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#this is inspired by an ask but like yeah. aro people can do that!
runningfromevil-mp3 · 5 months
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Anyway, reminder to just consider thinking about aromantic people who enjoy things like kissing and hugging and so on. Just because its seen as romantic doesn't mean it is for everyone. Aromantic people can just. do that. The aromantic experience is so varied. This especially goes to alloaro people too because sometimes you feel left out or in the middle of those discussions when you do or enjoy those things.
There's an additional reblog to this post, consider checking it if you wish!
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new-revenant · 1 year
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A so Called Tamaranean | Part Two
So, people seem to really like this little story I made, so I guess I’ll continue it! Part 1 if you haven’t read it yet or forgot something from it :) Also I am going to put both parts onto Ao3 in like, a day or two.
Edit : Ao3 Link! Also unsure if I’ll continue this because I don’t want to stress out over it. This was partly inspired by the “Grudge Match” ep from the JLU cartoon(go watch it it’s so good). Don’t ask what continuity this whole fic is set in, because I am making it up as I go. Warning for mentions of blood, I think there’s slight dehumanization, and mild elements of horror. There’s a fight scene. You know, regular superhero stuff.
Tag list since people wanted to be tagged(there are many of you ๑╹ω╹๑):
@spectralstardustandphantomnights - @skulld3mort-1fan - @ballzfrog - @toomanyfandoms11 - @blueflipflops - @everest-nightshade - @terzatheunderscorerima - @thegatorsgoose - @mnemovoid - @ace-aro-as-shit - @pikakaistudios - @phoenixcatch7 - @alice-hazelwood - @idfk-man20 (I can’t tag this person for some reason???) - @keimiwolf - @cankoking - @dxrksong - @learning-to-fly-on-my-own - @chaoticmistake - @ectoplasm024 - @akikkobara - @nerdypaintbrush - @worthlesswall - @stargirl1331 - @treepainting - @that-awkward-fae-nerd - @kawaiikenna - @raspberry-muffin
♥︎♡♥︎
“Alright kid, this is one of my safe houses,” Nightwing said, “We’re going to stay here for a while until I figure out what to do,” they muttered the last part. They both were in a small apartment in an abandoned building. It was stocked with some med kits and rations, with a mattress tucked into a corner. There was a single window that they used to get inside, facing another building.
“Small house,” Danny commented, trying to hide his smirk.
“Yeah it’s supposed to be small-now I need to call Starfire for the first time in a few months,” Nightwing groaned, “Man I’ve been busy.”
Danny sat on the mattress while Nightwing out a phone to call this “Starfire” person. Danny was sweating bullets, because surely she would notice that Danny is definitely not a Tamaranean. Maybe he should just come out and say what he really is…Nah.
He hasn’t even told his own parents that he’s actually…whatever he is, so he certainly isn’t going to be telling this stranger who he is. Maybe once he can find out how to get back home he’ll tell them. He’ll just have to keep his secret to himself, which shouldn’t be toohard. And Danny’s stuck in his ghost form now, for some reason. But that means that it’ll be easier to pretend to a Tamaranean! And he could just say he wasn’t raised wherever Tamaraneans were from, and was experimented on by the people who raised him. Not too bad of an idea from a C-student.
Danny was humming happily as he came up with his plan. He had to ignore what Nightwing was saying because he was pretty sure Tamaraneans weren’t supposed to know English. Honestly he was sure of nothing and probably should’ve eavesdropped on Nightwing. But once he thought of that idea, Nightwing finished their phone call.
“Okay Nightgale, Starfire’s going to be here soon, and you need to eat don’t you-of course you need to eat, what am I talking about?” Nightwing sighed, “Do you have any preferences? Like, sweet or sour foods since you probably don’t know any Earth foods.”
“I will eat anything and everything you give me,” Danny responded, “I have no preferences other than survival.”
“That’s…so sad oh my god. I wish I could give you like, a honey crisp apple or something other than granola bars and military rations.”
“Food is food I guess. Oh, do you have any water my throat’s kind of sore.”
“On it,” Nightwing went and grabbed a couple of granola bars and a bottle of water and nearly tossed it over to Danny before stopping and just handed it to him.
“Thank you,” Danny said as he smiled innocently, before wolfing down the granola bars and chugging down all of the water in less than a minute. Nightwing could only watch in horror as when they tried to make Danny slow down, he tried to bite them.
“So,” Danny made direct eye contact with Nightwing after he finished eating “What’s Starfire like?” He was oddly proud of himself for this rather simple question.
“Oh! Well, she’s the Princess of Tamaran and-“ Nightwing was stopped by a sudden knock at the door. They froze and swiftly went over to the door.
“It’s me! Starfire!” a muffled voice said from behind the door. Nightwing let out a visible but silent sigh of relief before they opened the door.
“Starfire, you got here quickly,” Nightwing commented.
“Of course! There’s a baby Tamaranean here who needs help! Plus, I was nearby already,” Starfire floated a few inches off the ground as she went inside the tiny apartment.  Nightwing pointed her over to where Danny was, and she gasped happily with a gleeful shine in her eyes. Danny tried his best to hide his grimace and prepare for whatever was going to happen.
“Hello! Hi there!” Starfire shot over to Danny-which he thankfully expected to happen this time-speaking Tamaranean. Starfire had long, red, fire-like hair, flickering at the ends like a flame. Her skin was an unnatural shade of a bronze-like orange-but it was probably very natural for Tamaraneans. She was also wearing this odd, purple jumpsuit-looking outfit. Not only were her irises were green, but her sclera had a green tint to it. Danny could swear that she was glowing slightly.
“Can you not do any sudden movements Princess?” Danny said, fully grimacing, “Or get too close.”
“Oh! Sorry young one,” Starfire backed a few away from Danny a smile plastered on her face, “What’s your name?”
“I assume that Nightwing already told you but I’m uh, Nightgale. It’s…nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too Nightgale! I’m Princess Starfire of Tameran, but you may just call me Star or Starfire.”
Starfire went over to Nightwing and spoke to them in English. Danny thought this would finally be a good time to eavesdrop.
“He doesn’t know any Earth languages right?” Starfire asked.
“Nope and he seems far too touch-adverse to do…that language acquisition thing,” Nightwing answered, sighing and rubbing their temples, “He’ll shoot anyone who so much as attempts to even reach out a hand to him-I should know, because that’s what happened to me.”
“Oh no! Are you okay?”
 “Yeah I just got shot in the face but it only hurt for a moment-actually, it hurt Nightgalemore, his powers seem…unstable.”
“Unstable?”
“His arm was in a lot of pain both times he shot a starbolt at me, so I’m pretty sure his powers are at least somewhat unstable. God how-what are we going to do-WHERE did he even come from?”
“He could’ve come from anywhere I think-but! I think we might need to get him some sort therapy for the touch-adversity. So it’s a good thing that it is just physical touch in general that makes it so we can learn other’s languages, so he could just poke someone and boom! He learns English!” -Starfire spun around a little bit- “I…also think we might need to get the Justice League involved.”
“Yeah, we probably do,” Nightwing leaned up against a wall, probably pondering about what to do next. Danny was also wondering about what to do next. He could probably just punch someone in the face and pass that off as a language-acquisition thing. He looked out the window and right at that moment, a green bird landed on the windowsill.
Danny made direct eye contact with the bird. Its eyes were the normal black void of sparrow’s eyes, but the entire bird was green. It wasn’t glowing so it probably wasn’t a ghost.
“Oh hey! So you’re that Tamaranean-“ the bird said, it spoke, and Danny blasted it on pure instinct, obviously. He screamed, it screamed, but it swiftly dodged and flew inside. Its body shifted and grew, turning into a human-a green skinned human with dark green hair, but human nonetheless.
“WOAH! Never seen a talking bird before?” The green person chuckled.
“Beast Boy, are you okay?” Starfire asked.
“Yeah, but that kid seems jumpy.”
“Of course he’s jumpy, he just fell from the sky not even an hour ago,” Nightwing sighed, “Also why are you here Garfield?”
“Oh, she texted the whole group chat about the little Tamaranean here, didn’t you see it?” Beast Boy-Garfield was probably their real name but Danny could only think about a certain orange cat-pointed over to Starfire.
“Kori why?” Nightwing groaned, “So do just the rest of the Titans know?”
“Yes it’s just the rest of Titans, I’m sorry I was just so excited!” Starfire apologized, “He’s a fellow Tamaranean with powers nonetheless!”
They continued to argue and Danny knew that this was his chance. He had to get out of here. He’ll come back obviously, but he really didn’t want to keep looking at people’s mouth to figure out if they were speaking English or not.
He stood up and placed his hand on the windowsill, looking back for a moment before jumping up and bolting out of of there.
He turned quickly, just barely scraping his arm against the other building. He focused on just going faster and faster, constantly taking wild turns and changing his altitude.
He kept going and going, ignoring everything else, and he felt like he was reaching his limit in no time at all. He shoot high into the sky, spotting docks nearby. Shooting back back down like a lightning bolt, he almost slammed into the ground nearby. He didn’t make a noise or dented the concrete, so it was a win in Danny’s book.
The docks seem unused and abandoned, but oddly enough the warehouses didn’t. There was one warehouse that was bigger than the others, and it had a clearly visible side door on it. Danny looked around both at the sky and the docks. The skies were clear, but he could definitely hear something coming from that big warehouse.
Danny looked at his hands. Yeah, there might be some criminals in here. If not? Well then he’ll just give some poor folks a handshake or something. Taking his gloves off and tying them onto his belt, he noticed his veins were glowing a bright green. Danny did not know if they always were like that, but it was probably for the best to not use his powers, which was completely fine as he could still throw a mean punch.
Walking up towards the door, he had to take a deep, deep breath. What was he doing? Why was he pretending? Why does he always have to be constantly lying? He could go back now, tell them all the truth before things get more and more out of hand.
‘But it’s too late,’ he kept repeating to himself. The same thing he had always repeated to himself whenever he thought about telling his own parents who-what he was.
He gripped the handle of the door, already able to hear fighting coming from the inside. It didn’t fully sound like normal humans fighting, but a bit like ghost fighting. Shooting, burning, the ground being ripped apart and crushed. People with superpowers exist in this world, Danny could see that much from what he’s noticed so far. He felt like he was definitely not ready to fight anyone who can punch as hard as Shulker per say, but he was already here. He had to do something.
Danny looked around for those heroes who helped him out. Seeing no one around, he took in another a deep breath, and opened that side door.
♦︎
Nightwing really did expect the kid to run off at some point. He just did not expect the kid to just be gone after he looked away for a single second. Just one second, he just wanted to talk with Kori and Garfield, but no, now he has to search for a glowing, physically andprobably mentally unstable Tamaranean child. If it was only as easy as it sounded because Nightgale was gone gone. Which meant that everyone was freaking out, obviously.
“Starfire! Do you see anything?” Nightwing called out from a rooftop nearby the safe house. Starfire was high in the sky so she could probably see a glowing person much more easily, and she shouted out ‘NO!’ which did wonders to Nightwing’s sprit.
“Beast Boy, how about you?” Beast Boy swooped down as an eagle and shook his head no. Nightwing sighed, “Well, we’ll need to split up then. Beast Boy you go west, I’ll go north, Starfire will go-“
“Nightwing,” Oracle’s voice had suddenly spoken from Nightwing’s earpiece, interrupting him. He put his hand on his earpiece to answer.
“What’s going on Oracle?” Nightwing responded instantly.
“An illegal meta fighting ring has been reported coming from the abandoned commercial docks in Blüdhaven. Do you think you can check up on it?”
“If I had a nickel for every time a meta fighting ring has happened here-yeah I’ll deal with it quickly.”
“Even with the Tamaranean child?” Batman’s voice interjected.
Nightwing’s face dropped. Of course Batman knows about Nightgale, he’s Batman. God damn it.
“Yep, even with them.”
“Their name?”
“They said their name was Nightgale. Now, I’ll get back to you later goodbye!” Nightwing took his hand away from the eyepiece and groaned.
“So we have to deal with a meta fighting ring as well?” Beast Boy asked, “Oh wait! What if the kid got caught up in the fighting ring?”
“Nightgale got caught up in a fighting ring?!” Starfire had come down and was very concerned.
“No-well,” Nightwing thought of how likely it was that Nightgale could actually get caught up in a fighting ring, “There could be a chance-“
“We have to go! Where is the fighting ring?” Starfire eyes were filled with determination.
“Yeah! Let’s save those metas AND that Tamaranean kid who’s name I can’t remember. Sorry,” Beast Boy nervously chuckled a bit during that last part.
“It’s Nightgale,” Nightwing repeated. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more strange it was that the kid’s name was Nightgale. It was pretty close to Nightwing, and there was also the problem of accidentally mixing the two names up. Maybe he should call them Gale, or Night Jr. Damnit, he was turning into Bruce wasn’t he?
Nightwing shook off that thought process, focusing on the matter at hand, “Now, let’s go to the docks!”
“Yeah!” The other two exclaimed. They all bolted towards the docks, towards Nightgale.
It didn’t take too long to get over to the docks, especially since Nightwing knew the way there by heart and the other two could fly. The trio still looked around for Nightgale on the way there, but had no luck with that. Nightwing really hoped that Nightgale wouldn’t be at the docks. He felt like there was a good chance that they would’ve gotten hurt, or worse.
Once the trio did get to docks, they saw the biggest warehouse had a giant hole in its side. People were running away from it, screaming and tripping over themselves.
As the heroes got over to them, they noticed just how scared the people acted. “P-please take us in, we’ll go to jail, just get us away from here!” One of them shouted. All of them were heavily bruised and bleeding lightly, large, but very shallow claw marks across either their chests. 
“So this the illegal meta fighting ring I’ve been hearing about,” Nightwing muttered, “Alright, I’ll cuff these guys real quick, get them to the hospital, and then we’ll-“
“Please get us away from here first! That-that monster in there will-“
“Oh! That might be Nightgale right?” Starfire asked.
“Yeah! They seem strong enough,” Beast Boy added.
“Let’s check it out. You criminals stay here or I’ll get that ‘monster’ to hunt you down.” The threat seemed to be very effective against them, which was very worrying, but right now Nightwing needed to focus at the situation at hand-someone dangerous was inside that warehouse with the metas, and that someone could very well be Nightgale.
As they rushed towards the hole, Starfire caught a criminal being thrown out of it. The criminal also had a large, shallow claw mark across their chest. She placed them down and told them to stay with the other criminals, and they ecstatically did as told. The trio were finally at the hole.
Nightwing now believed the criminals when they said there was a monster here.
He couldn’t focus on anything other than-that thing standing in the center of the warehouse. It was a shadow, fickle and dark, glowing green-bleeding green out of its hands and eyes. Eyes that stared right at him, right into his very soul.
It was pulsating with light, unsteady and bright, drawing Nightwing’s mind to nuclear waste. It’s body seemed to flicker in and out of existence as fast as a blink of an eye, small, almost invisible sparks of electricity jetting out of it.
Its hands looked sharp, fingernails indistinguishable from flesh. They were stained red, blood dripping towards the ground. Blood was splattered at its feet and the ground around it. But he couldn’t see any blood on the rest of it’s shadowy body.
This was it, this was how Nightwing was going to die. He couldn’t move couldn’t think about anything else other than the horrors that awaited him. It was all going to be over and he couldn’t even help that one kid-
“Nightgale!” Starfire exclaimed and flew inside. Suddenly, Nightwing was snapped out of his trance, and the monster disappeared, leaving a tired and trembling Nightgale behind.
Nightwing looked over at Beast Boy, and it was clear that he saw the same thing as Nightwing. Beast Boy looked at him for an answer, but all he could do was shrug slightly. Whatever affected him and Beast Boy didn’t affect Starfire, so he could easily pass this off as some Tamaranean thing, but something in the back of his mind said that he shouldn’t.
Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right about Nightgale.
But he’ll think about that more later. Right now, Nightgale and the metas needed help.
“Beast Boy, you look after the metas, I’ll deal with the rest of the criminals,” Nightwing said and then immediately sprang into action.
“R-right!” Beast Boy responded and followed suit.
