#LOOK I AM SORRY FOR THE EXCESSIVE PROFANITY BUT

[theghostofprocrastination]

AND THESE BITCHES HATE IT.

WHAT ARE THESE YOUTUBE REVIEWS??

You know that feeling of anticipation you get when something let's say a game, tv show, or movie gets announced? And then you get it and it somehow exceeds your every expectation?

I felt it once with Luca and Elio was the second time around. The smile I had on my face almost the entire time I watched this was amazing.

I don't make a habit of watching movies in 3D due to how uncomfortable they are on my face with my glasses but this movie was 110% worth nose pain.

I haven't been this stupidly happy in so long man. I love space, I love animation, mush them together and you get one very happy moviegoer.

I really really truly hate Disney for it's very late and very rushed promotion of this movie, forcing it's fans to pick up the slack and try to get people out there to see this. I also hate the fact that this movie would be so goddamn amazing to see in IMAX!!! Even for one night, this movie deserves the biggest screen possible man.

Anyway get out there and see Elio, it's cute, it's beautiful, it'll probably make you cry, and hopefully it'll bring us more space related animation soon. Also more original movies. Can't forget that one!

[smaptain-smerica]

Sparrow

Part 1 - Little Bird

Pairing: Female!reader x Ghost x König

Summary: Sparrow partners up with soldiers Ghost and Soap on an intel gathering mission when the scars of her past get her into a dangerous situation. After being rescued by KorTac forces, she finds herself working along side them to ensure her freedom.

Maturity: depictions of violence and torture as well as harsh profanity will be written into this story. 16+ recommended

Masterlist

Chapter 3

While you were getting ready for bed, a gentle knock sounded from the open doorway. You turned your head to be greeted by Soap, a lazy smirk on his face.

"Need something, Soap?" You asked, your eyes flicking to his bare chest for only a moment before returning to his eyes. Why were all these men excessively well muscled?

"Just wondering when my bedtime story was." His tone was teasing, though it implied he was taking more of a jab at Ghost than you. You chuckled and shook your head gently at the comment.

"Don't worry I was about to come tuck you in too." You joked, taking a seat on the end of your bed. Soap took that as his invitation to join you. Whether it was or not.

"I don't think I've seen Ghost warm up to someone as quickly as he has you."

You looked over at Soap, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He responded by lazily looking towards you while he began talking again. "Do you know how many people he has willingly fallen asleep next to?" Soap questioned.

You opened your mouth to answer but then closed it when you realized that you had no idea.

"Exactly." Soap chuckled gently. "Bastards known me for years and he still doesn't fall asleep until I do first."

"Why are you telling me this?" You questioned. It was a valid thing to ask. This was out of the blue for Soap. He hadn't tried to engage in any serious conversations. He mostly just spat witty banter right back at you.

"Just be nice to him. That poor bastard, he's been though literal hell and back. It'd be nice to see something good happen to him."

You thought for a moment about your conversation with him before. He told you how he hated looking at the scars. You wondered if the troubled past that Soap spoke about was related.

"Thanks, Soap." You looked up gratefully at the man. He responded by giving you a crooked smile and wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He pulled you into a side hug and squeezed you roughly. He took his knuckles and ruffled up your hair.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't growin' fond of ya, too."

"Alright, alright! I get it!" You laughed as you roughly shoved Soap off of you. He let out a Hearty belly laugh as he rolled off your bed and strolled for the door. He paused with half his body poking through the doorframe.

"I wouldn't mind a goodnight kiss with my tuck in tonight."

"Get out of here." You playfully shooed Soap away. He winked before disappearing back into the hallway.

The next morning you awoke and got ready for the day. Upon leaving your room, you noticed the blanket that you threw over Ghost's lap was neatly folded over the back of the couch.

When you entered the kitchen, Ghost was sitting at the table, back in his full tactical gear. He had the computer pulled up in front of him, working on something. He paused for a moment to rasp out; "Good morning."

"Good morning." You replied back to him, flipping open the cabinets for something to eat. Your eyes rested on some stale pop tarts and you reluctantly grabbed them.

Soap entered the door next, his mouth open wide in a dramatic yawn. "Don't you have any coffee here?" He asked.

You chuckled a little. "Sorry, coffee is a luxury item around here."

Soap grumbled a couple curse words before making his way to the fridge. He plucked out a beer and popped the cap off with his teeth.

"Bloody hell, it's 6 am mate." Ghost griped.

"Gotta get a pick-me-up from somewhere." Soap grunted as he sat down in the chair across from Ghost and threw his feet up on the table. "What's on the agenda today, Sparrow?"

Ghost smacked Soaps shoe with his hand, causing Soap to roll his eyes and put down his feet. You strolled over to the last empty chair and sat down.

"Not much. I need to go over some audio files to figure out where Saad and Ivan are meeting today then tap their cars. If you two want to stay here I can do this by myself." You explained. Since the accident, more often than not you worked alone. It had been a while since you had company on intel missions. It was nice though, having people to talk to when the day was all done. You were sure they must be enjoying the nice break from the fighting they usually participated in.

"We'll come." Ghost blurted out, glancing your direction then Soaps. You wouldn't have noticed hadn't it been for the conversation you and soap had last night, but you watched the two men exchange glances and Soaps face grow into a smirk. "That's why we're here, aren't we?"

You smiled a little under your mask. "Very well then. I'll take the computer and let you know when we're leaving."

Ghost slid the computer over to you reluctantly while you stood up from the table and gathered your equipment. "You sure you don't need help?" Ghost asked.

"I got it." You reassured him before walking off to your room to eat your breakfast. You shut and locked the door while you ate, but after you were finished you opened the door back up and just worked with your mask on. With no AC is got hot in a room fast if you kept all the doors shut.

You had on the headphones, listening to the audios that were recorded within the house while simultaneously reading the already translated audio transcripts that you received from base sometime in the middle of the night.

Movement caught your eye from your doorway. You looked up and saw Ghost leaning on the doorframe. You took off one side of the headphones and met his gaze. "Hi." You greeted.

Ghost simply looked at you, then at the computer, then his eyes grazed around the room. You thought about what Soap had said, taking Ghost in a new light. Maybe he wasn't trying to be brooding and intimidating. Maybe he just didn't know what to feel.

"You can come sit if you'd like." You offered. Ghosts gaze returned to yours before he pushed off the doorframe and entered your room. You watched him as he sat down on your bed and peered over your shoulder at your work.

A small smile grew to your cheeks as you turned to face the computer again. Sometimes if felt like your brain worked faster than your mouth, causing you to subconsciously mutter whatever you were reading or listening to. In this case, you were repeating the words you heard in Russian out loud into the world. It helped your brain translate them into English.

"How do you know so many languages?" Ghost asked. The question caught you off guard a little. You spun around in your rolling chair to face him, the headphones still attached.

"I thought it would be good for my line of work. I took Spanish and French in high school and just fell in love with learning. What interested me the most was comparing similarities to the way they are spoken. Most of them aren't even remotely similar to our English, which I find fascinating." You explained.

Ghost was quiet for a moment before he let out a small huff of understanding. "Never though of that before." He paused for a moment, his eyes darting over your shoulder before continuing. "That looks like English."

You spun around to face the computer again and looked at the Transcript. "That's because it is. I'm listening to the audio tapes and reading the transcripts in two different places to try and catch their next meeting a little faster."

You glanced back over your shoulder at Ghost who was simply staring at you, an emotionless expression in his eyes. "What if I read the English one and you listen? We could get it done faster."

A smirk grew over your lips. "You're very eager to help this morning."

"I'm not used to not working." Ghost chuckled a little.

"Get to reading then, Lieutenant."

Ghost pushed himself off the bed and took the half a step it took to get over to the desk. He did something you didn't expect. He leaned down over your shoulder to read the screen, bracing his arms on the desk in the process. His smell wafted down into your nose. It was mostly earthy smells, like walking through a dense forest after a rain. Pine, maybe cedar, you couldn't tell, but it made your heart race. You had to put on both headphones now to try and focus on the audios rather than the large man now looming over you, boxing you into the desk.

His chest was so close that - if it weren't for the headphones - you were sure you'd hear his heartbeat. You were so preoccupied with the close proximity of the lieutenant that the Russian you were listening to turned to alphabet soup in your brain.

A hand brushed your shoulder, causing you to nearly jump out of your skin. You realized it was Ghost's hand as he was looking down at you. You took off a headphone and waited for him to speak.

"Here. Read that." He pointed a gloved hand to the computer screen. Your attention drew to a chunk of text with a time stamp. You skimmed through the text to find out that their next meeting was tonight.

"Great catch, Ghost." You hummed a little, turning in your chair now to face him. He pulled back from where he was leaning on the table and was now standing in front of you. Your eyes traveled up to meet his dark ones.

You wished you hadn't had that conversation with Soap. Now, you couldn't stop thinking about what Ghost was thinking. What did he think about you? What was he thinking right now? It was so hard to tell with the cold gaze he always carried. Did he really trust you?

"Can I ask you something?" He finally broke you from your thoughts while sitting down on the bed.

You cleared your throat and adjusted your position in your chair. "Yeah, go for it."

You anticipated him asking again why you covered your face. It was a question that, without fail, you were always asked. Only one person in the task force knew the history behind it. The scars, the insecurities. It really wasn't a story to be ashamed of, you just hated the reminder of them.

"How'd you get your Call-sign?" He asked. Relief washed over you, you could answer this one.

"I would whistle songs to myself and one of the other recruits in my division caught it and would call me Bird. As time went on, that other recruit became my partner. We had created a series of whistles to communicate with each other which earned us the nicknames Sparrow and Finch. I was hoping for a cooler bird, like an eagle or a hawk, but I've grown to love it."

Behind the mask, you could see Ghost's eyes crinkle upwards in a smile. "Where is Finch now?"

A weight pushed down onto your heart. You had lost your partner, your best friend, that faithful day of your accident. The loss nearly tore you in two pieces when you found out. The two of you made it though basic all the way to graduation together. You were nearly inseparable from each other. Until the one day you two finally split off.

"He died." You finally responded with a sullen tone, looking down at the fingers in your lap. You tried not to think about it. It only happened a few years ago but it still felt fresh in your mind at times.

"How?" Ghost asked.

You inhaled a sharp breath. You wanted to tell him. Wanted to let the words tumble and finally tell somebody about what caused you so much hurt and pain. You thought back to the night he mentioned his mask. You always traveled back to that night, the words he said to you.

Because I can't look in the mirror without breaking down.

He had been so open and vulnerable. Why couldn't you do the same? If you never saw him again after this mission, even better. It would be the same as telling a stranger in a coffee shop.

But when you finally gathered up the courage to speak, the words caught in your throat. They wouldn't, couldn't escape. You stared into Ghosts expectant eyes and you couldn't speak. After what felt like an eternity you cleared your throat and stood from the chair. You couldn't have this conversation, not now. It was better to avoid it all together than to put that much trust in someone else.

"I have to go get some things ready for tonight." You said quietly as you quickly made your way out of your room, leaving Ghost alone on your bed.

Planting the tracking devices on the cars was easy. For a Russian mob, you'd think they would guard their belongings better.

Unfortunately, an easy mission did not come with an easy nights rest. A horrific memory dressed as a nightmare haunted your mind.

Your team huddled against a wall, ready to face the enemy head on. You lifted your head above the wall to peak. Your partner, finch, right behind you. It wasn't often that either you got called into the field. You always loved the adrenaline rush every now and then.

Helicopters roared overhead as you tried to listen to your captains commands. There were three possible abandoned warehouses where our targets could be. The plan was to call an airstrike and then eliminate any remaining targets that tried to run.

A woman came sprinting towards the group, waving her hands to try and flag somebody down. She was frantically screaming help.

Finch's heart was too big for his own good. He immediately stood, holding his arms out to his comrades. "Civilian! Cease Fire!"

"Finch, get down!" You hissed, tugging at his tactical vest. He ignored your warning, moving around the blockades to approach the woman.

"Please, help! My baby, my child!" The woman's English was very broken, her accent thick. It was clear she didn't know a lot of English.

"Your child, where?" Finch asked, grabbing the woman's hand as she reached for him.

"That building. Please, find her."

"Corporal that building is coming down!" Our Captain warned.

"How long?" Finch asked, determination coating his features.

"The air strike is inbound!"

"How long?" Finch demanded with determination.

"3 minutes."

Finch turned on heel and sprinted for the building. Your heart nearly leapt from your throat. You stood up to follow him but your captain grabbed you by the collar and threw you back onto the ground.

"Sit your ass back down, soldier! I'm not losing both of you."

You looked over the barricade frantically as Finch ran for the building. You let out a low three tone whistle that was code for 'use caution' but you really wanted to scream 'be careful, please come back'. Finch responded with a sharp whistle that meant '10-4'.

The minutes passed by with an eerie silence, a recruit calling out the time cards as they ticked on. "One minute till strike."

Finch was still in the building. You held out some hope that he was on his way out of the building. No gunfire was a good sign. The targets you were tracking must not be in that building.

"30 seconds."

Your heart dropped, worry clouding your features. You stared intensely at the door, praying that your red-haired companion emerged from the doorway.

"Momma!"

A young voice caught your attention as a little girl in a pink dress came running around the corner from an alleyway. The woman, who was crouching by our barricades, jumped up and exclaimed something in a different language. Your eyes darted back and fourth between the two for a second before you made your decision.

"Lieutenant L/n get back here!" Your captain screamed at you as you hurdled the barricades and sprinted for the girl. You reached her, scooping her up in your arms and sprinting back for the barricades.

"5 seconds!" The recruit with the countdown yelled.

In a last minute decision that probably saved your life, you threw yourself into the ground. Your body wrapped around the little girl to shield her from any debris.

The explosion came, sending shrapnel flying in every direction, ripping straight through your tactical gear and to your skin. The gashes stung as blood quickly poured onto the ground.

Next Part in Progress

Tag List @msjaeger @mommy3a3ha @simpinginthecorner @sweetybuzz25 @nirvanaaaonly

[riskypeaches]

2,365 Days

2,365 days. That’s how long it took you to realize that you were in love with Han Jisung. It took him another 36 to realize that he never stopped.

Pairing: Han Jisung/reader, female reader.

Word Count: 2.1k 

Genre: Romance, college au, idiots in love, slight angst, angst with a happy ending, childhood best friends to lovers au.

Warnings: Excessive usage of italics and Y/N because that’s how I roll. Also profanity, I like to cuss. 

Bits and pieces of a story idea I had for Han. Events happen chronologically, but a fair amount of time is skipped before and after each bit. Heavily inspired by the song Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship), go ahead and take a listen!

                                                                                                                        ↢

“Two thousand, three hundred and sixty-five days!”, you shouted. 

Jisung stopped in his tracks, furrowing his eyebrows. “Y/N, what are you on about?”.

“Two thousand, three hundred and sixty-five days”, you stated again. “That’s- that’s how long it took me to realize I was in love with you”.

His mouth parted in shock at your confession. “Look, Y/N-”, he started but you cut him off. 

“I don’t want to hear it!”, you said furiously shaking your head. “I know it’s stupid! I am never going to be over how stupid it was that I could be in love with someone for that long and not realize it until a couple weeks ago!”. 

He took a step forward reaching out to put a hand on your shoulder. On any other day you would have gladly accepted the comfort, but the look in his eyes in that moment sickened you. In all the years you had known him, he had never once looked at you like that. And you fucking hated it. 

All you could see was pity. 

You dodged his hand, instead letting your own arms wrap around your front. You didn’t want comfort from him, not right now at least. All his touch did was make you hurt. 

“The worst part about this is that I think you used to be in love with me too”, you murmured, shrinking into yourself. “And I’m- I’m so sorry I never realized it until now because I think… I think I could have saved you a lot of pain if I just took one fucking look at what was right in front of me”. 

“Y/N…”, he said looking at you with a pained expression. 

“Jisung I’m sorry, I really am. I know you’re with someone right now. I’m not trying to- steal you from them or something I just…”, you trailed off. 

“You just what?”, he said. 

“I just!”, you said looking at the ceiling to hold back your tears. Pressing the heel of your hands into your eyes you took deep steadying breaths. 

“Jisung, I want you to be happy. I really do. And if that girl makes you happy then- that’s enough for me! I just… needed to give my best friend an explanation instead of dropping off the face of the earth”. 

“Dropping off…?” he said, beginning to look vaguely panicked. “Where are you going?”. 

“I’m just going home!”, you said waving your hands back and forth in a placating manner. “For… a couple of months at least”.

“Y/N. You haven’t been back home since the day we graduated high school”. 

“I know”, you whispered looking at the floor. “I just need time to myself right now. These feelings are all new and I… I know I can’t be a good friend to you right now. Seeing you, being with you it just- hurts. I’m not the best friend you deserve right now”. 

Jisung made a pained noise in the back of his throat and stepped in closer towards you. “I’m not mad at you! You don’t need to leave, if that’s what you’re afraid of”, he said placing his hands on your shoulders. 

“No that’s not it Jisung”, you said gently brushing off his hands. “I just- for me to be a good friend, the one who can support you and the relationship you’ve found yourself in, I need time to get over these feelings. And I know that’s something I can’t do right now. So, I’m going home”. 

Jisung sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair. Taking another look at you he seemed to decide that you were being serious and dropped onto your couch in defeat. 

“You’re not… you’re not leaving right?”, he said head hanging down to his knees. “You’re coming back?”.

You gave a half hearted laugh and collapsed next to him. 

“Han Jisung, just because the unfortunate side effects of the human condition cause me to have feelings for you that does not mean that you are ever going to be able to get rid of me”. 

He gave a chuckle in response, still refusing to lift his head up. You tried to ignore the fact that he was sniffling through giggles. For his sake. 

You gently nudged his shoulder with your own. 

“I’ve known you for almost 7 years now. You’re stuck with me for life”. 

He laughed fully this time, trying to subtly wipe at his eyes. “Kylie”, he said tilting his head at you and giving you a watery smile. “What do you think about her?”. 

You gave him your own watery smile in return, “I really like her”, you said. 

And it was the truth.

                                                              ↢ 

Something was off, Jisung thought. In fact, something was off about this entire week. 

His grades we’re up, better than they ever had been, he was dating an amazing girl, he had a steady job so… life is good. 

Life was good, right?

                                                             ↢

“Are you done moping yet?”, Chan said casually sipping at his soda. 

“Moping?”, I asked. “I’m not moping”. 

Chan rolled his eyes throwing another french fry into his mouth. “You clearly are. But, if we’re still in the denial stage that’s fine. We can just talk about… uh”, chan said nibbling at his fry thoughtfully. “Oh!”, he shouted suddenly. “Professor Brewer’s paper! Why don’t we work on it now? What are you doing for the prompt?”. 

I sighed and rested my head on my palm. “I already finished it”, I grumbled twirling my soda straw aimlessly. 

Chan’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. “You fucking what?!”, he said choking on his soda. 

“Shit dude are you ok?”, I said patting at his back. He waved me off, spluttering an “I’m ok” back. 

“You WHAT”, he said after regaining his breath. 

I shrank back in my seat. “I er- already finished it?”, I said nervously.

“Han”, Chan deadpanned. “We have 4 days left until that paper is due”. 

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “4 days isn’t that long you know, I have other classes too. Besides, don’t you always finish your assignments the day they're assigned?”. 

He waved me off leaning back in his seat. “Yeah I do, but that’s not the point”. 

“I’m sorry… then what exactly is the point then?”, I asked steadily growing more confused. 

“The point is! You never even bother to look at your assignments until the day they’re due!”, Chan said exasperatedly. 

I eyed him warily. “Why are you getting so worked up about this?”.

“Because!”, he all but shouted. “You’re an idiot!”. 

“Hey!”, I said. “Just because you’re my hyung doesn’t mean you can just call me stupid!”, I huffed crossing my arms at him. “I’ll have you know I have a 3.8 this quarter”. 

“Exactly”, Chan groaned while slowly dragging a hand across his face. 

“What the hell are you on about?”, I said genuinely starting to become annoyed with the conversation. 

“Hannie”, he said sighing. “The only reason you have such good grades this quarter is because you’re not following Y/N around like a lost puppy”. 

My heart panged at the mention of her name. “I don’t know what you're talking about”, I breathed. 

“Yes you do”, he said with a stern look in his eyes. “You have shitty grades every quarter because all you ever want to do is spend time with her. The only reason you get by is because she chews your ass out when she finds out you’ve been slacking”. 

“Nope”, I shook my head adamantly. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I have a girlfriend, everything’s just fine”.

“Ok the fact that you brought that up when I wasn’t even talking about your girlfriend makes me feel like there’s more to unpack there but… baby steps. We’ll come back to that”

Chan looked at me with an expectant look in his eyes, as if waiting for me to say something. I shrugged helplessly at him, not knowing what he wanted from me. 

He sighed heavily through his nose before apparently giving up on what he’d been waiting for. 

“Hannie…”, he said gently. Chan carefully put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with sympathetic look in his eyes. “You miss her”. 

I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my ears. “No I don’t”, I said shaking my head at him. 

“Han, you’ve spent nearly every single day with Y/N since you guys we’re 13. You can’t expect me to believe- actually you can’t expect yourself to believe that you don’t miss her”. 

“Not true”, I muttered. “When we were in school she went back in the summers to visit her family”.

“Fine then- you spent everyday with her albeit 2 months out of the year. That’s not even true for the past 3 years! She hasn’t been back these summers, she stayed with you”. 

I sighed heavily, sliding even further down my seat. “What do you want me to do?”, I mumbled miserably. 

“I want you to stop being an idiot and acknowledge that you're upset, and that you have been for the past month”.

“Because Y/N’s gone?”, I asked slowly. 

“Because Y/N’s gone.”, Chan affirmed. 

                                                            ↢

“Jisung?”, you asked incredulously. “How the hell did you get here? Why the hell are you here?”.

Jisung was near hyperventilating at this point, he felt that his lungs might collapse from the sheer stress of the situation. 

Alright, alright. Calm down. Just remember what Chan and Changbin told you in the car ride over this is fine everything’s fine. 

“I broke up with Kylie!”, I blurted out. 

Everything was not fucking fine. 

You crossed your arms and gave him a stern look. “Han Jisung I had to suffer through weeks of you non-stop talking about that girl. You better have not just broken up with her I swear to god-”

“She doesn’t make me cheesecake!”, I shouted cutting off her rant. 

She looked even more confused than when she first realized I was standing in her grandparent’s yard. “Jisung what on earth are you talking about?”, she said. 

What on earth indeed.

“I’m sure if it's really that big of a problem”, she said utterly perplexed. “She could just learn how to make one dude?”. 

“Even if she did, it wouldn’t be your cheesecake!”, I said desperately. 

“...what?”. 

“It wouldn’t be the same as the ones you make me and- she doesn’t stay up with me all night trying to help me figure out rhymes for my lyrics even though you know you can’t rap for shit. And sure, she can skateboard and that’s pretty cool but she’s not the dumbass who thought launching herself off an out of control board was a great idea and face planted in the middle of four way traffic-”. 

“Hey!”, she huffed indignantly. 

I ignored her, continuing to roll right through my rant. 

“And she doesn’t snore like a fucking buzzsaw, which would be so cute if it didn’t sound so god damn concerning. And she doesn’t watch romance movies with me even though you absolutely despise them and-”, I said stopping abruptly. 

“And?”, she asked softly. 

“And I don’t love her”, I breathed feeling the tips of my ears turn red. “Not the way that I love you”. 

“Oh”, she said. 

I laughed at her dumbfounded expression. “It took me 36 days and 2 hyungs to realize I was still in love with you and all you have to say in response is ‘oh’?”. 

She huffed at me in annoyance. “I spilled my guts out to you a month ago, what the hell else do you want?! Some kind of blood oath??”. 

“If that’s what it takes for you to tell me you love me right now then yeah, I think that’s fair”. 

“You should have asked for that a whole fucking month ago!”, she said stamping her foot in annoyance. 

“Hey! You may have had to wait a month but I had to wait 6 whole fucking years before you even acknowledged that you liked me!”. 

“I hate you”. 

“Oh you do? Well I could just- get back in Chan’s car then. Drive back to school”, I teased. 

“Han Jisung I swear to god I will throw this fucking shovel at you”. 

I laughed wholeheartedly, head tilting towards the sky. “Ok ok, I’m sorry. I get it. No leaving allowed, now will you get over here and kiss me already?”. 

“No!” she yelped, turning red. 

“6 years Y/N, I’m a desperate man”. 

“If you don’t shut up I swear to god-”.

[because-i-can-stuff]

Life will always find a way

Dick Grayson x Y/N Roth

A/N: I haven’t written something like this in a long time and I just started watching Titans on Netflix (been a year since then) and been reading a bunch of fics and I kind of had this one stuck in my head. So tell me what you think and enjoy.

I forgot this even existed and was just sitting in my drafts so I guess I am posting this now

 -Flashback-

It was one of those rare rainy days in San Francisco, you were just closing the small café you were working at. It was a busy day and the shop closed a little later than usual, meaning it was already beginning to get dark outside.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, you pulled the hood over your head trying to protect yourself from the weather. Today was just a day that couldn’t get any worse you thought to yourself.

It started with an alarm that didn’t go off, making you late for the first lecture of the day, the day at USF seemingly lasting forever and instead of heading home, you still needed to work. Life was dull and the universe was testing you, first your best friend passed away, then essays and other projects piling up and the excessive amount of work hours, happiness just wasn’t an option at the moment.

And now this, the rain, the darkness and the constant feeling of being followed.

Picking up your speed in hopes of getting home faster you took a shortcut not really thinking of the consequences but being reminded in a second, as somebody slammed you into a wall from behind, shocking you for a moment before regaining your composure and getting ready to defend yourself.

When suddenly a figure appeared behind your nightly attacker and ripped him off of you and started beating the crap out of him.

Your nightly saviour appeared to be some kind of masked vigilante , at least that’s what you guessed from the costume adorning a cape and the mask covering his eyes. Watching the fight scene unfold before you, the vigilante overpowering your attacker with ease, resulting with the stranger running away, yelling profanities.

The vigilante focussed his attention onto you, looking you up and down and you doing the same, noticing the wet mop of brunette hair framing his face and the chocolate brown eyes peaking from behind the mask., as well as the well-toned body adorned by the costume.

“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” he asked sincerely.

“I’m alright, maybe a bruise or two but nothing I can’t handle. Thank you by the way”

“Robin” he interrupted

“Well, thank you, Robin. But it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I’m sure you have more pressing matters at hand so why don’t you take care of these and let me take care of myself.” You stated rather annoyed, not only annoyed by him but this whole day.

“Oh, well, okay… then I guess I will just leave you be” Robin stated quite unsure and disappeared within a moment.

Sure, you felt kind of bad about your behaviour, but you just wanted to get home, get cosy and cry yourself to sleep, the usual routine since your best friend passed away.

The next day promised to be a better one, with the alarm actually going of, the sun peaking from behind the clouds and you being on time for the lectures that day with the prospect of not having to work today and finally getting started on some essays.

Making your way to your favourite coffee shop, ordering a cappuccino and sitting down in a quiet corner, you unpacked your notebook and started typing, tuning out the world around you, therefore not noticing that somebody joined you at your table.

Only noticing your company after a small cough, looking up a young man around your age sat in front of you, with deep chocolate brown eyes, well styled brunette hair and a smile to match his handsome face.

“Can I help you?” you ask the mysterious stranger

“Hi” he answers with a charming smile “I just noticed you sitting by yourself and I don’t know… Obviously you are doing work or something, but I don’t know… there is something about that I just thought I really want to get to know the beautiful woman behind the notebook”

Normally you would turn down such advances, but today, you were feeling a little bit better about yourself than the last weeks and he wasn’t that bad looking, charming on top of that. And maybe he was just what you needed to distract you from the grieving and the stress.

“Well, thank you for the compliment, you are not so bad looking yourself.” You tried to flirt “My name’s Y/N, by the way.”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady” he charmed “It’s very nice to meet you Y/N. I’m Dick Grayson”

“Finally, a name and a full face to the alias. I didn’t think I was so intriguing that a vigilante had to get to know me, but I am flattered, Robin” I whispered making sure nobody heard what I was telling him.

