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#when they still think they might have a soulmate and it’s just normal stuff. popular bands maybe
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I see a lot of soulmate au fics where someone can hear their soulmate sing, but they for whatever reason don’t sing for many years.
However, not ONE of these fics has gone in the direction of ‘no one’s singing to me, so I probably don’t have a soulmate, so I can sing whatever I want with no one to judge me for it’
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mediocreanomaly · 10 months
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Vashwood x Reader Soulmate AU
Authors note: I eventually want to make this into an actual drabble but for now have the basics, that being said! I don’t know how the “your soulmate can feel your pain” au isn’t more popular in the Trigun fandom, think about all that untapped angst...
Other Parts Here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 3 (Alt. End)
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•When Rem first tells Vash about soulmates he has stars in his eyes. There's something comforting about the idea that the universe has already hand picked the perfect person for you
•That is until Rem continues by telling Vash how people find their soulmates
• “Rem? How do you know when someone is your soulmate?” “Well...like this!” Rem pinches Vash and Vash pouts, “what’d you do that for!”
•That’s when he learns pain is transferred between soulmates. Luckily, injuries where not, but feeling a broken bone seemed just as bad as having one to Vash. In fact Vash thought the whole thing was kinda...mean. He didn’t want to cause someone pain! Which meant for a few days the idea plagued his mind
•Until Knives is...well Knives.
• “Nai? Do you worry about hurting your soulmate?” “What are you talking about?” “You know, do you feel bad that you might hurt your soulmate?” “Vash soulmates are a human thing, when have you ever heard of a plant having a soulmate? Stop thinking about stuff like that” “oh...”
•To be fair, Nai did think he was helping his brother by consoling his worries but ironically it just makes Vash feel worse. Despite the guilt he felt about potentially hurting his soulmate, knowing he just straight up doesn’t have one stings a bit
•After that Vash just kinda...forgets about it. I mean obviously he knows soulmates exist and every once in awhile he might get slightly bummed but he knows it’s for the best, especially after the fall. He’s got too much on his plate so the whole concept just stays on the back burner
•Then we jump forward a couple years (a century lmao) Vash does not think he has a soulmate, as such he’s just as careless with his body as our normal Vash is. He’s missing his arm (thanks Knives) he’s still covered in scars and he has no issue taking bullets for random bystanders because that’s who he is, and unlike the humans he doesn’t have a soulmate so who cares? (oh honey you got a big storm comin)
•Then it happens, Vash is just doing his thing when a blinding pain runs through him. It feels like his veins are on fire, like he’s being torn apart and put back together. He has to hunker down in a shitty motel for awhile because it feels so bad 
•Thing is Vash actually doesn’t put the pieces together for awhile. He’s gone this long without a soulmate so it doesn’t instantly click that he could be feeling someone elses pain, he just assumes everything he’s done on Gunsmoke the last century is finally catching up with him
•These pains keep coming back though, to the point where Vash eventually does go see Brad thinking this is either a “him neglecting his body” thing or a plant thing
•It’s neither. he’s a dumbass. Brad has to tell him it sounds like a soulmate thing considering he’s about as good in health as Vash can be. Vash argues the point for a little bit but the longer he thinks about it...
•Self lothing to the extreme. This man had purposely taken bullets, stabs, burns you name it to prevent others from getting hurt, but the whole time he’s been hurting someone?
•Here’s the thing though, obviously whoever he’s paired with has it rough too if the random blinding pains are anything to go by. Suddenly feeling like his body is being torn apart, feeling like he’s being pumped full of bullets, feeling like he’s being twisted like a rag doll, there's a weird sort of...comfort, in the fact that at least his soulmate is getting a bit of revenge on him, even if that’s not the intention 
•Then he meets Wolfwood. Now no matter what variation of their meeting you’re going with I don’t think it would take very long at all for them to realize their soulmates. I mean have you seen these two? Whether it’s Vash feeling Wolfwood get hit by a car, Wolfwood feeling Vash slam into a wall, or one of them getting shot, they’ll have a moment of “no fucking way” soon enough
•Wolfwood...is mad. Mostly because Vash in a way made his life hell. Do you know what it’s like to be eight years old and feeling like you have a bullet in your side? To feel like you’ve just fallen off a roof? It’s brutal.
•Vash profusely apologizes (and cries) explaining to Wolfwood his situation. Wolfwood, after cooling down and getting bombarded by Vash’s puppy dog eyes, relents. Besides it’s not like he didn’t get his fair share of punches in, what the Eye of Michael did to him wasn’t exactly fun
•The two of them become alot closer alot faster, I mean their soulmates how could they not? It’s comforting to the two of them. One, here’s the person they know 100% will always have their back, something neither of them have had in a long time. Second, they are the only two who understand each others pain...literally. Wolfwood has felt every time Vash has sacrificed himself before others, Vash has felt the childhood that was ripped away from Wolfwood, they know each other on a level no one else can.
•That is until a year later. The two of them are in a relationship now, and they both try to be more mindful of the other. For example, Vash dives in front of less gunfire and Wolfwood doesn’t just tank whatever's coming at him. Although, they both recognize they have high pain tolerances, so when push comes to shove...they still get their fair share of wounds. 
•One day they’re bickering at each other while setting up camp, nothing serious, it’s something stupid that they both don’t actually care about. Wolfwoods grumbling about something while he lays out sleeping bags and Vash remembers when Rem first taught him about soulmates and pinched his arm. With a shit eating grin...a plan forms
•Vash pinches his own arm. He’s a little shit when he wants to be and Wolfwood snaps his head up when he feels the sting on his arm and just like that...it’s on. Wolfwood reaches for his own arm and and pinches which...Vash returns with a another pinch
•They think it’s hilarious, the two of them pinching each other (themselves?) trading banter when suddenly...they feel a sharp pinch high on their arms, but...they’re looking at each other and neither of them did that.
•So they do it again as an experiment, this time they choose a specific spot on their arms so they know if they feel pain anywhere else, what they feel is real. They press down hard and again an annoyed pinch shoots through their shoulder.
•Now let’s get this straight, having more than one soulmate isn’t impossible, it’s just extremely rare. As for not realizing they had a third soulmate...well a normal person would have. You’ve gotten your fair share of injuries but you need to put it into context. When you wake up sore, when you stub your toe, when you jam your thumb in a door, the boys don’t really think anything of it. They wake up sore all the time, my foot hurts? probably from the recovering broken bone there. My face hurts? a bounty hunter pistol whipped me the other day of course it hurts.
•With this realization...Vash is in near hysterics. He turns to Wolfwood all teary eyed and rasp out “Nick...we’re torturing them”
•When it was the two of them they felt like they were even. Vash had his savior complex that ended with his scarred body, Nick had the Eye of Michael who rebuilt him, but you? Whoever you are you weren’t meant for this type of life. You who had been so carful to not get hurt that they hadn’t even known of you existence until right now
•The next few days will be a bit rough, they are both are pretty hard on themselves despite the fact it’s not really their fault. Vash will look like a kicked puppy replaying every time he’d gotten hurt in his head. Nick will retreat within himself, smoking alone a lot more and whatever he’s thinking about would be impossible to get out of him
•Once they realize self pity won’t help anyone they get themselves together and discuss how to handle the situation. It’s hard to find soulmates off of pain alone, it’s honestly a miracle that Vash and Wolfwood ended up finding each other
•But who knows? They travel a lot, their sure to bump into you eventually right?
•One thing is for sure, once they find you, once they meet you...they won’t let you go. In their eyes they’ve caused you a lifetime worth of pain already so once they get ahold of you it stands to reason that they’ll just have to give you enough pleasure to counter balance that...right?
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gunsli-01 · 1 year
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Alright, let's get this set up in a somewhat digestible format. While also testing the waters. For people looking for more Mikoto info in particular this has some stuff on him within it but mostly gives a clearer idea on my experience with Milgram so far. Along with me being slightly unhinged. Soooo...woohoo...
Here's the set up. The next post will be the beginning of an in depth analysis of the two Celtic spreads found in MeMe. We will not only be analyzing them but delving into visual spin Mikoto put on the classic tarot cards with some insights his changes to them give us on his character.
There are two sets of ten cards. The first post on this will go over the first five cards in the first spread the second will finish off the first and give an overall interpretation of the reading. Then the same will be done with spread two. After we finish that then I’ll be attempting to break down the series of murders shown throughout MeMe.
Lastly, and my favorite part. We’ll finally be going over Mikoto’s character as a whole. Along with me just generally getting to talk about him without putting him beneath a microscope. Which I haven't gotten to do in weeks and still can't cause I'm stuck in tarot hell.
For those who don't read all of this and skip straight to the tarot I at least want to highlight and reiterate one part from here:
The point of Milgram is testing limits at any point these characters can do something that will make even their most devoted fans turn on them and I think the fandom should be open to having their opinions change and develop over the course of this.
So, here's post 1. I will link the beginning of the tarot interpretation here when it's up.
So, when I started writing what has to be the longest character analysis essay, I've ever written... I remember in December when I was like yeah I can crank out a few pages on Mikoto it won't be that difficult I can get this done by new years. I've already gone through the tarot once too what's a second time typed up gonna do? Maybe even before Mu's song.
I was wrong. But back when I was young, hopeful, well rested, and happier. I wrote something of a Preface. Just to explain all of my biases up front and let people form an opinion on if they wanted to take anything I said on this seriously or not. What comes after this part is that Preface.
Okay, so this is going to probably seem insane, but I might as well get it out of the way just to break in the new year putting my best foot forward. Yes, this is my best foot forward. Now Mikoto has a lot of diehard fans and detractors for some reason…How can such a normal guy be so controversial? Really unlucky… Honestly. Because of his popularity I’m a bit nervous to put out anything on him even though he is my favorite. Believe it or not I can get shy when talking about things I genuinely like a lot because I don’t know how it’ll be perceived, and I can get very, very critical when I like something.
It is not a normal like situation. It doesn’t go I like you; you could do anything, and I wouldn’t care. It goes OH, YOU UNLUCKY BASTARD! YOU’VE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION I SHALL NOW EXPOSE YOU TO THE WORLD! IF ANYTHING, BAD HAPPENS TO YOU IT IS LIABLE TO BE BY MY HAND! I well wade through the façade to find the truth I’m seeking knowledge, I’m seeking your identity, I want to dive deeper.
Don’t misunderstand- It’s just natural to want to know everything about the person you like and get all torn up inside because you never can. That’s just love isn’t it~ Ahh it’s an incredibly damning feeling that love, the idea of soulmates all that trite nonsense. Because when people aggrandize others, they usually end up wanting to pull them down to their level. That sort of sadistic thing is just as much a part of love. The adult world is so cruel that way.
As such I’m going to do my very best to tear this man to shreds lovingly, okay?
So, let’s start with some context did I love Mikoto immediately? Was I like innocent he just has to be? He’s just so good looking he can’t fail, lol. Okay, to be honest when I got here, I thought Kazui was so good-looking cause of his broad shoulders that when watching Undercover and seeing the flash throughs with Star I went that’s Kazui I know those shoulders anywhere. Got damn he looks like he gives good hugs those shoulders…
Also, I like sorry cowards my apologies for the disappointment but when I saw Mikoto in MeMe I willfully ignored him. I had a visceral response to his song telling Star I hated it and never wanted to see him or hear it again. While also going he clearly killed three people… in an obviously premeditated way as well. So, yeah guilty. Maybe? I don’t know. I’m just not interested I’ll leave that to the people who are.
I came in around Amane’s first trial… Soooo I very much could’ve voted on Mikoto, but I just did not want to look at him at all. Actually, I still don’t know why that was, but he made me uncomfortable and annoyed. Despite his video involving multiple things I very much love baths, tarot cards, clouds, water, records, baseball bats… Hell even his song was a genre of music I’m partial too. Like jeez in retrospect I really don’t know.
I just did not want to even think about him, so I didn’t. That changed when YouTube recommended me an English cover of his first song, and I was like now hold on… Those Sisters You Know really did a good job on that lyrics wise. Like it just hit different okay. I was listening to that cover every day having first job flashbacks and wondering huh why did I hate this guy again this is a complete mood actually.
After that I fell into an over analyzing loop for several months. Before I had pulled a nothing to see here and once we do that my brain just deletes the information since it’s been deemed irrelevant. Incredibly convenient skill to have. Yet, as it piqued my interest music wise, I was like well hold on…I have to know everything about this specifically now. Something that none of the Milgram characters had managed to achieve at that point.
To an extent I was pretty much like there’s nothing to see here at all when I was dragged into Milgram by Star. She showed me Mahiru’s first trial song like I really just want you to see this one and my immediate response was, “Are you trying to say something about me?!” We’ve been partners for years and this is what you lob at me what are you getting at? To which she had to dryly explain no I just think she’s neat and you love mystery things and putting together stuff so I wanted your opinion on what you think is going on here.
Then I got a rundown of the situation and was like ah okay. Then went through one through six giving all my thoughts on what they did and how I would’ve voted if I was there as she explained the results. I was surprised to hear from Star that none of the things I was saying to her had come up in the fandom as far as she saw.
As Star showed me Milgram my experience was basically
Weakness: Guilty. Committed murder for attention. Next.
Later down the line I asked Star about the reasoning behind Haruka’s trial one Innocent Verdict. It was after we watched Bring It On and she told me about Futa’s verdict. I needed to understand why Haruka was voted Innocent/Forgiven but Futa was not. Weirdly long before Futa asked us that same question in Back Draft. Why did Haruka of all people get a pass when we see him kill directly? That was the first thing that piqued my interest.
However, I was pretty disappointed by the answer Star provided and maybe to some people this will seem like a reduction of the actual reason behind prevailing consensus. Yet, what I gathered from her explanation was that he was voted innocent due to Autism. Particularly, people assuming he had a learning disability the most speculated one being Autism. Now, my response to this information was to go, um…that’s ableist right? Like, just because it’s helpful to him in this circumstance does not mean ableism isn’t present.
That’s just infantilizing and belittling his intelligence. Having a learning disability doesn’t suddenly exempt a person from knowing murder is wrong. It’s the same as using a person’s age as an excuse. Made even funnier that Haruka is treated more like a child than the literal child is. So…it’s not like that interpretation is that far off or difficult to get to. Plus, do people even critically engage with who benefits from these sorts of excuses and when they’re extended? 
 Because they aren’t applied indiscriminately. A perfect example of this in Japanese media in particular comes from something else Star and I were watching when she recommended Milgram. Higurashi Sotsu and the character Satoko a lot of people in that fandom got angry and found the concept that Satoko would become a villain all because she had a difficult time studying insane. Like she should have just studied harder ignoring everything else that occurred in Gou and Sotsu up until that point.
Even some going as far as creating a completely different reason for her actions. Because having trouble focusing, studying, and being ostracized in a new environment after being taken away from the people and things that brought you comfort weren’t good enough reasons. Ryukushi-07 also has a tendency to write about neurodivergent coded characters like Maria in Umineko and Satoko herself can be considered coded that way through sotsu and gou. The excuse extended to Haruka in trial one was definitely not extended to her by the Higurashi fandom.
So, it’s not surprising that same courtesy was retracted in trial 2. Sorry, to rain on your parade but disabled people of color from any minority group are not extended those same benefits of the doubt and rarely have their impairments or age taken into consideration if they even reach a trial. So, this is when I went oh well people are gonna people glad to see some things still haven’t changed. This is what Milgram’s bias looks like. It’s almost a perfect reflection of the performatively politically correct space we live under today and highlights the pervasive biases that continue to disenfranchise many that go overlooked.
All we’re missing is overt ableism, racism, and sexism disguised as feminism and we’d have everything that’s wrong with performative morality. (Star just informed me one of these things is just Yuno.) So, my interest was piqued around here but mostly from a sociological standpoint.
Yet, I was mostly ticked off. Media is supposed to be a form of escapism for many people and I found a lot of the issues that people usually use media to escape from pulled to the forefront in Milgram through its voting system. I came in and was like this series probably isn’t saying a damn thing special. Reluctantly after telling Star I wouldn’t watch it multiple times because well I was a mad at her and she kept asking. I had every reason to hate this series given what was going on around our relationship at the time she presented it to me and didn’t really think taking something lightly could end up saying a great deal about society as whole.
Umblical: Guilty. It was clear to me from the very first video that she attempted to entrap someone in a relationship through the use of a pregnancy then committed murder when that failed. Possibly multiple times.
Later, Star told me people assumed she got an abortion. Because the woman that was clearly in a sector of sex work knew nothing about contraception. That and she may have had family issues. I said oh so they thought she was stupid. That’s insulting and then people continued to think she was stupid. So, some things never change but my opinion of her did. She’s the only person here with a consistent character and seems to be incredibly considerate but not hesitant to go after the things she wants by any means necessary. I find that endearing and respectable and really wish she’d get a 50/50 since regardless of what she did I respect her want for us not to give our opinion on it.
It’s only polite to shut up and say nothing when no one asked you to speak. Yuno not only never asked us to speak but openly asked us not to. Her character description even states she dislikes being psychoanalyzed. She sort of reminds me of Kotono Kashiwaba from Caligula Effect but I can’t really figure out why yet. I haven’t finished the game at this point and right now we’re only up to Ike-P but I just get that feeling.
 Bring It On: Innocent due to lack of information. I haven’t seen a murder. I don’t know what happened here. Having a flop Twitter account and making callouts is not murder or a crime at all. So, innocent. Then Star tells me the actual outcome and the reasoning behind it and this is when I start to get a bit heated.
Basically, went what do you mean guilty on the grounds of his actions allegedly leading to someone taking their own life??? Because they were just involved in someone’s death. It doesn’t say they directly caused them to die which means indirect involvement is on the table. Ha, ha, oh my fucking god that’s rich considering the dude that clearly killed a dog and a child was given a pass. Did that with his whole chest but he’s good. Alright, alright… I literally went back and pointed out all the kills Haruka was directly responsible for in his first mv going but this was passable. At that point don’t even try to justify it just say you don’t like Futa that’s less insulting.
Like I discussed in the part on Weakness I found this way of thinking inherently unfair. The benefit of the doubt and consideration extended to Haruka was completely absent for Futa. A lot of people want to say this is because he didn’t appear sorry. But, what gives others the right to decide when someone is really sorry or not. Futa’s entire voice drama goes into how you can’t tell how someone is feeling or what they’re thinking based on how they behave outwardly alone and that’s all anyone did when it came to him.
Not many people extended that same courtesy or empathy. They didn’t attempt to look deeper because no one cared to and that’s sad. Start didn’t see anyone go hey that’s clearly a kid with anxiety who’s attempting to garner validation through social media possibly due to a lack of external validation in his actual life. Something tackled in the writer’s previous game Caligula Effect Overdose with the character Naruko Morita. Who does the same sort of things Futa does if not worse. Because she literally outs a trans person on social media, takes pictures of people without their knowledge, and looks up someone work application to then go oh they’re not as good looking in real life let’s tell their fans so they no longer like this musician.
Like these are things she does repeatedly throughout the game. She is a terrible person and in the game she’s your teammate. She has a social link and reasons for the way she behaves. She’s obnoxious, annoying, egotistic, inconsiderate, a snoop, has an aversion to criticism, low self-esteem, and is easily dissuaded from doing things she enjoys if it’s not immediately praised or faced with scrutiny.
She goes out to eat popular limited time items at shops just to post food reviews about it after one bite. She doesn’t even post her own opinion on it at times but instead goes by reviews others have left already while giving a little bit of a different perspective but not really. Then if you say no to her being on the team because she basically airs out your entire organization on social media for likes, so everyone now knows who you are, what you look like, your name and all of your teammates information you’re treated like the heartless asshole.
Hm, it’s like she doxed you and it has real life repercussions and makes your life harder. It continues to make the lives of everyone she does this to harder and in instances is retraumatizing for many of them. All I’m saying is if you play this game and end up liking her but still hate Futa then you don’t dislike doxing you just hate men. Point blank. At which point I hope you enjoy Ayana.
After Pain: Guilty, I didn’t and still do not believe she’s sorry. Plus, the person she killed was uninvolved. When Star told me she was voted Innocent. Well, I couldn’t really say I was surprised given certain universal truths but- When she explained it was because people were saying it’s because she’s clearly a lesbian and that person she stabbed told everyone she was which led to her bullying.
I kind of went well isn’t that sort of justifying someone getting murdered or in blunter terms just victim blaming. Even if the victim did do that which I’m doubtful of that does not justify murder. Like people really immediately went we trust Mu she’s a victim now what did this clearly evil girl do to deserve to get stabbed, huh?! I found that kind of odd, I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that about me or anyone I love if they were murdered. Plus, given the circumstances I grew up under it’s very common to see that sort of mindset pushed on specific types of victims of brutal crimes. Just saying; it’s really not interrogated often enough who the whole what did they do to deserve it mentality benefits and hurts.
Ultimately, I found the whole concept kind of cruel. However, I guess as we’ve learned Es is the sort of Guard that abhors a person doing something that may have inadvertently led to someone taking their own life more than very purposefully taking someone else’s life with your own two hands. Taking into consideration the response seen in the English speaking part of the fandom this mindset is showcased twice throughout the first trial with the only noticeable outlier being Kazui.
Throw Down: Guilty he asked to be voted that and I respected it. Also, he was organ harvesting from his patients. Like what? Innocent is this some reverse psychology nonsense well okay at least he already feels bad.
This is how to be in love with you: Innocent due to lack of information. I can’t punish someone for something I do not understand I genuinely don’t know what she did. I assume she poisoned someone since she works as a florist, cooks, and mentioned herbal remedies. However, I just knew too little at the time.
What do you mean they thought she was so clingy her partner committed suicide, so she was voted guilty? I’m sorry so what I’m understanding is stabbing a woman in cold blood is okay but indirectly causing someone to end their life through social error is a irredeemable sin? That last girl stabbed another one purposely and that first guy killed a dog and kid-
Half: Guilty but also- That dudes incredibly good looking and has nice broad shoulders that is certainly an impressive physical build look at him in that uniform- Hears the song oh my god he’s an emotionally unavailable and dishonest coward too just my type! Guilty I know in my heart what he did was fucked up but got damn I’m hoping it’s fucked up at this point- not me literally getting chills at the let’s make it victim and assailant line in Cat like boy howdy don’t say such things oh no. Is this how people feel when Yuno says Come Marco I’ll Polo?
It certainly doesn’t help that Kazui’s demeanor and communication habits remind me a lot of Star and I end up feeling a little bad for him but slightly want to watch him squirm as well. Truly, it’s the emotionally unavailable quiet ones you gotta be careful with. They have such intense emotions but they hold them back to the point they can’t express them and then the right person pushes and boom it’s like a pistol accidentally discharging. People who bottle up their emotions like that for as long as it seems he has well when they blow a gasket it’s like a volcano and I want to be in lava range.
Innocent I- well I’m fine with this you saw that up there you know why I'm fine with it we don't have to talk about it but like why??? Because they believe he’s gay and was in a very loveless and performative marriage while also assuming his actions just led to his partner committing suicide or an accidental death. Wait why is that okay here but with the other two it’s not… It’s cause he’s hot and seemingly pathetic ain’t it? Lol, that dude is not as weak as he presents but have fun with that when it comes up I suppose. Good liar my ass...
Magic: Guilty even asked Star to vote on it. So, I was made aware of how to vote at this time. This was not because I want her to be punished but I didn’t believe anything could be solved through agreeing with her and I honestly don’t think agreeing with her will solve anything now either, but it will maybe stop her from getting jumped. Maybe? Though I’m unsure about that because Kotoko has jumped people who were pardoned before sooo... That and Amane told us not to treat her like a child.
