I asked as I stood up. “Somewhere much better than here. Follow me. You don't have anyone waiting back at your place?” He asked for my family as we leave. This is a bit odd of him to say that, but still. “Not really, I just text to my father and sister almost every day to let them know how I'm doing and all.”

His expression soften a bit. “...So you're alone on most nights too.” Huh? My expression was confused as he said that. “Nothing. Just text them you'll be at a friend's place for tonight and that you'll be a bit late.”

Wait. What did he just said?

I don't get no sleep...

He's not lying once we've arrived at his place. It was one of those fancy new apartments with those special security buzz call and all that stuff. I should have known better since he's one of the Disney family. My heart was beating faster and harder. I'm feeling really anxious. I'm visiting his 'personal space.' Yet I'm a bit curious of why he's on his own like this. Did something happened between them that I didn't know?

As soon as we entered his complex, it was like one of those classy black themed apartment that you might see in those magazines. “Come sit down on the couch, I'll make some tea.”

“Mm-hm.” I hummed and nodded with a tiny smile. This boy crush is now taking a toll on me and it took almost all of my strength not to do something awkward. If I do 'something' awkward, I might triggered my first panic attack.

I don't get no peace...

I sat in the living room for quite some time, quietly. I tried to look around me to keep myself calm. I noticed that he had two large posters of Michael Jackson and an Elvis Presley. I didn't know he's into that kind of music. I also noticed he had a blue guitar in his stand near the corner where it was. Guess the neighbors haven't told him to get rid of it yet or he's really good at it that they let him keep it.

I did noticed a few family portraits, most were with his little brother. Guess that he's on a good term relation with him. Most would be either on neutral or rivalry, but I guess that's just me with my nephews whenever they came with my sister for a visit.

Ah! That reminds me! I immediately pulled out my cell phone and I immediately text them of where I'm at and let them know that I'll be late to come home. I've only have two contacts in my phone so it's not a huge surprise for someone like me. After a few minutes, dad responded that it was alright, my sister on the other hand, she was sending a long paragraph of how happy she was for me to make a friend and that I needed to see more 'real' people. I'm a shy person with an out-going sister, OK?

I'll take that as an 'OK' from them.

Thinking about him, under the bed sheets...

I then heard him coming in with two cups of tea. “I've got lavender tea, so I hope you don't mind it with some milk and a bit of sweet in it.” He said. “Oh, no, not at all. I sometimes have some on rainy days and just enjoy watching it through my bedroom window while hearing the droplets-Err!!” I blushed and looked away. Aw, snap! I made it awkward! I doubt that he think it's interesting. He just chuckled and said. “Don't be shy. I love the rain too. It's just sad that most of the other kids preferred to be 'sunshine everyday' of the week. Guess they don't know how rain can be a good thing or appreciate it's good sides.” I looked at him as he smile at me. Why are you so... nice to someone like me?

He sat down next to me. Oh my God! He's so close! I immediately looked down in my tea, took a sip and I was surprised that he used honey instead of sugar. I know that it can be a bit hard to use them for this, but it's really good!

“Not only it's good, but it helps calm down stress and anxiety. It will help greatly for someone I've seen for a while...” He sets down his cup. “There's something I wanted to ask you for quite a while...” He looked at me again and waited me to put mine down. I set it down and wondered what could he mean.

No. It's... too obvious. Right? But I still didn't have the courage to look straight in his eyes. I've kept them down and didn't turned my head. Both my hands were gripping tightly like a fist on my knees and I trembled a bit. I was scared of what might happened. Did I do something wrong? Was it something I've said or maybe... he noticed me following him??

The way that he's whispering...

I then got surprised of a gentle touch on my left cheek that I've let out an “Ah!” and then my head was turned straight in his face. He frowned a bit and said. “Eyes over here.” I looked right in his eyes... they were those beautiful deep ocean blue colors that I can't help but to admire them. I couldn't move nor even blink. I was frozen, paralyzed yet a bit shaken by that guy...

The way that he's pulling me in...

