Judy I. Lin, Song Of The Six Realms/Agustina Bazterrica, Tender Is The Flesh/Yah Yah Schofield, How To

Mayhaps you've already taken a shot at answering this. Why do you think people in fandom get Dick Grayson so wrong?

to be totally honest i don’t know? like, i’d say a significant part of it is because the two icebreaker comics people seem to read when they’re getting into dc are red robin and under the red hood.

rr2009 is about a complex grief spiral that challenges dick and tims relationship before they ultimately reconcile, but if ur not interested w engaging w the story it’s very easy to villianise dick (and damian) for tim whump.

utrh also relies on a lot of context from other comics at the time, and i think a lot of people conflate bruce’s actions to dick, particularly with the movie, to make jason the victim rather than actually considering the actions he takes. idk. we fear complexity, ig

it’s weird because many of dicks most important and foundational traits — community, his relationships with his neighbours, his status as a big brother and mentor to young heroes, his kindness, his abrasive but ultimately loving relationship w bruce, his propensity to pick arguments, and his role as a beacon of light in gotham — evidently are popular because they’re consistently lifted to give to other characters. in return, dick is flattened to either an absolute enabling asshole or a total idiot with no friends who can’t even defend himself. it sucks

even in regards to angst…. a lot of what people write fic about has happened to dick rather than other characters. in modern canon he was fired during an argument with bruce. he was homeless and isolated during the latter half of grayson’s 96 run. he’s consistently hurt by bruce and his other family members when they throw hands at him outside of combat. like…… *smacks him* this bad boy can fit every fanon trope in him np

itd be nice for people to engage more with his character, but same with damian or cass it would require that other characters not be trapped in permanent victimhood or actually meet dick on his level. dick is the most emotionally intelligent person in that family and uses his powers to say the most heinous things imaginable. he’s the second best detective. after cass he’s probably the most dangerous physical combatant. he doesn’t need tim drake to show him how to reset his wifi password

Devotion [umbrella!Ben Hargreeves Smut]

Warnings: thigh riding, f oral, m oral, piv sex, fluffy smut, fingering, romantic kissing, lap grinding, slightly dom!Ben, his first time asserting

Summary: You make the mistake of conjuring up your long term ghost boyfriend in Hotel Obsidian. Reader is Klaus’ twin with more practised and powerful abilities :)

[in my head my Ben is still here and I will not be taking any questions also reader is wearing a skirt]

ps this took so long 😭 I took a small difference from our sweet Ben but I am tempted to write a smut about virgin Benerino with reader

Read part two Damage Control here

I didn’t really proofread this so please notify any mistakes ty <3

18+ MDI!!!

Word Count: 3041

“Come on, I can sense you’re here.” I smile coyly around the space of the room. I wiggle my fingertips, a wind of pink cups around them. I had some time to get ready for the wedding.

“You’re no fun.” His solid form appears in the spot directly in front of me, arms crossed.

“Why are you lying to yourself? I’m plenty fun.” I waste no time by pulling myself into a standing position, wrapping my arms around the tall figure.

He sighs into the wisps of my hair, pulling me in tighter.

“Missed you today.” He murmurs, planting a kiss to my temple.

“God, I missed you too, dealing with asshole Ben is draining.”

“Oh, he’s so into you.” He pulls away from me, sitting on the mattress before pulling me into his lap.

“You’re so sure?” I raise an eyebrow.

“He’s me, I know how his cogs turn.” He moves a piece of my hair to fit behind my ear.

“Well, I think he needs to remove the pool cue from up his ass.” I brush his hair from its tidy style into a messy state.

“Wanna do it for him? Me? I don’t know how to address this.” He blinks in confusion before shrugging.

“I’d rather suck face with a windmill.”

“So much for loving me in every timeline.” He teases.

“Oh, come on! He puts the capital D in Douchebag, babe.” I press a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Suppose you’re right.” He trails off and cups my face, pulling me back in to meet his lips in a proper fashion.

I melt into him, instantly, the soft cotton feeling of his lips soothing my own. I place my hands on his shoulders, steadying myself so I don’t fall off his lap.

He secures a hand on my waist whilst keeping his other glued to my cheek.

Our noses brush against each other as he moves with compassion, tasting of honey and orange, so uniquely him.

I let out a gleeful sigh into the kiss, as he prods his tongue, a silent request.

I open my lips wider, letting him in closer.

I slide my hands up to his hair, winding them around the soft streaks.

His tongue is still fumbling with mine, his thumb rubbing deep circles into my side.

I attempt to move my hands further down his hair but get caught on a couple of strands, creating a gentle tug against his locks.

A small moan of pleasure ricochets against my lips, I subconsciously smile into his own.

We disconnect, the fantasy to have an eternal kiss nags and pulls at my heart.

“You’re so pretty.” He whispers, breath hitting my chin.

“I should be saying that to you.” I move my hands down to find solace against the lapels of the leather that encased his torso.

“How am I dead but still have the opportunity to be with heaven?” He lingers a small kiss against me, his words winding around the cells of my body.

“You deserve everything you didn’t know you needed, love.” I move from my position into a straddling stance as he moves further into the plush underneath him, my skirt slides up a little.

Our lips connect once again, finding home in the comfort of each other. It’s more intense now, a sudden fervour to the moving of our mouths.

I hover, a hair fracture above his clothed dick, until his hands slide up my thighs and he presses them down so I’m fully on top him.

I resist the urge to move, a tease at heart.

He moves to squeeze the skin of my ass, propelling me to gently roll my hips against him.

He releases a breathy sigh, a smile pinching his cheeks as he pulls back from the kiss.

“Sit on my thigh?” It’s more of a question then a demand, something I adore about the man underneath me.

“If you insist.” I wink before kissing his nose, I move to set myself above his left thigh.

“Don’t resist yourself, I want you to enjoy every single moment we have together.” The intimacy and honesty of his statement soften my heart.

That is until he kisses me again, gripping the flesh of my ass, pulling me to grind down against him.

His wear and tear jeans do wonders against the thin cotton that constricts me.

“Shit, Ben.” I let his name fall freely from my lips, I let my hand slide up his other thigh, brushing over the fabric of his crotch.

“Fuck.” He cussed out as I knead my hand with a steady pace.

I start to grind down harder, faster, letting my clit roll against the denim.

I unzip his fly with one hand, opening the front of his pants. He’s painfully hard, already, sending a spark of lust below.

His hand tightens around my ass as I wrap my hand around him through his briefs, delivering steady tugs with what space I had.

He lets his thigh shake for me, increasing the pleasure of using him, short bounces as he spurs on my climax.

“Fuck, fuck, Ben.” I moan into his ear as I fall forward.

I can feel everything tightening, rocking my hips faster, I chase my upcoming high.

“C’mon.” His grumble turns into a moan as I give a particular hard tug.