I believe it’s a bit unfair or shortsighted of her to ask us to respect her agency in her own life, that she chose to make these decisions, and yet at the same time ask to not be held accountable for them if we feel her behavior was wrong because she answers to a higher power. Her mindset on her killing and being considered a murderer highlight her immaturity to me. Those aren’t two separate things but childishly and stubbornly she attests that they are. Being an adult is recognizing that regardless of if you had a good reason, or a higher law you abide by other adults don’t need to care about those things when judging you they can just objectively judge the actions you took. It truly is that simple. To me it just seems like she didn’t really know what she was asking for when she said that. Like she equates being an adult with gaining respect but it's more than just that.
Amane’s situation really reminds me of that song by Maaya Sakamoto More than Words, particularly these lines, “Isn’t freedom painful? I’ve become an adult, haven’t I?” “Isn’t freedom painful? I’m now alone, aren’t I?” “Isn’t freedom painful? Endlessly so…” Because a lot about being an adult is being able to stand on your own by the decisions you choose. The respect you get from others is fickle at best and never really equates to understanding or empathy. In a way as we age, we become more and more emotionally isolated when it comes to social communication and consideration. Because the patience and consideration that is frequently extended to children is not given to adults since they’re meant to know better by then and not need that sort of care.
Adults have the freedom to make their own choices and have that agency recognized. However, many times that agency we yearned for so badly is weaponized against us in small and insidious ways. Causing adults to become more emotionally closed off, socially defensive, or calculating. An adult would never ask to have their choices looked at while taking into account that they chose to do those things they’d simply tell the person accusing them to figure out why they did it or take into consideration their circumstances. Not pull a don’t judge me and I won’t judge you. They would know that their main focus should be endearing themselves by any means necessary like Mu attempts to do or lean on their legal rights.
So, I really feel like Amane was her own worse advocate during trial one and it ended up biting her in the butt. Also, another song that I feel properly exemplifies that feeling of emotional isolation one faces with age but isn’t as somber I think is “Love I need” by The Living Tombstone.
MeMe: Abstained due to a vague sense of hatred. I literally told Star to never show this to me again and not to bring him up I don’t have an opinion, I don’t care, I’m glad that’s over was my immediate reaction to MeMe. [Star: She said that she didn’t like the song, him as a character, and it was obvious that he committed several murders. So, there was nothing left to look into.] Afterwards I promptly deleted the information from memory until finding that cover song.
Harrow: Guilty she literally did the same thing Futa did just in a more direct way. She also seemed to jump people who had already been put on trial and had a decision on their actions handed down. Even openly said apologizing meant nothing. I’d rather give a pass to the person who says just say sorry then the one who goes lol it doesn’t matter if you try to make amends now no second chances ever once a bad guy always a bad guy.
I put all this to show that even before I was actively posting Milgram stuff on here. I did have opinions on all this that have only developed over time. As much as I came out swinging in the oh I really like Mikoto camp. I really did not want to see this dudes face when I first saw him. Like I feel as though I’m being a bit of a broken record. I said the same with Haruka. Yet, with Mikoto there was a bit of hatred there. Like a knee-jerk reaction that I couldn’t even pinpoint and didn’t want to interact with. Something, I still don’t really have an explanation for.
Even still before this I was spending months talking to Star over the phone sifting through the music videos reading the conversations and literally burning out all my investigative skills on it. Something I believe she knew I’d do when she brought it to my attention and asked, “What do you think happened here?”
Now here I am trying to churn out an entire essay on the guy. Certain characters can grow on you. However, with Milgram there’s this feeling that such a fondness like that can be broken. The point is testing limits at any point these characters can do something that will make even their most devoted fans turn on them and I think the fandom should be open to have their opinions change and develop over the course of this.
I feel like being shut off, isolated or just stubborn about one’s own opinion is unfair to the social experiment aspect Milgram is trying to pursue. That’s just me personally. I really hope that by the end of this there is interesting data collected. We can vote any way we want at the end of the day. Not everyone has to take into consideration what the characters did or how bad it is objectively.
Yet, for people to trick themselves into believing the vote doesn’t matter, this is all in good fun, and no one will be held accountable for the outcome in any way is negligent and blatant denial. The verdicts have a direct impact on the sort of place Milgram is currently and could become. It's a direct reflection of the will of the fanbase. If we vote a certain way the creators take that into consideration. They seem to not just take the winning verdict into consideration but pay attention to responses from both sides overall. They’re paying attention. So, it’s incredibly short sighted to assume our collective judgement regardless of how you vote or if you chose not to doesn’t reflect on the entire fanbase in some way.
I’m not saying this to be a Debby Downer or go really interrogate why you’re voting this way. I’m saying all this to get one point across if you’re going to vote seeped in bias the least you can do is express what those biases are in your own unique way. That’s what will make this all the more fun for everyone. I don’t care if you choose to vote guilty, innocent, or abstain, but at least vocalize why that is. Especially for people choosing to abstain since that’s more difficult to gauge since it is just not an option and the closest thing to abstaining would be attempting to get a fifty/fifty.
I know not everyone is willing to be that out there with their feelings and that sort of thing isn’t fun for everyone. Though even just discussing it privately with friends, people you trust and feel comfortable around is enough. All I want personally is for people regardless of how or why they vote to look at these characters for what they are and give them the opportunity to surprise you outside of your personal opinions like with actual people. All these characters will probably disappoint someone at a point but I feel like if you keep a healthy sense of realism and treat them in an unidealized way that will help in not causing resentments towards the series or the people who work on it down the line.
Some of these resentments are already present in the fandom and being used to create a reflection of the writer that could be wholly inaccurate. Personally, I don’t find that sort of approach to be fun or fair. However, it very well could be to some. Yet, at times I find it incredibly disheartening to see. My hopes in writing all of this and thoroughly attempting to analyze my fluctuating feelings on Mikoto may tackle why that is in some way. Even if the problem isn’t firmly rooted within the interpretations around his character but extends to the entire cast.
Though it’s like Jackalope said he certainly did cause a bit of trouble.
I hope this has been a good prelude of what’s to come and helped whoever may have read this far better understand my personal perspective on Milgram. This post didn’t focus on Mikoto as heavily as I would have wished but served to properly build an understanding of what one may be getting into when it comes to my analysis of his character.
I hope by displaying my biases and feelings on all the characters that one can decide whether reading what comes after this is for them or not. Regardless of if you continue to read or go back to this post from the ones that precede it, I appreciate you reading my ramblings.
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Thank you for tagging me @elder-flower! Not sure what this is going to look like by the time I reach the end of it, but I'm gonna try and have fun along the way :D
Rules: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular), your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year! 
TOP 5 WORKS - not in any particular order
Sleeves - A very self-indulgent Antwan/Keys ficlet I wrote towards the beginning of the year. I remember that, at the time, I thought I was already pretty much done writing Free Guy fic. Writing it at all had been more about getting a different fic to no longer show up under Recent Works on my ao3 dash. Then the idea for this struck me one day while rolling up the sleeves on a button down shirt I don't often wear. It was a lot of fun to write (who knew wrist touching could be so sexy??) and I'm still really proud of it, tbh.
as long as you'll have me - This Steve/Nancy ficlet was written for my pre-July Flash Bingo card. It didn't get much attention, but before season 4 aired, Stancy fic got basically none anyway (and even less when using the Dead by Daylight stuff), so that was expected. I still like it, though. It's not very long, but it has some of my favorite angst in it with Steve being sure Nancy is only kissing him because he's familiar in this strange, dangerous dimension they've ended up in. idk, I just dig it!
Don't Hurt Me - This is a Steve/Nancy ficlet that I wrote for 2021's fandomtrees, but of course it wasn't revealed until January of this year (and I think I probably actually only finished it right before reveals anyway haha). I'd been wanting to write a stancy soulmate au for @stevethehousewife and came across the idea of soulmates being unable to physically harm each other while trying to come up with ideas. I wondered how that might change the alley scene in s1 and started going from there. Again it's Stancy so it didn't get much in the way of attention, but I'm really happy with how it turned out! Plus, there can literally never be too many soulmate fics for any of my ships.
The Craziest Things Happen in Hawkins - A general (no ships), Steve-centered ficlet written for the July Break Bingo that I just really like! It doesn't really have an ending because I couldn't get to one in the time limit (and I was determined to get a BINGO before the month ended). But I don't really care about that. It has exactly what I wanted in it: protective Steve sacrificing himself so that Joyce doesn't get hurt (and so that Jonathan and Will and El don't lose someone important to them so soon after Hopper's death). I'm especially fond of Steve acting like his dad will totally pay a ransom for him when he knows it's a lie, and also knows he probably won't make it back from this. I just don't get to write protective Steve enough because I have too much fun with angsty Steve, but this was great!
Answering Your Call - My first written and published ABO fic! Of course it would be for Stranger Things and Jonathan/Steve/Nancy. I'd have it no other way. This was originally written for an event in the 30+ Fic Writers discord server I'm in (though I never added it to that collection because the people there are lovely and tend to comment on event fics even in fandoms they don't know and I didn't want anyone to feel pressured into reading it if they wouldn't have normally gravitated towards it). I've always been too intimidated by ABO stuff because there's so much of the au that squicks me, and I still have trouble articulating what I want from it myself. But I loved getting to write protective alpha Nancy and Super Growly and Protective Jonathan refusing to let omega Steve get hurt. There's that touch of angst that I love (and would make even angstier if I ever continued with it), but also some comfort and idk, it's just good stuff imo.
TOP 4 CURRENT WIPS - also in no particular order
Steve presents as an omega late (Stoncy) - A fic where Steve always secretly hoped he would present as an omega because he liked the idea that he might be wanted, might be taken care of, might be able to have children and a big family after feeling very alone in his own family. And he does eventually present as an omega, but it happens post-S4 and rather than cause any problems for everyone, he keeps it a secret. That way none of the kids feel bad about moving on after high school, and the adults won't worry about someone needing to stick around either because he's keeping an eye on things. (People do not see omegas as weak, just important and they wouldn't want him stuck with the weight alone).
The real meat of the fic won't start until after all of this, when he goes into crisis after his body starts rejecting his suppressants and Nancy and Jonathan are brought in to help him, resulting in the three of them forming a bond while he's in heat (but without the non/dub-con sex that accompanies this sort of thing usually) and him angsting about forcing them into something they couldn't have wanted (but of course the three of them having been pining for each other for YEARS).
soulmate au (Stoncy) - Siiiiiigh. The very same soulmate au I've been working on since, idk, 2019 or 2020 or something. A long ass time. But while unsuccessfully trying to get it finished for Fandom Trumps Hate this year, I ended up figuring out how to get to the ending. It's just a matter of actually writing the damn thing. There's only gonna be 3 Stoncy readers left by then, but whatever. This is still the most self-indulgent fic I've ever worked on and I love it so much. I want other people to be able to read it!!
anything (anything) for you part 2 (Stoncy) - Another wip that has been in the works for a long, long time. Two more chapters are written, but I've been stuck on Chapter 4 for over a year or something. But I've brainstormed with a couple of friends and I think I have a solid idea for where it should go. I dug myself into a bit of a hole with their relationship and it took a while to figure out how Nancy and Jonathan could possibly find out that Steve was faking his feelings for Jonathan in desperation to keep being allowed to date Nancy, without them ending things. But it should be good. Just another thing that I have to actually try to write, which is unfortunately the hardest part.
Deal with Vecna (Vecna/Steve) - A fic where, in the aftermath of hearing some harsh things about himself, Steve decides to try and trade his life for Max's because then at least he'll have done something to help. Only Vecna decides he'd rather have Steve's body than take his life. I've gotten the whole first part done, but I'm still struggling with where I want it to go and whether or not Steve should be saved.
3 BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS
None! I may have actually gotten worse at both writing AND finishing things!! But it was a really hard year of writing for me. It's whatever!
TOP 2 RESOLUTIONS
Post at least 1 fic per month next year. This year I went through a stretch where I didn't post anything for a whole month (maybe two?) and it fucked with my mentally and emotionally. I hate it. So I would like to try and keep that from happening again!!
Be even MORE self-indulgent. If only a handful of people are gonna enjoy my stuff anyway, I might as well put everything I like into a fic without taking other people into consideration (I say knowing full well this will not happen but I can dream).
NUMBER 1 FAVORITE LINE
You don't even want to know how many fics I skimmed through to try and find any lines that worked well on their own. Not even sure how much this one does. But it stood out to me and I don't think it's too shabby.
— Every step of the way, some part of him is touching Keys' arm—the ends of his fingers as he holds him in place, the knuckles of his thumbs when he tugs the material taut.
Tagging: @stevethehousewife @urisarang @readythefanons @tkwritesdumbassassins
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Planned Works/Ideas for October
Hello everyone, as I mentioned previously I’ve been working on some stuff. I also have been feeling very inspired as of late and will be writing some more. I wanted to get this October started off right so here is a list of some things that will be coming your way hopefully sooner than later. I don't feel comfortable giving exact dates because as I've mentioned before certain factors can cause my writing schedule to be sporadic (also why I will not be participating in kinktober) Since some ideas are more developed than others his list will be separated into three categories:
Full ideas
People/characters who will be getting works
Ideas/tropes that I want to write about
Let's Begin!
First up here are the fully developed ideas that are in progress.
Yoon Hyunsuk (Cix)
Nerd!Hyunsuk x Popular!reader (college au)
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The tall, shy, handsome, boy who sits behind you in every class you share has a secret. Like many other people on campus, he was hopelessly in love with you. It began three years ago, freshman year, and every day it only got stronger. Over the years this has led him to do some… questionable things he's not a bad guy by any means he's just an awkward college boy in love. At first, it was innocent just sitting behind you in classes that you shared. He hoped that this would give him some time to gain some confidence to talk to you while still remaining close to you. He really didn’t mean to begin eavesdropping on your conversations or reading your texts over your shoulder, he just wanted to learn more about you before he approached you. But as time went on the worse he got from smelling your hair to following you around campus to lurking your socials to finally finding your dorm room. He told himself that he was just trying to return a jacket you left in class so he racked his brain for all of the information he “gathered” and remembered your room number. It was just supposed to be a quick drop off of the jacket he played out the scenario in his head a thousand times. knock on the door, tell you he picked it up when you forgot it, give it to you, and leave. But, when he knocked on the door it opened slightly you weren’t there but you left it cracked indicating that you would be back soon. The change in circumstances caused him to panic and so he decided to just go in and drop it on your bed as opposed to waiting at your door for you. As soon as he fully entered the room the door closed behind him and after folding your jacket placing it on your bed he goes to leave. Turns out you left your door cracked for a reason, he twists the knob and pulls with all his might but he can’t get it opened. The door jammed and he’s stuck in your room. Before he even gets the chance to panic he hears you right outside the door.
Request
Klaus Mikaelson (TVD/The Originals)
Cursed!KlausxSoulmate!Reader
Klaus kills a woman. Unbeknownst to him, this woman was the soulmate of a powerful witch. In revenge the witch curses him vowing that the day Klaus finds his soulmate they will be made immortal but their soul would be removed leaving an eternal one-sided soulmate connection where Klaus is completely connected to them ( can only love and desire them, unable to hurt or kill them, able to see their thoughts and feel their emotions/pain.etc) but they have no connection to him. The witch finally takes the only reverse to the spell to the grave with him and his wife leaving nobody else to break the spell. The story will center around an interesting toxic yet slightly romantic relationship between Klaus and the reader where over years they are continuously on and off again. Klaus does everything to get the reader to love and stay with him and the reader uses this to their advantage. When they’re together its great but when they’re apart things never go well. In the end, the reader can always leave him but he can never leave them so he takes any measure to keep them by his side.
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Choi Soobin (TXT)
Sub!SoobinxDom catgirl!reader
The Cat Owns You Part 2
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After returning home from the café Soobin you’re finally able to transform. Now being human you keep up a nice façade for the evening eating dinner and watching television peacefully. Having you around for these few hours has him believing he made the right decision after a while he took you to your room before retiring to his own for the night. He drifts off to sleep happily thinking that he found a simple way to fix his loneliness issue a cute catgirl who resides in the room beside his. Nothing could have prepared him for what would happen a few hours later. Waking up to feel his hands and legs in an uncomfortable position he tries to adjust himself but he can’t, opening his eyes to look he realizes that he’s tied to the 4 sides of his bedpost. Before he can question what’s happening he sees you making your way toward him with the collar he purchased earlier in your hands. You notice that he’s awake but continue on fastening the collar around his throat before positioning yourself to sit on him, straddling his spread body “(Y/N) what’s going on” he asks trying to sound stern but it comes out as more of a whisper as the reality of his situation really begins to set in affecting his body in a way he didn’t expect. “Shhh don’t worry I’ll take care of you” you whisper in his ear sending a shiver through his body. Every second that passes he can feel his resolve fading he knows that he wants whatever is about to happen and soon he won’t be able to say no you know this too. He quickly yet unconvincingly rushes out “ no you can’t do this” causing you to chuckle “ Yes I can, I can do whatever I want you signed the papers” before he can ask what you mean you continue “I own you”
Up next here are some muses that I will be writing about once I find the perfect ideas for them:
Garou (Genshin Impact)
Nejire Kamado (My Hero Academia)
Mina Ashido (My Hero Academia)
Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia)
Kazutora Hanemiya (Tokyo Revengers)
Choi Beomgyu (TXT)
Choi Chanhee (The Boyz)
Jeong Jaehyun (NCT)
Park Seonghwa (Ateez)
Wonho (Soloist)
Sunmi (soloist)
Sana (twice)
Beelzebub (Obey Me)
Loki Laufeyson (MCU)
Buckey Barnes (MCU)
Hela Odinson(MCU)
Wanda Maximoff (MCU)
And finally here are some ideas for works (I’m thinking of making a proper prompt list but for now you can request any of these ideas with a muse from above and I will try to fulfill it. Just make sure to specify what type of story you want (fluff, smut, angst, general hcs, drabbles, etc):
Reader is an evil sorcerer and the muse is their loyal familiar
Reader is a succubus and muse is a charge that keeps summoning them
Reader is like Hades and muse is like Persephone
Female Knight reader saves prince muse
Criminal reader goes yandere for normal muse
Opposites attract the big, scary, cold reader and soft cute muse
Muse who is a twitch streamer by day and a camgirl/boy by night
Reader is a Sugar mommy and muse is one of their many sugar babies it starts off fine but then muse falls in love and wants to be readers only one
Dom reader x fem switch muse x sub male muse
Ruler reader x harem
Reader is mean to everyone but muse
Smart tsundere reader dating clingy affectionate himbo/bimbo muse
Fem Joker type reader x male Harley type muse
Reader is an engineer who finds robot muse and fixes them
Vampire queen reader and yandere muse servant who wants to be readers walking blood bag
Hero reader saves muse from a yandere and muse becomes yandere
Demon reader x angel muse
A muse who keeps trying to kill a reader that they don’t know is invulnerable reader knows muse is trying to kill them but doesn’t stop them because they think it’s cute.
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thefeelswhale · 3 years
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Here is some Izuku POV in the fic formerly known as 'untitled Shindeku Soulmates AU'
The Nervous Energy in Everything - Part 2
There was no hiding what had happened when Izuku stumbled in his front door that night reeking and reeling from what was simultaneously the worst and best day of his life. 
Best because he’d met All Might.
Worst because he’d almost died.
Best because All Might was going to help him become a hero.
Worst because… Kacchan.
Best because the gentle touches on his chest he’d been getting all day and all the feelings that came with it; wonder, gratitude, pleased embarrassment, and hope.
He and Kacchan had found each other in daycare of all places. The teacher hadn’t realized what was going on until they’d been made to let go of one another and she realized they had matching handprints encircling their wrists where they’d grabbed each other.
That was the last clear memory Izuku had of his first soulmate voluntarily touching him or their marks. Obviously they’d gotten along like normal soulmates for a while, but then Izuku’s quirk never appeared and Kacchan started to change. 
Izuku’s mom looked up from her crossword as Izuku dropped some fliers he’d picked up out of the recycling bin onto the kitchen floor so he could put his grimy backpack down somewhere without making a mess.
“Izu!” Her hands flew over her nose and mouth. “Is… is that smell coming from you?”
“There was a villain attack.” He didn’t really want to explain. He was already going to have to, especially once he stood up and turned around so she could see what had happened to his face. “There was a hero nearby. I’m okay, but…”
He felt her hands on his shoulders as she turned him around. “You need to cha…oh my goodness gracious!” His mom broke off mid sentence as she saw the two new handprints framing his face. 
They were symmetrical at least. His new soulmate had big hands and the thumbprints landed just below his eyes, framing his freckles between his soulmate’s thumb and forefingers. If you had to have a face mark then it wasn’t a bad one to have.
“Izuku.” Her lip wobbled. “What happened?”
“Kacchan…” Izuku couldn’t make himself form the words. Part of him could still feel the bond snapping; like he was caught in that moment and couldn’t quite push through it. “...he went too far today and I can’t... I couldn’t… I just stopped...” That was about as far as he got before being pulled into a hug.
It had been years since he’d been wanted by his own soulmate. He and Kacchan had been platonic even when they’d still liked one another and even after things had gone sour on them Izuku never had quite been able to give up on the idea that the confident little kid he remembered was still in there somewhere. 
He hadn’t known where his own limits were until that afternoon.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You held on for so long.” She started to kiss his cheek and then veered off to kiss his temple at the last minute when she realized she couldn’t do that anymore. “It’s okay. Do they… do they seem nice?” She frowned. “Are they okay? Did they feel what happened --with the villain, I mean?”
It was hard to say. Izuku had gone to a lot of trouble not to trigger their connection after he’d gotten loose from the sludge villain. He hadn’t felt anything beyond the odd touch, as though his soulmate was checking to make sure he was still there. They wouldn’t feel much from his end unless he was touching his mark.
‘I should check in with them.’ He realized. He was almost positive they hadn’t felt the attack or his panic when Kacchan ended up getting attacked. 
“Mom, I smell.” He gently disengaged himself from the embrace.
“You sure do” She wrinkled her nose. “Go change and take a bath. I’ll call the registry to update your profile while I see if that uniform can be saved. Oh, um. Do you have an idea of where… you know.”
“It’s their chest.”
“Oh!” She looked surprised. “It must be another boy then.” She giggled as he stared. “Even in a fugue I can’t imagine you being able to touch a girl’s chest without fainting. Remember that time…”
“Aaaaahh!” Izuku clamped his hands over his ears because she was going to try and remind him of the time he tripped and fell on Aunt Mitsuki. “No I do not! I do not remember any time ever and I’m leaving now!”
Izuku ran the bathtub heater while he washed himself harder than he had ever done before. The odor of sewers lingered even after he lathered up three times. After a certain point he wondered if it was in his head. He ended up dumping a bunch of his mom’s bath salts into the water before he got in to soak. Izuku wasn’t a fancy bath person, but smelly times called for smelly measures.
His soulmate tapped him again as he sank into the bath and Izuku finally felt calm enough that he wasn’t afraid he’d overwhelm them with his haywire emotions if he tapped back. 
Izuku carefully brushed his knuckles along the thumbprints on the apples of his cheeks and got an immediate response; like a palm pressed against his sternum searching for his heartbeat. 
He sank into the water up to the bridge of his nose with his eyes shut. This was new territory for him. Kacchan had started wearing covers in grade school so they didn’t get even accidental touches. They hadn’t explored their bond much before that and afterwards… well, Izuku had gotten used to being alone in his head.