Nightgale had taken care of most of the criminals involved, but the ringmaster, Roulette, had nearly escaped. 
“Roulette! I see that you haven’t changed at all,” Nightwing commented when he caught up to her. He could see that her left arm was bleeding, baring the same shallow claw marks as the other criminals had. “This is what, the second time you’ve set up a meta fighting ring in Blüdhaven? Why’s that?”
“I didn’t expect to get caught so quickly I’ll tell you that much,” she replied, “Much less did I expect to get caught by your son.”
“Okay, Nightgale isn’t my-“ Roulette took this opportunity to kick Nightwing square in the face. In retaliation, Nightwing grabbed her foot and flipped her over, and the fight commenced.
Back in the warehouse, Starfire was checking Nightgale for any injuries. And he had a lot of injuries. No cuts but a lot of bruises had formed already.
“We have to get you to the Watchtower right away-it’s basically the Justice League’s base and they’ll have everything we’ll need to fix you up okay?” Starfire told Nightgale. Only after she finished talking did she realize that she was speaking in English, so she readied herself for having to repeat that whole thing again.
“I’m okay,” Nightgale muttered, back in English.
Starfire gasped, “Did you learn English while punching all those criminals?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s why I took my gloves off, I’m sorry if I wasn’t-“
“No no! It’s okay, it great actually, because now you can communicate easier with everyone else! Good job Nightgale,” Starfire smiled at them and they shyly smiled back.
“Thank you,” Nightgale muttered, “Do we help those people now?”
“I got it!” Beast boy shouted. He had rounded up all the metas and there were a concerning amount of them.
“There’s at least 9 people here,” Nightgale commented, “Or more. I’m not good with counting.”
“That’s okay Nightgale,” Starfire lightly patted Nightgale’s shoulder, and they didn’t even flinch! Which was great, progress was being in one way or another. “Now, how about we check up on Nightwing hm?” Nightgale nodded, and Starfire quickly checked up on the metas before bringing Nightgale with her outside.
Nightwing and Roulette noticed the two immediately, and Roulette’s eye widened in horror.
“That kid-“ Roulette started, before becoming yet another person who got cut off by Nightgale shooting at them. She dodged but Nightwing was quick to knock her unconscious with his Escrima sticks. Nightwing cuffed her while Starfire helped out Nightgale, who was currently doubled over in pain.
“Are you okay Nightgale?” Starfire asked.
“I want and feel like death, but other than that I’m fine,” Nightgale groaned, “At least this blood isn’t mine.”
“Yeah you need to go get help right now,“ Nightwing commented, facing towards the warehouse, “First we just need to take care of metas, the criminals-this criminal, in particular, and then-“ Nightwing suddenly whipped his head around and faced Nightgale, “-did you just speak English???”
“Yeah I punched a bunch of people. No big deal. What’s that shadowy figure over there?” Nightgale pointed over towards their left, and Nightwing immediately knew who it was.
“If I look over and I see it’s Batman I will not be surprised,” Nightwing sighed. He turned around and did not see Batman, so clearly he needed to spin back around and there he was, Batman. 
“I’ve notified the League about the Tamaranean child,” Batman had began, quickly getting to the point, “You and Starfire can take him to the Watchtower with the Zeta-Tubes and preform a check-up before any questioning.”
“Doesn’t the Zeta-Tubes only work for registered members?” Starfire asked.
“And what about the bad guys?” Nightgale added. He was looking at Batman with a sense of awe, for some reason.
“Beast Boy and I will take care of it. I was able to collect a DNA sample from the initial crash site and registered Nightgale as a guest,” Everyone noticed how Nightgale very visibly flinched once Batman talked about collect a DNA sample.
Nightwing gently patted Nightgale’s shoulder, and they looked up at him with their tired, scared eyes. Nightwing gave them a little smile, “It’s going to be okay Nightgale.” But Nightgale’s expression stayed the same as the trio made their way towards the nearest Zeta-Tube.
It was going to be fine, Nightwing was sure of it. Yeah, something bad might happen because life, but Nightgale would be okay soon enough. But Nightwing could only think about what he saw before he entered the warehouse. Was Nightgale really a Tamaranean? Starfire wasn’t effected by whatever he and Beast Boy saw, and they were both human.
Nightgale wasn’t a human, that’s for sure. But what if was a human, a meta more likely. But then why did he fall from the sky? A portal could’ve opened-actually, a portal would’ve been the only way they could’ve came here, since they definitely don’t seem to have the energy to fly all the way to Earth from…wherever they were from.
So what was Nightgale? Who was Nightgale?
Nightwing didn’t know what was the truth yet, but it wouldn’t be long until he found out. He was sure of it. But for now, he just wanted to make sure Night Jr. was safe.
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drowninginredink · 4 months
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WIP List
I always like it when people talk about their WIPs. I live for that. So it's my turn. But I am a one-shot writer at heart with way, way too many ideas, so here is a list of everything I'm toying with. For the record, some of these don't even have a single word written yet, and none are that far along, so don't get your hopes up too high.
Smosh One-Shots
"Feelings are so fragile" — Platonic Shaymien thing where I project really hard onto Damien. (Yes it's for the aro collection)
"Most euphoric I've ever been" — A spetney fic based the fact that yes, they're technically a m/f couple... But like, no. Put them together, you've got nonbinary lesbian vibes. Sorry Spencer, you're getting your gender transed because there's no way you and Courtney are straight.
"But what's a home?" — A Damian QPR fic. Damien/Ian is already such an interesting rarepair and then you make it a QPR and it's like... They end up living together just temporarily because Damien's housing falls through and turns out they both really miss when they used to be living with their best friends and look I know everyone likes romance but do you know how good QPR fics can be? I love the idea of them as a QPR so much?
A thing for @aro-soulmates-fest about Anthony getting all his tattoos to hide the fact that he doesn't have a soulmate one.
A murderverse one shot about Arasha because God I fucking love gang AU!Arasha
A vampire!Spencer fic where Shayne plays the role of Johnathan Harker
"And I lie like the right thing to do" — me taking @generaltrashshecox 's whole "Anthony sleeping with Damien to cope with unrequited feelings for Ian thing that I love so much and just doing my own version of it where I lean into the angst so hard. With permission from bun, don't worry
A (platonic) nintendogs fic where I decide to do a little bit of own voices stuff on the fact that The Chosen is suuuuuuuuper schizo-coded
I bought a new ray and it's time to use it. Let's make Ian aplatonic this time.
"Then it's done." Killing off Spencer. Very one-sided Spommy.
A lil smut based on Anthony asking Tommy to choke him.
Hey @generaltrashshecox infected me again and now aro4aro Antmien needs to exist
This post into a real fic
Smosh not a one shot but also kind of a one shot?
14. "Once in twenty lifetimes" — A no smosh AU that's going to go through all the different ways Ian and Anthony could have ended, choose-your-own-adventure style. And as the title suggests, only one of them is the reunion. Most are things falling apart. And also to fit the title, it's going to be in twenty chapters (although that does not mean 20 endings. I don't hate myself.). So it's multichapter, but also it'll all be posted at once so it'll basically be a one-shot. It's going to end up as kind of an epic and God I hope it turns out as good as it is in my head. Inspiration for the good endings is "Cardigan" by Taylor Swift, and for the bad endings and a lot along the way is "San Cristobal" by Mal Blum.
15. Partners (in crime) — my Changela QPR fic that was supposed to be a one-shot right up until I wrote the thing, and actually wrote a chapter one. Not sure how long that's going to be, but I like it so far.
Smosh Multichapter
(The fact that my very one-shot oriented self has multiple of these is such a problem)
16. "Puppy Love" — I don't need to say anything about this. There are already 5 chapters on AO3. Either it's extremely your shit or you're wondering what the hell I'm doing and why I'm writing this extremely specific concept. If you're wondering why I still haven't posted chapter 6, it's because that has sex in it and I fucking hate writing sex scenes so I'm procrastinating really hard.
17. "I'll use you as a warning sign" (aka the evil fic, so named because chu-tea thinks I'm evil for coming up with the plot) — yeah so what I planned for PL was just a straightforward kind of fluffy ianthony piece. And then a certain friend of mine (*cough* chu *cough*) accidentally inspired me to think of a different ending that is such hardcore angst and hurt that I absolutely needed to make it happen and have been obsessed. It's interesting when you've already made the bad decision to start a long project and then oops, now you just really want the next 6 chapters to be done already so you can write the alternate ending. This one will *really* not be everyone's shit because I will rip your heart out in 6 different ways. But God I'm obsessed. Anyway, if you want details... I'll just say "major character death" and leave it at that. Oh and rarepair.
18. "I've come back changed and I can feel it in my bones" — an AU where "what if Anthony left because he got psychosis." Basically very hardcore projection on my part. This is on the back burner for a while because obviously when I have projects that aren't going to be emotionally gutting to write, I'd much rather work on them.
Non Smosh Stuff
(I'll be honest, I'm so deep in the smosh obsession that you should not get too excited about any of these. I know myself, so I know the smosh flame will eventually burn out but these are based on things I will be obsessed with until I die. So I know they'll happen. But not for a long time)
19. A Phantom of the Opera one-shot for @aro-soulmates-fest. This is the one thing I will actually write within a reasonable amount of time, because it's due March 17.
20. "Baby, please don't bore me" — A Series of Unfortunate Events — Sunny (well, Sorrel in this version because oops I transed their gender) teams up with Olaf to find their siblings after years of separation. I find them to be a very interesting chaotic, morally gray, bantery duo.
21. "Because the same night awaits us all" — ASOUE — A Klaus/Lemony fic that I swear I will write someday. Very morally gray, very much a codependent relationship, very leaning into the age gap. Basically they're together because they do not have anyone else in the world. It's just so delicious a dynamic that I will explore I swear.
22. ASOUE — I'm still not entirely convinced I'll ever be bothered to actually write this one, but I might do a Kit/Fernald FWB thing. I'm not sure where on earth the idea of that came from, but it's been living in my head for a long time now. Long enough that there's an early one-shot version of it that I don't really like anymore on *gasp* fanfiction.net
If anyone actually bothered to read all the way to the end of this long-ass post, you deserve a medal.
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kleenexwoman · 3 months
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I'm finally getting out of my fog and writing again!
Naturally, I'm writing about brain chemicals more. This time it's Steve and Eddie, and there might be a surprise mentally ill guest star I will make you feel unexpectedly bad for. (@thorniest-rose you are literally the mortal inspiration for me writing this all tbh)
Sneak preview:
Billy oozes by Eddie’s locker after lunch, and Eddie expects him to say something about Steve, but he doesn’t.
“Need some white heat,” is Billy’s opening line.
“Dude, your dealer in Los Angeles might know what the fuck you mean, but you gotta be a little more specific with us hicks,” Eddie says. “That could be, like, anything.”
“Nose candy, moron.” Billy rolls his eyes.
“Are you fuckin–” Eddie stuffs his books into his locker and lowers his voice. “What are you, a narc? You can’t just buy cocaine off me in the hallway, idiot!”
“I’m so bored, man,” Billy whines. “What, do I gotta come to your special little goblin rock in the woods or whatever for anything halfway decent?”
“Look,” Eddie says. “It’s pizza day. I have oregano, ‘cause the pizza here is basically grilled cheese, and then I have antacids so you can concentrate in class. And I have some aspirin for girls on their periods. If you want anything more interesting than that, you gotta come to my place.”
“I thought you delivered,” Billy says.
“You can walk to my place,” Eddie points out. “I don’t deliver when I can hear you blasting Speedwagon across the park.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Speedwagon,” Billy says.
“Didn’t say there was,” Eddie says. “I’m just saying, you can walk. Or drive, or whatever.”
“Fine,” Billy says, and points at him. “Five-thirty, sharp.”
“Yeah, whatever, man,” Eddie says as Billy walks off.
Whatever. He’ll be at home or he won’t. It’s not like Billy has that much money, not unless Hagan is sending him to get the drugs, which seems like a reversal of dynamic on their part. But the world has changed, who knows what bright new social order blah blah.
It’s a little more of a surprise when Eddie closes his locker ten seconds later and Nancy Wheeler, of all people, is standing there.
“I don’t sell study pills to bitches,” Eddie says.
“Yeah, I’m fine on the… study pills,” Nancy says, wrinkling up her nose like she’s not going to be slamming Mother’s Little Helpers come her frosh year of U of C or wherever the fuck she thinks she’s headed. “It’s about Steve.”
Eddie points at himself, then at Nancy, then raises his eyebrows.
“Please, please don’t sell him anything,” Nancy says.
Eddie angles his whole body towards the retreating Billy, looks back to Nancy, back to Billy, shakes his head, and then turns back to Nancy.
“That’s Billy over there,” Eddie says, “unless I’m very much mistaken.”
“I saw you sitting with him at lunch,” Nancy says.
“Yeah, well, nobody else was,” Eddie says. “Can I go to class now, hall monitor, or do we need to take this to the interrogation chamber?”
“I’m just saying that he’s been through a really hard time,” Nancy says, and raises her hands defensively, “and yes, I know I was part of that–”
“So you understand the unfeasibility, nay, the pure absurdity of your negotiating position here,” Eddie says.
“–but just because we’re broken up doesn’t mean I don’t care about him,” Nancy says. “I mean, six kids? Who has that many children in one lifetime?”
“Mormons?” Eddie blinks slowly. “I’m sorry. Are you coming to me to ask me not to engage in the commerce that is my trade, or are we discussing birth control now?”
“I’m saying that it’s probably unethical for you to target Steve for, like, drug-selling reasons when he’s just been through a really bad weekend,” Nancy says. “So please? Like, please? I don’t want to have to call his parents and explain why their son is in a straitjacket at Central State Hospital.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have called the guy ‘bullshit’ in front of all his friends then,” Eddie chirps. He opens his locker door, shoves his math book inside, and rattles it around for a few seconds just to make a point. “Seems like anything I’m gonna do after that is just gravy.”
“Look,” Nancy says from behind the locker door. “It wasn’t my best moment.”
“It wasn’t,” Eddie agrees. “Neither is this. But I’m willing to do you a favor and forget it.”
“But I’m really serious,” Nancy says. “You have no idea how much harm it could do–”
“Rule One of the Munson Doctrine.” Eddie slams his locker. “Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.”
“What?” Nancy tilts her head forward in that way smart girls do when they’re not sure if they’re hearing you wrong or they just think you’re stupid.
“Ethics,” Eddie says. “You mentioned ethics. I have ethics, and I’m sorry they don’t line up with yours, but that’s a big one. Rule Eight: Do not complain about that which you need not subject yourself.”
“Those are the Satanic Rules of the Earth,” Nancy says slowly. “I saw Anton LaVey on Geraldo too, y’know.”
“Okay, you got me.” Eddie throws up his hands. “Twenty bucks and I won’t sell anything to Steve this week. Are you happy?”
“Fine.” Nancy visibly sets her jaw, like she wasn’t the one just accusing Eddie of preying on the weak-minded for sport and profit, and digs a crumpled twenty out of her purse. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”
“And I appreciate making a sale without even having to move any product,” Eddie says, stuffing the money into his pocket. “Break up with a few more guys, and I might be able to get into Warhammer.”
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inlocusmads · 11 months
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WIP Folder Tag
Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Okay! So, I'll just break it down by the name of the book, so it's easier. (Thank you to @peonierose @angelasscribbles @trappedinfanfiction and @ofmischiefandmedicine for tagging me in their posts!)
Tagging rightaway because it is a very long post: @lilyoffandoms @aallotarenunelma @jerzwriter @liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @princess-geek @peonyblossom @dr-colossal-pita @rookiemartin @amortentiaopenheart and everyone else who wants to do it!
> Crimes of Passion:
Disaster bisexuals - which has been in my head for quite sometime now and the only like, "snippet" I have envisioned of it is just Nora and Trystan going "you're bi?" "Yeah I'm bi too" "wanna like solve crimes" "cool."
Trystan sucker-punches NYPD guy who thinks Nora sucks.
Nora sucker-punches five people because she should be allowed to.
Rewrite of the refridgerator scene (ft. touch averse!Nora)
Trystan's 101 Ways to Disguise Yourself.