“Almost there, love.” I nip at his earlobe, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

It all piles up, the pleasure, the love.

Until I’m cumming on his clothed thigh, grasping a hand at his shoulder, wet seeping through my panties and onto his jeans.

“Ben, baby-”

“Fuck.” His hot breath hits my neck, he whispers praises into the soft skin.

He gently removed my hand from him, rubbing shapes into my wrist.

“So good, baby.” He coos at me, lifting me from his defiled leg.

“I love you.” I let my mouth connect to the plush of his lips, he moans into them.

“I love you.” He whispers as I kiss a trail down his neck.

I let my fingers slide his jacket from his upper body, he pulls his hoodie and shirt afterwards, letting his bright read chest out for show.

He’s devoid of hair, smooth pecs and small trace of abs stare back at me.

I move to kneel on the floor.

“You don’t have to, my love.” He holds my chin between his finger and thumb.

“Oh, but I want to.” My desperation to wrap my mouth around him never ceases to shake him to his core.

“God, you’re perfect.” He moans out.

I smile at this, thinking the same about him.

After he’s no longer constricted from the refinery of the denim, I let a finger trace the underside of his cock.

He lightly grips the bedsheets resting under his palms, his head falling back as I wrap my mouth around his tip.

I let my right hand grasp the base, pulling steady strokes as I bob down on him. His mouth falls open, silent cusses air out.

I slide my other hand up his thigh, letting it cup his balls, massaging a gentle motion whilst still keeping my rhythm with my mouth.

“Shit.” His whine sends a jolt to my core, how is one man so blindingly hot?

I continue my pace, reveling in the whoreish sounds falling from his lips.

I remove my mouth from his cock, whilst keeping my hand tugging stable strokes.

I let my mouth wander down, my tongue pokes out as I lick a gentle stripe against one of his balls. Throwing caution to the wind I take them both into my mouth, awarding small sucks.

“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop, stop.” I immediately cease all action.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something, oh, I’m so-”

“Absolutely not-” he takes a couple of moments to catch his breath “-I just want to come inside you, baby.” Sweet boy.

“Fuck, you’re so sexy.” I move from my knees to kiss him, letting my tongue explore his mouth, the taste of him still lingering in our swapping spit.

His forehead is painted a sheet of sweat.

“You need a moment?” I whisper sweetly.

“How about you take off your little outfit whilst I watch?” His devious smile is a new look on him, he’s so eager to take a turn at dominance.

“Damn.” I moan out.

Standing up fully, I reach for the hem of my shirt, letting it slowly slide up until I drop it on the floor beside me.

“You’ve been walking around with no bra?” He’s wide eyed and his mouth is gaped.

“It’s the end of the world, think I’m allowed some comfort.” I grin, reaching for the zipper of my skirt.

“No wonder, clone Ben can’t take his eyes off you.” His head lulls back before setting his eyes on me again.

“I’m all yours.” I look him dead in the eyes as I roll my skirt down my hips, letting my underwear join the garment. I bend slightly before letting it drop, he take the rest of his jeans off.

“Such a pretty little princess.” His words are sweet but there’s a dirty side to them.

I walk back over to him but before I make it to the bed he stands, grabbing my waist. He flips me onto the bed, my tits bounce up as I connect to the mattress.

“Shit, you’re so perfect.” He lets his knees connect to the sheets, settling himself between my legs.

“You don’t have to, baby.” I state as he lowers his frame.

“Oh, but I want to.” He repeats my words from before, smirking as he nips his teeth at the skin of my thighs.

He press small kisses and bites to my thighs, before sucking a large red mark, bang in the middle. I tense up, he’s teasing me, that’s my tactic.

He lets his head up further, moving his tongue up the side of one of my folds before quickly swiping over my clit and down the other one, barely lingering on the set of nerves.

“Ben.” I plead, he’s enjoying his new found dominance too much to grant what I want.

I feel one of his fingers trace a line down my entrance, not pushing it in. He does this a few times until I’m whining in wait.

“Please.” I whisper. He smiles softly at me, giving in.

His tongue connects to my clit as he finally pushes a single finger inside me. I relax into the pillow.

His small kitten licks are enough for now as his middle finger is curling sweet thrusts upwards.

I let myself drown in the pleasure and presence of him, my only love. I’d give anything for a single one of his desires.

He himself grows tired of the slow pace, inserting two more digits into me, whilst increasing the speed of his tongue.

“Oh, fuck.” My head dents into the mattress, my hands fumbling to grip the paper white sheets before deciding to wrap around his hair.

His fingers are setting a hard curling pace, hard and rough. His mouth wraps around my clit, emitting small fast sucks, whilst also moving his tongue up and down.

“Shit, Ben.” I’m almost crying from the pleasure and I’m certainly light headed.

It’s building up, fast and sure.

I tighten my hands around his locks, his hips are grinding slow thrusts into the sheets.

This is so hot. He’s so good, too good. Fuck.

His pace doesn’t falter of fail and I clench around his fingers as I come for the second time tonight.

“Ben!” I cry out, broken moans follow. He slows down his speed, letting me ride out my high to the last second.

“Oh, fuck, you’re getting fucking phenomenal at that.”

“I have an amazing teacher.” He breaths out, chest heaving, his hips have stop grinding against the mattress.

“I almost feel bad for keeping you all to myself.” I lift his chin with my hands, bringing him to my eye level.

“You don’t mean that.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” I connect my mouth to his in a messy kiss, his lower face still soaked in my cum, the taste doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

I wrap my legs around his middle, letting the make out last longer.

He presses his body down further, letting his abs rub up against my sensitive clit, a whine exits.

“I want you to ride them some time.” He states as he moves to kiss down my neck.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Poor choice of words.

“At least we’d be invisible together.” He makes an off hand joke.

He finds a spot and starts creating a mark with his teeth, delivering gentle kicks to soothe the pain. He repeats this a few times until I’m littered in them.

“There’s no pain in the void, only pleasure.” He’s so devious.

“Guess we have that to look forward too.” I reference the situation of the burning and collapsing world around us, I feel so safe with him that I’m not afraid anymore.

“You still wanna keep going?” He asks, his eyes boring deep into mine.

“You did just hear yourself, right?“ He rolls his eyes at me before softly kissing me, I untangle my legs from around him.

He’s still hard, leaking with pre cum, his tip is so red it looks painful.

“Fuck, I’m sorry for neglecting you like this, baby.” I look at him with kind eyes.

“Worth it, I love watching you writhe beneath me.” Those words. I have never heard those words fall from those pretty lips, but oh, do I want to hear them again.

“Fuck me, now.” I slide my hands down his biceps.

He moans out.

“Well, I wasn’t going wait until later.” He wraps his veiny hands around himself, letting a slow tug of his own before lining up with my entrance.

He takes his time pushing in, letting me feel every single inch of him, exactly how we like it. I’m so eager for ruin but for him, I have all the patience in the world.