Dick looked shocked and started stammering, before asking “What are you talking about? You are making no sense.”

“Look, I am not going to tell anyone, but I’m quite good with remembering faces and I got a good look at yours and the only difference between yours and Robins is the fact that you are not having a black mask over your eyes. Same hair, same eyes, same smile, same face structure. Just face it, I figured it out and that pretty fast.”

Thus, began a fast forming friendship which evolved into friends with benefits really quick and after some time even into lovers pursuing a serious relationship, finding an abrupt end with no explanation, just a last night filled with love and a morning after with an empty bed and a note saying

Goodbyes are never easy, but this is one of the hardest. I knew I couldn’t tell you face to face and I know it’s cowardly to tell you this way, but I just know that you would’ve somehow changed my mind. By the time you’ve read this, I will already be on my way out of this city on the way towards a new destination. I am really sorry. I love you and I’ll miss you and hope you somehow understand.

-       Dick

-Flashback end-

“And you tell me all of this now, Rachel?! I knew I should’ve just taken with me as soon as Mom died. I can’t believe I let you do all this to find your real parents just because I thought going with a detective would be a good idea. You could’ve gotten yourself killed, I could’ve somehow helped you. And I am furious that you lied to me, that everything was fine and just now you’re telling me the whole truth. I don’t know what to say Rachel…” you told your sister agitated over the phone.

“Y/N… I was fine and I am fine. I made new friends and they protected me just fine. And I didn’t tell you because I knew you would’ve been there in a second to protect me but you also have a child to think about and I rather know you and Ricky are safe…”

“And I rather know that you are safe, Rachel. I would’ve figured something out.” You interrupted your little sister

“I know, I know… but there is nothing we can do about that now. Everything is fine. Well, anyway… What I originally wanted to tell you was that we are actually on the way to San Francisco. Apparently, there is some safe house where the Titans used to stay and we get to live at. So, I finally get to see my big sister and my cute little nephew” Rachel told you excitedly

“I am so happy to finally see you again and so is Ricky. But are you sure you don’t want to move in with us?” you were still being vary of Rachel living with a bunch of guys

“Yes, I am sure, it’s safest for me and also for you two, I don’t want to get you in danger because of me. I have done that a lot these past few weeks and I really don’t want to risk it. She assured you

“Okay, I understand. Even though we both know that I could handle it.” You told her with a smile “Come visit us as soon as possible. We miss you”

After your phone call with Rachel you went into your 3-year-old sons’ room to tell him, that his aunt would come visit soon. Ricky sat contently in the middle of the room surrounded by a bunch of toys playing with his favourite car. You admired your little angel with his brunette locks and chocolate brown eyes, reminding you so much of his father. Ricky looked so much like him, but he still got your gorgeous smile and good-natured spirit.

[fakesurprise]

The Prisoner

The prisoner hasn’t been trained, not like those of us in the Army. She goes from asleep to awake without trying to check surroundings, sits up and blinks. The cell is thick silo cement with a door that could stop a tank, cheap lighting caged to the ceiling and symbols etched into the walls with a blade. She stands and frowns at the walls, ignoring the cold despite the stone slab she’s been placed on without even a pillow or blanket despite my protests. We may not be bound by the Geneva convention, but the code we follow demands more honour even to our enemies than we afforded her.

For that statement, I have been assigned to the surveillance room two doors down from the cell. Sixteen cameras, giving me any view I could want of the prisoner. I have also been entrusted with the Blade, if she somehow escapes. I hold it carefully in my left hand, for it cannot be sheathed. The blade is invisible to the eye, but can cut through anything we know.

The prisoner checks for her phone, walks to the door. Pauses. Gives the door a long stare, then says: “I think I need to talk to whoever is in charge of this place,” without a hint of fear in her voice, as if she is asking for room service. It is impressive, even in a monster.

I buzz the General over the intercom. “The prisoner is awake.”

“Earlier than anticipated, given the drugs,” the general says. I can hear people taking notes in the offices nearby.

“She is asking to speak with whoever is in charge.”

“Is she now. I will be down soon.” The intercom turns off.

It takes almost half an hour for the General to arrive. She has four guards with her, all wearing regulation red and black. The two who open the door have shotguns. The two who enter with the General have pistols and tasers.

The prisoner remains sitting, having done nothing else while waiting.

“This seems excessive,” she murmurs, looking puzzled.

“This is sacred ground,” the General says in a soft tone that isn’t soft at all. “You profane it by existing: you will not speak unless spoken to.”

The prisoner doesn’t even blink, just offers a slight nod.

“Your kind harm the light of the world; we will ensure this does not happen again. You take the Light, and only darkness grows where it has been.”

The prisoner stands, holding the General’s gaze, ignoring both guards. “I think –.”

The general backhands her across the face. “Silence, god-eater,” she growls.

The prisoner looks back, eyes slightly wide. Surprised, but she doesn’t look afraid. The two guards move slightly, weapons at the ready.

“Only demons are calm when unarmed,” the General says. “You may speak.”

“You know who I travel with?” the prisoner says carefully.

“A magician who cheats the universe, for that is all magic is. They abuse the gifts left behind by the Creator, and assume they will pay no price for their crimes.”

The prisoner lets out a sigh. “That’s not –.”

The next backhand involves a closed fist.

The prisoner staggers back with a grunt, hand raised to her cheek. She has gone slightly pale, and gingerly removes a tooth, her left cheek the colour of a bruised twilight.

“Shit,” the prisoner says, very softly and then looks at the General. “Don’t even think about it.”

The General stops before she can attempt anything else. The other guards stop. The prisoner’s voice is tight and commanding, the kind of voice even a god would obey without question.

“Speak another word in that tone,” the General says, “and my people kill you. This I promise you, prisoner.”

And for the first time, the prisoner looks scared to me. Not of the General. Not even of the threat. She rubs her jaw slowly, wincing, gaze studying everyone in the room, and the cameras as well.

“You don’t know,” she says, so softly the microphone barely catches the words. I watch her put her tooth back into her mouth, ignoring the pain she must be in.

The General smiles at the pain and turns and walks out. Everyone follows, the door sealing shut behind them.

The prisoner begins pacing, studying the walls. No longer calm.  She looks scared now, but if someone had asked me why I don’t know that I could say.

“You have one more hour on your shift, Acting-Sergeant Barret,” the General says as she passes the room.

I don’t respond. I know the prisoner in the cells kills small gods; we know the damage a god-eater does to the world. But I can’t shake the ‘you don’t know’ and the feeling that the prisoner is scared for us.

I keep the sacred blade in my hand. There is nothing it cannot cut, but the General did not wish to defile it with the blood of a monster.

There is a boy in the cell. He is eleven.

I stare at the screen. The boy is wearing cowboy boots that don’t match, a skirt, and a jacket of so many colours it passes through garish and into something else. He has a toque on his head and two scarves.

I am out the door without thinking of backup: if a demon is present, it will die. That is our duty and I alone have the sacred Blade.

The door to the cell opens as I approach it and the boy blinks at me.

“Ohhhhh. This is weirdy. I don’t meet one of you for a long time,” he says, and my hand is empty.

My left hand is empty, and the sacred treasure is gone.

“I think it got lost,” the boy informs me, as if that makes perfect sense. He turns back to the prisoner. “And after that, we ate four hotdogs and Honcho said I should ask why your phone is off.”

“You ate four hot dogs?” the prisoner says dryly, as if she is not in pain at all, speaking carefully.

“Well, they were pretty hugey and! I was kinda hungry,” the boy says proudly.

He sounds like any boy. He made the Verkan disappear. I step back. I could get help. I don’t know what could help in this.

“Also, this is a weirdy place for an adventure and the Verkonis blade is an ooops but I don’t know that for a lomg time but but but you sound a little funny and –.” The boy stops, looks back at the prisoner. “Charlie?”

“I’m fine, Jay,” the prisoner says.

“They hurt you?” the boy says, and there is nothing save honest shock in his tone.

“They had wards and –.”

The boy gestures with a hand. Every single ward in the cell is gone as if they never existed at all.. The gesture is short and sharp. “They don’t now,” he says, as if this was a fact about the universe.

The boy is in front of me. I didn’t see or sense him move. He stares up at me, no longer smiling. “You didn’t hurt Charlie. You wanted her to have a blanket.”

“Jay,” the pris – Charlie – says behind him.

The boy doesn’t look back at Charlie. He looks up at the ceiling, and I’m certain he’s seeing the General as if the walls didn’t exist at all. His voice is as cold as his expression when he speaks. “They won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“They weren’t jaysome,” Charlie says as she walks toward him, and her voice has that same authority she used on the General, as easily as breathing: “But hurting them won’t be jaysome either.”

The boy turns his head toward her slowly. There is tension in the movement.

Charlie stops, not trying to hide her fear. “Jay. You’ve hurt people to protect me. And I’ve done the same to protect you. But hurting people because you want to, because it would feel good – that’s not a Jay you want to be.”

“Oh!”

“Yes,” Charlie says, not trying to hide her relief.

“I almost did a hugey oops!”

“A hugey one,” Charlie repeats, her voice faint.

The boy doesn’t notice her fear of him. “I didn’t do it though but they don’t get to hurt anyone again so I’ll chat with them and they won’t!”

He vanishes.

I make a noise. I think I tried to say a question.

Charlie holds out a hand, and her cell phone is in it. “Jay would be worried if I lost my cell phone, so it seems I haven’t lost it.” She sounds amused, but the fear is deep under that as she presses one number.

“It’s me. Fanatics who thought being a god-eater meant I ate pieces of their God. Something like that. Jay is lecturing them.” She pauses. “A tooth. He hasn’t noticed that yet, but he got rid of the wards on the place.”

And Charlie touches her jaw, then nods slowly. “I ate the space between my gum and tooth. It will hold until you can figure out some magic to heal the damage. Jay just thinks I was bruised, or this place wouldn’t be here anymore. Okay. Keep an eye on him.”

She hangs up her phone and puts it in a pocket. “You should leave now. Whatever you felt this Army was, it’s not really that at all. And it won’t exist by the end of the day: that kind of ignorance can’t be permitted.”

“I don’t –.” And I have no idea what to say at all.

Jay appears. “I fixed lots of bindings and I’ll have to talk to Honcho cuz I broke some rules I think  and! someone gave me a lot of their teeth and said sorry?!”

“They probably thought you were a tooth fairy,” Charlie says.

“I bet I could be one because bindings!” And the boy vanishes again.

“.... I’m going to pay for that idea for weeks.” Charlie walks toward the stairs. “The entities you call ‘demons’ are from Outside the universe, mostly. I’ve never liked the term: there’s evil enough here as it is. They have some small power.  Jay is from far, far Outside and has decided I am his friend.”

The door to the basement of the old church opens without her touching it, as if the church that was once a missile silo is eager for her to leave.

“The General didn’t –.”

Charlie turns. I step back from the expression her face. “If I had died, there is a very good chance Jay would have unmade this entire area,” she says. “And if you were very, very lucky it would have ended there.”

I open my mouth. Close it.

“There is a very good chance that if I die, Jay could unmake this entire world without realizing it. And you people were ignorant that he existed at all. I’d wonder who is actually in charge, and what they meant to happen. Every hotel owner in the world knows about Jay. He is a code that the police have in many places, and your holy army didn’t even know he travelled with me. I’d consider what that means.”

She turns back and walks up the stairs.

I don’t follow. I go back int the surveillance room.

Jay is visible in every camera, making silly faces like any kid would.

I thank him for that, and he is gone from the screens.

I sit in the chair. I stare at the cell.

I am crying when Corporal Anders finds me.  She doesn’t say a word.

We leave without a single look back at the church, and I wonder if freedom is only in being able to walk away.

I don’t think so. I don’t know what it is. But I think I want to find out, if only so that the next time I meet Jay, I am a far better person than the one he met today.

[mcybank]

rendezvous pt. 2

( rafe cameron x female! reader )

part one

word count 1.6k

warnings angst and swearing!!

author’s note FIRSTLY, I’M SORRY. i am physically incapable of writing excessive fluff and happy endings but do i write a part three because i feel like this is so unfinished🥺

summary rafe cameron keeps on hurting the reader yet she cannot find herself letting go of the boy who isn’t even hers by suppresing her pain.

tags @poguemacking @drew-starkey @myjjbaby @pixelated-pogues @snkkat @pogue-writings @downbytheouterbanks @kitluvs1 @maybankiara​ @drewtruly​ @obxmxybxnk​ 

add yourself to my taglist for all my writings

masterlist

          You couldn’t help but find yourself thinking about Rafe the moment you woke up, surprised that you managed to get a few hour's worth of sleep. Your mind still stuck on what he was doing, moreover, who he was doing it with at that particular moment. 

Rafe always found himself sending you a message in the morning, even after the two of you broke up and considered yourselves to be on bad terms, he never forgot to send you a good morning message. Maybe he woke up a little late, you thought, but after hours went by and the clock struck four in the afternoon, you knew he was engaged in something else. This. This was what you wanted yourself to stay away from. You can’t be, you shouldn’t be attached to him when he isn’t even yours. 

In his defense, he had forgotten. It had completely slipped his mind to message you when he woke up. He doesn’t really think of you, his ex-girlfriend when there is another girl beside him. It was difficult for you to not call him, to steer away from him and thinking about him. After all, he’s not yours. 

A few hours rolled by quite quickly, you were still taking inventory in the comfort of your messy, unmade bed with your laptop binging shows that you’ve watched more times than you can count on your fingers. It was now a few minutes past 10 at night, you had eaten a well-serving dinner that made you want to throw your brains up due to the amount of food you had consumed, but it only took one text to change your mind. 

rafe wanna come by our place? i’ve got some burger and fries

Rafe was already at the place, he knew that you weren’t going to deny his offer, especially with the food coming as a bonus. And when he saw you walking towards him wearing black shorts along with his t-shirt, he couldn’t be happier. It wasn’t on purpose, you wore his clothes out of habit since a number of them were present in your closet and looked the most comfortable. “Look at you, wearing my clothes,” he gushed, his cheeks were heating up at the sight of you, and fortunately for him, you couldn’t spot that. Your lips pursed upwards as you took inventory beside him, he wasted no time by wrapping his arms around your shoulders and pulling you closer, pressing a kiss near your ear affectionately. 

“Where were you yesterday night?” you asked out of pure curiosity as you chewed on the fries brought by Rafe. He felt as though his throat was stuck, absolutely nothing was coming out of his mouth. He didn’t know how to answer you without sounding like the biggest asshole. “I, um, I was just hanging around,” you knew it by the way he spoke that he wasn’t just hanging around. 

Trying not to let a frown overcome your face, your lips molded into a fake smile and looked up at him enthusiastically. He knew that you knew. It’s not difficult to see through a person who you have dated for over a year, and loved for way too many. 

Deciphering your emotions instantly, he felt the need to hold you closer than ever in order to make you feel protected. “I love you, you know that, right?” it killed you every time he said that. It made you feel there was more to it, but there wasn’t. He’d be with another girl in a matter of days, if not hours if he got the chance. “I love you more,” you mumbled as you nuzzled your head into his neck, the warmth making your mind fuzzy as you felt all your problems fade away.

It was laughable. It was laughable to you how all your worries disappeared with him around, but he was the biggest problem you were facing. 

Rafe was wearing a hoodie that was a size larger than him; it wasn’t his usual attire, but it was your favourite. His hair wasn’t swept to the side elegantly, instead it was bedraggled and it looked nothing like the usual Rafe Cameron. He didn’t look like the person who always had his guard up, the hard, least-vulnerable boy in the Outer Banks. He was in his most natural state, one which he felt most comfortable in, and it was only with you. 

He played with the ends of your hair as he stared up at the night sky. The clock was nearing 11:15 and you had no plans of leaving. Rafe’s mind was clouded with thoughts, ones he didn’t wish to entertain. He knew all too well what he did last night with another girl, but he couldn’t help but wonder if you’ve ever connected with another guy in that way after the two of you broke up.

The thought of that made him want to burst in tears. It was selfish, he knows, but he couldn’t help it. His possessive instincts couldn’t show themselves now like they did previously. Before he could muster up any words, you saw something fall from the pocket of his hood, landing on your leg. It was a plastic packet filled with white substance, of course. “Rafe,” you began, your eyes motioning down to his belonging that he believed to be his support system aside from you. “Fuck, sorry,” he mumbled hurriedly, his voice was laced with anger for some reason, and you didn’t know why. He picked it up and without second thought, stood up, nearly making you fall due to the sudden emptiness beside you. 

“I’ve got to go,” this time, he didn’t even say goodbye properly, didn’t kiss you nor hug you. He just left. For him, it was the only way he could handle this situation, no, the thoughts going on in his head. He had to run away from them. That’s what he did best. 

You just sat there, the cold breeze causing you to shiver as your eyes became glassy. These little rendezvous’ weren’t working, especially not in your favour. 

Hours flew by quickly; it was now 4 am. Your lips hovered over the ‘send’ button on your phone, trying to gain the courage to send Rafe a message. what was that all about? was the text you wanted to send. You went through a small crisis thinking about whether or not you should add a ‘lol’ or a laughing emoji at the end of the message, but you decided against it. You hit send. 

Rafe was doing what he does best; fleeing his problems, leaving them in the dust till they need to be dealt with. He was at Topper’s house, once again, but a girl whose name he didn’t even know was beside him, making lines for him. “So, what’s got you all worked up?” she inquired, her voice was calm but Rafe found it to be the most irksome voice he could hear at the moment. He was not going to talk to her about his life problems. Cutting off him before he could answer, she glanced at his phone which was placed on the table, the lightening up of the screen causing her attention. “Ooo, who’s y/n?” she teasingly spoke causing Rafe’s eyes to go wide. 

“Why’s y/n texting you at 4 in the fucking morning, dude? Begging to get back together with you or something?” Topper interjected after hearing the girl speak about you texting him. Rafe didn’t know what to do at that moment instead of lying, so he did. “Yeah, she’s being fucking annoying,” he laughed through his teeth, the lies pouring out of his mouth with no hesitance. The girl to his side let out a laugh, placing a hand on Rafe’s knee. “I’ll text back for you,” 

When you heard the notification sound for the messages app, following with the name of Rafe showing up, you felt yourself grin ear to ear. The effect he had on you was crazy, you hated it. But when you saw the profanity he had thrown your way, insinuating you to leave him alone, you surprisingly didn’t felt yourself become upset. You were numb, at this point. 

It was little things that made you become more and more weary of Rafe; the aura of perfume he’d never make use of radiating him when he came to your house with his hair disheveled and his eyes bloodshot. The hints that he mistakingly dropped about his meaningless one-night-stands which you always caught on to, but he never realised. The way Topper’s animosity went to an all time high when he saw you and when he poked fun about how much Rafe loathed you after your breakup. You knew there was a lot going on behind the scenes, and they were things you had zero control over. 

Rafe, instantly after leaving the late-night scene at Topper’s house, messaged you a plethora of sorries, telling you it wasn’t him who sent the text. He was honestly surprised that you hadn’t blocked him. Once you asked him who sent it, he didn’t want to lie, he couldn’t. He told you it was another girl he had met, and it was a mistake on his end to not give you any context. He allowed you to assume that he was just with another girl, which could only really mean one thing.

you: you left to hang out with her, right?

Maybe it was the way you wrote it. Maybe it was the way you used a comma before her, signifying perfect punctuation, something you never did on text. Maybe it was how he could visualize you saying that in real life, and his heart absolutely shattered to pieces. Rafe could play the victim card, he could say that he’s free to do so since you’re not dating, but he didn’t. He could notice how you always bit your tongue from saying something about his ongoings with other girls, and the one time you didn’t stop yourself from saying it, he knew that you were hurt. 

You couldn’t do it anymore. The times you had with him were ones you’d never trade for anything. But the way having these rendezvous’ instead of getting back with each other was bothering you. It was never going to be easy, you knew that. But it had become way too difficult to the point where it isn’t manageable anymore.

It wasn’t manageable because he hurt you, he did things that hurt you, and you couldn’t complain about it nor could you speak your mind on it because he wasn’t yours. It wasn’t manageable because you still wanted him more than ever. You can’t let go. 

[threeletterslife]

06 | Redefining Destiny

→ previous | next

→ summary: You were convinced you were in love with him. A former member of the mafia in the states, that is. It was true love. Destiny. Until one day you wake up with a memory lapse; then that love is replaced with hatred. The thought of marriage is substituted with revenge. If your love with Jeon Jungkook really was destiny, you’d fall head over heels in love again. But if only he weren’t such a hot, goading asshole.

→ pairing/rating: jungkook x reader | PG-13

→ genre: 70% fluff, 25% crack, 5% angst | e2l!au & soulmate!au

→ warnings: profanity, mentions of murder, blood, torture and gang activities

→ wordcount: 4.2k

You wake up feeling slightly cranky, groaning as you turn over to your side in early-morning contemplation.

How the heck am I going to face Jeon Jungkook, now?

Maybe he was right. Maybe the two of you should've been drunk yesterday when you'd spilled all of your secrets and confessed your guts out.

Gosh. Now it's going to be awkward.

You scrunch your nose just thinking about it. But the Jeon Jungkook you'd seen yesterday had been so different from the one you hated. He seemed like a genuine person. A person who had gone through too much. A person who was looking to make things right with the little he could impact in this vast universe.

He wasn't as bad as you thought.

Your head rings with the advice he told you. At this age, you should know what's good for yourself. Follow your own dreams.

For a guy who apparently sleeps around, he's wise. And considerate. But then again, he's been through a lot. You hadn't known that his friends had been murdered. The story almost seems implausible, but you have to stop yourself and remember that America is a whole other country with a very different culture and society. Maybe street violence is prevalent in the states. Maybe violence is prevalent there.

You sigh, throwing your covers off of yourself and quietly getting ready for class so you won't wake up your roommates. You guess you'll just have to try to avoid Jungkook until you can get your head back on track and really figure out what was up between the two of you.

But, of course, you should've known it would be impossible to avoid Jungkook. There's some magnetic quality about him that always attracts you subconsciously. You end up bumping into each other at the lunch hall.

Your friends had snorted, about to cuss Jungkook out until he'd spoken a soft, "Hi, Y/N," with a genuine smile etched out on his lips. Their jaws dropped open.

"Uh, h-hey," you'd stuttered. "Yeah, hi."

"I'm starting to think fate really likes us together," he'd said with a little laugh.

"Yeah," you'd agreed. "I, um..." You'd looked between your friends and Jungkook before sighing. If there was no way of avoiding him then you might as well—"Can I have lunch with you?"

Your friends and Jungkook had simultaneously said, "What??"

After the initial shock was sorted out, you'd ended up leaving the lunch hall with Jungkook, each holding your lunches.

Now you're sitting on the grassy lawns of your campus, basking in the noon sunlight as the rather awkward silence encompasses the two of you. You take a small bite out of your dainty finger sandwich from the local bakery. Jungkook just sips his drink in his water bottle. When the man makes no move to talk to you, you take another bite of your sandwich—this time, a larger one. By the fourth bite, your sandwich is gone and there is still silence.

You don't really feel like eating a second sandwich so you brush your hands free from excess crumbs and begin to twist the ring on your finger.

Jungkook notices your anxious movement, his eyes flickering down to stare at your hands.

"That's, um, that's a pretty ring," he offers.

"Thanks," you say. "It's my purity ring."

"Oh."

Silence again. But you like the silence better. It's better than arguing with him about stupid things.

"So..." you say, looking up at Jungkook who's sipping on his drink again. "I, um, it was nice last night." Your cheeks flush as the words leave your mouth and you stutter to clarify. "I mean, I know we haven't been the best of pals for whatever reason... But I don't know. Something about yesterday was pretty eye-opening, don't you think, JK?" The nickname slips from your lips easily—almost as if you've been calling him that since the beginning.

"I guess it was one of those days," Jungkook mutters. "You know, when you feel like you have to share your ordeals..."

"Yeah... I'm glad I got everything off my chest," you say with a smile. "It feels good to know that someone else knows my secret."

Jungkook nods as he continues sipping his drink. "Yeah..."

But he sounds distant, almost lost in his thoughts. And his eyes wander off into the distance, looking nowhere near you or where the conversation was supposed to be. He seems to be thinking.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um," he struggles to come up with what to say. "I dunno. Maybe."

"Maybe?" you say.

"I... Well, I didn't tell you everything," Jungkook says. "But, of course, you're not obligated to listen to me or whatever... It's just that I felt weird. That you told me everything but I left things out."

"Oh, JK," you say. "No, really. The least I can do is listen. I've been terrorizing you for way too long."

"I don't know," he replies. "What I tell you might terrorize you even more."

You cock your head. "What do you mean?"

"God," Jungkook sighs, massaging his forehead. "This is so weird. I just feel like telling you all of this. Even though I shouldn't. I just feel like I have to do this."

"Do what? Tell me what?" you say. "I'm curious, now!"

"You never asked questions yesterday."

"Well, I didn't want to interrupt you."

"I feel like I need to confess this part of my life to you. I weirdly trust you."

"I'm a trustable person," you smile.

"Strangely, I agree with that..."

"Okay, so what was it that you should've told me yesterday but you didn't so you have to tell me now?" you ask, tilting your head curiously at the man in front of you.

"I don't know... You might dump a load of holy water on me or condemn me while clutching that cross necklace of yours," Jungkook sniffs. "But it'll explain a lot of things, I guess."

"That's not how Christianity works!" you huff. "There's something called forgiveness," you say, crossing your arms. "And besides, if you're stalling that much, then maybe you shouldn't tell me. Maybe it's better for me to not know." There's silence after that. "But I want to know, so please, do tell," you admit while twisting the ring on your finger. "Is it that bad?"

"Yeah," Jungkook nods. "It's that bad. But whatever. I should've told you yesterday..." he sighs. "I don't know how to start telling you this," he confesses. "I never told this to anyone."

"You can start anywhere. I won't judge," you tell him, picking up another one of your finger sandwiches and taking a bite.

"Okay," he breathes nervously. He looks around to see if anyone was listening in, but the other students are consumed in their own activities. "Well, I was rich in America."

You frown. "Wha—"

"You promised you wouldn't judge," Jungkook sighs.

"Okay, okay, fine," you say. "I'm sorry. You can continue."

"Okay. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was rich in America. Wait, no... Let me back up. Before I was rich, um, I went there to study while my parents stayed in Korea. I was all alone in a vast country. I was Asian, Americans thought I was Chinese but I was Korean. I had an accent. I looked different. I had squinty eyes—or so they said... I was different and lonely and scared." Jungkook pauses his story to take a deep breath.

"But that's when I met my friends. There were eight of us in total. Seven boys including me and one girl. I had a huge crush on her back then... but um, she married one of the other guys. Anyways, we were pretty tight. All of us were foreign students from Korea, too, so we had a lot of similarities already," Jungkook smiles at the memories. "It was great. They were with me all the time. I met my best friend there. Kim Taehyung. He was the kind of best friend everyone wants but very few are gifted with. I was lucky to have him."

Jungkook takes a sip of his drink again and clears his throat. "I used to prank the other boys with Tae... Good times," he sighs. "Things went uphill when one of the boys—Jimin—thought the... um, the mafia was some cool stuff. We spent our days pretending we were secret members. Pretending we were in luxury suits and going on important missions and all that. Wasn't long until the pretending manifested into a reality."

You audible gasp. "Mafia?" you whisper, tilting your head. Gosh. You should be more surprised than this. But you're not. You should have more questions. But you don't.

"Yeah... the mafia," Jungkook nods. "I dropped out of college. So did Jimin and Tae to pursue it. We were entranced by the promising riches, mostly. It didn't occur to us then that what we were trying to do was necessarily bad. The rest of the boys continued with their education... And the girl... well, we left her out of all of this."

You interrupt. "But I thought the eight of you were friends. Why'd you leave her out? I mean, granted, she dodged a bullet but... c'mon."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. Her older brother was Jimin and there was no way in hell he'd let her join the mafia. Plus, the Park family was expecting their children to graduate with master's degrees in medicine or some sort. With Jimin out of the picture, she had to step up, I guess. We didn't even tell her where we were going. We just... left one day."

