#Just appreciate someone's fan work for what it is; please don't compare it to someone else's

[astro-b-o-y-d]

Hey so, this is a fun little message to ANY fandom out there; if your fanbase has a specific well-known fic in the fandom, please please PLEASE do not compare smaller, lesser-know fics to that fic or go 'Hey, this reminds me of [x fic]!'

Even if the well-known fic is REALLY good and it's meant to be a compliment, I CANNOT emphasize how much this will make the writer of the lesser-known fic feel INCREDIBLY bad about themselves and their own writing. Like, what's the point in continuing THEIR work if that other fic is already so good?

Yeah, yeah, two cakes and all that, but when your cake is constantly being compared to someone else's and that other cake is constantly heralded as the best cake in the bakery, why bother trying to keep baking?

[kairiscorner]

ok but like it's canon in the comics that miguel's not as good at tech compared to biology. so imagine...

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

lyla was apparently resetting herself and would be unresponsive for a few hours, but it seemed he had no choice. coming from the future, he has little clue about how technology in the 20th century was supposed to work, but luckily, you were a natural at using 20th century technology! unluckily, miguel was too prideful to ask you for any help. the rest of the society had decided to resort to cell phones to contact each other for the time being, though it wasn't as great as the watches, it was at least useful for something. however, only one person remained to be clueless about these cell phones, and ironically, it's the guy from the future, miguel o'hara himself.

he had asked jess and peter b how to use a phone, but they, unsurprisingly, only know how to use it when someone calls--they don't even know how to facetime properly. he asked ben to help him since he classified as 'part of the youth', but his explanation was full of onomatopoeias and edgy narrating that miguel was totally lost. you approached miguel as he was practically snarling at his phone's screen, not being used to calling an AI assistant who wasn't lyla to fetch him information on the anomalies you all were monitoring, but the only search results siri gave him were the definition of anomaly and earth-1218 search results from fan pages.

"hey mig." you greeted him as miguel sighed and tried to compose himself. "how are you holding up?" you asked him, knowing full well he was losing his mind over the countless notifications he was getting from his chats from peter b that were all just pictures of mayday and his keyboard mashing over how cute his daughter was. "i'm barely holding on, to be honest." he said as he forcefully scrolled on the screen, which ended up in it being scuffed and scratched on by his talons.

"puta." he muttered as he looked at the now scratched screen. you took the phone from his hands and asked him what he was going to do, with him explaining he just wanted to dismiss the incessant notifications from peter b. you set his phone on a 'do not disturb' mode and shut off his notifications from peter b in an instant. "that's all you have to do, really." you explained as you handed the phone back to him, with his eyes following yours as you smiled up at him. "ah, thank you." he said as he took his reading glasses and tried to read a text that came his way. "congratulations, you have won a 100,000 dollars. email this contact to claim your reward... but i didn't do anything?" he remarked aloud, confused. "oh, that's spam. just ignore it, delete i--" he was calling the fucking number.

"hello? yeah, i didn't play any game. you texted me about a prize i didn't win, i think you have the wrong number. ...what do you mean i have to email you? just forward the message to the right individual. ...no, i'm not gonna email you, we're talking right now! look, i don't even want your prize, i make more than six figures a month. ...what do you mean you need my credit card information? hijo de puta, i'm not the guy you're looking for!" miguel screamed into the phone as he spoke to the scammer. you wanted to tell him to drop the call, but seeing him scare the scammer had made you want to watch this unfold. he was screaming curse words in spanish and repeating how he doesn't need any prizes from these hacks.

"on second thought, always call the number." you murmured to him as he angrily put the phone down. "shocking idiots, is the 20th century full of guys who can't double check numbers and force you to email them when you're already talking to them over the phone?" he asked you as you nodded slowly with a slight grin. miguel shook his head as he checked the progress on lyla's update. "17 more hours of this madness." he groaned as he buried his face in his palms. "well, you can always go on... i don't know, tiktok?" "no. we're stuck on earth 1218's internet, i've been warned by peter b it's a scary place i should never visit." "i wonder why..." you muttered as you avoided his gaze and smirked.

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @binibinileonara @fiannee @luvstarrstruck @popeheywardssecretgf @arachnoia @melovetitties @ophanimgold

[brights-place]

Hey🙏 idk if you write for Delta Dawn but if you do could you write Delta Dawn x Rock Troll Reader? thank u if you do and have a good day/afternoon/night!