Sometimes he’d wondered if Kacchan even had a soulmark under that cover anymore; if his side of their connection had broken long before Izuku’s had. He was uncomfortably sure he had his answer. Losing his bond with Kacchan had hurt like being punched in the stomach only worse, but Kacchan hadn’t reacted at all. It was like nothing had happened on his end at all.
In fact he’d been as confused as everyone else in the room when stuff started flowing out of his sleeve and a trembling Izuku pulled it back to reveal naked skin where he’d once been marked; seconds before he felt two phantom hands frame his face, soothing away all the pain and confusion with a radiant joy unlike anything he’d felt before. 
It was like someone had been waiting for him and he didn’t quite know what to do with that. 
That other presence was equally at sea and kept coming back to their connection as if they didn’t quite trust it not to vanish. 
Maybe they didn't. People without soulmarks existed. They were about as popular as people without quirks and probably trusted unexpected fortune about as much as Izuku did.
He rubbed his cheeks again and tried to remember how to deliberately transmit specific emotions through the bond. It had been so long since he’d had to manage a connection that he almost didn’t remember how to do it, but he didn’t want to share his hurt. He’d spent all his time as a soulmate feeling unwanted and burdened by Kacchan’s bad moods. Happiness. He could do that, right? Or maybe relief?
“Izuku?” His mom tapped at the door. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I heard back from the Bond Registry. They think they’ve identified your new soulmate. Do you want to meet him?”
“What? Now?” Izuku’s voice cracked on ‘now.’
“Ah, his parents would like to meet up as soon as possible.” His mom hmmmed as she chose her words. “I think; yes, now. Are you up to it? You were attacked today and we haven’t even spoken to the police.”
Izuku was already out of the tub and drying off as fast as he dared. “Um, yes!” He realized he hadn’t brought a change of clothes in with him. “Mom, I forgot clothes!”
She chuckled. “I’ll bring you something. You get started on your hair, dear.”
Curly hair was no joke when it came to washing it. Drying it and styling it was a whole other story. If he could get away with it, Izuku would have buzzed it all down to a half inch like his dad only he’d tried that once before. His head ended up looking like a beach ball balanced on a toothpick. The teasing he’d gotten at school over it was brutal. 
There was no way he was getting out the door without looking like he’d stuck his tongue in an outlet. 
His mom had her cellphone caught between her shoulder and ear as she brought him jeans and his navy polo shirt.
“...no, I don’t mind hosting.” His mom was saying. He could hear her through the door as she walked down the hall. “I’d prefer it, to be honest…”
Meanwhile Izuku was staring at a bottle of Issey Miyake cologne he’d gotten for his birthday two years ago and had never worn before. He barely even shaved. Was this really the time to experiment?
Wait.
Had his mom just said they were coming here?
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ravs6709 · 3 years
Text
Our Very Own Story- Queerplatonic Fedex
Alternate title: I project so much onto Fitz that he's probably ooc
Woo, I'm finally done! I've had this idea for so many months, but I never had the chance to actually finish it, but finally, it's here (in all its 7.3k words glory)
This story takes place in the same au as Our Very Own Melody, which is the (romantic) Kam side. OVOM isn't necessary to read to read this one, but it's still my fave work, so read it anyways
But here's a refresher. Soulmates au in high school. Soulmate bond is having a strong bond similar to telepathy and empathy combined, and can only be revealed once the soulmates are close with each other.
Ve/vem Dex and she/ae Biana because yes.
And also, Fitz, Keefe, Tam and Linh are in the same grade, and are all one year older than Sophie, Biana and Dex.
Warnings: censored swearing, and mentions of (a character from a play's) death
Hope you enjoy!
•~•~•~•~•~•
Fitz remembered the days that he played the piano. He still played it in the present, but not to the extent that he had in the past. He used to constantly play it, something that he was partially forced to do.
It wasn't like he didn't enjoy it, because he did. He'd started at a young age, and as he grew older, he found himself creating parts to songs. Just a few notes, maybe long enough for a verse, he didn't have the same passion to create music like Keefe would using his violin.
If anything, he preferred to write lyrics. He liked being able to tell stories with words. It was at the end of elementary school where he'd realized that it wasn't writing music that interested, but writing in general. He had so many ideas flowing inside of him, and a powerful imagination.
When middle school came, he started to explore some of the possibilities. He tried poetry, but while it was fun, it wasn't his thing. He particularly enjoyed writing short stories for English class. He didn't spend that much time focusing on writing though, he spent most of his free time hanging out with Keefe, Biana, Sophie, and rarely, Dex.
It was in eighth grade when Biana practically forced him to watch the school play with her and Sophie. (Keefe, for some reason, had been allowed to decline the invitation. That alone made Biana's intentions suspicious).
From start to finish, he was amazed by what he saw. The play was one that he'd heard of, but didn't know the plot to. Each movement of the actor was a sentence in his head, he could see the words written down on paper, ready to be acted out. He knew that script writing wasn't as simple as that, the formatting was different, but still he was curious.
After the play was over, the three of them started walking to take Sophie home. "So, did you like it?" Biana asked.
"It was good," Fitz replied. "The lighting was really great."
That was another thing that made script writing different compared to writing a short story. When writing something to be acted out, you had to be able to imagine the scene, know what kind of lighting would be needed and what special effects were needed in order to emphasize something, or in order to make something happen.
"It was great!" Sophie agreed. "Dex did a really good job behind the scenes!"
"Wait, Dex was involved with the play?" Fitz asked.
He'd met Dex back in elementary school, but they never actually spoke to each other until a few months ago, when Sophie befriended them. But even now, even though they'd hang out at his house, he hadn't really interacted with Dex that often. (It did explain why Dex wasn't with them either).
"You didn't know?" Biana asked. "I mean, ve hasn't talked about it much, but surely you should've known. Vis knowledge of technology is really good."
Fitz hadn't actually witnessed it for himself, but had heard about it. But the stories couldn't do it justice.
•~•~•~•~•~•
After Sophie had gone home, the two siblings started to walk to their home.
"So, what about playwriting?" Biana asked.
"I know you brought me to see it for a reason," he told her.
She crossed her arms. "Do I have to have a reason?"
"Knowing you, yeah."
Ae huffed. "Rude. What would I even have to gain from introducing you to a form of writing that you might enjoy?"
"Oh, I don't know, like asking for a favour such as doing half of a project?" He was still a little bit bitter for having to do that.
"That was one time!"
"One time too many!"
•~•~•~•~•~•
Fitz was glad that his high school had a talented drama club. Every year, his school participated in the city-wide festival. The thought alone was exciting, and he knew that unlike in middle school, it was the students who wrote the plays. He wanted to be part of it.
It also sounded a little stressful, because it was no longer just a school play, but a piece of art meant to represent the school. Actual professionals would be there to judge the play. And this was going to be his first time doing this. He knew though, that it was going to be fine. He wasn't alone, there was going to be a whole playwriting team to create the play.
Unfortunately, luck decided not to favour him. While there were multiple teachers in the drama department, it was the head who would deal with everything. Except the head of the drama department had gone on maternity leave, meaning that the school wasn't going to participate in the festival for that year. While it would be rude to be annoyed at the teacher, he was still a little upset, because he'd been looking forward to it.
The year itself wasn't bad, he enjoyed it a lot. He'd managed to get most of his classes with Keefe, the only differing one being their art course, where Keefe went with music, and he chose drama. His classes were entertaining. Sophie and Biana had started dating, and the hangouts at his house only grew more frequent.
There were also the Song twins. He wasn't necessarily friends with Linh, but they shared a few classes, and she was fun to be around. Sometimes they ate lunches together when Keefe wasn't around. Tam, on the other hand, he knew nearly nothing about, other than the fact that he usually kept to himself. Or at least, until Keefe had managed to start a rivalry with him, and then they started serenading each other with their violins. Their rivalry was a big source of entertainment, and he and Linh would often discuss the fact that they clearly liked each other.
All of those things definitely made his first year of high school a good one.
•~•~•~•~•~•
Even without the fact that the head of the drama teacher had returned from maternity leave, his second year of high school was eventful. Biana, Sophie and Dex had joined them, meaning that he got to see them more often.
He walked into the drama club room to get his form to join the drama club. He was surprised to see that Dex was also in the room.
"Hey Dex," he greeted. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"I normally do backstage stuff, did you forget, Wonderboy?" ve asked.
"Oh yeah, that's right."
He was reminded of when Sophie had told him that Dex was part of the backstage crew during middle school. He made a mental reminder to not forget, because while he hadn't intentionally been rude, he had been rude to vem in the past. He wanted to be a better friend than that.
"But actually," ve continued. "I wasn't actually going to be a part of backstage this year, I was thinking of being an actor."
"You like acting?"
Fitz was pretty sure that Dex had never mentioned being an actual actor before, but if he had to be honest, he wouldn't have been surprised if ve had. He'd already forgotten about vis involvement with the drama club.
But to his surprise, Dex flushed red, one of vis hands moving to scratch the back of vis neck. "It's not something I've brought up. I kinda have stage fright, so I'm trying to face that fear and do something that I want. Even if I get a minor role, I'll be happy."
"You should go for it!" Fitz told vem. "I'm sure you'll do good on the stage!"
Ve smiled sheepishly. "Thank you."
•~•~•~•~•~•
Along with him, there were four other people who signed up to be a playwright. He'd only recognized one of them, since they'd been in the same class the previous year, but he wasn't friends with any of them. They were nice people though, they were quite calm, compared to his friends. (Keefe, Biana and Sophie made a dangerous combination).
Playwriting was interesting, because it was different compared to what he was used to. He was aware that it wouldn't be the same, but he wasn't expecting how different they would feel. There was little focus on description, and there was no flowery prose at all. The descriptions that were there were short and simple, just enough for the actor and backstage crew to know what was going on.
It was a little hard getting used to the formatting, because he had to remember to capitalize the names, and there were a lot of small details that he needed to remember. But it was okay, because he had the other writers with him.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"So," Dex said. "How's the play going?"
"We're mostly done with the script, but we've been told the script is too short, so we're just adding on to it." This was one of the few times that ve had been the one to approach him, and he had a feeling that he'd be interacting with vem more often. "We've decided on a subversion of the classic high school story, you know what I'm talking about, right?"
Ve scrunched vis nose. "New girl goes to high school, befriends two popular guys- but sometimes one of them is a childhood friend- and gets into a love triangle with said guys? Plus, there's probably a mean girl? How could I not know? What changes have you made?"
"The mean one isn't actually that mean, and fae gets together with the main character."
"Ooh, do the two popular guys get together?" ve asked.
"One of them is enby, but yeah. The writers have been having so much fun making everything queer."
"Holy sh*t, that does sound like fun! Last year me would have killed to see something like that, when I was questioning myself."
Fitz had been starting to come to terms with the fact that he was aromantic, but he could definitely see where ve was coming from. Even if there weren't any confirmed characters on the aspec spectrum, he was always happy to have characters who were queer.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"Crapcrapcrap," Dex muttered under vis breath, pacing back and forth as ve waited for Fitz to get his lunch out of his locker.
Fitz took out his lunch, then closed the locker. He turned towards vem. "Try to breathe," he suggested. "If you get too panicked now, that's when the mistakes are going to happen. Do you want to take a minute to sit down and breathe?"
Ve glanced back and forth between him and the staircase they'd need to climb to head to the club room. Reluctantly, they sat down.
"It's not like they won't start without you there, right?" Ve asked.
"It's not like you'll be late. What do you normally do to calm yourself? Do you want me to hold your hand? I know Keefe likes that."
For a moment, he wondered if he was overstepping some kind of boundary- because they still weren't that close- but ve smiled sheepishly, and looked down at the floor. "Maybe… that would be nice. We can try that."
Ve gently held his hand, and Fitz noticed that his hand was warm, compared to his own cold one. They sat like that for a few moments, until vis shaky hand became more stable.
"Okay," ve said, but it came out as a breathy whisper. "I think we should get going."
Ve let go of his hand, the warmth slowly fading away. He liked the feeling of holding vis hand.
They went to the club room, where the auditions were being held. Dozens of students were trying out for the various roles, and he felt a little proud, knowing that people wanted to act for a play that he helped to write.
He watched the students try out, and they were all so impressive. He was glad that he wasn't actually part of the group that decided who was casted and who wasn't. He may have been a writer, but the writers weren't in charge of the auditions.
Soon it was Dex's turn- ve was auditioning for one of the teachers in the story. The teacher that ve was auditioning for was someone lenient, a good friend to the other students. The teacher would often jokingly tease the students in the class.
Seeing Dex on the stage, it was almost as ve had become a new person. He knew that obviously, being able to act in a variety of roles was what an actor was supposed to do, but it was like seeing a side to vem that he'd never seen before.
Everything, from the tone of vis voice, to the grin on vis face, to the very slight change in posture was better than he could have ever imagined.
Fitz was sure that if ve had gone for a lead role, ve would be able to steal the show.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"Dex, that was amazing!" He told vem, after ve had finished the audition.
"You… you think so?" Ve murmured, looking a little flustered. (Wait, flustered?)
"Yeah! You were great up there!" He replied, choosing to ignore what vem being flustered could mean.
"It- it was only the audition."
"You'll be getting more practice, it's like…" he paused, trying to find the words. "A preview. If the preview is good, the full thing will also be great."
"If you say so."
"I know you'll do great."
•~•~•~•~•~•
Dex had managed to be casted in the role, and both Fitz and Dex were happy. Dex had to practice vis lines, so Fitz offered to be there to listen. At first, ve seemed hesitant, out of the fear of looking bad, but eventually they accepted the offer.
At first, it was a little awkward. Dex seemed to have difficulties making eye contact with him, and when ve did, ve would seem to lose concentration on what ve was saying. It wasn't just a lesser version of stage fright, because it started to extend to their normal conversations too.
(He was starting to have suspicions, but he hoped it wasn't the case. He didn't want to have to think about that.)
But slowly, ve became more comfortable talking to him. The confidence that had been evident during the audition started to return. Once again, Fitz was in awe.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"These plays are so good," Dex murmured.
Fitz nodded in agreement. At the festival, various schools presented their plays. Each of them were different- one was fantasy, with kingdoms and people trying to survive, another depicted a local issue, and another about what it means to be a family. They were all about different topics, but each of them were spectacular.
"What if ours isn't as good?" Ve whispered.
"We've worked hard on it," he answered. "We'll make sure it's good."
He offered his hand to vem, something that he started doing often after the first time. Ve took it, and they sat on the seats holding hands until it was time for their school to set up everything.
"I have faith in you, okay?" Fitz whispered as ve stood up.
"Thank you." Ve smiled, then left with the other actors.
Fitz looked back towards the stage so he could enjoy the show. Since he wasn't an actor, he didn't have to get up. The play began, and even though he'd seen it multiple times, it still looked impressive. The jokes didn't fail to make him smile.
After it was all over, ve sat back down next to him.
"You did great up there," he told vem.
Ve smiled at him, vis face shining with joy. (Part of him wanted to just smile back, the other part wanted to back away, because of all of these feelings. Instead, he shoved the conflicting feelings away, he could think about them another day.)
•~•~•~•~•~•
It turned out that he didn't get the chance to think about his feelings another day. The two of them lived nearby, so after they were brought back to the school, they decided to walk together.
"Hey Fitz, can I tell you something?" Ve asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
Ve stopped walking, then turned to face him. "I have a crush on you. I've had one since last year."
Despite the fact that he suspected this, he was still shocked. "What?"
"I don't expect you to return my feelings, but I thought… after the play, I finally have the confidence to tell you."
"Since…" he murmured. "Since how long?"
"Since last year," ve replied. "In the beginning, I honestly hated you. I thought you were a spoiled jerk, but I learned that you aren't that, and then my crush happened."
"Oh," he breathed, feeling a little overwhelmed. "I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way."
"It's okay, I just wanted to get it out," ve said, but he could see vis disappointment. "Oh, my house is that way, bye. Good night."
Fitz watched as ve walked down a different path, and he knew that they didn't have to part ways until another few minutes. He felt something like dread build up within him, and he couldn't help but think that he messed up.
•~•~•~•~•~•
After the confession, Dex started to keep vis distance, and Fitz hated it. He liked hanging out with vem, it was nice and comforting. It was like how they were in the beginning of the year, before they finally interacted with each other.
Whenever they had their group hangouts, Sophie, Keefe, Biana and Linh would sit in between them. The distance between them wasn't that huge, but he felt like it was just going to grow more.
It also didn't help that he didn't know how he was feeling. He thought that he had it figured out, he didn't have any romantic feelings towards vem. But every once in a while, he caught himself staring. Dex had seen him do it more than one time, and ve would be the first to look away, looking a little upset.
It would hurt, wouldn't it. I rejected you, and now I'm staring at you. I wish I had an answer for you.
However, he didn't, so he kept quiet and continued to stare longingly.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"Okay, what's going on?" Biana asked, slamming his bedroom door open before slamming it shut again.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, hoping that ae wasn't referring to what he thought ae was about to say. "And careful with the door," he added, hoping to get aer off topic.
"Hah, nice try with that, but I'm referring to you and Dex," She replied.
He flinched. Damn it, she's too perceptive. And now she'll definitely know! Well, guess I've got no choice but to tell her.
"We haven't been dating," he explained. "I'm just… ve confessed to me and I'm so confused. I thought… I thought I was aromantic, but all of a sudden I just can't help but look at vem." He sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. "Ve's avoiding me because I rejected vem, except I don't know what my feelings for vem are anymore."
Ae sat down on the bed next to him. "Okay, first off, if you're aromantic, that's great. If you're not, then that's fine too. I can't tell you what you feel, but I can sympathize. Do you remember at the end of elementary and during the beginning of middle school, I kept clinging onto Keefe?"
He nodded.
"Well, I thought I had a crush on him."
"Wait, really?" That was something he didn't know.
"I know better now, I was just admiring someone who I thought was cool and was also pretty. That sounds like a crush to you, doesn't it?"
He nodded slowly.
"Well, it wasn't," she stated. "There's more to a crush than just thinking someone is pretty, otherwise, I'd be crushing on half the school. There's this… feeling inside of you, you feel warm and fuzzy. You find yourself wanting to be with them often, you want to go outside and explore the world with them. You might want to be closer with them than anyone else. That's how I've felt."
He considered that, then tried to compare it to what he'd been feeling.
"It's… similar, I think," he explained. "I like being with vem, and I regret choosing to ignore vem at first. I wish that we could've grown closer before." He closed his eyes, and pictured vem, sitting next to him, their hands linked.
He felt warmth, before it faded into confusion. Biana's explanation seemed right, but he felt like there was something that he was missing.
•~•~•~•~•~•
Since it was summer vacation, it meant that Fitz didn't have to go to school every day and see Dex. While they had hangouts often, Dex often had to babysit vis younger siblings, so he didn't see vem too often.
It was probably a good thing, it meant that he could try and figure out his feelings, without the source of said feelings being around to make everything complicated. (Though, it wasn't really working). At least though, he could figure out how to make things less awkward, because the others were starting to notice something was going on, and he didn't want to be the reason that the atmosphere wasn't pleasant.
He spent a lot of his free time playing the piano. He'd been doing less of it lately, but once he'd started playing not as an obligation, but because he wanted to, he found that playing it was a good stress reliever. He could immerse himself in the light sounds of the piano, distract himself from all the confusion he felt.
Sometimes though, when he played the piano, he thought of the songs that he often heard- whether from school or just Biana- and murmured the lyrics. He tried playing the songs that he knew were about romance, because maybe he could figure out how he felt about the experiences that other people had.
He was still conflicted though. Some songs it seemed like the person was oddly possessive over the one that they loved, the feeling of love so strong and intense and suffocating. Whatever he felt towards Dex was strong, but not like that. Other songs were a lot more casual, talking about how the warmth that came from being with the one you loved.
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He really hoped he could find an answer, and soon.
•~•~•~•~•~•
While he had no answer, interactions with Dex did become easier. He wasn't sure if it was because he was getting used to what he was feeling, was coming closer to figuring it out, or he was just getting better at suppressing his feelings.
The next year of school had started, and it meant a new play for the drama club. Both him and Dex joined the club, just like the previous year.
Most of the other playwrights were people he was familiar with from the previous year, but there was a new face. This year, they agreed on something less realistic- superheroes. It was interesting to see how the story evolved, from a joke about the main character "Grey" being morally grey, to adding two antagonists with strong superpowers, which then ended up focusing less on the main character, but more between the relationship between two siblings. It was absolutely incredible to see what they were able to come up with.
Coming up with a plot was only the beginning though, but this time, he had more experience writing, so he was able to contribute even more to the story.
Writing the dialogue could be difficult sometimes, as some of the lines felt too dramatic, or not emotional enough. He tried saying them out loud, but he wasn't that good at voice acting, so he sounded too robotic for his liking.
"It sounds like you're writing something for the play," Dex said during one lunch. "Do you want me to say it out loud for you?"
Fitz was surprised by the offer. Whole they were talking more, it was usually in a group. So for Dex to be coming to him, it meant that their friendship could be better.
"That would be nice, thank you. I'm trying to write a monologue about the mayor, addressing the people about how his sister betrayed him and has been working for the rebels. But right before that, it's his reaction to the betrayal."
"Is he angry, or more sad?"
"Bit of both, and then when he makes his speech to the audience he reveals an invention that'd be used to stop the rebels, so while he's calm, he should also sound vaguely menacing."
"Is the mayor the villain?"
"It's complicated. The mayor's sibling has superpowers, while he doesn't. He fears that the powers are going to cause him to lose his status, so he creates laws that impact people with powers. Those people then rebel so they can have proper rights, sometimes violently, which to the mayor, proves that people with powers are a threat. The mayor also has been looking into an invention that can get rid of powers, because he wants to "cure" his sibling."
"He does awful things for the sake of love," Dex guessed.
"Exactly. Oh, here"--he turned his phone screen so ve could see the screen--"the script is here for you to read."
Ve started off murmuring, trying to get a feel for the scene. As ve re-read the scene over and over again, ve spoke louder, emotion seeping into vis tone.
"Thank you Dex," he said, after it was over. "That helped a lot.
"No problem. It was fun."
The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period.
"I've got to head to class now, see you later!" Without thinking, Fitz leaned towards vem, before he realized what he was doing.
Was I about to kiss vem on the cheek?
He couldn't tell if it was just instinct- he always kissed his mom on the cheek if either of them had to go somewhere- or if he genuinely wanted to show affection like that.
He abruptly turned away and quickly left, not daring to look back and see if ve had noticed or not.
•~•~•~•~•~•
It turned out that Dex hadn't noticed the almost-cheek-kiss, and Fitz was relieved. But it did get him thinking. If he and Dex were to date, would he be comfortable with kissing vem on the lips? He knew that for the most part, kissing was common in romantic relationships. After a few moments of thinking, he decided that he didn't want that.
It wasn't like a switch had been flipped (he knew that kissing wasn't required in romantic relationships), he did finally begin to have his answer.
His hangouts with Dex slowly began to go back to normal, as they fell back into the dynamic from before the confession. Except this time, there was less blushing and being embarrassed, because this time, there wasn't a crush to hide.
Sometimes Dex acted out the scenes he helped write. They didn't do that too often though, since Dex was going to audition, and ve didn't want to have any sort of advantage.
It felt nice to be with Dex, it was comforting and fun. When he tried imagining Dex dating someone, he found that he didn't mind that too much, as long as they'd be able to hang out together (he was annoyed by the fact that he hadn't tried to imagine that earlier).
•~•~•~•~•~•
"Hey, Dex," Fitz called out. "About the confession…" Despite having his answer, he was a little nervous, because neither of them had actually ever discussed the confession or the aftermath.