Pride Parade Robbery (which I thought of like two minutes ago)
Road trip, road trip, road trip (ft. Trystan who just doesn't shut up about his music tastes and Nora like "god fucken kill me rn")
Soda shop fic, because soda is underrated.
> Open Heart
Jane vs. her ADHD diagnosis (requires a lot of research! I'm actually looking forward to writing it and I'm like maybe a third of the way done with research alone.)
Ethan's hyperfixation with arcade games.
Dating schmating. Jane's like "wut" and Ethan's like "wut" and they're like "okay we datin now so do you wanna watch a horror movie"
Babysitting and Related Conversations
Hospital Gossip Fic
Angst where Jane has to reconnect with her family.
Stages in their relationship where Ethan's like "I will literally kill Jane if she brings in all of her Jane-ness" to "I will literally kill for Jane. Yes."
Post-OH, In The Future fic where they become teachers/researchers, retire to a cool goth house with some scuffle with the neighbours.
Ethan introduces Jane to his interests and it's just terrifying because the guy who's like thought to be all mysterious and strict is possibly really goofy and has the most nerdiest niche interests ever.
> Wake The Dead
History of the outbreak fic
Maura discovers old movies from her childhood and gets like super nostalgic for a hot second.
A conspiracy that Maura unearths about the outbreak.
More mutations! More gore!
Maura in a QPR (queerplatonic relationship) with Hatchet because they give me very aroace vibes. Or with Sledge.
Camp Cypress expansion.
Maura discovers that Drones take longer to decay (biology stuff) and comes across her father who's.. well..yeah.
> Guinevere
Guinevere, Modern AU
Guinevere but it's like BBC Merlin where magic is outlawed and girlie here can see everything into the future.
Guinevere and Artura just being happy. Just them just being super duper happy. Artura being a wholesome golden retriever while Guinevere is like "death looks over us when we sleep". JUST THEM okay.
Honestly I don't have a lot of projects planned for Guinevere because it is still a work in progress. Who knows? Maybe I'll write one-shots or whenever I feel like it, I guess?
Bonus:
> Blades of Light & Shadow:
I am so very very tempted to write another aroace Elf!MC who's good at archery (arrows, get it cuz like aro) and learns some Elvish magic and stuff (spades, yknow, associated with magicians and spades is ace, yeah?)
MTG:A-inspired card game fic(??)
I KNOW I KNOW BUT LIKE COME ON, LET ME JUST HAVE A MILLION AROMANTIC AND ASEXUAL CHARACTERS PLEASE. WE ALREADY GET THE WORST REP IN MEDIA IF THERE IS ANY TO BEGIN WITH.
> Laws of Attraction:
That one F!MC x Aislinn first date fic I never finished because I never finished LOA 2. I'm sorry, I just need to collect a crap ton of diamonds for this.
> Murder At Homecoming
Never completed it, planning to finish the book but I'm tempted to write an F!MC/NB!MC x Stevie Sun because Stevie.
____
I just love how you can genre my fics into memes.
Like my CoP fics are just..
Nora | Trystan
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And WTD with Maura is like, with the sharks as Drone pictures:
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OH is..
Jane doing something new like the 50th time in a row vs Ethan who's stuck with the same routine since 2008.
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And Guinevere is like:
Except it's Lancelot versus Artura.
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And Guinevere is like..
"Visions, guys? Like haunting visions? I've got them, no seriously -- GUYS!"
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And now the more I think about Blades, the more tempted I am to put my non-existent Bolas fics into a meme:
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Ok bye cheers.
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aspecpplarebeautiful · 9 months
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Hello, I could use some advice or encouragement or just a few kind words.
I’ve recently discovered that I’m aroallo-spec; I hope this makes sense, for me it means I’m aroallo primarily and relate to that experience the most but I’m sort of ace-spec. I’m aro-spec too and it’s my most defining label and holds more significance to me. I’m currently in love with someone. The problem is, that ‘in love’ feeling is complex. I also recently discovered that I’m aroflux which is why it makes the ‘in love’ feeling complex. By default I know I’m in love, but what way that’s defined varies on how I’m feeling during a specific time and that’s made trying to understand if I want to pursue something with them or not a hard time.
We confessed to each other months ago (we both agreed to wait things out), and commonly say ‘I love you’. Of course that can mean anything but I’m saying that to show the type of closeness we have. We are close, really close. But we’ve had some bumps in the road and that’s made things a little.. wonky? We’re not sure as of now, at least they aren’t. That’s fine. I’m not really sure in the sense I don’t know how to talk about this. It’s a recent discovery and I think it’s something important to bring up but how? We haven’t really spoke about us in a deep sense in a few weeks. I think it’s painfully obvious that I’m interested in them but, at the same time it’s not so simple and I’d really like to speak with them about it but.. how? Just how. When’s a good time to bring it up? I’ve been sort of inactive lately because of my mental health, and some of it is because of this dilemma. They’ve asked if I wanted to talk about anything and I’ve said not right now but thank you. I do want to talk about things but I just haven’t had the right words and didn’t know how to express myself.
Yeah, it can be hard, especially when you've only recently figured things out yourself, and when there's a lot to explain and it can be hard to understand for people who aren't more informed on aro-spec identities.
One thing that might help is sitting down with a pencil and paper and just writing it out. You don't have to show them the finished product, but it might help you organize your thoughts, and when you finish sort out better what you want to say and get across, you can even do it a few times to help focus your thoughts. (Of course if you do want to write them a letter or email, to either give it to them or read it out to them yourself, that's allowed too.)
You can also look up aroflux people online (such as on the aroflux tag/search on tumblr) and see if how others describe their experiences and that might help give you inspiration too.
Another is that it doesn't have to be one conversation, sometimes it can take a few conversations to get these things across and be understood. But if they're listening and trying, you'll usually get there in the end. Remember to be patient with yourself, and it's OK if it's hard to find the right words or the right way to explain it at first. My big advice would be to try and make it a conversation, and invite them to ask questions and give their own thoughts and that can help too.
And just do your best, Anon. Remember it's OK and normal to stumble a bit, you're always allowed to pick a conversation back up and clarify things later too.
All the best, and good luck!
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kink & asexuality: further thoughts
inspired by these tags via @\skelebk on this post (not tagging them because this post might get a little tmi and they're like. a stranger. but I do want to credit them for giving me the inspiration for this rant because their tags bring up something important that I feel needs to be discussed)
(also, disclaimer that this post isn't trying to change anyone's mind. if you're happy in the kink scene, great! I want you to keep being happy. but this post is about why I, personally, was not happy in the kink scene, and how I made myself a hell of a lot happier once I left it.)
#had a friend who was very into the kink scene#would go to those kink clubs sort of into the scene#they would go on a lot about kink and how great it is and would encourage me to try it out#at some point it started to feel like talking to a religious person who keeps trying to convert you#they also IDed as ace and knew I did too#they kept stressing it wasn't all sexual#it was very tiring#ace#some people just need therapy and not kink#and that's okay
and I want to ramble for a second (it might be gibberish but I am asking you to please bear with me here) about "they kept stressing it wasn't all sexual"
because that's one of those things, like "some aces have sex"/"some aros can be in romantic relationships" that is... true, I guess, but also missing the point. because yeah, not everything under the umbrella of kink involves bumping uglies. that's true. however, the vast majority of how the kink community is organized and structured, its aesthetics, what is talked about within those spaces, what is assumed of people who choose to spend their time within it, etc. exists with the expectation that there is a psychosexual nature to the activities being performed. I know this, from my ill-fated attempts to fit my kind of relationship into the paradigm of kinky power exchange. I also know this from my time trying to do conventional kinky power exchange in a "nonsexual" (but still, because of the nature of kinky power exchange, psychosexual) way.
"nonsexual" kink is, more often than not, still psychosexual. "nonsexual" kink done in an unsafe, irresponsible, or abusive manner can still affect someone in much the same way that sexual trauma can affect someone. and most importantly, "nonsexual" kink is still incredibly dangerous to participate in unless you are a mature and autonomous adult with a good handle on how you react in difficult or stressful situations.
the thing is, though, there are elements of kink that have applications outside of the psychosexual. but if someone wants to explore a certain not directly sexual thing that happens to also fall under the umbrella of kink, whether that not-directly-sexual thing is leader/follower roles or certain types of sensory experiences or whatever, the kink community is often the only place to explore that. and it shouldn't be, especially when it is so hostile by design to so many who could benefit from things that originated within it.
personally, I think that what we need is other types of communities that aim to center different lenses through which these things are experienced. the kink community centers the psychosexual— we need communities that center the psychosocial, the spiritual, the sensory, the intellectual, the cathartic. we need communities that build on the work that kink communities have already done while also critiquing the places where kink communities fall short. I'm already kind of starting to do this, with Trusted Companionship (specifically, what I am doing is looking at power exchange from a psychosocial angle, focusing on consensual exploration of leader/follower roles as a liberatory practice for those who have had power wielded against them).
but we need more people doing the same thing from different angles, because just like kink as a paradigm won't work for everyone, Trusted Companionship as a paradigm won't work for everyone who kink doesn't work for.
and we also need to stop doing that annoying thing where we assume that the only way to have a healthy relationship at all is through kink. because jesus fuck, dude. why do we do that.
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hi hi hello my friend!!
could you perhaps! tell me a bit about hades?? all i know is that zagreus is prince of the underworld and gender as fuck and that thanatos is his boyfriend 👍 (this is not inspired by that in the tags post at all why do you ask)
i am putting this under a read more this is going to be LONG.
*visibly shaking* OK. SO. basic premsie of the game is that zagreus is looking for his birth mother by escaping from the underworld and his father who is willing to do anything to get him back. i figure that you already knew that SO. LET'S TALK ABOUT HIM AS A CHARACTER. he is a lot of things. talkative. sarcastic. perhaps slightly naive (but that's a personal beef i have about the matters of family in general). very extremely gay. you can romance both thanatos and megaera at the same time and have a polycule. or only one of them! or neither! i did neither because i projected so hard onto zagreus that it cracked the aro egg (me). anyways! he's also incredibly kind and polite to other people (assuming they're kind to him in turn. not hades because he SUCKS), he always tries to help those in need and he is SO stubborn about wanting to help them and this is how we get side plots in the game. he's just a really good dude overall, and my favorite thing about him is that he never yells. ever. my friend looked through all his voice lines (and there are SO many because once again he talks a LOT) and there is no yelling that isn't just generalized fighting noises. zagreus is! a great guy overall! he's doing his best! don't be afraid to kill him a little though he's fine with it.
oh shit this is hades in general. ahem! you get boons from various gods of the greek pantheon, though not all of them and they are very conveniently color coded to tell them apart as you try to leave the underworld. as per usual with the greek gods, things become a very messy family affair. is it spoilers to tell you that hades himself is the final boss? yeah you get to kick your dad in the face. might get kicked in the face a couple times first but it's very satisfying to down him. the game is really very versatile too, you get a ton of different buffs and perks to play around with in the form of boons from gods and you can unlock several different types of weapons so you can find one that suits you best! i favor the bow and all my friends who play hades calls me insane for it. if you ever get to try out the bow in the game, you get to decide whether i'm insane for it or not too.
and most importantly! dying is actually a very big thing in the game, through dying and learning and gaining new upgrades to make yourself stronger, you will get better. don't be afraid to die! but there's an option in the game called 'god mode' that will make things a little easier if you're having a really rough time. there's no drawback to using it and you can turn it on and off as you please. also there are certain upgrades (very vital ones too) that can only be gained through the central hub of the game that you go to when you die and aren't actively running through the underworld trying to escape. there's plenty to do there too, characters to talk to will move the story along. ALSO. YOU CAN PET CERBERUS. YOU CAN PET THE DOG. have fun, enjoy the game, everything about is so well done like the music and art is PHENOMENAL, and good luck!! if you ever want gameplay tips you can always ask!!
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mikiruma · 11 months
Text
alright meet the robinsons headcanon dump bc i had a LOT of thoughts at work. mostly laszlo and tallulah. ok so they're basically all laszlo and tallulah but hear me out (wall of text below)
courtesy of me always seeing them as twins before learning laszlo was older: they are often mistaken as twins
> sometimes tallulah will refer to laszlo as her "baby brother" for no other reason than to confuse/piss him off
they don't hate each other but bothering the hell out of each other is an olympic sport and they're both going for gold
yeah they get on each others nerves but for the most part its for The Bit. also depending on who started it they have a tendency to forget where The Bit ends and Being A Jerk begins
that being said they are so tight you rarely see one without the other
i mentioned this before but they're huge film nerds. mainly anything with practical effects and cheesy costuming and etc etc. they give me huge "backyard film production" energy too. they definitely have embarrassing old movies they made as kids/teens hidden somewhere, but would absolutely get back into it if they weren't so caught up in their current hobbies
also HUGE sci-fi nerds. i'm still convinced they're trekkies
they're both autistic and get caught in feedback loops of just infodumping back and forth with each other
laszlo looks/sounds like the nerd emoji but tallulah is the one going "WELL ACKSHUALLY" (although not in any effort to be a know-it-all)
joe and/or billie babysat them maybe once or twice when they were younger. legend says that's why they decided not to have kids (although unproven.) laslzo and tallulah say "thats fair"
also they're both trans, they traded genders :)
they probably did a lot more collaborating growing up but since they have their own lives they kinda just fell out of it. their comeback is on the horizon though. someday...
laszlo specific thoughts
transmasc + gay + he/him (his gender is probably something really esoteric he doesn't really care to get into but he's got secret they/them locked and loaded for emergencies. which emergencies? idk)
brain tangents aplenty (adhd comorbidity lets goooo), and has a tendency to miss the bigger picture. at least he squashed that bad habit... with finishing art pieces. mostly inspired by the video game
watches 60s-70s action movies w/ art
dabbles in any medium he can get his hands on but feels the most at home painting
he's actually kind of nosy, but great at keeping secrets
an awful chef but halfway decent with presentation
prefers demonstration/instruction before attempting something new- not out of anxiety, he just loves seeing how other people do things
legally blind without his goggles/glasses
tallulah specific thoughts
transfem + aro pan + she/her (gender is less abstract but she also doesn't care what gendered terms you use for her)
the first to correct someone if she knows they're wrong
laszlo's the only one allowed to mess with her. not bc of any protectiveness she just genuinely doesn't care what other ppl have to say about her
prefers to learn through experience (whether she reads instructions/asks for help first depends on.. idk. the cosmic forces)
please ask her about the art deco movement she is so normal about it please pleaseplease
she's a waaaaay better designer/model than a seamstress. yeah she hasn't gotten around to fixing her sewing machine. yeah this dress she made is held together by hot glue and prayers. she didn't ask you though
LOVES to travel. part for inspiration, part for expanding her collection of tacky souvenirs
almost never seen without some sort of hat. extravagance unrelated her head just feels naked without one
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idyllic-affections · 9 months
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Hello, Aphe(can I call you that? 👉👈) . It's your favorite anon here again!!!😊/j (because I really like the other anons and I see them and you as a little family <3)
I made a poem for my essay class (yes, I have those for some reason). I wanted to really show it to you because I guess your flower header actually inspired me in my desperation in trying to find something to write about :'''
As an aro person... It was a bit... Idk... Cringe?? (idk, I don't really like this word but that's the only thing that comes to my mind) to write a love poem for homework.
The name of the poem is "The Flowers". There's no rhymes because I wrote it in Portuguese and translated it to English and I don't want to make it lose its sense. TT
"The roses of my garden,
Red, yellow and purple.
All the colors come together,
from roses to little daisies.
I take care of them every day.
They fill my soul with happiness.
Even with all those flowers to myself,
Something is missing in my garden.
I picked all these flowers,
For you to like me.
Do not be selfish,
Come back to me."
