#I'm just that monothematic

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law and shreds of closeness part 3: Donquixote Family Edition

What can I say, I got struck with inspiration yet again, the thoughts just do not want to leave me. This time it will get dark. And it will hurt, so feel warned. I will take a closer look at Law's closeness to the Donquixote Family and also do a small case study of affection between Doffy and Cora and their dad as well, to get a fuller context. Main focus will be on physical affection, yet again.

So what do you think, did Law get support and affection from his "second family"? I would say, very little. But let's look at evidence:

We have verbal support from Doflamingo himself when Giolla and Buffalo start to fear to touch Law or to even stay in the same room after they learn he's sick. That's 1:0 for him, I'm sure Law appreciated and remembered it. In retrospection, it would have been better for him if he didn't.

Then we have Giolla and Machvise who handled him like he's an object. Giolla keeps touching Law on the head, probably not caring why he seems displeased with it. She's just reinforcing the trauma, but I think overall she means well, she just doesn't think much about it. Giolla also shows Law the most physical affection and I swear it feels like she's trying to make up for her initial reaction, she's just not going the right way about it, making it worse instead.

Meanwhile we have Doflamingo, who despite defending Law before, never touches him. And I mean, never ever. Doffy remains cold not only with Law though, which we will see in a moment.

And then we have Baby5. She feels sorry for Law and even cried for him when she heard the story of Flevance (not in Law's presence tho), but she herself is bad with affection and care, because she also never received much, it also doesn't help that she is genuinely scared of Law's angry glares. All she can do to show him she cares is to smack and scold him. And of course when she does smack him it's on the head, which only becomes a trauma trigger over and over again. Those two just completely miss each other by a mile.

That's it. No other Donquixote Family's member ever tried to show some care in front of Law. They train him of course, but would you count kicking and punching him as a positive experience? Yeah, I don't think so.

And let's not forget Corazon, who carried Law like a bag of potatoes (and threw him around) for a long time, even after he kidnapped him. The Trip to Hospitals All Around the World kinda made him become better, holding Law close, trying to make him smile, carrying him all the time and at one point he even begs Law: "please give me the chance to do things right, stay strong for 3 more weeks!". Doesn't change the fact the touches he did give Law at the beginning were brutalized forms of affection, and we can't really forget that fact: that's exactly how Law's trauma of being touched on the head even started in the first place.

He already trained for awhile, but he still failed in the confrontation, and I think it was because of the touch. Being pinned down made Law probably freeze and unable to move. But even after being saved by Doflamingo, Law doesn't even try to seek support in him, unlike Baby5. Here we can see Doflamingo is alright if someone seeks comfort in him, but he will not give it by himself. That makes Doflamingo-Law combo the worst possible match up, a person who will never give it first and a person who will never ask for it, no wonder things were always cold between them.

Thanks to the fight against Smoker in Punk Hazard we learn that Law managed to overcome his trauma of being pinned down to a significant degree, because he manages to escape on his own. This scene gets an extra focus in the manga (it takes like 5 different frames!) which further convinces me it's that siginifcant. Law probably trained himself not to get overwhelmed like that ever again. Still, I can't help but notice soon after this happened Law starts to have troubles breathing, which means it still didn't leave him unaffected. He pushes to finish the fight faster afterwards as well.

One of his trauma triggers is feeling helpless and being pinned down definitely counts for that. I don't think this started with Vergo, I would say it was already a thing after Flevance, when he had to discover more and more dead bodies of people dearest to him, unable to do anything about it.

Let's look at his symptoms thanks to which we can recognize he's going through a triggering situation. Visible shivering, heavy panting (to the point of weezing which makes me think it can even go as far as bordering on hyperventilation or the opposite - apnea). And then in the last image he just goes stiff which I interpret as him completely freezing up. Damn, that's actually a lot. It's very similar to Robin's trauma responses in Water 7.