Dex blinked, then pursed vis lips. "What about it?"
"I know I did already reject you, but well, you know about the stuff after… I was confused. Because I like being with you, and I'll admit, you look beautiful, but I'd been unable to actually figure out if it was romantic attraction or not. It wasn't, so here's my official rejection. Hope it doesn't change anything between us again."
There was a pause, then ve snorted. "You do know that you already rejected me, right? I mean, I get what you're saying, but I've been working to get over you. Hasn't quite worked yet, but I'm not devastated or anything."
"That's good, I feel better about this."
"Your explanation also makes sense, I mean, it took me forever to realize that I don't like girls. Attraction is confusing."
Fitz laughed. "You can say that again. I'm aromantic, but I think part of the confusion is that I like the idea of romance."
"So when you have someone confess to you," ve continued. "You're wondering if you should have accepted the confession."
He nodded. "Exactly."
"And we'll continue to stay as friends, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."
He could always figure out more of the details later.
•~•~•~•~•~•
With everything settled, Fitz and Dex grew closer. Auditions for the play drew near, and the actors were instructed to think about who they were going to be playing.
"I kinda want to play the mayor?" Dex said. "I mean, I've seen very small bits of the dialogue from other characters, but I did have fun doing that monologue the first time."
"You should do it then," Fitz told vem.
"Yeah but… it's a more major role, and I'm scared of messing it up. I haven't really had much experience in the main cast, let alone as an antagonist."
"I'm sure you could do it," Fitz said, putting his hands on vis shoulders. "Your acting helped me, and I'm proud of how far you've come. Worst case scenario, you don't get the role, but you know how nice our teacher is."
"She is nice," ve agreed.
"So you know she won't be harsh."
"I guess, yeah."
•~•~•~•~•~•
The scene that had been used for the audition wasn't one that Dex had read, which made Fitz feel a little bit better, because the last thing that he wanted was for vem to make it because of an unfair advantage. He knew that ve'd feel guilty about it.
The scene was when the mayor's sister left to secretly join one of the rebel meetings, and then he talked to himself about how much he hated the rebels and how he was going to make sure that his citizens would be protected from those who had superpowers.
The edge in Dex's tone was similar to how Fitz had imagined the mayor to sound like- sweet, but it was clear that the mayor was menacing. The reasoning was somewhat noble, to protect the citizens, but what wasn't considered was that people with superpowers were human too. The mayor was the one who ended up causing damage, while trying to stop the damage from happening.
He thought about the ending, and wondered how it would look like for Dex (or another actor) to perform during the end, when everything that the mayor had done led to the deaths of his sister and his friend (well technically, the friend actually lived, but at the time, he didn't know that). The mayor would go through a revelation that everything he was doing was wrong, and he needed to fix everything.
The actors who were auditioning all seemed capable of performing the role well, and Fitz wondered who would make it.
•~•~•~•~•~•
Dex managed to get the role of the mayor, and just like the previous year, Dex often practiced in front of him. Without the fear of crushes, it meant that ve was significantly more comfortable, and ve was able to do a better job.
There were points when ve got nervous, but Fitz was there to help encourage them. And despite the fact that he'd done this before, he watched vem practice in awe, because he still couldn't believe that he was able to watch this, watch someone put so much passion into acting out something he helped to write.
It felt like all of these emotions were contagious, because sometimes, it almost felt like he could feel Dex's own emotions. When ve did the monologue about being betrayed, he could feel that heartbreak and anger.
Or if Fitz was in a good mood, it spread to Dex, vis voice would sound just a little bit lighter, and during their group hangouts, ve'd talk a little bit more than usual.
The opposite applied too- sometimes Dex came to school, angry at vis siblings. While Fitz wouldn't feel irritated, necessarily, but he did find himself needing a little more quiet.
Fitz wondered if that was just them being in tune with each other, or if it was the work of something more. (In his first year, he'd joined the strings ensemble to play the piano part, and had witnessed Keefe and Tam's rivalry, but nobody could deny that when it was time to be serious, they played really well. While neither of them had found their soulmate, he wouldn't be surprised if they were.)
No matter what it was though, he knew that he was glad that he made the decision to befriend Dex.
•~•~•~•~•~•
During some of their free time, Fitz and Dex would hang out in his room and watch tv. Ever since all of this, he found himself focusing more on the writing when it came to the shows.
Sometimes what they watched was simple, others weren't. Some were cartoons, and some were play adaptations to some of the shows he'd watched before.
"Do you ever think about what you'll be doing in the future?" Fitz asked.
Dex nodded. "Yeah. It's hard to imagine it, though. Is there anything you want to do in the future?"
Fitz laid down against the bed they were sitting on. "I don't know, really. I mean, I think writing would be fun. If I got to write a play adaptation to a TV show I liked, I'd be really happy with that."
Ve hummed, laying down next to him. "You can try going for it. I think you'd do well. I know you didn't write the entirety of the plays, but they were fun to act out."
"Maybe. I guess we'll see. What about you?"
"I think voice acting would be fun. I could do stuff for animation, it seems less stressful than doing something live action. Then again, I don't really know yet."
"I think you'd do a good job," he said, before he linked their fingers together.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"I feel so weird," Dex said.
"Can you describe it?"
"I feel anxious, we're presenting the play in just a few hours, but part of me doesn't feel that scared, and that just makes me more worried."
"The dress rehearsal and the one we presented at school were great," he assured. "Don't you remember the applause?"
"That's different. I know we've done this before, but like, we only won one award last year when there were a crap ton of them. I don't want to be the reason why we don't advance in the competition this year either."
"We'll do our best, okay? You can do that much, right?" He asked, gently grabbing one of vis hands.
Ve nodded, determination flashing in vis eyes. "Okay, we'll do our best."
•~•~•~•~•~•
Their play began, and it was going incredibly well- it felt like everyone was performing even better than usual. While he really liked the comedic play from the previous year, the lighting, special effects, and the emotional speeches made the play feel better in terms of quality.
It neared the end- when the mayor was about to learn that his friend was alive. But as Dex spoke, Fitz noticed that something was off. Ve performed fine, but one of vis lines was slightly wrong. Ve must have noticed, because as ve crouched down, ve froze, vis eyes darting side to side. Ve picked up the hand of the "dead body", vis breaths visible.
From far away, it could have been interpreted as disbelief, that maybe the character was noticing something. But Fitz knew that wasn't the case, and even he began to feel nervous.
Ve had started to panic a lot less with all the practice, but that didn't mean that vis stage fright didn't disappear.
Dex, I know you can do it. I believe in you. Just get through this ending, and it'll be over. You can do it.
That nervous feeling that he'd felt disappeared in an instant. For a few moments, he felt nothing. Then there was shock, so overwhelming that for a moment, he couldn't breathe.
Dex spoke, vis lines delivered without any stutter, and there was so much happiness in vis tone, more than Fitz had heard in a while. There was that breathless sort of relief, which mainly came from receiving good news after a long time. There was no way that it could be faked so easily. Especially not when ve had been panicking just moments ago.
Fitz smiled at vem, those same emotions that Dex was feeling could be felt by him too. He had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, Fitz was glad that it had happened.
When ve walked off stage after the last few scenes were over, he heard a voice in his mind.
Wonderboy, did you know that we're soulmates?
It was Dex's voice, but ve was nowhere near hi-
He caught on to that last word. Soulmates. Soulmates. That word repeated in his brain.
Yeah, soulmates. It shocked me, but not so much the soulmates part but more the "your voice is in my brain" part. How do you feel about all of this?
Despite being a writer, he had no words to explain how he felt. He was elated, happy, but none of those words felt like it did justice.
Okay, I think I can tell. Just know that I'm happy you're my soulmate too. Also, you might wanna get up on stage to bow, we can talk later.
Fitz stood up quickly, not realizing that the others were getting up. Yeah, we'll do that.
The festival itself wasn't that long, and their school was one of the later schools to present, but still, it felt like such a long time away. He had to actively concentrate on the other plays, otherwise he was going to get lost in thought, or end up spending the entire time mentally communicating with Dex.
Finally though, it ended, and once they were dropped back at school, they started their walk home together.
"Are you shocked that we're soulmates?" Dex asked.
"Not really. You and I have gotten really close over these two years, I don't think I can imagine my soulmate being anyone else," he replied. "Though I do still think that part of me is processing."
Ve snorted. "That reveal literally snapped me out of my spiraling. If you think you had no time to process it, imagine being on stage and there's just a voice. I'm lucky I didn't jump in shock, and managed to get through the rest of that."
"Oh, yeah, that would be something that would scare me. But I think we should talk about what comes next."
"We already decided that we aren't gonna date," Dex told him.
He nodded. "And I've thought about this for a while, but I do want to stay close with you. With the knowledge that you're my soulmate, that makes me want it more. I don't know what exactly either of our stories will be like in the future, but I want you to be one of the main characters in my story."
Dex looked down, vis face flushing red. "You- you're such a dork, you know that? How do you say something so cheesy? But… I can agree too."
Fitz felt his own face heating up a little bit, and was glad that his skin was dark enough for it to not show. It did sound a little cheesy.
"At least we have that much settled. Our stories are still in progress, so we can always wait before adding more plot points."
Ve laughed. "You make it sound so dramatic."
"I'm a writer!"
•~•~•~•~•~•
"So you look happy," Biana remarked as he entered the living room that same night. "I think you somehow look happier than you did last year."
He could still feel the smile on his face. "Dex is my soulmate."
"Wait, really? That's so cool! What happened?"
Fitz recounted the events, then began to describe how it felt. He was sort of able to feel those emotions before he realized, but once the bond was truly established, he was conscious of Dex's emotions, and the other way around. Every once in a while, he could hear Dex's voice in his mind.
"That's amazing!" Ae squealed. "Do you think that either Sophie or Linh could end up as my soulmate? That would be so cool! Even if neither of them aren't, I could see if my soulmate would join the polycule. Even if they don't, I'd be fine with that."
"Both of them could be your soulmates," he said.
"They could," she agreed. "But you know that multiple soulmates are super rare. I'd be so happy if they were both my soulmates though."
"I guess you'd just have to wait and see," he said. "Just like I did."
•~•~•~•~•~•
"I hope our school advances this time!" Dex whispered to him, as they sat down to watch the award ceremony for the plays.
It turned out that the play didn't manage to make it past the district showcase, but it wasn't too saddening. They could definitely understand why some of the other schools had managed to make it.
But just because they didn't make it past the round didn't mean that there weren't awards to be given. The director of their play won an award- and Fitz agreed with that decision. They had done a really good job with everything, including the choreographing of the superpowers.
The other award that their school received was one that Fitz was not surprised about. The award was for an actor and their talents, and he was proud as Dex walked onto the stage to receive the certificate.
I can't believe this is happening! Dex said.
I can, he replied. You did such a good job.
For the rest of that evening, neither of them stopped smiling.
•~•~•~•~•~•
"Hey Dex, can you come act out this part?" Fitz called out.
When there was no reply, he called out for vem mentally. Dex, can you act out a part I'm writing please?
The door to the other bedroom opened, and ve walked into his room. "Sorry, was listening to music."
"That's fine."
"Which part do you want me to act out?"
He turned the laptop screen around so ve could read.
"Broken Harmony, right?" Ve asked.
He nodded. Then he watched as vis posture changed, vis face wearing a cocky grin that resembled Keefe's. When he'd first seen the look, he'd thought that it looked odd on vem, but over the years, he learned more and more about vem. Plus, ve had become a voice actor, and had taken on various roles.
Ve recited the dialogue, and from there, Fitz was able to continue the conversation.
"Thank you," he said out of habit, even though at this point, it was something ve would do everything ve was asked.
Ve smiled. "I'll be back in my room if you need me, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay. Love you."
"Love you too."
•~•~•~•~•~•
I don't leave many notes in the end but that scene where Fitz almost kisses vem on the cheek instinctively is actually something that's happened to me when I was questioning whether I was crushing on my friend or not (it was so embarrassing when I realized. I was in front of multiple people too, so I'm relieved that nobody noticed). Idk why I've decided to share this now, but as I said, I projected a lot onto Fitz this time
Kotlc taglist: @keefeinnit @impostertamsong @my-swan-song @subrosasteath
Want to be added/removed from the kotlc masterlist? Just let me know!
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coffeebeannate · 4 years
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From This Prompt List
“If a person is destined to have a soulmate in this life, they will find that one of their eyes has changed colour, reflecting the colour of their anticipated soulmate.
For this to occur, the two must be in close proximity to one another (most studies say no less than several miles, but others claim that there have been some variations), and that, upon meeting, the eyes will revert to normal.
In some legendary, and notable cases, the eye colours will remain heterochromatic for the rest of their lives.
Of course, keep in mind that these stories are not always the same, and not every couple has a soulmate status. And that there is nothing less valid about non-soulmate couples.”
“Nicky?”
Nicky looked up, hastily closing the cover over his tablet, “Ah, sorry, can I help you?” 
“The computers broken, again.” His co-worker sounds the most interesting combination of annoyed and sheepish, “Do we have to call tech support?”
“No, no, let me take a look, it’s alright.” Standing up from the desk, “The one we use for catalogue searching?”
“What else?”
He sighs, muttering curses under his breath, “Thing is about as good as a piece of scrap metal, at this point.” Resigning himself to an afternoon tinkering with the world’s most stubborn library resource computer. “It’s alright, go back to work, I’ll let you know if it decides to behave.”
“Thanks, Nicky, call me if you need help.”
“Yeah, yeah no problem” Facing the not-ancient but absolutely useless desktop, “You going to behave, or do we have to fight?”
Predictably, the computer blinks at him, Nicky sighs again and settles before it.
---
It isn’t that Nicky hates his life. Because he doesn’t, and despite what people might think, he’s fairly content. Working full-time as the head librarian might seem like an outdated job, but Nicky’s only 32, and he likes to argue that libraries are a vital part of society. Upgraded as they are, and some facets available entirely online. Besides, he had a degree in the stuff, and plenty of practice.
Andy might’ve had a series of interesting names for his life. His small apartment, three cats, more books and tech than is strictly necessary for a single man to have, and a car that is really a ridiculous thing, but it runs and he loves it and maybe the radio doesn’t work and it has no AC and the heater is also dying, but it’s a good car and he happens to find it charming.
He’s fine.
He’s dated, some one night stands, but nothing sticks.
“Are you reading that book again?” Andy asks, when she catches the soulmates book opened up on his tablet for what is definitely not the 10th, 12th, let’s not talk about it time.
“I think it’s comforting,” Nicky retorts, catching her look of disbelief.
“You know that in most cases, that shit’s a load of crap, yeah? Quynh and I have been married for eight years, no issue. She’s my soulmate, magical eyeballs aside.”
“I know I know..I just think it’s sweet.”
Nicky does not tell her that, for the last six or seven months he’s been glued to the damned thing. Everything feels antsy. He’s not an anxious man at all. His life has never felt empty, nor hollow. And yet, a few months back everything started feeling weird. Like he just couldn’t settle. Bee’s beneath his skin. Ghosting sensations across his scalp. Tingles.
He’d casually mentioned it during his yearly physical, but the doctor determined nothing out of sorts physically, and Nicky had been delaying calling a psychiatrist.
“Maybe you just need a change of scenery.” Andy suggested, stirring too much sugar into her coffee. ‘Maybe your library is finally getting to you.”
Nicky had declined to respond, but filed it away in the back of his mind regardless.
--
The morning that it happens, Nicky is running late, and doesn’t bother to look in a mirror much beyond ‘brushing teeth and running a comb over hair” before heading into work. 
They’re finally upgrading the useless front computer, and he has to let the techs inside. Meaning he’s supposed to be at work an hour before he’d usually be, fiddling with his keys and muttering apologies as he opens the door fifteen minutes after he was supposed to let them in. Offering to buy them coffee for the troubles.
He’s that sort, after all.
He stands in the early morning crowd rush at the cafe yawning and buzzing, body thrumming with tension he can’t pinpoint, nor understand. It’s ridiculous and by the time he stumbles his way through the unfamiliar order, he feels much like he’s about to explode from it all.
The techs are thankful for their coffees, at least, Nicky tries to do some work in his office, and by the time he finally takes a break from his unsatisfactory work, it’s nearly noon.
There, in the libraries Men’s Room, is when he finally notices it.
His left eye isn’t grey, or green, or blue.
(Or whatever true colour his eyes seem to think they are)
It’s dark brown. So dark Nicky can barely see any other colour to it beyond pupil.
He blinks. Splashes water across his face, scrubs his cheeks.
It’s still there.
He takes a selfie with his camera, and stares.
Still there.
It’s still there after work, and the next day, and the Friday when he meets Andy for their usual after work time at the bar, Andy staring at him.
“So it’s not a contact?”
“No, I don’t wear contacts, or glasses! You know that.”
“You think your flowery soulmate shits legit then?”
“What else could it possibly be, Andy?”
Andy studies her beer, for once, she has no answer.
---
It is an extremely boring Wednesday morning when Nicky scrolls through his emails and finds something that bothers him for absolutely no reason at all.
It’s from one of the other departments, and it’s about the national art show being hosted at their oh so esteemed library. Nicky’s library is a popular venue because the building is historic and has a nice receiving room.
That’s not what bothers Nicky. He looks forward to this show. And it’s the first time he’d be in charge of much of it since becoming head librarian some eight months back, but no, it’s the shows headline artist that is prickling at him for yet again, reasons he can’t discern.
Nicky scrolls past the necessary details, but keeps going back to the beginning.
Headline Artist: Mixed Mediums. Classics with a Twist. Yusuf al-Kaysani
Nicky saves the email.
Again, no reason at all.
--
“Do you think it means anything?” He asks Andy and Quynh while four beers in and sitting on their couch.
“Some artist’s name you’ve never even met or heard of?” Quynh snorts, ‘Yep, definitely cracked some universal secret code there Nicky.”
He sighs, “Hand me another..”
Maybe they’re right.
Maybe he’s being ridiculous.
--
“Sorry, are you uh,,Nicky..Genova?”
Yes, okay, that does sound odd. But to his credit! He was named  Nicolò thank you very much. His mother had made some comment about classics, traditions, blah blah.
“Yeah! Sorry just let me-”
He’s at the top of a ladder, fiddling with a birds nest, of all things. The outside of the library (again historic building) attracted plenty of them.
“Take your time, I don’t usually yell at people on ladders, on principle and all.”
The voice is nice.
It’s the dumbest thought Nicky has had in his head in months.
“Good practice, that.” Finally gasping the nest, starting to climb down the ladder, “Okay!” When he’s returned to solid ground.
“So, what can I do for-”
Nicky, quite elegantly, forgets how to think. Or breathe. Or do anything appropriately life sustaining like that.
The man before him, nice voice man, his brain helpfully supplies. is..gorgeous. And see, Nicky has SEEN gorgeous men and is nicely partial to them. But this man is gorgeous, attractive and, most distractingly, has one blue-grey-green who actually knows eye, and one dark brown one.
And! Nicky notices, has completely lost his own ability to speak. The two of them seem to amend this moments later by pointing at each other’s face mostly rudely, stunned and confused.
Nicky seems to find intelligent language first, but only manages to say, “..Are you Yusuf al-Kaysani?”
The equally stunned gorgeous man confirms this, and Nicky is quite sure he either faints, or dies.
(He does neither of these things, thank you very much)
“..It’s nice to meet you, Nicky.” Yusuf says, finding actual intelligence far before Nicky does. Nicky just swallows.
--
Their eyes never reverse to their birth states.
Not at the first date.
Not at the proposal.
Nor the engagement party.
Or the wedding.
--
10 years later, Andy remarks that ‘the most romantic bastard she knows’ would indeed, find an even MORE romantic sap, and that they’d have the perfect book romance.
--
Joe’s cleaning out the closet one evening when he finds a well-worn paper back version of the novel that Nicky had read endlessly on his tablet all those years ago.
“Hey babe, you never told me you had a paper copy of this.”
“Hmm?” Nicky pokes his head out of the bathroom, “I do? Oh, yeah, it’s a bit worn out.”
Joe flips open the cover of it, peering down into the slightly musty paper, reading aloud and finding his way to join Nicky at the vanity.
~~
“Before reading this book, we must advise and remind that soulmates in this manner are rare, and that there is little scientific study to show a truth. Please do not fret if you never fall into this concept.”
Nicky hums, accepting the arm to his waist, the familiar kiss to his cheek, ghosting along the side of his lips.
“Go on,” Nicky says, casually.
“You know this story, my heart.” Joe chuckles, but continues.
“This rare phenomenon has been observed throughout history..”
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thatpinkbetch · 4 years
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Bkdk Fic Rec
I’ve been inspired to write a fic rec! This one goes out to you @lonely-rabbit
At like, the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 I stayed up until 4am every night reading fics, and because I’m such a loser, I made a word doc to keep track of all of them so I wouldn’t forget them.... I tried organizing it by length but it got messy cause I’m ridiculous and cluttered, so sorry! (I’ll save my own for the end alskdjflsdkfj gotta self promote you know). This is going to get...really long, so I’ll put it under a read more! Also, just a heads up, these are all on ao3, in case that’s important to anyone!
Disclaimer: Any fics with mature or explicit content I will add a bolded warning for, even if it’s only a little bit. Normally most fics will be tagged as such, but some fics that are rated as teen I’ve found to be more suggestive than some of those rated as mature, so I will try to point it out where it feels necessary, for anyone who wishes to avoid it.
Fics under 1k:
Illuminate by TheQueen (269 words)
Summary: Bakugou watches the first firework launch and fights to keep his face neutral
Very short, plot is about a case of amnesia, also very cute and well written for that length! Not angsty at all imo
sweaty hands holding secrets - shounentwink (563 words)
Summary: Someone said Midoriya holds secrets in his hair.
It’s not true: He holds it tightly in his hands. Bakugou’s seen it.
I really like this writer! You’ll see quite a bit of them in this post alkdsjfalskdjf
Fics 1k - 10k:
Many sunflowers later - Jeka (2395 words)
Summary: Scholar Midoriya Izuku comes back to the person he left behind after his journey through the kingdom, the mighty dragon clan leader Bakugou Katsuki.
Day 1 of Twin Stars Week 2020: Fantasy AU.
First of all, fantasy au!!! Second of all, jeka!!! (I need to read more of your stuff!!) Anyways, so cute, such lovely, pretty writing, wonderful story telling, and they’re so in love TT_TT
Boom Badoom Boom - warschach (3429 words)
Summary: Izuku's working the kissing booth at the school fair, it just so happens Katsuki has been crushing on him since the first grade.
“Did you—“ Izuku parted his mouth with no sound leaving it, “Did you pay?”
“Yea.”
“For a kiss?”
This one’s a little silly but I love it still. It’s got a “kids in the 80′s over summer vacation” vibe, I think. I love warschach! I should read more of their writing... They have SUCH good bakudeku content! *It’s rated teen but there’s some suggestive content, just a heads up!
Hopeless Ramen-tic - lalazee (7155 words)
Summary:  Midoriya is a cute guy who works at a ramen stall and Bakugou is thirsty as hell, but has to hide it by being an asshat. Another love story.
Ah, so good TT_TT so much sass, such good plot development and story telling for a simple concept *It’s rated as teen but again, it can be suggestive at times!
I’ll share this with you, so leave it behind - yabakuboi (3508 words)
Suammry: For the sake of the story, All Might is never in need of a successor, and, when Izuku saves Katsuki from the sludge monster, encourages young Midoriya down a different path. Thus, Katsuki and Izuku part ways after junior high, as Katsuki enters U.A. and the Midoriyas move overseas. It’s later that Katsuki realizes that there’s something missing, that he drove that something away.
