#AND ESPECIALLY ANYONE WRITING FIC IN THEIR NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE

[steddieas-shegoes]

i have another hc for you if you like! this is one of my faves ever since i saw someone call wayne "tio shaped" 😆: Eddie being at least partially hispanic/latinx (i lean toward hispanic) and being fluent in spanish; i LOVE the idea of him either sweet talking or just saying the absolute filthiest stuff to steve in spanish and steve gets robin to help him learn spanish in secret (just for a bit at least) so he can know what eddie’s been saying to him

(i wrote a little drabble of this idea before here, but i would love to see your take on it too!!!!)

OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL GO READ NOELLE'S POST BECAUSE IT'S GREAT WORK 10/10.

Second of all, I don't know more than the most basic Spanish. I am relying on Google Translate, which we all know is not reliable. If something sticks out as being completely wrong, please let me know.

----------------------

"Okay, that's good!"

"Robin, you don't have to talk to me like I'm a kid," Steve said, but hid the blush on his cheeks at the praise.

"Eddie estará tan impresionado," she said with a knowing smirk.

"Eso espero."

------------------------

Robin left him with some study cards to practice being less formal with his Spanish, told him that Eddie and Wayne were used to conversational and familiar vocabulary and grammar. The last thing she wanted was for him to sound like he was reading from a textbook.

So he sat on his couch, studying, probably more than he ever studied for anything else in his life.

He needed to do this right.

He jumped when the front door opened unexpectedly, shoving his study cards between the cushions and hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice the corner of one sticking out.

"Dios, cómo te ves tan bien sentado ahí?" Eddie said mostly under his breath.

But Steve heard it.

He didn't just hear it, he mostly understood it.

"Sólo estoy usando sudaderas," Steve replied, much easier than he expected to.

Eddie's eyes got impossibly wider, his mouth opening in shock.

"Did you just speak Spanish?" Eddie asked.

"Sí."

"How-" Eddie cleared his throat. "How long have you known Spanish?"

"Not long. Robin's been teaching me," Steve shrugged.

"But like...how long?" Eddie seemed nervous, avoiding eye contact completely.

"If you're worried about things you've been saying, I still don't know enough to figure most of what I can kind of remember out," Steve said.

That was true, too. He barely remembered most of what Eddie had been saying over the last few months, definitely couldn't get the pronunciation right anyway to ask Robin and only some of the words had come up in their lessons.

But what he said today, at least a lot of it, was clear to Steve and that made him feel pretty confident that he'd been reading Eddie's feelings correctly.

"Lo decias en serio?" Steve asked, stuttering a bit with nerves.

"Por supuesto."

"Um. Beso?" Steve knew that wasn't right, but his brain wasn't firing on all cylinders.

"Claro, puedo besarte, cariño."

Steve let out a whimper when Eddie pulled him to his feet, cupped the back of his neck in his hand, and licked into his mouth like he'd been waiting years for this moment.

"You've been learning Spanish for me?" Eddie asked breathlessly when he finally managed to pull away.

"I'm trying. For you and Wayne."

Translations: Eddie estará tan impresionado - Eddie will be so impressed Eso espero - I hope so Dios, cómo te ves tan bien sentado ahí? - God, how do you look so good just sitting there? Sólo estoy usando sudaderas. - I'm just wearing sweats Lo decias en serio? - Did you mean it? Por supuesto. - Of course Beso - Kiss Claro, puedo besarte, cariño. - Sure, I can kiss you, sweetheart

[pastryfication]

hii, I don't know if you can and especially if you want to do this fic, but I just finished watching the Wimbledon final (I'm a Carlos Alcaraz girly) and I wanted to ask you if you could make a Leclerc sister! reader x Carlos Alcaraz (with the addition of Charles, Arthur and Lorenzo obviously) if you don't want to write it I apologize for the inconvenience, but if you do I thank you so much🫶🏼💕

(Sorry if My english Is not good, but Is not My native language)

hi! thank you so much for the request 🫶

i tried my best with this but i don’t know much about tennis and i’ve only watched like half the matches of wimbledon this year so i had to make my dad give me a quick break down of the finale… i know this is not as good as you probably expected but i hope you like it either way!!

wimbledon winner | carlos alcaraz

pairing: carlos alcaraz x leclerc sister!reader

warnings: very bad descriptions of tennis?

you can hardly contain your excitement as you guide your family through the bustling crowds of the wimbledon grounds. today is the day your boyfriend is competing in the final against none other than novak djokovic. the atmosphere is electric, and the excitement is palpable.

you had invited your entire family, wanting to share this special moment of your life with them and your brothers, charles and arthur, are just as—if not more—thrilled thrilled than you, though their enthusiasm is more subdued. your oldest brother, lorenzo, and his girlfriend, charlotte, are chatting animatedly, while your mother walks beside you, her eyes wide with awe at the grandeur of it all.

"i stilll can't believe we're here," arthur says, glancing around with a grin. "watching carlos in the final. it's incredible."

"he's going to do great," charles adds, giving you a reassuring smile. "he's worked so hard for this."

"i know," you reply, feeling a surge of pride for your boyfriend. "he's been training non-stop. he deserves this."

as you make your way to your seats, you can't help but feel a rush of nerves. the stadium is enormous, and the crowd's energy is almost overwhelming, but having your family here with you calms you a bit.

you find your seats and settle in, your heart pounding with anticipation. the match begins, and the tension is palpable. djokovic is a formidable opponent, but carlos is playing with a determination you've never seen before.

every point is a battle, and the crowd is on the edge of their seats. you find yourself gripping charles' hand, almost breaking his fingers, but he doesn’t mind. he’s unable to look away from the court as well, finding the match as exciting as you. carlos is moving with such grace and power, each shot more impressive than the last.

"he's incredible," charlotte whispers, her eyes wide with admiration. "i've never seen anyone play like this.”

"he's got this," lorenzo says confidently, sensing your nervousness. "you can see it in his eyes."

as the match progresses, carlos begins to pull ahead. his serves are precise, his volleys unstoppable. the crowd erupts with cheers, and you can't help but join in, your heart swelling with pride.

when the final point is won, and carlos emerges victorious, the stadium explodes with applause. you jump to your feet, tears of joy streaming down your face. your family is cheering just as loudly, their pride evident in their faces.

carlos looks up into the stands, his eyes searching for you. when he sees you, his face lights up with a radiant smile. he lifts his racket in triumph, and you blow him a kiss, your heart just about to burst.

"he did it!" you exclaim, turning to hug your mother. "he really did it!"

"we knew he could," she replies, her voice filled with emotion. "he's an incredible player."

as the celebrations continue, you make your way down to the court. carlos is surrounded by reporters and fans, but when he sees you, he breaks away and runs to you, scooping you up in his arms.

"you were amazing," you say, your voice choked with emotion. "i'm so proud of you."

"i couldn't have done it without you," he replies, his eyes shining with love. "having you here, knowing you were watching . . . it made all the difference."

you kiss him, the world fading away as you lose yourself in the moment.

your family joins you quickly after, and carlos is soon enveloped in hugs and congratulations.

"you were fantastic, mate," charles says, clapping carlos on the back. "absolutely incredible."

"thank you," carlos replies, his smile never wavering. "it means a lot to have you all here."

the rest of the day is a blur of celebrations and happiness. you can hardly believe it's real, that carlos has won the wimbledon final. but as you stand by his side, surrounded by your family, you know that this is just the beginning.

[wingdingery]

20 questions for writers

Thanks for the tag @wildsofmarch :)

(Answering most of these questions about wingdingery but including some counts from other accounts because I was curious.)

1. how many works do you have on AO3? 24 DC (78 total)

2. what's your total AO3 word count? 283,276 DC (795,332 total)

3. what fandoms do you write for? Dick Grayson (I’m usually tunnel visioned into one fandom for years at a time)

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? I don’t perceive stats/counts on my works or others’ thanks to a site skin so this is a mystery to me!

5. do you respond to comments? I try to! But I don’t have time consistently so I usually fall into the trap of falling behind → feeling guilty about replying late but also feeling guilty about replying to newer comments when I haven’t gotten through the older ones yet → paralyzed into not replying to anything → force myself to finally clear my inbox months later → run out of time and begin the vicious cycle all over again.

(But I do read all of them as they come in and appreciate them so much! The number of times I am driven to reread old works/write more due to a kind comment cannot be counted.)

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? once upon a time, maybe?

My non-happy endings are usually more ambiguous than overtly angstsy (on main, at least – the darkfic endings are equally angst, I think).

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I’ll pick hospitality for dummies just because I think that’s my lowest-stakes/happiest DC fic so far. But I do tend to write happy endings in general.

8. do you get hate on fics? The standard fare ship hate.

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yep! I’m not really sure what “what kind” means… I’ll write pretty much anything if I’m in the right mood for it and I can make it make sense for the characters.

10. do you write crossovers? I like writing fusions but I’ve only contemplated writing one crossover in my life and never actually did it, so I think the answer is no.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? right through my walls has a Spanish translation courtesy of Luck__y!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I’ve done a lot of co-slinging-ideas-at-the-wall but I’ve never actually co-written a fic. I’m interested in trying it but my writing process is so wild that I’m reluctant to ask anyone to get near it. 😂

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? All-time is so hard to say! I shipped BruDick a long time ago and I’m back here now, so BruDick, I guess?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will? If this question is referring to published WIPs, I will finish all of them. This year, even. You heard it here first.