You can also notice that Law clenches his fists and it seems to be a sign that he's struggling or forcing himself to be strong. He still does it *a lot* when he's an adult. I think it might have honestly became a habit. He does that just before a battle, in most stressful situations when he knows he can't show his emotions (or just doesn't want to), and well, if we go by the anime version, also when he leaves Wano with his own crew. Basically any time he makes a firm resolve or a hard decision, he also does that. I swear sometimes it feels like he struggles for half of the Dressrosa and Punk Hazard, which you know what, might be way too accurate.

Also bonus wholesome points for Luffy caring more to support Law and Muucy than caring for falling into water himself. I'm not sure how much that helped Law when he was dealing with a triggering situation, especially that unfortunate contact with the top of his head. I guess it's still better than similar situation but with Law completely alone.

This puts this scene into a completely new perspective, right? He's shivering here and definitely froze up, even his speech bubble looks distressed. He's not getting angry here, his trauma trigger kicked in. I did check if he ever shivers or freezes up when he tries to, for example, stop himself from feeling angry, but no, we never see that happen. I'm sorry for ruining the comedy :( tho to make it better, he's also shocked, because just moments before Strawhats feared him, and now they already don't and even laugh at him. Damn, I'm now so torn about this scene, I mean, Strawhats couldn't have known!

Now a promised closer look at Donquixote family's approach to closeness and touch. When they were still Celestial Dragons, they barely touched each other. No small touches on the back, hand holding or anything else you usually share with kids. The closeness starts only after they're all starting to be persecuted. First time we see Doffy holding his mom's hand is when they run away from their burning house. First time we are shown Homing hugging his kids is when village people are beating them up and he is just trying to cover them with his own body, so he takes the beating instead of his kids.

The last memory Rosinante has of his father is the hug. And the first memory he has of Sengoku is also a sort of half-hug. Might be why he got so attached to him.

Little Doflamingo and Rosinante are always together, but they never touch in any way. It's clearly Doffy who takes care of his younger brother, probably also telling him to toughen up.

Weird mocking touch on the head from Trebol. And like always, no one ever touches Doflamingo, not even his own officers, and that's true ever since Doffy was a child.

He even tells Trebol he's too close. Doffy doesn't want touches anymore, because it seems in his mind he understands them as someone protecting him, and he doesn't need protection. Ever since he killed Homing, Doffy took the role of being a head of the family and protecting Rosinante, so no more hugs or hand holding for him. In other words, Doflamingo associates physical affection with protection and incoming abuse. And whenever he touches someone it's exactly for that reason: to hurt them.

An interesting parallel because this happens in exactly same chapter: Law is trying to move away because Luffy's "too close". He even lets him take the transponder away and just stands there and waits. And you might wonder: what for? Is he hoping Luffy will give it back by himself?

No, it just took some extra time for Law to brace himself to touch Luffy and shove him to the side. Even though both Doffy's and Law's first instinct here is to move away, Law is struggling but actually tries to overcome it, contrary to Doffy, who seems content in his "no touching" comfort zone.

Let's take a look at Dressrosa now. Doffy is carrying Law by his clothes, Law is unconscious, but he will not touch him directly anyway. Cora-san used to do it as well at first to Law.

But then, you might ask, they fought so much in Dressrosa, surely some kind of touch had to happen as a result? I mean, most of them were indirect touches with Doffy's strings, kicking Law or stopping him by grabbing his sword. But you are right, exactly two touches do happen. You're not gonna like it.

This is literally the first time Doflamingo ever touched Law. To stop his attack he forcefully grabbed his hand. Law is shivering, this actually triggers him, and there's just no way Doflamingo doesn't know that, he can feel it.

And then he makes the full use of the situation. Doflamingo holds Law up in the air, but we can see by the onomatopeia that he's literally holding him up by his hand alone and Law is just freely dangling there, Doffy's not using any strings to immobilize him, not even armament haki. He doesn't even need to. Finally he gave Law the touch he must have been craving when he was a child from him, but it's not a caring one, and what's the next thing Doflamingo does to that hand he just touched? He cuts it off, ripping open the psychological wounds, making them deeper, perhaps hoping Law will never recover from them. Because that's the easiest way to control him later if he wishes to do so, to make him pliant, defenseless and unable to fight back and terrified. But also to punish him for the "rebellion" against him... but also to punish Law for his need and fear of touch. This is a lesson: never want affection, closeness or touch, you're never getting any. Unless it's this: abuse. And if you don't think this is terrible enough, let me remind you: this is their first touch *ever*, Law probably waited for it when he was a kid.