You scrunch your nose but you don't say anything.

"And then, the mafia business started, I guess. It wasn't that hard. LA had a lot of gangs already. We just had to pretend we knew what we were doing. Before we knew it, we were rich. Um, we had a big mansion with hundreds of rooms, a huge kitchen and expensive cars and limos... We were called the—"

"Crescents," you breathe.

Jungkook whirls at you with wide eyes. "How did you—"

"I-I, uh," you stutter. "I don't know. It just came to me. And you were staring at the crescent moon yesterday so I just assumed..."

"Wow. Yeah. We were called the Crescents... I uh, still have a scarification mark to show I was a part of it. It's on my right thigh," he says. "Tae's was on his left thigh..." Jungkook trails off. He takes some time for himself before sighing deeply and continuing. "We were a family, the Crescents. We had each other's backs... At least, that's what we thought."

"What do you mean?" you whisper.

"Our perception of family was kind of an illusion," Jungkook sighs. "First of all, there was a goddamn hierarchy. Tae, Jimin and I were at the bottom of it. Basically, it was because we didn't go to college. We were the only three hitmen in the seven-member gang. So yeah, we got stuck with a lot of the dirty work. House chores and shit."

"I'm sorry..."

Jungkook gives you a sideways glance. "It wasn't that bad at the moment. I didn't really mind doing the chores because I'd always be doing it with Tae. But thinking about it now... man, it was unfair. We were like the servants of a rich family." He sighs, staring at his hands before closing his eyes and frowning in disgust. "I've had blood that wasn't mine on these stupid hands."

He refuses to look at you, squeezing his eyes shut as he continues. "T-There was a torture room. And Tae, Jimin and I would hang around there... We'd get our vengeance through violence. Through inflicting pain on our enemies. Through hurting them so much they wished they were dead. That's the life I lived, Y/N."

"Jungkook..."

"It gets worse."

"Jungkook," you call his name again, moving to encompass his hand in yours. Sudden sparks erupt the moment your hands meet, the force of it making him open his eyes and look at you. He takes your breath away. You squeeze his hand in an attempt to calm him down. "I'm still here to listen," you remind him. "You've changed a lot... since your debut as a member of the Crescents. I won't judge. You can continue."

Jungkook takes a shaky breath before nodding. "Okay," he breathes. "Okay... Um, the Crescents had this business... an underground black-market kind of business. Um, arms dealing. We hooked up all the gangs around the city. That's how we actually got rich. We were a great gang. Everyone was either afraid of us or respected us. But..." Jungkook pauses. "We were kind of a fraud."

"Fraud?"

"Yeah. Normally gangs are pretty large. There's the boss, the underboss, and hundreds and hundreds of hitmen or new recruits. The Crescents consisted of seven members. So we lied about our numbers," Jungkook explains. "The Crescents were one of the largest gangs in the city—or at least, that's what everyone thought. No one dared to challenge us. Until..." he sighs. "Until they killed Jimin."

"They?"

"We never figured out which gang did it," Jungkook says. "It wasn't a murder done out of hatred either. Uh, so, basically, sometimes, when new recruits join a gang, they have to prove they are made of 'gang material,' which means they have to murder as a tribute to join. Usually, the victim is an innocent passerby. And... well, Jimin was the unlucky victim of a new, merciless recruit."

"They just killed him? Just like that?" you whisper.

"That's the mafia for you," Jungkook sighs. "They didn't just kill him. Before that, they tortured him. By the time we got to the body, we could barely recognize it."

"His sister..." you breathe. "Did she...?"

"That's when things started picking up. We knew we couldn't run a gang with only six members. So we brought her in."

"You brought her into the mafia??"

"Yeah..." Jungkook trails off. "That caused a bit of a problem. I mean, we lied to her to make her stay."

"Oh gosh."

"I know," Jungkook sighs. "We told her that her brother was killed by an enemy who wanted to go after her as well. We were trying to scare her into staying. Keep in mind, she hasn't seen us or her brother in six years. It took her a while before she realized she needed us to protect her. We were also the only key for her to get revenge on her dead brother. So, just like that, we became a seven-member gang again."

"Wow," you breathe.

"She hated us at first. And all of us were confused. It was weird seeing her again after so many years... And she was mourning—we all were. We didn't expect anyone to get killed, but it happened, and all we could do was move on. But the night she found the torture room, she tried to leave. I thought it was going to be over then, but Yoongi... the guy who married her later, managed to convince her to stay. From there, it went pretty well. I think she started accepting our ways, despite the violence and cruelty. We all thought we were a family again. Until she left. She took Yoongi with her too. It happened so fast. They fell in love, she wanted to leave the mafia suddenly, so they left. I caught them leaving too. I caught them in the dead of the night, getting ready to leave. God, I was so mad, then. But I let them leave. They didn't deserve the family if they didn't appreciate it.

"The Crescents were a five-member gang now. We felt like we lost everything. Morale was low, days were depressing... the family was falling apart more than before. And just when we thought it couldn't get any worse..."

"Oh no," you breathe.

" 'Oh no,' barely even cuts it," Jungkook says. "Maybe the other gangs saw them leave. I don't know. Something happened and the they found out the Crescents were a five-member gang.

"They ambushed us in our own home. In our own fucking torture room. But they couldn't get to me because I was hiding in the dark corners. They didn't see me. But I saw everything they did. They tortured them first. There wasn't a spot on the floor that wasn't red with blood. I didn't know what to do. Taehyung saw me, in his last moments, and he begged me to leave. He risked more pain and more torture for me. I watched him die because I couldn't leave until they left. But I sprinted out of the place the moment they stopped guarding the door. I didn't know where to go. I would be a target anywhere, so I knew I had to get out of the country.

"I've been here ever since."

It's silent as you try to digest the contents of the tragedy that you were told of. "Gosh..." you begin, shaking your head as your look up at Jungkook's doe eyes. You can tell he's tearing up—especially when he turns away to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "You must have so much trauma," you tell him. "I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," Jungkook sighs. "At this point, I'm kind of used to the nightmares..." He shakes his head, frowning. "God, this was such a sob story. I'm sorry. I feel bad for telling you all that."

"No, don't feel bad," you say, taking both of Jungkook's hands in yours. "I'm glad that you were able to get the story out to someone."

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Y/N... You didn't sign up for all that gruesome stuff."

"Hey, JK, I'm really fine," you say. "Besides... um, it sounds weird but I feel like you've told me this before... Or, I don't know, I feel like I've heard this story sometime else."

Jungkook hums. "Is it weirder to say that I agree with you? Maybe I felt comfortable telling you because I felt like I told you this before? I don't know."

"For some crazy reason, I get what you're saying."

"Me too."

"I mean, this... this whole thing is crazy!" you say, shaking your head. "Two days ago, I would've done anything to spite you."

"I would pour a bucket of ice water on your head if I could," Jungkook laughs under his breath.

"What??"

"Two days ago, that is," Jungkook clarifies with a snort.

You nudge him, releasing your hands to cross your arms over your chest. "Very funny, JK."

His heart flutters every time you call him that. In fact, his heart flutters every time you near him, and he can't quite understand why.

"So," you begin, "we've called an official truce. Is that it?" you grin. "You'll be there for me when I want to rant about the stupid classes I have to take to get my degree, and I'll be there for you when you have your bad dreams... Or just whenever you need a friend."

"Well said," Jungkook nods. "It's official, then."

He laughs when you hold out your hand, preparing for a rather professional handshake. But he grabs your hand nonetheless and shakes it.

Invisible sparks fly every which way; both of you cannot see it, but both of you can feel it. Something feels right. Something feels familiar.

The past few weeks have been strange without your usual animosity-filled exchanges with Jungkook. But it had been replaced by friendly talks and discussions.

The more you talk to Jeon Jungkook, the more you like him, and the more you want to spend your time with him. He's an inspiring soul, ex-mafia member or not. He wears his big heart on his sleeve and shares his generosity with you.

It's funny to see him do a complete one-eighty from the man you used to know, but at the same time, you know he can be mean when he tries, which may come in handy in the unlikely chances that you were robbed on the streets of Seoul.

Your days are usually spent researching on getting a teaching degree or learning how to become a great elementary school teacher. Ever since Jungkook told you to pursue your dream, you've been trying to do just that. Your nights are spent hanging out with your friends—mostly Jungkook. Your late nights are spent with you awake in your bed at strange hours of the night. But you don't really mind getting less sleep these days.

Sometimes, it's easy to get carried away in your life—especially when you're surrounded by everything you like. Today, you spent your whole day on your laptop, writing up an application to start online teaching courses. By the time you look up from your screen, it's dark outside. The only source of light comes from the sliver of the moon that clearly illuminates the sky.

A crescent moon.

Suddenly, you feel the urge to get outside for some fresh air. You quickly grab a thin jacket and leave your dorm, mindlessly walking around your campus. After staying cramped up in your room all day, the nighttime exercise does you good. You're feeling so much more refreshed by the time you've walked for almost an hour.

But when you're making your way back to your dorm, you catch sight of Jungkook. He's sitting on a metal bench, staring up at the crescent moon with a nostalgic look in his eye. He looks lonely. Sad, even.

Before you know it, you're already approaching him. "Hey," you say, sitting down next to him.

"Hey," he replies, quietly. He doesn't take his eyes off the moon. "Did you know I was gonna be here?"

"No," you confess. "I just wanted to get some fresh air tonight."

"Oh," he says. "It's a crescent moon," he murmurs.

You don't know if he was talking to himself or if he was remarking for you to answer. You reply just in case. "Yeah... Do you need someone to be by your side?"

"Mhm," he hums.

"Is it Taehyung, again?" you whisper.

Jungkook jerks his head toward you, making you jump back just slightly. "God, I tell myself to move on, but I can't," he admits. "He plagues my thoughts, my dreams... But I don't want him gone. I don't want to lose my memories of him."

You slide your hand over Jungkook's. "It takes time to move on," you say. "It'll be fine."

The man next to you takes a deep breath. "Be strong and courageous," he says, turning to stare into your eyes. "Do not be frightened—"

"And do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go," you recite along with him with a small smile on your face.

"Joshua 1:9," Jungkook whispers. "Saying the verse out loud helps me calm down sometimes."

"That's great, Jungkook," you say. "I'm glad it can help."

"You know, I couldn't sleep tonight," he says. "I just... I kept getting nightmares the moment I closed my eyes. I didn't know what to do. Something told me you'd be out here and I just—"

"You knew I'd be out here?" you say. Your heartbeat quickens the moment Jungkook admits that and your cheeks flush warm heat.

"I-I just got a feeling," he says. "And we're always meeting, anyways, so I thought my chances were pretty good."

You smile. "I think it's just meant to be, then. Right JK?"

Jungkook grins wildly. "Right Y/N."

He doesn't stop himself when he suddenly leans in, softly taking your hands in his. You let out a little gasp when your noses touch, your eyes fleeting down to his delicate lips as he takes a moment to cherish the proximity.

"You know what's weird?" Jungkook whispers, scrunching his nose.

"It feels like we've done this before," you whisper back, smiling.

"Yeah..."

He leans in to meet your lips for one, single, chaste kiss. Both of you pull back, the invisible sparks flying between the two of you warming up your insides and making your cheeks hot. Your purity ring burns on your finger, a reminder that you won't lose yourself completely to Jungkook tonight.

But you let him take you away to his tiny apartment that—for some reason—seems familiar as well. Everything about him seems familiar. Even when he kisses your cheeks and lays you down on his bed, his touch, which should feel rather foreign, is comfortable. It feels natural. When his kisses turn deeper with more tongue, your head goes crazy, and your mind goes absolutely blank.

You're breathless by the time he's pulled away. All of your clothes are intact and are just the way you'd put them on before, but you feel vulnerable under his eyes. But you trust him enough to feel that way.

You end up falling asleep under his covers, completely knocked out after a busy day. Jungkook watches you sleep, making sure the blankets are tight around your figure to keep the warmth in before slipping under the covers as well.

His heart beats uncontrollably in his chest as he waits patiently to fall asleep. And when he does, for the first time in a very long while, Jungkook isn't plagued by his nightmares. Maybe it's because you're by his side.

—previous | next

—masterpost

[thepeakyfckingblinders]

Insānĭa || Alfie Solomons x reader || Part Two

 ↬ Part One ↫        

⤠ MASTERLIST⤟

Anon requested/summary: “Hi luv can you write a Jealous Alfie that’s leads to in ur words good old fashioned rough sex pretty please 😉”

Warnings: swearing, dirty talking, smut, rough sex, oral sex, jealous Alfie getting me on my knees

Author’s notes:

Sooo, I’ve definitely decided to use this kind of titles for fics about strong feelings such as jealousy because Latin is a magnificent, very expressive language that allows you to grasp every single shade of a word and fully understand its meaning

I had to split this in two since it was awfully long: ↠ Part One ↞

Alfie -and Tom Hardy in general- is one of my most remote wet dreams, I truly hope I did a good job with this one ♡

Always remember that jealous rough sex is okay as long as you both enjoy it and you don’t get hurt, otherwise no one has the right to force you into anything, actual violence is never a good thing.  Please, if you’re a victim of any kind of abuse, talk to someone who can help you, nobody should go through something like that alone.

I’m sorry for being this late, but I’ve been really busy in the past days and writing is never just easy, it demands concentration and effort, plus I don’t want you to be disappointed, so I’m always extra accurate while working. I hope this is worth the wait!

Let me know what you think and tell me if this is what you expected  ♡

I’m Italian, English isn’t my first language, so I apologize for every possible mistake I made. Also, please, help me improve my writing by telling me if there’s something wrong

ENJOY!

Insānĭa  [insaniă], insaniae  feminine noun I declension 

1. madness, insanity 2. fury, frenzy 3. excess, extravagance 4. profligacy, luxury

[...]

“Oh, c’mon, love, no need to be this irascible! He is a gorgeous man, you can’t deny that” In truth, you couldn’t care less about that eyetie, still you kept using that coquettish tone, knowing how easy it was for you to find his weak spot, indeed Alfie immediately got close to your face, slightly squeezing his menacing eyes. “Are you fucking trying to make me mad on purpose, y/n? eh?” His palms loudly collided with the wooden surface on each side of your legs, his plump lips were now only a few inches apart from yours, his hot breath warming your flushed cheeks as you pierced his dilated pupils with a lustful gaze.

“Maybe.”

That lascivious whisper shattered against Alfie’s mouth a second before you impatiently kissed him, your fists covetously clutched his white shirt collar as he started fondling your back, then pulling you even closer by vehemently gripping the lower part of your pinned hair, while, with a few brusque movements, his other hand lifted your skirt above your hips and took care of your ivory lingerie which was swiftly pulled to one side. “You’re mine” A grave moan erupted from your throat when that indisputable claim hit you, together with the sudden feeling of two of your lover’s fingers plunging deep into your already soaked core. “Do you hear me?” Alfie growled through his teeth again and your foreheads intimately joined to one another, so that he could keep his voracious stare entangled with yours, a mellow grin took form on your luscious face and you pecked his lips with hunger, brutally pulling his hair. “All yours” As his fingertips expertly stroked your insides, your lecherous remark came out in a muffled gasp, lost between the incessant whimpers leaving your open mouth; you desperately clung to his strong shoulders and hid your head in the crook of his neck, sensing a well-known knot dangerously growing in your stomach, until Alfie’s touch abruptly left your skin, causing you to exhale an instinctive cry of protest. You watched him quickly get rid of his shirt, making you even wetter due to the stunning sight of his muscular abdomen, then he approached you again,  unbuttoning your corset with urgency while your bare collarbone was covered in small bites and tickled by his whiskers. Once your voluptuous chest was left exposed, at his complete mercy, Alfie let out a croaky groan, revelling in that aphrodisiac view for a couple of seconds, before his warm tongue assailed your smooth skin, drawing fast circles around one of your nipples as the other was cruelly cupped in his callous left palm. Your breathing hastily became heavier when you felt his lips lingering the area between your breasts and then ruthlessly going down, until he knelt to assault your centre, and you couldn’t hold back a guttural scream, totally overwhelmed by that ardent feeling. Without a chance to stop your movements, you found yourself eager to climax, as your legs widened even more and your fists aggressively tangled his hair, in order to dive his head further between your soft thighs.

Alfie looked up at your figure, astonished by your wild beauty, while he kept devouring you with ferocity, he loved the way your body quivered with blind pleasure because of him, and he knowingly brought two fingers to work along with his tongue, eventually seeing you melt under his touch as frenetic moans escaped your craw. “So fucking sweet” He whined, getting back on his feet as soon as you released, just to luxuriously kiss you again; the taste of your own juices invaded your mouth, your head still spinning from your orgasm, when his hands briefly grasped your free locks, then moving to your bottom, in attempt to pick you up and carry you towards the closet placed next to the door. Goosebumps mantled your burning skin, due to the harsh contrast with the gelid surface of the antique cabinet, but your mind was too dizzy for you to react to that sharp contact, so you just abandoned yourself to your lover’s grip, letting him take off the messy rest of your clothes. Once you were totally naked in front of him, Alfie impatiently pulled your legs apart, tinkering with his trousers for a few moments, before you could sense his throbbing tip rubbing against your entrance, having your hips spontaneously tilt in his direction. All of the air brusquely left your lungs as soon as he filled you with one vigorous thrust, his thick member sank deep into you and he held still for a while, profanities leaving his lips because of that intense delight. Your nails scratched his back multiple times and your legs intertwined behind his back as Alfie gradually increased his peace, he roughly cupped your chin while his other hand rabidly held you in place by your waist, leaving red marks on your flesh. A loud shout erupted from your throat as he furiously reached for a precise spot more than once, so that, prey of your fervent ecstasy, you dragged his face towards yours in order to rapaciously bite his lower lip. “A-alfie” His name echoed through the room and sounded like an unholy prayer coming from you, still that wasn’t enough for him, thus his hips started ramming into yours harder and faster, while he blurted out animalistic noises against your glowing neck. “Louder! Let them hear who you belong to” Alfie was literally growling, still furious about the previous events, he kept mercilessly thrusting into you, producing clamorous thuds with each violent impact, as you threw your head back in pure bliss and continued to scream his name, steadily raising your trembling voice after every lunge. “Good girl, look at me” His fingers grabbed your chin again when he muttered that order with his usual husky voice, and he forced you to move your face enough to capture your irises, blurred by pleasure, with his own, greedy and firm. “Only I am allowed to fuck you like this. Only I can make you scream like this” He never looked away from your half-shut eyes, neither he stopped his frantic movements, while he whispered those arousing words, almost like it was a secret yours to keep; you simply nodded, unable to pronounce real sentences by that time, since you were busy crying out loud, a span away from his nose. Then, all of a sudden, Alfie held both of your wrists in one of his large palms, pinning your arms above your head, against the curtains covering the opaque windows of his office. “I want to feel you tighten around my cock, ‘want you to cum for me again”

His thumb went to ably stroke your clit, but the truth was that his adamant tone alone was enough to drive you over the edge, you finally reached for your second release, as your whole body tensed and your thighs started shaking, still gathered around his solid waist. Alfie slowed down his thrusts while he relished the last sporadic convulsions of your walls, riding the end of his own orgasm and moaning your name with his closed eyes turned to the ceiling. You immediately collapsed onto his toned chest, as he started tenderly rubbing your exhausted shape, both your heavy breaths being the only sound breaking that sudden silence, until you sleepily giggled against his collarbone. “What?” He mumbled while covering the skin of your shoulder with sweet butterfly kisses. “I was just thinking that I’ll never be able to show my face in this office again” 

[allthosefanfics]

@kamariamei merry Christmas I’m your secret Santa this is called Santa baby. Enjoy 😉

Chris’ POV

I’m sitting on the couch watching ‘Lost Boys’ for the millionth time, it’s mid March outside, when my gorgeous girlfriend walks into the house, I perk up smiling at her getting up from my spot on the couch walking over to place a loving kiss upon her lips, y/n and I have been together for a year and a half and I love her to pieces, we have taken our relationship very slow, like snails pace. She wouldn’t kiss me on the lips for the first three months of our relationship, and I’m fine with taking it slow it’s nice to know she’s not just in this relationship for my body or money, she moved into my apartment six months ago she insisted on paying half of everything and she does on time too! We finally share a bed but she has been ‘preserving?’ Herself for when she’s ready, y/n is significantly younger than myself, ten years to be exact and she has yet to give herself to anyone, kudos to her I’m proud that she doesn’t want to just give away her body that she wants it to be special, and I always stop when she tells me to which in some cases leads me to a cold shower,we never even seen each other naked. Y/n waves her hand in front of my face to get my attention, I shake my head turning my focus back to her. “Chris? Are you ok? Did you hear what I said or are you just that excited?”

I hold her waist gently in my large hands. “I’m sorry baby I was distracted you have my attention now.” “I’m ready Chris.” She smiles at me, I tilt my head my brow furrows and I am genuinely confused. “Ready for what babe?” She looks at me and blushes. “Sex.” My eyes widen in shock, she’s ready and she wants me, I hold her waist and look into her beautiful eyes. “Are you sure babe? I don’t want you to feel pressured.” “One hundred percent, you are the one Chris, just be gentle I’m nervous.” I rub her arms softly as I gaze into her eyes. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll be gentle.” I kiss her on the lips picking her up bridal style, I bring her to our bedroom placing her on the bed crawling on top of her, I reconnect our lips rubbing soothing circles on her hips with my thumbs. I want her to be as comfortable as possible, I’d rather go too slow than too fast, she wraps her arms around my neck running her fingers through my hair. I bite down on her lip and pull a little, she tightens her fingers in my hair pulling sending a low growl out of me. I bring my head lower and attack her neck in kisses and love bites, I run my hands from her hips to her breast kneading them in my large hands, y/n withers underneath me. I move my hands under her shirt to take it off of her, she sits up and takes her shirt off and her sports bra. She looked me in the eyes as she pulls off my shirt exposing my colorfully tattooed torso, she runs her hands down my chest slowly admiring my tatts, she stops at the hem of my sweatpants. She looks at me asking permission to remove them. “Only if you want too, we can stop if you want.” PLEASE DON’T STOP I REALLY DON’T WANT A COLD SHOWER! “No! I want too I’m just nervous.” “Let me take care of you.” I slowly pull her pants down and kiss her inner thigh. “Lay back and relax, enjoy this.” Y/n nods laying back and staring at the ceiling, I put her legs on my shoulders, she shudders as I begin sucking on her clit. Her hips bucked as I pleasure her, I pulled away putting a single digit in my mouth, pulling it out I rub her folds coating my finger in her arousal. I slipped my finger inside of her setting a slow pace, she throws her head back moaning my name, it makes me even more lustful knowing that it’s the first time a mans name has left her lips in this manner and it’s my name. I add a second finger allowing her to adjust before quickening the pace. “Oh Chris! I think I’m gonna cum!” Her walls tightened around my fingers as I curl them looking for her g-spot, her back arches and her legs shake as she lets out a string of profanities along with my name. I let her ride out her high before slowly removing my fingers, I bring them to my mouth and suck the juices off, I kiss her on the lips and she moans at the taste of herself. While y/n calms from her first orgasm I go to the bedside table and pull out a condom and lube. “Do you want to continue, we can stop if you’re too tired.” I want y/n to be completely comfortable, I don’t want to force her. “Yes! Please Chris! I want you!” Her begging for it is just a bonus, I rip open the condom, I pinch the tip and roll it on my length, grabbing the lube I pour a generous amount on myself giving my length a few strokes, I spread the excess on to her womanhood with my tip.

She whimpers as I slowly pushed my tip in trying to be considerate of her first time, I slide in stopping for her to adjust every inch or so, once I’m all the way inside of her I wait for her to give me the go ahead. She grabs my shoulders pulling me closer to her, I take that as my sign to move. I thrust slowly in and out of her, I take her moaning as a good sign that I’m not hurting her, she whimpers in my ear to go faster. I settle at new pace that has her clawing my back and screaming my name, her walls clench around me, ‘god she so tight’, she releases again, I ride out her second orgasm before releasing myself into the condom. We try to catch our breath, her chest going up and down steadily, my eyes grow wide as I pull out. “Fuck!” “What’s wrong Chris?” “Umm the condom. It broke.” Her eyes went wide, “Chris I’m not on birth control and you know how I feel about abortion, I need to know if I do get pregnant will you stay with me?” “Of course I will I don’t run away from the people I care about!” She snuggles into my chest as we settle in the bed, I hold here tightly, kissing her head and whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*9 months later on Christmas day*

I sit there in tears as I hold my baby boy in my hands, y/n is passed out in the hospital bed beside me after thirty six hours of labor, she’s a trooper. My son is beautiful, unfortunately he got my big nose, but he has y/N’s perfect y/e/c eyes. The nurse came in to wake y/n to feed our baby who we have yet to name, I hand y/n our baby boy. “Have you thought of any names?” She asks me. “Yea one but I wanted to ask you first.” “What is it?” “Eric Martin Cerulli?” “Awe Chris that’s perfect!!!” I smile as she begins cooing at little Eric, I ask the nurse for the birth certificate to sign and fill out, I hand it back to her turning my attention back to y/n. “Merry Christmas babe and to you too little Eric.” “Merry Christmas Chris.”

[sweetbyte]

Title : Say When Part VI

Previous Chapters | I | II | III | IV | V

Pairing : Shouto Todoroki | Momo Yaoyorozu

Rated : T

  The halls seem too quiet for a place that is usually bustling with activity Momo thinks as she slowly shuffles down them. This could possibly be due to the early morning hours, she muses.

At first, she had planned to check up on Jirou and Hagakure, both who are scheduled to be released later today, but again she remembers how early it is. The two lean closer to being late risers, so it’s more than likely that they are still sleeping. The last thing she wants to do is wake them up too early and disrupt their much-needed rest.

In an attempt to kill time, Momo paces for a while in the halls deciding if what she had originally planned out was a good idea but even then, her feet mindlessly take her to the dreaded destination. When she finally makes it to the front of Bakugou’s hospital door- someone who is guaranteed to be up, alert and most likely confrontational- she lets out a deep breath trying to steel her nerves. She’s just checking up on a classmate, there was no need for her to feel this nervous. Except this classmate could possibly be her soul mate…

“Are you going to stand there all fucking day!? Its pissing me off!” Momo freezes at this voice from the other side of the door, already irate. She has two options; she can disengage and he would never know it was her, or she can continue into an awkward situation already looking like a fool.

A loud huff makes it clear that Bakugou is getting impatient, and Momo gathers that if there was ever a moment she would use profanity it would in this instant. She ultimately decides to run away after embarrassingly letting too much time pass. However, before she can execute a swift retreat, the door swings wide open and she’s rooted into place. Her head drops quickly, part in shame at getting caught, and part to brace herself to the reprimanding to come. Except it doesn’t come.

Bakugou just snorts and Momo hears him walk away, grumbling something she can’t make out. Surprised that he didn’t throw a fit or slam the door in her face, she slowly chances a view. Though there is no sign of lack or sleep with his alertness, the way he slumps his way back into the cot reveals his state of exhaustion. Guilt sets in for making him get up and she finds the strength to enter the room, gently closing the door behind her. She briefly wonders if it was a smart idea as she comes to face the glare being directed at her.

“What the hell are you doing here this goddamn early? It’s excessive even for you. And spare me that, ‘I was in the area’ bullshit would you.”

“I came by to assist Jirou and Hagakure, as they are getting discharged today, and decided to take advantage of my time here and check on your disposition.”

“I’ll be a hell of a lot better when I’m outta this bitch. This shit was ridiculous”

“Hardly. You where kidnapped! Of course they have to take the proper safety procedures to make sure you’re physically and mentally stabilized and well!”

“Since you’ve verified my state of wellness, tell me why you’re really here.” His tone is stern and Momo knows the time has come.

“It’s come to my attention, that uh…” She trails off caught in the intenseness of his glare and she ends up gulping in nervousness.

“What? What has come to your attention? Spit it fucking out already!” He barks impatiently and she stops thinking.

“I think we may be soulmates!” Momo ends up blurting out and despite the rushed delivery, her chest feels so much lighter. He is left speechless for a moment, his jaw clenching, and her nerves start to come back under the scrutiny of his gaze.