He finally bottoms out, pressing his head against mine as his forearms find the spaces between my head.

He kisses the corner of my mouth before pulling almost all the way out, then sliding in, a torture worthy slow move.

He picks up his speed with every push of his hips, until he’s found a steady rhythm. It’s slow and hard and passionate.

He slides his fingers down the valley of my tits, down my middle until his thumb meets my clit. Slow circles and changes of pressure make my head fuzzy and eyes close.

“Let me see those eyes, princess. Please?” He’s so gentle, even when defiling me.

I flutter then open to see his perfect face staring back at me.

His pace starts to quicken but not lighten, his thrusts are still rough and deliberate.

The speed of his thumb against my clit has also fastened. He hiked one of my legs up around his shoulder, hitting a deeper spot then before.

“Ben, oh, fuck.”

“Shit, baby.” He moans out, his head meeting my opposite shoulder.

“Flip me.” I moan.

He’s silent but does as so. turning me into my stomach and wasting no time entering me again.

I press my chest into the pillow, arching my back at the complete destination of my body.

He’s railing me with such devotion and sentiment I can’t stop the tumble of moans and whines coming out of me.

“Rougher.” I plead.

“What if I hurt you?” He grunts out, still remaining his good boy attitude.

“You won’t, destroy me, please?” I grip the pillow in front of me.

“Fuck, I’m so lucky.” He laughs out before slamming hips hips into me, his hip bones creating friction against the back of my thighs.

He rains down a spank to my ass, gripping at the skin as an anchor.

He’s moaning with every delivered thrust.

His name is the only thing I see and think. His fingers find my clit again, rubbing fast and tight circles like his life depended on it.

Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben.

“Ben!” I moan out his name as my final orgasm hits me like a freight train, it’s soul wracking.

He lets out the loudest strangle moan I’ve heard him muster, spilling everything into me.

No need for contraception when you’re dead.

The unlocked door to the hotel room bursts open.

“Y/n, I heard you calling m-”

I whip my head around from it place on the pillow to see a face of horror, replacing the rushed tone of his previous statement. He’s completely shaken by the view of his clone balls deep in me.

Dickwad Ben.

“Fuck, you asshole! Get out!” I throw the pillow at him, he slams the door shut.

Ben pulls out of me.

I look towards him to see him silencing a laugh.

“Are you serious?” I stare him down but the more he’s laughing the easier it is to join in.

Soon we are in fits giggling on the sweat soaked sheets.

“Oh-ho, shit! He’s gonna go tell everyone! Fuck, I gotta go explain myself.” I shout out still in a gaggle of laughter.

“Take me with you, I gotta see how it plays out.” We hurry to dress ourselves, his cum still leaking out of me.

“Here.” He tosses me his jacket.

“You’re a doll.” I kiss him on the cheek.

“A spooooooky one.”

“Shut up, pretty boy, let’s go do some damage control.”

An attempt to salvage S4, for your delectation. S4E1

Okay, I think I'm ready. This is so long that I'll have to post it episode by episode. [FYI this isn't written Fic or script style so much as a play-by-play]

This is I'm sure an imperfect fix but I do think this would have been better especially if used as a base to work on - if anyone does want to, please feel free!

Rules I gave myself: Keep the 6 episode formula. The characters have to start Ep 1 in the same state (jobs, accommodation etc) they do in the show. Use as much as is salvageable from S4 to make the base of this cake.

I will say that I think one easy fix the show should have done was to keep the long-running theme of using flashbacks at the beginning of each ep to flesh out the story; so I've done that off the bat. Every character has a beginning flashback, but they all include Ben or Jennifer to a degree (because this is his season) and Diego and Lila have to share because there isn't enough room soz y'all.

EPISODE 1:

Starts with Viktor's Flashback: Over a series of 2 years him having a terrible time at family reunions where Diego and Lila are squabbling, Luther is being harrangued. He's working as a bar tender and they keep showing up at his bar; Klaus gets carted off by them to rehab there for being stoned, he has to kick Five out for being too drunk and disorderly. Viktor starts looking for a bar elsewhere, sees the one in Canada and moves there. Shows him chatting up the ladies, being unable to connect to them on a deeper level. In the background of all these scenes we see the Rise and Fall of Ben on the bar's TV. - he's an up and comer, he's in the big leagues! He's one of the wealthiest people in the world! He's committed tax fraud and being taken to jail!

Viktor in present time is being asked about going to Gracie's B day party, and torn about it, by Luther.

Luther is at his work.

Diego is lazily delivering packages, one of them with a symbol of an inside out umbrella on it, he is seen to pocket.

Lila is stressing over the kids party bits and another parent mentions seeing her at book club tonight.

Ben is getting out of prison, he's told by the guards that no one's due to come for him despite him arguing that someone should be, and that his parole officer demands someone be responsible for him. Ben is shown resigned picking up the phone.

Allison's work is running over and she has to call Klaus

Klaus takes Claire to her destination very cautiously

Five is at his work in CIA, staring at blueprints of the country, bitching to his boss about not being given access to blow through a wall to look at the hidden network of stations he's uncovered. Bitches to his assistant about how a few years ago this wouldn't have been an issue - assistant refers to the fact that a few years ago he was lucky to have been given this opportunity before he nearly drank himself out of his doctorate.

Luther comes to pick Ben up, he's pleased. Ben is pissed and seems edgy. They discuss in the car how Luther wasn't Ben's first choice, Luther asks who that would be, Klaus? Ben angry and claims that no, he has a girlfriend, she should have been there,  doesn't know where she is. Luther sympathises, saying he's been there, he'll help Ben look surely it was just a misunderstanding. Ben asks in a slightly scathing, though less than normal way, whether he's still looking for Sloane. Luther wishes he could hope still that she's out there, but it's fainter by the day. Ben and he share a small moment, that it's nice he's not the only one who remembers his family.

Gracie's party, much is the same

Viktor turns up late, is confronted by a blonde woman (Abigail) Abigail gives him the box of cross-timeline paraphernalia plus marigold jar. Says they're needed to save both his brother Ben and Jennifer, that they need to save the world. Leaves while Viktor is asking who Jennifer is.

Viktor goes into the party (it's wrapping up) shows the marigolds and they set up a meeting for later (the kids are still there)- there is frustration about commitments getting in the way and mixed excitement and dread.

They go separate ways, Lila is shown going to her 'book club' meeting where they talk about the Cleanse and the umbrella effect, it's Abigail, though Lila doesn't know who she is.

Diego after waving Lila off is seen pulling out the package he'd pocketed with the umbrella on it in his study full of papers and files, he goes to open it, tries to do a trick with a letter opener and it falls from his fingers, frustratedly he tosses the package as his in laws call for him to come help with something.

Five has gone down into the subway, he's staring at the wall, clenches his fists.