Years after, Katsuki finds him in the last place he looks, in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store of their childhood neighborhood.
So soft, so sweet, so good if you just want to curl up in a comfy blanket and drink hot cocoa and feel warm and cozy and a little in love
The Secret Deku Box - yabakuboi (2241 words)
Summary: “Y’know, Bakugou never, ever talks about girls,” Kaminari says, his voice thoughtful.
“And I wonder why that is.” Ashido rolls her eyes.
“I’m just curious!” Kaminari whines. Kirishima drags the box out, unlabeled and unassuming, the lid not even fully clasped over the edges. “The guy has to— Whoa, what’s that?”
Kirishima realizes a little belatedly that this is a serious breach of privacy, and Bakugou will actually murder all of them. “Nothing!” he cries, attempting to shove it back under the bed, but Ashido snatches it away.
“Please be his porn stash!” Kaminari whispers as she whips the lid off.
Cute, funny, in canon, in character, and a must read I would say! 
daisy bunches and heather branches - halcyonwhispers (5862 words)
Summary:  izuku falls in love with the foul-mouthed tattoo artist next door.
Not another flower/tattoo shop au.... aldskjflaskdjfd Okay but punk!Bakugou is ALWAYS a smart move imo
the best part of me (is the worst I can give) - halcyonwhispers (5668)
Summary: Whole sentences usually make up people’s Words, but Katsuki got stuck with a name instead.
Izuku’s name.
I am such a sucker for soulmate aus when it comes to these boys TT_TT *There is some mature content, just a heads up!
Hard to Say - halcyonwhispers (8390 words)
Summary: Izuku is a Halfling, born after his faerie father spirited away his mom and then left her behind. Never quite fitting in with the humans or any of the supernatural beings in his small town, Izuku hoped that going to a diverse college in the big city will help him finally make friends.
Katsuki’s family has been powerful witches for generations, and he’s no different. Talented and a proclaimed genius to boot, he knew he shouldn’t waste his time on this dumbass (disgustingly cute) half-blood.
Or,
two idiots fall in love and don’t get that the other’s awkward cues are just a result of romantic tension.
I am ALSO a sucker for fantasy/mythical creatures au and I LOVED this one - Bakugou absolutely unable to handle how cute Midoriya is? Perfection - but it’s unfinished, and I don’t think it ever will be continued, unfortunately TT_TT
lots to unpack (throw away the whole suitcase) - shounentwink (4315 words)
Summary: “How’d you know?” Midoriya asks.
There’s a hunch to his shoulders that wasn’t there three hours ago. Freckled shoulders are kissed sunburnt and red: he looks like someone ran him over and left him like roadkill in the sunlight. Bakugou’s working with insurance today, but he could see the sparks of green lightning even from his elevated position in their shared agency. Midoriya’s holding his thumb, cracking it over and over — it looks like he’s rubbed it raw.
“Dunno,” Bakugou says. “Maybe you’re just easy to read, nerd.”
I love this one so much, it was one of the first ones I read, it’s so good, and it’s another that really affected how I view their relationship! Idk this one just hit for me
hang the moon from us (it’s a no from me) - shounentwink (1200 words)
Summary: Midoriya’s gonna get sick of Bakugou one of these days, and then the whole ruse will be over, and the balance of power will tilt beyond salvation, but that day isn’t today and it looks like Bakugou knows it.
What an asshole.
Once again, I’m a sucker for the fantasy au... But even more, the diction, the details, the imagery...it’s absolutely all stunning here. I wish I could write this pretty
In Which Bakugou Finds His One Tru Luv - Erina (5862 words) This is the first one of a series called The Misadventures of Explodo-kill Agency!
Summary:  Welcome to the Explodo-kill agency! We can destroy your buildings, crash your cars, and help you solve one of the seven mysteries in life: who is Bakugou Katsuki's mysterious boyfriend?!
I’ll admit I’ve only read the first three but by god they are the funniest fics I’ve ever read in my life. I see that Erina has added more since the last time I checked it out! Tbh I was only interested in reading the purely bakudeku ones... (My favorite was the second one!! SO funny and cute!)
i still do - raeryn (9646 words)
Summary:  He’s losing him to pieces, but Izuku still tries to make them count. In which a battle leaves Bakugou Katsuki with amnesia, and Izuku finds himself picking up the pieces.
So, this one makes me cry. TT_TT
One Thing Straight - winningshot (9899 words)
Summary: They totally aren't.
Hints of their relationship is found in all of their friends’ social media accounts, but majority of their fans still think that Katsuki and Izuku are in relationships with anybody but each other.
It was amusing up until it became sad.
Lmao it’s a little salty but I guess I can be too. This is a social media fic! There’s multiple ships in this one, too
A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF - kewltie (8472 words)
Summary: Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF™, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all information on him is kept locked up tighter than Fort Knox, therefore drawing all sort of attention and curiosity toward his mysterious boyfriend.
Deku from Deku Explains is a hopeless chatterbox who is known for uploading 20-30 minutes video that talked about his favorite shows and comics and have one of the most devoted following on Youtube. He also can't seem to shut up about his boyfriend Kacchan, who regularly make his presence on the channel as a disembodied voice.
They should theoretically have nothing in common except a shared platform to host their content and an army of fans with an endless curiosity and devotion to their Youtubers. Vidcon is where we lay our scene and the internet is about to get a rude wake up call.
Okay kewltie is SO GOOD and very creative! The formatting is phenomenal, it’s like you’re actually experiencing a social media melt down in real time lol
be my good luck charm - writedeku (6785 words)
Summary: See, the thing is, Midoriya Izuku had been born with a curse. It’s not a curse that’s particularly visible. He doesn’t have horns, or a tortured face, and it’s not the kind of silly curse like a friend of his had way down south in Diagnor, wherein the girl had been born without the ability to say the word duck. Midoriya Izuku is just extremely unlucky.
(Or the AU in which Izuku's the world's unluckiest travelling merchant, and Katsuki is someone who may be able to help him. For a price, that is.)
Oh I adore this one! It’s so cute and such a good narrative! Nice and warm, and Bakugou trying his damnedest to be suave, and it somehow working because Midoriya is just as flustered. *Another one rated as teen but some suggestive content.
Smells Like Victory - majjale (2377 words)
Summary: Bakugou takes two steps into the room and stops, clapping a hand over his nose. “Ugh, what stinks like Deku in here?”
"Good afternoon, Bakugou. That would be the amortentia."
I must admit, not a fan of HP, but majjale...TT_TT majjale writes these two boys so well. This one is really, really good!
Cherish Me - Justaperson1718 (2376 words)
Summary: “What?”
Izuku looked back down at his menu and flipped the page, a small smile on his face. “Nothing.”
Katsuki glared at Izuku from across the table. “If it was nothing then you wouldn’t be staring at me.”
“It’s just a little funny watching you try to look your best for our date when you always look great anyway,” Izuku explained. He wouldn’t look up from his menu while he spoke, but his words remained ingrained with confidence nevertheless. He considered what he was saying to be fact, and nothing else. “Even when you’re not trying in front of the cameras, it’s still hard to take my eyes off of you.”
This is a sequel to a fic that’ll be in the next section, because it’s longer, called Manage Me. Please read that one first before this one! (Not part of a series, but they’re the same story line)
Fascinating - Justaperson1718 (1556 words)
Summary: “I’m not staring at you,” Izuku replied, his eyes focused intently on Katsuki. He’s still wearing his pajamas, sitting on his knees in their shared bed. He was awake moments before Katsuki, and waited eagerly for the other to awake.
Katsuki glanced over his shoulder after his shirt was on and glared. “You’re fucking staring at me right now.”
Izuku shook his head, humming his disapproval quietly. “I’m watching you.”
“That’s the same damn thing,” Katsuki said while searching for a pair of pants in the dresser. “Your eyes are fixated on me like I’m your life’s fucking goal or some shit.”
“I just like watching you get dressed.” Izuku tilted his head to the side and smiled softly at Katsuki’s confused stare. “I know, it’s weird. But I like it.”
*There is a little bit of implied mature content, but overall, it’s just so sweet and intimate, and I just simply adore this one.
in a place once filled with gold - dorenamryn (9226 words)
Summary: It felt strange to remember such details, for they were things a friend should know, and as far as Katsuki was concerned, he and Deku hadn’t been friends in a very, very long time. He could admit, with reluctance, that they were on the path there, now, even though they would never make it. Katsuki would die before they could get the chance.
or: There is a garden growing in Katsuki’s lungs, and he is helpless to stop it.
“Hanahaki disease” okay, I can explain myself. Okay, I can’t. In any case, you got angst with a happy ending if that’s what you’re into!
Kaleidoscope - DPRenFTW (5141 words)
Summary: Izuku is a witch. He just needs to find his familiar. Enter a boy that is a wolf, and a wolf that is a boy - with wild red eyes and sharp smiles.
And Izuku thinks:
"Oh, it's him."
Just as beautiful and fascinating as the name implies! I seriously recommend for the beautiful writing, the gorgeous world, the mythical creatures au, and the lovely bakudeku romance!
Learning Curve - sensiblysilly (4222 words)
Summary: Deku and Katsuki’s first kiss goes rather differently than planned.
And Katsuki’s quickly learning that relationships can be unpredictable - especially when taking into account the variable that is Midoriya Izuku.
This really is just a careful handling of a teenage romance where perhaps one of them may have shit they’re still working through. It’s really sweet, and a careful study at boundaries and the building of a relationship. I actually stumbled across this while looking for another with the same name and ended up pleasantly surprised. Kacchan can has a little validation, as a treat.
4/20 is a national holiday - Ereri_Garbage (
Summary: Izuku is a drug dealer that doesn't really accept the fact he's a drug dealer, Katsuki is hot as hell as shouldn't be allowed a facebook.
Happy (Late) birthday Katsuki and happy (late) 4/20. I actually half assed an edit on this one so it took longer to post than I thought it would.
Uummmm lmao yes I have a sense of humor. ;ALDSKJFLSKDJF Okay, I say that, but this is not a crack fic, it’s a good story that I enjoy with good writing, and *it has mature, content, obviously for multiple reasons here. It’s rated as mature but there are borderline explicit moments imo. It’s a fun fic and funny, too! And, ngl, it really does remind me of college... But forget about me, the bakudeku is wonderful too of course :)
Drinking Watermelon - warschach (8906 words)
Summary: For whatever reason, maybe divine fate, Izuku turned and looked over his shoulder and waved to them.
Katsuki’s heart full on stopped right then, and his fingers forgot their duty on the rails, and his body neglected its job to keep Katsuki balanced.
Izuku’s summer sweet smile fell into concern as Katsuki went airborne and cracked his skull on the porch.
or Katsuki works as a camp counselor, and Izuku is a boy made of summer heat and sunlight.
Love it when people have Bakugou as absolutely enamored with Midoriya; it’s so good and true. Anyways this one makes me like summer camp story lines. It’s funny and also cute and great writing! *It’s got explicit content, just a heads up. Warschach stories just have this youthful 80′s vibe, I don’t know how else to explain it.
there are listed buildings - semiautomatichearts (3309)
Summary: Katsuki first sees colors bloom when he is only three years old. It is timid Izuku, hiding behind the cover of his mother's leg who looks upon him with wide eyes, and Katsuki's world explodes in shades of greens and pinks and blues, and he is so startled, he begins to cry.
His life is then on defined in color, in shades his peers can't see, by the forlorn, timid stare in Izuku's eyes that always lets off more than he is willing to tell. There is a schism driven between himself and his fated other, and Katsuki strives to be better than fate, better than what is defined for him. He is more than the written pages of a book, to be cracked open and read by the gods.
He wonders if it is possible for colors to bloom for someone who will never love you back.
Ah...soulmates :) So interesting how bakudeku fits into soulmate aus like this one when they’ve known each other as kids! And when they’ve had this complex push and pull thing going on all their lives! The writing is beautiful, and so is the story!
Promise Ring - bkdkwritingsdump (3579)
Summary:  The midwest in the 1950′s is no place for boys who like kissing boys: something Izuku and Katsuki know all too well growing up there. However, the undeniable bond between the nervous science geek and the aloof delinquent will still find a way to blossom in such a desert.
Cute, sweet, makes my gay heart ache. Longing not just for the one you love, but just to feel right loving them. Very pretty story line, lovely story telling!
Fics 10k - 30k:
Fishy - warschach (19417 words)
Summary: Izuku’s convinced his hot co-worker/neighbor, Katsuki, is a mermaid-or merman- you gotta consider genders even with mythical creatures- and plans to prove it.
(or this is kinda like the show ‘Monster Quest’, except Izuku actually finds said monster, falls in love, and have sexy times.)
Another warschach! I love this one, I love how they write bakudeku, particularly as college students, their stories (at least, the ones that I’ve read) always feel so warm, like a summer’s day, but not a lazy one, one that’s playful? If that makes sense? *This one is explicit, another heads up!
Manage Me - Justaperson1718 (10756 words)
Summary: Izuku caught himself moving forward, his head tilted somewhat to the side, and his eyes shot wide open. His gaze met Katsuki’s half-lidded eyes now that he was no longer in a dreamlike state, and seeing the way Katsuki was looking at him—waiting for him—made him realize Katsuki would’ve let him do it. He might have even wanted him to do it.
“You’re both doing fabulous!” the photographer called out to them, packing his camera into his bag and getting ready to leave. “I just got word that what we have now should be good, so we’ll stop there. Thank you for your time! Lock the door on your way out after you change.”
The pair stayed frozen in place, with Izuku’s arms around Katsuki’s neck and Katsuki’s hands resting on Izuku’s waist, while the photographer and his supervisor left.
“Kacchan,” Izuku cooed once they were gone. “Did you want to…?”
Love the story, love the bakudeku! Very, very good bakudeku TT_TT very sweet *There is some mature content in here as well
point to a map (we’ve been there) - cosmicfuss (10589 words)
Summary: Serendipity / sĕr″ən-dĭp′ĭ-tē Serendipity is the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery. Two men find themselves on a subway, hot coffee on one while the other is in the middle of a screaming match. After that they can't seem to stop finding each other, no matter how far they go.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; this fic owns my entire soul. I love the story, the ease of their relationship, just how lovely they are together. It’s another kind of nice, fluffy fic you’d read on a bad day where you come home and curl up in a blanket and listen to a ten hour video of thunderstorm white noise. *Again, some more mature content in here
Partners - tsukithewolf (13619 words) Another series! Two parts to this one this time
Summary: It is said that in Musutafu there is a charm that one can buy at a temple that will lead you to your destined partner. They say that if the charm works, you would be able to follow the red string of fate to the person you were meant to be with. And if the person returns your feelings, they would be able to see the string as well, proving that both were meant to be.
Three-year-old Katsuki and Izuku misunderstand what the word "partner" means and discover the charm and the rumor behind it is not only true, but more than expected.
Gets a little heavy, depression, bullying, suicidal thoughts, etc. But it must get worse before it gets better, that kind of thing. I also just adore the second part (called Bond) - maybe because it’s much fluffier, what about it?
Learning Curve - iknewaman (10304 words)
Summary: “Izuku.” Uraraka repeats as she motions at the person stood next to her. Green curls, average height, and, well. Up close, not such a bad smile. Uraraka points a thumb at Bakugou and enunciates slowly, “This is Bakugou. He can speak sign language too.”
Wait. Sign language?
The stranger— well, Izuku— looks at him with a raised brow. Their free hand lifts up as they make a slight motion of the hand.‘
Really?’
*
Bored out of his mind at a house party one night Bakugou is introduced to Izuku, a deaf student who offers to help teach Bakugou sign language in exchange for a favour-- or well, is prompted into asking for a favour.
Ah, I really want to explain this one a little bit? I’d never been into fanfiction ever, only really getting into it with these boys. This was the second one I read, I remember, and it caught me off guard, and it intrigued me. It really surprised me as to what fanfiction could be. Ngl I had biased perceptions of fanfics - I used to be one of those people who thought fanfiction could never be good writing - and this one slapped me in the face with it’s subtle beauty and creative story and heart melting capabilities, and very, very real relationship and growth. Anyways it’s so cute how happy Deku is to teach Kacchan sign language TT_TT Make sure to read the tags!
The Keeper and the Sun God’s Heir - SurelyHeavenWaits (12746 words)
Summary:  The Titans' have stolen something important from Izuku, heir of the Sun God, and he wants it back.
This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one this one- Oh my god this one. Okay so what, I was a Percy Jackson kid, what about it? I love the mythical aus, particularly the god ones. But beyond that, the writing is so beautiful, just like the world, and the imagery. The bakudeku...absolutely stunning. The story itself? Incredible. Cannot recommend more. *There is explicit content in this, though I will say, it’s all in the last chapter, and all of the story is in the first two chapters. There’s also a second part as it’s a series and it’s short but it’s cute and sweet TT_TT
seven days - aaAAAaaahhhhHHHHH (10094 words)
Summary: There’s something about the green haired boy, an aura that just drew Katsuki in before he even knew his name.
[Sometimes your mind forgets, but your heart remembers]
Heed my warning: DON’T read this in front of other people. I bawl every time I read this one TT_TT I know I said I don’t like angst but AJLSKDFJALSKDFJ it has a hopeful ending! I mean yeah you’re gonna cry but...hope? :’) (that username really says it all tbh)
Fics 30k+
Notice me, nerd - useless_donut (40000 words)
Summary: Bakugou is in love with Midoriya. He doesn’t hide it, in fact it’s so painfully obvious that the entire class of 3-A has him figured out in a matter of months (days, in some cases). Too bad Midoriya is the most oblivious motherfucker out there, and Bakugou is too damn stubborn to actually ask him out.
Will the class of 3-A survive the sexual tension? Who will snap first? Someone put Bakugou out of his misery, please, before everyone else dies of second-hand embarrassment.
(a love story as witnessed by the class of 3-A)
Love the idea of Bakugou being brazen and brash, cause yeah, he is. So fucking funny though how that translates to him flirting. Gotta say, thought I was gonna cringe, but his “I’m gay af” outfit really ended up being A Look. Love the mutual pining, it really is strong in this one. *Okay, mature content in this one lads.
While You Were Sleeping - Belkacaramelka (71197 words)
Summary: The one where quirkless fanboy Midoriya Izuku rescues Pro Hero Todoroki Shouto, gets mistaken as his fiancé while he is in a coma, and gets caught up in the most unlikely fake engagement... until his childhood enemy and Todoroki's classmate Bakugou Katsuki tries to catch him out, and they both end up discovering a lot more about each other than they'd expected.
Quirkless AU based on the film; endgame BakuDeku. -- Katsuki didn’t know when the change had happened: how he had gone from asking why Todoroki chose Deku of all people, to wondering why it was Todoroki that Deku chose. Troublesome Deku, who cooed like an idiot at cats, tripped at a random catcall and sang badly. Who, despite everything, proved that it wasn’t the quirk that defined a person. Deku, who was too much, not his, and undeniably off limits to begin with.
Update: Epilogue added
*This one has mature content. If you can, please, for the love of god, read this fic. It’s like, tied with my favorite bkdk fic perhaps ever. It’s based on the movie of the same title, a nineties romcom with Sandra Bullock, but Belkacaramelka has so effortlessly made it into it’s own story, fit it so perfectly inside of the bnha world. I definitely stayed up until 6:30am reading this one. It’s got such good badass Midoriya, who is also sweet, and really really good reconciliation between bakudeku.
All Gifted - fitzefitcher (39129 words)
Summary: The thing about gifts is that they're meant to be given, they're meant to be shared; so Izuku will take his gifts, so freely given to him, and share them with all he holds dear.
Izuku is born without any gifts, as his kind often are, to a witch mother and salamander father, on one sweltering night in July.
This one is unfinished...and I highly doubt it will ever be. But what has been written is incredible. Once again, I’m a sucker for the magic/mythical creatures aus. But the relationship is great! The characterization is great! The found family trope that was building up is great!
under a hollow sun - umbrage (40572 words)
Summary: Midoriya is cursed with emptiness.
Misfortune leads him to a man of ancient magic and endless rage.
To stop an unfathomable evil, their mismatched halves must become whole.
Uuuggghhhh this was so good! I don’t think it’s going to be finished either :( Once again, fantasy au, more amazing writing, on point characterization, incredible pacing, makes you hungry for more story.
all the savage soul requires - majjale (58032 words)
Summary: Bakugou seems to have exhausted his patience for words and no longer acknowledges that Midoriya exists, so Midoriya crosses his legs, stares down at his hands limned in firelight, and makes a list of things he knows.
One. His name is Midoriya Izuku.
Two. He is a Godmarked, future god of life, heir to the divine throne.
Three. The gods have been fighting Death for eons, and now he's coming for recompense with everything he’s got.
This is majjale, so of course, the writing is more than beautiful; it’s absolutely breathtaking. This may be my favorite fic ever - unfortunately I don’t think it will ever be finished either TT_TT There’s the gods/fantasy au, which you know by now I love. But the characterization of our two boys is absolutely perfect, and I mean that as literally as possible. And the story being crafted between the two, the memory loss, the obvious history muddled by it all, it was so dense, and the PINING, so incredibly written, flowing so naturally. It wasn’t even close to being done, but it was wonderful, still is wonderful. 
My Writing: (You can skip this if you hate shameless self promotion)
You’re too damn flicking cute (1815 words)
Summary:  Bakugou is certain his shitty boyfriend is instigating kisses. Maybe it doesn't help that he keeps giving them away like it's a damn going out of business sale, but the stupid nerd is too fucking cute. Either way, like everything else, this is a competition, and he's going to win it.
Please don’t read this unless you’re going to the dentist afterwards! I’ve been told it’s so sweet it’ll give you instant cavities >_>;;;;
Bakugou Katsuki, you smooth motherfucker (10118 words)
Summary: Everyone around him knows that Bakugou Katsuki has a very special way with words. To the untrained ear he is loud and crass; to those that speak Kacchan, he is caring and inspiring. Yet there are rare moments, moments so fleeting you blink and you miss them, where Bakugou’s words pierce straight through Midoriya’s chest, and surprise everyone around him.
Goddammit, if only he would say them to Midoriya’s face.
Or, the five times Bakugou said something nice about Midoriya, and the one time he said something kind to him (but that was too long of a title).
I think most would consider this my best published fic; it’s one of those snapshot fics, “the five times where x did this, and the one time where they didn’t.” The recurring comment I get on this one is both of them being super in character, so I think that’s it’s defining characteristic! Bakugou and Midoriya have never known a life without the other, and in a perfect world, they never will.
Here, let me fix that (11247 words)
Summary: Bakugou honestly never thought he’d see Deku ever again. And now that they were together in this tiny compartment, alone for the next two and a half minutes, he had no clue what to say. He’d just apologized, right? So perhaps he could leave it at that and carry on with the original plan to never see the green-haired man that reminded him of dense forests, late night adventures, and tear-stained faces, ever again.
Ha! Who is he kidding? These bitches are soulmates.
I’ve gotten some critiques on this one, so sorry in advance if it’s not to your liking! Basically, what if Midoriya never got his quirk? Obviously, life would find a way to put them together because, as previously stated, these bitches are soulmates.
Plenty of Time (16654 words)
Summary: Bakugou found what little sleep he got restless and filled with nightmares that he forgot the second he opened his eyes. Tonight was the first time in a long time where he just had a normal dream - and it happened to be about Deku.
How fucking typical.
In other words, two dorks realize they have feelings for each other but don't know what to do about said feelings.