“Let me see if I can wrap this shit around my brain or however the fuck that expression goes. What you’re saying is that you think we are fucking soulmates?” He’s giving her one of the driest looks he’s has, and she can’t but feel silly right now. “Ponytail, what kind of shit are you on, and where can I get some up in this bitch.” He snorts while letting his head fall into the pillows returning his attention to the ceiling of the hospital room.

Momo frowns at his choice of words. This has been plaguing her thoughts restlessly and for him to dismiss it so easily. Truth be told, she knew this was a plausible outcome, but she was betting on him getting upset and all but demand for all the proof she could provide, to which she had practiced and prepared on delivering.

“I wasn’t implying that we were soulmates, per se, it’s just my mark rather reminds me of you and your quirk, so…”

“So you find yourself thinking about me often, is that what you’re saying” He lifts his head up again and smirks, appearing much too smug and her face heats up immediately.

“I would just like to know if it’s a possibility.”

“And what, we fall in love and live happily ever after?” He sneers mockingly and she tries not to let it bother her. She knows his cynical nature and just shakes her head.  “No. I’m not looking for a partner. If I’m quite honest, I would like closure. I’ve always been curious of how the marks work, but I’ve never felt anything until UA. I’m fully aware that this mark does not define my future, but I’m curious to see at what extent this mark does affect me.”

There is a moment of silence as he regards her almost curiously before he sighs with something akin to frustration.

“We are not.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re not my fucking soulmate.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because I know who it fucking is, and its not you. Trust me, my life would be a hell of a lot easier for me if it was you.” He mutters looking away from her, causing her to slightly frown in disbelief.

“I don’t mean overstep any boundaries, you are obviously not required to tell me, but would you mind showing me your mark?” His eyes snap back to her and she realizes the extent of her request.

“You do realize how incredibly intimate that question is right? It’s like the equivalent of you asking to see my dick, which sorry to disappoint, I’m not pulling out. Unless, you plan on finishing anything you start.” He laughs loudly at the look of disgust on her face and she further blushes and stutters when he starts to pull up his shirt.

“Relax, ponytail. This is what you wanted to see right?” He badgers as his mark becomes visible nested on the right side of his lower abdomen above his hip bone. She can’t make out what it is, so she walks closer to his bedside to get a better view.

It’s a book. She barely has time to register the scarring around it, or the fact that she’s reaching out to touch it for they are interrupted.

“You cannot just barge into rooms uninvited! You have to be mind-” Iida begins to lecture the impatient and concerned redhead, but it dies as the Bakugou rescue squad freeze at the doorway.

Momo’s reflexes have never been so quick, as she jerks her hand back and jumps away from Bakugo. She takes in the various looks of shock and surprise from the group and wants nothing more than to disappear when she finally sees Todoroki. She can’t make out the look on his face but she hears Bakugou mutter “Fucking hell” and for once she can’t help but to fully agree.

A/N: I swear i haven’t given up on this series. Honestly I’m trying yo wrap this up in a couple more chapter. I’m not good at all with long term fics, as you could probably tell. I re-wrote this chapter 5 times, and I’m still not too keen on it, but i am glad I’m mostly over the block I had and was able to finally post it even though its shorter than my others. As always, thank you for reading, and especially my favorite Pumpkin, for showing nothing but love and support! 

[comicteaparty]

April 18th-April 24th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble  chat that occurred from April 18th, 2020 to April 24th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What are your personal rules of thumb for determining whether a certain page needs a maturity or trigger warning?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i have no rule of thumb and i'm really curious to read what other people think about this

Deo101 [Millennium]

I usually ask people if they think it needs one, and I only ask if it is significantly different than what I've been doing.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I guess it depends on the subject and the severity. There are the basic ones, like rape, excessive gore, suicide, graphic sex, common phobias, etc. Things that can very easily trigger a large group of people or are generally not allowed in PG-13 movies. But there are other times I don't know if putting a warning or labeling it as mature is necessary. For example, profanity, suggestive material, violence (that doesn't involve gore), and again typically things that can make it into a PG-13 movie. Once it starts to be graphic enough to move into the realm of rated R, that's when you should start putting warnings. My problem with warnings as a creator is that the warnings can kind of spoil the contents of the chapter, so I try not to use them unless what happens in the comic could potentially harm a large number of people by not warning them.

RebelVampire

As a reader I do want to chime in say I agree with that last part. Whenever I see warnings, they are very spoilery so there's no surprise when I get to the warning part of the chapter/episode/page. I expected it so it loses some of its emotional value for me. Or, on the flipside, is so minor it shouldn't have had a warning that its ultimately underwhelming and disappointing.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, that's exactly why I'm wary about it

I am very sparing with my warnings, because I don't want the readers to lose any of that emotional impact.

carcarchu

my target audience for my webcomic is middle schoolers so the content i produce is never something i feel i need to put trigger warnings for. personally i think you don't really need to tag things unless the content is significantly different from what is expected from the comic. like if it starts out a lighthearted romp and then suddenly there's beserk levels of violence that probably ought to have some warning

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I would probably put a CW for blood, gore etc. Of any level just to be safe. Different people have different sensitivities, and as a sex-averse ace I know I often would like CW on sexual/sex-adjacent content that others might not think was enough to need one so. I just err on the side of caution

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I specifically never put warnings in anything I write. If something I write deeply upsets someone or makes them extremely uncomfortable, that's a good thing. It means I've done my job in expressing and conveying the emotional context I set out to accomplish in most circumstances.

My background is poetry and I've only ever read a single book that had any warnings attached, and that was at the beginning of the book, not for each poem. Even then, it was from an author who was particularly, er, well a bit off their rocker.

Like, if you open a collection of poetry and you're surprised to see heavy topics covered...that's your own fault at that point.

If I had opened one of my favourite collections, The Flame by Leonard Cohen, and saw content warnings, I would have probably said in my head "Why the fuck is this here?" and "Well, no shit that's in here, this is Leonard Cohen."(edited)

My job is to convey and express regardless of what the reader might think. It's never my job to guide or warn them, it's my job to present to them.

Fiction, outside of that catered to younger audiences, tends to contain a lot of stuff that can be deeply uncomfortable to the reader (yes, even comedy). I've read stuff that's really gotten to me emotionally, and that's OK, that's a good thing, the author presented what they intended to (G-d knows they did). If you don't want that, then really, you just have to be cognizant of the fiction you're reading and remember that stories about life often have all aspects of life in them.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I have read things (though mostly non-fiction) that have made me want to cry or so sick that I felt the need to vomit. The author didn't warn me of that. They presented what they had without pretext nor excuse. They did their job. Those are very much extremes, but the point is that I consensually opened those texts knowing that might happen. I mean, it's not hard to look at the subject matter or what the reviews say and think "Hm, OK, this book isn't all sugar and roses". Frankly, though, I just feel that the content warnings and all tarnish the authenticity of a text that stands on its own.

Sorry for the rambling, but admittedly, I do include a content warning for that in my username!

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I don‘t do content warnings, but I try to make sure to be upfront about the type of story people can expect.

Seen the results of someone springing a graphic, surprise character-gets-raped-to-death into until then fluffy childfriendly story for „trolololOLOL, I made you have a FEEL, I am an ARTISTE.“

It‘s disrespectful to the reader at best, after all they need to be able to make an informed decision if they opt in or not.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Alright, that's plain bad writing, but dramatic tone shifts can and are used effectively.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I thought about content warning because I have seen comics that was upsetting to me and readers, and there was no trigger warning. Just a side note in the first chapter that the author explain that 'their characters' weren't a representation of every trans experience. But still had backlash for it. So some content warning when it comes to sensitive stuff like trauma, gender disphoria should be stated somewhere? I wasn't Trans but effected, I assume it was worse for trans readers seeing uncomfortable scenes that remind them of bad experiences.(edited)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

When I was younger, I used to be into a lot of animated stuff, and there was this one anime (don't judge, I was like fourteen) called Steins;Gate that, for the first half, is relatively comedic and lighthearted, before a very dramatic tone-shift in one episode where most of the main cast die on-screen and it becomes a conspiracy/time-travel thriller. It was actually very, very good, and it's an incredibly popular show because of it.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yeah. I think this is what content warnings are coming from: trying to enable the reader to make an informed decision of they wanna opt in to a story or not. It‘s a matter of consent.

They‘re not perfect, but better than nothing.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I agree with @chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa] here on the point that it's about being able to knowingly consent to a potentially unpleasant experience

Deo101 [Millennium]

Honestly I'd rather have a small spoiler at the end of the page before Something happens than potentially hurt someone

Again, only if it's really tonally dissonant

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

There's plenty of things I don't mind if I'm aware of it beforehand so I can make sure I'm in a good headspace, but the same things could totally put me off a story/creator and give me issues for months if I wasn't expecting them

Source: personal experience

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Webcomics are probably very different, but I'd find it would put me off a lot in poetry (and it's also something you don't see in it; it's just not a part of the industry culture). But people having negative emotions from reading is very commonplace and par for the course.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

But I also feel that content warning do give away bit of spoiler. I was taught the good way to protray an incoming dark topic is to give hints along the chapters, rather than 'spring it out of the blue'. I haven't written anything super dark/angst before though. It's uncomfortable for me and I haven't cross that threshold of feeling yet(edited)

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Personally I feel like if your story or scene or whatever relies so heavily on the shock of specific content that it would be ruined by the "spoiler" potential of a content warning, it's bad writing

Deo101 [Millennium]

I feel like stories in general are not ruined by spoilers, though some people don't like them. But if we're in a scene and we're gonna see someone get cut in half and you say "hey this battle has extreme violence" that's hardly a spoiler

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Not always. Shock, if it's not in bad taste, can be used as a device to help set the emotional context for the rest of the passage. It's bad writing to use it bombastically and haphazardly, but in light touches, like a ghost pepper, it can help. On its own, though, yeah it's usually bad writing.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Since comics are visual there is more need for this kind of a thing because it can be more intense for readers

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Ah, yeah, that's true. My field doesn't have visuals.

I can imagine it may be different in that case.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also, think like. Movies also have this, that's what the rating system is

A movie rated r for extreme violence isn't a spoiler

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Especially if it has Tom Cruise in it.

RebelVampire

Yes but imagine if the movie paused right before the worst parts to say "Hey this is gonna be a mature scene"

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Age ratings ARE content warnings.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Tv shows do it at the beginning of an episode

And, with comics you have natural pauses

Putting a small banner at the bottom of an update doesn't interrupt the flow the same way putting it at the top of one would, and it can prep people to know not to even open the next update kind of thing

I haven't done content warnings my content is only pg13 but I've thought a lot about it for future, more intense ideas

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

In Germany‘s there are no tv show content warnings, but certain stuff can only be aired after 20:30 or on dedicated channels.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I agree with @RebelVampire . In my favourite movie of all time by far which you 100% have to watch (IT'S REALLY GOOD!!!) On the Waterfront, there's one scene which really gut-punched me when I first watched it because it's, well, fairly disturbing, but if the movie stopped before it and some dude came up and said "B'ys, cover your children's eyes", that'd be ridiculous. Age warnings pre-screening are fine because it's an audiovisual form, but considering that text doesn't have that visual or audio component, I just don't see the need. I can understand why you would do it as a comic artist, though.

Deo101 [Millennium]

There are also, for movies and TV, sites like "does the dog die?" Which provide this kind of information for people with triggers. Comics don't have this kind of a site though so it's on the creator

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

That reminds me, I need to put Nyx+Nyssa‘s age rating note up. g

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

People with triggers are the sticking point for me. Even if most people would be okay, there's people who won't be and I don't want to act like they don't matter when I'm putting warnings on my content. I feel like it's my responsibility if I'm making that content.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yup. I know someone with cPTSD who cannot engage with media without content warnings; because disassociation is NOT fun and dangerous. „Does the dog die“ and similiar things mean she can engage with media without having to rope in others as betas.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yes, same here. Obviously you can't warn for everything, many people have obscure and specific triggers, but there are common ones that are generally sensitive subjects that I don't think it's bad to warn a bit about

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I don't think it is your responsibility, but rather those with triggers to be careful. I'm a trauma victim and I do have triggers, but you know, I can't expect everyone to know that (especially with how hilariously specific they are). If you're worried, do your research

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

There‘s a huge difference between being responsible of for someone and being mindful for someone.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

As someone who has triggers as well - I'd prefer to be able to see at a glance. It's awful having to be on guard constantly and worried about what if you didn't do your research quite well enough

Deo101 [Millennium]

I personally only read comics on reccomendation because of mine

They're not common ones but I've never been annoyed by trigger warnings that aren't for me

It usually looks much different from the comic so you can just quick look and scroll past

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I really understand that and I can understand it in the context of your industry because it has that visual component, but in the context of mine it's not done because content warnings wouldn't really make much sense for my industry. What will annoy me is when trigger warnings are uploaded for every part of the webcomic. Like, that's a little extreme.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I understand it's very different context for poetry - but I'm talking about comics

Deo101 [Millennium]

I would agree that uploading for every page would be extreme, but I would think I'm that case it would be at the start of the comic or in the description

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

About pages! They exist for a reason.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

At the beginning of the entire comic, if you want to, that's fine. I think it does change the mindset of the reader and can be detrimental to the story in some cases, but if you know it's not, then that's fine! Of course, that problem can be solved just like @chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa] just suggested: put it on the About page.

Yeah, no, I could get behind that.

For webcomics, I think that would be a good solution.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Some sites don't offer about pages, though, and if it's not a major theme and only in a small part it's nice to put it in the comic itself too

Like my comic is generally very light-hearted but coming up I do have a scene that's significantly more violent than the rest of the comic has been, and I debated whether or not to warn my readers about it

I don't want to put a violence warning in my description though because it would draw the wrong audience

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I mean, it really depends. If it's suddenly looks like the notes of a medical student, then put a warning, but some light violence is probably fine.

Others could probably give a better opinion on that though.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yup. I liked how dumbing of age handled it‘s suicide warning - it was specific to that particular page because it dealt with specific details as opposed the more general discussion. So that page got a small note on top. Didn‘t remove the emotional impact, but allowed people to brace themselves or opt out.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Page the Poet refuses content warnings and enjoys their readers' suffering (/s).

All jokes aside, what do you mean about some sites not offering About pages? I'm not well-versed on hosting web-comics.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Well, for instance with webtoons you have a 500 (?) Character description, and that's it

Maybe it's 1500 or something idk it's been a while since I wrote mine. But it's not a seperate page like how I would have on my own site

On your own site it's awesome cause people can just, if they have triggers they can go there to see jf they're fine to read

But with webtoons, tapas, and other hosts you get one page and it's just your comic and description

So putting "violence warning" there is much different than on a seperate page

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I thought most web-comics had their own site?

Deo101 [Millennium]

I mean I do, but many don't

And most readers these days are on hosts I think

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Oh. Yeah, alright, I see the issue.

Deo101 [Millennium]

My description says pg13, LGBT, and slowburn and that's all it gets from me. I would be more descriptive in my about page which I do still need to code

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I'm curious, why specify the LGBT part?

Deo101 [Millennium]

But yeah so it's a very case by case basis depending on where you are and all that

Oh because I want lgbt people to know my comic has an LGBT cast and is catered to them

It's so my comic more likely finds my target audience

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

OH.

carcarchu

i think about stuff like school live and bokurano and consider that i'd be really upset if the sudden dramatic shift in tone was overtly warned beforehand because the shock factor was so important for those series in particular so i don't know how to handle warnings for stuff like that

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

That makes sense.

Please excuse my idiocy haha.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Not idiocy, it's a lot of potential to learn ;)

Carcarchu, it's really a personal choice of the author and what they want. If you don't wanna do it cause you think your story would suffer, that's totally fine. But personally and a lot of other creators agree, id rather potentially risk a slight decrease of my impact to protect some people.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

You see, in poetry, it works like this: you find a journal that suits your poetry, you submit it, you don't get published, and you cry yourself to sleep. Repeat twenty odd times until you get accepted somewhere. Then, you get published there and you tend not to worry about target audiences and stuff yourself. 'Tis a foreign world to me!

RebelVampire

Yeah I agree that I think at the end its a personal choice cause you'll never please everyone whether you do or don't use warnings

carcarchu

i'm thinking about my experience reading those two series and being blown away by the sudden tone shift and really liking one of those series because of it. but then i think about my experience with madoka where i actually started watching it BECAUSE i saw a spoiler about the twist and it piqued my interest. i still enjoyed madoka but i wonder how my experience with it would have been different if i went in blind

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

@carcarchu , I'm with you. It really depends on what you can do, I think. If it's available to those who need it without expressly being there for those who don't want spoilers (An optional CW of sorts), that could work.

carcarchu

i like the idea of optional cw

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I don't know if it's an idea that could work, though, as I'm not experienced with web-comics. @Deo101 [Millennium] , your thoughts?

Deo101 [Millennium]

On a personally coded site you could probably with a lot of effort make something like that work, but that's not really so much an option on hosts

Tapas has a mature toggle where that specific page says "this contains mature content" or something, but everyone sees it

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

If it's personally coded, it should be fairly easy with a small bit of javascript, right?

Deo101 [Millennium]

And for other sites it's not an option at all other than for the entire series as a before you enter sort of deal

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I personally would put warnings Because some chapters deal with traumatic subject matter and I’ve had friends see them and warn me about those However I wouldn’t just do content warnings for something like swearing

Deo101 [Millennium]

I don't think you could code it easily, at least not with the systems I'm using.

Again the best solution I've come up with is at the end of the previous update, so people can skip over it easier and it doesn't interrupt flow the same way

carcarchu

the easiest way to do it on smth like webtoons would just to put some text on ur page that says something like "optional content warning for the next page in description, read at your own risk" but again that would spoil a potential twist

Deo101 [Millennium]

Honestly like Doesn't the twist just happen at the warning then instead of at the panel

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I think the real solution is to just not write anything.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Like it's not spoiling it it's just moving it a few lines up

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Don't even write the webcomic. Best solution.

Deo101 [Millennium]

And content warnings don't say who or how

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Perfection.

carcarchu

i might be miffed if i read TWIST INCOMING and then had to wait a week to actually see it

Deo101 [Millennium]

Just a general, vague, "what"

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Say there's triggering content, but don't say where or what. Put it on the last page too.

carcarchu

but it could potentially drum up interest like WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT WEEK

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah that's what I mean

carcarchu

idk could go either way

Deo101 [Millennium]

Not like there's a twist!

Just hey things get intense

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I don't know, it could still be triggering. I think we should just write no webcomic at all.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmmmm I never thought of that

But what if people forget about the trigger and just jump right in

carcarchu

if they forget the trigger isn't that their fault and not the creator?

Deo101 [Millennium]

People who have the trigger will remember

carcarchu

they were given ample warning

Deo101 [Millennium]

And if they do not then I did what I could

Sorry but I have a specific trigger of people watching someone sleep, I've had two people warn me their comics include it, and I remember. And that was like a year ago

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

My stupid sense of humour aside, I do agree with Deo and Carcarchu. If you forget the trigger, that's your own fault. The author making that information available is one thing, but they aren't there to hold your hand.

carcarchu

oh man that's a super common trope deo that must be rough

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah but it's cool

Like I know it's a common trope and it's not really one you can see coming or anything :/ so it's cool

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I think warnings are helpful tho if u be general like it contains a thing but u dont kno what it is till u read it

Like doe me it was doki doki lit club i didn't took seriously till it hit me and im like O

carcarchu

with dokidoki i knew about there WAS a twist but i didn't know exactly what it is so i was still shocked by it when it happened

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah like "Graphic violence" isn't a spoiler especially if you're already like 3 pages into a fight scene

carcarchu

but again they warned about it pretty vigilantly in the beginning before u play dokidoki? i'm not really sure how you could miss it?

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Yeah.

In all seriousness, I like the About page option / optional CW, but I realize that might be impossible in a lot of scenarios.

Maybe put in the description of the first page "OPTIONAL CW BELOW" for example for those who want it?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, or the page before. Only concern is people not reading it, but then again that kind of falls under the "their responsibility" section

kayotics

I’ve put one warning in before, but I kept it to promo images (so like social media update images) and in the comic description a few pages before. My reasoning was: it was tonally different & darker from the rest of the comic, but I didn’t put the warning in the pages because of the reader is paying attention, the fact that its coming is pretty obvious. Who knows if I did the right thing it handled it correctly, but I really struggled with figuring out what to do

Deo101 [Millennium]

Another concern is that some comics will run for years, decades even, and so its sometimes impossible to know at the beginning what might need to be warned for.

I think that's good Kay.

It's unobtrusive and gives the people who need it what they need

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Optional warning on the page before, then?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah that's what I said earlier I was kinda planning on doing if it ever became necessary

kayotics

That’s essentially what it was. I think I wrote a caveat that the warning was a spoiler

Deo101 [Millennium]

That makes sense

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmm if you’re doing it on the page before How specific should the warning be

kayotics

I know a lot of people don’t read page descriptions, especially when binging, so I’m banking on the context of the chapter being the biggest warning

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Like do you just say optional warning?

kayotics

What I did is I said something about the the content of the next page without getting into too much detail

Deo101 [Millennium]

I see things like "warning: graphic violence, sexual content, substance abuse," etc. Stuff like that

kayotics

Yeah. Mine was graphic violence or gore or something

Deo101 [Millennium]

Where it doesn't say who or how or anything, just a vague what

Which usually, the context of the scene is around that kind of a theme anyways where we can tell it's coming

So a content warning is more like "this does get turned up to an 8 here"

Though it can be a surprise where Something like what Kay did is really good

Like okay so spoilers but be warned

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

B'y, turn it up to at least eleven. Go big or go home.

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'm on a 1-8 scale

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

But what about the saying? Heresy!

kayotics

I think in the context of my comic it felt like, to me, that I was turning it up to 8 from a 1 or 2. It’s not the MOST GRAPHIC thing I’ve ever seen, but with the entirety of the rest of the work it’s tonally different, which is why I needed the warning

My comic, at its worst, usually just sees some curses and cartoon violence.

This was, like, full on blood and gore

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I jumped straight into 12 at one point for mine whoops

kayotics

So I think context of the work is important with a warning as well

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, I'm usually around a 1-2 too. I've got pg-13 in my description and if I'm ever toeing the edge of it, I'm gonna warn about it

kayotics

If you have a violent or heavy comic already, warnings for each page is ridiculous. It’s when you turn it up that you should mention something

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah exactly

DanitheCarutor

Aaah you know, I don't put warnings on my pages, because practically half the comic would have CWs due to the focus on upsetting themes. There was one instance where I did put one up for a page containing a lot of queerphobic language presented in a way that was jarring, and potentially triggering for people who've experienced something like that. Although I've somewhat regretted singling out that one page since the comic from that point only gets worse, in hindsight that one instance isn't bad enough to warrant a warning. I'll probably take it down once I stop being lazy. In general I feel a page-by-page warning is best for comics that don't normally have heavy stuff, it makes sense to warning for violence if that's not a normal thing in your comic, it might shock readers too much otherwise. As far as content, everyone has different sensitivity levels (someone put a CW up once for a character being yelled at by his dad), personally I would only use CWs for excessive violence/abuse, blood, mental illness, suicide, rape, gore, slurs and/or substance abuse. I've gotten a lot of mixed reception on warnings, there are people who want them up, in detail, on every page with potentially upsetting content. People who want them chapter by chapter, some like detail, some want a general warning. Then there are people who don't want any warnings either due to them being too spoilery, or they feel it ruins the immersion. I went for a warning in a pop-up on my main site and leaving a list in my description on other sites, mostly for the non-spoiler crowd and because of what I said before about practically half my comic being potentially triggering.

There are two chapters coming up where I'll be putting up a general warning banner at the start of the chapter, with a hidden list of triggers in the author's notes and an option to read a safer summarized version at the end of each chapter, rather than forcing everyone to read the whole thing. Just because the content will be really difficult for some in presentation and/or subject matter, and I don't want to outright distress anyone... at least without them understanding what they're getting into.

Like, even compared to how my comic already is the next chapters will be really upsetting... for some people.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

It's not bad if people are upset or distressed. Like, full on disassociation from PTSD, obviously not, but I think these CWs are for them, not Alice Smith the average woman. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, I feel like, because of that, the general approach is best. Adding a CW for someone getting yelled at by their father is too spoiler-y/specific in my mind.

carcarchu

i really like dani's approach with the summary at the end for people who want to know what happened but can't stomach actually seeing the nitty gritty

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Here’s the problem tho...my series literally deals with trauma healing

So there’s going to be mentions of...going to therapy, friends talking about it

Not the actual trauma itself

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Yeah, I wouldn't bother with CWs there.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I’m really worried that if I have to put up trigger warnings every time...a lot of pages will have that warning

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

People know what they're getting in for.

If you're going to read a comic about healing from trauma...don't be surprised at content that's not very fun.(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, my warnings are specifically for the mentally ill, people who've been in abusive situations and such. I don't want to end up bring back certain experiences, at least without them knowing what they're getting into.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmm in that case I might have to put it in the summary itself then

That there’s trauma healing Of course it’s also about humor and slice of life, but I’ll add it in just in case

Would it help to get sensitivity readers to take a gander look?

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I mean, in my mind, a general synopsis of the basic plot is a good idea for a lot of stories so long as you aren't spoiling anything.

DanitheCarutor

Me? Nah, I mean, I should but it wouldn't change my decisions since my story is really tight and changing stuff would end up changing everything.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

In this case, trauma-healing seems to be a part of that plot.

So, you know, if it's mentioned, I think that's blaringly obvious at that point to people that "B'ys, there may be some triggering shit here", y' know?

DanitheCarutor

Oh, I totally misread the convo. Lol I mean, you could get a sensitivity reader if you want to be on the safe side, but if you're writing from experience and you've done research I don't see a problem with not having one.

carcarchu

having read the first few chapters of shadow's comic trauma healing was not an aspect that i picked up from it(edited)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Sensitivity reader?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I agree, I get more light heart tone with Shadow's story, but I know stuff ahead of time(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh nooo

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

maybe the aspects will come up as the comic progresses shadow

:0

DanitheCarutor

My comic is also about trauma and healing, and while I haven't experienced all the things my characters have, I did do a ton of research and talked to people. Although my comic is a vent comic so most of it is based off my experiences.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I've just put general content warnings in the about page and appropriately rated my comic for its content. There will be things that are written thar i have no idea that could be triggering to people that exsist in a lot of media, it almost becomes impossible to sort through. And with the amount of content to sift through that would/wouldn't be sensitive to certain topics or just generally unaware, its tricky. If there is a reader with a potentially sensitive trigger, i would hope they could get a friend to do a read through if possible, but rarely have i seen comics go right into topics that would need such a hand to do so. Stories have descriptions and ratings for that reason, you're not going to find insane violence in Pokemon type stories, so the author has that responsibility of rating it correctly is what im getting at

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Sorry, what's a sensitivity reader?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

A sensitivity reader is like, a beta reader who specifically checks whether your work is offensive/ insensitive (e.g. when you're wondering "is my portrayal of this ethnic group offensive/ignorant?")

carcarchu

i think a sensitivity reader is for when ur writing a story that includes a particular cultural or ethnic group that ur NOT part of and u want to avoid making your story culturally insensitive

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ooh Dani, is it Guide to Unhealthy Relationship? Your comic often stand out to me. I knew what I was getting into when I read it

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I was a sensitvity reader for someone who was writing a viet american and keii pretty much sums it up

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

That's a thing? Who does that? Ethnic Studies professors?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

And it's not just for ethnic groups

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I gave suggestions to add and avoid if ya writing a character from a certain ethnic group or marginalized group

like LGBT+, persons with disabilities etc

carcarchu

ethnic groups is the first thing i thought of but yes

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

No, not ethnic studies professors.