And Law is just hanging there, not even trying to move, and it lasts for like three or four pages long, and I remember when I reread this a couple of times, I was a bit puzzled. Why isn't Law struggling to release himself? Why is he just letting this happen? Especially when it's becoming very clear what Doflamingo is gonna do next. So I have my answer: Law froze up, it's his body shutting off on it's own and all he can do is to just be there and wait for it to be over. It's painful, because we know Law always struggles, always fights back, and he tries here, with words, but he can't do anything else and he just watches it happen.

And this is the second time Doflamingo touches him. It's after the Gamma Knife attack, Doffy knows what he's doing here, he chooses to make contact with Law's head/face (he must have noticed Law's discomfort to it before when Giolla often did it to Law as a kid, and now he utilized this knowledge). He tries to make Law freeze up so he can't finish his move and who knows, maybe that was the final factor of why Law failed to kill off Doflamingo.

To wrap things up, I will share the interesting parallel that I think can be drawn between two rather unexpected characters: Law and Boa.

Both Law and Boa are most comfortable around Bepo (and the snake in Boa's case). Both are victims of brutalized touch and lack of loving and caring one. But while Law fearfully accepts what's given to him, Boa rejects it (even symbolically by kicking fluffy animals away or refusing any show of affection like gifts). Both are touch starved, but Boa will never even try to touch Luffy, and the only time Luffy touched her was in that stealth mission in Impel Down (they didn't have the choice) and hugging her after she gave him the key to Ace's cuffs. Boa doesn't return the gesture, she is very flustered and falls to the ground afterwards, which reminds me a little of her later scene with Rayleigh. Not even Boa's own sisters are shown to share any sort of physical affection with her, Boa shows cold and manipulative attitude to almost everyone besides them. The only other person Boa ever touched was Rayleigh (she's on the ground here again) after he helped them fight off Blackbeard's assault on Amazon Lily and it might be a traumatic response: Blackbeard tried to strangle her after all. Boa's love is passionate and platonic, she shows her affection and caring with indirect gestures (food preparation, offering support and help etc.), probably because that's what she remembers others tried doing for her before. She can't even deal with intimacy face to face and Law also tends to act cold to very open displays of affection and emotions.

Big thanks to @tae-rambles for mentioning the scene with Boa that completely slipped my mind <3 added it in the edit!

[greypetrel]

WIP Wednesday

Starting it today because EURGH. I cut myself some time this Sunday to sketch because YES, as I lazily watched @diesvitae draw in live (Hi babu you're tagged). I've also written some but yeah. Drawing.

Some miscellaneous cullavellan sketch, because when it's stress and busy time I go back to the two dorks being dorks. In order: pose referenced at the Winter Palace. "Why hiring some professionals we can renovate the farm by ourself". A short sequence from one of the last prompts I got ( ao3 | tumblr ) . Sneak kisses are difficult if you're one metre and one tin can tall, congrats Cullen for the back ache.

Tagging, with no pressure: @salsedinepicta @ndostairlyrium @shivunin @pickelda @pinayelf @dungeons-and-dragon-age @cute-ellyna @chanafehs @inquisimer @dreadfutures @star--nymph and YOU READING! <3

[taniushka12]

I feel a bit bad spending time w/ my cousin and then w/ my aunt bc I clearly get along So much better w/ my aunt

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

iwtv fanfic friday!

i'm being lazy today, so no theme, just some of my favorite DM one shots from recent history/memory 🫶

the great poems cover their famished faces by sweetartheart

They are rarely about comfortable.

immediately post season two, perfect banter and perfect everything. i'm obsessed with the way this author writes them beyond speech, truly

warm-blooded by flowermasters

“I am nearly five hundred years old,” Armand said, his gaze cutting through Daniel. “A vampire, and a beta.” His lip curled in apparent disgust at one or both of these conditions. “You’ll forgive me if I thought the odds were slim.” Daniel stared at him for a moment. “Slim,” he said. “Not zero.” Armand looked back at him. “No,” he agreed. “Not zero.”