(If unpublished… way too many to count, lol.)

16. What are your writing strengths? From what people have said, I think my top 3 are dialogue, characterization, and generally having wild/unexpected ideas (otherwise known as crack played so straight it develops angst).

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I think my writing is pretty plain. I have next to zero visual imagery (some people read or write like they’re watching a movie and seeing the scenes go by, but all I think in are words) so consequently my writing isn’t particularly descriptive unless I really try and figurative language is hard for me to come up with.

I used to stress about this a lot, but I’ve heard that this makes my writing feel easy to read, especially for non-native English readers, so I’ve made my peace with not being particularly poetic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I always write limited third POV so I’ll typically use a phrasing like “…,” they said in [language] or They said something in [language] if the POV character doesn’t understand it. I only ever write it untranslated if something about the exact wording is relevant to the plot (but even then, I only highlight the specific word(s) after).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Nancy Drew… the yellow hardback books Nancy Drew…

20. Favourite fic you've written? Currently, make a mercy out of me. As much as I love writing fics with a lot of plot and action and shenanigans, it was really satisfying to craft a quiet character/relationship study that’s introspective without feeling too heavy.

tag @artenon @faiasakura @chejuu @roipecheur you're it!

[innamorament0]

20 questions game

Thank you, @luthordamnvers, for the tag <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

At this moment 9, though most of them are on hold and 1 is an art

2. What’s your total AO3 words count?

206 916 at the moment

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively Supercorp with a dash of Dansen, Brainia and Rojarias as side pairings. No other pair had this much grip over me, so I would start writing fics for them. =D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

how to interrupt the spellcasting (Explicit, smut 1 shot) When you move, I'm moved (Explicit, Ice Dance AU, non-trad a/b/o, multichapter, ongoing) Cold never bothered me anyway (Explicit, smut 1 shot) When those walls come tumbling down (Mature (for now) post-season 6 canon compliant, my first work that I intend to rewrite because it's a mess) I hope you're the end of my story (Mature (for now) Cowboy Kara AU, non-trad a/b/o, on hold now, but I will finish it!)

yeah.... people like smut XD

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always reply! It may take me a day or two especially when I am busy at work but I read them and try to answer something more or less meaningful <3

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I am terrible at writing angst and all my fics ends well because I am a fluff-loving bitch =D

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them have happy endings, but I think, the most satisfying is in I slithered here from Eden . Or I am just biased. But it's most domestic and hopeful.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Got some nasty comments, from some famous haters in a SC fandom

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

oh yes, that's my speciality XD Most of my fic contains explicit smut.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope, not yet but I never say never!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so? I am not so popular too

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not officially, no, but I ran fics through the translator to read it many years ago when my English was worse.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not in the full meaning of this word, but I count my Beta as my co-writer because he does a lot of work to make it readable, because English is not my native language and the raw text is... terrifying not gonna lie.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Supercorp, I think they overshade all my previous favourite ships. But I can't say I love my other ships less, so <3 you Xena/Gabrielle, Sylvaina and Pharmercy!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I want to finish all my WIP's, I had a writing draught for a year because of an illness and now coming back to it and focusing on one/two at a time with the occasional 1-shot in the middle

16. What are your writing strengths?

I guess I am good at writing adventures ( thus I focus on action-heavy AU's) and smut. To be honest I needed to write smut first but I try not to seem too thirsty XD

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Angst. Idk, I just don't have a mental capacity for it I guess

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If we dismiss the fact that English is not my first or even second language, yes, I thought that when I will write Red Daughter I would write her dialogue in Russian ( which is another language I freely speak)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I never wrote for fandoms before, so my first texts were about my OC's

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I would say that it is From Eden . First of all it is full of action and I love writing combat scenes and adventures, second of all it was for SCBB and I never participated in anything like that so it added to the fun. And last - it is my only finished long work so I am kinda sorta proud of it =D

I think all writers I know are already tagged so I spread it to anyone who wants to fill it up! <3

[purlturtle]

✨🎀💌 for the fic ask :)

Thanks for the asks! (Here's the list) Let's see now:

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Oh gosh; I'm happy with any interaction on any of my fics, so it's really hard to say "this one isn't getting enough". Like, I get why tentacle smut might not be anyone's cuppa, fair enough. Maybe my Assassins AU or my DnD case fic could find more readers?

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

I convey emotions well - I've had plenty of people tell me so, and I know it's something that comes easy to me. I am a very emotional person, and also by inclination AND education primed to analyze those emotions, which translates into a deep understanding, which then translates into being able to vocalize them well, I think. Interestingly enough way more so in English (non-native language); when talking or writing about emotions in German, I become way more restrained.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Oh gosh (again), there are so many. I have problems sticking with one right now! I think the two big ones I'm working on right now are one kink fic and one whump fic (none of which will be done in time for Kinktober or Whumptober), and both of them are slightly outside of my comfort zone and into the "is anyone even going to be interested in this kind of fic in this fandom" zone, especially the kink one. But, mainly I write these for my own entertainment; they'll find their readers, I'm sure. (And I'm really really sorry about it, but the pirate AU is very much on the back burner at this point. I still plan on writing it, but my muse is elsewhere these days.)

THanks again for the questions! :)

[into-the-daniverse]

Rodrigo’s Masterlist

His Tags

✨ Rodrigo ✨ Rodrigo Vibes | inspiration, quotes, pictures, etc. ✨ Art of Rodrigo | commissions, gifts, etc. ✨ Fic of Rodrigo | fic not by me ✨ Rodrigo’s Playlist | the boys i mean are not refined

Full Name: Rodrigo Luís Aguilar

Nicknames

“Drigo” mostly by Jacqui but almost anyone can call him that, “Roddy/Rod” generally only used by enemies, as he hates those names, “Bug/Stinkbug” by his mothers

General Age: 35

Birthday: April 1st

Gender/Sexuality: Queer man (he/him)

Astrology: Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon, Leo Rising

Patron Arcana: King of Pentacles

Upright — loyal, ambitious, wealthy, stubborn

Reversed — materialistic, greedy, ruthless, hasty decisions

all other information + ship fics under the cut!

Important Relationships

Elena-Carmen Fernandez, trans she/her — Rodrigo’s mother, referred to as Mamá, deceased

Carina-Sofia Aguilar, she/her — Rodrigo’s mother, referred to as Mami

Jacqui Larrieux-Desroche, he/him — Rodrigo’s best friend/lover of almost 20 years

Jade Castella (Giada Silvestri-Castellanos), she/her — Rodrigo’s other best friend/friend with benefits of 12 years

Keean, he/they — Rodrigo’s protege/adopted son

Paulina Herrera, she/her — Rodrigo’s adoptive grandmother, the cook on his ship

Favorite Meal: Parihuela

Favorite Drink: Rum

Favorite Flower: Marigold

Magic: Illusionary/Glamor Magic, Forcefields

Illusion Magic

This magic is very strong, but volatile, and Rodrigo understands very little of it

He normally uses this to create a mirror image of himself, or to disorient opponents when fighting—the mirror image is really just an afterimage, if he wanted it to move and fight with him, he could, but that takes more energy than he wants to use for just a quick diversion

He can also cast glamors over his appearance, allowing him to sneak into underground bars and similarly shady places unseen/unnoticed—helpful especially when your face is on more than a few wanted posters in such shady places

Will cast illusions over others, especially during raids to confuse the ship their raiding by making them think there are more pirates than there are, or tricking them into jumping off their own ship

He can create illusions for others too, for example, create a mirror image of Jacqui during a fight, though it takes more concentration and he can’t maintain it for as long

It’s easier for him to cast massive illusions over non-humans, like the sirens in the Strait of Sirens, and he can make better use of his range that way, but it still isn’t something he can maintain for more than a few minutes at the most

Most of his illusions rely on people being able to see, so they don’t work over blind people or in the dark of night

Forcefields

This magic was inherited from his Mamá Elena, and it is what was most exploited during his time in the catacombs

Pretty straight-forward, he can create forcefield/barriers around himself and others to protect them

The bigger the forcefield the weaker it is, but he can create one big enough to protect the entire ship if he wanted to

The forcefields protect against almost all types of physical and magical attacks, and when Rodrigo was younger it was even stronger, which is why it was essentially “harvested” from him

It is still used by the Scholars to keep some magic users trapped in the catacombs, and there are runes carved into Syd’s ship, Inuwashi, that are laced with Rodrigo’s magic

Other Skills: whittling, can speak his native language Nopali, Vesuvian/Common, and some Vesuvian Sign language (but he can only read/write very basic Nopali), dancing (specifically samba but other types as well), stealth (when he wants to be)

Appearance

Height: 5′11″ (180 cm) — not counting the heels on the boots he usually wears

Hair: Dark brown, almost black, 3a type curls never kept past his chin

Eyes: Dark brown, almost black

Details

Has a lot of freckles across his cheeks and most of his body

Usually wears mascara and/or kohl around his eyes and it is always messy

Has scars all over his body but concentrated on his back and upper arms, the only facial scar he has goes through his right eyebrow

There is a brand burned in between his shoulder blades that is very faded now, but that he received during his time in the catacombs

Background

Arcana Universe

Born in the village Girasol, just outside of Nopal and the Emerald Sea, Rodrigo lived with his mothers until he was 10 years old. His Mamá, Elena, was the village’s leader, and as such, he was often treated like the village’s golden child, their hope for the next generation. And for a time he was, following closely in his mothers’ footsteps as he grew up.