Allison, Klaus and Claire go home. It's quiet between Klaus and Allison. They have a stilted conversation about how they clearly don't want to have their powers back, and Allison asks for help prepping for the audition, Klaus jokes that at least acing those would have been easier with powers, she jokes back that with their powers she wouldn't have need to feel guilty killing his immortal ass for being a jerk.

Ben is with Viktor and Luther at Luther's place demanding what the woman said to Viktor who says he'd rather wait for the others but then admits about saving Jennifer and him, Luther asks who Jennifer is and guesses his 'prison girlfriend'. Viktor is a bit suspicious.

The others turn up, they go through the box properly.

Five and Lila notice items of interest in the box - subway map, umbrella inside out printed on things, items from other timelines, and both notice that Diego has much less subtly shown recognition and pocketed an umbrella item too. The two share a glance but both shrug as neither knows what's going on. Klaus finds and takes the dog tags.

Ben is on edge and demanding they get out and find Jennifer, that they take the marigolds, the others all agree they don't want their powers, though a few of them give some assurances to help Ben find Jennifer.

Ben pockets the marigolds and spikes everyone when they do a toast to another odd thing happening around their family before they all leave. (Viktor stays the night begrudgingly with Ben and Luther.)

Here's the thing

Shen Qingqiu is weird about pretty men and Liu Qingge in particular

And I think it's linked to his own issues with his Shen Yuan identity

Shen Yuan is described by Shen Qingqiu repeatedly as "a useless pretty boy"

And that's very telling. The only positive quality he gives himself as Shen Yuan is his looks as a 'pretty boy' and while he's pleased with his looks as Shen Qingqiu as a good looking man there is also a sense imo that he's glad he's "Lofty Immortal" handsome but not outstandingly beautiful compared to his peers or Luo Binghe

His looks give off "Scholar" and therefore intelligence as well as being good looking.

Shen Qingqiu is good looking but not too good looking if you understand

And that's why I think Liu Qingge was such a shock

Because Liu Qingge is "pretty"

He's outstandingly beautiful

But it's not commented on anywhere in the books. And Shen Qingqiu gets thrown by that specifically. The fact that the War God is known for something other then his looks, for his prowess and skills. Makes Shen Qingqiu kinda angry

Now this is me reading too much into it and is almost certainly a headcanon

But I can imagine a 3rd son who is very pretty being treated like his accomplishments don't matter because he was pretty

That his looks were the first things people said about him and maybe the only thing people praised him for

No it didn't matter that he didn't get top grade on that test. He still has his looks doesn't he?

It probably wasn't even done maliciously

But I can see it wearing down his self worth and sense of self

So Liu Qingge being so beautiful and it not even being commented on in canon must have been infuriating both because that didn't happen irl to him and because it would have been nice to have a character who was beautiful but acknowledged first as a fighter

For definite headcanon: Shen Yuan is actively more beautiful and pretty then Shen Qingqiu

no see the thing about jason & dick is that they have too much between them. they have too many complications for people who never really had the chance to know each other. that's your little brother, one of your biggest regrets. that's your big brother, the most unfamiliar warmth you have ever experienced. that's your little wing. that's the boy you saw swinging around once and thought "he's the most amazing thing I have ever seen". do you understand. do you. realise. there's miles upon miles of unspeakable grief and they have no way to go about it because they carry their blood in their mouth and yearning in their ribcages and they're too stubborn to say anything or reach out and yet too attached to what could have been to let go and they don't want to admit it but they keep coming back because that's my brother that's my brother that's my brother that's my brother

memories

pairing : sparrow!ben hargreeves x fem!reader, past!umbrella!ben hargreeves x fem!reader

genre : angst, heartwarming, hurt-comfort

warning : prepare your tissue if you’re attached to umbrella!ben ig

summary : in which she found glimpse of them together through his eyes—the man that wore the face of the love of her life

wordcount : 3k

a/n : inspired by the song glimpse of us by joji. and i am aware that there are a lot of stories especially these days. If there are resemblance between this story with others then that is completely out of my control. great minds thinks alike after all. requested by @torchioethan i’ll try my best to interpreted the song to their relationship. the story is up to your interpretation by the way. on my remus lupin angst i wrote “some endings are meant to he interpreted differently.” also do you think this is ooc for sparrow!ben? cause this is what i think he’ll act like in this situation. also i put some addie larue reference in this iykyk

masterlist

Have you ever lost someone and then you just feel like you see that someone everywhere? Every place, every street, everyone, reminds you of the memories you hold dearly close to your heart no matter how hurt it is to remember for you refuse to ever forget about it. It hurts so much it does, but that’s the price you have to pay.

The first time she saw him again after going back from the 60s with the dysfunctional bunch of siblings, she thought she was dreaming. Perhaps, it’ll be easier if it were just a dream. Cause now she has to look at the face—at the body of someone who once had loved her and found nothing. A stranger with the face of the love of her life.

Same name. Same face. Different memories.

But does it all even matter now? The world is ending in hours. She could meet her Ben again, that only if he really does exist. She has never been the one to fully understand the concept of time and Five doesn’t speak in a language that she is capable of understanding.

She raised her glass of champagne in Luther’s direction as he danced with his newfound love before averting her gaze to take a look around the room. Diego and Lila being in each other's arms. Klaus being Klaus. Five who seem to be enjoying his time with the number of empty glasses on his table. And lastly, him. Sitting on the table far back from everybody else, drinking quietly as his eyes, too, roamed around the room. Even from a distance between the two, she could tell that he was judging all of them silently.

Slowly she rose and walked toward him with her glass wrapped around her fingers. Once she arrived at the spot, she gestured to the seat next to him. “May I?” Without hearing any response from him, she sat herself on the seat, putting her glass on the table. “The party is over there yet you distance yourself from the others, emo boy.”

He rolled his eyes at the nickname she gave him. “If anyone here is emo that would be your brother. All brooding, laying down alone in my room, wearing nothing but black.” He looked over at Viktor and she followed his line of gaze. “First, Viktor isn’t emo, and second, you just prove my point here.” She gestured to his situation right now. “You just described yourself.”

The look in his eyes was nothing like her Ben as he glared at her, glass tightly wrapped around his fingers. “Look, if you’re going here just to brag about your oh-so-perfect Ben. The others had took their chance every time they passed me so don’t even bother.” He leaned forwards to her—trying to somewhat looking intimidating as she looks at him, totally unfazed by it.

“No.” She leaned closer to him as he leaned back, clicking her glass with his. “That is a too sensitive topic for me to talk about. Actually, I was trying to give you some company.”

“Well, I don’t need your company.” He talked back.

She leaned her back on the seat. “Too bad. I’m already comfortable sitting here.”