Members of the marginalized group.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yep

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

So if you're writing a trans character, you probably want a sensitivity reader who is trans

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yep!

carcarchu

example the mangaka of golden kamuy has an ainu consultant who is ainu but i'm not sure if having a consultant is quite the same thing?(edited)

DanitheCarutor

@Joichi [Hybrid Dolls] Yeah, it is. I'm glad you were able to know! I try to make it obvious since CWs are pretty much the main themes of my comic. xD

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i think so

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

A consultant can apply to sensitivity readers, yes, but goes beyond that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like the mangaka saught to reprsent ainus too

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I know an MMA comic with an MMA consultant, for example

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

But couldn't two members of that group, say, Jews, say completely different things? How can you guess the information to be reliable based on their simply being a part of that group? Surely, there are things people look for when hiring these people?

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I have artist friends who are my sensitively reader and one friend who has had experience with abuse So they help me with what’s good and what’s not to write about

I have artist friends who are my sensitively reader and one friend who has had experience with abuse So they help me with what’s good and what’s not to write about

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's still gonna be WAY better than not getting any, Page.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I mean yeah but in that instance hearing from another perspective at least one person helps

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

At least you can be aware of possible....differences

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

And people who have experience as sensitivity readers know some common issues to look for, as well.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Or cross reference

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yep

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

It could be worse if the information is unreliable. What sort of qualifications does one look for?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like for me, reping viet folks and telling that to those saught viet rep in their comics

I told them "don't you freaking dare add tropes about the vietnam war I'm gonna come over to your house"

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Friend of mine was a trauma survivor that I witnessed first hand

I suppose that qualifies!

But I think it helps to ask around

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

This stems from writers writing what they think an experience/ person group is without doing research and just being ignorant and offensive and a call for ppl to do better

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah like those stories should be left to the group experienced it instead

imo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

TBH even when you do a ton of research on your own, a sensitivity reader can help you catch things that you never even thought of researching because you were unaware It Was A Thing

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like I still read some stories then they throw like the nam joke

and i'm like "I'm droppin this"

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Yea I don't get cis ppl writing about the trans experience. Its not ur story

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

agreed ya

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmm a lot of artists write from experience

Perhaps if you need a sensitivity reader for say...being bi for example

Maybe find an artist who themselves is bi(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like don't write how they got there, but write the experience they gonna deal with in the comic

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Because you get double: you get someone who’s bi and also someone who knows how to work the medium

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like i doubt cis persons have the nuance for trans folk, same goes for non-poc thinking is okay to do weird nuance things with poc

like lmao idk that's a pet peeve of mine if someone is writing an asian character and really just

"yea he's asian, idk what nationality but its there."

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Im not into someone who isn't a minority writing about a minority experience as a personal preference, but the sensitivity readers aren't exclusive to that. There was an example in story help in this server where someone asked about writing for a certain group of ppl and wanted feedback

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I...remember that krispy

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah

carcarchu

i get what you're saying Tuyetnhi but i don't want authors to NOT include any representation just because they're scared of doing it wrong

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Several people warned him Including me

DanitheCarutor

A good example of sensitivity readers is Moana. The directors were old white guys, but they got Hawaiians to look over the script to make sure it wasn't disrespectful to the culture, or totally out of left field, since the tribe in the movie is based on Hawaiian tribes. Even though I didn't have sensitivity readers I still sought out people who experienced certain mental illnesses, medical professionals and mental health professionals willing the share their experiences and knowledge on the subjects I'm tackling before starting the comic.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye and I get that, I mean like if they trying to do extreme nuance takes

leave that for folks who experienced that

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Asscreed games used to do the same too

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I ain't againist that kind of rep, but I have a paricular idea how to go about it that's all lol

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Tho i don't know if they were successful

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

What's wrong with someone writing a character who is transgender if they're not transgender? There's a lot of good research done on transgender issues both medical and societal as well as a lot of written record. I also don't see the issue with writing an ethnic minority as a non-minority. "Far Beyond the Stars" was written by white men and it speaks about racial issues brilliantly. Consultants on the intricacies of culture, I 100% understand, though, for your narratives; that does make sense. Professors are hired by filmmakers and writers for just that IIRC.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sensitivity readers would not be a thing if people were not allowed to write characters outside of their own identity. Nobody's advocating that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ya

carcarchu

white people can write on poc's issues fine. but i have a problem when they act like they know more than the people who have experienced it first-hand

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yep that's what I mean cara

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

As long as you’re respectful about it

And open to changing ideas

RebelVampire

Ok Im gonna step in here now and say we need to take a step back perhaps cause I feel this convo might be becoming too heated.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Heated?

I think you're misreading. I don't believe anybody here is heated over anything. I didn't know there was an argument, honestly. Is there? Am I losing my mind here?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Also these are instances that have been brought to light bc ppl want better rep from authours too. My last point on that!!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't think anyone's angry, but this is an extremely sensitive/ heavy topic so we're all treading carefully!

carcarchu

i'm with page i thought it was all very civil

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Remarkably so, frankly.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

agreed

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Usually these things spawn a lot of arguments. It's refreshing to see people, well, not do that.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye lol

RebelVampire

It is but this is the sort of topic where it can quickly hit the boiling point in a single message. And I've been seeing some warning signs in this convo. By all means if everyone can keep it civil, please continue. Consider this more a warning that right now, if you're getting angry, please step away from the convo cause I don't want to have to mute or ban anyway.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

aight

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Warning signs? I really am losing my mind.

DanitheCarutor

Let me know if I've said or will say something that might be insensitive. I try to be respectful, but I'm overly comfortable with uncomfortable topics and can be like a bull in a china shop sometimes.(edited)

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Its just a sensitive topic, page

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

same with me, but i'm also speaking from experience as sensitivity reader too.

so yea lol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Oh yeah, on most servers, when this comes up, you have those who take the opportunity to say white people should die, then the ones who say the same about people of colour. It all devolves.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

what the

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Oh, b'ys, Discord is a wild place.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I agree with Keii, these are sensitive topics, I'm reading each one carefully without jumping into a fight

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I mean yeah, I been on discord since 2015 lol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Gosh, I've been on it for years too! Seems so long ago I first came here!

Time flies, eh?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

still like, I find it kinda ridiculous someone is willing to jump like that

but yeah er, the topic at hand lol

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It doesn't need to go to that ridiculous extent to offend people, so I agree with Rebel on that we need to continue to be careful

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

(going to step out now but good convo y'all)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Offer people a bit of the word "race" and soon it turns into Nuremberg.

Good talking to you, mate!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Goodnight Eilidh!

Also I’m actually new on discord

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I think that its a good practice that writers today are more sensitive to the readers. Not in a hand holding way, but in a responsible way where their work is properly tagged and rated and the consistency of such content is a warning as well (like danis comic) It's important to want to improve the reading experience for many and keeping in mind that some topics need to be handled with some more care

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye agreed!

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

In my field, I think it's a contest on how much emotion you can get out in one breath with gleeful abandon to how the reader feels.

carcarchu

but a problem with that is sometimes it feels like writers are held up to impossibly high standards and that they can't have ANY inkling whatsoever of any content that might possibly be construed as "problematique" by the purity police. the degree to which some authors are scrutinized is unreasonable and i think it often stems from having to be seen as a "pure" representation of whatever it is they are representing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes it's not even that the standards are "too high"

DanitheCarutor

@FeatherNotes(Krispy) Lol if the word limit allows it, every self-promo of my comic is plastered with age and content warnings, dang it!

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

There will ALWAYS be those standards, they were always there. Ppl just didn't have that voice. I would not be worried about writing however, as i def see a problem with the purity thingie going around.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think carcarchu is talking about something very specific, Feather?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

there will be some rep be messy and rip that's part of being human and making mistakes

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

There was an article talking about the direction of art and the consumers of such that covered this topic about the purity thing that i wanna findd

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like everyone can't be a saint

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

like when an ownvoices writer gets pitchforks and torches because their portrayal wasn't wholesome enough, and you are only allowed to write happy and wholesome stories about that group(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

like

keii omg

yeah i'll die in the torches that's ok

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Wait what

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah it's a thing

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Thats a thing

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

What...????

carcarchu

yes that's what i'm talking about keii

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

What

carcarchu

i also have a video about it

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

They're more upset at the story direction then

Not a purity thing

carcarchu

no it's a purity thing

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I agree with Carcarchu on this one. I feel like some people would be up in arms if I wrote a story where a white guy is the protagonist and a black guy is the antagonist. Some people just see race.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I know several LGBTQ peeps who are afraid to post their dark LGBTQ fiction because it might draw the attention of "only wholesome content allowed!!!" people

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

WhgtttattTTT

nooo

DanitheCarutor

Oooh yeah, the puritans/sanitizers out there, they're a scary bunch. I've had a run in with a few people who've said my comic shouldn't be allowed to exist due to the content... and I've been called queerphobic... and that my comic is queerphobic torture porn... and other fun stuff. It happens.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

WHHHHHHAAAAAAAT

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

You'd be surprised how common this is.

RebelVampire

Yeah I have to say I've seen it a lot too

carcarchu

where have u been krispy that you haven't seen this?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I have been in my silent cave apparently

I also haven't been in fandoms for years if that helps lol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

You living like Patrick the Starfish?

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, we're kind of starting to get back into the olden days of demand for sanitizing art, people who work on darker content or horror get a lot of crap.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

This is patrick

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

All kidding aside, TL;DR: shit's kind of fucked in some ways.

carcarchu

i've even had run-ins with such people irl... hasnt been the most pleasant. i was once friends (note once) who tried to convince me that i should turn my het romance story into a lesbian one? for no reason other than she preferred to read that kind of content?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Ohhbsee thats where im confused

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Imagine if the sexuality were flipped. It would be outrageous.(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip I had a comment a year ago that the main love interest is "too gay to be straight"

and i'm like "excuse u?"

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

"Yeah, make it straight. I don't like gay stuff."

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

How is the relationship dynamic purity in that case?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's not purity police talk anymore, I think

carcarchu

not purity in that specific example feather but it's the same kind of person

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I’ve also had people come up to me and ask why I don’t write a more lighthearted story

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's... a different issue

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

OB

MY GOSHHH

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Or “shadow, your shit is too dark why are you writing about this”

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

So ppl be telling u how to write ur chars now?

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

"Life can only be happy and stuff :(( art can literally only be happyyy"

carcarchu

yeah this same person was also PISSED that there was a gem in steven universe who was "black-coded" and portrayed as a villain even though there were black coded gems who were not portrayed as villains as well

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Sorry Krispy Life be like that

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Wthhhh

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Black coded?....what series have they been watching carcarchu lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ah dang

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

These ppl have 2 much time on their hands RIP They wanna rip apart media, go after something that deserves it (likethebig2incomicscough)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

They’re gate keeping(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Ah not too long ago I stumbled across an artist who drew more problematic stuff as a way to cope with trauma, which I guess was something their therapist suggested. Their stuff is pretty messed up, but someone started one of those "call out" videos on them, leading to thousands of people flooding their work with some of the most awful comments along with people trying to shut down their Patreon and social media accounts.

carcarchu

i later found out this person was also a terf so i ended the friendship right there when i found out

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Dani that’s...what the fuck

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Oh nasty

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

searches up terf Oh...

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I remember reading one person talking about how presenting "bad ideals" and whatnot in fiction had to be demonstrated to be bad ideals and not work and stuff and so on so forth.

carcarchu

i've seen that too dani

sadly more times than i can count

we all remember what happened to cucumber quest right?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It is terrible out there

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

What’s cucumber quest

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

What is cucumber

Quest oop

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

"What is cucumber?": An essay in being Socrates.

carcarchu

long story short cucumber quest was a children's webcomic that was pretty popular but the author got bullied off tumblr for being "problematic"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh no

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Tumblr has a lot of crazies.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I like her work

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh noooooooooo

I still go on tumblr but I carefully choose my blogs

Because I don’t want this shit

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(All this being said, I wanna reiterate that just because those terrible pitchforks and torches people exist, doesn't mean all "I find this offensive" voices are invalid. Some things could genuinely be improved!)

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Also def wanna say that even tho there will be these wolves waiting to tear 'non perfect' media apart, please dont feel like u have to stop writing, ever. Dont be afraid bc of these stories, yall have good heads on ur shoulders and obvs want to share ur experiences and that is something ur allowed to do

carcarchu

fyi she didnt stop making her comic because of the bullying thing, it was a separate, unrelated issue much later(edited)

i hear you keii

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I find it hilarious of the idea That there are people out there who tell someone not to write stuff like abuse even tho they’ve never experienced it

And the writers themselves have

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

There was someone who tried to boycott assassins creed 2 bc the main char reminder her of her ex bf

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omfg

DanitheCarutor

It's really sad and a little terrifying if your work doesn't fit the sanitization standards... Sometimes I think of that "what if" chance just the right person finding my comic and launching a take down campaign on it. Which is why I'm totally fine with staying as a smalltime person in the shadows. Also people don't usually want to even read through my comic, so that's a plus.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

why lmaoo

oh dang dani that's one fear

but i'm also like "I wonder how folks react to me dealing with that like I ignore them"

would that be a power move or I'd be burning harder?

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Shit I never thought of a takedown campaign

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

It's a genuine fear for the creating community for sure, but ur voice is necessary. Ur story will resonate with ppl, and those who choose to use their time to tear it down obviously have nothing else better to do

DanitheCarutor

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Oh yeah, totally! People's feelings are super valid, and someone writing sensitive content should be open to listening to other people. I'm just talking about the extremists who think anything remotely uncomfortable shouldn't exist. Like, no.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Man, nowadays, people just throw shit and false accusations and all the rest at people because they don't like them and their stuff. They're truly pathetic.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I used to be so scared of a certain chapter in my comic bc its so violent at one point. It kept me up at night bc of these take down campaigns were a such a thing. But then i remember the content i enjoyed that inspired my own and im like Aint no one cancelling FMA for the niina part!

I mean unless its a topic that's super insensitive to a group or people/topic, which i know you're handling with sensitivity and grace, i wouldn't stop

carcarchu

this is a little bit sensitive so i'm going to put it in a spoiler there was another incident where an author received constant messages to kill themselves for writing gls when they did not at that time identify as a woman but then the author later did a whole comic about how how complicated her relationship with her own gender and sexuality was and that she de-transitioned and now once again considered herself to be both cis and lesbian and all those comments about her needing to kill herself for writing gl were so narrow-minded because you can never really know an author's situation if you aren't in their shoes

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

What's "gl"?

DanitheCarutor

Lol yeah, I do get worried a lot, especially about the upcoming chapters. Although that's not going to stop me from pushing forward, and telling the story how I want to tell it. If my online presence is murdered in the process, at least it will die for a good cause... at least good for me because I'll be venting everything out.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Whhhh!!! People just gettin into ppls business damn. That's horrible

carcarchu

girl's love

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

GIrl's love?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I def see ur story as a personal one with healing and building that will resonate with others Dani. And i think that's very important

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

What's that?

carcarchu

stories about girls loving girls

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it's a genre that focuses on romantic relationships between girls ye

carcarchu

i really got chills reading that author's comic about her identity especially having seen those comments numerous times on her other comics

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

There was a similar incident except it was with an artist by the name of Zamii for supposedly drawing Steven Universe characters too thin (Yes, she did attempt suicide in the end, though she didn't succeed in her attempt).

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Is...is she okay now?

oh my god Page

I remembered that

The SU writers had to step in

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh rip sadly I remember that as well

carcarchu

i think she's doing ok! i'm not sure if that particular comic is still up but i can dm u it if u want shadow

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Yep! Not just the writers, even an executive producer.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yes please carcarchu

And I think Rebecca sugar stepped in too? Not sure about that

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Hopefully this serves as a reminder for all of us to have each others backs in such situations wow

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Another incident was in the Undertale fandom I think. One person gave a cookie to an artist at a convention they didn't like because of the ships they were doing. They author was suspicious, so, they cracked open the cookie. It was filled with needles.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

WHHHHHHYYYYYYY

carcarchu

oh my god i remember that page, what a horror story

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

........what the FUCK

carcarchu

always be careful about accepting food from events like that

DanitheCarutor

Geez, the thing about the GL author is sad... yet not surprising, and it's sad that I'm not surprised. @FeatherNotes(Krispy) Thank you so much! I went into my comic expecting absolutely no one would like it, so if it resonates with even one person that would be the best surprise. TvT

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yee haw I love solidarity

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, never accept food/drinks from strangers, including "fans"

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

As someone who bakes and deals with food....that is horrifying

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah rip that's horrifying

carcarchu

if it's packaged food like candy it should be safe, but still be careful if u have reason to be suspicious at all

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Remember, if you're suspicious, make them eat it too >:)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omgllol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

And lace it with cyanide.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Gosh authours need content warning from readers it seems yikes

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Better safe than sorry.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Still not safe to have them eat it too lol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I mean, hey, better second degree murder than dead.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can think of some.... ways around that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"I'm alergic to needles"

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Give it to their friend

>:)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Give it to their spouse.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

And if it’s poison they’ll go down knowing they did it

Make a marvel villain

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

They're called "Widower".

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Page you and I have like minds

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Indeed we do.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not comfortable with that -- like, what if their friend or spouse is being abused by them and is seeking to get out of that relationship

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

...This conversation is freaking amazing And I’ve never done individual page warnings for my comic - never felt it necessary. Maybe someday someone will yell at me about it, but... meh. The comic never goes into the really deep dark potentially-controversial stuff. So maybe it won’t be an issue. Back to catching up on all of this, WOW.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god it would be a complicated meSS(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh god okay NO DONT GIVE IT TO THEIR SPOUSE

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

It doesn't matter. They must die for our agenda.

Morality? Pft.

If they're dead, they're no longer in the relationship.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I mean @LadyLazuli (Phantomarine) your story is really riveting But I’m not sure if you need warnings? I mean your story deals with...death

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

You see? Widower solves everything.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

@shadowhood (SunnyxRain) I’m not sure! Someone tagged it with ‘limb loss’ elsewhere, which is debatable, haha. It’s something I would almost want others to tag. Sometimes I can’t stretch my mind far enough to imagine a page needing a trigger warning.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Wow...the more you learn, huh.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Yes- those specific type tags are always going to be elusive to keep track of- ur general rating is just what ur story needs

Def wanna point out too that TV ratings and warnings are what i go by and the most helpful to me as a reader and creator. Also video game warnings too are good to look at if people ever need examples of how to rate comics!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yep, ratings are all I need too. In my ‘about’ page I described my comic as “no darker than the darkest stuff in Harry Potter,” but I’m sure someone would still find something extremely dark in that, so... SHRUG

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Does anyone know of any of the big name comics that put trigger warnings or whatnot in their work? I dont read marvel/dc/etc so ive never seen if they took to rating their comics with any type of warnings?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I do have kids reading so I want the parents to feel comfortable

DanitheCarutor

Is it weird that I rated my comic based on the level of nudity and lack of sex? Like, "Okay, these people are really naked but not in a sexy way, what is the rating for that?"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I'm thinking about snot girl rn and idk if their creators do that tbh other than marketed towards adults

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I read a couple of more-intense things from Image Comics and I’ve never seen any trigger warnings there either

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmm I’m not sure I remember reading Hellboy and not seeing any trigger warnings

carcarchu

krispy, the only time i can recall it is when i read Bradherley's Coach and that was actually put there by the translation team and not the author himself but i will say that the warning was extremely warranted with that one because i consider myself pretty desensitized to traumatic content but even this one really got me with each chapter being traumatic in it's own unique way

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Do they have ratings on the backs of the books like some manga?

Oh wow ty translation team

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Probably! I’m not sure if DarkHorse comics does it but they do have things like nudity and...portrayals of graphic death

carcarchu

if u read it on a website there is some degree of tagging for the content but i don't think that alone could have accurately prepared someone for what the comic explored

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I think its clear that by these examples we're all already doing better at being responsible for the content we share and produce.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I hope so I wonder if those big name comics received flak about not having trigger warnings

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I wonder about that too tbh

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Im sure to a degree? But no where near an indie creator would

Which is a whole other topic

carcarchu

i for one would love more tagging options for webcomics

makes it easier to find whatever niche content you're into!

genres alone just dont do it

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

That could work But there’s also a price to pay; less chance to get readers too

carcarchu

why is it less of a chance to get readers?

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I myself am looking at my Punisher comics, and there's no warnings anywhere, but i feel with an antihero like the Punisher, you go in expecting the gore and violence

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hmmmmm....I guess my fear is that it’s a double edged sword carcarchu On one hand you can attract the readers you want But on the other hand you can also...possibly drive away readers who are mildly curious Some people need time to get invested in a story

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I guess some people will just avoid some tags no-questions-asked. Hopefully it’s the small minority that the trigger warning will actually help (in terms of anxiety) and not someone who’s writing off the trigger as problematic and will go on a tirade warning other readers about it. I know it goes both ways

carcarchu

oh i wasn't talking about trigger content tagging specifically

i was talking about stuff like being able to tag for example "witches" or "animals" or "music" whatever is a theme in your comic(edited)

guess it wasnt a logical throughline made sense in my head

eli [a winged tale]

I was looking for a universal way to show trigger warnings and came across this article. https://medium.com/@UntoNuggan/trigger-warnings-101-a-beginners-guide-e9fc90c6ba0a I guess for mine I’m thinking to add body horror and violence the more we go through the story... I do like the part about putting the informed consent power back to the reader’s hands

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I put both Fantasy Violence and Alcohol Use as general warnings for my comic. Alcohol is treated in a complex manner in CoR, both in a humorous light and as a way to cope, but I know there are a lot of folks that are triggered by the presence of alcohol.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I will be putting trigger warning in my comic but Ive wanted to write about mental health allegories for a long time as a personal self reflection.

I started to feel braver after seeing other creators boldly write about mental health topics in their comics.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Whispers the webcomic library is an excellent source and tool to find/avoid tags in comics

Luma does an excellent job with archiving the stories there and i hope yall have applied to have ur comics there too!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Yes I watch Webcomic library on Twitter, Luma does such a good job curating comics(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Same! Highly recommended

carcarchu

i think i follow it on twitter but i don't keep up with it

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

They did these tags for my comic(edited)

carcarchu

maybe i should change that

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Super dedicated and a very great resource for webcomics!!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I got these! I originally only put down 'limb loss - leg' but 'limb loss - arm' popped up too, and I'm like "You know... that's kinda true." It's a really good resource!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

OOoh I should check it out

Webcomic library, right?

carcarchu

what's the difference between independent! and independent

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

...that's a good question and I don't know the answer, haha

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

“Eventual LGBTQ” yes

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I AGREE!! I'm on Webcomic Library too. Mine is tagged as Mobility Aids since Nocturne uses a cane to walk

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

hmmm how do you add your webcomic onto there?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I went thru the process like

you send an email to luma/webcomic libary with a submission form

and she'll add it for u with the tags that are relelated to your comic

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Luma always puts up submission posts too Check out their tumblr/twitter!

DanitheCarutor

I can't imagine how much time it takes Luma to go through all those webcomics! These are the tags they put for mine:(edited)

They've kept it up pretty well in spite of it not being their cup of tea. The only thing I was ever iffy on was the 'sexual nudity' tag since I didn't intend for that but for the nudity to be uncomfortable/awkward, and I don't like the idea of people going into my comic for sexual arousal, but on well. To each their own, also it may be a presentation mistake on my part.

It's funny because I didn't think about one of my MCs being disabled until seeing this, I had to think for a moment before realizing "Oh yeah, I guess ocular albinism is considered a disability."

Kind of an embarrassing realization on my part.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooo that's a lot of tags

this from my comic

DanitheCarutor

@shadowhood (SunnyxRain) Here is the submission template if you're interested. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q48tZquhmNoGY_lcsE8FkByF614EISk_Pf3YoQKXYWA/edit?usp=sharing

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

probably not much is tagged since lmao it's 2 chapters in

DanitheCarutor

Haaaah yeah, my comic has a lot of... stuff. It'll probably get even bigger once the next two chapters are finished, if Luma is willing to go through them.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

ahhh thank you Time to submit

honestly I don't think there'll be a lot for my webcomic, since I just started lol

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

All a good resource regardless! And a good place to find comics to read!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

fair enough! Also...uhh....

what's nsfw text?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

like, not safe for work things being talked about in the text of the comic typically sex stuff i imagine

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

or swearing lmao

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

oh god

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

get ready for a rideeeee

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

since someone saying "violence and gore" in the text wouldn't really count as NSFW lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

on my sailor ship lolol

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, NSFW text is swearing, slurs, discussion of NSFW subjects, sexual language I'm guessing. In my case it's the former three, at least I assume as much.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

..........ohhhh boy

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

mine is just my characters speaking without filter

lol

at least for the begining lolol

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

but yeah to me the limit for "what to warn people about" is generally dependent on the platform

those are my tags on archive binge

those are my tags on webcomic library (admittedly a bit out of date)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

lord almighty(edited)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

on comic fury the only tag I have is high violence (with no nudity, sexual content, or swearing)

on tapas it's a page-by-page thing so I basically add the tag whenever there's blood on-screen

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Nsfw is not swearing like bitch, shit fuck Its more slurs i do believe

Also forgive me for swearing on main lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lol

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

OH DANI SAID IT ALREADY

So yes, what dani said

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yeah I was wondering how deep into curse/slur territory it’d have to go

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Gjs has swearing in it but its sailor mouth stuff, not slurs

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I’ve got fantasy slurs and I drop those RARELY because they still make me feel weird, haha

Dunno if I could ever commit to IRL ones in anything I do

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, I imagine if swears did count it would be how they're used, like if they were said in a derogatory statement and/or bullying.

But yeah, slurs, definitely. Haaaah

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I don't think I could ever write about racial slurs either. The only touchy topics I will ever write are those I have experienced. Never experienced true racism so if I wrote about it I would feel like I'm faking knowledge of a huge and personal issue for other people

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Same. I leave that to people who can write about it better. Any discrimination I have in my stories is manufactured by the fantasy world and its own unique circumstances. I have some influence from real-world discrimination, but it's its own thing.

DanitheCarutor

Ah but slurs aren't just race, there are also slurs for gender and sexuality. (The -cough- 'T' and 'F' word.)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

yeah... racial slurs make me uncomfortable, but depends with the fantasy slurs, that could be creative if it's done to show the social issues of that world?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I feel like even if you're only using fantasy slurs (speaking as someone whose comic has a use of a fantasy slur...), you need good understanding of what it's like to be on the receiving end of a slur IRL. This isn't to say "you need [this qualification] to be Allowed to use slurs in your fictional work!" but more like, how to make it resonate with the readers in the right ways, how to make it not gratuitous, etc.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ye

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm still learning myself. Like, I do have some experience dealing with racism toward me, but 1) it's nothing compared to the truly horrific stuff out there, and 2) even on comparable "levels" my experience could be very, very different from someone else's. All we can do is keep trying, keep learning.

Keep listening.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I'd had a fair deal of racism and microagression being a native in the US for so long

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

exactly, like I experienced childhood racism about my cultural upbringing. But it's different for other people.(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it's something that lmao won't go away but ye we have some different perspectives on how we can go about handling it

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

When I read a work or watch a film, I can tell if the creator has researched well, if it's racism similar to my experiences. It doesn't matter their background. But it'd be a nicer bonus if this came from a POC creator.(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, based on that I'm probably not the best person to have characters using slurs. While the slur present is gender based, I have a complicated relationship with... everything that isn't white/cis/het. I'm a mixed race (mom's side(very white passing): German Jewish, black Irish, Scottish, Native American. Dad's side: Native American, Spanish, Mexican.), my mom was raised in a church in a tiny town that was totally against non-white people and race mixing, according to her when I was born people would come to the hospital to gawk at me. I've never been called a slur maliciously, but casually and I never noticed it until I was older after everyone naturally stopped. Every experience and memory I have of slurs has been of the "yikes!", "Woah, you really said that." variety, so I kind of project that energy a little bit in my comic. But in the form of a very yikes casually transphobic character.

For clarity on the cis/het thing, my family was also extremely bigoted but would hide it under casual language, so it never sounded queerphobic until you process what they said.

Not related to me, but I understand needing to experience racism to write it, although I think it can still be accomplished well if the person is empathetic and does a ton of research. Kinda like anything else sensitive, you just need to be really educated on the subject.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I agree with you Dani. Sadly some creators just don't have that empathy and want to write a fantasy token character. I had awkward story conversations before on race. "what do you think about this ambiguous Asian character? I'm thinking of a Japanese name, sounds Asian enough?" I always cringe inside(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I usually bring in other people to write about those things I haven't experienced. Friends, generous volunteers, etc.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I think it's 100% OK to write about things you haven't experienced. I don't think J.K. Rowling experienced being an adolescent male chosen one in a magical college, but she still wrote about it...and made a Hell of a lot of money.