But when he was 10, his village was attacked, and Elena was killed by Captain Syd, who had been sent to kill her and capture Rodrigo to bring to the Sea Palace. Once Elena died, the barrier that she put over the village disappeared, and Rodrigo was captured.

For six years he was kept in the catacombs of the Palace, being tortured and experimented on, his magic harvested from him until Jacqui stumbled upon him and the two of them escaped together. They ran from Syd and the Palace for two years before Rodrigo won his ship, El Corazon Sangrante, in a bet, and became a pirate captain, with Jacqui as his quartermaster.

While this allowed them to evade Syd, it did not protect them from him until two more years later, when Rodrigo was 20, and he went to the Quinquennial Pirate Meeting. He joined himself and his crew under the Pirate Queen, meaning that Syd could no longer go after them, as he was sworn under the same Code. 

A few years later, when Rodrigo was 28, he and his crew came across Keean stuck in the Strait of Sirens, and rescued him. While Rodrigo does not raise Keean in the same way Jacqui does, he still cares for the boy and considers him almost as his protege.

During the events of the game, Rodrigo and the rest of the crew of El Corazon are patrolling the Sea of Persephia, and largely do not feature in any of the game routes.

Modern AU

Rodrigo spent most of his life in Hollywood, Florida with his mothers, but he dreamed about moving away for almost all of that time. After meeting Jacqui in high school, the two of them became extremely close, and ended up moving across the country to LA, California after they both graduated. 

He jumped around working multiple jobs at bars and clubs until he finally decided he wanted to start a band with Jacqui and a few of the friends they had made in the area. Their band ended up opening for the Desert Jackals, and they even toured together for a while. Rodrigo and Leon had a brief, messy, and complicated relationship that ended due to Rodrigo’s own fault, but his band stayed together and they still perform locally in LA.

Ship Fics

✨ Rodrigo x Solo

by me

In Dreams

by @asras3rdeye

Bad Romance 🍋

Kiss Prompt: Sneaking away to share a hidden kiss

✨ Rodrigo x Martzel

by me

Smut Prompts: [pin] 🍋

by @lucigucci

Break My Baby (Part One)

Break My Baby (Part Two)

Break My Baby (Part Three) 🍋

Break My Baby (Part Four)

✨ Rodrigo x Sun Bai

by @asras3rdeye

Smut Prompts: “I’ve wanted to fuck you all night” + [palm] 🍋

✨ Rodrigo x Balam

by @atypicalacademic

Say-So 🍋

✨ Rodrigo x Jacqui x Amparo

by @sunrisenfool

Two Is a Crowd, Three Is a Party 🍋

✨ Rodrigo x Dante

by me

Smut Prompts: [kiss + rough] and [choke]

✨ Rodrigo x Roul

by me

Mistletoe

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

i wanna give a shoutout to all my non native english speaking followers, mutuals, and also just literally any person who this applies to (non americans especially, who are left out of a lot in addition to language barriers!)

you're all so cool and are worthy of engaging in fandom spaces. you can make fanart and write posts/fics and have friends and INTERACT, even though some people can be shitty and it might seem like an exclusive environment.

if you can speak more than one language, and articulate your beliefs and feelings in a way you had to learn outside of your native tongue, you are doing a billion times the work and deserve the credit for that!!!

i struggle to articulate myself in english, my native/dominant language, AND IT'S LITERALLY MY DAMN JOB AND FIELD OF WORK! so please, by all means, contribute online; and if you're worried about getting bashed for grammar or spelling (something native english speakers are usually worse at tbh) then i can at least promise a safe space here on my blog, because i will tear apart anyone who even THINKS about shaming you.

mwah, ily all and hopefully if i grind this week i can reset back to normal and be more fun with better content, but for now, LET'S APPRECIATE ALL OUR TALENTED MULTILINGUALS!

[orenonahaichigoda]

More non-Ichigo character thoughts. This time, Rukia.

Sleving the ones who are actually permanently children for whatever reason completely unexplained at least before the novels, haven’t been following the novels. Like the Digimon Adventure universe movies, the only other cartoon I like on its own merit and not because it’s tied to my cartoon-loving dad who died of racially motivated fetishistic abuse against Asians, the same which most fandom exhibits, the Bleach novels seem like they’re mostly there to justify the poor rush job that the epilogue was. Again, same as the Adventure epilogue. Just, the literal twelve-year old fans decided to hop on the family computer and type up some fix-it fic to post on their Geocities rather than the terrible-twos-esque temper tantrums we saw from some Bleach fans.

Anyway, so, you know, there was definitely a deep love between Renji and Rukia that appeared when Renji was fighting Ichigo, though not in the early stuff, because seat-of-pants writing. Been there, and I think anyone who’s written fic has.

However, not only do none of their interactions ever read as romantic, they don’t read as the same maturity level except for the early jail taunting bit.

Renji reads like a lot of his peers, except that his childhood as a street urchin haunts him especially hard.

Remember episode one? The first thing Rukia gets mad about ends with her claiming she’s ten times Ichigo’s age. When she binds him, she takes time to draw on his face before going to do her duty.

I just mentioned the whole problem of characters’ trajectories veering wildly onto a completely different road. Shoot, look at early Gin and end Gin. (Leaving aside early Orihime who wants to be a cyborg and wants to fight to protect Tatuki like Tatuki always protected her, and her veering into Nurse Nancy In Distress Orihime, which compounds sexism because yes, the work is sexist and all sorts of queerphobic. I really would’ve loved to see a follow-up on when she decides to destroy the Hogyoku, honestly)

However, Rukia… never really moves past or gets veered off the course of her early characterisation. Even her very sweet scene with Orihime in the early Arrancar arc—it frankly read *way* more like possibly shippy peer content between them.

There are totally adults that size—I’ve known white, black, and non-white European cis men under four foot nine and Rukia’s height and build is not at all uncommon for E/SE Asian women. Her and Momo both look like just short women, not the same as, say, Hiyori or Tousirou, who are clearly just perma-kids. The average Japanese woman is five foot two/157 or 158 cm, but that height and build is not uncommon. (And though mine was racially motivated because I’m Asian enough, furthermore, Japanese enough, Momo seriously needs more love—takes a DV survivor to know a DV survivor. Clearly Aizen has groomed probably even her sense of self out of her, and neither canon nor fandom is particularly kind to her. There is not much explicit about what went on between them, but I honestly see no other possible reading for her)

Just…Rukia doesn’t ever end up reading like someone who would make a good parent. Yes, the parents of all Bleach teens are absolutely dysfunctional—the adults in positions of authority over them in Karakura all are somehow. However, what little we see in the new SJ Bleach chapter, which I actually bought at my local Japanese language bookstore, so I’m going off the original in my native language, thankfully, they’re not just repeating the dysfunction. (Though I’m very curious why there does seem to be formal kinship terms despite the fact that Kubo unimaginatively rolled with current Japanese law—thank the LDP, America’s favourite—and Rukia married out instead of Renji marrying in, as evidenced by their name plaque at their door. Clearly, there is some Kuchiki influence in their family, though… scratching my head)

It’s another undeveloped, inexplicable thing, just, I mean, while the read I got was Orihime seeing Ichigo as her hero when abuse is on all sides, totally reasonable, and Ichigo seeing Nurse Nancy in Distress Orihime as a *responsibility,* and that is just never the underpinnings of a healthy relationship. I don’t even care if you’re talking a D/s relationship, you don’t start off on that foot and expect to last, at least there was *some something* going on?

Renji and Rukia just don’t read romantic, and furthermore, Rukia just doesn’t read mature enough to be a mother at all. Rukia looks like she could be in her twenties, but she acts like a teenager throughout. Any time she’s not in line of duty mode, she just acts like Ichigo’s age. So that development was absolutely a curveball.

(And “people can be born as ghosts” is just a whole another issue and posts. Artificial bodies being capable of reproduction resulting in living children? OK. Ghosts having ghost babies…? Stretching a little too far for my taste)

[dasphinxone]

Book of Nile: Cabin Fever WIP

Like, I need to SIT DOWN AND WRITE THIS OUT INSTEAD OF DOING SNIPPETS THO. I’m sorry y’all, I swear I’m writing a full fic of this. Please don’t kill me.

Booker wanders over and starts organizing the ingredients by type on the dark, marble top counter of the kitchen island. Spices are put together, other dry ingredients lined up. He takes out the carton of eggs from the fridge.

“How many eggs do you need?” he looks to Nile next to him.

“Just one,” comes her muffled voice from where she’s leaning over to take full stock of the lower shelves of the pantry.

He diverts his eyes from the sight of her lean legs and her behind clad in short sleeping shorts. Her braids are piled into a cute, messy bun on top of her head. She already has on one of the aprons she found hanging on a hook in the broom closet. How one of his heavily knit, grey cardigans hangs billowy off of her frame over her shorts and tank top sends his heart beating faster.

She’s always borrowing his clothes. Usually it’s his array of denim shirts or old t-shirts that she cuts down at the bottom to fit her. Yet something about seeing her using his sweater as a robe while baking for him? It screams domesticity.

Booker startles at the feel of Nile’s touch to his arm. “I’m thinking a gingerbread cake? Or cupcakes, if we have a muffin tin,” she frowns in contemplation. “Christmas is just around the corner and gingerbread cookies are so blasé, you know?”