I let out another 'yeep!' as his other hand had been put at my left hip and he pulled me closer to him. I don't know how, but my hands had somewhat gripped both his side of the white long sleeves he's wearing. I was blushing so red and thinking 'what the heck and I DOING?!' “That's a cute face you're making.” He smirked.

Aaaaaah! I want to crawl in a corner and just let me die from this embarrassment! Please!

He then got serious and asked.“Felix, I want to ask you something and I want you to answer it with honesty...” I mentally snapped back in reality and calmed myself. This is it... I nodded cause I was a bit nervous to say it.

“Now tell me... Do you like me?” He said those triggered words and my heart sank. “huh?” What did he said? I might misunderstood it. “D-do I what?” I asked again on what he really meant. “I'm asking if you like me or not.”

Oh... He said if I like him or not... My mind exploded and turned blank. My mouth was slightly opened but no words came out. He said it. I then feel drained and as I faded out of conscious, all I remembered was his worried face and he called my name before I fell on him...

Lord knows I've tried, I can't get him off my mind.

I came to once I've awoken with more lavender scents. I knew that I've smelled this before back at the library, but I've just assumed that it might have been someone else. I feel a soft pillow on my head, a really warm blanket and then I've realized there's someone's gentle hand that's been caressing the back of my head. I opened slightly my eyes and saw Oswald, who he noticed me, smiled again. “You're up. Thank goodness, I thought that I might need to call your next of kin if you're still fainted.”

He... was taking care of me when I fainted? I then realized on what he was doing and I blushed immediately. I've hid my face underneath the blanket and I trembled in embarrassment. I can't believe I've messed up our first interaction alone! “I-I'm so sorry! I d-don't know what came over me!” I then felt the blanket pulled over my head and saw him frowning again. “Don't hide your face when you're talking to me.” He said it seriously. I was at loss and I don't know what to say.

If I say that I like him, he would have freaked out or be disgusted. But then again, he asked that damned question... What's the right way to say it? He then placed his hand on my cheeks again to make me look at him. “Felix, don't be scared. I want to hear it from you. I know for a while now that you've been watching me since early fall after our high school entrance ceremony.” I was surprised. “H-how... did you know?”

He then gently placed me back on a sitting position, but kept himself close.“Cause you've been following me at school everywhere but kept your distance. I would have let it pass as coincidental if you haven't had a few mishaps of pretending to read a book unless you can do it upside down.” He smirked a bit. Yikes! Did I really do that? Sure I might have noticed it but him? How did he knew that detail specifically? I was guessing that it was probably my turn to speak. “Well... I've... seen you a few times and I... couldn't help but admire...” I quietly spoke and started to tremble. Why is it so hard to say it?

I wanna taste his lips, yeah 'cause they taste like you...

“Me? Admirable? I doubt it.” He puts himself down. I was shocked to hear that. “Wh-what do you mean? Sure you may be not as big as your little brother, but I think you're amazing on your own. You're even just as popular as your family, you're kinda like a prince according to most of the girls and you're so... nice...!!!” I clammed my mouth with both my hands when I realized I've spoke too much. Great! Now I've probably creep him out!

But... he didn't reacted like that. He smiled, then pulls my hands away and said. “It's alright. You're being honest unlike most of the people I've knew.” I looked at him again confused. Why... is he not weird out from someone like me? Was he serious when he asked 'that' earlier?

He then gently placed one of my loose hair at the back of my ear. “What makes you notice I'm nice in real person before this? I've rarely show that side to anyone.”

“Well... I've seen that first time I did is when it was raining after school one time. There was an old man who'd probably didn't have much was using some news papers to cover his head. You've offered your own umbrella and then used your school bag to cover your head instead. That makes me think you're a kind, warmhearted person.” I remembered it well.

I wanna drown myself in a bottle of his cologne...

“You've... saw that? It wasn't out of publicity praises I've done that...” His eyes looked on the side, blushing. Holey carp fish! Now this sounded like some cheesy, love confession in those novels! “N-no! It's not like that! I think you're really a great guy! I just... couldn't help but admire.” I've blurred it out.