daniel is pregnant post the events of 2.5 and armand checks in. it's so good and i need infinitely more of it. if you haven't read this yet, get tf up. we're reading omegaverse this friday.

no glory in love, only the gore of our hearts by luminoussbeings aka @gaysie

“Hurry up and call an ambulance,” Daniel grits out. Armand sits up and pulls back, frowning. “But Daniel,” he says, all sly bewilderment and slick disdain, “Now why would we do that?” Or: Armand rides that old man so hard he gives him a heart attack. (Un)lucky for Daniel, Armand’s going to take care of him.

they are so sick and twisted and gross and good in this. like oh my god. i'm literally in awe of kath's mind 24/7. like this is SO GOOD

monothematic delusion by uvlights

No one has painted Armand in over 400 years.

tagged 'no plot just vibes,' which is like food to me. it's freaky and violent and really fucking sweet, capturing them perfectly.

[helenvader]

Last batch for today. Just like with S1, I'm starting out monothematic with my stills. It will stay like that for some time. :-))

BTW I was so disappointed in Halbrand when he didn't help the old man and just took the pouch. :-(

[lampost-in-winter]

OC Layers Meme

Tagged by @nananarc

I'm making this about the inquisitor because I'm monothematic like that ok

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE

Name: Shiral Lavellan

Eye Color: Dark green

Hair Style/Color: Either one braid, or an updo or ponytail adorned with little braids, or half down with braids to keep the front part off the face. She's just very into braids. Color: Undefinable shade of brown that's beginning to go grey.

Height: Idk whatever is a taller than the average modern elf but not as tall as Solas

Clothing Style: Depends on the context. For private special occasions, traditional Dalish clothing. For an event that they're attending as the Inquisitor, showy and shiny, usually following a Theme (dragon hunter is a favourite). For everyday activities, comfy, loose and layered. In any circunstances, they always has at least one visibly Dalish accesory (say a necklace or a belt). Color scheme may vary, but most often with green or orange as the central color.

Best Physical Feature: ass lips and eyebrows

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE

Fears: Losing her sense of self, contagious illnesses, the bloody Blight

Guilty Pleasure: Relishing the memory of how she felt tearing the qunari army apart as the anchor was killing her. The euphoria of being all-powerful and half-dead, with nothing to lose, is something that's she will never feel again. It's dangerous to linger there, but it happens anyways.

Biggest Pet Peeve: People who shit talk the elves, including other elves (this floated great in the early days of the Inquisition)

Ambition for the Future: Freedom for the People and some damn peace and quiet.

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS

First Thoughts Waking Up: "So many plans for today, how exciting! :D" "Spirits I have so much to do D:"

What They Think About the Most: How to improve the economic and political situation of the elves in Southern thedas. Her friends who are far away. Where she'd like to travel to when she gets a respite from obligations. Her world-destroying idiot.

What They Think About Before Bed: Yay Fade time!

What They Think Their Best Quality Is: Their ability to pretend they have their shit together and aren't big huge fraud their patience (had to grab them by the ear to get that one out)

LAYER FOUR: WHAT’S BETTER?

Single or Group Dates: Single (how are you going to built up THE ROMANCE in a group hang?)

To be Loved or Respected: Loved

Beauty or Brains: Brains. Beauty is for the mountains and the rivers, people are for conversation.

Dogs or Cats: Fennecs! (but if it's necessarily one or the other, dogs; nothing against cats though)

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?

Lie: Only if strictly necessary

Believe in Yourself: For surviving? Yes. For other stuff? It comes and goes.

Believe in Love: 💖YES💖

Want Someone: Yes. Someone kind. Romantic. Dashing. That doesn't try to tie them down and that exposes them to new experiences. 10.000 years old, apprently, didn't see that one coming

LAYER SIX: HAVE YOU EVER?