His face lights up. “I think I can legitimately say that I have never had gingerbread in cake form.”

“You are definitely in for a treat!” she playfully taps him on the shoulder with a spatula she’s dug up. “It’ll go faster since Copley hooked this place up with the KitchenMade stand mixer to boot. Though you’re going to have to make a hard decision for me, Book.”

He can’t ever seem to say no to her. Not especially with that beautiful smile lighting up her face. For fuck’s sake, she’s wearing his sweater like she owns it.

He rapidly blinks away any fantasies of how incredible she would look wearing just the sweater by itself. The way it would cling to her curve. Teasing him with barely contained views of her beautifully dark, warm skin. Skin that would glisten with sweat after he’s fucked her up against the wall next to the fridge. Her legs wrapped around his waist and heels digging into his ass while she mercilessly tugs at his hair and calls out his real name. All after he’s balanced her on his shoulders while he’s on his knees, devouring her pussy like he’s on a mission to make her scream and forget anyone else who’s come before him…

Stop it, you fucking pervert! he scolds himself in his native language.

He rapidly drags a bar stool from the  counter to the kitchen island and settles in. Mostly so that she can’t see that he’s already half hard. His black sweatpants don’t hide much.

“What would you have of me, mademoiselle?” he bows his head with a flourish of his hand. When he looks back up, she’s beaming even more.

“Soooo, do you mind having your bagels dry or just with butter in the morning versus with cream cheese?” she holds up two packets of it.

Booker purposely curls his mouth in contemplation. “What do I have to gain from the absence of it on said bagel?”

“Cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes?” she pulls a muffin tin from the cabinet of the island and waves it at him.

Booker arches a brow and leans an elbow on the counter to rest his head in his hand. “Well,” he drawls out, “If you insist on spoiling me with cupcakes ma cher,” he sighs with supposed annoyance, “I guess I shall have to acquiesce.  You may proceed,” he waves in dismissal.

Of course, Nile sees how he’s barely holding in a laugh. “Frosting it is!” she declares. Leaning over the island, she brushes her lips to his stubbled cheek while patting his other one with her free hand. “I knew there was a reason why I love you.”

Booker freezes at her declaration as Nile spins back around to the opposite counter to start. She’s greasing the muffin tin, putting the paper cups into them, spraying those with cooking spray and beginning to hum to herself as she usually does when doing this sort of thing. She appears thoroughly unaffected by what she’s just said. Shimmying her shoulders, she asks if he can fire up one of her playlists from the cloud on his laptop. He’s always had access to her music account, so the request isn’t out of the ordinary.

He's glad he has the excuse to exit the area and go grab his laptop from the den. He’s in need of doing a few deep breathing exercises his various therapists over the years have taught him to do whenever he gets overwhelmed. Except it’s always for the bad sort of overwhelmed. Not a  “Oh my fucking God, this woman has just declared she loves me…except I don’t think she meant it in that sort of context? MERDE, I DON’T FUCKING KNOW.” 

Either way, Booker all but flees the kitchen.

Nile is glad of it. Because FUCK, she just said she loves him. And yeah, she meant it in a “After all of these decades of having your fine ass so devoted to me and watching my six at all times and sharing beds with you since we're the spares and you willingly helping me do my braids and twists installations for hours on end without being all white boy weird about it? I think I could love you for the near eternity we have together. Plus, I think you’re pretty damn capable of fucking ruining me in bed with your, uh, fucking.”

Nile plants her hands on the countertop and drops her head between her shoulders. Her heart is beating fast in her ears and her skin’s tingling. It’s not fear adrenaline coursing through her. Yet it’s also not quite the effervescent sort of high either. It’s all topsy-turvy, confusing feelings that she doesn’t like. Not because she’s afraid of emotions. More that she can’t sort them out at the damn moment. Combined with the fact that it’s just the two of them in this dream of a cabin? For these next few days to up to weeks, depending on the blizzard? That will be…interesting?

Or a fucking disaster where we end up hating each other but are stuck in the same rooms with no escape, she muses to herself.

She’s frozen to death a handful of times. It’s not a bad way to go; after the numbness sets in and you can’t feel your limbs, you just sort of drift off only to wake from death. However, literally catching one’s death of cold in the middle of a snowy storm in the forest would suck due to the lack of relief from dying over and over again. Sure, she could technically leave if things went horribly between them. Yet that would be a stupid as shit decision.

“Are you alright?”

Nile spins around to find Booker once again sitting on one of the barstools up against the opposite counter. Only now does she notice the music playing over the Bluetooth speakers of the small holo-TV mounted on a wall of the kitchen. It’s her favorite playlist, R&B from the 2010s when she grew up. No matter that the music is nearly 200 years old now, it wraps her in a warm aural blanket of comfort. Meanwhile, Booker looks non-plussed and focused on the screen of his laptop before he looks up  at her. His azure eyes full of concern, he scans around the kitchen.

“You sound like you’re having trouble with something.”

She swiftly plasters a wide smile on her face and stabs a finger down at the screen of her holotablet. “There’s a lot of steps of this recipe-”

“I’ll help,” he cuts her off while scrambling up from his chair, “Anything you need, you want, I can, I mean I will do it.”

I’d like for you to eat me out on your knees and fuck me up against one of these counters.

Nile swallows, trying to rid herself of the filthy thought. The thing is, he’s wearing this light blue Henley that’s so tight across his chest that it doesn’t look like he could close up the buttons of it even if he wanted to. There’s a teasing peek of dark blonde chest hair at the low V of the shirt’s neckline she’s struggling to not stare at. On top of that, he’s had the nerve to shove up the sleeves to reveal his forearms.

Instead, Nile closes her eyes and takes a few deep breathes. She hopes it comes off as annoyed with the recipe versus reigning in her self-control to not just jump him and climb him like a tree. 

“The recipe calls for making gingerbread men to use to decorate the cupcakes with, though it’s not necessary,” she breathes out. “Did you want to go the hard or easy route for this recipe?”

Booker grins, eyes meeting hers. “À la dure,” he drawls.

“The hard way?” Nile translates, hoping her breath doesn’t hitch. Is he doing some sort of double-entendre thing just to fuck with her?

He shrugs. “It’s not as though we don’t have the time.” Moving around the counter to saunter up to her side, he looks down at her holotablet. “You far outdo me when it comes to baking, but I think I can manage cookies.” He opens a new tab and searches for a gingerbread cookie recipe. Finding one, he quickly reads over it. “So long as you can ice them?” he holds up the tablet for her to take in the cute picture.

Nile slightly steps away from him. Mostly on account that he smells so good (fresh soap…is that a hint of his usual spicy, citrusy cologne?) and feels so warm with one of his arms flush to hers. “We don’t have cookie cutters here, but you can bake them round and we can ice faces or ornaments on them.”

“It’s a deal,” he holds out a hand to shake hers.

Looks like their project for this afternoon is set.

[gra-sonas]

Five favorite works in 2020

I wasn’t tagged, but it looked fun, so I’m gonna do it.

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (or so) favourite works you created in the past year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want.

1 - this Malex gif set with a quote from The Old Guard

2 - this edit of a Vlamburn pic Jeanine shared (the edit is even used as the profile pic of the official Malex playlist on Spotify, so that’s pretty cool!)

3 - A Kiss a Decade in the Making, 5K Malex fic. Alex and Michael are actors. They’re cast for the pilot of a TV show about aliens. They’ll play lovers on the show and have to figure out how to create chemistry in a kissing scene that implies they’ve loved each other for a decade (if this set-up sounds vaguely familiar, you’ve guessed correctly 🙃)

4 - Sweatpants Dick, 3K Malex fic. Ngl, I still think this is the best title for a fic I’ll ever come up with, you can’t imagine how much joy it gives me to receive AO3 notifications stating that XY left kudos on Sweatpants Dick. Yep, I’m 12 years old and this delights me. 

5 - The World will be Different and New, 7.6K Malex fic. My contribution for the Malex Secret Santa exchange. I really struggled writing this (note to self:  don’t sign up for fandom events with a deadline in the middle of a pandemic, your stress levels will be Through. The. Roof 😳) bc my muse is a fickle thing, but I finished it and I’m actually really rather happy with how it turned out. With Vlamis so adamant about making Dads!Malex happen, I even felt inspired to write more in this verse (Just a Couple of Dads Catching a Buzz, 1.2K), and depending on how things go, I might add more in the future.

I wrote a couple more Tumblr ficlets in 2020 (which I will move over to AO3 eventually, sorry that hasn’t happened yet, I’m old and slow and I forgot 🙈), they are all tagged my fic, so I’m not gonna list them separately. There’s some Belmanes in there, also a Michael Sanders ficlet (bc it’s truly the best of Malex AUs, thanks, Lynne!)

~*~

As you can see, I wasn’t overly creative this year. Roughly 20K of Malex is something others post in a month, but like I said, my muse is fickle and writing is hard.

I got recently inspired to write a new fic tho. That one would be longer and probably multi-chaptered (aaaah, why I doing this to myself???). I’m currently mapping the whole thing out - which I’ve never done before for any of my fics, I’m very much a *sits down and writes the damn thing in one go* kinda gal, but since this would be a. more complex story, planning is required to figure out what happens when. Exciting, I hope I’ll get to writing the fic eventually. 🤞

Regardless of my creative shortcomings in 2020, I’d like to thank everyone who’s supported any of my “original” (LOL, if you can call them that) works. Be it by liking/reblogging here on Tumblr, or leaving Kudos or a comment on AO3. I appreciate all the support so much, especially when it comes to my writing. 