Delta Dawn X Rock! S/O

A/N: Thank you for the request like always!! also NGl delta is soooo cool Im not a big fan of country but I love her character and her design!! Did your boots stop workin did your truck break down? MY BAD MY BAD

Pairings: Delta Dawn X Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Delta speaking in tongues aka country slang - When she first met you she judged you fast for being a rock troll but you were... different for some reason well to her at least - As a Rock Troll you had always been tolerant and accepting of differences of other trolls appreciating the diversity that came with the various music styles and cultures even before the rock world tour - Your laid-back personality and rockin attuitde always contrasted well with others mostly with Delta who was always having a sassy attitude and being a southern lover like she was - Though delta loved you either way southern or not cause she always see's you constantly complimenting her showering her with praise and appreciation whenever you got the chance as she does the same - Teaches you country slang as you stare at her with the msot bewildered look like she just spoke in a foreign tongue - You two would rock out together well you would rock out as she would just play her usual country music creating country rock - Both of you smiling at each other sweetly and lovingly as delta would always kiss your cheek when your both done playing as you stared at her with a lovesick gaze giggling. - "Don't be scare bumpkin'! My precious (name) is one of the best in town and you won't find someone like them! Their like a needle in a hay stack, they are!" Delta smiled softly "And I was the lucky one to find that needle" - She would ask about rock trolls and you would ask about country trolls seeing what you two could compare and learn from the other - You asked about delta and all about country trolls whenever you were wondering and she explained some common values and beliefs often associated with Western societies include individualism, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech, equality, and a strong emphasis on personal and economic freedom and you stared at her in awe as she tuned her banjo - When she heard you say "So Its hillbilly music?" literally you had to run away as she chased you around with a lasso - Delta would sometimes glare at you frustrated with your laid-back attitude stating how you didn't take things as seriously as she did as She would be annoyed and playfully smack your arm or rolling her eyes as you smile at her sweetly - watching her play her banjo is always so fun! finding her fingers dancing across the strings mesmerizing. - But you struggled to keep up when she played country music, and her attempts to teach you country slang often left you bewildered all the time as you stare "Delta I love you... but what the glowing glitter sparkles are you talking about?" Delta raised a brow at what you said "Branch taught me some pop troll curses" - She would often try to make you wear a cowboy hat or other Southern-style accessories no matter how ridiculous you thought they looked as she argued how she let you dress her up as a rock troll once which you whined at her - Whenever you two practiced music together, it often turned into a playful battle of rock vs. country which was always fun - Delta loves her crazy chotic and laid back rock troll partner with her whole heart and she would always love you

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact!

[joyce-stick]

The Beef Stroganoff Song! (arbitrary subtitle discourse edition)

So, you may have noticed here that the subtitles in this clip (from Symphogear GX episode 3) are fairly different from what you're used to seeing when people post this video, and the phrasing in the subtitles is fairly different from what the associated memes often say

For those who don't know, Symphogear got itself released on blu-ray by Discotek, and with that came with a new translation authored by Noelle (@ulsairi on twitter ) who is notable for being the only trans lesbian anime translator I know of off the top of my head.

Her translation appears, in my opinion, really rather polished and very good, and I strongly appreciate the way it's written and how much character it adds to the dialogue by giving everyone distinct voices and adapting things into more natural English. It's also a fair bit gayer. I haven't encountered many people who've seen these subs, but I think most fans of the series would consider these a net positive change. There are some people who are mad about these subtitles, and they can die mad.

Anyway, let's talk about the different phrasing of the beef stroganoff song. I'm mostly going to compare to Crunchyroll's subtitles for reference since that seems to be what most others go off of. Here's a link to that version.

So right off the bat we can see here that while CR's translation appears to be a lot more, for lack of a better word, functional, Noelle's translation tries to apply more dialectal force "it's beef stroganoff/Yes! It's THAT beef stroganoff!" And generally communicate through the tone how excited the girls are to get started. Additionally you'll see throughout that the latter is a fair bit more lyrical, there's a lot more punctuation and verbal tics and filler phrases written into the dialogue to express that they are singing, which makes sense since Japanese tends to omit a lot of the sorts of prepositions that Noelle threw in here,

Like, Yumi (yes I went and looked up her name on the wiki) just says "beef stroganoffu" because it's obvious from context that it is beef stroganoff, she doesn't need to spell it out, at least, not in Japanese

(We know like maybe ten hiragana and 1 kanji do not trust us on Japanese this is all just basic shit we learned from online guides)