I was going to send the original version in Portuguese, but this ask is annoying big enough, sorry if I'm bothering you!! TT
-🦢 anon <3
HI DEAR sorry for the late-ish reply BUT!!! yes of course you can call me that, it was a nickname a moot of mine came up with for me <3 i love that tbh!!! we are the found family of all time real and true /hj /lh
i can understand that!!!! i never understood why i had a hard time writing very romance-heavy content for my english or writing classes until... yeah. surprise! i ended up being arospec LMAO.
i love this poem though!! i personally think it's really lovely, even if the inspiration for it and the general topic of it was kind of uncomfortable or difficult to write. you all are never bothering me by sending long asks/multiple asks in a row/etc, i appreciate the engagement a lot!!!!! i don't want people to feel like they can't talk to me haha, i like coming across as very friendly and i want you all to feel comfortable talking to me and sending me long things or lots of things at once <333
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quelsentiment · 1 year
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3, 15, 17, 18 for the weird writing asks!!
Thanks Fee!
3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?
Okay, so I used to write on Google Docs for the longest time and then a few months I told myself that maybe it wasn't the best privacy-wise. So I've switched to using Open Office, which I think helps me focus better because having it on a separate window away from my web browser reduces the temptation to stop mid-sentence to check another tab, you know? But at the same time, this feels VERY cursed because my version doesn't have any kind of spelling check, plus my WIPs are now saved on my internal drive, and since I don't make backups of them that often, I live in fear or my laptop dying on me and making me lose weeks of progress
Oh also, there's basically no word count lololol
Am I gonna do anything about any of this though? No, we're raw-dogging life over here 😎
15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?
I already answered this earlier but the short answer is I currently don't, but I don't judge people who do (unless it's a library book or something)
17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.
I guess I'll talk about my fic for the Zouis Fest (although it might not even be part of it in the end, because I keep writing for the Dream Team fandom instead rip)
Anyway, I'm still not sure exactly what I'm doing with it. Like the main idea is that it's a Zayn-POV, canon-compliant(ish), present day fic where they run into each other in Hong Kong and are kinda forced to acknowledge what happened all those years ago, and figure out how to move forward. So like, lots of angst and feelings of betrayal and conflict and serious conversations because that's basically all I know how to (and all I want to) write lol
At the moment I'm not sure whether to keep it focused on their friendship or introduce some kind of romance aspect to it (toying with the idea that they had some kind FWB situation going while they were in the band). But since it's canon-compliant I'd feel kinda iffy doing that. I've never actually written canon-compliant before, and I have to admit that it scares me a bit, also because I've been extremely removed from the 1d fandom lately
Anyway one thing I'm sure about is that I want a scene to be inspired by the following verse from Blur's My Terracotta Heart:
And when we fly tomorrow over the Java seas And my younger maps will be there with me 'Cause they remind me of swimming out too far one day Then the coral was gone, but I didn't care anyway
Something about Zayn going too far to swim and Louis watching him almost drown but not realizing what's happening, as a metaphor for what went wrong between them
Yeah, that's pretty much all I can share at the moment. I should really get back to it
18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.
Zayn Malik is, without a doubt, the most beautiful person Louis has ever had the privilege to lay his eyes on. To the point that if he were to explain aesthetic attraction to someone, he’d probably say something like: “The feeling I get when I look at that gorgeous guy in my English 586 class.”
That's the opening line from Situations Like These, my aro/ace Zouis fic from the first Zouis fest.
It's one of those stories that really started out with just a scene rather than an idea/concept, which I think is the case for a lot of my fics actually. I mean, I did have a prompt for this fic, which was something like "they're both ace but don't tell the other for fear of driving him away", so it was pretty vague in terms of setting and everything else, really.
I remember coming up with that opening scene and the bits of dialogues at my grandparents' place right before getting on the road back home with my parents, and since I'd rather die than write in front of them, I just had to make sure to commit everything to my memory by repeating it all in my head throughout the day, until we were finally home and I could write it down. But that's something I do a lot, I think, just come up with stuff (typically dialogue) at inconvenient times and praying that I remember it by the time I can write it down 😬 And then of course when you actually settle in front of your computer, you feel like all your inspiration is gone
Anyway, I think this might be one of my favourite opening scenes I've written, I feel like it's pretty fun while setting the tone and dynamics for the whole fic
writing asks
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curetapwater · 2 years
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I've made lots of decisions behind your back on my own for this AU, but this one specifically I feel as though I want your input:
Should Sonic propose?
My biggest gripe is that while I technically have them aged up a bit, probably 19 or 20 the both of them, it still feels. A little young.
Sonic in original source material is already pretty marriage-averse (we stan an aro-coded icon). I can however flip his idea of marriage on its head like "I thought that marriage would cement me in my place and I'd never have any freedom but our relationship has been an adventure and maybe marriage would be the start of a new adventure I'd love to embark on with you."
Marriage proposal cements that Amy will never reclaim Sonic as her partner therefore cementing her as a family disappointment, so it feels almost... necessary to push her to the edge...
But I don't feel like either of them would want a public proposal, much less a televised one, much less one in front of Amy, who they've both been avoiding for a long while. And I've already played the "finds out about major plot point through the news which sets off an event bigger event" card. I'd rather not be repetitive.
I'm going to ask more people, but your input is always incredibly appreciated.
Firstly, it honors me to no end that my input is so valued by you! I'm sure you know since you're asking others too, but of course these are just my thoughts and if you take them in a different direction than me I still have faith that you'll execute your own plans very well! Anyway, imo for the purposes of the narrative (especially Amy's arc), I do think it's important that Sonic and Shadow get engaged. A few thoughts:
The age is certainly jarring by our standards (I'm about to be 21 and I certainly am not ready for that kinda commitment lol), but I think considering the setting (assuming you're keeping the heavy fairy tale/Disney inspiration) I don't think marrying as a young adult is too shocking. Most Disney Princesses are roughly 15-19, and the majority of them marry or at least get engaged to their princes by the end of the movie (the implications there are ripe for discussion), so if D!Mobius is drawing from that source material like Auradon does, then I don't think them getting engaged at 20-ish will raise any eyebrows, especially since that doesn't necessarily mean they're getting married immediately. My parents married at like 21/22 if that means anything regarding my perspective on this.
I agree that canon Sonic would never marry, although I think you're right about how D!Sonic's perspective on it could be a little more open. The way I see it, a lot of Sonic's aversion to committed relationships is that he doesn't want to be slowed down by being tied to another person (valid), but Shadow is literally one of the only people who can keep up with him. I think that viewing their marriage as their next big adventure works really well! Especially since I assume D!Sonic probably lived a pretty quiet palace life before he met Shadow.
Yeah, publicized marriage proposals that aren't discussed prior rub me the wrong way, because that's a huge commitment to put someone on the spot like that with. I'm not sure how you'd go about portraying the proposal, maybe the actual proposal happens privately but their announcement is public? And because Amy is a princess (or however nobility works in this AU) she's a large public figure and just Has to be there to hear the announcement regardless of how anyone feels? Like, "oh the king is making a big announcement today, the noble Rose bloodline has to show up" idk
I imagine because this'll be prose it's no longer gonna be a musical (not that that's impossible to pull off) but I just wanna say that in the movie I love that in this scene they have a callback to Did I Mention because in D1 that was the scene where Audrey first felt betrayed.
But like I said, that's just my thoughts! I'm excited to see where you take this!
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the-dawn-star · 3 years
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The Volturi Kings x Swan!Reader One shot
A/N: Hi! So, a fun fact i am in love with reader x the volturi kings' content, so why not write some of my own. This takes a lot of inspiration on things what I have read, but yeah. Also, I don’t bother to look up the canon dialogue, so I made my own, but I tried to be truthful to the characters. Also, Aros and Caius’ wives don’t exist. Also, Cullen bashing is included. 
+ not proof read
3000ish words
-S
I don’t know Italian so these can be totally incorrect, so please forgive the possible mistakes.  
Tesora=Tresure
Cara mia=My dear
Amore mio=My love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why am i even here? I should be at home, at Forks. But no, I’m in Italy, in Volterra. Saving my sisters ex vampire boyfriend, from vampire royalty. And now we are walking down through a tunnel to only get killed by that same vampire royalty. This is fucked. This is fucked. This. Is. Fucked.  
I was brought back to life by the people around me stopping. I almost walked onto the vampire in a black cloak in front of me. I kept my eyes on the marble floor, but they rose automatically when the huge wooden doors opened in front of us.  
In the circle shaped room had only three chairs..., no, thrones. One in front of the other two. The room was made from the same marble as the floors of the hallway. And on the floor was a drainage hole. My heart started to beat faster. The situation just became more real that I liked.  
“How fantastic, Bella is alive,” the man in the middle throne said before he got up. He had shoulder length raven black hair, and he had those same blood red eyes as the vampires around me. The man walked up to Edward and took his hand. “Aro, can see all of my thoughts with a touch,” Edward explained clearly only to Bella. “Yes, it is interesting to see all of the thoughts that young Edward has seen through his life,” The man, Aro said but it didn’t seem to be here, his eyes looked like he was far away from this reality.
I took a glance at Alice who only a smile, but it didn’t reach to her eyes. Even she seemed scared, she wasn’t going to get killed. It was me and Bella whose lives were at risk. Of course, Alice was concerned about Bellas life, they were more sister than me and Bella ever were.  
I took a look at the other two thrones besides the empty one. On the left chair sat a man with a brown hair. But the main thing about him was his blood red eyes that were looking at me. Fuck, what did I do to get his attention? But he didn’t seem to be mad that I realized his staring. He gave me a smile. I had to look twice to see that I hadn’t made it up. His smile only grew seeing me getting confused. And with my embarrassed face, I directed my eyes to the other man who sat on the other throne. He had the same red eyes but his eyes had a dangerous feel like a no other. His blond hair looked so silky and nice, and for a second, I forgot the deathly situation I was in.  
“Aro,” The sound seemed to shock everyone in the room. The speaker was the same king who had smiled at me. Aro turned his head to the king, and the brown-haired man raised his hand to Aro. Aro almost ran to the sitting king, and took his hand to his. Everyone was silent, no one dared to interrupt the kings silent one-sided conversation. Even the blond king looked at his two equals, clearly annoyed that he wasn’t part of it.  
A slow hum left Aros lips when he let go of the other kings hand. “Is that really the case?” Aro asked. Now the guards really seemed concerned, why would a man who could see every memory ask for a confirmation. The king nodded, and I heard Edward sigh. “My brothers, what is it?” the blond king asked, now having a concerned sound on his cold voice. Then Aro turned to us, his eyes landing on me. So, I really fucked up in some point.  
I lowered my eyes down to the floor, I couldn’t look into those intensive eyes “We, my brother, have found our mate.” I had to look up to see who he was talking about. All eyes of the room were on me. And in a blink Aro was in front of me. I had to take a step back and one of the guards hand wrapped around my upper arm. Like I could run away either way. “It is okay Felix,” The brown-haired king said, and my arm was released. I gave a thankful look at the king and he returned it.
“You have already taken a liking to Marcus I see,” Aro spoke, his words were so calming and gentle, like he wasn’t a killer. I bit my lip and I could myself getting hotter. “Tesoro, don’t worry he has taken a liking to you to,” Aro continued seeing my flustered face. I looked back to Aro, his smile felt so kind, so caring. “Tell me, Tesoro what's your name?” I had to clear my throat that I got the words out of my mouth. “I..., I'm Y/N, Y/N Swan,”  
“Swan..., Isabellas sister,” Aro whispered. I nodded and he seemed to be pleased that I even interacted with him. “We are all aware of your sisters special ability by now, but what I saw from Edwards memories, this ability doesn’t extent to you, I am assuming that you knew that already,” I nodded, scared that my voice wouldn’t hold a second time.
“Brother, this cannot be real, a human girl couldn’t be our mate, this must be a mistake!” It was the blond vampire king. His voice was ice cold, and felt like venom. “Stop it Caius, you are scaring her,” Marcus said, his words shaking the everyones attention back from Caius to Marcus. His words were like antivenom to Caius’ venom filled words.
“Tesoro,” Aro brought me back to this realm. “Yes,” I whispered that only a vampire could hear. Aros smile only grew wider. Aro extended his hand to me. Edward had said that Aro could see all of your thoughts with a touch. Aro must have seen my hesitation, “It’s okay tesora, I am not going to force you to show all of you yet, we have time for that later,” I pulled my hands to hug myself. I could tell he was clearly disappointed by my action and by his own words, but still he pulled his hand away.  
“Tell me, cara mia, Have the Cullens informed you about vampire mates?” Marcus asked clearly intrigued by me. I shook my head and looked Alice besides me, who wasn’t even looking at me.  
“It’s a linkage between people, like soulmates. It starts of weak so even vampires can’t feel it. But when the bond is nurtured and cared for it blooms, then even the possible humans can feel it. You find your one true love, well except in this case, you have three of those bonds,” Aros words were so gently, like he was nurturing that bond between us. “How do you know?” I asked not sure how impolite I was being. “I can see bonds between people, I can see the mate bond between your sister and Edward, and I can see one between you and us,” Marcus had still a kind smile on his face, like nothing would make him happier than explaining me his power.  
I took a look at Caius whose eyes were on me. But this time he didn’t look like he wanted to kill me. “What is going to happen now?” I asked my eyes still on Caius, not waiting him to answer. “She needs to stay here; she needs to stay safe,” His words must have surprised everyone, because a shock was on everyones face. “Wait, what?” Left my lips, a panic rose in me. I looked at Alice, she wasn’t looking at me, then Bella whose eyes were still on Edward, and Edward who looked at my sister, without a care in the world.
I really started to panic; my eyes roamed everywhere trying to find a one person who would care for me. No one did, not even my fucking sister. “It’s okay, tesora. We just want make sure that the bonds are strong enough, and of course we want to get to know you,” My breath got quicker with every passing second. I started to tunnel vision, “Jane, would you mind taking dear Y/N to get some rest, my room will do just fine,” Aros words didn’t so clear anymore. And then my arm was taken again but this time I didn’t have time to look who it was because unconsciousness took over me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was ripped back to the land of living, by a knock. Before my eyes were even open my body jolted itself to siting. And like clockwork the door opened, and inside walked a blonde girl with heavy black eyeliner around his eyes. And that same black cloak, was she the one I almost walked onto when coming here?
“I see you are awake; the masters will be very pleased; I came to bring you new clothes, call me when you are ready. I have orders to bring you to the masters as soon as you wake up,” The girl said before putting a pile of clothes to the bad and left without saying a word. Once the door was closed. I finally had time to look at the room. It had two room connected, one part was clearly bed room and the other living room.  
I got up and looked at the clothing the girl had left for me. In the pile was a green sun dress, a pair of socks and to my disbelief a pair of silk underwear. Okay, this is kinda weird. So, as quickly I changed my clothes to the new ones, and opened the door and there the girl was standing. Without a word she started to walk, and not seeing any other option i followed her.  
We walked white hallways for God knows how long, before she stopped at one door and opened it before letting me go first, I hesitated to step in, so she gave me push to my back. I stepped inside to a library, with two floors and a big wooden Mahagony table on the middle. And sitting around the table was the three kings. All of their eyes fell upon me, and you could feel the tension building up.  
All the men stood up when me and the girl stepped in to the room. “Thank you, Jane, you can go now,” Aro said and with those words, the girl, Jane was gone and the door closed. I kept my eyes on the floor scared to look at the three in front of me. “Please cara mia, sit down, this all must be so exhausting to you,” Marcus had that same gentle sound to his voice as before. I looked at one of the heavy wooden chairs in front of me and sat down to it. I crossed my legs, hands on my lap under the table so they couldn’t see me playing with them.
“Did you sleep well, tesora” Aro started, and before he even finished I had nodded. I still didn’t look at them, and my heart started to beat up faster and faster. “You don’t have any reason to panic,” Caius surprised me with his words, I thought he hated me. “Caius is right, no one, least of us will bring you any harm here,” Aro confirmed. I nodded again, their words felt comforting but it still isn’t enough to wipe the pit away from my stomach.  
“I am sure you have a lot of questions for us cara mia,” Marcus said sensing my Un comfortability. “Where is my sister?” It felt like the only option as a first question. “She, and the Cullens as well are on their way back to America,” Along silence followed.  
“They left me here?” you could hear the desperation from my voice and I felt myself starting to tremble. They didn’t need to answer for me know that my words were fact. I pressed my lips together, but the tears still started to fell down on my cheeks. I heard a chair moving but I didn’t look up, I could not face them.  