Ah, my first fic. Very simple, boys being boys, kinda like a slow burn? Idk how to explain this one, just boys figuring out their feelings and trying to figure out what to do about them. Been told these two are a little stupid but I think that’s valid.
We’re all time bombs waiting to explode (39223 words)
Summary: We have now entered the slipstream of time, into an alternate dimension where it neither is, nor isn’t, the 80’s. Two teenagers, burdened with the weight of adolescence in the modern world, find themselves struggling side by side, in part because of each other.
Bakugou, the most popular boy in school, has everything he could possibly want; status, power, and an unbreakable will. Having been dragged along behind him all the way to the top, Midoriya can’t help but wonder how (and why) he ended up standing beside his childhood friend-turned bully-turned friend again, weighed down by their complicated past and present. As the tension between them grows every day, and the arrival of a new, pretty face causes it to peak, it won’t be long before something - or someone - snaps.
I am...very bad at titles, and summaries apparently. This was my Heathers au, but it very quickly diverges from the original (I don’t do sad endings....) *This one has mature content, including implied sexual activity, drug use, and underage drinking, along with other heavy topics; please read the tags! Though tbh Midoriya is 17 for a couple weeks before it hits his birthday halfway through, so keep that in mind I guess? I kind of went heavy with this one, but I think the pay off was immense. This is the one with the most amount of comments stating it’s their favorite bkdk fic ever (and I cry). It’s a rough start, with a rough journey, but so is bakudeku! There’s a lot of petty drama, and then all of a sudden it’s Not That Petty and very much Far Too Real. Many have cried reading the ending, I cried writing it. My sister says it’s her favorite of mine. Now, I did kind of push this out without polishing it so much because I was losing my willpower, so if it feels lacking, that’s one hundred percent my fault.
Okay that was a lot! It took me a couple days...I hope I wasn’t too annoying with all my opinions! Please have a nice day. and enjoy some good reads, even if they aren’t the ones in this post!
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6 and 7 for Malice and the Prophet?
Pre-relationship:
6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?
Sammy has mixed feelings about it. He exists to serve the Ink Demon so pursuing a romantic connection with anyone, let alone an angel who actively defies his Lord, would take him away from his purpose of living. On the other hand, if soulmates exist, his Lord must be responsible for that, therefore, if he doesn’t comply with getting together with the angel, he is defying his lord. No matter what he’s going against his god and he feels upset about it.
Malice begrudgingly agrees on the grounds that there must be no other way for her to be attracted to such a disgusting creature.
7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?
Either very different or not at all. Assuming that if their pre-inked selves never met either, than Malice might not even exist in the first place as Susie would never be the voice of Alice Angel. If their pre-inked selves did meet, then the two would just carry on with what they normally do while trapped in that studio, Malice’s life isn’t effected much by the scavenging searcher and even without Malice, Sammy is a very busy prophet.
General:
6. What’s their relationship with each other’s families?
If Sammy’s flock counts as his family then not good. Malice isn’t exactly popular with the people she kills for spare parts. Any family either of them have outside the studio would just be happy to know that they’re alive and well, so they wouldn’t dare appose the union.
7. Who takes the lead in social situations?
Sammy, he’s the more social of the two.
Love:
6. Who’s the big and little spoon?
When Malice eventually gets okay with touching/being touched by Sammy (which takes a while.) it’s hard to tell. When Sammy’s not actively putting in the energy into keeping himself stable he kinda just... melts and even Malice herself can’t tell if he’s holding her or she’s holding him. It’s not spooning at this point, it’s bread bowling. She is the bread bowl, he is the soup and the soup is everywhere.
7. What are their favorite things to do together?
Those old songs... he still plays them and she still sings them.
Also sometimes Malice will dissect Sammy. It might not seem like the greatest thing to do with a partner but believe it or not, it’s a mutually beneficial thing. When Malice takes what she wants, she replaces what she took, she removes things that have been causing Sammy pain, and she gives the guy some actual bones so he doesn’t have to resort to stuffing fucking nails and scraps in there anymore.
And they talk while she works on him, it takes a while to get the job done well, so both of them get stuff off of their chests that’s been gnawing at them for a while, studio-related and not. Sometimes it’s long, meaningful conversations about what they miss about the past, how’d they’d change it if they could, and who they used to be.
While other times it’s shit like; “I swear to god, I’m just going to run you through a fucking strainer if it means I don’t have to spend six hours picking dead bugs out of your brain. ...At least, I think this is your brain...” “Say, speaking of running me through things, do you think I’d become something if I was put in one of those machines in Bendy Land?” “Are you thinking out loud or giving me a suggestion?”
Domestic life:
6. Who worries the most?
Malice, She worries a lot over the Ink Demon, Joey, Allison, the butchered gang, etc. While Sammy has more than enough faith to keep him from ever worrying again.
7. Who kills the bugs in the house?
Both of them, Malice kills ‘em on sight and Sammy unintentionally suffocates them in his ink when they try to crawl in there for food.
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pepperonyspizza · 4 years
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Day 3: Soulmates AU 
No Warnings, Platonic Ironhusbands, Pepperony, Angst and Fluff
The first time Tony feels the skin of his arm tingle is when he’s 15 years old. 
He’s just moved into his dorm room at MIT, still unsure of his father’s decision to send him here at this age. He doesn’t feel like he belongs and the confused, judging and even angry looks he’s received from other people on campus do little to ease his worries. They must know who he is and aren’t all that happy about it. 
Tony is sitting on his bed, studying the unfamiliar items that give him a vague idea about his roommate when he hears the door open. Jumping up from the bed, he prepares himself for the worst. He only hopes that the other guy won’t request to change rooms upon realizing who he has to share his space with. 
The man that enters is a few years older than Tony and bafflingly handsome. He seems surprised upon seeing a stranger in the room but recovers quickly enough and, to Tony’s surprise, smiles pleasantly while stretching out his hand. 
“Nice to meet you. I’m James.”
It takes Tony a moment to catch up with everything that’s happening. 
“Tony,” he says lamely, reaching to take James’ offered hand. 
That’s when he notices the weird sensation on his lower arm. He gasps and pulls away, ignoring the other man’s confused look in favour of pulling up the sleeve of his hoodie. Tony watches with wide eyes as the smooth blue lines write out a name. 
James Rhodes
Only when James makes a similar surprised noise is Tony able to tear his gaze away from the writing to look up. Indeed, the other man is clutching his arm as well and even though his hand covers part of the mark, Tony can see his name engraved in his roommate’s skin in the same beautiful blue colour. 
“Holy shit,” is the first thing to come out of his mouth. 
James simply nods, his eyes still fixed on his mark. Tony isn’t sure what to make of the man’s expression, he’s always been awful at reading people. Is he disappointed? Sad? Angry? He can’t imagine the discovery of having Tony Stark of all people as your platonic soulmate to be a thrilling one. 
“I’m sorry,” he apologizes when James fails to speak up. He doesn’t know what he’s apologizing for since he’s had nothing to do with this. People don’t get to choose their soulmates, the universe does - or at least that’s what his mother tells him. Still, he already feels bad for the guy. “I didn’t know-” “Of course you didn’t,” James interrupts him, the words causing Tony’s blood to run cold. “You didn’t do this. It’s fate, I guess. And why are you apologizing in the first place?” The older man finally looks up at Tony and immediately frowns at what he’s seeing. “Dude, are you okay? You’re pale as hell.” “I’m fine.” “Are you sure? Did I give off that bad of an impression for you to be scared?” “No!” Tony shakes his head. “That’s not it. I’m not disappointed or anything.”
“Then what’s with the long face?”
“I thought that… you might be,” he admits, weakly gesturing at his arm. “I know my dad isn’t a very popular man and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that I-”
“I’m not thinking anything here. I don’t know you, man.” James takes a step forward, which brings him close enough to rest a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Which we’ll have to change. Have you already eaten dinner?” 
Tony opens his mouth but besides an incoherent unintelligible gurgle, nothing comes out. The grin James shoots him is enough to make him blush and he quickly shakes his head before he gets the chance to make an even bigger fool of himself. 
“Good. How does pizza sound?” 
“I love pizza,” he says in a quiet voice. 
Frankly, he has still trouble believing that he’s being accepted like this. James is right, he doesn’t know Tony but when has that ever stopped anyone from judging him? It’s almost impossible that he’s gotten this lucky with at least one of his two soulmates. 
That’s the exact reason why he is your soulmate, a small voice in the back of his head reminds him. 
“Let’s go then.” James squeezes his shoulder once before letting go and turning back towards the door. “I know this great place right around the corner. You’ll love it.” 
Tony says nothing as he follows his new friend but the smile on his face says it all. 
~*~
The second time Tony feels the skin of his arm tingle is when a stranger barges through his office door to tell him that a mistake has been made in accounting. 
Truth be told, he’s pretty hungover and not entirely sure if this is what’s happening or if his imagination is to blame for all of it since the woman does look like something that could very well come out of his dreams. But she’s too angry for that, doesn’t even acknowledge Tony when he shoots her one of his very special grins and threatens Happy with a can pepper spray. 
That certainly isn’t part of his usual dreams. 
“It’s already, Happy. I got this,” he tells his distressed security guard. The man nods and quickly exits the office, leaving the two of them alone. Tony gets up from his desk, hissing at the pain that erupts inside his head. He rubs his temples while addressing the stranger. “And you are?” 
“Virginia Potts,” the woman with the remarkable red hair says. 
She’s clutching a file in her hands, apparently the one with a critical mistake. Tony doesn’t really care about this kind of stuff and normally lets Obadiah take care of it. His godfather has always been much more interested in the company than Tony ever was - but the older man is away on a business trip and asked Tony to have an eye on everything until his return. 
“Listen, Potts. While I have no doubt that whatever you’re here for is important-” “It is.  ” “Yeah, I’m sure of it. But the thing is that my head hurts and all that yelling earlier didn’t really help with that, so how about you come back some other time and-”
He never gets to finish his sentence, too distracted by the sudden sensation on his right arm. Only once has he felt this soft pressure on his skin and even through the fog of his hangover, Tony realizes what’s happening. 
With absolutely no grace or elegance, Tony shoves the sleeve of his expensive suit out of the way to watch as a second name appears on his skin. This one is red, much like her hair, something he would take the time to admire if he wasn’t positively freaked out. 
Virginia Potts 
There it is. His soulmate is standing right in front of him, frozen in place. He frowns at her rigid figure, unsure if she understands what is happening. She certainly hasn’t made any move to look at her own wrist and from the way she’s still holding onto that file, Tony can’t see if she has his name, or any name for that matter, on her arm. 
“Did you…?” 
He trails off mid-question but that’s alright because Virginia (yeah, they’ll have to do something about that name - it doesn’t fit her at all) is nodding her head slowly. Upon her confirmation, Tony lets out a long breath. He’s heard about people not receiving their mark when meeting their alleged soulmate and although Tony never cared too much about it in the past, it’s a relief that he’s not so unlucky. 
“Mr Stark-”
“Tony, please.” “I don’t think that’s appropriate for me to call you,” she says carefully and it’s enough for Tony to laugh. 
“We’re soulmates. My name is literally tattooed on your arm. I think we can let this pass.” 
“But-”
“No buts, Pepper. My name is Tony. Mr Stark was my father.”
“Pepper?”
“No offence but Virginia is a rather boring name. Not that I don’t enjoy having it on my arm! But I think after that little stunt you pulled on poor Happy, this is a very fitting nickname.” 
Pepper (yes, this is so much better) rolls her eyes at his childishness but her posture relaxes and she finally drops the file on the table separating them, revealing her mark. Tony can’t describe the feeling rising up in his chest upon looking at it but he’s certain that he’s never felt it before. 
“Am I allowed to call you something completely absurd as well?” she asks, a slight twinkle in her eyes as she looks down at his mark. She’s trying to be subtle judging by the way she blushes when Tony turns his arm to show give her a better view. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck with such a boring name.”
He clicks his tongue.
“I told you that I don’t mind. I don’t mind it one damn bit.” His comment earns him another eye roll. Tony doesn’t know if that’s a good sign, although she’s still here. She hasn’t run away cursing and screaming much like he has expected her to do, and he’s counting this as a win. “How about you? I know my name is fascinating but people tend to dislike the person it’s attached to.” 
It’s supposed to come out as a joke but something in his voice must give him away because Pepper looks at him in surprise. That isn’t good. He doesn’t like it when people can look through his facade. It makes him feel exposed and he already toys with the idea of reaching for his glasses that are laying on the desk in front of him. 
Then again, there is a reason that this woman is his soulmate - or at least Tony thinks so. Maybe it’s not the best idea to hide from her. 
“I think…” Pepper pauses, either because she actually has to think about her following words or because she simply likes to watch him squirm, which he visibly does. “I’ll have to find out for myself.” 
Her answer catches Tony off guard, taking him back to all those years ago when he first met Rhodey. He told Tomy something similar, had given him a chance instead of judging someone he’d never met before - and Tony can’t believe that the same thing is happening again. “Right, that makes sense,” he says quickly, afraid that Pepper will change her mind if he gives her too much time to think about it. “What do you say about dinner? Tonight? I can cook, or nearly burn down the house and then order us something.”
She doesn’t laugh but Tony is almost certain that she wants to. 
“How about tomorrow? It’ll give you time to get rid of your hangover and take a look at that accounting errors.” She points at the file on his desk. 
He’s nodding before she has even finished speaking. He’ll look over anything she puts in front of him, not only because anyone determined enough to get past security must actually be passionate about their job but also because she’s giving him a chance. A real chance. 
Tony doesn’t get much of those. 
“It’s a date.” He immediately corrects himself when noticing Pepper’s glare. “Not a date?” “We’ll see,” she says before turning around and walking towards the door. “Look at the file!” is the last thing out of her mouth and then Tony is left alone in his office, the headache coming back full force once his brain registers that the moment has passed. 
He falls back in his chair, clutching head and groaning loudly but there is a smile on his face and he has a feeling that this will be the last hangover he’ll have to
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earsofducks · 4 years
Text
Day 8 - Soulmates
Well, this is it. 
Wow.
Thank you to @ineffablehusbandsweek for a fantastic week of prompts, and for setting this all up and reblogging and stuff. Amazing.
Thanks also to everybody that read my stuff. It brought me a lot of joy to know that some people actually ENJOYED some of the things I wrote. Y’all are fantastic.
Also thanks to Gaiman and Pratchett and Tennant and Sheen for a fracking amazing OTP. Gawsh. They’re so good.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Thanks for everything.
Crowley took a long time to realize Aziraphale was his soulmate. 
It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d met him. Crowley hadn’t heard any of the lore at that point, probably because he hadn’t spent any more time than was necessary in Hell. All he knew was that the angel had beautiful eyes and lovely wings and a heart that prioritized a pregnant couple’s wellbeing over his own. 
And that was more than enough.
It wasn’t even when he first heard the chatter about soulmates.
He’d gotten himself discorporated. Hung around Sodom just a little too long. (He’d been so sure he could convince - well, it doesn’t matter now.) And while he was waiting for his new body, he’d had nothing better to do than hang around and listen to the other lowlifes discussing the latest news, which was that apparently every demon had an angelic counterpart that was their soulmate. (When Crowley asked why the Almighty would give demons angelic soulmates when they could never really be together, the consensus was that it was all a big joke. That was when Crowley first started feeling bitter at Her for creating soulmates.) Also, continued his hellish colleagues, when demons were in close physical proximity to their soulmate their black-and-white vision would burst into colour, but the angel would remain unaffected.
And Crowley, being an idiot, thought huh, weird, instead of when I was around Aziraphale I noticed his eyes were blue.
No, Crowley didn’t put two and two together for a very long time. This was mostly because somewhere between being told about soulmates and being given his new body he’d managed to convince himself that it was all a big misunderstanding. Soulmates weren’t real. How silly! No, they were probably invented by some poor sod who was missing being an angel and thought to comfort himself with a daydream. (Crowley had not yet realized that ‘imagination’ was not very popular in Hell.) And then, shortly after Golgotha, he and Aziraphale were drinking in a tavern somewhere and he absentmindedly remarked on the bright red of a piece of pottery and then it struck him like a bolt of lightning. 
Oh no, he thought.
He spent a while trying to avoid Aziraphale and the many difficult feelings that arose when he was around Aziraphale, because it was all so much to handle. But the longer he spent away from his angel the more miserable he felt and the more bleary and unbearable his black-and-white existence became and when Aziraphale turned up in a bar in Rome he found himself unable to say no to oysters.
After that, Crowley accepted his fate. He was in love with Aziraphale. Aziraphale was his soulmate. He would never be able to tell Aziraphale about either of these things, because Aziraphale was an angel and he was a demon and angels and demons weren’t allowed to… well. Do the things Crowley would like to do.
*
And life goes on like this, with Crowley loving Aziraphale as quietly as he can and having his heart broken every few years and screaming drunkenly at God about how the soulmate joke isn’t funny, until the Apocalypse. Which doesn’t actually happen.
After he and Aziraphale go to the Ritz, they retire to the bookshop for a good old-fashioned nightcap. They drink and drink and drink until they’re both thoroughly smashed, and that is when it happens.
“Why’s your corporation so faulty?” Aziraphale asks, apropos of nothing.
“Wha?” Crowley asks, understandably confused.
“The - the - the - ” Aziraphale waves his wine glass around and makes a variety of expressions while he wracks his brain for the right words - “The colours.” 
“What about the colours?” asks Crowley, whose stomach has gone very cold. He feels very sober very suddenly. 
“They’re….” Aziraphale squints as he thinks very hard. “They don’t happen.”
“Oh,” says Crowley, relieved. “Nah, can’t see colours. Lost that when I - you know.”
“I’m terribly sorry, dear boy,” says Aziraphale, looking less drunk. Crowley looks at the wine bottles, which are less empty than they were a moment ago. Looks like they both accidentally sobered up a little.
“Doesn’t matter,” says Crowley, trying to shrug and discreetly sober the rest of the way up at the same time. 
“But not all the time,” says Aziraphale, pointing a finger at Crowley. 
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
“Uh,” says Crowley.
“When your corporation was near my corporation,” continues Aziraphale, oblivious to the panic which is rapidly taking over Crowley’s brain, “colours happened.”
“Ah,” says Crowley. “Mm,” says Crowley. “Ngk,” says Crowley.
“Why?” asks Aziraphale again.
Crowley hems and haws and hedges until Aziraphale starts to get annoyed and says, “really, my dear, I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss. It’s not as if you could say anything that would make me like you any less. I wish you’d just tell me.”
Undone by the ‘my dear’ and the ‘nothing would make me like you any less,’ Crowley does. 
Aziraphale sits very still. Crowley sits still, too, tense and nervous and full of regrets. What a pathetic excuse of a demon he is. In love with an angel. Unable to let go of said angel, even when he knew it wouldn’t work out, wouldn’t lead to anything but pain for him and awkwardness of Aziraphale. Refusing to let go of - 
“Soulmates?” says Aziraphale, very softly, and there’s something in his voice that makes Crowley’s foolish heart leap. 
“Er, yeah. ‘S - dunno what She was thinking. That it was good for a laugh, probably. Watching me - uh, I mean us - I mean, demons, you know - when we couldn’t have what we - uh - dunno. Weird. Silly. ‘S silly, isn’t it? Sorry.”
“No,” breathes Aziraphale, and Crowley’s heart climbs higher. Stupid organ oughta know that the higher you are the more the fall hurts. “No, my dear, my very dear, my most beloved - oh, no. Not silly.”
Crowley’s brain cannot be expected to handle both very dear and most beloved at the same time. 
“Yungrhwha?”
“Crowley,” says Aziraphale, and he’s beaming, he’s shining, he’s radiating… something, something that Crowley is scared to think about, scared to hope for - “Crowley, you’ve waited so long for me.”
Crowley doesn’t say anything. He’s blushing and painfully aware of how pitiful he is and unable to meet Aziraphale’s eyes. 
“Crowley, my darling,” says Aziraphale, and Crowley can’t breathe, “I love you.”
Crowley lets out a sob at that, a harsh, punched-out sound. He didn’t mean to. It just happened.
“Beloved,” says Aziraphale tenderly, and reaches out and pulls Crowley into a soft, tight, warm embrace. Crowley cries harder and grasps at the fabric of Aziraphale’s jacket. “I love you,” Aziraphale says again, and Crowley doesn’t know how to do this. “I love you more than I will ever be able to say. I’ve loved you for millenia. I never knew - ” Aziraphale’s voice trembles. “Soulmates,” he says at length, full of awe. “We’re soulmates, Crowley. We were - darling, we were made for each other. She made us for each other. I’m yours, lover of mine. I always have been. I always will be.”
“‘Ziraphale,” gasps Crowley, overcome. He’s reasonably sure that demons were not meant to hold this much happiness. “Angel - angel - ”
“Shh,” croons Aziraphale, clutching him impossibly tighter and rocking back and forth. “I know, my heart. I know. You gorgeous, brilliant, impossibly sweet thing. You’ve been telling me as long as we’ve known each other. I know.”
It takes Crowley a long time to calm down, to start breathing normally again, to stop hanging onto Aziraphale like the angel will float away if he so much as loosens his grip. Aziraphale murmurs comforting, devastatingly lovely things the whole time. 
“Love you,” says Crowley, as soon as he’s found his voice again. It’s croaky and hoarse. He doesn’t care. “Love you. Love you, love you, love you.”
“Crowley,” says Aziraphale, sounding like he might cry, “I love you, too.” 
And they sit there, holding each other, for most of the night. Crowley’s breathing evens out completely. He gets a crick in his neck but doesn’t budge an inch, unwilling to risk anything when he’s just gotten everything he’s ever wanted. “Soulmates,” Aziraphale says wonderingly, every so often.
Crowley falls asleep thinking that he’s not mad at the Almighty for making soulmates. Not anymore.
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avatarnao · 4 years
Text
A Million Dreams CH. 1
Pairing: Zukka, Kataang
Soulmate AU, College AU, Roommates AU
Next
A03
******
There’s a lot of back and forth with Katara and his family, but eventually Sokka is able to convince them to let him move in on his own. It’s sophomore year and he doesn’t need them cramming into a tiny dorm room, taking up more space than necessary, okay? Sokka just wants to get to his room, meet his new roommate, and get unpacked. Maybe run to the dining hall and grab some lunch. Or dinner. Whatever meal is happening by the time he gets there. 
Unfortunately, his plans to meet the roomie are thwarted, the grin on his face and ‘hello’ on the tip of his tongue dying out the moment he opens the door. His roomie’s been here if the immaculately made bed, and almost compulsively organized desk is any indication. Only the room is empty so Sokka can only assume the guy is out and about. 
It’s a little discouraging, but Sokka can live with this. Might be better to unpack on his own anyway. He just hopes his roommate isn’t a neat freak considering the neverending mess that is his room back home. There’s going to be a lot of arguments in the future if that’s the case. Hopefully, some sort of compromise can be reached. 
Sokka gets to work unpacking his things and getting his side of the room set up. He’s sure his roommate wouldn’t appreciate him leaving boxes all over the place to unpack later. The text chime on his phone goes off just as he’s placing a poster on the wall. He checks his phone and finds a message from Yue.
She’s asking if he wants to meet up for dinner. Grinning, he texts her back with a time to meet up and which dining hall. In all honesty, he’d been planning on going alone to try and make some new friends. Having dinner with Yue though is something he can’t pass up. She’s likely to be in the music hall for most of the semester so this might be their only chance to meet up before classes start. 
He has an hour until dinner though, and so he gets to work making his bed and organizing his desk. It’s way more work than he’d normally do, but he doesn’t want to make a bad first impression with his roomie… who still hasn’t returned. 