So this probably leads to a rushed translator from Crunchyroll (they are notoriously crunched for time) who's just trying to Get It Done probably not really bothering to throw in extra additional connecting letters to express the tone of the character, only doing so when it's required to make basic grammatical sense in the target language. So they likely didn't think to make the subtitles have flourishes like this that aren't explicitly in the original Japanese. Noelle meanwhile had the time to consider things like this and take such liberties in order to attempt to convey the same tone that was arguably implied by the Japanese, even if not explicitly put forth

And that's about all the things I should not repeat I guess, TL;DR, these subtitles are more fun to read because the translator had more time to think about the best way to make them more fun while still being accurate to the spirit of the original dialogue, who'd have thought!

(In case you're wondering, the Commie subtitles say kind of the same thing here, and y'know, it doesn't seem like a wrong translation, but also I really dislike this subtitle styling, orange on pink with that font and that drop shadow is just kinda bad. I appreciate the effort but like. Come on. Please fansubbers, please think about if the font and colors you chose actually work with the image you're putting them on)

Moving on!

horizontal and middle rhyme with each other so you can almost actually sing this, actually let me take a moment to try it right now- never mind, I can't sing. Hahaha. I don't actually think it lines up that well with the melody But I thought it did! Didn't I? That's significant, that this actually reads like plausible lyrics to a silly song someone made up instead of a literal translation of a Japanese song

Anyway, here comes the first major difference!

So in the Crunchyroll subtitles, Yumi says "it doesn't have to be beef" which in English (in my estimation) sounds a tad scatterbrained, like, "oh yeah sure beef but whatever really it doesn't actually matter," while Noelle's subtitles rather say "Got no beef? Don't you worry!" Which implies something different.

"It is recommended to use beef, but you may substitute something else if you are sorely lacking in beef" as opposed to "Oh the beef doesn't actually matter, zoinks lol!" CR's translation is kind of a bit funnier in how it sorta comes from nowhere without this qualification, which probably lead to this phrase's memeticness, but Noelle's translation seems more reasonable to me so yeah again, tada, yay for sensicalness.

Now here's another interesting change:

Again, the flat manner in which the CR subtitles say "finish with salt" with rendezvous only being included because that's literally what they said, is sort of absent any stronger emotional implication,

Noelle's translation meanwhile going with "don't forget them, they need it" imparts personhood upon the salt and pepper. The implication being that the girls are saying, "the salt and pepper are in love, please reunite them, they must be in gay love together." Or maybe you think the salt and pepper cannot be forgotten and must be reunited because they are Only Friends.

Whether you choose to believe that this is the salt and pepper getting married, or merely subtext, or an interpretation, or salt and pepper shipping bait, this is a deeply important tonal indicator because it reminds you that these girls are ultimately playing with their food!

"And there, now you're in for a treat!" I don't think I need to explain this one.

Now, here's an interesting one!

In the Crunchyroll subtitles, it just says the memetic "boys don't know this." With no context, no elaboration, no clarity, no qualifiers. Boys don't know. Did the boys magically get their brains wiped? Are the boys biologically incapable? Who knows. Nothing is said but that.

Noelle's subtitles, on the other hand, qualify this statement by saying "Boys aren't taught to cook, so they may not know" (And note again how, it says "kno-ow" to emphasize, once more, that they're singing, and also this lines up with the long "ooooo" sound they make at the end of this lyric, so cool)

There is now context! Boys aren't taught to cook! Anime and Japan's culture in general still pigeonholes people into gender roles! And an anime translator just wrote you a hidden translation note about it! You might be a boy, you might know how to cook, but certain boys in another part of the world aren't traditionally taught cooking, so they may not know

They may not, but they could!

Trust a trans person to express gender facts with subtle nuances like this in anime translations.

And with that lovely bit of good translation and good writing and good localization of a thing to make it make sense to people

Mew!