“Then I’ll just go away from here.” He got up, looking at her irritatingly, clearly annoyed by her presence. Turning around he began to walked away from the girl that has been haunting his mind, but then she said something that made him stop. “You know you don’t want to, Ben. You wished to stay here. You want someone to tell you to stay. So here I am doing you a favor by saying this.”

Walking back towards her, he pointed his finger right in front of her face, a look of exasperation plastered on his face. “You stay out of my head. Don’t even try to use it on me.” He said. “You think you know me. You know nothing about me. Nothing. I don’t need your company and I most certainly don’t need your pity. I don’t need you.”

Her gaze softened at his words, his last words may hurt a part of her but it was nothing she hadn’t heard before. “I don’t need my powers to know what you’re thinking, Ben. Besides, it never works on you. Not on you. Not on any version of you, I suppose.” She looks back to her glass, avoiding his gaze before feeling him walking away from her.

***

Looking at Luther and Sloane, she offered them a large smile. “I’m happy for the both of you. Wish we could have more time to know each other, Sloane.” She said, eyes falling onto the girl that is wrapped around Luther’s arms before looking back at the sky that is torn apart every second that passed. “With the world ending, there’s nothing anyone wants more than spending time with their loved ones. I know I would do the same.” She could feel Luther’s eyes on her as she said that. “Cherish the time you have left together, okay?” That were the last words she uttered before she went back inside the building, leaving the newlywed to have their moments alone.

What she didn’t know was the fact that Ben was listening to her words as he finally succeed to get rid of Klaus’s presence. He was about to grab another drink when he heard her saying that. Spending time with their loved ones. What is left of his family are only Sloane and Reginald. One who is currently with the man of her life. The other one probably conspiring something against someone. Sloane, his sister, what left of his bunch of adoptive siblings, sure there’s a part of him that cares for her although he won’t admit it out loud. On the other side, Reginald doesn’t deserve any love from anyone in the building. An ounce of him may won’t stop trying to prove himself to the guy but he’s sure that there is no love that he holds for the old man.

Before the girl who just entered the building could fully walk passed him, he grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She looked at him expectedly, a look of nostalgia flashed for a second. Perhaps it’s the alcohol talking, but the words come out of his mouth without permission at all. “Want a drink?”

She let her hand out of his grasp, raising one of her eyebrows. “Did Klaus really manage to talk some sense into you? Or is it the alcohol talking?” She paused before answering the real question. “The answer’s yes by the way. But not here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

***

“A windowsill?”

“A quite spacious one, yeah.” She put herself in a comfortable position before patting the space in front of her. “Come on. There’s still much room left here.” Rolling his eyes slightly, he sighed before sitting in front of her. Both of them facing each other, on the windowsill as the world out there is falling apart. Her gaze stayed on him as he sat there trying to search for a comfortable position. A nostalgic smile went onto her face. Happiness and sadness all become one as a glimpse of her Ben took over his position for some split second.

A memory from her past.

“Out of every place in this goddamn hotel, you-“ He began to complain.

“Hey, the world is falling apart. Be grateful for a few seconds.” She looked out the window. “Ben would’ve loved this.” She muttered loud enough for him to hear.

“I am Ben.”

“Well, not you. I mean Ben Ben.”

“The other Ben?”

“No. You’re the—Can you just drink it already and try to not be an asshole?” She almost forced the alcohol down his throat if it weren’t for him who already doing that as she spoke before. She looked at him before averting her attention to her glass, muttering under her breath. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Not really. No.” His response caught her off guard as she wasn’t expecting him to even hear her. She pursed her lips, before taking a sip from her glass. “So you do need some company. Is this your attempt to not be alone at the end of the world? Was it because of the speech I gave earlier?” She put it down and then propped her chin on the top of her knee.

This time, he is the one that avoids her gaze, looking at the falling word around them from the window. “I thought you said it didn’t work on me.”

“Just because my powers don’t work on you. Doesn’t mean I’m an idiot who cannot connect the two dots together, emo boy.” She said.

He looks down for a few moments before looking back at her, an uncharacteristic look on his face. “Guess that—guess that makes me a special emo boy or what?” This time he didn’t complain about the nickname. Instead, he said the words that brings a smile to her face. She nodded slowly before leaning back to the window frame and with teary eyes she lets out a chuckle. “What?” He asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

“You’re making it difficult for me to not cry. You see, you’re not supposed to say that. Not with that face.” She paused, taking a deep breath trying to not let the tears out just yet. “Gosh, you don’t just look like him or sound like him. Now, you talked like him. I suppose my prayers are granted in a way. I see you again now. Breathing and alive. Just not—just not the you that I need. It hurts looking into your eyes when all I see is him and yet there is no trace of him in this falling world.”

“What was he like?” His gaze stayed on her, less tense than usual. “Truly. What was he like?” He asked once more.

“What did the others say?” She asked back.

Hesitantly, he answered her question. “He was……kind. Selfless. A tiny dark cloud on a perfect sunny day. A know-it-all. A scold. Most of them-Most of them are bad qualities.” He furrowed his eyebrows together and seems to be frustrated not being able to decipher why the other Ben was so special compared to him. “I’m the Number One. Numero Uno. He wasn’t, was he? All of those praises about him, look how he ended up 6 feet under.”

Brushing over his last comment, she nodded her head. “Well all of them are true. He was a great guy, wasn’t he? One of the best that I ever knew.” Her eyes trailed over the window. “I first met them all when I was around the age of 8 or 9. He was hiding behind Klaus or Number 4 at that moment. He was never been the one to love the public attention but somehow tried to gain mine. I suppose that makes him sweet. After his death, none of us have been the same. All of us were drowning in a sense, well we all have been drowning for a long time. But since that happened, none of us could ever reach the shore.” Her chest got heavy just from thinking of that feeling.

“Where are you now?” He inched closer towards her.

She pursed her lips before letting out a deep breath. “Just floating around, I guess? Not drowning but not completely free either.” She thought about her last interaction with Ben. “Perhaps this is it. With the world ending, I’m getting closer to my final destination.”

Looking back at him, she continued her words. “Ben. He was-He was easier to love out of everyone in that room earlier, out of all the people I’ve known in my whole life. And mind you remember this, I love all of them greatly—well not all of them,” She referred to Reginald. “We all have a fair share of memories together, mostly in our youthful days that are full of trauma created by your daddy dearest—even I had some of mine too and I’m not even a Hargreeves.” Both of them chuckled at her words.

“Very much relatable that last bit. Klaus said a similar thing earlier. About how he was easier to love.” Ben inched closer once more, perhaps this is the alcohol talking, but seeing him open up his feelings to her like this makes her pay no mind to the fact that by tomorrow he’ll probably change into hard-shell Ben again. “That doesn’t seem fair. All of you love him like that yet none can do the same for me.”