Been on Stage: Yes. When she was younger, she would sneak off her clan to go to a human city and mess around with the local theater scene, managed to go up on the stage as a tertiary character a couple of times (that phase ended badly, but that's a story for another time)

Done Drugs: Only elfroot

Changed Who You Were to Fit In: *hysterical laugh* yes

LAYER SEVEN: WHAT’S THEIR…

Favourite colours: Green and orange

Favourite animal: Fennecs and halla

Favourite book: The Song of the Hero of Ferelden (an epic poem based on the adventures of the Hero of Ferelden during the Fifth Blight by an anonymous author, personal edition relunctantly but lovingly illustrated by Solas)

Favourite game: Wicked grace

LAYER EIGHT: AGE

DOB: 9:10 Dragon

How Old Will You Be: "That’s not for me to decide, but as long as there’s love left, I want to remain as well"

Age You Lost Your Virginity: 16

Does Age Matter: In the battlefield yes, unfortunately, but she makes up for it with stubborness

LAYER NINE: FINISH THE SENTENCE

I love: the open horizon, the next place to get to, the beauty along the way

I feel: tired but hopeful

I hide: self-doubt

I miss: keeper Deshanna's vegetable stew

I wish: to get a hug, that'd be nice

Tagging @galacticsparkles and @crimsonphantasmagoria

[respocked]

For some reason I keep on getting these blogs in my reccomended which only post various pictures or Romulans. Like just various Trek show Romulans usually with some somehow bot-seeming caption. But sometimes just like blogs that only post Romulans with no captions. There was one human-seeming one which had a similarly robotic style and their post involved scenarios like a character going somewhere and the person they expected is actually a Romulan. And like usually when a tumblr post is oddly monothematic it means that the things they post is a fetish but I don't think Romulans existing fully clothes is a particularly scandalizing topic. And like I'm not going to post pictures bc I think that would be bullying and it's not like being a trekkie in general isn't somewhat nerdy in the first place. But like. What's up with the Romulans

[schizodiaries]

hi! i saw the ask about delusions vs ideas of reference and hope it's okay if i give some input. i have cotard's and genuinely know (not believe) that i'm dead. i am chronically ill and diabetic meaning i have to do daily medical upkeep, but even that does not dissuade the undeniable knowing down to my bones. i can double bookkeep to an extent when it comes to how i refer to myself in general conversation, doing the medical stuff, still eating, etc, but no proof that i am alive will convince me of that. i will think its fake, or the tests fucked up, or they dont know how to read the results of a dead man thats still talking to them, or theyre lying. i wonder if people with these consistent monothematic delusions can sometimes present as having that insight (or believing proof even when we dont) just because we know others won't believe us? or because it's necessary to present as "normal", so our double bookkeeping can come across as groundedness or insight into the "fact" that our delusion(s) dont line up with general reality? i hope this makes sense eheh

Hi there, thank you for sharing your experiences with cotard’s syndrome. From what I could gather it’s a rare and not fully understood disorder so it’s very enlightening to hear from the perspective of someone who has it.

When it comes to insight and double bookkeeping, I think a lot of the time, things get lost in translation between the person experiencing the delusions, and whoever is observing them. The observer may think the delusional person has more insight than they do because they act “normal” about it, when in actuality they might just be hiding their delusions or found a way to appear more grounded than they are.

I can recall a time in the hospital when I gained insight into one of my delusions, and in my next meeting with the psychiatrist, I told him I had “lied” about the delusion. (This isn’t really the case. People experiencing delusions aren’t lying about them. I just felt guilty that I said something I later realized wasn’t true, even if I didn’t know it was a false belief at the time.) The psychiatrist knew not to blame me as I was psychotic and experiencing delusions, but I later read in his notes that this insight was sign that the psychotic episode was reaching its end. Thats where I first learned about the term “insight.”