[sweetkpopmusings]

wonwoo best friend headcanons <3

a/n: posting this for the sweet anon who requested it ! my heart is warmed by the love y'all have for these posts, and it's even more warmed by thoughts of being besties with wonwoo because his existence is so heartwarming :,-) pics not mine <33

content: fluff | wc: 0.8k | warnings: none! | pairing: bestfriend!wonwoo x gn!reader | requests: open

he's the chill kind of best friend who makes your life so much more enjoyable just by being in it

your friendship with him is steady beyond belief

and you bring out the best in each other!!

while it may take him some time to get to know you because he's a quiet and shy guy, once he does, you get to see a different side of him compared to most people

for one, he's SO funny and he's ALWAYS cracking jokes

like he figures out your kind of humor and makes jokes in that style because he loves seeing you laugh

tbh he just loves seeing you happy and enjoying life

so he wants to get to know the things you like and partake in any and all activities you do for fun

but he always asks before doing something with you because he respects that we sometimes want to keep certain things as a solo activity :,-) he's SO respectful :,-)

when you do share things with him, he is ALL. IN.

you want to rewatch your favorite childhood tv show? he's coming over to watch it with you, and, when he's unable to come over, he'll watch episodes on his breaks and text you his reactions

he really appreciates you opening up any part of your life to him, so he treats it with the utmost care

and you do the same for him! because you also know how lucky you are to have a wonderful person sharing the things they love with you

regardless of whether you game, he will teach you how to play whatever he's into at the moment, and he'll give encouraging commentary while you learn

once you're getting better, he'll probably start to make jokes like oh, are you really gonna do THAT? interesting choice there, pal

cut to you both playing the same game for hours on end and you get so emotionally invested you both are yelling at the game and/or each other in excitement or defeat (depending on how well you're doing)

his little bookworm heart will recommend books to you out of his favorites, but he'll curate them to what you like or what he thinks you'll like <3

same with games, movies, food, etc.

he asks a lot of questions about you, your likes, your dislikes, and any trivia about you

because he's genuinely interested!!! he thinks it's so cool he gets to know someone like you <3

like he's the type of person who will ask you "what's your favorite color?" when you've both just been sitting in the same room on your phones in silence for hours someone give me quality time with wonwoo please i'm begging you

he also tells you things about himself that he doesn't share with others

he trusts you so so much and he shows he's grateful to you by giving you special parts of him

sometimes he'll text you in the morning when he wakes up from a strange dream just to tell you about it

he really values what you think, on big and small things

which is why he'll come to you if he's struggling with something, feeling low, stressed out, etc

because he knows you'll listen to all his thoughts and concerns and you'll also take the time to work through things with him

and he is the same when it comes to consoling you. he wants you to live the best life you possibly can, and he's going to do everything in his power to help you to achieve that!

he's just such a sweetheart

but don't get me wrong

with all the things he knows about you, he will use it to tease you when he's in the right mood

i can see him teasing his bestie (you) the way he messes with hoshi sometimes like he won't let you live but it's coming from a place of love lmao

if you aren't a fan of teasing, he of course won't do it, but it's really just a way for him to be playful with you :,-)

i think he'd give silly little gifts too

for your birthday, he'll buy you a trinket that represents something in your friendship

it's heartfelt, but it also makes you laugh ! like he really gave you a small snail lamp because you both had a phase where you obsessed over snails and sent cute cartoon drawings of them back and forth

omg or he gets you a lil fun fact book on something you both like so you can share weird fun facts with him every time you meet up for coffee/food and he'll pretend as though he hasn't read a bunch of them already

all in all, friendship with wonwoo is filled with intention. he's an extremely thoughtful best friend down to the tiniest details because he values you so very much <3

*cries in loving wonwoo* brb gotta go pray to the universe that i can have a wonwoo in my life

[ipleadbritney]

ipleadbritney f1 fanfic masterlist

check the title hashtags for more info!!!

🗣️ you know (it kinda makes me laugh)

Lando/Oscar, T, 1.6K multiple povs, 5+1 fic, williams + mclaren chaos

Somewhere between Mr. Piastri and Oscuh, or a name holds meanings and Oscar's name is one of Lando's favorite ways to communicate. Outsiders’ perspectives on the McLaren duo.

🥞 got love-struck, went straight to my head

Lando/Oscar, T, 11K mutual pining, lando crushes hard

Maybe Lando will pull a Carlos in the future, crash into Oscar's new teammate every chance he gets. Lando has no idea how whipped he is for Oscar. Won't even admit he is whipped. Bear with him, please.

🧑🏻‍❤️‍🧑🏽 no proof, not much (but you saw enough)

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.5K magical realism

A soul bond is like any other type of magic; you can buy it in a bottle. Or, to be more precise, you can manufacture it. Oscar and Lando are accused of having an illegal soul bond.

💜 oscar piastri's guide to breaking the internet

Lando/Oscar, T, 4.5K prema boys, sharing clothes

Featuring: a challenge on who will break the internet the fastest, Prema boys, Oscar's confusion, long-distance phone calls, being young, stealing hoodies, and Lando's weirdly helpful antics.