As a non native English speaker, I tend to struggle with my writing (A Lot™, on top of the usual “omg this sucks, I can’t write a sentence to save my life 😩” woes comes the added pressure of writing in a language that’s not really my own, very much an imposter syndrome situation tbh), it means the world to me when I get positive feedback. 🥺❤️

Not tagging anyone bc I’m pretty sure everyone else already did this, but if you want to do it and haven’t been tagged yet, I’m tagging YOU specifically. 

[nekoannie-chan]

My Princess

Pairing: Dark! Steve Rogers X Reader

Word count: 3628 words.

Summary: What will Steve be able to do to have the person he loves with him?

Warnings: Obsession, stalker, non-con., kidnapping, physical and psychologic punishment, maybe torture, violence, abuse, death of characters (not explicit), if I miss a warning, please let me know. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, DON’T READ IT.

A/N: This is my entry to the @sherrybaby14 ‘s Sherry’s Reader-insert Smut Prompt Challenge! with the Steve Rogers’ prompt #9:

“Dark! Steve x Reader where he takes her and brings her to his mansion that he designed to be like a castle? And he calls her princess all the time and makes her dress like a princess”

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistake please let me know and I will correct it.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics be posted in other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don’t steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other’s people. The only exception is the ones I gifted ‘cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and is not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.  THIS ONE-SHOT IS +18

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Marvel’s characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

My other media where I publish: Wattpad, Ao3, ffnet. 

If you like it please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU’RE UNDER 18. 

Steve kissed your shoulder a little, the night before he had left you exhausted making love with him.

Seeing that you were not waking up, he got dressed and left without anyone looking at him, he had to go to supervise that everything was in order and finished.

Steve was overseeing how the mansion had turned out, he had asked for exaggerated discretion for the transaction, he did not want anyone to know of that property, he had made the design to look like a castle and he wanted his princess to feel like one.

He went in and began to check the closet, the princess dresses he had sent to make especially for you were already arranged there, he was sure that you were going to see very well with them. He did not even care how much he had to pay for them, he had also taken care of the design of each one of them, not only dresses but also nightgowns, slippers, tiaras, hair accessories, whatever he thought was necessary.

He put the last perfume he had taken from your room on the dresser, he had made sure to get the makeup you liked the most.

He smiled, he observed one of your photos he had on his cell phone, realizing the time he decided to leave, and he did not want to be late for training

“Where were you babe?” you asked to see he came in.

"I went for a walk," he replied.

You approached him to kiss him when the door opened and Tony entered.

“Am I interrupting something? Are you going to do something? Ah… of course I forgot that the Capipaleta is a virgin, “Tony scoffed.

“Stark! “You warned him.

Steve smiled internally, no one suspected what they had, they still thought he was so innocent, that would be very helpful for what he planned to do.

While you were with your friends, Steve sneaked into your room.

Everyone believed that you slept in separate rooms, but it was not so until now no one had discovered them.

It was the third time that Steve entered your room without your permission, he smiled with satisfaction when noticing that you hadn't noticed yet, he took one of the perfumes that you had in the dressing table.

He searched among your drawers, careful not to disturb anything, he took the set of underwear that he liked so much to wear; He stealthily left the place, he was always very careful so that no one discovered him, he could not arouse any suspicion.

If Steve was in love with you, according to him, who could not fall before your charm?

But he was also clear about something, no one could deny what he wanted, everyone adored him, he knew that girls could not resist his physique, he could take advantage of those advantages of his position.

He had taken advantage of that to convince you that you were in a relationship.

“You still don't agree that Y/N and Steve are dating, right?” Pietro asked.

"No," Wanda said.

“Y/N loves him, I don't see the problem.”

"There is something I do not like about all this, I would not like something to happen to Y/N" Wanda commented with concern.

Pietro made an awkward gesture.

"It's all his fault, Steve likes to have all that attention, he's obsessed with her, he doesn't want to leave her for a single moment alone," Wanda continued. 

Steve watched you while you slept, he couldn't help it, he seemed beautiful to him, and he took out his cell phone and took some photos, being careful not to wake up

"So beautiful looks like an angel," he thought.

He came out trying not to be noise, but he didn't realize that he threw your jewelry box on the floor.

Because of the noise, you woke up.

"Who's there?" You asked sleepily.

When there was no answer, you turned on the light of the nightstand someone or something had entered your room

You got up, covered your body with your robe, and went out, saw Steve in the hallway.

"Steve, did you see if anyone came out of my room?"

"No doll, shouldn't you be sleeping?" he replied trying to look calm.

"I already was, but someone threw away my jewelry box, by the way, what are you doing here?" Shouldn't you be on a mission?”

“I finished it earlier than expected, I was going to train, and I’m still not sleepy.”

You shrugged, there were not many explanations for what had happened to you.

"Maybe it was a Stark experiment or there are ghosts at the base," you determined.

Steve laughed upon hearing your deduction.

"Always such a creative doll."

"Well, I'll go back to sleep," you said with a bit of annoyance.

"Rest" he approached and I kissed you on the forehead

"Wanda, something strange happened last night," you commented.

“What?”

“Someone came into my bedroom while I was sleeping, I woke up when I heard the jewelry box fall.”

"Didn't you see who it was?" Wanda asked.

"No, there was nobody when I turned on the light apart some of my things are missing," you replied.

“What kind of things?”

“A perfume, some of my makeup, some accessories, and…”

“AND?”

"Clothes, even underwear," you said embarrassed.

"That's weird, don't you have a suspect?"

“No.”

"Steve!" Wanda called him.

He ignored her, she ran to catch up with him, seeing her in front of him stopped.

"Steve, what are your true intentions with Y/N?" Wanda asked.

"Y/N is my princess, so I don't think it's your concern."

"YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH Y/N!" She yelled at him.

"No Wanda, you are jealous of our relationship

"I'm not jealous, Y/N is my best friend and I care about her" Wanda said firmly.

"You're not going to separate us," Steve said.

Before she could answer, he was gone.

"I must find out before I tell her," Wanda said as she paced around the room.

"If you are so suspicious of him, you should read his mind," her twin suggested.

"I can't, it's I don't know ... I don't know what he's doing, but it's as if I can only read his superficial thoughts but not his true intentions."

"We must warn them, this can become dangerous."

Steve finished preparing, everything else was ready, the only thing missing was for you to receive the notification, so no one would suspect what was about to happen and when they realized it would be too late.

He was not going to allow anyone to interfere between him and his beloved, not even the consequences that it might have.

He sent the message, now he was going to look for you, obviously taking care that no one else saw them, especially Wanda.

You were walking through the corridors of the base when you met Steve.

"Why aren't you ready?" he asked.

“Ready for what?”

You were confused, you didn't remember having any plans.

"We have a mission," he informed you.

“What you mean? No, none notify me.”

You checked your mobile phone, there was the notification, and it had arrived just five minutes ago.

"Aren't the others going on a mission?"

"It's just the two of us," he clarified.

"I'm going to go to tell to Wanda so she doesn't worry," you said, turning around.

"Y/N, we have to go now."

He took you by the arm, you sighed.

"Okay, let's go."

You went on his motorcycle.

"You look good," he flattered you.

“Thanks.”

He stopped suddenly, they got off the motorcycle, and it looked like you had arrived at the place.

"Did they give you the information?"

“This”.

He gave you a few papers that he had taken out of his pocket. You started reading it, it seemed kind of routine so it shouldn't be difficult.

You started walking through a forest, Steve was guiding you until you reached the place

"It looks creepy," you commented.

You had a bad feeling, that place looked like a horror movie.

"There is nothing to fear, I will protect you," he assured you.

"What about Y/N?" Wanda asked.

"I don't know," Pietro replied.

"I haven't seen her," Nat said.

"Does anyone know where Steve is?" Tony asked.

“Oh no...”

"Is something wrong?" Nat asked.

You entered the place, agreed that it was better to separate to cover more terrain, and finish the mission faster.

You walked into a room, what you saw there left you frozen, one of the walls was full of photos of you, photos that you never remembered someone took you, some of them looked as if they had been taken in fragrant and your lost things were also there. Steve appeared behind you.

"Steve ... What ...?" What is this? ”You questioned as soon as you saw him.

"I didn't think you'd find it that soon," he replied.

"Steve, what does all this mean?"

Steve's face changed, a malevolent smile appeared on his face, and you swallowed out.

"Steve, honey, what does this mean?" Do I have a secret admirer or something? It's a joke?” You questioned.

Silence, for a moment it crossed your mind that this was a trap.

"Steve, let's go please, let's go back to the base," you asked, trying to stay calm.

"There is nothing to fear princess," he assured you.

"We have to go back to the base," you ordered, your voice faltering.

"You don't know how much I love you," he replied.

"I know you love me, but Steve is scaring me," you said as you turned to go to the door.

He was faster than you and closed the door with a lock so you could not escape, you tried to take out your weapon, but he took you by the arm, the struggled a little, he managed to make you throw it, with another movement he knocked you unconscious.

He took you to the castle, took off your clothes and put on the lilac princess dress that he had liked so much, he smiled with satisfaction, you looked just as you had imagined, he brushed your hair put on your tiara, and left you in the room.

Now he had to get rid of the communicators and anything that might indicate the location.