One the chair next to me was moved and when I looked up, I saw Caius’ red eyes. For a moment I thought he would hit me, but his hands just got up to my cheeks and wiped the tears away. His hands were cold but so gentle that I almost forgot the killer in him. He was the first one to touch me, and I could feel a weird pull to lean onto his touch. And that is what I did, I leaned onto his hand and he kept it steady for me to lean on.
“They don’t deserve to make you cry, no one does, amore mio,” His voice had a dangerous edge to it. But I wasn’t scared for myself, I.., I felt protected. A small smile slipped through my lips and they all must have seen it. I hid my face to his hand as best as I could. A small laughter got out in the room. I looked at Caius who had a smile on his face, clearly happy that I had even smiled. I pulled myself off of Caius’ embrace, gently, not wanting to upset him. He understood my sign and he let his hand fall to my lap taking one of my hands to his. But still his hand moved slowly not wanting to scare me away with his actions.  
“What will happen now?” And I finally looked at the men around me. “You will stay here, with us. We of course make sure that you will have as comfortable stay as possible,” Aro said sounding like nothing would make him happier, having me here, even just me looking at them.  
“But how long will I be here, am I like a hostage or something,” I asked and all the happiness of the room was gone in a blink. Caius' hold on my hand got tighter. “You aren’t a hostage; you are a guest. And for how long you will be staying here is up to you. Of course, we would like for you to stay at least that we can get to know you. And for you to get to know us,” Marcus said with his calming voice. I waited a while until I answered.
“So, if a wanted to leave you would allow it?” They didn’t seem with happy with my answer. Aro cleared his throat. “Yes, if you truly wanted. The thing with mate bonds is that you cannot force it, at least not forever. You just need to be open to the idea of the bond and it will bloom,” Then it was my time to clear my throat. And with my free hand a wiped the last of tears off of my face. “Can I ask something...,” They all seemed okay with it. “You said that this mate thing is like soulmates..., and soulmates what I know are always romantic..., so is this mate thing like that?” All of my words were so carefully thought out, but still my heartbeat quickened up. They all relaxed when I got the words out. Marcus even let out a small laughter.  
“No, tesoro, mate bonds are not always romantic. bonds can be whatever the people in the bond decide it being. Romantic, platonic, even just sexual. And one of your bonds being something doesn’t mean all of the other ones will be that same,” Aros words made me heat up. Like they truly understood that this wasn’t easy to process. I nodded. Caius gave a gentle squeeze to my hand.  
“Where will a stay then?” I asked, just wanting to change the subject. Caius’ hand started to play with my fingers and pulling my hand to his lap. “We arranged you a room while you were sleeping, and your stuff has already been transferred, you have nothing to worry about, amore mio” Caius, even while speaking played with my fingers until without a word a was pulled onto Caius’ lap.
Now I was sitting on his lap, his hands wrapped around my body, and his face buried in my neck. My body tensed. And for a moment I thought Caius’ teeth would kill me. But instead, I felt a pair of lips kissing my neck. A smile whine left from my lips. With him pulling me closer I placed my hands to his chest. “What is happening?” I asked between my whines and heavy breaths. “Caius is making up his behavior from our first meeting. Trust me he felt horrible about yesterday,” Aro said laugh in his voice, that I could feel without even looking at him. “Shut up, Aro,” Caius’ words were pressed against my skin before laying another kiss to my neck.  
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laurenairay · 3 years
Text
Unexpected - K. Hayes
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Summary: After being just friends with Kevin for over four years, can you ever be anything more?
Word Count: 10.2k
Warnings: a little angst, a lot of fluff, a smidgen of smut, friends to lovers because that’s my jam
A/N: so this originally started as a blurb which got mildly out of hand and turned into this fic. I have repeated the scene from the blurb to keep the flow the same. I have no regrets. 
This is particularly inspired from Talk About by Seaforth (thanks @antoineroussel!) and Just Friends by Virginia to Vegas (thanks @broadstbroskis!)
@danglesnipecelly @princessphilly @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @himbos-on-ice @whoeverineedtobe @flybabyfly @ipuckwithhockey @antoineroussel @babytkachuks @broadstbroskis @texanstarslove @tippedbykreider @thebookofmags @horsesandhockeyplayers @denis-scorianov @lulucanwrite @rangersftflyers @notaccurateornice @pandorasbox2020 @mattytkachuk19 @whatishockey​ @no-pucks-given​ @fanfics-for-the-hockey-fan​ @troubatrain @joelsfarabee @nuenyyx @miracleonice87
*
A party was never just a simple party when Kevin Hayes was involved. Music was pounding, beer was flowing, shots were poured, and weed was an easy haze on the back porch. You had no idea what the occasion was for one of your oldest friends to be throwing this shindig, but you weren’t complaining. Hanging out with him and relaxing after a long hard day was infinitely better than sitting at home and eating cold pizza. Again.
People always teased you about being so close with Kevin, always hinting that there must be something more between you, but you just laughed it off, knowing that he would never be interested. How could he? He had the perfect hockey WAGs lining up in queues to flirt with him – and you were just his friend. You’d known each other since you both lived in Tribeca years ago, and there had never been anything to even hint at anything more than friends. He’d never flirted with you outside of his natural charm. He’d never made a move on you in the slightest. He’d never shown the smallest bit of interest in anything other than platonic – so you knew how he felt. And to be honest, his friendship was amazing and it was something you never wanted to lose, so why would you put yourself out there when you already knew what the answer would be?
No, being friends with Kevin Hayes was exactly where you were meant to be.
You’d spent a few hours with a rotating cast of Flyers and their better halves, drinking and sharing stories about your mutual friend, but it had been a while since you’d seen him. At least a couple of non-Kevin hours. So what if you got a little needy when you were drinking? How could you not want a hug from your beautiful friend? No, bad drunk brain. Crossing that line was never worth it.
You still wanted that hug though.
So bidding the other drunk partygoers adieu, you wandered about the house in search of Kevin, coming up empty in every room…until you spotted smoke outside the kitchen window. Hah, of course. You knew how much he loved to wind down with a blunt or two. His easygoing nature was one of the things you loved most about him.
Putting down your empty drink, you walked outside, spotting Kevin and Nolan lounging on the outside sofas, Nolan with a blunt in his hand.
“Hey! You’re here!” Kevin grinned.
You shook your head fondly, wafting the pungent smoke out of your face.
“I’ve been here for hours, Kev. You’ve already seen me,” you said, smiling.
Kevin pouted, and Nolan just snickered, making you laugh.
“Weed always makes you forgetful,” you mused, sitting down on the seating next to him.
“Nuh-uh I don’t forget everything,” Kevin shrugged, turning to face you properly, “Not the important things. Like the fact that I love you, you know that right?”
Your jaw dropped slightly as his words hit you. What the everloving fuck? Why would he joke like that?
“Goddamn Kev, how high are you?” you asked, frowning.
Without waiting for him to answer, you looked over at Nolan, who just shrugged.
“I don’t know, he’s pretty baked. But I’m going to let you deal with all of that,” Nolan grimaced, waving a hand in Kevin’s general direction.
You rolled your eyes as he quickly passed Kevin the blunt and walked back inside. Yeah, thanks for the help.
“Why did Patty leave?” Kevin asked, frowning.
“Because he’s allergic to emotions? I don’t know. Maybe he just knows that you’re talking shit and he doesn’t want to deal with it,” you muttered.
“I’m not talking shit,” Kevin shot back, “I love you,”
“No you don’t,” you said, rolling your eyes again.
Seriously? Where had this come from? This wasn’t fair, he couldn’t say that when you knew it wasn’t true. Where had he gotten this lot of weed from? Clearly it didn’t agree with him.
“Yes I do! I know my own feelings,” Kevin insisted.
“Right, yeah, sure you do,” you sighed.
You were neither drunk enough nor high enough for this conversation. This was…not how you expected this evening to go. And just like that, your good mood was ruined.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Kevin asked softly.
“Not even in the slightest, Kev,” you said, smiling sadly.
Of course you didn’t. Why, after all this time, would he be saying the words you most wanted to hear from him? There was no logic behind it – there was no way it could be true. He’d never ever shown any hint of this to be true.
“I’ll prove it to you,” he said firmly.
And then he placed his hand on your thigh, making you inhale sharply, the warmth of his large hand sending tingles through your body. No.
“This is not the time or place, Kevin,” you said shortly, “You are stoned out of your fucking mind,”
“You said my full name. You never say my full name,” he said sadly.
Of course that’s what he picked up out of that. Clearly he wasn’t going to get any easier to talk to…and while normally that made for some pretty fun conversation, tonight it wasn’t going to happen. And you couldn’t sit around and listen to more of this.
“I’m just going to go,” you sighed, nudging his hand off your thigh and standing upright.
“What? No!” Kevin said, eyes wide and sad.
“I can’t,” you said, forcing a smile, “I can’t stay and hear this, when I know you don’t mean it when you’re sober,”
“But…”
“I’ll send Nolan back out, okay? I’ll…talk to you later, Kev,” you said firmly, interrupting him.
Without waiting for another answer, you quickly walked back into the house, heartbeat racing in your ears and a lump in your throat. At least you didn’t have to go far to look for Nolan – he was standing just inside in the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he frowned.
You just shook your head, smiling thinly, not wanting to go into it. “I’m going to go,”
“But he…”
“Kev will be fine – you don’t mind going back out there with him, right?” you said, interrupting.
Nolan pressed his lips together but shook his head. “No, I don’t mind,”
“Good. Good. Um, I’m sure I’ll see you around?” you offered.
Would you? Who knows. How long would you even need before you could see Kevin again without your heart aching?
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nolan nodded.
You missed the determined look in the younger man’s eyes as you walked away, too intent on locating your jacket without giving in to the tears that were threatening to fall. Sleep, sobering up and some distance – that would help, right?
*
01:21
From: Kevin
Why did you leave?
Please come back?
~
01:57
From: Kevin
I meant it.
I swear I meant it.
Please call me.
~
03:00
Missed call – Kevin
~
10:17
From: Kevin
Fuck I fell asleep.
Are you ignoring me?
Please call me when you get this.
~
10:35
From: Kevin
I get it if you don’t love me back.
But please don’t ignore me, I can’t take that.
Please call me?
We need to talk. Please.
~
10:55
From: Kevin
Please?
~
11:00
To: Kevin
Kev, I can’t do this.
It’s too much.
Please just give me time and space.
~
11:02
From: Nolan
I’ve taken Kev’s phone off him.
His sad face is too much.
I know you asked for space and I’ll make sure he gives it to you.
But please, just think over what he said?
You know he doesn’t say shit he doesn’t mean, not when it’s important.
~
11:17
To: Nolan
Yeah, okay. I’ll think it over.
*
Mornings were generally your worst time of day. But this morning in particular was a terrible one. The slight bleurgh of lingering sleep made you feel groggy enough, but nothing that a quick shower and a slice of buttered toast couldn’t fix. No, this morning was terrible because your heart was still aching from three days ago. You still had no idea what Kevin was playing at, acting like that around you, but it hurt and you knew you weren’t going to be able to forget it any time soon. Kevin’s increasingly desperate text messages and the single message from Nolan hung over you like a bad shadow, but you knew were right about not just giving in straight away – you were still emotional enough now as it was, and you knew it wouldn’t have been a good idea to see Kevin immediately. No, space was exactly what you needed, even if it hurt.
Your second cup of coffee woke you up enough at least to not leave you in a pit of despair. Like Nolan had asked, you’d thought about Kevin’s words over and over again. His declaration of love, out of nowhere. His confusion and sadness and fucking desperation. You know he doesn’t say shit he doesn’t mean, not when it’s important. It still didn’t give you the answer, any answer. Because in your heart, there was still that little whisper of doubt, telling you it wasn’t true, not really. And unless you were 100% sure, there was no way you could take that chance, not with Kevin. His friendship was too important in your life to risk not having it at all, so if it meant needing time to get over him and drag yourself out of this swirling despair then you would take it.
Despair was for people who didn’t have a life to get on with. You had lived long enough without Kevin in your life before you’d met him, and you could damn well succeed in living without his presence for a couple of weeks or so. At least until you’d built up those walls again.
It had been three days and the struggle was real.
Around 9am, you were jolted out of your thoughts by a series of knocks on your front door. With a frown, you walked over to the entrance hallway, and peeked through the peep-hole, only to see Kevin. What the fuck? Why was he here?
He had a sad but determined look on this face, you could see that much – fuck, was he going to say he didn’t mean anything he said that night? That now he’d thought about it properly, it wasn’t real? It was bad enough hearing his emotions from him when high as a kite, but you couldn’t bear for him to admit it was fake when he was sober. But maybe it was what you deserved, seeing as you’d asked for time and space. Fuck. No, you’d definitely done the right thing for you…but had you done the right thing for Kevin?
What you did know for sure was that you couldn’t leave him standing outside, when he knew full well that you had no real plans today. He knew your schedule too well for that. So with a deep breath, you put on a smile and opened the door. There he stood, eyes warm albeit sleepy, that hair so perfectly tousled. Why did he have to hit every single tickbox on your list? How was that fair?
“Look who’s up before midday on an off-day,” you teased, “What are you doing here?”
Kevin smiled at your teasing, but it was as fake as you knew your smile was. Fuck. “I was in the neighbourhood and figured I’d see what you were up to. Mind if I come in?”
Ouch. He definitely wasn’t in the neighbourhood, he was here for one reason only. To talk. Fuck.
But you nodded, letting him past you into your apartment anyway. He’d given you three days’ space, like you’d asked, it was only fair that you let him say his piece now right?
“Coffee?” you asked, shutting the door behind him.
“Yes please,” Kevin groaned, nodding.
Your smile slipped a little as you headed to the kitchen, you heart already aching with the preparation of it being broken completely, but you managed to keep yourself together as you reached for the coffee pot, pouring him a large mug of the caffeinated lifeblood in silence.
“Here you go,” you said as cheerfully as you could manage.
“Thanks,” he said, smiling.
He sat down at the kitchen island, looking up at you with those beautiful big eyes, until you sat down opposite him.
“I still mean it, y’know,” he said bluntly.
You frowned, not understanding. “Mean what?”
“Mean what I said that night. That I love you,”
Oh God. Fuck. Your breath hitched in your throat, your lips parting in surprise. What…what was he doing?
“Kev, please don’t…”
“No, I’m going to,” Kevin interrupted, uncharacteristically solemn, “Because you seem to have some pretty incorrect ideas in your head and I need to set them straight,”
You swallowed heavily, biting your bottom lip. How were you even supposed to respond to that? Kevin saw the anxious look on your face clear as day, his own seriousness softening to a sad smile.
“Patty said you looked pretty upset when you left that night,” he said softly.
You shook your head, desperate for a sliver of control. “I wasn’t upset, I-”
“Even if he hadn’t spent the last three days ripping into me, I know you were upset. You’ve never just left like that,” Kevin said firmly.
Normally, you hated being interrupted. But in this case, you really had nothing else you could say. Nothing that you could say, not when he knew you so well.
“No, I haven’t,” you sighed, leaning back in your chair.
“I’m sorry that me confessing how I felt made you leave but I wasn’t messing around! I was trying gather the high courage to tell you, after all this time!” Kevin said desperately.
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
He was serious, wasn’t he? Of course he had to bulldoze right through, in typical Kevin Hayes style.
But Kevin took your silence the wrong way.
“How could you not have known?” he frowned.
“How could I possibly have known, Kev? I’ve seen you flirting with women before – and you’re never like that around me. How could I have known that you wanted anything more than friendship when you’ve never acted like it?” you retorted.
Kevin’s cheeks flushed, and he ducked his head briefly, before he looked back up at you. Fuck, he looked a little sad? Like...like he was about to genuinely open up his heart. Fuck.
“I always thought you weren’t interested in me. Why would you be interested in dumb stoner Kevin? I figured if I could only ever have you as a friend then I would latch onto that, because having you in my life in any way is so much better than not having you in my life at all,” he said sadly.
You had never heard him this eloquent before. To be honest, it made your heart ache all over again. But he was never like this…why now?
“Are you still high?” you asked, frowning.