[dolceminerva97]

Hello hello !!! I'm just dropping by to say that I read your tweet/post (? I can't really remember which now dhjffj) about having had Tina for 10 or so years now and still making content for her and Arthur and how much it all still made you happy, and it really helped to reassure me that I can just slow down and do things at my own pace, and do what makes me happy. This probably doesn't mean much hshfjg but yeah !!! I struggle a lot with anxiety over wanting to be validated so seeing someone who has inspired me for so long be so happy doing their own thing is really, really nice 😭💖 Muchas gracias por compartir a Tina y Arthur con nosotros, y por ser una inspiración para mí todo este tiempo. Les deseo mucha suerte en todos sus proyectos 🫶💖💖

Thank you omg this couldn't come at a better time, I'm turning 26 on June 25th and I've been obsessed with them since I was 13 which means I've dedicated 50% of my life to having them live rent-free on my mind. I'm so Not Normal about them it's embarrassing 😭

I struggle with a lot of self-consciousness for the content of my art and how monothematic I can be while everyone else comes and goes from different fandoms and multiple interests, but ultimately I've learned to be openly loving of my craft and that's what keeps me going. It gets lonely when you're the only one making the art you want to enjoy, but getting to share it with a few friends and lovely followers who support me and knowing that I can inspire someone else to do the same is a big motivation factor to me!! So thank you so much for stopping by and telling me how you feel ♥♥ You might think your words don't mean much but they absolutely make an impact!

[miirabel]

It's all my fault! My undying love for my brother will be the end of this glorious beast!

[paprikaries]

Hey are you on TikTok? I think I've seen your art there.

Hi! No, I'm not! If you saw some of my drawings there, I suppose this means someone just took it. I've got only Instagram and twitter (also DA but my nickname is a bit different and my profile is a bit monothematic). (I hope it's not a fake profile and also that they linked the original source at least! 👀) Thanks for asking, btw! I definetly should create my own tik-tok!

[okimargarvez]

CUDDLE AND HOT CHOCOLATE

Original title: Cuddle and hot chocolate.

Prompt: winter is coming.

Warning: slight smut.

Genre: romantic, smut.

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: oneshot, part 98 of 365 pills of Garvez canon life. 

Legend: 💑😈. Song mentioned: none.

GARVEZ STORIES

CUDDLE AND HOT CHOCOLATE

-Winter is my favorite season.- Penelope exclaims, snuggling closer to the man's chest. She arranges her blanket so that not a single toe of her toes is outside it.

-But you said the same thing about autumn...- Luke points out to her, with the usual amused tone for having caught her. -And technically it won't be winter until the 21st.- he reminds her, even more pleased. She jumps, under the blanket, but she doesn't separate from him, because she would risk letting out the little heat accumulated and then, then, because she's very comfortable.

-Oh, but you always have to specify and argue about everything I say?- she asks him, meditating on how to take revenge without compromising her position.

-Obviously, because I like making you exasperate.- he replies, grinning precisely because he knows she can't get away from him. -And anyway it's the truth, you said, two months ago, that you adored autumn because the streets are filled with colors and the rain creates an atmosphere…- he quotes her directly, only avoiding making quotation marks in the air, because his hands stay perfectly where they are, one on her thigh, and the other moving on her ribs. -And now you're repeating the same thing, but with snow.- he giggles.

-What a stupid, I wanted to make a hot chocolate and drink it on the couch cuddling up to you.- Penelope finds the strength to stand up, sacrificing comfort and warmth, just to see him feel bad. She voluntarily shakes her ass, heading towards the kitchen, aware that she has catalysed all of his attention. -And instead, nothing!- she turns towards him and finds him a few inches away, on the doorstep.

-Hey, no, come on, Pen, I was just kidding, I love winter too.- he reaches out and grabs her hands, then starts stroking her everywhere, in that delicate way but bold enough to make her dizzy. He presses her against the table, until she lies on top of her and kisses every exposed part of her body, which, since it's almost winter, corresponds to her neck, wrists, face, and her ankles.

-Why?- she incredibly manages to ask him, even if she has to hold back more than a gasp.

-Because you're always cold and you're all over me at all times looking for warmth.- he tells her, not ceasing to torture her. It almost seems that she is the beautiful prisoner tied on the sacrificial altar.

-It's not true at all!- she protests, wriggling to free himself, or rather, to deepen the game. The surface of the table certainly isn't hot, but when Luke is so close to her, it's hard to feel cold; it seems to her that every part of her body is on fire.