A few hours later you woke up, you blinked several times to adjust to the light, where you were lying was not your bed, it had tulle, it seemed like the beds of the princess stories you read when you were a girl; As you sat you saw the outfit you were wearing, you frowned, you have never seen those clothes before.

How did you get there?

And above all, why did you have a dress on?

You got up looking for your boots, but you only found matching shoes, you sighed, you had no choice but to put on a pair, you looked up and saw yourself in the mirror.

Was it some kind of joke?

You looked down at the dresser, there were almost all the things you were missing from your room, you covered your mouth with your hand.

Had someone taken the form of Steve and kidnapped you?

You looked for all the furniture and drawers for the communicator to ask for help, nothing was there, then your mobile phone was not there, none of your belongings that you had taken to the mission.

You saw the door, maybe there was someone on the other side waiting for you, you went to the window, it had bars inside and outside, you couldn't escape through there, you opened the door, it was rare that I didn't have a lock, you tried to open the others but if they were closed with insurance, all the windows in the hall also had bars, you tried to peek through one, it seemed that what you saw was the tower of a castle.

For a moment you thought you were in Transylvania, you walked up the stairs and down, you went to the main entrance and tried to open, it was impossible.

"You woke up princess at last," Steve said.

"Steven, what does this mean?" you asked.

He did not answer your question.

You came up annoyed and you slapped him, I was hoping that if he was someone with the appearance of your boyfriend maybe he would show his true face, but nothing changed more than his expression, now he felt a little annoyed.

Steve grabbed your wrist and dragged you to the table, you tried to get away without success.

"Let go of me, you hurt me," you complained.

"You have to eat," he ordered.

He forced you to sit down, you looked at the plate with food, you were not going to eat anything, but your stomach protested, so you had no other option, although you could not deny that the food was delicious.

"Let's dance princess," Steve said suddenly.

"I don't want to," you refused.

He pulled you hard to get up.

"I said we are going to dance."

He was guiding you, you were trying not to move, but it was practically impossible.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I love you and they want to separate us," he replied.

"Steve, let's go back to base, please," you asked.

"No princess, I will not allow anyone to separate us."

He tried to kiss you.

“Don’t!

You pushed him, took off your shoes, and started running all over the place trying to escape, all the doors were still closed, and he caught you.

"You are behaving very badly princess," he sentenced.

"Leave me!" You shouted.

He struggled and dragged you to the room where you woke up, you kept screaming, maybe if someone listened to you they could help you.

"Shout all you want, no one will listen to you, I built this castle especially for you," he explained.

"I don't care, I want to go back to base, I don't want to be here," you whimpered.

Steve looked hurt, he had done all that especially for you and you didn't appreciate it.

"You need a punishment," he sentenced.

He took out handcuffs and chained you to one of the bedposts.

"You will stay like this until tomorrow, I hope you think about your behavior princess."

You saw the clock, it was four o'clock in the afternoon, you screamed and cried until you fell asleep, you did not know where he had gone, you hoped that others would notice that they were not there and would look for you and find you, although you were not sure if they would believe you.

At seven the next morning, Steve came in, he saw you asleep, started kissing you.

"Time to wake up princess," he whispered in your ear.

"Steve, let's go back to the base please," you asked again.

"No princess, let's have breakfast," he refused.

He took you to the dining room, maybe it was best not to make him mad, but you probably wouldn't eat all day.

Then he decided it was time to take a bath, he entered the bathroom with you but not the tub, and he began to wash your body with the sponge.

"Steve, I can do it alone," you said calmly, you didn't want to alter it.

"I want to help you, princess," he replied.

It was awkward, yet you were at a noticeable disadvantage.

"Put this on," she said, giving you another dress.

“Don’t you have jeans or something? “You asked.

"I want you to dress appropriately princess."

You put on the light blue dress that you had reluctantly chosen under Steve's watchful eye.

“You like them? I had them made especially for you, “he commented.

“They are cute”.

He brushed your hair and then put on another tiara, you felt ridiculous dressing like this, and you looked away from the mirror.

"Like you, princess, you know, we are going to be very happy here," he assured you.

"Something must have happened to Steve and Y/N," Natasha said concerned.

"I'm sure Steve is guilty," said Wanda.

"Come on, I don't think Capsicle will be able to harm someone," Tony commented.

Wanda tried to call you unsuccessfully for the tenth time. After several more attempts, they managed to locate your mobile phone near a river.

Steve managed to send false leads, making others believe that here you were kidnapped by some enemy.

Again he had left you alone, but this time you were not handcuffed, you started to check the place looking for an escape.

As soon as you heard the castle door open, you ran, maybe you could escape, Steve threw you to the ground to get away so you got up and changed your strategy, you locked yourself in the room, he opened it easily since he had the keys.

You started throwing at him what you were hiring without importing if you broke or hit him, you wanted to keep him away from you and as soon as you had the opportunity you would go out the door.

He kept coming closer, he threw you against the bed and got on top of you, easily taking off your dress.

"No, no, what are you doing?" you asked, trying to pull him away from you without success.

"You need a lesson, I wanted to do things well, but you refuse to cooperate, then it will be otherwise," he said.

He started stroking your breasts roughly and sucking your body, you kept struggling and the tears started to come out of your eyes, previously Steve had never forced you into anything, but now he seemed not to care what you want.

He penetrated you without caring that you weren't ready, it hurt a lot.

“Stop!”

He covered your mouth with one of his hands as he continued, stopped until he came.

"We will get married and have many children," he said before leaving.

You did not know how much you were going to endure, but you were completely sure that you would find a way to escape.

Taking advantage that Steve was asleep, you hated that princess nightgown that forced you to sleep.

You didn't put on your sneakers, which would give you away, you carefully took the keys, and you knew Steve was smart, but anyone could make a mistake.

You held your breath, one wrong move and it could all end… it didn't sound like such a bad idea if you were sure he was going to kill you, but you knew it wouldn't, it was much worse.

You walked as fast as you could.

You opened the door and started running through the garden, you had no idea where the entrance was.

You didn't even care to feel the grass against your bare feet or the stones, you ran as fast as you could look for the exit.

You heard Steve's voice calling out to you behind you.

You entered the maze, there you could lose it and sneak away, and you hoped that the exit was the door if so, you would go to the nearest town to call Wanda.

You kept walking, sometimes you stopped when you thought you heard Steve close by.

It seemed endless, honestly, you had no idea where you were going, and suddenly Steve tackled you, knocking you to the ground.

"You did something very bad princess," he said between his teeth.

He carried you, you tried to get away, bit him, kicked him, however, he was stronger and taller than you, easily pinned you down, took you back inside the castle.

He tore your nightgown and put you in the tub, he carved you with great force.

"Steve, stop, you hurt me," you asked.

"You have been a very bad girl, princess," he repeated.

“You can have what you want, I can give you anything and still you're trying to escape”

He tied your hands to the headboard.

"You have me kidnapped!"

He slapped you so hard that tears came out of your eyes, he turned you so that you were face down.

“When princesses are bad, they should be taught a lesson.”

He took off his belt and hit your ass several times with it, at first you tried not to make any noise, but the pain was more so you ended up screaming, after a while, you weren't sure if it had been minutes or hours, but what that if you knew is that probably in a few days you could not sit down.

What were you going to do? You had no way out.

If you tried to run away again or something he did not like, he was surely going to do the same, if you did what he wanted even if it was against your wishes, you did not know where you had gone again, he refused to answer your questions, your body still hurt and you were hungry.

"My King, you returned," you said in a shaky voice.

"I see that you finally understood, princess," he congratulated you.

You looked away, you didn't know exactly how you should behave and you were terrified of doing something that would infuriate him, but you were determined to play along.

"I have something to show you," he commented.

He took your hand and led you to the living room showed you some photos.

You covered your face with your hands horrified to see the photos with the crime he had committed, Steve had murdered everyone, your friends too.

"Steve ... why?" You asked crying.

"No one is going to separate us," he assured you with a smile.

No one was going to save you, you would be trapped in that place for the rest of your life. 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

My biggest Pet peeve is SELF INSERT/READER stories. For example: Reader is a 22 year old college student, saw something with the established character e.g Sherlock, House or some other person, they must be flawed and started a relationship with them. There's a difference between a good original character and a reader. Even if the fic is real good I still can never read it. What's your biggest pet peeve , Steph? Thank you.

Hey Lovely!

Ah, well, it’s totally okay for you not to enjoy those fics, absolutely, though many do and they shouldn’t be shamed for it! <3 Sometimes, the escapism needs the readers themselves to be characters in a fantasy – I personally see those fics as no different than someone fantasizing themselves with a someone in their head. The only difference is that these fics are just aids for people who like that sort of thing to put themselves into a story.

And some people like to write that stuff, because it’s fun! I know the “mary sue self-insert” trope is often ridiculed, but it exists for a reason: people do enjoy them, and I don’t want to be a gatekeeper to anyone’s fun :P

THAT ALL SAID, you are also FULLY in your right to not enjoy those fics, and to call it a pet peeve, but I wouldn’t let it bother you, especially since you can easily avoid them! <3 You gave them a chance, and decided you didn’t like them. I did the same, but I’m going to promote any if any author ever wanted me to boost them, of course. I also don’t enjoy she1011ie fics other than friendship fics, but I don’t think I’d ever go so far as to say it’s a pet peeve. But I never get either of those because I’m a Johnlock blog, LOL. <3

My pet peeve, oddly enough, is the misuse of apostrophes in fics. It takes me RIGHT out of a story. I’m not going to go into it here, because I WILL go on a long tangent that I already have done, and I don’t want to again, LOL. The one that pulls me out the MOST is its vs it’s. My brain legit just STOPS when I see that apostrophe that shouldn’t be there because my inner autocorrect splits it’s to it is. Every. Single. TIME. I WISH I wasn’t this way, but I am, and it drives me bonkers. BUT that’s my problem to deal with; I know a lot of new and non-native English authors can’t get betas right away, and I know language is something a lot of neurodiverse people struggle with, so AGAIN, my issue. I know that even if you self-edit, it’s something that is missed easily, but the one my brain never seems to miss is it’s and its. 