Kevin laughed dryly, shaking his head. “Why do I have to be high to tell you how I feel?”
“Because that’s literally the only time you’ve ever said it before?” you said, raising an eyebrow.
Kevin groaned softly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“You know meaningful stuff doesn’t come all that easily to me,” he huffed.
“I also know you’re not just Kevin-the-hockey-playing-himbo-from-Boston,” you pointed out, smiling slightly.
Kevin laughed softly. “You always have figured me out pretty well,”
“I’m just not a mind reader,” you mused.
He laughed again, nodding his head. “I guess I just…I saw you and I had to say it. I’ve liked you for years, sweetheart, ever since we lived in Tribeca. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, you getting your job transferred to Philly meant that it was finally our time. But it never happened. Maybe it was the weed. Maybe it was the weed and how beautiful you looked combined that actually took down those barriers which have kept me from blurting out my feelings in the past. But I swear to you, I meant every word,”
Sweetheart. Wow. Never had that word affected you more. You swallowed heavily, looking down at your hands. It was true that you’d always been able to read him well – and he was being so sincere right now that it had your stomach tied in knots. He really meant it, didn’t he? He really meant…that he loves you. That he’s loved you for years. Fuck.
It was everything you’d hoped to hear, and you’d spent the last three days trying to convince yourself he didn’t mean it. But he really did mean it, didn’t he?
“Say it again,” you murmured.
The grin that spread across Kevin’s lips sent a shiver up your spine.
“I love you,” he said clearly, firmly, looking directly into your eyes.
Your breath hitched in your throat, butterflies exploding in your stomach. Fuck that was so good to hear. Holy fucking shit.
“Kevin…” you whispered helplessly.
“I gotta know…because I’m holding onto a scrap of hope that you feel the same…do you…”
He trailed off, his voice a little desperate, a little lost, and you found yourself nodding like an idiot, tears springing to your eyes. If he could be brave, then so could you.
“Yes, Kev, I do. I love you so much,” you admitted.
Kevin laughed in triumph, a little incredulous, and he quickly stood up from the island, taking one large step towards you, and tugging you to stand up on your feet too.
“Fuck, fuck, can I kiss you?” he asked, happiness sparkling in his eyes.
You found yourself laughing, but nodded and clutched at his sweater, holding on in case your weak knees gave out on you. Kevin grinned, resting his forehead against yours briefly, before he closed the distance between you with a firm kiss. You couldn’t help but melt into his arms, kissing him back just as eagerly, throwing your arms around his neck a little desperately as his tongue slid against yours. His hands went to your hips and he easily picked you up to place you on the kitchen counter, and you gasped into his mouth at how effortless the motion was, moaning a little as he just stepped right in between your legs. It felt like second nature to hook your legs around his waist, pulling your bodies even closer together, earning a soft moan from the man that sent a pulse of heat right between your thighs. Fuck.
“Kev, wait, we shouldn’t…” you gasped, tilting your head back to break the kiss.
Because as much as you wanted to hop right into bed with him, you needed to let him know that this wasn’t all this was for you. It couldn’t be.
“Fuck, you gotta know this is more than sex for me, right?” Kevin groaned, eyes a little wild as he looked down at you.
How did he always know what to say?
“Again, I’m not a mind reader,” you laughed.
Kevin laughed as well, ducking his head to press gentle kisses into the soft skin of your neck.
“I want to take you out on so many dates. I want to tell my mom about you properly rather than just mention you in passing. I want to ignore Patty crowing in the locker room that he gave me the kick up the ass that I needed. I want to tell Brady and Jimmy that I finally took a chance. I want to show you off to the world as my girlfriend,” Kevin murmured between kisses, finishing with a nip to your earlobe.
Fuck. That was all that you wanted, and he was offering it up on a silver platter.
“I want that too,” you gasped, tilting your head more to the side.
You felt Kevin smile against your skin, nipping at you again before he lifted his head to look at you properly.
“Now can I kiss you again?” Kevin asked hopefully.
You laughed but nodded, threading your fingers through his messy curls. “You can kiss me any time you want,”
Kevin grinned and did just that.
*
Pulling into the practice arena, Kevin realised he still had a stupid smile on his face. He’d spent all morning at your apartment, mostly making out on the sofa with a little talking dotted throughout, and he’d only been able to tear himself away because Nolan had texted to remind him about the mandatory afternoon practice today. Obviously he would much rather have stayed with you, especially now that he knew what it was like to kiss you, how your lips felt against his, how easy it was to hold you in his arms, but if he skipped practice there would be hell to pay.
That, and he now knew how easily he could get carried away, how easily he could get lost in you. He hadn’t lied when he said that this was more than sex for him. Loving you was everything – overwhelming, all-consuming and wonderful – and there was no way he was going to let sex ruin that. As much as he already knew it would be incredible. He’d waited four years to be in your bed more than platonically, he could wait a little longer. Especially now that he knew you loved him too.
Fuck, you were finally his. He could finally call you his girlfriend. Fuck.
Kevin was so lost in his thoughts as he parked his car, that he didn’t notice a familiar figure walking up to him, and flinched as they knocked on the window. Nolan. Fuck.
“Way to give me a heart attack, baby cat,” Kevin groaned as he got out of the car.
“You made me catch a lift with Teeks last minute – now we’re even,” Nolan smirked.
Kevin just laughed, rolling his eyes as he pulled his bag out of his car and locked it. When he turned back to look at his friend, he saw that Nolan looked incredibly smug, almost unbearably so, and steeled himself for an interrogation. He hadn’t exactly been forthcoming in his text earlier to say that Nolan would have to find his own way to practice. Oops.
“Please tell me you came from your New York girl’s place,”
Hah, your New York girl. When you’d first moved job to Philadelphia, Kevin had referred to you as ‘a girl friend from New York’, to try to play it cool, to try to hide how excited he was that you were finally going to be reunited…and the name had stuck. Pretty much everyone on the team, including some who’d been traded away, referred to you as ‘your New York girl’, mainly because of how red Kevin had blushed when Claude had called you that when you’d first met the team.
The team liked teasing their usually-unflappable teammate.
You liked that Kevin talked about you in the first place.
Kevin just liked that people had always called you his.
“Yeah, I did,” Kevin shrugged, trying to play it cool.
But Nolan just rolled his eyes, not having any of it.
“You two talked right? Like, actually talked,” Nolan asked firmly.
That and other things. But Nolan didn’t need to know that. Kevin just smirked, nodding, and laughed as Nolan whooped.
“I swear to god I’m not getting those three days back, you owe me so bad. And I’m claiming victory for this matchmaking,” Nolan grinned.
“Meddling more like it,” Kevin mused, rolling his eyes, “You got the result you wanted though,”
“I did?”
“You did,”
“Fucking finally,” Nolan groaned.
“Finally what?”
Kevin turned his head to see Claude walking up behind them and winced. If Nolan kept his mouth shut then maybe Kevin had a chance of not being ridiculed for the entirety of practice…
“Hayesy ditched me to finally talk about his feelings,” Nolan smirked.
Oof.
“With your New York girl? Fucking finally,” Claude grinned.
One day that nickname would fade. One day.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Better late than never,” Kevin mused.
“Only took you a few years,” Nolan snorted.
Four long miserable years. But who was counting.
“Well I’m glad you finally took a chance. Fuck knows it’s been painful enough watching the two of you dance around each other,” Claude teased, before his face suddenly went serious, “She returned your feelings, right? Like, fuck-”
“She did,” Kevin said, interrupting, “She loves me too,”
Saying it out loud like that made him grin, earning laughter from his two teammates.
“Thank fuck for that,” Claude huffed, teasing with a grin of his own.
Thank fuck indeed.
*
From: Kevin
Dinner at mine tonight?
I’ve got that wine you like…
~
To: Kevin
You had me at wine.
What time do you want me?
~
From: Kevin
I always want you.
I’ll have food ready for 7pm.
But come over whenever!
~
To: Kevin
You ridiculous flirt.
Can’t wait to see you.
~
Kevin’s messages kept a smile on your face for the rest of your work day, and you didn’t bother going back to your apartment after work – heading straight to his place was all you could think about, so that’s all that you did. And the smile that he greeted you with when he opened the door – bright, genuine, happy – told you that you’d made the right decision.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Kevin murmured, tugging you against his body.
You couldn’t help but laugh, leaning into his hold as he shut the door behind you. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” you grinned.
Kevin grinned back. “Good to know,”
You rolled your eyes fondly, leaning up on your tiptoes to press your lips to his in a soft kiss, smiling at the happy noise he made as you embraced sweetly, your arms sliding up his chest and around his neck. Fuck, even just knowing that you could do this now, kiss him whenever you wanted, sent a shiver up your spine, let alone how good it felt to brush your tongue against his. It was like the floodgates had opened – now that you could kiss him, touch him, hold him, you never wanted to stop. You took every opportunity, and Kevin was exactly the same – maybe even more so, with the way his hands always seemed to stray to your ass.
The kisses eventually slowed to a few gentle pecks, Kevin looking a little stunned even as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear.
“Hi,” you murmured.
“Hi,” he said back, a little helplessly.
Both of you laughed, Kevin resting his forehead against yours briefly before he stepped backwards a little, taking both of your hands with his.
“I gotta finish up some dinner prep, but I can pour you a glass of wine while you wait?” he suggested.
Sweet, thoughtful man.
“That sounds perfect to me,” you nodded, squeezing his hands in agreement.
Dinner was perfect. Wonderful. Incredible. It was only a simple pasta dish, but full of vegetables and spices and flavour, and the fact that Kevin had clearly poured time and effort into making this for the two of you made it even more special. Sitting across from him at the dinner table, each talking about your days, Kevin making your sides ache with laughter…it was all you could ever have dreamed of.
Was it all too good to be true?
That niggling thought followed you to the sofa after you’d finished eating, Kevin joining you with two fresh glasses of wine. He spotted your creased forehead and frown immediately, like you feared knew he would.
“What’s that face for?” Kevin mused, raising an eyebrow.
Sometimes it was a blessing how easily he could read you. But you weren’t sure if now was one of those times. As his smile started to slip, you took a deep breath, steeling yourself. There was no point in hiding your thoughts from him. Honesty and communication were a good thing, right?
“I guess I’m just nervous, that’s all,” you admitted.
Kevin frowned to match you, his eyes immediately going serious. “Nervous? Why?”
“Things are just different now. You know that,”
Kevin’s frown immediately shifted to a smile, making your heart beat a little faster. His faith in you was mindblowing. “It’s just you and me, how it’s always been. How it always should be. Nothing’s different about that,”
But still you shook your head, smiling fondly. “I know you as Kevin-the-friend. I don’t know you as Kevin-the-boyfriend. It’s whole new territory…and I have a horrible thought in my mind saying that it’s all too good to be true,”
Kevin’s face fell again at your words, and he quickly put his wine glass on the coffee table, shaking his head as he reached out to take one of your hands in his. Your breath hitched in your throat at the emotion in his eyes, like it genuinely hurt him to hear the words that came out of your mouth, and you put your own glass down on the floor with a wince.
“Are you…having second thoughts? About…us?” he said quietly, like the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.
You quickly shook your head – you knew that wasn’t it. Not even close. But still…
“What is it then?” Kevin asked, confused.
Here goes nothing. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel real, us being together. Like I’m going to wake up and you’re going to want to only be just friends. It scares me,”
“Shit,” Kevin groaned, eyes closing briefly.
When his eyes reopened his eyes to look at you once more, the fire in his expression startled you…but also made your mouth go dry. That intensity was a good look on him, one you hadn’t seen directed your way before. Fuck.
“Sweetheart, I can’t predict the future. Hell, I can barely figure out what to make for breakfast, let alone where our relationship is going to go. But I do know one thing for certain,” he said firmly.
You swallowed heavily, letting out a shaky breath. “And what’s that?”
“That I want us to have a future. That I am all in. I’m putting my whole heart into this baby, and I just wish I knew what to do so you would believe me,”
Fuck, you did believe him. You absolutely did believe him. How could you not, when you could feel his heart so strongly?
“Kev, I…” you trailed off, a little helpless, not sure where to start.
“What can I do?” he asked, eyes a little desperate.
“I don’t know! I wish I knew. I want this to work so badly,” you murmured.
“All we can do is put the hard work in, right?” he said firmly, eyes bright and shining, “Like, if we both try with our whole hearts, then it’s got to be worth it, right? We’ve been friends for years – that isn’t going to change. We have that foundation already. Now we’re just taking that next step, learning more about each other, rather than starting something scary from scratch,”
Your eyes filled with tears at his heartfelt words, and you found yourself nodding before you could stop yourself.
“It’s still scary…but it could be scarier,” you agreed, biting your bottom lip.
Kevin nodded, smiling encouragingly, to which you let out a shaky breath.
“And no matter what, we’re in this together, yeah? We’ve got each other, more so than ever before,” he said softly.
Your eyes dropped to where his thumb ran back and forth over your hand, a small smile spreading across your lips. “I like the sound of that,”
Kevin’s shoulders seemed to relax a little, like he was letting out tension, sending a guilty pang through your body. Fuck, there you go, making him feel bad again.
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, shrinking back a little.
“Hey, no, no apologies. I’m glad you told me,” he replied, shaking his head, “I’d rather we talked about stuff like this than let it build up to something ugly, y’know?”
He had a good point – you couldn’t imagine having a nasty all-out fight with Kevin, and you didn’t want to. He was one of your oldest friends for a reason, and you didn’t want to lose that through a stupid fight, no way.
“Same goes for you too, yeah? You can…should talk to me about anything that worries you,” you said softly.
Kevin smiled, nodding. “Alright, it’s a deal,”
He reached out to pick up his wine glass from the table, holding it towards you in a ‘cheers’ motion, making you laugh. But you picked up your glass from the floor anyway, and clinked it with his, both of you taking a long drink. Kevin was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, before he quirked a smile your way.
“Let me take you out, show you what Kevin-the-boyfriend is like,” he suggested, “Let me show you that this new thing between us is going to be something amazing,”
How could you say no to that?
“I’d like that,” you grinned, relaxing into the sofa a bit more, “I already know I love Kevin-the-friend…so I think I need to meet Kevin-the-boyfriend properly,”
And as stupid as it felt saying those words out loud, you knew you were right – you needed to see this next stage in your relationship clearly, to banish away those niggling doubts. It was still Kevin, right? Just…more.
Kevin stretched his leg out onto the sofa, nudging your hip with his foot with a big smile on his face, nudging nudging nudging until you gripped his ankle tightly with your free hand, raising an eyebrow. All you got in return was his eyebrows wiggling at you, a stupid grin on his face.
“This is going to be great, you’ll see,” Kevin said cheerfully.
You were counting on it.
*
A first date was always something to be nervous about, right? Shaky hands, pounding heart, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms…it was all natural, right? Because you were experiencing all of these things while you got ready for your date with Kevin.
But was it truly nerves? You weren’t nervous as in apprehensive. No, not at all. Any time you spent with Kevin was always full of warmth and laughter, even when you were just friends, and you knew that tonight would be so different. No, it was nervous as in excited. Nervous butterflies? Shaky giddiness? Whatever it was, it was more than a little overwhelming, but it only took one glance at the last text Kevin sent you to keep a smile on your face.
~
From: Kevin
I can’t wait to see you, beautiful 💖
~
Simple, but effective. He always knew what to do and say, even when he didn’t know he was doing it. So instead of getting cold feet or freaking out, all you did was put on your favourite playlist and bop around while you got yourself ready. You’d already gotten your usual leg and bikini wax this morning, having planned to wear a slinky black dress with bare legs, and as soon as you shimmied into the dress you knew it was the right choice. Figure hugging without being clingy, sexy as well as classy – a little black dress is a classic for a reason. After putting on a little makeup and a pair of your favourite heels, you were ready.
Kevin had insisted on picking you up so he could drive the two of you to the restaurant, rather than meeting there, and he arrived to yours right on time. But as you opened the front door of your apartment to greet him, his face was a little stunned, and he was uncharacteristically silent. Huh.
“Everything okay, Kev?” you asked hesitantly.