DanitheCarutor

Lol that's why I added in doing research, which I think brainstorming with experienced people counts, you're still educating yourself. I agree with everyone on experience being preferred, although I am on the anti-censorship side with art and storytelling, no matter how cringe it is.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ofc i think it's okay, but I personally don't feel comfortable doing it

i even feel a little weird writing male characters

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

If we can only write ourselves and our experiences, we're plain not good writers.

That's my view on the matter.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Again, I don't think any of us is advocating Necessary Qualifications To Even Attempt. This is a much more nuanced topic

I've never been a tall beefy dude, but that's what my MC is.

Never been a parent, but I write parents.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Yeah, "make the effort to write this well" is very different from "don't write this"

And there's plenty of people criticizing JKR for how she handles specific topics...

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

yeeeeah....

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Including me.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

JKR is probably not a good example to bring up as a positive example for this topic, simply because of the issues that can REALLY distract from why she's being used as an example.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like writing male character more often since I'm less stressed about writing the opposite gender, I know it's my comfort zone. I based some of the boys on my guy friends and have fun with the story. Though I'm making a difference by insisting on adding women more and pushing for strength and vulnerability.(edited)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

J.K. turned out to be lacking a few brain-cells, but my point is that you can very easily write foreign experiences; every good writer does that all the time (as you all do yourselves!) and I think that extends to writing characters no matter the colour of their skin, sexuality, or gender identity.

DanitheCarutor

True, I haven't seen gatekeeping here, I'm just giving my thoughts on it. A while back on another server I read a conversation where some people were dissing the person who made Magical Boy on Tapas because they're not trans, even though they did a lot of research beforehand. I was kind of reflecting that, but I also empathize with people who feel uncomfortable with people who've never experienced a certain form of oppression writing about it.

Pff I've never been a janitor, but dang it! You can't stop me from having a janitor character!

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Janitors are the coolest guys, I'm telling ye.

Most chill people in the land.

B'ys, they can get along with anyone, I swear.

DanitheCarutor

They're like real life superheroes.

Deo101 [Millennium]

We're not saying not to write other skin tones, gender, etc. Just to be sensitive about it and aware that you can't extrapolate someone else's life experiences from your own, you have to ask

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

there's a difference between writing a janitor and writing a touchy topic like racism. Anyways, even if I was writing a janitor I'd do a ton of research on the job

Deo101 [Millennium]

Sorry I use a cane and I can tell when people didn't ask someone who uses a cane what it's like. It goes the same for a lot of things

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I'm not saying you are saying that! Simply addressing something I've encountered before.

I've used a cane before, though temporarily. It was...a pain in the ass, honestly.

Well, more like a pain in my leg. And my arm.

DanitheCarutor

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Sorry, I was joking since Keii was talking about writing muscular guys and parents. It would be sad if I didn't know the difference between racism and an occupation. Lol

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

In any case, I don't think that writing somebody of an ethnic minority necessitates much on its own. Delving into racial issues, sure, yeah that requires a lot, but I wouldn't say that of writing the character itself.

I'd say the same of sexuality and gender identity if you're not delving into the respective issues thereof. If you know what you're doing, i don't think there's too much to it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Page, Rambler Extraordinaire! Yeah, I think that's what a lot of us are saying. There is a difference between writing a character who's [this identity] vs writing a story that's all about exploring that identity.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

The latter requires a lot more research, agreed.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh i know @DanitheCarutor , you write a lot of lgbt characters after all. just adding my thoughts, not diagreeing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"If you know what you're doing" is the tricky part though

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Well, that's not that difficult in most cases. There is a sea of available literature.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There's.... the problem of marginalized folks pointing out concerns in a work, and non-marginalized people dismissing their concerns because they don't see the issue.

Deo101 [Millennium]

It's also really easy to ask a person for their real life experience

People are usually, in my experience, more than willing to take some time and answer a few questions.

DanitheCarutor

On the Magical Boy thing, like I said, it wasn't you all, it was people on a different server and I wanted to bring it up since it's related to the topic. To do a more serious comparison, I've never had psychosis or schizophrenia but I'm writing a character like that. I did a lot of research beforehand though, like, A LOT.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Like for disabilities it's very easily to find all kinds of Medical information, but almost no first hand experience is available. So what happens is people are very accurate medically, but then extrapolate what living like that is like and still end up with a disengenuous story

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Surely, there's available literature on the subject? I'm sure that I could find some.

Deo101 [Millennium]

And Dani, same with me and schizophrenia. It's for a future comic, but I've been researching it and interviewing people for years now to be sure I get a story that would at the very least not hurt them

I mean I would think a better resource would be YouTubers with those things, actually.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

For a lot of topics, it's easier to find a firsthand experiencer willing to talk to you than to find some existing literature on the exact thing you didn't know you needed

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah like My condition is very rare and the best you could find on it for firsthand experience is like. A forum that's super old and inactive

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I still remember one review where the person said "I have a certain disability, and I'm sure this author doesn't have it -- but they know someone who does -- because they're describing the visible symptoms with uncanny accuracy, but are guessing all wrong about how it feels/how it affects your life in invisible ways."

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a huge pitfall, I feel. There can be a big sensitive thing that you aren't even aware is a thing; therefore, you don't think to do any research on that facet.

Deo101 [Millennium]

It's really easy to make a post on social media like "hey can I interview people with ___ for a writing project?"

DanitheCarutor

Openness depends on the topic. It's really hard getting people's experiences with certain mental illnesses, also the small number of people suffering from it. I had a really hard time finding people willing to talk about certain things, especially professionals since they usually don't want to talk to you without paying money for it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

^ That's also a good point.

Deo101 [Millennium]

That's true

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I think we're going back to the purity thing. You can't expect someone to truly represent the "invisible ways" it affects you very well considering they're...invisible.

Deo101 [Millennium]

You can ask

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But I would definitely recommend trying to reach out to people with firsthand experience, and seeing if that's an option.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

I've been able to shoot emails off to professors before for questions. They're usually happy to answer a question or two.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

This is not at all like the purity thing IMO.

DanitheCarutor

A decent resource I found was a mental health forum, you have to get accepted to join, but it's basically everyone talking about their experiences with being mentally ill or being a volunteer for mental health care centers. Unfortunately there aren't any psychologists on the forum... Just nurses and caregivers on the non-ill side.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Again, there's a spectrum here...there's all kinds of possibilities between "how dare your extensive research have a single imperfection" and "wow, you didn't even try".

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, and it's not even a single lane spectrum! It's very complex and multifaceted/multilayered

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

And we're talking about this for marginalized people, but it can apply to any group/culture/situation you're not part of -- just look at any story where a European writer has an American character drive across the US in a couple hours

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Lmaoooo

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Or americans write Germans getting lost in their woods.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Alright, multilayered? How so? It's a spectrum from "B'y, you're writing about a black man in the 1700s being exalted in America" to "Why am I reading this ethnic studies textbook?"

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Naw mate, pick a direction and you‘ll find a street or at least marked trail in half an hour.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Okay, I can't answer that without draining my energy reserve for the next 20 weeks

DanitheCarutor

Lmao! As dumb as it sounds, something like that can also apply to animals. Like the thing Disney did with lemmings, and how Jaws portrayed sharks which caused this spike in shark hunting because everyone thought they were these monsters.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

Would it be possible to summarize?

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

We've talked about a bunch of different aspects already -- like, how well did you research the medical symptoms vs. how well did you represent the day-to-day experience

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

No (at least for me), precisely because it's so complex and multilayered.

RebelVampire

This is a good convo and I am happy everyone has remained civil. That being said, I kind of feel it's gone a bit off-topic for an extended time regarding this week's question

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it's hard to know what's worth a mature tag or not when even the websites themselves are vague. I started off with a character having the trait of cursing a lot, but then dropped that as i became paranoid of wts content guidelines

but i've gotten a decent audience since then and wts hasn't deleted my pages or anything so(edited)

i have no idea what the line is

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Webtoons is extra mysterious

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I host my own stuff, so I just put warnings up when a specific storyline is going to be more intense than the comic's average

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

because their comment system will auto censor words like "vague" (it becomes "***ue" or something like that) so you'd think they really don't want ANY cursing?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

yes! that has happened to me

Deo101 [Millennium]

Su***ious

Is one I see a lot

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

someone commented "sperm" on my pages once so i know wt doesn't censor that at least

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

...is that why the kids these days are just saying "sus" now

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

******in's Creed

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i don't understand what is the swear in suspicious?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

It's a racial slur in some regions

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ohhhh

i know what you mean

yeah rip

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

An auto-censor like that just makes a normal discussion forum seem 100x more scandalous/insulting than it actually is...

Deo101 [Millennium]

I got used to talking around then from mmo games ahahaha

Those chats that squelch you if you say one curse or something close to it by accident

But! On topic, I think asking whether something is too mature is a good idea, having a kind of beta audience or sensitivity reader kind of thing.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I think it's fine to make your own judgment calls as long as you're consistent, so readers know the same things will be reliably warned for

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

a beta reader wouldn't neccessarily know more about wt than me though

when it comes to blurry content guidelines that is

might help with mature or triggering content

because your tolerance might be different from other people's

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh I mean like "hmmm I think this is a bit much. Do you think this is a bit much?"

And they go "na this seems like pg 13 to me." Or "hmmm I think it could probably freak someone out you might wanna lightly warn."

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it's a blurry line because sometimes an arm getting ripped off stylishly is less triggering than a realistic depiction of like, a fingernail being ripped off

just gotta go by feeling, i suppose

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yep

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I agree that this is a case where there's no reason to think a beta reader has better judgment than you have yourself

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

yeah my friends are all like me

DanitheCarutor

WTs is weird. I used to have my comic up there totally uncensored, they featured it on the front page for about a month, but when someone flagged the nudity they wouldn't put the pages back up. Like... you think they would have known already? The nude scene is within the first 20 pages.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

and don't think much of gore and swearing and such

fuck dani don't say that you're making me paranoid again

RebelVampire

Classic it only takes one person to ruin something for everyone else

DanitheCarutor

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) From what I've seen of your nude scenes, I don't think anyone will really notice. I didn't even notice until you brought it up one time on here... or maybe it was in the Webcomic Updates server.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i hope so but as rebel said only takes one staff member

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Can i just chime in to say that the auto censoring with what y'all have said about WT really turns me off from that platform. Not into a site having that power, regardless of who uses it. It's like we said here, be responsible with your work with tags, but that extra hand in the pot makes me think of tumblr style censors and im not a fan.

Does tapas do that too?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Webtoon doesn't really have tags, it just has a toggle for a series being mature

They both do

So they don't get removed from app stores

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Ye i guessed as much

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Tapas has this feature that lets creators tag individual episodes as mature. BUT there is an additional layer -- if your comic is too mature even with the mature tag, they're forced to hide it from their iOS app, due to Fruit Company regulations.

DanitheCarutor

WT is trash, and the reader base is made up of children, don't go there! Tapas is pretty alright, they're fine with my comic being uncensored there, and they don't censor comments.

Yeah, there's what Keii said about the Apple app too.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

And it's up to Fruit Company to determine whether it's too mature or not. (Mine is too mature because of body hair, and I was told they'd put it back on the app if I erased the body hair in a specific episode)

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Still not a fan of that kind of censorship. And i agree with dani

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ohh yeah i remember that body hair thing kei

DanitheCarutor

Oh crap, were we not supposed to name drop the app?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Excuse me body hair

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Webtoons on the other hand will straight up remove any too mature episodes across all of their platform...s (site, iOS, android) if Google says "this is too mature"

Deo101 [Millennium]

I don't think it's censorship, it's more not allowing certain things on your platform

They're not saying you can't make it just that you can't post it there

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

It is censorship U cant post ur piece in its intended form

Like....body hair Wtf

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think that depends on how you define censorship

In any case, it's definitely not ideal.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

That is so .... Like Way to show what standards they want

DanitheCarutor

Gah the body hair thing. Thinking about it, I never got contacted by Tapas about my comic's mature content, but they probably knew trying to censor it would be a lost cause. Lol They probably just threw straight off the app.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

That's horrible Dani

DanitheCarutor

Naah, I don't mind. It's still allowed on the desktop site, and that's the only version I use so it's like nothing ever happened.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Still a gross move on their part. Not enthused with the passion to appease app stores with removing content that isn't 'suitable', but that is a diff convo.

DanitheCarutor

As one last derailing bit, if you're ever looking for a hosting site, Comicfury is the best for mature and adult work. They don't censor ANYTHING! Except hate-speech.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Oh i keep seeing more and more talk about that! Can i ask u more about it in shop talk?

DanitheCarutor

Sure, go ahead! I'll answer to the best of my abilities.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Wow

Just caught up

Back to the warnings thing...(edited)

In my experience, there are certain reasonable leaps in seriousness in comics, and other times when it appears jarring and out of nowhere, but in that case, I think it's simply bad writing, unless of course, it's a genre like horror.

But I think an author deciding to put content warnings should be up to the author on a case by case basis.

There are simply too many variables to come up with specific ground rules

As an example, I have a scene later on in my comic where a child dies. I don't show how it happens, but I was planning on showing the body afterwards. Nothing too gruesome, but definitely some broken bones. And I have been told completely opposite things, that it should be okay because I'm not showing the actual death, and on the other side, that showing the body at all is terrible, and I shouldn't do it. My concern is... If I don't show the body, how will the readers know that the child is dead? And how will I show the reactions of the other characters? It's just too complicated and specific of an issue to rely on general guidelines.

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

B'ys, the real answer is to stop writing webcomics altogether! I'm telling ye! no webcomic, no problem!

I mean, sure, we'll be bereft of artistic output and dreams will be crushed...but hey, less stuff to do. Silver lining.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

what you mean most of us has made somewhat a living doing comics lol(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Lol, I want to make comics so uhhhhh???

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Aw...That sounds sad but depends how the body is presented? I mean I've seen mystery games with afew dead characters? Not a child yet.(edited)

Sometimes I've seen Anime do a light censorship by showing a bloodied child's shoe or gloves, or an arm but it can be disturbing(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

It's just that... dead children is a sensitive topic

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, a limp arm is what I often see

DanitheCarutor

I think it's because showing dead children is considered taboo? Like some games where you can kill other characters won't give you the ability to kill children, as well as movies that show character deaths won't show a child's death. It might be too insensitive for some people because children are innocent, and many people have had/are having kids, so showing them might be extra upsetting? At least that's what I assume is the reason behind someone saying not to show the child's death.

Ah, didn't notice Cronaj already said it in much fewer words.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Ah yes, that reminds me that there are places where I put up different warnings than what the comic has - my side stories. Since my side stories are often ways for me to explore different styles of storytelling than the comic proper, they can often have different themes. Off the top of my head - one side story I wrote had a warning for cussing, one had a warning for descriptions of violence against a child, and one had a warning for getting in a bit deep into a character's PTSD. (oddly enough, both of those latter warnings were in reference to the same character, just with a time gap of a few years. though the PTSD in the one story involved a completely different event than the violence depicted in the other story. pejiba's had it rough)

Page, Rambler Extraordinaire!

@Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!) , @Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) , I was making a joke. :p

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I think the worst thing I'm going to show visually is a dead body and the whole story is about there being a dead body so I don't feel the need for any additional internal content warnings. I think my rule of thumb is just not to show anything that would be more shocking or upsetting than the premise of the comic would have you expect, and to have all warnings at the outset.

I agree with snuffysam's approach to separating darker and scarier content into side stories with their own content warnings or at least I would take a similar approach myself. It's okay to make stories that depict difficult topics but I think it's better not to disrupt the flow of a more lighthearted story if it can be avoided. Exploring difficult topics outside of the main story is a good solution to that

sagaholmgaard

I put a content warning the first time there was some violence and blood in my comic, since the previous pages had been mostly cute so I figured it was warranted. I'm coming up to the second time something potentially triggering happens- a guy gets killed 'on screen', but I don't think it's rendered in a worse way than the first time so I'm considering whether it's good to warn every time a scene like this comes up or if the first warning is enough to readers to have opted out if they dont want that sort of content

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I had a read-up on age ratings and found out Nyx+Nyssa would fall under PEGI-16 due to realistic violence towards human characters, and will simply stick a 16+ sign into the corner of my page, which links to a conscience explanation why.

Desnik

So recently I've joined a writer's group and they ask people to stick warnings upfront so that readers can opt out of reading something that will upset them. I've found that it's helpful to warn for things that cause certain phobias, religious criticism, and minority experiences depicted w/o a sensitivity reader's guidance. I would also warn for drugs/alcohol usage since reading about that kind of experience can be a trigger for addictions.

I don't tend to write about anything super visceral but when reading I know I appreciate warnings about certain types of gore or violence

I think it's beneficial to be extremely specific with tags because for some reason YA-rated stuff can be very violent (so that makes age-based ratings completely nonsensical). Also not every story is going to treat serious issues with the same gravity so I think it's helpful to mention if some aspect is being treated in a melodramatic/unrealistic manner on purpose.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Like a standard comic might take say... 10 pages or more. Webtoon tends to shorten this roughly by half. Or by the 3rd or 4th episode, that major plot point happens.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I feel "have a natural flow" is easier said than done, and also can mean very different things for different stories, and even different readers responding to one story.

(Maybe we should move this to shop talk as it's not relevant to this week's topic?)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

oh this is in shop talk? ok, I thought creator babble was relevant to this.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Nah, creator babble, if I understand it correctly, is specifically for weekly questions. This week's question is about content warnings

AntiBunny

My story is heavily inspired by film noir, so I think the occasional burst of violence should be expected.

[emoboijk]

JJK | Laundry Fairy Jeon Jeongguk (Sunday, 10:22 PM)

At the East Side Laundromat, you find the Laundry Fairy in his natural habitat, washing his clothes and dancing along to the music playing through his earbuds.—fluff, non-idol!au

friday, 1:04 am :: tuesday, 12:26 am :: sunday, 10:22 pm :: monday, 3:04 pm

1,631 words

p.cred

You are not surprised when you walk into the laundromat on Sunday night and find The Laundry Fairy—Jeon Jeongguk—inside. What does surprise you is that he’s...dancing.

There are multiple machines running and various laundry baskets about, so you figure other patrons have dropped off their clothes and left. But he, like you, nine times out of ten, stays with his clothes. And he’s dancing. Your brain still hasn’t wrapped around that idea.

He’s got white earbuds in and you think he’s probably listening to hip hop because that’s how he’s dancing. He moves smoothly, like his nerve endings are bathed in music and his limbs respond involuntarily.

You’re still standing in the doorway with your laundry basket in your hands, jaw to the floor, when the door opens again, someone bumps into you, and Jeongguk turns. The person that bumped into you lowers their head apologetically, “Sorry,” before going to check on their dryer (which was still running).

But Jeongguk. He’s not embarrassed per-say, just surprised. His cheeks are slightly pink, but you think that might be from the dancing more than anything else. There’s a slight glisten to his brow; he’s been dancing a while to have worked up a sweat. He runs a hand through his hair and pulls out the ear buds, “Hey.”

“Hi,” you whisper, feeling choked. If you had been attracted to him before, it was doubly so now.

You watch the floor as you pass the other patron and walk toward him. He pushes himself against a running washing machine, which you assume is his, to let you pass. Before you can convince yourself otherwise, you pick the one next to his.  

“You’re um,” you stutter, glancing at him as you pointlessly dig through your laundry, “you’re good.” You swallow because you wonder if it’s obvious that you are extremely attracted to him and ridiculously turned on right now. “Do you...do you study it? Dance?”

You can feel your cheeks burning. Has there ever been a more awkward conversation? You push your basket to an adjacent machine and open the lid of the one you plan on using. Next to you, Jeongguk chuckles and runs his hand through his hair again (you think maybe this is a nervous habit).

“Yeah, actually.”

“Really?” You look over at him with your eyebrows in your hairline. You asked the question, and you can attest to how talented he is, but you don’t think you’ve ever met someone who was actually majoring in dance.

“Yeah,” he says, looking away from you bashfully, “That and film.”

“Woah,” you say because woah.

“Two super secure choices, I know,” he chuckles, and despite the way his eyes crinkle happily at the edges you see a hint of jadedness around the statement. Someone’s been giving him a hard time about it.

You laugh, “I don’t think there’s really any secure choices anymore. Even lawyers moonlight as Uber drivers,” you shrug.

His laugh at this is louder than you suspect but it fills you to the brim with joy. You notice that his eyes shine when he laughs and smiles, and his face glows. The more you interact with him the more convinced you are that he is a literal fairy. (Well, okay, maybe figurative).

“What about you?” he says, watching as you load the machine (so thankful that you didn’t bring the growing pile of dirty underwear that’s still in your apartment). He takes his phone out of his pocket and unplugs the earbuds, stuffing them into shirt pocket. (He’s wearing black and white plaid today and his hair is a softer shade of brown)(you could look at him forever). Then he lifts himself on top of the washing machine in a smooth motion, still watching you attentively.

You breathe shakily at the question and he wonders if he’s struck a nerve. Or maybe not struck a nerve exactly, more like his foot is just starting to sink into quicksand and he could still escape if he wanted to. But you shake your head and lower the lid of the machine, “I don’t know,” you answer honestly.

You finally turn to look at him and he’s watching you expectantly, waiting for you to elaborate. You laugh at his expression and say, “I know that I’m supposed to know. But I just…” you shrug, “I like a lot of different things.”

“Yeah?”

You nod and pull out your coin purse. “Sushi?” he grins.

You glance at the coin purse and laugh again, “Yes.” And when you meet his gaze you find that he’s still open to hearing you elaborate; he’s genuinely curious. You can read sincerity on his face so clearly it’s like a billboard sign. You twist the knob on the machine and pull to start it, sighing and leaning against it. “I don’t know. I’m taking classics now and I find it really interesting, but microbiology is also fascinating, and I thought economics was interesting last semester,  and English the semester before that…”

You cut yourself off because you can feel your anxiety building up in your chest and you aren’t sure you’re ready for The Laundry Fairy to see that. Or if he would be able to handle it.

Jeongguk watches your expression. He senses that saying something may not be the best idea. You’ve only just met, and you haven’t asked for his advice. And he’s not sure what he would say if you did. But he hopes you can sense the good vibes he’s sending your way.

You chew on your cheek nervously before turning the attention back on him, “Why’d you pick film and dance?”

His face brightens. “I’ve danced since I was a kid. It’s how I make my brain stop.”

You nod understandingly. You wish you had a similar outlet (one that didn’t require you obsessively washing your clothes every few days).

“And film?” you wonder, looking back at him.

“I like being the observer,” he shrugs, “and I like being able to show my perspective. And the camera feels like...protection.”

You would give anything for that as well. You always feel like a bubble floating around in space, waiting to be popped.

Jeongguk doesn’t think he’s said anything profound, just what’s true to him, but your expression tells him that you’re deep in thought. Your teeth poke out of your mouth to nibble on your lower lip, your brow furrowed. He looks away from you, feeling as though he’s intruding on a private moment.

But the moment is shattered when his machine beeps harshly, startling you both out of your reverie. You clap your hand to your chest in surprise; you had forgotten you were even in a laundromat. Jeongguk laughs lightheartedly, “It’s mine.” He turns and opens the top of the washer, before finding a dryer across the aisle and opening it. In the proceeding moments where he moves back and forth between the machines, it’s almost a ballet of his graceful movements as he glides across the floor, tosses clothing from one machine to the other. There’s a kind of beauty in it that you weren’t expecting.

By the time he’s loaded the machine, started it and turned back to you, you’re still staring at him. He tilts his head at you in confusion and you’re snapped out of it by the full force of his eyes on you. You glance away and blush, fumbling for an excuse as you say, “I’m...I’m going to get a snack.”

You turn away from him and walk toward the machine, but Jeongguk follows closely behind. “Allow me,” he grins, swiping his debit card on the vending machine before you can insert your coins. “Anything you want, on me.”

“Ooh, big spender,” you giggle, turning to smile at him. You gasp in surprise and step back into the vending machine when you realize how close he is. His expression, too, turns serious when your noses almost touch.

“Sorry,” he whispers, not moving. He knows he should move, but you smell so good that he finds it hard to. It’s so rare for him to meet someone who he immediately thinks smells good. His nose is so sensitive that he tries to keep his distance until he’s used to it (although Taehyung sometimes will still use too much cologne, and in those instances, Jeongguk can’t get within a ten feet of him). But you...you smell like soap and a hint of rose oil and it makes Jeongguk feel bubbly inside.

“It’s okay,” you whisper, your heart beating excessively. You swallow, “You’re just...you’re a bit close.”

Jeongguk’s cheeks burst into color and he steps back almost too far, muttering soft profanities and whisper-yelling at himself about how creepy it is to smell someone like that. “Sorry,” he says again.

There’s a beeping behind you as the credit card machine times out. You turn to look at it before looking back and smiling at him. He’s staring at his feet, cheeks still red, embarrassed in every bone of his body. “Hey,” you smile, “the machine timed out. Will you still buy me a snack?”

An hour and a half, two loads of a (now neatly folded) laundry, and three different snacks later, and Jeongguk is lingering at the glass door of the laundromat.

“I have to go,” he says, holding his laundry basket and hovering right in front of the doorway.

“You should go,” you agree, nodding and grinning when he still doesn’t step through the doorway.

“It’s late,” he says, bowing apologetically to the people who have to maneuver past him to get to the door.

“Need your sleep.” You’re grinning hugely because his feet are still planted firmly to the ground.

“School tomorrow.” He’s smiling too. Like a boy in love.

author’s note—i think this is my favorite chapter of this so far...

04: monday, 3:04 pm ↝

for more of my works check out my m.list

[daughterofluthien]

Fictober - Day 27

[beanplague-moved]

Two Sides; Same Coin

the full fanfiction that i wrote for @diverse-hp-zine​! it was dope as hell to be able to go back into my young brain and remember how much i loved harry potter growing up, and very cathartic.

hermione/luna with a side of ron/harry. includes some commentary on racism & ableism, but nothing too deep or harmful. weirdly, one of my only fics that does not include profanity.

AO3 | commissions.

Hermione and her parents have a talk. More accurately, Hermione and her mother have a talk while her father sort of stands to the side, contemplating his own feelings on the matter.

“Honey,” says her mother, having lowered to Hermione’s height. “You know she didn’t mean anything by it.”

“That doesn’t matter,” replies Hermione, dark eyes just moments away from rolling. “I don’t want her shoving her hands in my hair.”

“I mean, I don’t want her shoving her hands in your hair, but these are the things we have to deal with sometimes.” Her mother’s brown eyes bore into her, exasperated. “I understand that these things bother you, but you have to understand that these sorts of things are bound to happen here and there.”

“So I’m just supposed to let people do things like that?” Hermione shakes her head. Her tangle of dark curls moves with her. “That’s… that’s ridiculous! And never mind the fact that I didn’t even do anything—” she stops, meeting eyes with her father over her mother’s shoulder. He is looking at her pleadingly.

“Hermione Jean Granger,” a sterner tone takes over her mother’s speech. “You know very well that you must’ve done something for that girl to start crying like that—and honey, we don’t do things like that!”

Hermione doesn’t say anything, but her accusatory why not? must be communicated by her expression, because her mother sighs and places a hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t want to yell at you about this, because you didn’t do anything wrong, but you have to understand that things just aren’t that simple. When you lash out like that all it does is… well, you’re a smart girl. You have to understand, it makes people question how we raised you, or even just—you know, how we are as, you know… people.”

She shuts her eyes and exhales on people, and Hermione internally makes the connection. She supposes now might be the time to give her mother a break. She did, after all, react quite harshly—even if she didn’t intend to zap that girl. How would she even do that, anyway? It was probably just static electricity or karma—not that Hermione believes in such a thing, but the thought is quite cathartic.