But it's just an impression, and he seems to want to remind her. -Oh no? Feel your feet.- he takes off her hairy pink slippers with unicorns on them. She's getting a bit monothematic. -It looks like you kept them in the freezer.- she fears that he might tickle her there, so she pushes him away by using this very part as a weapon, and sitting up.

-It's normal, almost all women have frozen feet and hands.- she points out to him, trying to recover her slippers. He takes her around the waist and helps her, almost in a ballet move. Penelope even bows to him.

-And what am I to you?- he asks her, following her body with his eyes. -A stove?- she turns to laugh at him.

-No, plus a bathroom heater.- Luke runs his tongue over his lips and nods.

-Where are you going?- he watches her go towards the stove.

-I want to make chocolate. You don't deserve it, but I'm going to have to pay you somehow.- she turns once more to give him a wink, then she really concentrates on the difficult task. Since both have no cooking skill, there is little to joke about.

-Hey, I'm fine with payments in kind too.- he runs his hands up her back, brushes her hair back to get a better view of her neck.

-Stupid!- she scolds him, with an extremely sweet tone. She manages to complete the operation successfully. -Here.- she pours the contents of each saucepan into the appropriate cup: one in the shape of an octopus, pink, that he gave her to compensate for the one that, she is absolutely convinced, Monty stole from her, and one completely black, with the Ranger symbol above.

-Oh, Pen, it's dark chocolate.- he realizes, almost feeling his emotion rise. That's what makes her amazing, her attention to detail, and not just with him. She makes every person she meets along the way special because she never forgets that there is someone in front of her.

-Of course.- she smiles at him softly, stroking his arm. -Smell mine.- she puts it directly under his nose and Luke frowns, disgusted.

-Chili pepper. I don't know how you can drink something like that.- he pushes it away and even shivers.

-I'm the one who doesn't understand how a Latin like you doesn't like spicy things.- she teases him, carrying both cups into the living room. -I'll talk about it with your grandmother, the next time we go to visit her.- she places them on the coffee table and sits down on the sofa.

-Perfect.- he reaches her promptly. - Now she got Whatsapp. Why don't you text her there?- Penelope beams, clapping her hands in appreciation.

-You gave me an idea.- she exclaims, giggling, looking for her cell phone. But Luke's hand stops her before she can.

-I was joking!- he can already imagine them, her and his grandmother, making fun of him every second, exchanging voice messages about his latest bullshit.

-Oh, Luke, you're so funny when you worry!- she grabs him by face and gives a big kiss on his lips. -But now shut up, the movie is starting.- they get back in position, she settles her legs completely under the blanket, leans against him and grabs the cup.

-What are you talking about?- he asks, taking his cup without unbalancing her.

-What's it about?- he asks her, taking his cup without unbalancing her.

-It's about Christmas.- she answers him, as if this were enough to clarify everything.

He waits for a while, thinking she'll add details. -Yes, but what is the plot?- he asks at the end. Penelope doesn't take her eyes off the screen.

-I don't know, it's about Christmas and this seems to me a sufficient criterion to decide to watch a movie.- Luke bursts out laughing, puts down his cup and strokes her shoulder.

-Oh, honey.- he tries to kiss her, but she pushes him away.

-Remember that even the Grinch changes his mind at the end of the movie.- she points out.

-But I'm much more incorruptible and stronger than him.- she looks at him just to understand if he's serious.

-As you like, now, shut up.- it's an order, not a suggestion.

An hour later, she remembers that she has a boyfriend. -So? Don't tell me you didn't like it.- she says.