📱 love you, bye

Lando/Oscar, T, 1.7K social media au, relationship reveal

𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 | 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 ‘𝟮𝟰 @quadrantnondriverau the video won't load for me i’m getting fomo please someone describe it for me what is happening > 𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗮 @childofdivorce644 lando was streaming and someone called him. we don't know who's on the other line but lando ended the call with “i love you, bye” 

🏡for keeps

Lando/Oscar, T, 8.7K spy au, domestic, unreliable narrator

“I had some compelling evidence and you just laughed in my face.” “You can't call Seb wearing a turtleneck ‘compelling evidence’, Lando.” Lando and Oscar's neighbours are international spies, or so Lando tells Oscar. They're just two normal guys, though. Just Lando-and-Oscar.

👻h(a)unted you down Lando/Oscar, T, 3.9K magical realism, ghosts, pining

“Are you sure you're haunted?” A laugh rings out beside Lando. He didn't hear the joke, but he knows the punchline. “Yes,” Lando answers. Or, there's a ghost named Osc that haunts the halls of MTC. Only Lando can see him.

🚪 just to be mean

Max F/Oscar, Lando/Oscar, T, 2.1K max f pov, jealousy

From the outside looking in (which isn't the best perspective to judge from, Max admits), Lando and Oscar communicate exclusively via race data and high-pitched giggles. Oscar has this way of laughing that's funnier than the actual joke. Max would know because, well, because Max used to be the one who cracked the jokes.

📸 scenes from a social media admin

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.7k smau, pr!lando, crack

> 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘃𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 @birthdaybars is your job hard? >> 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 @lnorris Sure it is! But nothing compared to the work in the factory and at the track. I’m usually just at the side >>> 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘃𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 @birthdaybars ADMIN DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOURSELF DOWN FAN INTERACTIONS KEEP THE LIGHTS ON AT MTC >>>> 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 @lnorris haha don't think that's how it works but appreciate it!

👀 jealousy⁴

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.9K jealousy lol

Oscar said something about Arthur, half-asleep. Oscar never said anything about Max. That can't be possible. Or, jealousy can take many forms. Lando Norris encounters four of them.

😘 three-sixteenths

Lando/Oscar, T, 4.3K magical realism, kiss curses

Lando's cursed and has to kiss someone Italian. Good thing Oscar Piastri is his teammate.

[sneezemonster15]

I'd give you an analysis, but frankly from what I've seen from your own "analysis" you're not very good at reading

also if you'd be so kind to tag this as mha spoilers, or screenshot this ask and put it under a read more so i dont spoil anyone who's interested in reading mha. it'd be greatly appreciated

(also thanks for getting rid of anon, this time i will include pics !)

anyway, this is the "straight dude who is having a typical cutesy high school het romance with a girl in a taken for granted het world." you're talking about;

also i wont lie, calling mha a het world when these are real dialogue is highkey stupid:

and i know the topic at hand is s/n/s and bk/dk but lets pivot to tg/chk bc theyre more relevant to what im saying

theres a lot to say but honestly, the manga speaks for itself :)

oh and also, you're right, bk/dk has no romantic subtext - it has romantic text. no subtlety needed! :) that is, if you have read the manga - my favourite example is this:

and then shgrk then proceeds to kill bkg, who "dies" (sort of) thinking about izuku in his final moments:

and then izk loses control when he sees bkg "dead" on the ground

and these are from recent chapters! imagine the rest of the series, ey

well! that got long. i'd tackle your crappy assessment of deku's character, but then I'd be here all day!

anyways, if i were you, I'd reread mha and really really understand the text you're reading. you might end up seeing something you missed at first!

Aiyyo someone got triggered! Hehehe. Ah it was inevitable that the moment I talked about MHA and rejected shippy head canons from the show, some delusional hardcore shipper would get all up in arms. Sigh.

You think what you wrote is analysis? Hehehe.

So just some random panels and chapter covers from the manga prove Bakugou or Deku is gay? Lol. I have seen fans like you in Naruto fandom as well. But you are right, I am not as invested in MHA, because it just doesn't have the versatility and genius of Naruto and Shippuden, it is actually quite a straightforward story and I don't need to burn a lot of my braincells to 'get it'. Lol. I am not saying it's bad, but as compared to its contemporary mangas, it just isn't at par for my tastes. It's good for entertainment but it doesn't affect me like other mangas that it takes inspiration from. Some silly shipper telling me I can't read, I would tell you my credentials but nah, too much work for disproving silly ass headcanons.