And anyway, her mother is very tired of their talk. It would be more advisable for Hermione to drop the subject and allow her parents to return to their usual daily activities, rather than standing in their kitchen, lecturing Hermione about how and how not to respond to pale-skinned girls unnecessarily groping her hair. Yes, it would be best to just be agreeable right now, rather than stir the pot unnecessarily.

Of course, Hermione has never been particularly agreeable, so instead she says, “Why do I have to be an example for every black person?” and the conversation rounds right back in on itself, like a snake eating its own tail.

Luna is fine. Just fine. Her father begs to differ.

They are sitting on the couch, reading the paper. The Daily Prophet specifically, mostly for the expressed purpose of allowing her father to roll his eyes and scoff at every overreaction or gossip column. This is the base ingredient to a quite enjoyable morning for the two of them. Or, it would be, if not for the fact that her father is clearly distracted by something.

Of course, that’s not exactly abnormal, either. Claiming that it was abnormal for Xenophilius Lovegood to be distracted would be absolutely unthinkable, but this is a different kind of distraction, not curious or excited, but rather… concerned? He worriedly glances at her every few minutes, and he clears his throat when they close the paper.

“Luna,” he says, and she can tell that this is a Serious Talk based on that alone. Usually, he adds a little note of affection after her name, like my dearest or my pride and joy or, sometimes, my little Crumple-Horned Snorkack. “Do you remember when we went to the Abbott’s home? How their house was so dreadfully beige, and, dare I say it, plain?”

“Oh, terribly plain,” says Luna, “but why bring it up now? I thought you were only eating dinner there to be polite. Will we be returning, soon?”

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” says Xenophilius, quick to stamp the idea into the ground. “I just—well, I wanted to ask about something that occurred while we were there. I found it quite curious and excessively… gut-wrenching.”

“Gut-wrenching?”

“Extremely gut-wrenching, my little moon frog,” he says.

“—I like that nickname! Can we use it more?” Luna interrupts, suddenly swept away with the new name. It certainly rolls off the tongue more than Crumple-Horned Snorkack, which makes sense! That name is only for special occasions, really, whereas moon frog is much shorter, and much more convenient.

“Oh, absolutely,” grins Xenophilius, almost distracted from his Serious Talk for a moment. Alas, the distraction only lasts a moment before he clears his throat and shakes his head. “On a more immediate note, Luna, I noticed that the children there were—how do I say it?—very… condescending, to you.”

Luna’s eyebrows furrow. “How so?” she asks.

“Well, you must’ve seen how they acted when you—okay, do you remember how I had taught you the word ludicrous the night before the dinner? And how you repeated it under your breath for a few days afterwards?”

“Oh, I do! I liked the way it sounded—was I not supposed to?”

Her father’s eyes widen as soon as the words tumble out of her mouth. “Oh, you were absolutely supposed to! More words should be like it, truly, but—” he stops, “this isn’t about your behavior, dear. You already know that I do similar things for stimulus, I just—did you not notice the children at that house imitating the way you said it?”

Luna tries to think of that night, and she does remember—but it doesn’t quite bother her as much as it seems to be bothering her father. “They were just making fun, right?”

“Yes, but…” Xenophilius trails off, “they were making fun of something they didn’t understand. It’s—you know that we’re a bit different from most of the ‘average’ people, Luna—and they were making fun of the behavior that made you different and that was…” he sighs, “I’m sorry, I know it must seem like I’m faffing on about nothing, but it truly is… frustrating, for me to think that any child would make fun of you for something like that.”

Luna blinks. She thinks back to that night—how the boys in that house mocked her mumbling ludicrous and how they cut in every time she started talking about nargles or moon frogs or snorkacks.

“Daddy,” she says, “did I do something wrong? Is that why they made fun of me?”

“Oh, dear, no, how could you think—” Xenophilius stops himself, and he carefully hovers a hand over Luna’s shoulder. “Would you mind if I pulled you in for a hug, moon frog?”

“That’s fine,” says Luna. She is usually okay with it, but sometimes touch is just a bit too much. Usually when too many other things are going on. Here, in their quiet living room, on their couch where they should be reading the paper, a hug seems just fine.

And what a hug it is. Her father is comforting and warm. He pats her back quietly. “I’m upset at those boys, surely, but I would never say you did anything wrong. Why, the parents in that house should have done a much better job raising their children. In the future, they should at least train them to recognize a lovely, fascinating young lady when they see one.”

Lovely and fascinating are words that only her father would say about her, mumbles some small voice in the back of Luna’s head. She shakes it off, enjoying the comfort of her father’s closeness for a moment. “Even if I say ludicrous too much?”

“No one could ever say ludicrous too much! The very concept is—well—ludicrous!” Xenophilius laughs, and he squeezes her one last time before releasing her from the hug. “You’re a very bright young lady, Luna. Your father just happens to get in a twist when others fail to realize this.”

Luna loves her father, she thinks—loves that he understands her in this way that other people don’t, loves that he’s odd in exactly the same way she is, but part of her knows that he is the only person who thinks of her like this.

Still, she thinks, one person on Team Luna is better than none.

Hermione didn’t think she’d ever end up explaining the concept of racism to someone, but here she is, explaining the concept of racism to her newest companion in her newest school.

Well, thankfully, she isn’t the only one explaining the concept of racism to Ron. Harry sits beside her in the common room, supplying a few details here and there about what is and isn’t racist. He does seem much less exasperated than Hermione is, having this conversation. His expression is some bizarre cross between astonishment and complete and utter joy.

“Hermione,” he says, turning away from Ron to face her, “are you sure we should tell him? I mean, I’m going to draw a portrait for you, and I want you to think about it for a moment, picture it in your mind—world with no racism.”

“Not possible.”

“With magic, anything’s possible!”

“So it’s like,” Ron has been sort of sitting silently for the last few moments, processing the concept of racism, “when purebloods get all death-eatery? That’s racism? But for, like…” he trails off.

“For black people?” says Hermione.

“And brown people!” adds Harry, “and Asian people, East and South,” he points to himself at that last one.

“You’re Asian?”

“Ron, just where do you think India is?” Harry has the biggest smile on his face. “I’m not upset or anything, genuinely. I am just… very entertained.”

“Oh, ha-ha. Ron doesn’t know anything about the world—” starts Ron.

“—Ron doesn’t know anything about the Muggle World, or history in general, specifically,” finishes Hermione.

“They don’t teach us this stuff, Granger! It’s not like wizards are running around being racist or whatever.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that, Ron? Is that a hill you are willing to die on?” Harry is having too much fun. He is desperately holding back laughter, and it’s making Hermione want to laugh, which isn’t fair, because normally she’d have way more irritating feelings about a white boy never hearing about racism even in its basic form.

But, she supposes, now isn’t exactly the time to be disagreeable. Ron doesn’t mean anything by it, and though she’s positively willing to make fun of him about absolutely anything—this seems to be getting to him. He’s getting much more red in the face than she’s ever known another human being to get.

She does prod at him for a bit longer, but she lets it go eventually. Mostly because Ron crosses his arms and mutters, “It’s like you think I’m stupid,” and he says it in a very pitiful tone.

(And in the back of her mind, Hermione wonders just how many people have been calling this kid stupid that he cites it in arguments.)

Harry puts his arm around Ron. “I promise you I’ve met white kids at school who knew even less about racism, and they were much less open to criticism about it.”

“You sure?”

“Oh, absolutely—if you think you were being a little insensitive, then I have such a story to tell you about my cousin Dudley.”

Ron looks to Hermione. And she thinks back to that day, with the other girl and the hair-touching. How she argued with her mother for as long as she could, despite every thought to the contrary. She did that because, well, no one else was going to. Not even her parents would side with her, and so it was up to Hermione to defend her own position. This, though—this isn’t an argument about what Hermione did. This is an argument about what Ron knows, and there’s something much less… honorable(?) about belittling Ron for what he doesn’t know.

“I guess that kind of thing is out of our control. You don’t get to pick what people do and don’t tell you,” she shrugs.

However, Hermione thinks, if she were in charge of the Hogwarts curriculum, she would certainly look into a world history course, or something.

The children in Luna’s year call her Loony Lovegood.

She doesn’t mind. She hardly pays enough attention to notice that it’s happening in the first place. And she mostly absorbs the statements, lets them settle with little to no fanfare.

Ginny insists that this is bad practice.

“They’re making fun of you, Luna. Doesn’t that bother you at all?”

They are on the train to Hogwarts, rapidly approaching the beginning of third year. Luna sits by the window, alternating between reading a very fascinating report on the theory of mythical creatures being tied in with non-magical sciences and listening to Ginny talk about whatever it is that happens to be on her mind. Last year, there were quite a few mentions about the Potter boy from the upper grade. This year, the topic seems to be fixated on the fact that other students are apparently making fun of Luna.

“It’s not fair to you. You’re just as together as everyone else—and smarter, too!—because you’re Ravenclaw and all.”

“I don’t think I’m smarter than anyone else.” Luna doesn’t look up from her book.

“Well, you are!” Ginny says, “And I think other people should recognize that before they go and call you Loony.”

“You call me Loony.”

“Well—that’s just—that’s because we’re friends! And I would stop if you wanted me to.”

“Oh, I don’t want you to,” says Luna. “It’s nice when you say it.”

“Okay, good, but,” Ginny seems frustrated, “why don’t you get upset when other people do it?”

“Maybe they also mean it in a friendly way.”

“You and I both know that’s not it, Loony,” says Ginny, and Luna really does like the way Ginny says it. She’s always so familiar. Luna is always thoroughly enchanted whenever Ginny does this, and she wonders if it shows. She certainly hopes it does.

“Maybe their intentions are less than friendly,” concedes Luna, “but I don’t pay it any mind, and you shouldn’t, either.”

Ginny doesn’t seem to be aboard the same train, (figuratively speaking. In a literal sense, they are most certainly on the same train) but Luna puts her at ease.

“I’m fine,” she says, “I’m happy that I have a friend like you, but I don’t need other people to deal with these things for me.” Team Luna has doubled in members in the last few years, it seems. “How is that boy you were talking about, earlier?”

“Oh, Luna, you have no idea how frustrating this is. Boys are so—so stupid. He’s hardly interested in talking to anyone but my brother!” Ginny’s concern quickly dissipates into exasperation, which Luna appreciates. It’s always entertaining to hear about this sort of thing. It wasn’t too long ago that Luna felt the same way towards Ginny.

Of course, those times are long past her. Luna has quickly realized that someone being nice to her doesn’t exactly translate to them being The One To End All Ones, but the fondness remains.

“Oh,” she says to Ginny, upon realizing this thought, “I forgot to tell you. I’m a lesbian.”

“Oh—Luna—really? You didn’t—I have so many questions! When did you figure it out? Is there a girl you like right now? I know a perfect girl to introduce you to, since you’re so smart and everything—”

The ride to Hogwarts is rife with questions. Luna hardly minds.

Later on, (much later on, during fourth year) Hermione and Harry talk about it.

“It’s a good thing, right?” says Harry, looking over his sprawling notes from Transfiguration. They are studying in the common room. “I mean, I’ve never been one to miss racism. I think it’s kind of nice, being separate from that whole thing.”

“But we’re not separate from it, is the thing,” says Hermione. “Racism still exists, wizards just don’t know about it, which is bad! They’re ignoring a history that they could very well end up repeating or unconsciously absorbing.”

“Well, we don’t know about that,” Harry shrugs. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been called any racial slurs so far, no matter how badly it looks like Malfoy wants to call me one.”

“Well I have! I mean, it was a wizard racial slur, but still.”

Harry nods. “Poor Hermione, a minority in both the magical and the muggle world.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“I’m just saying! Here, I’m the majority. Oh, how the grass is greener on the other side.”

Hermione rolls her eyes. “I just wish you took this more seriously. I know that Ron is your mate and all—”

“My best mate. Totally different. We’re taking each other to the Yule Ball, as good friends do.”

“Right,” says Hermione. “All good friends take their friends to romantic balls.”

“Indeed. Totally normal, average, and expected,” says Harry. “I am certainly not experiencing any conflict or questioning regarding the decision.”

“I’m sure you aren’t,” says Hermione, and suddenly it seems like the conversation has shifted. Carefully, she thinks of how she might word herself. “If you did have any questions, however, you know that I would be happy to answer any of them.”

“Oh, yes,” nods Harry, “and, similarly, if you had any questions regarding—well, I don’t know, anything at all, no particular subject in mind, I could take a stab at it.”

“Right,” says Hermione.

There’s some silence that passes between them. Hermione writes down a few key terms for potions class in her notes.

“I’m bisexual,” she says.

“Nice.”

“Now tell me your thing."

Harry stops scribbling for a moment, and Hermione hears the lilt in his voice when he says, “What thing?”

“Well, I don’t know, that you’re into Ron or something?”

“Into Ron, why, Hermione—” Harry rushes through his sentence, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “That’s certainly an exaggeration, I mean—Ron? If I were into—into men, which I’m not obligated to tell you if I am or not, but if I were, certainly I’d pick someone of a higher standard than Ron.” He tries laughing. Hermione raises an eyebrow.

“So you don’t have any feelings for Ron?”

Harry opens his mouth, then closes it, then sighs. He brings his hands to his face. “No, I absolutely do. It’s a nightmare, Hermione.”

“There, there.” She pats Harry’s back comfortingly. “We’ve all had that phase, haven’t we?”

“Have we?” Harry gasps. “Hermione, are we competing over the same Ron?”

“Oh, absolutely not. I got over that nearly as soon as it started. I’m just trying to make you feel better.”

Harry nods. “That’s a shame. You certainly would have won, considering his bizarre need for your approval and all.”

“In another world, perhaps,” she says.

There’s a comfortable silence that passes over them.

“Okay, but Ron? Seriously?”

“Hey, don’t give him a hard time! He’s—I can’t believe I’m saying this—but he’s so… so genuine, Hermione. He cares so much, and he’s so clever in his own way, and he deserves so much more. I can barely imagine my life without him, at this point,” Harry stops. “Is that gay?”

“Extremely. And very melodramatic. We’re fourteen.”

“I mean it in a friendly way! I can’t imagine life without you, either, if that helps.”

“It is very flattering,” Hermione says, “When you both get married or whatever, do I get to be best man?”

“Please shut up,” groans Harry. “What about you? Any girls catching the eye of Miss Hermione Granger, hm?”

Hermione shakes her head. “Not particularly.”

“Aw, that’s no fun. These confessions are coming off as particularly incomplete, you know? You have the sexuality part, but no embarrassing crush. I have the embarrassing crush, but no concrete sexuality. Being a minority is so hard.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you were having fun being the majority in the wizarding world, and all—”

They go back and forth for a little while, leading into the late night with banter and such. Hermione really does love him so much. Him and Ron. She looks over to Harry in the early hours of the morning, head slumped over the desk. There’s no one she’d feel more comfortable coming out to, and she supposes she’s lucky in that regard.

And it is very funny to watch Harry and Ron pretend to be as neutral as possible when they dance at the Yule Ball. She has to stop herself from laughing.

Luna and Hermione are not friends.

They meet in fifth year, and they argue about this and that, but mostly about the fact that there is no such thing as a nargle, and if that isn’t the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and well, if you weren’t so close-minded, you might learn not to take everything in your textbook at face value. It’s a very entertaining thing to watch, and a very frustrating thing to be apart of. Mostly if you’re Hermione. Luna seems to have this almost impressive immunity to frustration, especially when it comes to their arguments.

“I just feel like you’re being a bit silly about the whole thing,” she says, reaching for another library book. Hermione sits at a table between the shelves, annotating one of her textbooks with questions that she will most certainly find the answers to later.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m being silly? Really?”

“Really,” says Luna, “I feel like if you’d just think about it for a moment, all the pieces would go into place! I mean, can you really deny the theory of moon frogs?”

“I absolutely can. Anybody with basic knowledge of the world can do that.”

“Sure, anybody.” Luna snorts.

“Why are you snorting? Stop snorting.”

“I just—Hermione, you are muggleborn, correct?”

“Is this going to go in a weird, wizard-bigoted direction? Because I have to say, Luna, I didn’t picture you a Malfoy-type.”

“Oh, no. It’s just that, well, we go to a school for wizards, in a hidden castle, and you are currently talking to me about what can and can’t be argued while you study for a magic examination,” she says.

Hermione is quiet for a moment. “Point made,” she says, “but you and I both know that there are rules to magic, and jumping to the moon and bringing frogs down from it doesn’t exactly fit into those rules.”

“Maybe,” shrugs Luna, “but I don’t know. I just feel like there is so much that we have yet to learn, and these theories that you’re dismissing are, well—they’re really fascinating, aren’t they?”

Hermione raises an eyebrow. “Not particularly,” and then she gives it further thought. “I can see that it’s important to you, though,” she concedes.

“Very,” says Luna, taking a seat at the table. “I do appreciate that about you. Many people are less amicable during these arguments.”

“Well, considering I come to the library to study and argue with you, I figure the least I can do is respect your nonsense beliefs.”

“And thank you for that respect, even despite your close-minded dismissal.” Luna smiles. Hermione does not feel anything regarding this smile. She is entirely neutral towards it.

“Yes,” says Hermione, closing her book. “I’m going to leave. I think I’m done studying.”

“A shame. We could have spent so much more time arguing about the merits of wrackspurts! Or aquavirus maggots!”

“Oh, next time we’ll definitely get into whatever those are.”

“I can lend you a few copies of the Quibbler so you can study the subjects before the arguments! I’ll bring them to you in the Great Hall, tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s quite the biased source, but sure,” says Hermione. “I’m certain no other trustworthy publisher has covered aquavirus magnets.”

“Maggots,” corrects Luna, “They’re actually quite fascinating! It’ll be a good read, I promise.”

Hermione’s smile is—well, Luna thinks it’s quite wonderful. It is small, much like her laugh, but her teeth show and her eyes crinkle just a bit.

“I’m sure it will be.”

When Hermione returns to the common room, she is immediately greeted with Harry and Ron.

“How was your date with Lovegood?” says Ron, louder than necessary. A few heads turn, and some chuckles rise out of other Gryffindors.

“Ron, that’s rude. You can’t expect Hermione to answer that question,” says Harry, and Hermione almost breathes a sigh of relief before he says, “Not from you, at least. Hermione, you have to tell us—was there kissing? Maybe dancing?”

“Did she take you to see any dabberblimps?” Ron chimes in.

“One,” says Hermione, “we were not dating.”

“Debatable,” says Harry.

“Two, we were in the library. Why would we dance in the library?”

“Because it was a date?” says Ron. “You’d find a way.”

Hermione crosses her arms. “Thirdly, and I loathe to know it, dabberblimps are aquatic. She wouldn’t be able to take me to see those—and she wouldn’t, because we are not dating.”

“Well you certainly are spending a lot of time together, and every time you come back from one of these library debates, you seem very… how do I put it?” Harry says.

“Endeared?” suggests Ron.

“Endeared!” agrees Harry, “Expanding your vocabulary, Ron?”

“Hermione got me a thesaurus for Christmas. I’m pretty sure it was an insult, but my dad insisted I read it, since it’s technically a muggle book.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I love you—and your family! I love how you interact with that family. It’s definitely, totally my favorite part about the Weasleys.”

Hermione watches this exchange with exhaustion. They still aren’t together. It’s unbelievable.

“Anyway,” she says, “Luna and I are not dating.”

“And you don’t want to be dating?” says Harry, genuinely curious.

Hermione lets the idea roll around in her head, not for the first time. She thinks of Luna, and how happy she sounds to talk to them, and how her smile is so light and pretty. “No,” she says, “I have no interest in that kind of thing at all.”

“I see,” says Ron. “Permission to still make fun of you because of it? It’s really all the ammunition we have.”

“Permission denied. I’ll hex you next time,” says Hermione.

It’s ridiculous to think she might have feelings for Luna. The only feeling she has regarding her is annoyance, maybe. And frustration.

And sometimes admiration.

(And sometimes something too embarrassing to name.)

But mostly annoyance.

Luna has feelings for Hermione, but they aren’t particularly important. Ginny seems to think they are.

It could be so much more,” says Ginny, enthralled, “I just—Luna! You never tell me about your crushes on anybody, and now you tell me about your feelings for Hermione and you’re just so indifferent.”

Luna says, “It would be better not to get my hopes up, I think.”

“How is this ‘getting your hopes up?’”

“Well,” says Luna, “she’s older, and she’s in a different house. We don’t exactly see each other every day.”

“Plenty of people date between houses, and plenty of people date between years!”

“Sure,” nods Luna, “but I think those people also, you know, both have feelings for each other. I don’t think Hermione thinks of me as anything except loony.”

Loony. Loony and obsessive and frivolous.

Of course, that’s putting words in Hermione’s mouth. Luna is sure that Hermione’s opinions of her aren’t unfavorable—but they are certainly not romantic.

Luna thinks Hermione is—well, it’s obvious, but she’s so intelligent. Intelligent and determined and beautiful. Oh, she’s so beautiful. Her eyes and skin and hair are dark and lovely, but even more beautiful is the way she speaks. The way she argues, succinct and impassioned.

“Luna, you’re zoning out. Are you thinking about Hermione? Or is there a wrackspurt in the area?”

“Both,” says Luna, before shaking her head. “Neither.”

“I see,” says Ginny, “And you’re certain that it’s not just embarrassment about your feelings?”

“I’m certain,” Luna nods, “I just doubt they are reciprocated.”

Ginny looks like she’s about to say something, but Luna stops her, quickly changing the subject.

“What ever happened to your feelings for Harry?”

“Oh, don’t get me started. I’m over it. Over break, Ron could barely go a sentence without talking about him, and I’d rather be attacked by dragons than fight over a boy with my brother.”

This is much more comfortable than talking about Luna’s feelings for Hermione, even if they are ever-present and very, very confusing. Even if, next to Hermione, Luna feels like the most ridiculous girl in the world, asking the most mesmerizing one to like her.

She feels downright loony.

As it turns out, wizards don’t know much about neurodivergence, either.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that letters moving around is like… a thing? That happens to other people?” says Ron, absolutely astonished.

“It’s called dyslexia,” says Hermione. “It’s a learning disability, like ADHD.”

“Like what?”

“We’ll get to that,” she shakes her head. “I just—you really never suspected that you might have dyslexia?”

“I didn’t know what dyslexia was until two minutes ago. I just figured that I was, you know, kind of dim,” he shrugs, “but this is way better! Is there a way to fix it?”

“Well, it’s sort of just the way your brain works, but there are ways you can counteract it,” Hermione says, turning a page in her book. “I don’t know if there are any spells that change the font of our assignments, but I’d wager there are similar types of things—we can certainly work on it.”

She turns to Ron. He looks so… happy, for a moment there.

“Hermione, I’m only going to say this once, because I like Harry way more than you, and I hate that smug look on your face when I admit you’re right about something,” says Ron, “but you’re a really, really good friend.”

Hermione smiles. “The feeling’s mutual, Ron.”

After this exchange, Hermione can’t help but think about Luna. She brings it up during their next library argument, wherein Luna gives an ebullient speech about the merits of anecdotal evidence.

“Luna,” she says, “remember how you said that you and your father were both ‘the same brand of unusual?’”

“I do,” says Luna. “You should meet him someday! He knows everything, I swear. Talking to him is like reading from a book!”

“A very sensationalized book?”

“Perhaps.”

Hermione grins. “Somehow, I don’t doubt you,” she says, “but sensationalized books aside, I wanted to know what you meant by ‘unusual,’ if that’s okay to ask.”

Luna nods, “That’s fine,” she says, before humming thoughtfully, “Well, we have the same behaviors, I suppose. We both like the same theories, and he used to teach me these lovely words that I hadn’t heard before, like eccentric, and we’d repeat them back and forth for a little while. I really liked the way it felt to say them, sometimes, and I learned that other children found that a bit strange. That and the ranting. And in first year I used to flap my hands quite a lot. I learned not to do that as much.”

Hermione nods, eyebrow furrowing. Carefully, she says, “Have you ever considered the fact that you might be on the autism spectrum?”

Luna raises an eyebrow. “Elaborate?”

“The autism spectrum,” says Hermione, placing her book on the table and turning to the dog eared page. “It’s a bit complicated, since there are so many different associations, but—” she glances over to Luna, “I don’t know, I think it’s important that you know you're not unusual. You’re just different.”

“Is that not the definition of unusual?”

“Well, it is,” Hermione says, “but you aren’t bad different. Just different. In a good way, most of the time.”

Luna smiles. “Most of the time?” she asks.

“Well, often infuriatingly difficult, but still—” Hermione pauses. Luna is very close. Not extremely close, but close enough to make note of. “You’re… fantastic, to talk to.”

“I could say the same about you.” Luna’s voice is so soft. So kind.

There’s this sort of natural drift, as things fall together, and Hermione thinks—Luna is beautiful. Her hair is like gold. Her eyes are like silver. Her lips are soft.

The kiss is gentle and clumsy. It dawns on Hermione that she is not the only person involved in this kiss with no former experience, which is a relief. The only person she’s kissed before is, well, Viktor Krum, and that was certainly short lived, and—you know what? Hermione doesn’t want to think about her ex-kind-of-boyfriend while she’s kissing Luna.

When they pull away, Luna says, “You know, that’s bad practice. Now I’ll be distracted during our future debates.”

Hermione grins. “Well, I’ll be equally distracted, so I think it works out.”

“I should hope so. I’d hate to lose this aspect of our relationship,” says Luna. “Though I suppose the kissing is a good enough replacement. Still, I guess I’m a bit selfish in this regard. I like to have my cake and eat it, too.”

Hermione nods, and then they kiss again. It’s a little less clumsy this time, though there’s something charming in the fact that it’s clumsy at all.

Luna snorts when they pull away. “Maybe Ron and Harry could take a few pointers from us,” she says, “I feel we handled this quite well.”

[icyhot-writes]

Two Worlds Apart Part 1/?

Main Characters: OC Kamiko Kaori + Shoto Todoroki

Fandoms: Sailor Moon and Boku No Hero

Chapter Rated: SFW

My name is Kamiko Kaori, and I’m from Crystal Tokyo in the 30th Century! Or at least I was. I guess I should tell you I’m also Sailor Star Galaxy, the last generation in the Sailor Soldiers. I possess all the powers of the Other Sailor scouts, and was trained to be a last line of defense and to step in should any of the other scouts fall. During a fight with our latest enemy, the return of the Negaverse, a tear in space was ripped open. Sailor Pluto and I attempted to seal it up, but not before I was sucked in. That’s when I woke up in this archaic world, where almost everyone possessed some type of power. Or “Quirk” as they called it. But that was almost eight months ago. I thought Neo Queen Serenity would have come for me by now. But it seems that this new world was now my reality. And that brings us here! Standing at the gates of the esteemed U.A High School, wondering what I was possibly doing there.

“Hey Kamiko! You made it!” called Yaoyorozu, or as Kamiko knew her as, Momo. She ran towards Kamiko, two other girls at her side. Yaoyorozu had come across  Kamiko within her first few days in the strange land. Hungry, beaten, and scared, Yaoyorozu showed pity on the girl and took her home. As she nursed Kamiko to health the two soon became friends. Eventually, Kamiko told Yaoyorozu her story, being Sailor Star, and how she ended up there. In return, Yaoyorozu taught her about their world of heroes and quirks. She was the only person Kamiko trusted. A few weeks ago, she convinced Kamiko to return to school, specifically…to apply to UA.  

“Hey Momo.” Kamiko smiled at her. “Are these your friends?”

“Yes! Guys, this is that girl I told you about. Kaori Kamiko, Meet Uraraka and Ashido .” Momo introduces them.  

“Is it true you’re an alien!?” the pink girl pushed forward, a little too close for comfort.  

“Ashido!” Yaoyorozu scolds her. “I swear not everyone knows. Just Ashido, Uruaka and Jiro.”

Kamiko dismissed it with a wave of her hand.  

“It’s okay. To be fair, the word Alien is relative. From my point of view, you guys are the aliens.” She joked with a smile. She used a hand to push a wisp of violet hair out of her face. "But I suppose I am. I’d rather not talk about it right now though. I have to stay focused for the entrance exam.”  