So yeah, I’m neurotic, LOL.

[clarz-cc-archive]

answered May 12, 2020

Q: i keep thinking about your epithets tweet and it made me realize how differently english and my first language work! like, in my native language you have to find any possible way to be as little repetitive as possible (i think this works for english too?) when you’re writing, and this includes first names too! of course this is all based on very basic writing skills, i admit i’m not really sure how it works with books i should pay more attention to it but what they teach us in school is to make the writing flow and repetitions are the biggest sin you could commit. so, every time i find epithets in a fic i wonder if the author is a non-native english speaker? because i’ve seen a lot of english speaker fic writers complaining about epithets! is it condemned in school too or is it just common sense not to use them? i find this really fascinating!!

A: so in english at the high school level they actually teach you the same thing, there's a lot of emphasis put on not re-using words and on avoiding repetition, but it's not actually the case in most english literature? the reason it's taught like that in schools is to encourage students to use a larger vocabulary and to learn how to construct sentences in different ways, but i think it can be so pounded into students' heads so frequently that it ends up creating bad habits that make your writing more difficult to read. i personally rarely see epithets used in english literature except when a character doesn't know someone's name yet (if someone is a stranger, then it sounds perfectly fine to refer to them as "the tall man" or something similar.) i can't really explain why epithets sound so bad to me, but i get the impression that in other languages it's much more common to refer to people by only by a quality or job title, for example how in korean how it's fine to address your teacher solely as "Teacher," but in english if you were to try to get your teacher's attention by saying "Teacher" instead of their name that would be considered *extremely* rude. i think epithets in english imply distance in a way that's considered odd for someone who you know well, so it's acceptable in a situation where the characters aren't familiar with each other but it feels strangely formal and jarring for a situation where ppl already know each other's names and are friends (and then gets even stranger when those characters are, say, having sex! 😂) flow is also very important in english writing, but i think what a lot of people, especially when they are new to writing, tend not to realize is that there are a lot of words that our brains as native speakers don't necessarily register and will kind of glide right over, and maintaining that glide is actually, in my opinion, very important for maintaining flow. changing the words you use constantly will disrupt that flow because it requires the reader to pay more attention to every one of those words. when you just say "jungkook," the reader already knows who that is and can picture him, but when you say "the raven-haired," the reader has to pause for a second to be like "wait which one's that again?" and it makes the writing flow LESS well rather than more. personally, i think rhythm in english is more important to maintaining flow than variety of word choice is, so varying the length of sentences, using words that have similar sounds in them next to each other (especially in descriptions), and other poetic devices like that will have a much bigger impact on how easy and pleasant your writing is to read. i'd actually never thought about this being a feature of people's writing when they're not native english speakers, so this ask made me think a lot, thank you! if anyone else has input on this from other languages i'd love to hear your thoughts.

asks in response to this one: #1

[floraone]

Beta Appreciation Love!!

Confession time: I’m actually quite horrid to beta for, I’m pretty sure. I’m not a native speaker so sometimes my wording will sound off, and because my ADHD-leaning mind tends to do a lot more word-replacements things than would be usual, of the kind few grammar-checking technology will find (head/had/hat, heart/hard, you get the thing) and those are really HARD to check for, even on just the more superficial level, I’m a handful. And then I tend to drop WORDY 20k chunks of story on people all at once, or write a prequel to a disjointed story collection I wrote forever ago and be dependant on my beta STILL REMEMBERING WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, and also send it to them like 3 minutes before I want to post it especially when it’s a deadline because event or something.

So. I’m horrible to beta for. And yet I’ve been so fucking lucky in the beta game regardless. There have been a handful of people who, for one story or another, took time out of their busy schedules to do anything for me from downright whole-package professional editing (looking at you, @irritablevowel ) and all sorts of in-depth commentary regarding flow, impact, structuring of narrative (I tend to play puzzle with my plots, and ALWAYS need someone to check if it makes sense if my non-linear writing ass puts it all back together, enthusiastic cheerlieading of the kind that drives a writer to go on when they’re in a slump, and yes, being super vigilant in all the language aspects that I would need weeks for to spot sometimes, because my mind just tends to read what I want there to be, and not what is actually on the page. And man yes. Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. @irritablevowel, @tinacentury, @daikon1, and @idesofnovember . You’ve all done this for me. You’ve all OFFERED, which my imposter-syndrome ass who cannot ask for help for the life of me appreciates more than you will ever know. So yes, I thank you from my excited little flailing heart. You you made my stories so much better for your input. I’m a social person, and writing is a lonely hobby for an extrovert, and you provide me with a GIANT ingredient that make me keep doing it. I cannot thank you enough.

Ides, over the years you’ve been my go to for so much of this so many times, and since you were my idol in this fandom, it’s been a fucking honor. You’ve been such a great friend and such honest support, and I value you so much. Whenever I am in need of a beta, you are such fast, willing help, and please know I will never take that (or your friendship) for granted..

And then, of course, there’s you: @uglygreenjacket . You’ve been doing all that for me from my second story onwards. And you did it for me back when I was too nervous and felt too inexperienced and too unsure to ever burden anyone and steal their time like that. You were there and you offered over and over and you held my hand through the ebb and flow of all my OMFG THIS IS SO BORING THIS IS THE WORST I EVER WROTE freak-outs of which there were SO MANY and did it with so much patience, swiftness, and kindness. With you I knew there was someone in my corner. Someone I could chuck this at and not be too nervous to ask, or feel too guilty to ask. I always do anyway, as you know, because that’s who I am, but your grabby hands especially early on were a big part of the reason why I didn’t stop writing after Ikigai was first finished. You have so much more important priorities now, but wow do I want you to know how grateful I am for all the hours and hours of work you poured into me and my fics. You’re a gift in my life, love!  And you always will be!

Anyway. Beta-ing is a time-consuming thing and it’s DIFFERENT to comb over a story and check for irregularities, inconsistencies, flow and plot and humor and grammar, and it’s work you’ve all done for me just because you wanted to support me. And I love you all for that. With all the pink and sparkly power of my big, girly heart.

[solangelover]

AUctober: Day 2 - Pirates

Mermaid/Pirate AU

For @solangeloweek AUctober and to continue my AU!

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | --

Read on AO3 or FF.Net

A/N: You all loved this fic so much (and tbh I read it back and impressed myself lol), so I’ve been wanting to continue for a while! I had like half of this in MerMay, so I finally finished lol. I have a rough chaptered plan buuuut we’ll see!

Will could practically feel the nervous energy of his fellow shipmates right outside the infirmary door. They all tried looking casual, but he saw many people try to peek in through the tiny door window to get a glimpse of what was going on inside.

After all, no one ever thought they’d meet a mermaid.

Well, merman was the proper term (merboy?), but still. Merpeople existed. They’d seen a lot of crazy things out at sea, but they never actively sought out mythical creatures—those things usually came to them anyway. So, no one was surprised, per say, but everyone was definitely curious.

“Grover, Will,” Captain Percy began as he entered the room. “Talk to me.”

Will was finishing his preliminary check of the merboy—Nico, Will reminded himself—though his limited knowledge of merpeople anatomy and physiology was not enough to fully assess Nico’s condition. Grover had come to help at the captain’s request. He had a way with all kinds of creatures, animal or mythical, though usually the non-humanoid kind. He had not done much so far besides smile, but Nico seemed to be more at ease with significantly less people crowding around him.

“Captain,” Will began, still looking at his clipboard as he finished writing notes down. “I’ve just completed assessing Nico’s condition. I don’t know much about his kind, but Nico agreed to receiving more assistance and that he could help fill in knowledge gaps.”

“Oh!” Percy was pleasantly surprised at the merboy’s cooperation. He looked past Will toward the boy on the cot, no longer cooped up in a cage. He smiled at him, earning him a scowl in return.

Nothing fazed the fearless captain, however, as he addressed the merboy. “That’s great news! I hope our doctor here can heal most of your wounds. He’s pretty good at it.” Percy smirked as he cast his eyes toward his best friend. “I also hope Grover did something helpful. He’s probably the nicest person aboard this ship.”

Grover sputtered at the compliment, spitting out, “I didn’t do anything! I mean—I just—I’m just, here to help.” He rubbed his neck, slightly embarrassed as he smiled bashfully at Nico.

Nico nodded at the human. He did seem kind, in a different way from the golden-haired boy that was helping him. The first boy had darker-colored eyes, though not as dark as Nico’s own. But the second boy, the “doctor,” apparently, had bright eyes—the color of the ocean as light filtered in from above. They seemed to sparkle in the same way, too. That actually comforted Nico the most. Before, he would have lashed out and quickly made his escape back into the sea, just as he’d imagined doing on the other ship. But here, the boy with ocean-blue eyes made him feel… not safe, not yet, but safer than he’s felt in a while.