Zuko. He reminds himself. His roommate’s name is Zuko, and he has got to stop calling him ‘the roommate’. Sokka just hopes they can be amicable towards each other. The last thing he wants is to be living with another Jet. 
Sokka does his best to make his side of the room as neat and organized as possible, then leaves to meet up with Yue.
******
The dining hall is packed by the time Sokka and Yue make it inside. He’s hardly surprised. This is the most popular of the three on campus. They wander through the crowd, looking for an empty table and eventually find one in the back near the windows. Sokka promptly slaps his bag down on the surface and they leave to get food. 
A group of what he assumes to be freshmen watch him go with wide eyes and he laughs a little. They always say not to leave stuff unattended at the tables, but he’s long since gotten over that fear. Nobody in his year or higher seems to care about such a thing and he certainly would never steal someone’s stuff. If someone took his table, though, he’d be fuming. 
Yue goes for the sushi. Sokka settles with loading his plate up with meat kebabs. Sushi is all well and good, but he spent the entire summer consuming Water Tribe cuisine. No… he’s been looking forward to food from the other nations to try out. He takes a moment to chat with some of the dining hall staff, surprised to find Suki of all people working the line. She introduces him to a few new faces before he needs to return to his dinner date with Yue. 
Suki gives him a playful shove, eyes rolling as he walks away from her station. She knows Sokka isn’t serious about Yue. Not like that at least. Yue is gorgeous, for sure, and at one point, he thought maybe there was something there. That was before she confessed to having met her soulmate. The news crushed him a little but they’ve managed to stay good friends and he’s more than happy with that arrangement. 
Dinner passes with them getting caught up and sharing stories from over the summer. Sokka’s summer was full of fishing and teaching some of the younger kids how to hunt out on the ice. Yue taught piano and singing lessons to children of nobles.They exchange schedules so they can plan to meet up at some point in the future, though Sokka knows it’s likely to fall through given their classes. Still, it’s the thought that counts, and they can always meet up for a study session if needed. 
Suki has long since finished her shift and joined them for a late dinner by the time they're leaving. The pair part ways with Yue so she can head over to the music room. He’s not even sure if the academic buildings are even open, but Yue’s pretty dedicated to her music. Sokka and Suki head back to their dorm to relax before classes start on Tuesday. 
“I heard there’s a new tea shop in town,” Suki says as their conversation drifts away from classes. She’s walking along one of those low walls along the sidewalk that people love to sit on. “We should go check it out some time.” 
“The one that opened over the summer?” Sokka asks and she nods. “Yeah, I think Aang was talking about it earlier. Said the tea there was the best. I’d be down for going.” 
“Bring your roommate so we can all meet him?” Sokka scoffs and rolls his eyes. 
“I haven’t even met the guy,” he tells her. 
“Oh…” Suki gets to the end of the wall and jumps down. “Has he not moved in yet?” 
“He moved in before me but he wasn’t there when I arrived,” he answers with a shrug. “Guess he’s just busy… or something.” Only… Sokka vaguely recalls something about Zuko being a transfer student. So… maybe he’s been getting familiar with campus, or making some new friends? He shrugs again. “I’m sure I’ll run into him soon enough since we live together. Maybe he’ll be okay with joining us.” Assuming he isn’t busy with his own stuff. 
“Remind me again why you didn’t just room with Haru?” she asks. Sokka sighs. So… in reality, he and Haru probably would’ve been great roommates. Sokka would’ve done it in a heartbeat but Haru wanted to move off campus and he just wasn’t ready for that. Besides, rooming with a random person just means more opportunity to make new friends, and maybe meet his soulmate, of course. 
“I wanted another year on campus, remember?” Suki hums but still looks unconvinced. She would’ve just moved off campus if she were in his position. Jet would’ve turned anyone off from having a roommate again. Thankfully, Sokka believes in second chances. Also, not everyone is Jet. 
“How’s Katara liking her new place?” Suki asks, and the conversation turns to their small group of friends. 
He invites Suki back to his room which she kindly turns down. Something about needing to finish unpacking. 
Much to Sokka’s surprise, his room is currently occupied. By someone he can only assume is his roommate given the guy’s half-naked appearance. Sokka’s gaze starts first at the towel wrapped around his waist, then follows water droplets up his stupidly toned abs, and obscenely muscular arms to land on his surprised gaze. He feels his face grow warm as they stare silently at each other before Sokka abruptly steps out of the room and shuts the door. 
He stares at the door wondering what the hell he’s doing. This is his room too! They’re going to be living together for the next year, and they sure as hell will be times they see each other half-naked! If he can’t survive this then it’s going to be a long year.
Thankfully, his roommate has gotten dressed in the time he spent outside having a crisis, donning a simple red tunic and pants. Fire Nation, then, Sokka determines, glancing quickly over Zuko’s side. Other than his clothes, nothing else seems to reveal his heritage. Makes Sokka wonder at that but he chooses not to ask. For now at least. He’ll ask when they’ve gotten to know each other better. 
Zuko’s sitting at his desk, headphones on and blaring music loud enough Sokka can hear the lyrics. Okay so… not exactly the best first impression, but he wishes he could at least introduce himself properly. Sokka peaks over his shoulder as he moves into the room, curious over what Zuko is furiously scribbling into his book. He must get too close because his companion freezes and then quickly snaps the book shut, turning to glare at the person behind him. The music cuts off suddenly. 
“Can I help you?” Zoku growls. 
“Sorry…” Sokka steps away from him and over to his bed. Zuko’s still watching him and he finally notices the very large and entirely unmistakable scar on his face. It looks pretty gnarly and he wonders vaguely if Zuko can even see out of that eye but he wisely chooses not to comment. Instead, he flops onto his bed and says, “I’m Sokka by the way. Nice to meet you officially.”
Zuko hums. There’s a long beat of silence where Sokka thinks the conversation may have ended. He groans and Sokka watches his roommate slide down in his chair, hands on his face. 
“Why am I so bad at this?” he hisses under his breath. He’s trying to be discrete but it’s loud enough that Sokka can hear it. Sokka stares at his phone and pretends like he didn’t hear the comment. Zuko mutters something else that he definitely doesn’t hear and then replies, “I’m… uh...Zuko?” 
Sokka snorts. He can’t help it, and he can’t help the tiny laugh that bursts out of him. Zuko frowns, turns back toward his desk, and okay… now Sokka just feels bad. 
“Sorry,” he says, waving a hand in the air. “Didn’t mean to laugh. I just… are you telling me your name or asking?” Zuko huffs. 
“No, I…” A hand brushes through his hair and he sighs again. “I’m just not good with meeting new people…” A beat of silence. “Sorry…” 
“You don’t need to apologize, man,” Sokka tells him, waving the apology off. Zuko turns around again. Sokka gives him a reassuring smile. “I get it. Meeting new people is hard especially when they’re about to spend a whole year crammed in a tiny room together.” The tiniest possible smile Sokka’s ever seen wiggles onto Zuko’s face. It’s gone just a second later. 
“So… uh… what are you studying?” Zuko asks. 
“I haven’t decided on a major yet…” he confesses. “Sort of stuck between a few different options. You?” 
“I’m studying art therapy.” 
“Oh, cool.” Sokka isn’t too sure what to say to that, other than it sounds like a hard major. He’s honestly surprised that Zuko’s studying something so… artsy? Especially considering how… not art-esque his side of the room is. If Sokka had to guess a major, it probably would have been business related or something. Hell, he doesn’t even have any posters on the walls. If it weren’t for his very obvious Fire Nation attire, Sokka’s not even sure he’d know where his roommate was from. Not that it matters, but still... Zuko’s half of the room is as impersonal as they can get. Guy likes his privacy, Sokka supposes. 
He wonders if Zuko’s a firebender.
“What got you into that?” he asks instead, unwilling to pry into that subject just yet. Zuko shrugs. 
“Art really helped me through some… things,” he answers. “So I wanted to use it to help others.” Curiosity makes him want to ask about it but the scar on his face is probably a big indicator of what happened. Also, asking would be rude and Gran-Gran would no doubt scold him for prying into a sensitive subject.
Instead, Sokka directs the conversation to class schedules. They take the time to go over when each of them wake up every day. Surprisingly (or maybe, unsurprisingly) Zuko has a strict wake up schedule of the literal ass crack of dawn. He likes to get an early start to the day regardless of his plans which only means it’ll translate to the weekends as well, much to Sokka’s dismay. Weekends are Sokka’s down days, okay? He likes to stay up late and sleep until noon. 
Zuko swears he’ll be quiet, which Sokka has no reason to not trust so he goes along with it. It won’t be a problem anyways unless Zuko also goes to bed early which he reassures he definitely does not. 
Sokka admits he’s pretty messy because it doesn’t hurt to tell the person he’s rooming with. He promises to be as clean as possible though so it doesn’t disrupt anyone; something Zuko is visibly appreciative of. 
At some point, Zuko moves to his own bed and the lights are turned off. Silences between conversations grow longer until both boys eventually fall asleep. 
He finds himself swimming deep into the depths of the ocean. Something swims ahead, close enough to make out the shadow but too far to distinguish whatever it is. Still, he finds himself drawn to the creature. 
The water grows colders.
It grows darker. 
Still he swims.
Reaching.
Chasing. 
Trying in vain to catch up to something… something he knows, deep down is important. Whatever’s in front of him is the thing he’s been searching an entire lifetime for yet it eludes him.
Remains too far out of reach until its shadow blends into the darkness of the ocean. 
He finds himself alone.
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creaticare · 3 years
Text
Shameless Self Promotion
ALL HAIKYUU FICS HAVE SOME KIND OF RAREPAIR SO, CHECK TAGS BUT IF IT AIN’T IN THE TAG THAT’S CAUSE I WANNA SUPRISE PEOPLE WITH IT
Karasuno’s second fall:
Haikyuu, and My Most liked fic. Their are plenty of trigger warnings for this fic, please read the tags on the fic itself. Also spoilers for end of season 3, light but if you haven’t watched 3rd season well, oops. Summary:  They had just won against Shiritorizawa, their life couldn't get any better so I guess it didn't. It got worse what happens after the crows fall once more. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166991/chapters/63670834
Figure four: 
I’m putting them in order of popularity so, Haikyuu and Yuri on Ice crossover, but their are 4 skaters and none of them are Hinata Summary:  What happens when an old set of pair skaters meet once again, not on the ice but on a volleyball court. Not long after they meet each other once more they meet their old rivals. Then forced into a trip which risks there cover of being found by there old coaches, and their rivals secret of skating being found out. Will they also learn about some relatives that they never knew their coaches had. Follow these four figure skaters in their adventure of hiding secrets, from there teams and ex-coaches.  https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186371/chapters/63723157
Rift in the game:
Haikyuu, but this time its a transfer fic the cliché aoba johsai kind. But their are 4 transfers and again the fic does not revolve around hinata, their is also a underlying soulmate au, the kind where you write on your skin Summary:  Karasuno gets into a disagreement which causes a rift in the team, the team splits into two groups one believing _______ is innocent, the other believing he's a liar. What if the rift get's so big that the three who believe their friend is innocent along with _______ transfer schools. What will happen when the two groups meet each other once again, but on separate sides of the net. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606371/chapters/67536998
Volleygays:
Again Haikyuu, but this time it’s just a volleyball group chat with of course anonymity and chaos Summary:  With Energy Drinks, Gaming, Chaotic discord server, and Volleygays. Who is joining the server of chaos, how chaotic shall it get? Who might get arrested, who knows, I definitely don't we will both find out as I write this. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26437306/chapters/64410340
Tiny Disturbance:
Haikyuu, Single Teenage dad Nishinoya, He is trans in this fic, he actually is in a lot of my fics. But I couldn’t figure out how to say he got pregnant so people will just have to go with, their is a bit of transphobia in the first chapter, and also the use of the word sl*t. Summary:  Nishinoya didn't expect his life to get flipped upside down by a positive pregnancy test in his hands. After ten months of avoiding his team and of trying to fend for himself, his life is a bit more stable. Well as stable as it could be when he is balancing taking care of his baby girl Doi, working a job to pay rent, volleyball practice, and school. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27137785/chapters/66271636
Roses and Crows:
Haikyuu again, I know shocking. This one is a bit harder to explain It’s like a cannon divergence but also Florist x Tattoo artist. The ship is HinaNoya, they still did volleyball together in highschool with all the others, but after Highschool they lost touch with each other. They both stay in contact with the rest of the team but lost track of each other. Hinata got into a accident in brazil which made it so he might never be able to play volleyball again so he started a flower shop, Noya he kind of just started a tattoo shop. They meet again but don’t recognize each other because of all the different changes since they had last seen each other. Summary:  In the main tourist area of a beautiful town, there was a line of different shops, two contrasting shops that neighbored each other would be flying florals and crows in ink. The Floral shop had been around for a while and was run by a sweet boisterous young male. On the other hand, the tattoo parlor was new it was run by a handsome young man littered with tattoos. The Flying Florals were known for the Black and Orange roses, while Crows in ink were known for their beautiful crow tattoo's. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26956003/chapters/65790589
Beauties Meaning:
Haikyuu, this is a original soulmate au. The main ship is centered around OiNoya Summary: Flowers and Butterflies, to you probably some normal symbol of beauty, in this fic a symbol of your soulmate. Flowers and Butterflies they don't know when it started, but all they know is their meaning changed about fifty years ago. You might be wondering why it's Flowers and Butterflies, well they don't know why they just know that one soulmate gets one of the two and the second soulmate gets the other. You may think do they have a meaning other than something to bring you to your soulmate, yes they do. For the soulmate with Flowers, they beautifully bloom from where your soulmate is injured. The Butterflies are pretty much the same except a certain kind of Butterfly is attracted to where your soulmate injured themselves. Usually, the kind of Flower and Butterflies have a certain meaning to either the relationship between the two soulmates or a similarity. Before you meet the Flowers and Butterflies will represent a similitary, once you meet they will represent your relationship. People always love to watch the different flowers change, or see that a new kind of butterfly starts to come to them when their soulmate gets injured. Follow two volleyball players as they try and figure out who their soulmate is. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27029212/chapters/65986540
Family Trouble:
This one isn’t much but it’s Haikyuu again, but it’s based off the siblings of the haikyuu characters. This is my oc’s for the siblings and how i think they would be like and my little headcannon’s. Summary:  This fic revolves around the siblings of the Haikyuu characters, so this will mostly be Oc's since this is pretty much in the life of the haikyuu siblings. There might be sometimes that I go to the actual characters because some of the siblings knowing each other so they know other opponent's kinds of stuff. P.S. I don't know how it happened but it all kind of revolves around the Nishinoya family like they are the base family and everyone connects together from there. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27422962/chapters/67032553
Domino Effect:
Haikyuu, Fair warning this fic is just angst then more angst and so on. TsukkiAkaKenBokuKuroo unrequited love, i put them in the order of who loves who, this is a collaboration i am doing with a friend of mine. But in all this is a Hanahaki, Star tears, unrequited love fic. Summary:  Their Dynamic was odd it was there but nobody fully knew what it was, their lives all entangled into one giant loop. Their loop was full of hardship, pain, and rejection that could break the bond between them completely. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27482584/chapters/67196899
Vanishers:
Something not Haikyuu, this is my single my hero academia fic that I need to update Summary: It's been about a year since they went missing and were presumed dead. It's been about a year since the attack that ended class 1-A. It's been a month since a new vigilante team showed up. It's been a week since the name vanishers were given to the anonymous vigilante team. It's been a day since their last appearance. It's been an hour since Shima wacked Mashi for almost getting caught shop lifting. (All the characters are canon characters I just use nicknames untill I wanna reveal who they actually are) https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580664/chapters/64804432
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getalittleclosey · 4 years
Text
under 25k larry fic rec
hi! i’m becca and i read...so much fic. these rec lists are an accumulation of fic that i’ve read or reread and extra loved from 2016-now. there’s a wide range of stuff here and i think there’s definitely something for everyone!! i divided them up by length so you can check out all those categories below!
please make sure to read tags and warnings on all these fics!! the only things i think i can guarantee is that these are all larry, there’s no non-con, no age play, no eating disorders, no mentions of bg, they end happy, and they’re mostly aus. oh and they’re all on ao3 and some are locked so you’ll need an account! anyway i hope y’all enjoy!!!
under 5k
under 10k
under 50k
under 100k
100k+
☆ watching the world fall by whoknows 12k
This segment has been going on long enough that Louis knows what’s coming before James starts in on it, trying to sell him on something he knows that Louis wouldn’t normally be buying. But there’s four cameras surrounding him, and an audience watching him expectantly, so if Louis wants to continue convincing people that he’s doing just fine, he’s going to have to go along with it.
“We have a whole host of single men backstage waiting to meet you, Louis,” James tells him. “We want to help you find love tonight, on Late Late Live Tinder. Is this okay? Do you want to play?”
It actually kind of makes sense that his first date after the break-up is going to be just as public as said break-up. Something like coming full circle.
“Alright, James,” Louis agrees, hopping down off his stool.
“Okay, come down to the stage,” James says. Louis can’t even tell whether the excitement in his voice is genuine or not. “Right now, come on down!”
☆ enjoy the ride by 2tiedships2 11k
“Stop sulking and get up. I have a proposition to make.”
“Niall?” Louis questioned. “Do you think I should put glow in the dark stars on my ceiling?”
He looked over and found Niall giving him an unimpressed look.
“So, no?” Louis asked. “No stars?”
“We’re going on a road trip,” Niall stated.
Louis looked back at his starless ceiling and waved farewell to Niall. “Cool. Have fun!”
“No, you idiot.” Niall let out a frustrated sigh. “You, me, Liam, and Harry.”
Louis glanced over to Niall and back to the ceiling. “Who’s Harry?”
Or the one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.
☆ like to keep you laughing by kikikryslee 13k
Louis gasped. “Are you straight? Oh, I'm sorry, man. You should’ve just told me; I would’ve left you alone.” “No, no, that’s not it," Harry said. "I like guys. I definitely like guys.” “OK…” “Louis, I’m ace.” Louis snorted. “Kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?” --- Or, the one where Louis is a frat boy who likes to hook up and Harry is someone who doesn't hook up ever.
note: ace and aro rep bless
☆ say that you can see me (i’ll speak up i swear) by coffeelouis (streamtpwk) 20k
“Well, it’s not like anyone really RSVPs,” Liam defends when Harry turns back to him, “No one takes Facebook events seriously.” Harry rolls his eyes, still finding it within himself to get annoyed in his moment of panic. Liam has been complaining about the lack of accountability Facebook events have bred in their generation since their freshman year. Harry glances back to the gallery entrance. Yep, still there and moving closer.
“But aren’t you guys friends?” Harry asks, trying to convey the urgency in his tone.
“Well, I mean, I talk to him when he stops by the office for supplies sometimes,” Liam reasons, “But I wouldn’t say we’re friends, exactly. Maybe more like, friendly acquaintances?”
Harry groans. “You’re the fucking worst.”
[or, the liberal arts COLLEGE AU where Harry knows Louis as the best friend of the boy he has been hopelessly in love with for years now and Louis knows Harry as the boy he wished would look away from Zayn long enough to notice him.]
☆ a fire in us by hereforlou 12k
Louis had always thought it wouldn’t catch him off-guard. If he ever got his Time, he would be ready, and he would be calm, and he would make his way to wherever his soulmate waited for him and blow them away with how ready and calm he was.
When he got his Time on that Monday, years after he had stopped fantasizing about meeting his soulmate, Louis was not ready, and he was not calm. What he was was late.
(Or, the one where Harry waits and Louis worries.)
☆ just like the wolf before he bites by whoknows 11k
He’s loud, Louis is, and that’s far from unusual for him, but the volume of it still has Harry pulling back the curtain. There’s a half-formed thought in the back of his brain about telling Louis off, because it’s fucking half three in the morning, but then.
But then Harry’s eyes get stuck on the soft glint of Louis’ stubble in the light, and he’s making his way across the room before he even realizes it.
Louis, for his part, just tips his chin up to give Harry space and keeps talking, waving the joint in his hand around for emphasis. He doesn’t even bother to greet Harry, going on with his story to his semi-rapt audience, just settles a hand in between Harry’s shoulder blades and pushes him down firmly.
Harry just. Relaxes. His eyes slip closed, pushing his entire face into that spot underneath Louis’ chin, where his hair is still growing, neat and prickly. The scent of Louis’ cologne drifts into Harry’s nose, light and fresh, and it’s calming. Comforting. His breathing syncs up with Louis’ quickly, and Harry feels so much better than he had five minutes ago he almost wants to cry.
note: i’m rewatching teen wolf so this hits different
☆ wine not? by multiple authors 21k
Louis’ Wine Dive is a bar run by the people for the people. Wine Styles is a boutique tasting room that caters to a more highbrow clientele. When their worlds clash on a beautiful Charleston street, one of these owners may find that an ounce of pretension doesn’t stand a chance against a pound of perseverance.
☆ ain’t that a kick in the head by multiple authors 22k
“Well.” Niall unlocks his phone. “It wasn’t getting the traction I wanted on Snapchat. So…I tweeted it.”
What.
“You tweeted it,” Harry states, nearing a state of brain dead. “To your ten thousand followers.”
Niall nods, handing Harry the phone. “You’re a meme, Harry.”
“I’m a what?”
“A meme. It’s like an internet—”
“I know what a fucking meme is, Niall! Why did you make me into one?”
Niall has the fucking balls to cackle at that while Harry looks at the mess his former friend created. Videos of him screaming at Tomlinson about Tide Pods and his ass are being quoted and combined with memes to a create a level of memeception Harry has never seen before. That isn’t even including the thousands of tweets of him falling up the stairs remixed with random Top 40 songs.
~
In which Harry’s a disaster gay who doesn’t know shit about soccer, Liam drinks too many blue raspberry Coolattas, Niall knows everyone, Zayn looks dead, and Louis is Not Happy about sharing his breakout moment with “Drunk Hawaiian Guy.”
☆ tyger! tyger! burning bright by ryanreynolds 12k
They put on the Great British Bake Off, in a house in Donny, in England, that’s maybe inhabited by two ghosts, two lovers, stuck in the house where they used to have a life, so far away from the time they were born in. // A Buzzfeed Unsolved AU in which Harry and Louis died in a fire in the late 1800's, but death isn't the end.
☆ for the first time by mixedfandomfics 22k
The first Harry that Louis met was at his third school in as many years, and had shoved Louis’ head into the toilet when he walked into the mens restroom. Some slurs had been used, but the whole incident was kind of blurry thanks to the concussion he got when his head hit the tile floor.
The second Harry was a TSA agent when Louis was sixteen, returning from a trip abroad. The agent had smirked at Louis passport. “Layla, huh? Should think about dressing a little more feminine, no guy is gonna want you looking like that.”
Louis doesn’t want to see if “third time’s the charm” applies here. He’s finally secure in his life and happy, and he doesn’t want the heartbreak if his soulmate is just another bigot that wanted Layla and not Louis. Sue him for avoiding the pain.
☆ all i need is oxygen (and you) by lululawrence 12k
There are only two ways to navigate Bloomfield High School: become popular or make yourself invisible.
With the help of his best mate Niall, Harry’s introduction to high school hadn’t been half bad. Despite being a “bandie” – the lowest of the low in the ancient hierarchy of high school –Harry had somehow managed to survive freshman year relatively unscathed. So naturally, Harry would have been perfectly happy to resume his position of invisible trombone player number four for the remainder of high school. But one day something drastic happened, something that would change the course of Harry’s entire existence (probably).