-Yes, nice, nothing special. The usual Christmas movie.- he doesn't want to give her any satisfaction. -You do it on purpose to make me angry. Well, Mr. Green, you won't succeed.-

[hell-heron]

2022 Fic Year Wrap Up

Number of fics: 20! (Thanks, battleship)

Number of unique fandoms: 5 (ASOIAF, Romeo and Juliet, War and Peace, Six of crows, Hunger Games)

Number of unique pairings: 11, not counting gen for my sanity

Gen: 10 Het: 3 M/M: 4 F/F: 2 Poly: 1

G: 5 (though kinda questioning a couple of these now I'm not frantically placing them for Battleship purposes D:) T: 12 M: 2 E: 1

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted? More (fucking Battleship)

Where did you publish/archive your stories? AO3 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Tyrion/Sansa surprised me this year and is apparently here to stay despite it having absolutely 0 place in the current fandom climate, I love it so much

Did you take any writing risks this year? Well I started a WIP without having finished like a fucking dumass lmao. Also this was a bit of a risk for dynamics of the exchange reasons

Do you have any writing goals for the new year? Just finish the fucking longfic. Also I still haven't unbanned myself from yuletide oops

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. Okay, no more referencing I know my kingdom awaits from now on or we'd be getting monothematic. A godswood with no gods still makes me deliriously happy

Okay, NOW your most popular story? sunset in her hair

Story of yours most underappreciated by the universe, in your opinion? I wanna say a godswood with no gods again but and tomorrow brings them true literally got dragged on meme possibly by the recip so.

Story that could have been better? Probably rose of may is the one that most suffered from battleship-related half assing.

Most fun story to write? cold, vile, dishonorable even as, much like nobody is interested in seeing a 13 year old girl commit murder suicide nobody is interested in seeing a 14 year old boy murder his best friend then go to jail, curious!

Story with single sweetest moment? depths filled with struggle and strife! Theon gets hugs time!

The story that made you cry? Yeah I feel creatures lark below the deck maybe

Sexiest story? Negotiations. Miss this trio of fuckpeople so much

Hardest story to write? without a sudden calm will overset

Easiest story to write? Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves. It's all modernized Shakespeare lol

Story you haven’t yet written, but intend to There's going to be an Asha complementary story to without a sudden calm. Someday. Maybe

[beevean]

its not even a question, just wanted to say thank you for your CoD posts - they make me so happy i wait for them like a dog waits for its owner

oh???????

i may be sobbing thank you so much 🥺 I'm always a bit afraid that i might be annoying or that people aren't interested in my posts because I'm monothematic and I've been focusing on a not-so-popular game for months now, so yeah you made me really happy yourself <3

[sherlock-is-ace]

My mom is hilarious, she just got upset for the stupidest and most homophobic reason lol The conversation went like this:

her: i don't like when gay writers put gay characters in all their works, like that's a little too monothematic don't you think?

me: i just find it funny because when straight people put straight characters in all their works nobody bats an eye

her (getting upset): well because that's been like that for centuries

me: exactly my point, that's monothematic lol

And she left all offended ahdna I'm sorry for being right wtf? Lol

[arywizm]

Hi!

For the Book Recs Ask Game: 9, 14, 43, and 60.

P.S. Good luck studying for your test! I’ll be wishing you luck across cyberspace. <3

thank you! German has never been my forte but we will see XD

9. your favourite book of 2020

I spent last year mostly rereading my favourite classics therefore I don't know much about 2020 releases, so I'm going to take this as 'favourite book read in 2020'

I think I'm going to go with Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky, I love old, nihilistic si-fi and this is one of my favourites. we are all so self-centered that most such novels are revolving around the concept of aliens being somehow absorbed with our existence, attacking earth, trying to make contact... and Strugatsky is just like: "yeah but what if they didn't care? what if they stopped by because it was convenient and left shortly after?"

14. a book that made you trip on literary acid

Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut, the dichotomy between the tone and the content is so strong here, and by rights it shouldn't work at all but somehow it does. It's been months since I read it and I'm still amazed

43. a book that you have read more than three times

The Book Thief because it's a masterpiece, Ender's Game because it's my comfort book (an odd choice, I know) and Master Thaddeus, or the Last Foray in Lithuania (...) because literature theory competitions in Poland are incredibly monothematic.

60. a book that you think about at 3am

These Violent Delights (the one by Micah Nemerever) and A Little Life, both are books that I loved, but also ones that really impacted me emotionally and so I am unsure whether I can take a reread XD

so I'm left thinking about them in the middle of the night