And, now that Nico was looking at the captain of this new ship, he noticed that his eyes were similar. If the doctor, Will, had eyes blue like the deeper parts of the ocean, the captain’s eyes were the color of shallower areas, with green hues mixed in with the blue. Again, it made him feel safe in a way that the cruel, pale blue eyes of his captor had not.

Still, Nico didn’t plan on staying for long. He believed these humans had good intentions, at least as far as healing him went. But beyond that… Nico wouldn’t stick around to find out what they planned to do with him.

Will was going on to say some things about Nico’s condition that Nico himself didn’t fully understand. While he had always been curious about the human language and hung around ships to understand some things, his vocabulary was limited.

“… Anyway, I think I should keep him here for a few days to be sure he heals up okay.” Nico’s head whipped up to stare at the back of Will’s head. A few days was… more than he had anticipated.

Percy nodded, glancing up when he saw Nico move. The bandages on Will’s arm were noticeable, especially considering that Will himself didn’t get hurt very often. Percy was wary of leaving him alone with the merboy. Though the scumbag they rescued him from was vile and cowardly, he might have had the creature locked up for a reason. But after his initial strike, Nico hadn’t moved to hurt anyone outside of scowling and glaring viciously. Plus, he trusted Will’s judgement.

Percy took a step toward the cot, not venturing too close but showing that he wasn’t afraid of the kid. “Nico, right?” The merboy nodded once. “Nico, I’m truly sorry that you were captured and hurt on that other ship, but on my ship, we’re all friendly. I’m sure you don’t trust us yet, and that’s totally fine and understandable. But please know that we will do whatever we can to help you out. After Will gives the ‘okay’ on your health, we’ll take you where you need to go. Got me?” Percy had no idea if Nico was fluent in their language or not, but he hoped his message got across properly.

Nico sat there for a moment, both surprised and suspicious at the man’s words. He stared into those sea-green eyes, coming to the conclusion that, at least for now, his words were genuine. Nico nodded once more, then cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he sounded out carefully, hoping that was the proper usage.

Percy smiled immediately, big and bright. “Okay!” He turned and clapped Grover and Will on the shoulder. “Will, I’m trusting you to fix up our friend, alright?”

“Aye, captain.”

“Grover, I could use your help relaying our situation to the rest of the crew. Tell Kayla and Austin to come in and give Will a hand as needed.”

“Aye Aye, captain.”

“And Nico,” Percy glanced back over his shoulder before heading out, locking eyes with the merboy once more. “Please be nice to the good doctor. He’s the best we’ve got.” And with that, the two friends stepped out and shut the door behind them.

Will swallowed nervously, glancing at Nico, who was still staring at the closed door. Though Grover had not done much, his presence did ease Will’s nerves and allowed him to focus on assessing Nico’s condition. Now that they were alone, however, Will really had time to process the fact that he was here, with a mermaid, acting as his healer. He just shook his head. What a life I have, is all he could think.

He cleared his throat, effectively gaining Nico’s attention as he whipped back towards him, dark eyes boring into Will’s own. “Um, so, your condition is… not great,” he began oh so eloquently. Nico nodded seriously anyway. “You appear to be malnourished, physically injured though not critically, and sleep-deprived. Um,” he glanced nervously at the merboy’s tail. “I also think you’re probably dehydrated if merpeople need more water than humans to survive. The overall condition of your tail doesn’t seem good, though obviously I don’t exactly have a frame of reference for that.”

Will waited as Nico processed his words. His understanding of English was pretty amazing since it obviously was not his native language, but he probably didn’t get to practice it much.

Nico spoke up, voice a bit rough due to disuse and dehydration. “I understand,” he said. “You are correct. My tail should be… lighter? Less… dark.” His face twisted in confusion, and maybe a bit of frustration, at his limited vocabulary.

The doctor hummed as he tried to understand what Nico meant. “Do you mean shiny? Like,” he tapped his chin in thought. “Kind of how the ocean looks when sunlight hits it?”

“Yes!” Nico exclaimed. He wasn’t quite smiling yet, but his eyes lit up at learning a new word. “Shiny,” he said experimentally, tasting the word on his tongue. Will did his best to tamp down his own grin at how pleased Nico looked in this moment.

“Okay,” Will said, making a note on his clipboard. “So, with all of that, I think it’s best if you stay with us for at least three days. There’s a lot of healing that needs to be done for me to feel comfortable sending you home. Octavian really did a number on you.” He frowned down at his notes, upset at how awfully his cousin treated this poor merboy. It was almost amazing that he could become even more disgraceful in Will’s eyes than he already was.

Nico took note of the way Will looked angry when discussing his treatment on the other ship. He did not think the anger was directed at him since Will had been nothing but helpful the entire time he had been here. But he couldn’t quite grasp why Will seemed so upset on Nico’s behalf. They didn’t even know each other—they weren’t even of the same species! Yet, somehow, the way that both the captain and doctor of this ship seemed to care for Nico’s wellbeing brought him a bit of comfort. Not that he trusted them—yet—but he knew genuine actions when he saw them.

Even with all of that, though…

“Three days?” Will’s head snapped up at Nico’s voice, like he had been lost in thought previously. “Is that needed? I can heal on my own.”

The blonde took in the stubborn pout that graced his patient’s face. On the other crew members, Will would have been annoyed. But with Nico… well, he couldn’t help but think it was kind of cute. “Three days is the minimum.” Cute or no, Will always drew the line at someone’s health. “Really, I’d rather keep you for longer, just in terms of your wellbeing. However,” his eyes softened, “I also want to be able to get you home as soon as possible. I’m not sure how long you’ve been away, but I’m sure you must at least miss being in the water.”

Nico glanced away from the kind eyes of the healer. He had not been home in some time, not just due to his capture. But that wasn’t for this human to know.

The merboy didn’t know what to say, but luckily, Will continued on. “So, if it’s okay with you, I would like to keep watch over you for three days to monitor your health so that you can make a full recovery. Is this acceptable?” He desperately hoped that Nico could trust him enough for that to happen. Honestly, the fact that Nico hadn’t put up much of a fight aside from the very beginning shocked Will completely. Perhaps Nico had had good experiences with humans prior to Octavian. That would explain his knowledge of the English language.

Will was also bursting with questions about Nico’s species, which he hoped to get answered over the course of the three days. Because how could he not?

After what felt like an hour of silence, Nico finally seemed to find what he was looking for in Will’s eyes. He nodded, more to himself than the doctor, and said, “Okay, I agree. One condition.” Nico pointed to the door without taking his eyes off Will. “Keep this door locked.”

“What?” Will cocked his head to the side in confusion. That’s probably the opposite of what he would have expected the merboy to want.

“Locked,” he said again, like Will didn’t understand. “I do not think you will harm me. But I do not know the other humans.”

Ah, that makes sense and is actually pretty smart thinking, Will thought as he nodded in understanding. “Understood. I’ll clear that with Percy and make sure it is always locked. I can leave a key in here as well, if that makes you more comfortable. I don’t want you to feel,” caged, he nearly said, “held against your will.”

This earned Will a tiny smile and a nod, which he counted as a major win for the day. “Okay then. That’s settled, so let’s continue on…”

 A/N: I’m going to cut this here. Next chapter will be the next day, or day one of the three days. (Who knows when that’ll be up—)

[hunxi-guilai]

Hello! As a non Chinese fan of MDZS / person who kinda maybe wants to write out a fic, do you know if there are any good resources for coming up with character names? Like I'm thinking of some OC characters but also I'd love a name for Madam Lan but idk, I do know you cant just smash random characters together based on the meaning of the characters because it'll mean a whole new thing but beyond that I'm lost and any help is greatly appreciated 🤗

ooooof I feel you anon, I’m not exactly in the same boat as you but I’m in like, the next boat over, about to jettison off the same waterfall

names are complicated, and especially in a language that is as homophonous as Chinese, it becomes a nightmare of unintentional puns and innuendos if you’re not careful. my name in Chinese is perfectly respectable, mildly poetic, and a pretty good match for my name in English, but it is homophonous with an entirely different binome which means “to forget.” It’s a great icebreaker, honestly

I guess there are two ways you could go about coming up with names: either going from meaning-to-sound, or sound-to-meaning (or tbh a combination of the two)

if you come up with the general sound of a character’s name before the characters, then you can look up characters to match the romanized sound and go from there

if you want to come up with the meaning of the name before the sound, then honestly, I might recommend downloading Pleco (a fantastic Chinese/English dictionary app) and straight up translating a name for your character. Pleco is really good about making related terms easy to search through, and if you put the two characters you’re considering for your OC’s name into the search box, it’ll tell you if you’ve made a pre-existing binome and its meaning, or define the characters separately

if you have minor/one-off characters that you just need to appear for one scene and never again, you can certainly get away with “surname + honorific” or just “job title” (like “张先生 Zhang-xiansheng / Mister Zhang” or “温大夫 Wen-daifu / Doctor Wen” or “老板娘 laobanniang / uh... okay, that literally translates as ‘boss lady’ but is generally used to speak to the female proprietor of an establishment like an inn or a restaurant).

of course, the best way to be sure is to run it by a native Chinese speaker, just to make sure you haven’t accidentally named your character after a Chinese meme or something. My knowledge of Chinese memes is, alas, limited to a single one

hope this helps! and if anyone else has any tips, I’d love to hear ‘em too, honestly