It was the last football game of his freshman year, and the band was back in the stands after performing a rousing rendition of Bloomfield’s alma mater during half time. Harry was gracelessly wiping the slobber from the mouthpiece of his trombone when he saw him.
Louis Tomlinson.
Or...a High School AU where Harry is a bandie and Louis is the epitome of cool, so naturally, Harry must find a way to get his attention and win his affections.
☆ come together by bottomlinsons 11k
Harry and Louis slept together three weeks ago, and haven't talked.
Their coming group project is gonna change that.
☆ honey at seven by louiesunshine 11k
He’s in head to toe in khaki, from the oversized shorts showing off his thin and tanned legs to the buttoned-up shirt which is hiding his true form underneath. If his muscular arms have any indication, Louis easily assumes he’s fit and toned. A dark brown leather belt ties around his slim waist. And to top it all off, the man proudly wore a safari hat on his dark wavy hair.
Unfortunately from where Louis is at, he can’t get a clear view of the man’s eyes. But he’s able to see a strong jawline and a simple dimple curving his cheek. God.
Being the impatient guy that he is, he not so kindly pushes both Niall and Liam forward to speed them up.
“Welcome, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Hop on in and watch your head. If you happen to miss your step and hit your head, then lower your voice and watch your language. This is a family attraction and we’d like to keep it that way.”
Or, where Louis goes to Disneyland for his birthday and finds himself a cute Jungle Cruise skipper.
☆ the switch (love is blind) by writeroffictions 13k
A Model Behavior/Princess Switch AU: Harry Styles is a doppelganger for the new face of Gucci, runway model, Dean Rose. Harry is asked to pose as him one night for an event, because the actual Dean Rose is violently ill. This leads Harry to meeting his celeb crush, Global Superstar Louis Tomlinson. Sparks fly. But are any of them real?
☆ fiction romance by orphan_account 18k
Harry has a type.
He likes older, sophisticated, mature men. Well-educated men. Men with life experience and passion for arts and social causes. Men who are established in their careers, who've sorted their lives out.
Niall knows this.
And so Harry can't understand why he's sat here opposite Louis Tomlinson.
A punk Louis/uni Harry blind date AU.
☆ under me, you by hazzafrazza (colberry) 12k
You Won’t Believe Who Was Spotted Leaving Harry Styles’ Primrose Hill Pad! If Harry was being completely honest, it probably wasn’t the best idea to be a world-renowned popstar and an infamous vigilante.
(Especially when all the comic books said never reveal your secret identity to keep your loved ones safe – which was all well and good, until Louis.)
Or: Harry wants a lot of things – fame, glory, Louis – but that last one is particularly hard to get when everyone thinks you’re dating your secret superhero alter-ego and suddenly you’ve become your own worst cockblock.
☆ superhuman tonight by rearviewdreamer 23k
A group of young offenders doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers.
☆ sing you butterflies by objectlesson 23k
Louis stares for a moment before some primal sympathetic force in him activates. He has to help this boy. He can hardly walk, and he seems so young (yet ageless, beyond age, like a sea turtle or a parrot or a tree or something else odd and magical), and on top of all that, he has body glitter clinging to his skin, like that roll-on stuff his sisters used to use as preteens, only pink-gold and twice as thick. It’s, like, professional grade. He’s also wearing grass- and dirt-stained pink silk women’s underwear, so maybe he’s from London. Maybe he’s a drag queen who crawled all the way from a nightclub in Soho just to save Louis from his horribly mundane and woefully heterosexual neighbours out here in the middle of nowhere.
---
or, Harry’s a clumsy unicorn who accidentally stomps on a witch’s garden and is turned into a human as punishment, so he wanders into a nearby village covered in glitter, still figuring out how to walk on two feet, and meets the fairy-tale-fine Louis, who has to teach him how to live as a human and stop him from eating soap.
☆ i’ll be your love tonight by dinosaursmate 20k
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to walk away from you.” “So don’t.” Harry ran a fingertip over Louis’ thigh. “Stay with me.” - It's the summer of 1999 and Louis Tomlinson has been abandoned at a house party. A dispute over Smirnoff Ice and several night buses later, Louis is unsure how he'll ever walk away from this lovely, curly-haired boy.
☆ carried away like butterflies by dinosaursmate 17k
“Actually…” Liam said, scratching his chin absently. “I have a friend who is moving to London soon.” “Without anywhere to live? Who is it? Do I want them living in my home?!” “You met him at my birthday party. Harry, from Cheshire. Remember? Really tight jeans, curly hair down to here?” Realisation dawned on Louis, staring at Liam who was gesturing round about his nipples. Did he remember Harry? Did he remember Harry? He remembered Harry’s square front teeth biting into his collarbone, and he remembered Harry moaning, loud and obscene with no provocation. He remembered Harry dropping to his knees at the edge of the bed and roughly pulling Louis closer. He remembered, vividly, Harry’s lovely plump lips wrapping around his- “Lou?” “Uh- what?” Louis said, startled. “Oh, yeah. Um, I think I remember him.” - It was probably a huge mistake for Louis to let his former One Night Stand move into his spare room, especially when said One Night Stand doesn't seem to remember him.
☆ head head heart by turnyourankle 12k
After Dunkirk has wrapped filming, Harry struggles with his inability to reach subspace. He tries taking the matter in his own hands before Louis intervenes with a plan of his own.
☆ i got my eyes on you (you’re everything that i see) by balanceds 11k
“It’s not a secret, right, Harry? All of his friends seem to know--”
Harry slumps down and starts methodically banging his head against his newsroom desk. “Niall, it is a secret from him because I have spoken a total of ten fucking words to Louis Tomlinson and also he is incredibly out of my league and probably fucking straight as well!”
Or: Harry's a first-year on the school newspaper, assigned to cover the terrible men's first football team. Louis Tomlinson is the team's star defender. Harry pays significantly more attention to Louis's arse than to writing real columns. Pretty soon, everyone notices. It takes Louis the longest.
☆ then we kiss (all i wanna do is have a good time) by orphan_account 24k
Harry shuffles further into the room, timidly taking a seat on one of the chairs set in front of Louis’ table. He keeps his eyes on the floor, fumbling for words. “Sorry, I’m just—it’s just that I’m a bit nervous. And, uh, I wasn’t really expecting for you to look so—” he cuts himself off, just in time to keep himself from saying beautiful.
“Young?” Louis guesses, and Harry just nods, going along with it. “Yeah, don’t worry. I get that a lot, mate. People don’t really expect you to be head writer at twenty-nine. They think to get the job you have to be in your forties, or something.”
So a five-year age gap. Cool.
(harry is a potential new writer for a comedy show. louis is his kind-of boss. they flirt. stuff happens.)
☆ other habits (make your pleasure your pains) by jtsbbsps_dk 19k
Freaky Friday High School AU.
Wherein Harry just wanted to have lunch with his older sister, Cal sells ice cream, Gemma has a test, Anne thinks she knows (she really doesn’t) and Fate plays match maker, because no one puts her ship off course. Louis just tries to help out his best friend's little brother while dealing with a metaphorical butterfly invasion.
☆ the boy in the pikachu pants by mrsstylinson 20k
Louis stars as the bumbling idiot who's only a bumbling idiot around Harry. Harry stars as the charming bastard who steals his heart completely. They meet in the middle of a hallway with Louis in a state of considerable undress, singing Destiny's Child at the top of his lungs. Somehow that seals it for Harry. This is the boy he was always meant to fall in love with. Louis feels the same, only slightly more defeatist. It takes them a while to figure things out.
☆ all the small things by kitundercover 20k
AU. Harry is five inches tall and can't remember how he got that way, but maybe with Louis' help they can work it out. ---
Louis stares. “You’re five inches tall,” he says finally.
“I am about that.” The tiny man agrees.
“You’ve been making strange noises and scaring the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry.” The tiny man winces.
“You’ve been breaking my things.”
“Not on purpose.”
That voice is disconcertingly deep, and Louis keeps wanting to look up and find the fully grown person that it must surely be coming from. He takes a deep breath and moves onto the next impossible point.
“You’ve been riding my rabbit,” he says.
☆ like two softened shoes by marie24 14k
He sets his laptop on the bed, backing away and running his hands repeatedly through his curls. Okay. This is okay. This is fine. This is not real.
Will peeks his head around the door frame.
“Uh, everything okay in here?”
Harry tries to keep his breathing under control. “Yeah!” he says. “It’s, um, everything’s fine!” He can hear himself talking really loudly. Will looks doubtful.
“Are you sure? Because it really seems like -”
Harry barks out a laugh, cutting him off. “Okay! So this is going to sound really strange. But.” He looks at Will, with the same shiny fringe, blue, blue eyes, and sharp cheekbones he’d been writing about the whole last week. He worries his lip frantically between his teeth. “Um. I think I… I think I… wrote you?”
Or, Harry is a writer who gets through his writer’s block by pouring his feelings for his best friend Louis into a character. A few days later, the character lands in his bed, three dimensional and with no idea how to get back where he came from. He turns out to be very inconvenient for keeping Harry’s feelings to himself.
☆ ready to fall by whoknows 21k
“Ninety and rising,” Nick says triumphantly, as though making Harry’s heartbeat pick up by thrusting an obscenely attractive person in front of his face is any kind of success. “Louis Tomlinson has just walked into our control room and suddenly our dear Harry Styles has lost all ability to speak. Could this be some kind of strange coincidence?”
“I hate you,” Harry hisses, forcing his eyes back into Nick’s direction, uncaring that the mic must have picked it up. “I thought we agreed that you were going to play fair.”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nick denies, except he’s holding up a picture of Louis’ face now, sharp cheekbones prominent, soft lashes nearly sweeping against his cheeks as he looks down, and his fucking mouth –
“A hundred and two!” Nick crows, all but clapping his hands together in glee. “The highest it’s ever been!”
“To be fair, I did bend over the desk on purpose,” Louis’ voice comes crackling in the headphones. Harry practically breaks his neck whipping his head around at the sound of it, gaping at him through the glass panel. “You can’t really blame him for getting a little excited about that, can you?”
☆ gnossienne by pukeandcry 11k
Louis sets a challenge for himself; it gets a bit out of hand.
☆ tonight’s not over (come over and stay) by louistomlinsons 17k
Zayn doesn’t say anything for a moment, pausing and worrying at his bottom lip. Finally, he asks, “Have you heard that Cox guy is coming out with a new song?” Louis freezes, fingers hovering over his keyboard where they had been typing his password. “No, I hadn’t,” Louis says truthfully. “Where did you hear that?” “Tell anyone this and I’ll kill you, but I’d consider myself a big fan,” Zayn says. His face doesn’t change in expression, completely serious as he admits this to Louis. “Big fan? Like run a blog and everything?” or, harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel
☆ a love that feels this right by dontlethimgo 14k
As always, the classic high-school rumour mill is never completely reliable. Sure, there are those stories that fly around that turn out to be true—like the one about Niall getting with a model at a party a few months ago (which Louis still struggles to believe)—but this ‘rumour’ has so many versions, and none of them are actually right.  
The Sixth Form AU where Louis is the footie team captain, Harry is head boy, and no one at school has any idea that the two of them are in love.
☆ put your head on my shoulder by wayfared 18k
Niall gives Harry until the end of marching season to either a) make a move on Louis Tomlinson or b) get the fuck over him. Either is easier said than done. Basically, your High School AU with a drum beat.
☆ some nights i’m scared you’ll forget me by pukeandcry 15k
Zayn stifles a groan. He’s not terribly surprised -- Harry’d been mooning over Louis since the day they met three years ago when Zayn had moved into the house next to him -- but he’d been hoping that Harry would eventually get over it and redirect his attention to someone else. This development does not bode well for that turn of events, though. (High School AU)
note: this is zayn’s pov and has a decent amount of ziall and a lot of zarry friendship if i remember!
☆ oh how i hate this red string of fate by calamityk 14k
Harry thought being able to see people’s strings die would be the worst thing about his gift, until at twenty-two he finally met the other end of his own. --------- Or that soulmate AU where Harry can see the red strings of fate that tie everyone together.
☆ smoke dreams from smoke rings by objectlesson 18k
“When I get a craving?” Louis says, “You have to help me chase it away. Distract me”
Oh. Harry can think of about one hundred different ways to distract Louis Tomlinson. One hundred better uses for his mouth, for example. “Erm,” he squeaks, well aware of the fact that he's grinning and dimpling and blushing all at once, his whole face a suddenly mortifying warzone of transparent emotion. “How?”
“By hitting my arm as hard as you can,” Louis announces, holding out the arm in question. It bridges the gap between them, stiff and expectant, and Harry stares, not entirely sure if Louis’s being serious, if this is some prank that he isn’t clever enough to understand, or if the promise of touching Louis under any circumstances is so titillating that he just can’t process it. Louis rolls up the sleeve of his hoodie then, revealing his pale inner arm in maddening increments, pushing Harry somewhere between drooling and vomiting, he isn’t sure which. He just knows that his mouth is flooded, and the barely-there ghost of Louis’s veins through his skin is the prettiest thing that he’s ever seen. “Go on, hit me,” Louis orders. “Don’t be shy,”
--- or, Louis enlists Harry to help him with his bad habit.
☆ milkshake by speechless 13k
He's been saying it for years. He doesn't care that it makes Liam roll his eyes and Zayn sigh and Niall crack up. Lots of things he does get that kind of reaction from the boys anyway. Louis won't stop saying it, 'cause it's true. His milkshake does bring all the boys to the yard. It's a fact.
So the day he decides to get into Harry Styles' pants he says it again, when all three of his roommates are there to witness it. "I'll fuck him by the end of the month. You'll see."
☆ you drive me crazy (i just can’t sleep) by objectlesson 19k
The first time Louis ends up in Harry’s bed is a total accident.
☆ happily ever after by theneverending 19k
"It’s the Peter Pan that I work with most days. Harry got placed with us today and it’s really quite funny to watch him make starry eyes at Peter Pan from behind his camera. As if that would hide anything,” Niall claims with an eye roll, causing Harry to blush even harder.
“I didn’t think you’d notice,” Harry responds lamely, suddenly becoming interested in his food again.
“Harry, when you like someone, it’s written all over your face. You just kept staring at him.”
“That’s my job, I have to stare at him to make sure the photos come out nice.”
“You wouldn’t be getting defensive if I wasn’t right,” Niall rebukes, and Harry really can’t argue with that, so he lets Niall have the last word.
or, the one where louis and harry work at walt disney world, louis is a character performer for peter pan, and harry's the photographer that sometimes gets to work with him.
☆ like the stars that shined by butliamwhy 12k
Louis has stars in his eyes. Harry has known it since they were kids. They have their own tree, their own café booth, and so many years to fall in love. Perhaps a lifetime.
☆ green in the morning and blue afternoon by wildestdreams 14k
“Harry,” Louis whispered beside him.
Harry hummed, his hand coming up to stroke Louis’ back. Louis was still on top of him, his body sagging against Harry’s, heavy and warm, and Harry loved it.
“I don’t think it was a one off.”
“Me either, Lou.”
or
a Friends AU.
11 notes · View notes
Text
Preordained: Introductions V
When Zara Met Seokjin
Tumblr media
Pairing(s):Poly!BTSxOC, Sub!BTSxOC,
Warnings: Implied sexual situations, Mentions of sexual situations, implications of Dom/sub relationships
Notes: This might have been the Introduction that I had the most trouble with, because it’s the chapter where the AU-ness of Preordained really starts to come in.
Intro: Taehyung, Jungkook, Yoongi, Namjoon
The addition of Namjoon immediately eased most of the tensions between the boys. He was a natural leader, excellent at talking things out, and his instinct to sort out the arguments to spare Zara the stress was strong.
He also expressed the need for the guys to get to know each other better outside of being Zara’s Soulmates, because that would help ease the friction between everyone.
Zara’s grades, which had suffered under the stress, quickly returned to normal, and Namjoon’s intelligence also inspired Zara to actually focus on school again instead of wasting all her time with her menagerie of beautiful boys. 
At this moment, she sat in her painting class, wondering why, exactly, the film class that was normally the next room over was crowded in with the rest of them. The easels an stools had been pushed against one wall, leaving as much room as possible for people to stand. Zara, always early for class, had hoisted herself up onto the only fixed counter top in the room, crossing her legs under her.
When the teachers had done a mental headcount of their students and assured that most, if not all of them were there, they called for attention.
“Good morning, everyone,” Mr. Lee, the film professor, clapped his hands twice. “I know you’re all wondering what’s going on here today. Well, I’ll tell you. Ms. Do and I have always combined our classes when it’s time to start thinking of final projects.” He paused for the groans as the students realized what was happening. “Yes, that’s right, you’re going to have partners, but we’ll get into that later. Right now, we want to explain what the projects are. For my students, you’re going to be making a Youtube channel! You can do whatever you want for your channel, any subject at all. My only stipulation is that your partner must be included in some way. Your partner is your Muse, so to speak. This is why Ms. Do and I have lovingly named this The Muse Project. For my students, the final presentation of the Youtube channel is worth 30% of your grade, and the painting students will get extra credit on their own final projects.”
“Now,” Ms. Do took over, “the project for my students is, of course, an art show, though not a normal one. Instead of canvas paintings, the pieces displayed in the end-of-semester art show will be digital photographs of paintings done on your partner’s body. Your partner is your canvas, and your Muse. The art show is worth 30% of your grade, and the film students will get extra credit on their final, as well. We will now tell you who your partner is, so please listen carefully. Afterwards, you’re free to leave and get to know your partner.”
There was nervous chatter as people started looking around, wondering who exactly their partner would be. Zara sat up straighter in her spot, ears straining to hear the names being called over the talking.
“Underhill Zara and Kim Seokjin.”
A ridiculously handsome young man with an obscenely white, straight smile raised his head, scanning the crowd for the student with the obviously American name. When he caught Zara’s green eyes, she waved a hand in greeting and he started to make his way through the other students towards her. He held a Canon Powershot in his hands like it was a lifeline, already recording. Already, Zara’s mind was filled with ideas for the paintings she’d have to do on this Kim Seokjin.
When he stopped in front of her, his blinding smile widened.
“I got an American! That’ll be interesting for a video subject.”
Without missing a beat, Zara said, “Maybe I’m Canadian.”
His smile dropped a fraction, startled.
“Oh..”
Zara snorted and smiled at him. “I’m just kidding, Kim Seokjin.”
He let out a slow breath, the smile returning.
“That was mean, Underwood Zara.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You were recording and I couldn’t resist.”
Jin nodded, pointing the camera at her.
“Say hello to the world, Zara.”
“Hello to the world, Zara.” 
Jin grinned and turned the camera on himself again.
“My partner Zara is apparently a comedy genius. So, Zara, how old are you?”
Zara hopped off the table, taking this question in stride. In America, people found it inappropriate to ask someone’s age, but in Korea, Zara found it was one of the first things people asked.
“I was born October 12, 1995.”
Jin’s face lit up, keeping stride with Zara as she left the classroom. “Ah, I’m your Oppa! I was born December 4, 1992.”
Zara nodded, “Don’t be surprised if I forget to use the Oppa title. Two of my Soulmates so far are older than me and I drop the title all the time.”
Jin almost fumbled the camera as he did his double take. “Did you say two Soulmates?”
Zara let a frustrated little sigh. “Yeah, I have Seven, but I’ve only found four so far. I know, I know, I’m a freak.”
“No, no! I don’t think you’re a freak! But...maybe we should cut this part out of the video, it’s so personal.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Jin nodded, and as the two of them continued to walk, Jin continued asking Zara questions. His intentions for this first video was a vlog-style, get-to-know-each-other kind of thing.
“So, I’m warning you right now, there might be a lot of boys in here.”
Zara and Jin stood outside her dorm room, Zara preparing to open the door.
“Thanks for the heads up,” Jin nodded, “Go ahead and open it, Zara.”
“Well, you can’t show everyone the passcode to my dorm, Seokjin-oppa,” She grabbed his wrist to turn the camera away from her keypad, and immediately felt the tug on her wrist. The angle she’d managed to get the camera to before realizing Kim Seokjin was one of the Seven showed both of their faces in the shot.
Upon editing that particular bit of footage, Jin would lament the way his handsome face reddened, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Though he’d file Zara’s face away in his memory, knowing her soft smile and twinkling green eyes would lift his spirits for the rest of his days.
“Oh.” Jin said. Zara released his wrist. “Well, this is an interesting plot twist to the video.”
xXx
The boys welcomed Jin in immediately, absorbing him into the group with no complaints. Several of Jin’s videos had already been posted, including the now viral first video, “Finding My Soulmate.”
People just loved watching Soulmates come together.
Zara was always the main focus of Jin’s videos, but the rest of Zara’s Soulmates were inevitably involved as well. Jin’s favorite videos to film were standard vlogs, chronicling his new life with Zara and her Soulmates. He’d even given Zara a camera of her own so that she could film when he was in his own class and Zara, ever the accommodating Soulmate, performed this task dutifully.
Of his classmates’ channels, Jin’s channel was the most popular. Zara had a feeling that it had something to do with the many handsome boys that were featured in it, but she never brought it up. Whatever the reason, Jin’s fan base saw a massive increase in the first month.
Today’s video was the first day that Zara would be painting on his body, so he lay on the floor of her dorm, his arms pillowing his head and his camera recording everything. Zara was already astride his legs, though she didn’t seem to know yet what she wanted to do yet. Her fingers were tracing along his spine, though, and it was starting to put him to sleep.
“Seokjin-oppa,” Zara leaned forward and pressed slow, open-mouthed kisses against his back, and a pleased, tired rumble vibrated through him.
“Zara,” he warned, though there was no actual bite to his voice, “We’re filming a painting video, not an accidental sex tape.”
She was still kissing him, and he felt her smile against his skin. The blatant flirtation between them was certainly on purpose, Jin having noticed subscribers reacted well to it. “Who said anything about accidental?”
Another rumble, and Zara laughed, sitting up and pulling the paints she’d set aside closer. She’d had to go out and buy a supply of body paints for this project, not willing to risk damaging Jin’s beautiful skin with her acrylics.
Without opening his eyes, Jin asked, “What did you decide on?”
“I was thinking we’d go right into the difficult stuff, oppa. A big galaxy, yeah?” She traced an image across the planes of his back with her pointer finger, relishing in the goosebumps that rose up.
“Mm-hmm,” Jin really was falling asleep under her ministrations.
She took the black paint and sketched out a few abstract shapes on his back, feeling him shiver once or twice at the temperature of it. Once that was done, she began to fill in the spaces, first with black, then with the many colors of space. Each stroke of the brush lulled Jin further into dream land. It wasn’t until he felt a hand squeezing his ass that he jolted into alertness.
“That,” he said, “doesn’t feel like paint.”
“You caught me,” Zara laughed, laying next to him and showing him the photo of his back. It looked like she had painlessly ripped his skin open to reveal not muscle and organs beneath, but an explosion of color, pinks and blues and purples stretching across his back.
Zara watched him as he stared at the photograph. His jaw was dropped in awe, his eyes soft.
“Well?”
“It’s beautiful, Zara.” Conscious of the still-wet paint on his back, Jin threw his left arm around Zara’s waist to tuck her into his side. “Anything you draw is beautiful.”
“It’s not hard to create something beautiful when works of art like you are sharing my bed at night.” She gestured to the still-rolling camera, “People worldwide call you handsome.”
“Well, obviously,” Jin gave her a smirk, “It was only a matter of time before people realized how truly beautiful I am.”
“You’re not at all conceited,” Zara teased, kissing his jaw. “Now turn off the camera, before we really do make an accidental sex tape.”
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