Biting back a snarky remark, she decided to say something else instead. “One thing about him is that he makes love seem to be a casual thing to feel, I mean it is, truthfully it is but not many people have the opportunity to realize that.” She wiped a single tear away. “There are a lot of things to pay for when it comes to love. To any kind of love. Meeting you is one of those. The price I have to pay for this moment is not a kind one.”

He nodded quietly before looking back directly into her eyes. “I’m not him, you know?”

She chuckled at his words. “Of course, you’re not. I’ve said that already. If yes then I won’t be just sitting in front of you right now.” I would hold you and never let go like you had wished once before your last moments. The last part remained in her mind. Glimpses of them together flowed around the two, yet she was the only one to remember. “It is a lonely thing, isn’t it? To remember when the other person doesn’t.”

“What if……the other person does?” Her head snapped back towards him as he said so. Letting out a shuddered breath, she opened her mouth to ask what he means by that but she wasn’t able to find her voice at all. Then he continued his words. “You know what sucks, you have all of these memories with your Ben and I-” He took a glance at the sky before looking back at her. “And the only recollection I have about you is the one I had in my dreams. The one that I forgot the moment that I woke up. The one I wished to remember because there’s this feeling that I can’t understand every time I am in that dream.”

“You said all you see when you look into my eyes are him. Yet when I see into yours all I see is you. No other version you. Just you you cause you’re the same one from my dreams. The dreams that left only glimpses in my memory. But then even in those dreams, you were with him, I suppose. That happy feeling was his feelings, it was never mine, to begin with. All this time I was dreaming of someone else’s memories.” Tears stream down her face as she takes in the look in his eyes, the same look he used to give her.

This Ben would never be her Ben. He was already gone from her world. Leaving nothing but the memories that remain in her heart. Nothing but the feeling that she would always feel till the moment she passed. Meeting this Ben had brought heavy feelings to her heart. Makes her yearn to see a glimpse of him in his eyes. And when she found what she was looking for, hurt was all she found. “I’m sorry, Ben.”

He smiled bitterly. “Out of everyone, I thought you hated me the most.” He said. Recalling her avoiding him at all cost during their first interactions when the Umbrella first comes back to the timeline. The look in her eyes when she first laid her gaze on him was one that he will not forget.

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “That is an ability that I am not capable of. I cannot afford that. I don’t think I could even if I tried. You’re too much like him. Any version of you they all-well, I’ve only met two of you but you’re much more alike than I thought you do. Your feelings. The way both of you feel, I found it beautiful.”

A comfortable silence engulfed both of them as the two leaned back to the window frame simultaneously. The world is still falling around them. Slowly fading away from reality. Most people are already gone, reuniting with their loved ones on the other side.

“You were right.” His voice makes her look back at him. He offered the palm of his hand to her, so she made up a scissor using her point and middle finger. “I won.” She said with a large smile on her face.

Ben rolled his eyes. “You’re so childish. I couldn’t see why he loved you so much.” He said, clearly lying.

She crossed her arms. “Oh, the alcohol finally worn out? I was enjoying the non-asshole you.”

“Oh shut up.” He hushed her.

“What was I right about?” She waited for his response.

He met her eyes once more. She could tell that he was hesitant about it. “With the world ending, there’s nothing anyone wants more than spending time with their loved ones. Any kind of love.” Her eyes stayed locked with him as she reached for his palm once more, a warm smile on her face.

“Any kind of love.” She replied back.

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new story concept

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Modern AU where Shen Yuan accidentally sugar-daddies everyone.

So for the purposes of this, Shen Yuan's family is basically $10 Bananas levels of cluelessly rich. Shen Yuan has almost never had to look at the prices of anything he wants. He and his siblings all get an allowance from the family's main account, which increases when they reach adulthood, and in the interest of fairness his parents made it all the same size. So Shen Yuan gets the same amount of money for his daily living expenses as his older brothers with their penthouse apartments and vacation homes and private jets, at least from the family account (since he doesn't work, he doesn't actually make as much as them in total because they earn more on top of their allowances).

And the thing is, Shen Yuan genuinely just lives a lot more humbly. He likes people but what would he do with a vacation house? Anything really nice would probably require him to fly to get out there, and he gets sick as hell on planes. Living in the central city is also not great for him, because the air pollution is so bad. Having a whole house to himself would also be ridiculous. So he has a reasonable apartment, in a reasonable area, and he splurges every so often on purchases that make him happy and take-out food that he likes, and of course he pays a cleaning service to come in twice a week. Most people assume he's comfortably middle class and has some tech job he does from home, but he's been getting a lot more than he's been spending in his monthly allowances for years now, and the figures are big.

Enter into this environment author Airplane and his trash novels. Novels, multiple, because in this AU there's no PIDW, and instead after some alternate PIDW prototype got popular in the harem genre, Airplane decided to churn out a series of copy-paste shorter stories rather than recycling the same subplots in one massively long epic.

Shen Yuan of course discovers Airplane's writing and becomes as obsessed with it as ever, except this time he notices that if there are delays between new stories, they seem to clear up faster whenever he throws some cash at the problem. And also that the drops in Airplane's writing quality coincide with times when Shen Yuan was having health issues and not keeping up with his VIP purchases. So, he works out that Airplane's probably doing the writing for the money, and that when Peerless Cucumber isn't paying the most for it, Airplane starts listening to the other buffoons in the comment section more to try and entice them to pay his bills instead.

Peerless Cucumber leaves a comment on one of Airplane's latest stories that kicks off the two of them actually chatting, and Shen Yuan eventually gets to the point of offering to fund all Airplane's writing, in exchange for Airplane not doing his crap sellout stuff to appeal to other readers anymore. Airplane thinks he's joking or maybe mocking him. Shen Yuan asks how much it would cost. Airplane fires off a ridiculous number. Shen Yuan doesn't even blink and wires him the first payment. Then he gets annoyed because Airplane leaves him on read for a while, but that's because Airplane is staring at his account balance in shock.

Of course, it's Airplane who starts referring to Peerless Cucumber as his sugar daddy. Shen Yuan is just like "based on your sex scenes I don't think anyone would pay you for that" and Airplane's all "but you WOULD pay for my sex scenes ^_~" and Shen Yuan's like "technically I am actually paying you not to write that shit" and so on. Usual banter. The quality of Airplane's writing improves dramatically, a lot of his readership drops off but he does get new readers and gradually builds up an even bigger fanbase than before, and so on, it all goes pretty well. He eventually writes a few things that take off to the point of getting physical publications and international translations. Technically Airplane no longer needs Shen Yuan to pay all of his bills by that point but he's not going to tell Shen Yuan that! The contract's still good as long as he keeps writing!

Then one of Airplane's online acquaintances runs into some financial trouble and asks for help.