He looked at me with a surprising eyes and I froze again. Why am I digging my own early grave for my so-called 'social' life? His expression relaxed again and he also placed his right hand on my left cheek. “Funny. I just assumed that I'm just average. Truth is, I believed you're more interesting. To me at least.” He then brushes his thumb on my blushing cheeks as my eyes widen with shock. Little, plain but weird, old me? Interesting? To him? A super cool guy? Probably more famous than I'll ever be in my dreams?

...Wait. I DID fainted, right? “Am I still dreaming?” I asked. He then had an idea and smirked . “Maybe... What if it's real?” I was confused on what he said until he puts his other hand on the other side of my cheeks. He pulls me closer to his face and said with confidence. “If I confessed what I wanted, will you accept it?” I innocently opened my mouth to let out a 'huh?' and then he took that chance to kiss me... on the lips.

“mmh!” Was my reaction. My eyes widen while his were closed. He pulled me close to his chest as I've unconsciously gripped his sleeves again. My heart started to pound faster and felt like it was about to jump off my rib cage. My mind is thinking of numerous things right now, one of them is what's going on right now.

He's kissing me.

He then let my lips go after we needed air. He was blushing a bit deeper, but not as much as I am. “Ah... ah...” I tried to breathe. I was embarrassed, but confused. He then realized what he had done and covered his mouth. “I'm sorry... I got a bit carried away. You were so cute that I... couldn't help myself. Please forgive me.” He then pulls me close again with one hand on my head and the other wrapped around my waist in a hug.

I want his long, dark hair...

Oh. my. Gosh!  Now I know I'm not dreaming! Did 'the' Oswald 'lucky rabbit' Disney just confessed and kissed me?! For reals?!! I don't know what to say but... I wanted to make sure. “Do you really... like me?” I asked. “Yes... I wanted to make sure that you were comfortable with me before I wanted to ask. Especially if I'm a guy...” He sounded like he's having the same problem as I did... “But why me of all the people? There's a lot of cute girls and even some handsome guys who would have been a much better match than boring, old me! I'm not one of those 'in crowd' kids.” Why did he choose me out of all those people?

“Because you're unique to me.” I gasped. “You were pretty much reading books, but they were mostly on more interesting titles than the ones that were recommended by staff picks or even on those Kobo tablets. You even sometimes get some of the most crucial details when everyone else missed like your keen eye senses. A bit reserved, but you're more honest and that you're the type who doesn't go for superficial love relationships or looks... although I've already mentioned that you were cute, heh!” He chuckled on that last part. I felt... happy.

I want his magic touch...

“Now are you willing to go out with me? Even if it's just once, I want to go out with you. If not then... I wanted to be friends at least...?” He then got a bit surprise when I wrapped my arms around his back and placed my head on his chest. I knew he was well built, but it felt good. I finally took all of my courage and I gave him my answer. “Yes... I do... I was so scared of confessing and that well...” I started to shake a bit until he placed another kiss on my cheeks this time. We looked at each other again and then he said. “There's no need to be afraid... I've already fell in love with you on first glance. Now that we've confessed, we can now learn more about each other.”

Yeah 'cause maybe then, you'd want me just as much...

“Wait! What about-” He then placed a finger on my lips. “We can do it tomorrow... I want to enjoy this moment with you.” He answered as if he knew of what I was about to ask on our school project.

I got a boy crush...

He then looked at me again, leaned his head just a bit as if he wanted to kiss me again...

Hate to admit it but...

I may have blushed a bit, but I've nodded a bit and then I've let him... I've spend a long evening with him.

I got a heart rush, ain't slowing down...

----Author’s notes-----

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I can’t believe I’ve just made my first boy fluff one shot!

Just to let you know that I did not want to break any rules, including the new Tumbr rule about no adultery here so please don’t take this seriously. (It’s just a kiss, jez!)

I dunno why I’ve been obsessed with this but I just wanted to let it out.

I did choose this particular song not because of the misconception of loving the same gender, but more like kind of an envious way. It’s a bit of the mash of original and the remix of this song.

Girl Crush by Little Big Town and cover AJ.

BBTIM AU characters belongs to Marini4.

#bendy before the ink machine #Felix The Cat #felix #oswald #oswald the lucky rabbit #humanized #fanfiction #boy crush