He quickly nodded, the stunned look on his face slipping into a wide smile.
“You just look so beautiful. Caught me off guard,” he shrugged.
You felt your cheeks heat up with warmth, and you batted your hand at his chest, making him laugh. Ridiculous man.
“Well, you scrub up pretty well yourself,” you teased.
A crisp white button-up shirt, a nice fitted pair of jeans and tailored jacket? Such a good look on him. Kevin just grinned at your words, ducking his head to kiss you softly, making your breath hitch in your throat. Yeah, this was going to be a good night.
“Ready to go?” he asked, as he broke the embrace.
“Yeah, let me just grab a jacket,”
The drive to the restaurant was short and smooth – a Spanish tapas place, on recommendation from Claude – and you were shown to your table immediately, Kevin pulling out your chair for you with a bright smile on his face.
“Welcome! Here are your menus – would you like to see the drinks menu too, or do you know what you would like?”
You looked from the waiter to Kevin with a shrug, to see him looking at you with a hopeful smile. Huh. He already planned this out, didn’t he? So you just nodded at him and smiled back.
“Can we have a glass of Rosado each?” Kevin asked, smiling effortlessly.
“Of course, I will be back momentarily,”
As the waiter walked away, you raised an eyebrow at Kevin, who just shrugged a little bashfully.
“I never have any clue which wine goes with what. So I asked Claude when he recommended this place – a few of the guys around us chimed in with their thoughts too, and apparently Rosado goes with tomato-y garlic-y things. I figured that’s the majority of what we’d be eating, so I hope that’s okay” Kevin explained.
The fact that he had put so much thought into tonight, asking his friends and really researching, made your heart clench, and it was all you could do to nod. He really was so sweet – no-one had ever put in this much effort for you before.
A silence fell over you for a moment, not awkward, but still not fully comfortable, until you looked at Kevin and the both of you huffed out a laugh.
“This is weird, right?” you giggled.
“Nah, not if we don’t let it be,” he shrugged, smiling.
His ease and nonchalance was something to be jealous of, that much was true.
“So confident, Mr Hayes,” you mused, raising an eyebrow.
“Easy to be confident when I’ve got the most beautiful person in the room sitting opposite me,” he replied smoothly.
Oh so smooth.
“Kev…” you groaned, hiding your face with a hand.
“Come on, I’ve been wanting to say these things for years! Indulge me,” he teased.
Years. The very thought of it sent a shiver down your spine.
“You think I haven’t had my moments of weakness? Where I’ve thought about us over the years?” you asked simply, raising an eyebrow as you lowered your hand back into your lap.
Kevin inhaled sharply, making you smile. Good.
“I like that you have. Thought about us, I mean. I just can’t believe how stupid we’ve been. We’ve wasted so much time,” Kevin sighed.
You reached across the table, resting your hand on top of his with a smile. “We’re here now, right? That’s all that matters,”
“Yeah exactly,” he nodded.
Then he bit his bottom lip, as if he was hesitating on something, making you smile a little more.
“What is it, Kev?” you asked softly.
He stayed silent for another beat or two, before he looked at you intensely.
“I see my future with you, sweetheart,” he blurted. Oh wow. “And yeah, maybe that’s too soon to say, but this isn’t some brand new fresh thing – this has been building for years, and now that we’re finally together, it just feels so right, y’know?”
Your heart clenched at his sweet words, and you couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your lips. Fuck. Who knew a hockey player could be so open and in touch with their feelings? Well, it was Kevin after all. Might as well speak your own thoughts too.
“It does feel so right. I’ve never felt anything for anyone like I feel for you,” you admitted.
Kevin’s answering smile was a little stunned and a little helpless. “Fuck, same. Same for me,”
You ignored the butterflies filling your stomach, looking down at the menu in front of you to stop your smile going stupid. What was it about this man that made you feel so different? His honesty? His smile? His laugh? Fuck, all of that and more. All you did know was that you didn’t want it to stop.
The date continued on to become the best date you had ever been on. Not that you were surprised – it was Kevin after all, and you already knew there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do if it would make you smile. And you were quickly learning how true it was for you too. Having all that adoration, that attention, that smile focused solely on you? It was addictive, and you didn’t want it directed towards anyone else. You wanted his whole heart, you knew that much already, and you could only hope that he wanted the same from you.
Both of you only had one glass of wine with your food, as Kevin was driving you home, and by the time the two of you had reached the front door of your apartment (Kevin had insisted on walking you to your front door, even though it was an apartment building), you felt giddy. Giddy and ridiculous and unbelievably happy. This was it, this was what you had been waiting for. This moment, this knowledge, that same confidence in this thing with Kevin that he’d had all along. You only wished it hadn’t taken you so long.
But you were here now, that’s all that mattered. You and Kevin, together. As it should be.
As you unlocked your front door, you felt yourself pausing in the doorway, Kevin making a questioning noise as you stopped moving. You bit your bottom lip gently, before taking a deep breath to steel your nerves. “Do you want to come in?” you asked, looking up into those beautiful blue eyes.
Kevin’s lips parted in surprise, a stunned expression filling his face.
“Like, come in come in?” he asked, voice a little breathy.
The sheer want in his voice made you shiver, and you knew you’d made the right decision in asking him. You could basically taste the tension between you as you nodded slowly, Kevin swaying forward as if he couldn’t help himself.
But then he stopped, freezing still, making you frown.
“Are you sure? Like, it’s not too soon?” he forced out, eyes a little wild.
So you quickly shook your head, smiling at him checking.
“Kev, it’s us, right?”
He’d been saying it for weeks, that being together was just a next step in your strong foundation of friendship, so both of you giving in to that obvious desire wouldn’t ruin anything at all. You wanted him…he wanted you…so why not take things up another notch?
“Yeah, it’s us. Endgame, baby,” Kevin grinned.
And just like that, the tension burst like a balloon, making you laugh. Yeah, this was the man you were in love with alright.
“Come on loverboy,” you laughed, rolling your eyes fondly, “Let’s not give my neighbours a show,”
Kevin smirked, wiggling his eyebrows as he followed you into your apartment, making you laugh all over again. There was none of that nervous apprehension you’d felt with other guys before – it was all just excitement, fizzing and buzzing through your skin, and your mind swirled with ideas.
Stripping him down slowly, piece by piece.
Getting your mouth on him, every inch of his body, especially his cock.
Having him pin you down on your bed, all gorgeous 6ft5 of him surrounding you in the best way.
Fuck.
“I’ve been thinking about getting my hands on you since I saw you in that dress,”
Kevin’s soft words tore you out of your lustful thoughts, and you moaned softly at the shiver it sent up your spine. Fuck yes, you were getting laid tonight and it was going to be good.
“Then how about you get your hands on me?” you suggested, corner of your lips lifting up in a smirk.
He wasted no time in pressing you into the nearest wall, barely making it out of the entrance hallway, and you laughed as his hands went straight to your ass.
“Feeling better?” you mused, toying with the top button of his shirt.
This wasn’t a fiery desperate rush, crashing about, rough and riling up – no this was a slow build-up of lust and want, much like your relationship had been a slow build-up. No, this was a slow seduction, sweet and all-consuming, bodies moving in sync and taking what they wanted. And you couldn’t fucking wait.
“Hmm, a little,” Kevin grinned back.
“Only a little huh?” you teased.
“Oh I have a few ideas of what could help,” he murmured.
The flash of heat in his eyes sent a flare of heat through your body, and you couldn’t help but to dart your tongue out to wet your bottom lip, Kevin’s eyes tracking the motion, making you smile. But you had no time to tease him before he took your lips in a kiss, making you whimper at how quickly it got heated before Kevin broke away with a gasp, leaving your head spinning.
“So that’s one idea,” he grinned.
Oh fuck, this man was going to ruin you. But not before you ruined him a little bit first.
“What’s your next idea?” you breathed.
Kevin just grinned, stepping backwards a little bit, making you whine before you could stop yourself.
“Stay right where you are, beautiful. Keep your eyes on me,”
That you could do. You dramatically placed your hands against the wall, making him laugh as he dropped his jacket carelessly to the floor, and his fingers went to the top button of his shirt. He kept his eyes on you as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his strong broad chest inch by inch until he was able to drop it to the floor, leaving him in just his jeans. Fuck. You would never be able to get enough of the sight of him like this, let alone the touch (and you couldn’t wait for the taste) – the strength in his shoulders, his chest, his core, his arms…fuck.
“Get back over here,” you said, voice low and rough.
Kevin inhaled sharply, and he wasted no time in stumbling back over to you, arms caging you in against the wall in a way that made you want.
“Great second idea. What’s next?” you breathed.
Fuck. This was winding you up and up and up and you knew the night had barely even started.
“I want…can I taste you?” he blurted.
What? But before you could ask what he meant, Kevin dropped to his knees, making you gasp. Oh fuck. Oh yes.
“You want to be on your knees for me?” you asked, swallowing heavily.
“Yeah, so bad,” Kevin nodded, a little desperate.
Well how could you say no to that?
Biting your bottom lip, you reached up under your dress, hooking your fingers into the sides of your panties and tugging them down. Kevin whined as his view was blocked by the skirt of your dress but you just grinned. This was the least he deserved for stripping his shirt off so slowly. You let your panties drop to the floor when they were past the thickness of your thighs and slowly stepped out of them, kicking them to one side.
His move.
Kevin’s eyes were wide and dark as he raised his hands to rest on your thighs, lips slightly parted.
“Please, can I?” he murmured, thumbs brushing under the skirt hem.
Fuck. This was all too much, the desire, his patience, his asking. Bring it on.
“Yeah, go ahead,” you nodded, inhaling sharply.
He slowly dragged the skirt of your dress up to your hips, moaning softly under his breath when you were revealed bare to him. One of his hands bunched up the dress to hold it in place, the other placed large and firm on your thigh, and his thumb lightly stroked over the wetness in your folds…before he stopped.
Kevin looked up at you, wordless asking one last time. And you just nodded, too overwhelmed in the moment to utter any words, your heart racing at the very sight of him kneeling so comfortably between your thighs. With a smile, he shuffled a little closer to you, ducking his head to place a reverent kiss to your clit, making you gasp, earning a soft laugh.
“Fuck, sweetheart,” Kevin mumbled, mostly to himself.
Then he ducked his head down and dove right in, tongue running over your folds in a wide stripe, his tongue flicking at your clit in a way that made you gasp. Fuck. How was he so good at this, straight off the bat? You could feel him smirking against your skin, before his tongue flicked at your clit again, and you couldn’t stop your hips bucking to chase the feeling. Fuck. The hand holding your dress out of the way adjusted to rest across your hips, pinning you to the wall, as his tongue ran back and forth over your core, gathering and tasting your wetness, dipping in and out of you, making you clench down on nothing. You didn’t hold back the soft moans that spilled from your lips, your body trembling with how good he made you feel. But as you clenched down empty again, you knew you could feel even better.
“More, Kev, please?” you begged.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” he groaned, resting his forehead against your hip.
You giggled, pushing his hair out of his eyes so he would look up at you.
“I want more,” you said firmly, eyes holding his in challenge.
And fuck did he rise to the challenge.
Kevin buried his face back between your thighs, eagerly running his tongue back and forth over you, into you, winding you up higher and higher, until he backed off to just sucking on your clit. Then you realised why he’d changed tactic, as his fingers moved to trail through your folds. With a fingertip teasing at your entrance, Kevin looked up at you, those big blue eyes questioning, and it was all you could do to nod. Leisurely Kevin slid a finger into you, letting you get used to the intrusion before he started to move it, gentle and slow, sending sparks up your spine and making your eyes clench shut. Then his teeth scraped over your clit and you wailed at the electricity that shot through your body, eyes flying open to glare down at him, wild and weak-kneed. Kevin’s eyes just sparkled with laughter, and he wasted no time in sliding in a second finger, sucking at your clit in the same rhythm in which he fucked his fingers into you. Fuck. You could feel a familiar heat start to build and you moaned – it wasn’t fair how quickly he learned the cues of your body.
Two can play at that game.
“You look so good on your knees for me,” you breathed, running your fingers through his messy hair.
Kevin’s eyes flashed with fire as he moaned at your words, sending a shockwave through you, making you gasp. Good. He leaned back slightly, tongue darting out over his swollen lips, before he smirked.
“You look so good with my fingers inside you,” he rasped back, curling both fingers over and over again in a come hither motion, “Going to look even better on my cock,”
Game, set, and match. Fuck. You cried out as the onslaught of his fingers sent you crashing through your high, Kevin smirking before he returned his tongue to lick between the two digits, prolonging the wave of pleasure until you were shaking and overwhelmed. Kevin backed off a little bit, leaning back to sit on his heels, but his face radiated smugness, of a job well done, even as the hard line of his cock strained against the denim of his jeans.
It was all you could do to fall to your knees to join him, straddling his lap lightly as you fought to regain control over your breathing, his hands going straight to your hips where your dress had fallen back down.
“Fuck, Kev,” you said with a shaky laugh.
He just smirked, wiggling his eyebrows, making you laugh for real. Ridiculous man. Without saying another word, you rested one hand against his bare chest, lifting the other hand to cup his face. You stroked your thumb over the wetness lingering on his bottom lip, before pressing down lightly on that lip to get him to open his mouth, and Kevin took the hint straight away, accepting your thumb into his mouth. You couldn’t take your eyes away from the sight of him closing his plush lips around it, sucking the wetness away, the same wetness that was still between your thighs.
Then his teeth scraped over the pad of your thumb, imitating his treatment of your clit, making you moan and clench down on nothing, even more evident where your thighs were spread across his lips.
“You’re such a tease,” you gasped, pulling your thumb free.
“Not a tease if I’m planning on following through,” Kevin said simply, smirk still playing with his expression.
The intensity in his eyes paired with the way his hands squeezed your hips sent a shiver up your spine, and you let a small smirk of your own drift across your lips.
“Hmm, yes, you said something about how good I’ll look with your cock inside me?” you murmured.
The noise that tore from Kevin’s throat was barely human, more feral than anything else, and the want in his eyes sent a wave of heat through your body. Fuck, yes.
“Fuck, yes,” he groaned, “I know I just said it in the heat of the moment, but do you…do you want…”
“Yeah, Kev, I want,” you nodded quickly.
Kevin all but growled. “Hook your legs around my waist,” he said firmly.
What?
And then you felt his abs tense, as Kevin anchored himself to stand up from the floor with you in his arms, and you shrieked as you hurried to do as he said, hooking your ankles together against the swell of his ass.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” you breathed, arms firmly around his neck as he held you securely.
It was all you could do not to think about how your bare core was pressed against his abs. Fuck.
“Yeah?” he smirked.
You rolled your eyes fondly. “Take me to bed, Kev,”
Kevin swallowed heavily, his eyes flashing dark and serious.
“Yes ma’am,”
*
A party was never just a simple party when Kevin Hayes was involved. Music was pounding, beer was flowing, shots were poured, and weed was an easy haze on the back porch. At all the parties he’d thrown like this in the past, you’d always drifted to and from him, flitting from group to group just like he did, always separate. But this time, no – this time you were sitting on the sofa with his arm wrapped around your waist, leaning into his body because now you could.
And fuck did it feel good.
“So, tell us, how does it feel to be finally be called Kevin’s girl, rather than Kevin’s New York girl?” Claude grinned.
Ah yes, that nickname. Finally, it could die.
“Feels pretty fucking sweet actually,” you said simply.
Everyone on the sofas around you burst into laughter, and you could feel the rumble of Kevin’s own laughter deep in his chest. You couldn’t help but look up at him with a smile, earning an adoring smile back, as well as a soft kiss. Yeah, this was exactly where you wanted to be. 
 “How did you two actually meet?” Ryanne asked, smiling, “Like, I know you’ve been friends for years…but how?”
You found yourself smiling as you looked back up at Kevin, and he smiled down at you. It was true, you really had been friends with him for years at this point. And your first meeting was pretty funny.
“Go ahead,” Kevin shrugged.
His loss.
“Alright, so it went like this…”
~
Sunday night was grocery run night – and this week was no different. You walked into the lobby of your apartment building with both your arms full, trying to figure out how you were going to call the elevator, when you noticed a very tall guy already waiting, the elevator call button pressed. Huh, that solved that problem.