Liu Mingyan used to beta read for Airplane back when he wrote fanfiction (she was like thirteen, Airplane was unaware because internet and hey free beta), and it seems her family has hit a rough patch. She wants tips on how to go pro, but Airplane explains that it was extremely difficult and he mostly lucked out by finding a single wealthy backer. Mingyan wonders if the same guy would be interested in her writing, Airplane sadly thinks not because Mingyan exclusively writes kinky danmei erotica and Peerless Cucumber seems pretty firmly in the closet still and also generally prefers plotty and world-building heavy stuff.

But like, Airplane has definitely gotten a vibe off of Cucumber-bro, and Mingyan's gorgeous older brother does video streams of himself doing cool martial arts and swordsmanship stuff. So he asks her permission and when she gives it, he recommends Liu Qingge's videos to Shen Yuan, being sure to mention that the guy in question can't really afford to keep up with his hobbies and oh what a shame it would be if he had to stop making art like that.

Haha, Airplane, you're not subtle.

Even so, Shen Yuan watches the videos and immediately agrees that Liu Qingge is beauty in motion, and that it would be criminal to deprive the world of more videos of his sword. Swordsmanship! That is the, the art of, martial arts! Definitely. He clicks the donate button, reasoning out that he'll just send a donation about the size of his usual monthly payments to Airplane and call it his good deed for the day.

Liu Qingge is very confused by this new follower from nowhere who suddenly dumped a little over a month's rent into his account. One thing leads to another, with Mingyan and Airplane conspiring to try and get Shen Yuan as a permanent patron, and then Liu Qingge being let in on it. Except that Airplane keeps referring to Shen Yuan as his sugar daddy, and well... it's not like Liu Qingge doesn't ever get 'those' kinds of comments on his videos. At first he's embarrassed, then offended, then mortified that his own younger sister is apparently setting him up to make premium private videos for what he assumes is some old pervert who is going to want him to do untoward things.

However, their options are pretty bleak at the moment, and Liu Qingge worries that if he doesn't do this then Mingyan might. She even mentions something to the effect of having planned to offer herself, and only didn't because she wasn't this "sugar daddy" guy's type!

Teeth clenched, Liu Qingge asks Airplane stiltedly for advice on how to... appeal, to this wealthy benefactor.

In the end though it's not nearly as bad as Liu Qingge feared. He winds up doing more videos in costumes and cosplay, which ought to have been an untenable expense, but Peerless Cucumber always ends up covering the cost of whatever he invests in plus extra. Sometimes he sends Liu Qingge stuff with a request to wear it, but so far it's just been like, badass warrior-themed or historical costumes. Nothing overtly pervy. He does some LARPing, he makes enough to start doing horseback archery again, convinces some of his good-looking peers from various clubs to spar with him, and ultimately the most risque videos he ends up doing are the ones where he demonstrates how to put on certain kinds of gear. He still locks those ones behind paid subscribers only, mostly because he feels like he's doing something illicit now, even if he used to show more skin on his older videos any time he took his shirt off.

Peerless Cucumber doesn't leave creepy comments, either. In fact he seems genuinely nice and supportive, it's hard not to like him, and so even once his situation levels out Liu Qingge decides there's not really much need to stop making videos for him. (He maybe even gets a little giddy thrill over... well, sometimes he finds it all a bit... just when he thinks about Peerless Cucumber watching him demonstrate his physical prowess and finding that alone worth... ANYWAY--)

So that goes on for a while, before Yue Qi enters the scene.

Yue Qi is the childhood friend of one of Shen Yuan's older brothers (Shen bros!) and Shen Jiu owes him a big favor for something that he won't talk about. At least he won't talk to Shen Yuan about it. But Yue Qi is also not the type to ask for help, and Shen Jiu is very bad at offering it, so when Shen Jiu gets word that Yue Qi is having some difficulties making ends meet, he tells Shen Yuan to act as the middle man. Go offer Qi-ge money, he knows you're nice he'll just accept it, and then Shen Jiu will pay the actual bill.

Well it turns out that Yue Qi doesn't just accept it, of course he sees right through it, and gently but firmly tells Shen Yuan that he's not interested in burdening Shen Jiu further than he already has. Etc, etc, stoic stiff upper lips and no proper communication all around. Shen Yuan panics because it's not working and he's also genuinely worried about Yue Qi by now, so he tries to figure out how to make it compelling and basically blurts that, well, see, the thing is that sometimes he pays men to entertain him. You know. To like. Do things, for him. So. He could also pay Yue Qi? To do something for him?

Yue Qi gets the wrong idea entirely, and at first is like, oh, no, A'Yuan, you shouldn't be paying people for that! These things should just happen organically! But Shen Yuan is very adamant that he believes in compensating people for what they do for him, it's not like he can't afford to, and it gets awkward but Yue Qi is like well he does have health problems. It's perhaps difficult for him to meet people. So then he starts worrying about Shen Yuan and all these strange men he's apparently paying for "entertainment". Does his brother know about this?

No of course Shen Jiu doesn't know! He'd hate it, and Shen Yuan doesn't want to hear about how he's doing everything wrong with his life again!

Then Shen Yuan mentions that his prior house cleaning service up and quit on him (they didn't), and if Yue Qi would like to earn fair compensation he could just come over sometimes to help instead, and Shen Yuan would pay him just to tidy up and hang out for a few hours! Which Yue Qi thinks is a fantastic idea, actually, even if Shen Yuan is only doing this because of his brother, this will give Yue Qi a chance to keep an eye on him and his so-called entertainers. Even if he sort of... ends up also being one?

Shen Yuan keeps everything above board, though his apartment always seems perfectly clean and he overpays way too much (Shen Jiu is still footing this bill after all), and Yue Qi starts to think maybe he actually is being paid for intimacy. Of a sort that they're maybe still working up to? Shen Yuan usually has a very thin face after all. He's kind of got two minds about this prospect. On the one hand, he's got his situationship with Shen Jiu, so dating his brother would be absurd. But on the other hand, it's not actually dating, and he does like Shen Yuan, and maybe if they can be good company for each other then Yue Qi won't feel so depressed and Shen Yuan won't need to hire strange men so often.

Meanwhile it's come to Shen Yuan's attention, perhaps through an offhand comment he read online somewhere, that people who are struggling financially often also struggle to "treat themselves". Because even when they have enough money to be comfortable there's often the looming specter of deprivation, and etc, so he figures he should start buying some of his dependents more treats and things. Since they might not buy them for themselves? And also he's enjoying doing this but shhh no he isn't, it's a huge hassle, he's only doing it out of basic moral decency, etc.

So like, Airplane starts getting little things that he'd put on some public wish lists, clearly sent by Peerless Cucumber. And he tells Mingyan to make a list for Liu Qingge too, and sure enough, Liu Qingge (bewildered, slightly flustered) tries to figure out what he's supposed to do with an album from a band he likes and some high-end leather polish. Ultimately settles on playing the music and wearing his nicest leather in his next video. Yue Qi starts arriving at Shen Yuan's place to be plied with his favorite coffees and to have scented candles awkwardly foisted onto him (Shen Yuan does not know what Yue Qi likes in gifts) (he buys these presents himself they're not out of Shen Jiu's pocket).