“Right! Well come on! We’ll take you!” Uraraka smiled, grabbing Kamiko and dragging her through the campus. “It’s so rare that UA will make an exception and do an entrance exam mid-semester. You must have a crazy strong quirk!”  

“Well uhm...something like that.” Kamiko stammered out, feeling her cheeks heat up. It was so weird going from a world where powers had hidden identities to a world where almost everyone had them. Even displayed them.  

“Hey look!” Ashido pointed up at the building. “That’s Principal Nezu, All Might, Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Yamada, and Ms. Kayama. They must be waiting for you.”  

“Huh? And that’s our homeroom class. I wonder why they are here.” Yaoyorozu stated curiously.

“Ah, Kamiko Kaori! Thank you for joining us this morning.” The …well…mouse spoke to her. I really needed to stop being so surprised at this point. She thought to herself. "Please bear with us, the arena is finishing being prepped. It is so rare an occasion we do exams like this in the middle of a semester; we needed to adjust a few things.”  

“It’s I who should be thanking you.” Kamiko and bowed respectfully. “I am so grateful this opportunity Principal Nezu.”  

The teacher who looked like he pulled one too many all-nighters stepped up. If Ashido named them in order, this should be-  

“My name is Aizawa. This is my homeroom. They will be participating in the arena with you to keep things semi-fair like the normal exam. However, keep in mind each of the students here have not only passed the exam, but already have hero training. But seeing as this is an exceptional case, this shouldn’t be a problem.” He spoke in a monotone, bored voice.  He turned to the group of students. “I doubt I need to say this but it’s in your best interest to try in this. This will be treated as pop quiz. Turn your attention to Present Mic and he will explain the rules.”  

The next teacher to speak was the exact opposite of Aizawa.  

“Alright Listeners, this may be a repeat for some of you but it’s a remix!” he spoke energetically, causing Kamiko to cringe. “Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty. Your goal is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. BUT THIS TIME, attacking other examinees is ALLOWED.  Why? WELL because the zero-point villains that are normally robots will be some of your classmates. That’s right folks, some of your peers have been briefed beforehand and will be sabotaging the others as double agents!” he spoke with such enthusiasm even at the last part.  

Kamiko’s violet eyes scanned the class for a clue on who may have been against her, but everyone looked equally shocked. She made contact with a boy with red and white hair. One brown eye. One blue. He turned away from her almost instantly. Kamiko continued to watch him until Momo bumped her.

“Gawk later. Pay attentinon.” she whispered. Kamiko rolled her eyes, tuning back in.

“Now remember young heroes! Attacking does NOT mean injuring. Although we have Recovery Girl standing by, that doesn’t mean you go all out. Use your best judgment on when to pull back.” All Might instructed. “Anyone caught using excessive force WILL fail.”  

“This should be fun! I didn’t have to take the last exams.” Yaoyorozu whispered to her. “It’s cool to see what it was like.”

“I, uh, just have one question.” Kamiko spoke, a raising a hand.  

“Yes Miss Kaori?” All Might answered her.  

“I’m sure you’re aware, my “quirk” works differently, should I transform now or once the test has begun?” she asked, not wanting to break rules.  This gains some looks from the other students, and she quietly cursed herself for drawing attention.  

“Once the test has begun. After all, you can’t always prepare ahead in a real battle.” Principal Nezu smiled giddily. She nodded clutching the broach on her chest. It was similar to Sailor Moon’s and held a piece of the silver crystal handed down to her. “We shall all go to the observation room then. Good luck Miss Kaori. You as well my students!” With that All Might scooped up the teachers with a hearty laugh, and bounded into the air.  

“Is he always like that?” she asked with an amused smile. But before anyone could answer, the doors to the exam slammed open. Everyone ran in, Kamiko at the back of the pack. She was going to need a boost. She ran towards the side of the tunnel using the wall to jump over the other students. “COSMIC PLANET POWER!” she yelled out mid-air, and began to transform into her sailor form.

Her violet hair released from its bun and flowed down her back as purple glowing ribbons wrapped around her body. She landed on the other side of the crowd, looking over her shoulder at them in her purple, black and white senshi outfit. They all were staring at her surprised, except for Momo who had seen her transform before. “Well? Are you all just going to stand there?” she smirked.

“She’s right!” an overly excited boy saluted, the engines in his legs boosting him towards the robots. “Sorry Ma’am, but this is competition! And Class 1A does not lose!” At that rate he was going to get to those bots before she could.  

“Jupiter Thunder….” Kamiko yelled, crossing her hands like the former sailor had taught her.  An antenna rose from her tiara. “CRASH!”  

“Iida jump!” Yaoyorozu warned her classmate. He did as he was told, just narrowly avoiding her thunder blast at the robots.

“Whoa! A thunder quirk!” A boy with spiky green hair gasps.  

She smiled to herself, watching as the robots twitched and fell.

“We’ve got to slow her down!” He moved toward her with incredible speed, a green light shooting around his body. Kamiko jumped back, just barely dodging his hand grabbing at her. Another hand grabbed her shoulder. It was rock hard, but still she managed to flip them onto to the ground, a blur of red hair catching her eye as she slammed them.

“Sorry!” she winced before running off.  

I need to get away from the group as fast as possible. She thought looking for a solution.  High ground would be best so I can survey what I’m up against.  She spots a building with an overhang and ran towards it.  

“Venus Love Me Chain!” she yelled and the heart shape golden chain latched on to the edge. Kamiko jumped into the air, the chain pulling her higher, kicking a few more robots down as she went.  

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” A yell came from behind her.  A blonde boy with spiky hair was using blasts from his hands to chase after her. The look of anger on his face was terrifying. “I WON’T LOSE TO YOU!”  

She removed her broach and willed it into Pluto’s staff. It quickly took the form and she aimed it at the boy. “Deadly Scream!” the sonic blast hits him and the neighboring robots, sending them all back towards the ground, a slew of profanities leaving his mouth. “Nothing personal!” Kamiko yelled back just as she reached the top of the building.  

Everyone seems to be either fighting amongst themselves or the other robots. Kamiko looked down trying to think which attack would only harm the robots, when a wall of ice suddenly hurtled towards her, knocking out tons of robots simultaneously. She went to avoid it but was too slow. The ice began to encase her, grounding her feet in place. She pressed her hands together. “Mars Fire Ignite!” The fire shot out and circled her, melting the frosty cage in the process.  On the outside of the wall, the boy with the half white, half red hair looked at her with that same stoic face from earlier.  Did that attack come from him?  

“So, you have a fire quirk as well.” He said coolly. Stating the obvious much?

“It will take more than a measly snow globe to keep me down.” She huffed twirling the staff in her hand. He didn’t answer her, instead examining her, most likely thinking of what move to do next. He shot another ice blast, but it avoided her, instead taking out the robots on her flank. She looked at him curiously. That attack was too precise to have been an accident. If he was a double, why would he help her?  

“Thank you.” She said softly. He still didn’t answer, instead running at her, an icy chill escaping from his lips.  He began shoot ice blast after blast at her. Or Not. She thought breaking the attacks with her staff. What was with this guy? She moved to evade him and he formed another ice wall to block her path. That’s when she put it together. He was making her waste time on him. Bastard can’t block what he can’t see. “Mercy Bubbles Blast!” she yelled, making a thick mist. She danced around him making noise with her staff to confuse him on her location. But he was smarter, fire blasts began to shoot out, not only shocking her, but causing her mist to thin out. “Venus love me chain!” She shot the chain in the direction the flames came from, trapping his body. Or what she thought was his body. When she pulled, the chain tightened but didn’t budge. Even if he was stronger, she should have felt a little tug. The mist continued to thin out and she saw she had actually wrapped around a pole. Shit. “Mirror.” she said softly, planning to use Neptune’s Mirror to see where he was hiding. But as the staff morphed, a warm hand grabbed her, pushing her against the pole.

The cold sharp point of an icicle was pointed at her neck. “You put up quite a fight.” His icy breath whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her. “but you’re done now.” Anger radiated through her body. How could she fall for such a ploy?

“You’re the one who’s done.” She spoke through gritted teeth. She slowly angled the mirror until she saw his reflection in it. “Submarine..Reflection.”

The mirror shot out a bright blast, forcing him back and onto the ground. “Mars Flame Sniper!” she said and her fire took the shape of a bow and arrow. She shot Four hours into his shirt, pinning him, even if it’s for a moment. “Stay down, please.” the violet haired girl begged. “ I need this.”

To her surprise, he laid his head back, not resisting. Kaori ran to the edge of the building, looking down at the other students fighting the robots. She aimed her bow, and began to shoot the flaming arrows at as many robots as she could manage. Then a loud buzzer rang through her ears.  

“TIMES UP!” Present Mic’s voice boomed through the air. She disarmed her bow, the fire disappearing in thin air, as well as the arrows pining the boy. Was that last attack enough to make up for lost time?

The sound of ice crinkling caught her attention as a large ice slide formed down the building. Her opponent stood at the edge and then slid down to the bottom. Kamiko rewrapped her chain around the pole and jumped off the building. Once at the bottom, she detransformed to her normal clothes and the broach returned to its place on her chest.  Quick hands began to return her hair into it’s messy bun. She made eye contact with Uraraka who quickly ran over to her. “Kaori, that was incredible! “She smiled, hugging Kamiko tightly. “I had no idea you were that powerful.”  

“You even held your own against Todoroki! And he’s our strongest classmate!” Ashido appeared giddily.  

“HE IS NOT!” The voice of the angry blonde boy from earlier boomed. He pushed through the crowd toward her, and she had half the mind to turn back into Sailor Star Galaxy. “You may be strong, but you’re not stronger than me GOT IT?! Neither is Icy Hot! I will Destroy-“  

His voice cut off as a red headed boy clamped a literal, rock hard hand across his mouth.  

“Sorry about Bakugo. Just ignore him, it’s what most of us do.” he smiled at her as he held the other boy back. “I’m Kiroshima! And you were seriously awesome! I didn’t see that flip coming!”  

“Oh that was you?” Kamiko remembered the person she had slammed earlier, and put two and two together. “I really am sorry! Are you alright?”  

“No worries! My quirk is hardening. Takes a lot more than a few body slams to hurt me.” Kiroshima chuckled. “Speaking of, you have some major quirks yourself. How many do you have?”  

“I counted six! Thunder, Chain, Fire, Bubbles, Sonic Waves and that transformation in the beginning! ” the green hair boy from earlier ran up. “Do your quirks only work after that? It must be why you asked principle Nezu. And is that staff thing apart of you? How did you get so many quirks?” he shot question after question; Kamiko barely able to keep up.  Her back pressed against the stone wall of the building behind her as the rest of the students gathered around her, eager for answers.

“I..well..” she said softly, not used to so much attention at once. Just as it was becoming too much, an ice wall thin enough to see through separated her from the rest of the group. She turned her head and at the end stood Todoroki.

“, Enough.” he said in a monotone voice. They locked eyes for a moment. “Let her breathe.”

“Oh… Sorry Kaori.” Midoriya apologized and the boy let the wall down once everyone took a step back.  

“It’s okay. I’m just not used to so much attention.” Kamiko gave a sympathetic smile to him. She looked over at Todoroki, but he was already walking away from them. Her lips curved into a frown.

“Amazing Job Students!!” All Might’s voice bellowed, as he and the other teachers came from seemingly nowhere.  

Aizawa sighed getting in front of All Might. “As I’m sure you all figured out, Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kiroshima were all on the double agent roster. They were all able to secure multiple sabotages while continuing to attack robots. From lowest to highest, Kiroshima, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki.”

“DAMN YOU DEKU!! ” Bakugo screamed, as Kiroshima sighed next to him, placing another solid hand on the boy’s mouth. Kao Midoriya ri assumed it was a common occurrence as Aizawa ignored the boy.  

“Additionally, everyone can see their scores in the post outside. However, I will announce the top three scores for our non-double agents. In third place, with 30 points, was Tanya Iida.” The boy with rockets in his legs smiled, but there was a small hint of sadness in it. At least your scores don’t depend if you get to stay Kamiko thought nervously. Aizawa continued. “In second place, Momo Yaoyorozu with 32 points. And lastly-“Aizawa was cut off by the excitement of All Might.  

“KAMIKO KAORI!! 40 points!” He bellowed.

“First place…that means…. that means she got in right?!” Momo asked excitedly. All might opened his mouth but was shushed by Aizawa.

“Yes, against better council, she technically did.” Aizawa spoke harshly.  “But I want to make it clear it is on a probationary basis. Any screw ups and you’re out. And to ensure a decent eye is kept on you, you’ll be in my homeroom. Look around you. These are your new classmates.”

“But sir! She’s a first year. She would have to pass her hero’s examination, receive her probationary license, midterms, finals. I understand she’s powerful but UA’s standards-”

“For reasons I’ll leave up to her to discuss with you all, she’s been considered a special case by the principal. The decision has been made, regardless of any disagreements.” Aizawa shut him up. Kamiko flinched at the harsh tone in the man’s voice. His words said one thing, but his tone implied he agreed with Iida. “Yaoyorozu, you’re excused for the remainder of the day.  Help Kaori get situated in her dorm, in her uniform, the works. You’re all dismissed.”

[lukes-writing]

Chapter 13: Man Without Imagination

Project introduction | Previous chapter

Word count: 3200 Warnings: Profanity

September 29th, 10:22 AM, The Society headquarters, Trinity Gate

“Who… who could have done something like this?” Whisper’s voice rises to falsetto again. Her whole body is trembling, and it’s not only out of disgust since it’s already some time after the autopsy she witnessed. Her empathy allows her to feel what the murdered man felt seconds before his demise.

She can’t stop imagining how horrible it must have been. The paper flowing into his head through his mouth, nose, ears, eyes… Did it hurt, or was it finished quickly?

All the necessary business with the dead man has been done and Team Dreamcatcher can once again gather in the conference room to discuss the matter. However, instead of discussing, everyone is recovering from what they just witnessed. For all of them, it’s the closest encounter with death so far.

There’s no need to blame them for that, Wiccan thinks. They are yet to build resistance towards such sights. But I hope they’re gonna build it quickly. They will need it.

“What now?” Parker brings up a question. “Should we, like, find out who did this? I don’t particularly feel like a detective. I’m used to being on the opposite side of the law.”

“That’s pretty much our task,” Kirlian replies, vesseled into the Obi-Wan action figure once again. “Find the culprit and prevent them from doing this again.”

“I don’t know who did it, but I’m not sure if I want to encounter them,” Gary says.

Parker sneers. “But that’s a part of the job, man. If ya scared, you can get the fuck outta here.”

For this once, Wiccan has to agree with Parker. Whisper and Gary certainly need to harden. But not too much - Whisper’s sensitivity and empathy can be actually beneficial.

“No way, I’m staying,” Gary says. He finished moving into his new house sponsored by The Society just a few days ago and he can finally live like he always wanted. He has more than enough space both for himself and his little friends. If keeping such a house means meeting some deranged being which kills using paper, Gary is ready to take the risk.

Wiccan looks at Sienna. “I have a small test for you. Try to figure out what should we do next.”

The young woman thinks about it for a while, sipping from a cup of coffee. Everyone has already come to the conclusion her caffeine income would probably kill any other person. Then, she finally speaks: “Well, since we know close to nothing about the attacker, all we can do is to find out more about the victim. I would go and talk to his family to possibly find out something about the attacker’s motives.”

“I knew I made a good decision by appointing you as a leader,” Wiccan smiles at her. Sienna blushes, flattered by the compliment.

“Should I go with you again?” she offers. “I doubt it would be a good idea to come there all at once.”

Wiccan nods. “Sure, only two people will go. However. First, we will do it tomorrow, so his family can have some time to reconcile with their loss. Second, it will be Ophelia, not me. And third, I want Whisper to go with her. Sorry, Sienna.”

Whisper opens her eyes wide. “Me…?”

“Yes, you. Sienna is good at analytical thinking, but you are better with people and their emotions. You can read between the lines. Maybe you will be able to find out something the others can’t see.”

“I… I won’t disappoint! I think,” the girl squeals.

September 30th, 1:30 PM, Northeast District, Trinity Gate

Whisper had met Ophelia Salisbury a few times before, after she married her uncle. Whisper immediately decided she likes her, even if just for the fact Wiccan would not marry anyone who doesn’t meet his strict standards.

The woman’s upright stance radiates strength and experience, but her dark eyes are nothing but kindness. Whisper only hates the fact she has to tilt her neck back to look Ophelia in the face since their height difference is significant. Whisper is the only one in her family who measures less than 170 centimeters.

“Remember, be courteous and tactful, but keep in mind you came for the information,” Ophelia lectures her. Whisper came to a conclusion both her skin color and her voice can be compared to a delicious hot chocolate. She’s dressed in a long black dress and a short jacket of the same color. Her hair has been tied into an elegant top knot which exposes the woman’s swan neck.

Even Whisper chose a more conservative attire consisting of a black-and-white blouse and long, pleated skirt. She’s also wearing a pair of white moccasin shoes, which definitely isn’t common for her, and she also left a big part of her excessive jewelry at home.

They finally arrive at the neat family house standing on a wide boulevard close to the Trinity Gate’s university. The rays of sunshine glow through the tops of several trees which grow in its garden. An old fox terrier sleeps in front of a dog house.

Ophelia rings on the doorbell inserted in the gate which leads to the garden surrounded by a short hedge. A buzzing sound that soon follows tells them someone opened the gate. The two women enter and before they reach the end of the gravel walkway, the main door opens.

As they expected, they see an older, slightly chubby woman dressed in all black standing in the doorway. Her eyes are swollen, giving away all the tears the woman cried in the past hours.

“Are you Arthur’s students?” she asks. She’s probably already used to the man’s students coming over to offer their condolences. “Thank you for…”

Ophelia interrupts her. “Actually, we do want to express our condolences, but in the first place, we want to find out what exactly caused your husband’s death.”

“They didn't even let me know what happened to him!” the woman wails. “Can you…?”

The woman shakes her head. “Not until we close the case.”

“So he was… someone did it to him?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it was a murder,” Ophelia confirms and the woman bursts into tears. She gestures them to come in and both Ophelia and Whisper take a seat in a spacey living room. Its modern furniture heavily contrasts with a wooden bookshelf which takes up a whole wall.

Whisper takes a look at the books displayed. The murder victim’s collection mostly consists of essays by famous philosophers and heavy encyclopedias. Not a single piece of fiction. Definitely not Whisper’s style.

Then, Whisper notices another person in the room. He had just descended from the stairs leading upstairs. It’s an overweight teenage boy with short fair hair, round face and eyeglasses resting on his small nose. He has Captain America’s shield on his T-shirt and he’s holding a can of energy drink in his hand.

He seems surprised by the fact there’s a young female in their house. In fact, he stands there like petrified. Whisper wonders if it’s because of her presence or the guy is just not over his father’s death yet.

“Hi,” Whisper gives him a compassionate smile.

“H...hey,” the boy stutters and Whisper sees countless unsaid questions in his green eyes.

At that moment, his mother and Ophelia step into the room. Ophelia managed to console the woman to the point her uncontrollable wailing changed into sobbing. A while later, they’re sitting around a glass table with a cup of tea in front of them.

Ophelia starts to carefully interrogate the woman to find out as much about the victim as possible. All they find out is that he was a university professor of philosophy and he lived a normal life. The woman’s answers are vague and don’t get them anywhere close to the solution.

Whisper notices that the boy, Arthur junior, doesn’t say a word throughout the whole conversation. However, the girl has a feeling he would give much more interesting answers if he decided to speak.

“Arthur?” Whisper addresses the boy. “Would you mind if we went for a walk? Just you and me?”

Arthur Taylor junior apparently feels extremely insecure when Whisper is around and the girl tries hard to hide her amusement. If she started to giggle, she would ruin her already slim chances to pry something useful out of the young man.

Whisper isn’t a paragon of beauty, but it’s enough to completely disconcert a boy who apparently never came this close to a woman before. A bit of confidence would help him a lot.

“You and your dad - were you close?” the girl asks as the duo walks through the university campus. A black flag flies above the main entrance to honor the deceased professor.

“Uhm… not really,” Art replies, avoiding eye contact with Whisper. “We were… different. Almost every talk we had ended in an argument, so we rarely talked to each other. Almost every day, he stayed at school until the evening and then, when he came home, he locked himself in his workroom and worked on the computer until the late night hours.”

“What was he doing?”

Art shrugs. “Writing articles for an association of skeptics he was a member of. He loved debunking apparently paranormal occurrences just to prove there’s nothing supernatural in this world. He was so annoying with this,” he rolls his eyes. “I know it’s probably bad to say this now, but he was the dullest guy I know.”

If he only knew what I know, Whisper thinks.

“So that was the reason why didn’t you two get along well?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Art inserts his hands into his pockets, looking at the pavement under his feet. “It was one of the reasons. Y’know, I’m that kind of geek who’s into fantasy and sci-fi, which dad loathed. He was strictly against all forms of imagination and as far as I know, he crammed this philosophy even into his students’ heads. There’s a story that one student once brought one of The Witcher books into his lesson and dad tore it apart page by page. That’s why I had to hide my books from him.”

Whisper hears a slight trace of relief in his voice, as if the sentence should have ended with I’m glad I don’t have to do it anymore.

“Do you think it can have a connection to his… murder?”

“Probably not, but I don't know,” Art shrugs again. “Yeah, we used to make fun of him, but I doubt anyone would actually go as far as killing him. Maybe he had some enemies among his colleagues, he never spoke about his work much. Actually, I know almost nothing about his life.”

Whisper raises her eyebrows. “Make fun of him?”

“Yeah. Me and some other geeks I know created a webpage called ‘The Man Without Imagination’. There we shared memes about him and such, one guy even made remixes of his lectures… y’know, dad was really passionate about things he preached. He knew about the page and he was furious about it, but he could do nothing against it. If he knew I’m the main contributor… damn, it would have consequences.”

“Are you going to take the page down?”

“Probably. I guess it would be disrespectful if we kept it running.”

“In that case,” Whisper says, “could you keep the page up at least until we solve the case? It may actually help us. I don’t know how, but just in case.”

“Sure, I’ll tell the guys,” Art looks her in the eyes for the first time. “By the way, who is we?”

Whisper smiles. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Art smirks back. “I’m open-minded. So who are you working for? FBI? Men in Black? Or some secret organization I have no idea about?”

“You’re close,” Whisper gives him a mysterious smile.

“Did you find out something interesting?” Whisper asks Ophelia on their way back to the headquarters.

The woman shakes her head. “That woman is hopeless. She was either crying or telling me stuff she already told me three times. I know it sounds insensitive, but if we continue like this, we won’t find the killer. What about you, Wisp? How was your date with Art?”

Whisper ignores Ophelia’s mocking and tells her about everything Art told her. Ophelia gives her an appreciative nod. Bringing Whisper with her was a good idea after all - Ophelia doubts the boy would be so open if she asked him instead of Whisper. A person is usually more talkative when around peers.

“Good job,” Ophelia says. “Sienna should take a look at that webpage. Honestly, it’s not much, but we have to start somewhere. Maybe someone with special powers visited the page and decided to show that man everything he believed in is a lie.”

“Kinda improbable, but I’m not the one to judge,” Whisper says. When both women left the house of Taylors, Whisper took off her shoes and decided to continue the walk barefoot. It’s no surprise for Ophelia - she already knows how peculiar is the niece of her husband.

Back at the headquarters, both women explain the situation to the rest of the team. Sienna immediately turns on the computer in the corner of the room and finds the webpage Art was talking about. It’s just like the boy described it - full of jokes about the late professor and his hatred toward anything fantastical.

The latest post involves a picture of an old man with a long white beard - a stereotypical depiction of God - with a caption: Professor Arthur Taylor died yesterday and he already managed to prove I don’t exist after I took him here.  Parker lets out a short laugh. No other member of the team finds it funny.

“The archive is pretty extensive,” Sienna states. “At least twenty people actively contributed to this page - I suppose his students. It has also many passive visitors and subscribers who just come to laugh at the memes.” She finds a video in the Most popular section.

“Professor Taylor about fantastical literature - Remix by BigBeast420,” Gary reads the name.

Sienna clicks the Play button. The video is recorded secretly and depicts professor Taylor speaking in front of his class. This time, it’s harder not to laugh since a repetitive musical background is playing over the video and Taylor’s voice is autotuned so it appears he’s rapping.

The group listens to what he says.

“You achieve nothing in life if you cling to nonsensical, unreal fantasies!” Taylor preaches, marching around the classroom and making theatrical hand gestures. “What’s the point of wasting time with something that’s not even real? I appeal to you, dear students, live for here and now, not for anything nonexistent! Only then you can lie on your deathbed in peace, knowing you spent your life in reality. Fiction is a drug and its authors are but dealers! And just like drugs, nonexistent… nonexistent can ruin your life!”

“Wow, that guy is really a lunatic,” Whisper comments. “Who else can say something like this about reading books? Now I understand why was he so ridiculed.”

Another video is titled Professor Taylor - These Two Eyes (BigBeast420 Remix). Out of curiosity, Sienna clicks on it. Taylor once again speaks in front of the students, this time apparently about skepticism. “Every sane person should only believe what they see with these two eyes!” Taylor points his index and middle finger at his eyes. Finally, electronic music starts playing and Taylor saying These two eyes is played in a loop, creating an impressive musical piece.

“One thing is to admit, that guy who did the remix had some talent,” Parker comments.

The video continues: “There is nothing supernatural or paranormal. That’s a domain of gullible people! Nobody with a working brain would believe in such things. Everything must have an explanation!” The word Explanation is once again looped and remixed.

“Is it bad that I’m starting to side with the killer?” Whisper asks.

Wiccan chuckles. “True, that guy is nuts, but we still have to find out who killed him and stop them. At least now we know he had controversial opinions which could have set certain people against him, especially those who are living proof his words aren’t true.”

“Or a bookworm who just went berserk,” Whisper adds. “If someone started to speak about books like this in front of me, I’d have no problem to cram all that paper into his skull.”

The team lets Sienna work her magic with the computer. Someone has to constantly refill the cup on Sienna’s table with something rich in caffeine.

“That seems to be useless,” Sienna says after about an hour. “I was able to retrieve the IP addresses of the people who are logged on this page, but there are too many entries and that renders it useless. Some even use anonymizers such as VPN networks or the TOR browser. It could be any of them, or neither.”

A moment later, Ophelia enters the room with a phone on her ear. She finishes the call she was having and inserts the device back into her pocket.

“I just finished talking with ELIPSA headquarters,” she announces. When she sees the confused faces of the four new recruits, she explains: “Entries and Locations of Individuals Possessing Special Abilities. That’s an agency serving under The Society. Their task is to keep an eye on all people who display special powers or talents that could be useful for us.”

“In short, the fuckers who followed me everywhere I went and whose files you used to blackmail me?” Parker looks at Wiccan.

The man doesn’t let himself get disconcerted. “Precisely,” he replies with a straight face. Then he turns to his wife. “What did they say?”

Ophelia answers the question with a telling shrug. “The only registered PSPs in the Trinity Gate area are Parker, Whisper and Gary,” she says. “They have no information about any other person of such kind.”

“Maybe they just did a good job at avoiding their attention,” Gary suggests.

Wiccan shakes his head. “It’s hella hard to avoid ELIPSA’s attention. Once you display any form of supernatural abilities, you have a target on your back and you can’t get rid of it. A PSP not registered within ELIPSA’s archives would have to live in complete seclusion, hidden from everyone and everything.”

“But then, this sounds like a description of someone who would commit a murder,” Parker notes.

“So, to sum it up,” Sienna says, “we’re looking for a person with supernatural powers who lives in complete loneliness, yet must have some kind of internet connection or another link to the outside world since they seem to have taken revenge on Professor Taylor.”

“Seems about right,” Wiccan nods. “Unfortunately, that also probably rules out the possibility that the murderer is one of Taylor’s students. A university student who would display any trace of a supernatural ability would be immediately tracked by ELIPSA.”

“That means we’re back at the beginning,” Parker sums it up.

“That’s right,” Wiccan sighs. “We have clues, but nothing that could help us piece them together. And we should work pretty damn fast before the killer claims another victim.”

At that time, they have no idea this resolution can’t be fulfilled.

 Author’s Note

I wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!