He smiled as you stopped next to him, giving you a little nod. “Hey,”
Holy shit this guy is hot. No, not the time. Tall…hot…great smile…no, focus. Be cool.
“Oh hey, you’re one of the new guys, right?” you smiled, tilting your head to look up at him.
“Yeah, I’m Kevin. I just got a place with my buddies Jimmy and Brady. A couple of floors up from you, right?”
Oh wow. He froze as your eyes widened in surprise, and groaned.
“I swear I’m not a creep?” he offered, wincing, “I’m just really good with faces,”
For some reason, you believed him. Call it intuition, or vibes, or whatever. This guy was being genuine. Huh.
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” you teased.
His shoulders slumped a little as if releasing tension, making you smile. As if by fate, the elevator pinged its arrival, and Kevin gestured for you to enter first before following you in.
“So,”
“So,”
You couldn’t help but laugh as you spoke in unison, Kevin just grinning. Oops.
“Go ahead,” you mused.
“I was going to say, if you fancy meeting my other flatmates too, we’re having a little housewarming of sorts. Like, a bunch of our friends are coming over, sort of a drop in and out whenever time kind of thing. It’d be nice to meet you properly, and show you I’m not actually a weirdo? Friday, if you’re free?”
Oh wow. That was really…sweet? Sure, it could blow up in your face, and he could actually be a creep…but again, those intuitive vibes were saying he wasn’t. And it definitely beats sitting at home and eating cold pizza. Again.
And damn, if his flatmates looked anything like him? Eye candy for days.
“Friday huh? I could do Friday,” you said simply, trying to keep your cool.
His answering smile let you know you’d made the right decision.
~
“…and after that, we became really good friends, all four of us. He never flirted with me after that time in the elevator and I tried my hardest not to flirt with him. I stayed in touch with Kev when he went to the Jets and then here to the Flyers, and he was one of the first people I got in contact with when my job moved me to Philadelphia. And then everything changed a few weeks ago. The rest is history,” you shrugged.
Kevin grinned, although he definitely had a blush on his cheeks.
“You were such a creep,” Claude said, laughing.
Kevin blushed a little fiercer. “It just came out! Of course I noticed the prettiest girl in the building – that was the least awful way I could’ve said it,”
You rolled your eyes as his friends hooted and jeered, although you felt your cheeks heat up with warmth.
“Just couldn’t help yourself, huh?” you teased.
“I got there in the end, didn’t I?” he shot back with a dramatic wink.
“Only took you a few years,” Nolan snorted.
Kevin just grinned, unashamed.
It may have taken a few years, but Kevin was right – you had gotten there in the end. All the years of self-doubt and insecurity, thinking you’d never be more than just friends, had resulted in a beautiful – if unexpected – relationship. A build-up of such a solid foundation of friendship over the past four years had already given you the opportunity to learn so much about him – and you couldn’t wait to learn even more. To learn about Kevin, the boyfriend. And, maybe even more than that, if you were lucky. Yes, unexpected as this may have been, you were in this for the long haul. And you couldn’t wait.
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arr-jim-lad · 2 years
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If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about DIO and how he became your favourite? I'm curious!
you know what that's a really good question and i wish i had a clear answer but it kinda just happened lmfao. there was some process to it that i can easily narrow down though and i will gladly dive into it and try to explain it because you KNOW i'll take any chance to talk about god damned DIO lmao
im gonna try to make this as coherent as possible but please bear with me, i'm pulling an allnighter and am currently in the 24th hour of awakedness so lmao
ok first; initially kakyoin was actually my favourite for a while, and after a while i'd say i like them the same, but we all knew. we all knew i was a dirty little liar. i have 4 kakyoin figures. i have a DIO shrine. i wrote several analyses of DIO. my god damned phone background is DIO. idk who i was trying to fool lmao
the funny thing is that before i watched jojo i actually fucking hated DIO lmfao, there was a blog here that posted undertale quotes and i really enjoyed it, but then one day the blog decided to just start posting 'you expected x but it was me, dio' memes and it was extremely unfunny and annoying and i hated it and i hated him lmfao
then i watched jojo with my friend and i just thought DIO was funny in like a fucked up way, mind you i watched the dub which made him extra funny with the british accent
i "liked" him but more like as a joke. i did really enjoy just the sheer extent of how vile he was though, making a mom eat her own baby is still one of my favourite fucked up things i've ever seen a villain do. it's the way he had fun with being absolutely reprehensible that made him so much fun to watch. i love when villains are fun.
having seen him in parts 1 and 3 i still kinda liked him as a meme and eventually as like, "i hate that i like him lol"
but like, then i've seen the OVA, and DIO spoke with andrew chaikin's voice in the dub and i was just kinda uh 😳
because like andew chaikin's freaking DIO voice???? hi hello??
also just in general how DIO is in the ova... his design and animation are fucking stellar and he was just a freaking delight to watch, but his voice made him particularly comforting to me.
so yeah it was the ova. the ova is to blame for all of this.
i do feel a need to mention because this is something that would make me super uncomfortable if people misunderstood it, but as i am aro/ace, my love for DIO is not of a romantic or sexual nature at all. i'd describe it more as like.. adoration? i see him as a muse and a comfort character.
the reason i actually really started liking DIO so much and why i consider him a comfort character is because he turned out to be just.. amazingly, delightfully comfortable to draw. i enjoy drawing him so much. i've drawn him 128 times and plan to draw him many more times. i think my art has improved immensely just from how much i've drawn him, especially when it comes to more muscular bodies, which i really didn't enjoy drawing before.
he's so incredibly fun to draw because he combines this macho huge body with fashion and elegance and beauty, and drama and evil and danger and egypt and vampires. there's always something about him that's gonna inspire me to draw another piece of him. i haven't had an art block since i started drawing him (though worth noting is that my mascot Luv has also been a top notch fighter against art block; him and DIO are my main muses to always keep me drawing and experimenting and creating new approaches)
I also think DIO is a hugely interesting character, as it's apparent by how much i've written about him in the past. i think his motivation is so messed up and convoluted and interesting because yeah a fucked up vampire who's been isolated underwater for 100 years would probably not exactly be a stable and rational person lmao
to me as someone with social anxiety, the fact that his main goal is to achieve peace of mind is also really interesting. uh, spoiler for stone ocean here so im gonna cross it through so people won't accidentally catch a glimpse of it but, ok firstly i think DIO's plan was absolutely batshit and definitely not the right thing to do LMAO, but i love that he literally wants to change reality to know what's gonna happen next, because not knowing things in advance is preventing him from achieving his peace. like im not saying i relate to DIO because i really don't, but as someone who's been very familiar with anxiety, it's really interesting to see that as a villain's motivation (also might as well mention i don't think DIO has anxiety, i think it's more like frustration over lack of control with him, also he's a huge paranoic)
i want to also talk about his philosophy that i genuinely love so much, and that is the concept of gravity as he means it on that famous panel. DIO's idea of gravity is a very zen concept, it's the idea that fate will bring you where you need to be, fate will make you meet the people you need to meet, etc. as someone who struggles with anxiety, that is a really compelling idea to me, which helped me overcome stressful situations long before i got into jojo. of course i do understand that to some people the idea of a predetermined fate can be terrifying and tbh i totally get it, but for me, when it comes to anxiety-inducing situations, the idea of "gravity" has helped me be less stressed. it's a very interesting concept and i love that it's something that's so deeply ingrained in DIO's philosophy. (PS just so you know whenever i say DIO's plan was a good idea i am joking 100% of the time, i would not want to live in the world he wanted to create. however, it's funny to say DIO was thinking of us socially anxious folks so im gonna keep saying it lmao)
you know, it's also really funny that like.. DIO ended up being such a massive beloved comfort character of mine, because like up until him, i generally got attached to characters who were very Good and Wholesome lmao. tfw the two characters that served as the most important comfort characters for me in my life were DIO and......... Papyrus from Undertale LMAO
they are almost polar opposites, but what they both have in common is that they are both very confident, and i'd say that while characters who doubt themselves are generally those i personally relate to, characters who are confident are the ones i gravitate towards for "support". Papyrus has been a character who i honestly hold single-handedly responsible for helping me turn my life around and just.. had an amazing impact on my mental health. i dont want to know who i'd be today if i never got into undertale.
with DIO, i feel like part of the reason why im so joyous and loud about how much i love him and why im so open about how much fun im having enjoying his character so much is because if i were to meet this character back then, when i was in college or in high school, i would never allow myself to enjoy this. i think that to me, DIO being such a huge comfort character represents like... something? i can't quite put my finger on it, but i feel a certain kind of pride and freedom about it because i know i overcame something in these past few years, and that i am much better and happier for it in every aspect.
i am very much a person who gets deeply attached to things or characters that i associate with positive changes in my life. because i've been at such a low point once in my life, i cling to things that remind me of how far i've come.
im just like.. really happy to be here as i am and DIO somehow became a deeply ingrained part of that.
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When I saw 'Romanians' mentioned in your last post I had a wtf moment cause I have only watched the movies and I don't think I've ever noticed their existence. Regardless, I just had to read the wiki page and it is hillarious to me cause coincidence or not they seem to be named after the psychopathic ruler 'Vlad the impaler' and his cousin 'Stefan the great'(he might have murdered more people than his cousin known as the impaler, but you know he is great). Also, what do you think of them? Sorry for the rant...
You have no idea what you’ve unleashed.
I love the Romanians because they are, hands down, the trashiest, weirdest, lamest, loser vampires in Twilight canon. 
Just, these two are so hilariously beautiful.
First off, while Meyer undoubtedly named them with Vlad Tepish and Stefan the Great in mind, the Romanians are actually much older. We don’t have exact dates, but we know the Romanians (then presumably the Dacians), held great power over their territory for a thousand years before the Volturi had truly established themselves. After the Volturi took on and won against Amun’s coven in Egypt (and took the grateful Demetri off Amun’s hands making Amun still bitter thousands of years later) they waged war against the Romanians and won. (Vlad and Stefan are still very bitter but give us the silver lining of “oh yeah, well, we’re only partly petrified. SO TAKE THAT STUPID VOLTURI!”)
Vlad, Stefan, and Vlad’s wife were the only survivors. The Romanians, being one of the most evil and trashy covens in Twilight, decided to take on Volterra by amassing an army of 100 vampires. Hilariously, they had poor timing, this is a decade after Aro acquired Jane and Alec. The entire army is defeated in a second, Vlad’s wife is murdered, and by 810 AD, it’s just Vlad and Stefan.
They’ve remained losers the Volturi don’t take seriously ever since. Every decade, Demetri pays them a visit to remind them that yes, the Volturi does remember them and can find them any time they want to. Even more hilariously, Vlad and Stefan take this very seriously, and are constantly on the run from the Volturi, never aware that the Volturi actually don’t care. At all. 
Point being, given these guys, first it’s entirely likely their original names are not Vlad and Stefan. We see many of the vampires of the ancient world periodically change their name. We have Chelsea and Demetri, who are canonically acknowledged as having done this. Given when and where they were born, we can assume Marcus and Caius were not originally Marcus and Caius. Similarly, we can assume Aro’s name was originally far longer as well.
None the less, it would be just like these two to name themselves after these Romanian human warlords, one of whom serves and the inspiration for the modern vampire myth in Europe. And then, insist, of course, that the human rulers were actually named after Vlad and Stefan, because the humans still worship them, you know.
They’re going to be back on top any day now, you’ll see. 
That’s another thing worth getting into. The Romanians are evil. I’m not exaggerating this, of all the vampires in Twilight, they are the most appalling (and this is including James, Maria and the southern war lords, Joham... well not Joham, he’s a special brand of evil). These guys had a thousand year reign of terror in Dacia. Humans were butchered seemingly by entire villages, they made humans their slaves and demanded worship and sacrifice. When the humans periodically tried to overthrow them, they slaughtered them all, presumably placed their heads on spikes, and used them to taunt those few surviving humans.
When they lost power, they made an army a hundred vampires strong, which given what we see of the newborns in Seattle (who were only around twenty and still far too large to control), probably wiped out several large settlements in eastern Europe. Didn’t matter, just as long as they got rid of the Volturi.
And they miss those glory days dearly.
They actively reminisce about in Breaking Dawn to an oblivious Bella, who is just so happy these very important and impressive Europeans are here to help her beautiful daughter and so impressed they they’ve been fighting the corrupt Volturi for thousands of years (which is another bit of hilarity we’ll get into). You know, when/if the Volturi fall, the Romanians will be the first in line to rape the women and enslave us all. Good times, good times.
But back to them being trash people.
Vlad and Stefan are utterly destitute, their entire coven is destroyed, and yet they still insist they’re a Big Fucking Deal. Not only that, but just their every action is beyond weird. They talk in unison like Fred and George Weasley, they’re these ridiculously tiny men dressed as stereotypical vampires, and they show up out of nowhere on your doorstep saying, “So, hear you’re starting an insurrection against Volterra, Carlisle, we want in” (While Carlisle, I’m sure, just dies a thousand times inside). 
They then talk to Bella all about how they fight the corruption of the Volturi. What is the corruption, you ask? Well, the Volturi drove them out of their kingdom and liberated the human slaves. Then they imposed this stupid law where you couldn’t eat humans in broad daylight. Then when the Romanians tried to invade Italy they killed them all.
The Romanians will expose the Volturi’s crimes here and now. They stand for justice, peace, and Renezel--Renpunz--Renesmee. (The Romanians decidedly do not come for Renesmee, they hear about Carlisle’s army through the vampire European rumor mill, which just shows how out of hand it all got because now Carlisle’s amassing an army to protect the immortal child his son made. They show 0 interest in Renesmee.)
They give me serious McPoyle vibes.
More, beautifully, everything they touch becomes tainted.
Laurent, another beautiful loser character, starts life as a French courtier in Versailles. When he’s turned into a vampire, he assumes the vampire world works like Versailles. It works nothing like Versailles.
He seeks out those vampires with the greatest power.
Well, vampires in general are cannibalistic homeless nomads who care nothing for power.
This brings him, beautifully, to the Romanians. They insist to Laurent they’re super cool and powerful, Laurent believes them, but either Laurent eventually clues in or realizes something’s not right here. So, he goes to seek out the real power, the Volturi.
Unfortunately, Laurent is a loser, the Volturi is not court, and Aro has no need for some lackey trying to get in his good graces. Plus, Laurent hung out willingly with Vlad and Stefan. And anyone who does that...
So, Aro goes, “Ew, no, leave.”
Laurent is convinced, even when canon rolls around and he’s sunk so low as to hang out with James and Victoria (also loser vampires), that Aro will call him back any day now.
Aro never does. Laurent is eaten by untrained sixteen-year-old shape shifters.
But yes, point being, I imagine that in this modern era the Romanians would have a Go Fund Me for purchasing the blow torches they’ll use to destroy the Volturi once and for all. They also have a YouTube channel which is unintentionally dungeon porn, in which they cover their heads in bags so as not to be recognized, and talk about the good old days in thick Romanian accents. It’s a very popular YouTube channel, nobody understands why they wear so much body glitter.
Oh, right, Bella.
Bella is so beautiful with these guys. So, in Breaking Dawn, Bella actually takes the Romanians seriously. They’re all I describe above and more, they’re not hiding it, they’re full McPoyle (including the taking over the world built). Jake even tells Bella he finds them weird as hell. Bella thinks they’re great.
No, really, she thinks they’re great.
They tell her how they enslaved all the people in their territory, demanded tithes, and would eagerly do so again as soon as they get the chance and she stares at them with wide eyes and thinks about how cool all these vampires who came for precious Renesmee are. (Which, funnily, they actually all came either for Carlisle, because he has a billion friends everywhere, or else as a power grab like the Romanians, or both in Amun’s case. It’s the weirdest, most beautiful, mixture of people.)
Bella has her moments, but loving the Romanians has got to be a top ten for her. My explanation is that she’s so high on vampirism and Renesmee that this is all just great for her. LIFE IS WONDERFUL!
EDIT: I could no longer abide my spelling mistakes, I also edited a bit for cleanliness.
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