So finally Shen Yuan's parents start to notice that he's been spending a lot more than usual, and start to worry that he's either been taken in by a scam artist or is secretly dating a gold digger or has developed a drug addiction or something. But asking things directly like normal people is basically illegal in the Shen family, so they decide to hire a private investigator.

Enter Luo Binghe, a young man of humble background who is struggling to make ends meet after the untimely death of his adoptive mother, and is using his P.I. job and his online cooking videos to help pay his way through school (scholarship student). Usually his cases are more like, cyberstalking someone to find out if they're cheating on their spouse, or helping someone planning a lawsuit accumulate evidence on their corrupt employer, or other things like that. When he gets the Shen Yuan case, the idea that the Shen family's son is paying for "company" is well within his list of probable answers.

Though this one is a little... peculiar?

Mostly because Binghe can't find evidence of Shen Yuan actually getting what he would, presumably, be paying for. At first Luo Binghe just goes through the online paper trails, using the info that the Shen parents give him to figure out that Shen Yuan is paying Airplane and Swordmaster Liu (*cough*) what seem to be exorbitant prices just for trashy fiction and cosplay videos. He assumes this is a cover, that someone's actually delivering drugs or going over for "private meetings" or at least actually sending dirty videos as well, but even when he pays for Liu Qingge's VIP access it's just tutorials and such. Neither of these guys are even on any of the sites that are more lenient towards hosting explicit content. Luo Binghe's aware that kinks aren't always obviously sexual, but people don't usually pay through the nose for the kind of content they can easily find for free all over the place, either.

He digs a little more but keeps coming up empty on evidence to clarify which of the many vices the Shen family's son is actually indulging in. Which is a problem because that's the information they're paying him to find out. Plus his curiosity kind of piques as he reads Shen Yuan's seemingly quite invested comments on Airplane's writing and Liu Qingge's videos, looking to see if there's any kind of clandestine code or pattern. But near as he can tell, whatever else Shen Yuan might be getting out of these arrangements, he does genuinely like the stories and videos too? Well. Sometimes. Sometimes he's actually scathingly vitriolic towards Airplane's writing.

Luo Binghe decides that surveilling Shen Yuan himself is probably the way to go. That gets more complicated in court cases, but since the Shen parents just wants to know what's going on and aren't planning on prosecuting their son for anything, it doesn't matter as much if Luo Binghe gets information in sneaky or underhanded ways.

So, Binghe uses the account he created to access Liu Qingge's videos to chat with Shen Yuan a few times, and then recommends his own cooking channel. Shen Yuan doesn't seem too interested in cooking, so Luo Binghe makes sure to include a video that has an image of himself in his recommendation, and then films a few new videos of himself cooking with his shirtsleeves rolled up to three quarters and a few more buttons than usual unbuttoned, adopting a more flirty persona than he typically does for his shows. He takes his cues from some of Liu Qingge's more popular videos for how to be enticing bait.

It takes a few videos, but eventually Shen Yuan comments. Luo Binghe latches onto the chance to start talking to him, playing up a persona of a vulnerable young man with little means who is trying hard to make it through school, etc, and sure enough Shen Yuan seems interested. Well, most predatory people like vulnerable targets, don't they?

However... Shen Yuan just sends him a chunk of money.

Luo Binghe is confused.

Isn't he supposed to ask for something or create some kind of expectation of repayment first? But, maybe this is his approach to handling new targets. Maybe he's just trying to lull Binghe into a false sense of complacency, before he starts indicating what he wants from all of this. Luo Binghe makes sure to move the money Shen Yuan sends him into a separate account, so that if the Shen parents get angry about it then he can return it as a gesture of good faith.

But Shen Yuan just keeps sending supportive comments and donations. Eventually he leaves a comment that alludes to how badly he'd like to taste Binghe's cooking, and Binghe is like finally, but when he implies that they could perhaps meet in person and Luo Binghe could thank him for his support by making him something, Shen Yuan backs off.

Things eventually progress to the point where Luo Binghe, who is a totally normal person treating this like a totally normal job still thank you very much, is basically camping out in the bushes in front of Shen Yuan's apartment building. At some point he conscripts the aid of his weird cousin (finding his birth family was how he got into this business initially), and then almost immediately regrets it because Shen Yuan helps get Zhuzhi Lang a job doing landscaping for his building.

Why would he want Zhuzhi Lang close but not Binghe? Binghe is much handsomer! He'd make an excellent target for seduction! >:(

Anyway eventually Yue Qi catches Luo Binghe lurking around like a creeper and is like, finally, I have caught one of these suspicious men, whilst Binghe is like oh so he does have a lover, well this guy sucks and is clearly not good enough for him, and they both try and chase one another off and Shen Yuan comes home to a heated passive-aggressive-politeness war being waged in front of his apartment. Eventually he realizes the misunderstanding and calls everyone together (zoom conference? in-person meet-up?) to clarify that he is not paying any of them for "special favors", that was just Airplane being deranged about his sense of humor, and then he has no idea what to do when the prevailing response seems to be disappointment.

Fascinating that the experience that truly started Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation journey (His time in the burial mounds) is the only event that nobody knows anything about.

It's never revealed in universe, not even we know anything about it because it was that bad of a time for Wei Wuxian. (╥﹏╥)

And this is coming from the writer of SVSSS, MDZS, and TGCF, I cannot begin to imagine the horrors Wei Wuxian had to have experienced for Mo Xiang Tong Xiu to choose not to write about it.

da capo al coda.

50 Cliché Tropes and Prompts: 47. “I’ve been in love with you for years”

Pairing: Ben Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 4,806 words

Warnings: Swearing, severe awkwardness

Ben Hargreeves is fifteen years old when he first lays eyes on you.

The black leather jacket that his siblings had gotten for him is still new, with that nice new-leather smell still running through the seams, and it makes him feel older and cooler as he slinks into the Icarus Theater with Vanya and Allison.

The Amphion Symphony Orchestra is performing tonight. Vanya had all but begged them to go with her; Five had always accompanied her before he left, and it’s been a long time since she had last been to a concert. Ben is glad that he’d finally agreed to go. The guilt would’ve eaten at him if he had refused again.

Besides, since Dad is away on a trip for the weekend and Pogo and Mom tend to let things slide whenever he’s gone, Ben figures he could risk it.

“I heard a rumor that you already checked our tickets,” Allison whispers to the woman at the ticket table, and the three siblings proceed down to the auditorium after grabbing some programs.

Vanya selects the middle-left section of seats five rows from the front. Ben sits down between her and Allison, getting comfortable on the squeaky cushion, and opens his program with mild interest. His eyes catch onto the first two pieces.

Keep reading