Fans make comparisons between Naruto and BNHA because Horikoshi is inspired by Kishimoto, definitely some similarities are there, but it misses on the most crucial point. Naruto and Shippuden are love stories. BNHA is simply your typical shounen manga. Naruto and Shippuden use the narrative tool of subversion to tell a love story in the restrictive genre of shounen. It has multiple layers and you need presence of mind to see them. Naruto is gay and you see comphet in his character, his interest in Sakura looks superficial from the beginning and then in kage arc, it is concluded as a mere cover to run from confronting his dilemma, and closetedness. His character is consistently shown as having an internal fight, a dilemma. Sasuke is just on your face, he is clearly shown as having no interest in women, but with Naruto he is especially intimate on his own accord. Ya know, using random panels ain't gonna help, you need to establish it in the narrative. Headcanons are all nice to entertain when that's all you watch media for, shipping. But please to be showing more maturity and media comprehension when sending me an ask, I am not very sympathetic to gaslighters whose heads are filled with shippy shit and cheap self gratification. When I talk Naruto, I make comparisons with other clearly gay media, and point out the common tropes, it's a result of expansive research. Not just random panels that prove nothing. Little one, you need more than that to prove your theories. I have watched a wide range of media, including gay media, your ask is just representative of your ignorance and lack of knowledge about how storytelling and character building works. Heh. Or do you think BNHA has its own concept of homosexuality, its own private language that cannot be compared with how other media establishes homosexuality in a given universe? Yeah, solipsistic ideas like that cannot be taken seriously.

Conformity is one of the pillars Japanese society is built upon, so it's not surprising that Japanese media talks upon how anything that doesn't conform to the norms is rejected. Their media is representative of their society. Mha also touches upon that and there's no surprises there, but again, you need more than that to prove it in the course of plot building and narrative. Some random out of context panel about some character saying something about conformity proves your point? You need to SHOW it and not just tell. But where other mangas, great mangas, popular and critically well acclaimed mangas have explored this idea in detail, MHA is just touch and go. It doesn't entertain a balanced proper discourse on it. It is truly shounen in that sense. Again, I am not saying it is bad, it is just more age appropriate. Which is totally fine. Do you know how heteronormativity is established in the narrative? Like this. Show me where this happens in MHA. Lol. Sweetheart, if the writer had made any attempt to write this world as heteronormative, where gay characters face challenges, I would have seen it. But mha is just not that deep. Sorry to burst your bubble. But that's just a fact.

Seriously, you are going to give me the example of Toga? I haven't gone through the recent chapters yet. I have only watched the anime. But it is clear that, that girl is medically insane. Her idea of liking someone is to kill that person and drink their blood, for her own pleasure. She ain't a homosexual, more like hemosexual. Hahaha. Again, you gotta show me the trajectory of her character, start with the base and show me how it escalates, how does she learn better about herself, her own feelings, the world from her perspective. No character is isolated, any writer who is talented enough to write multimillion franchise knows that. Don't project your assumptions on the story and the characters, work with what you have and draw the meaning from what's given, not the other way round.

There is no doubt Izuku and Bakugou have a strong relationship, even if it is mostly rivalry. But one can see that Bakugou cares about Deku and vice versa. Before telling me how to read, perhaps you should have done it yourself. Lol, I see this type of behaviour a lot from typical silly shippy shippers. "What, did you just say my ship makes no sense? 🤬"

Read.

Do you even know what subtext or text is? Hahah. This is text and subtext. So just because Bakugou and Deku talk about their rivalry in their vulnerable moments, that the audience knows as congruent since we have already seen they have a hot and cold relationship but that they are friends nonetheless, that proves they love each other romantically? You obviously don't know how romance tropes work. The dynamic between two men who respect and admire each other is always shown with a lot of empathy in Japanese media. It is one of the founding pillars of shounen, a genre meant for teenaged boys. They are certainly closer to each other than they are with women they are interested in, but a lot of fans such as yourself misinterpret it as romantic, because headcanon goggles. No, you gotta have more than that. Where Naruto and Shippuden have it in truckloads, none of that in BNHA. Deku is heterosexual af. If he is so interested in Bakugou, how come he reacts the way he reacts to Uraraka? Where is his conflict? Where is his dilemma? His affection and romantic interest in Uraraka is genuine and sincere, not a cover to hide his more private feelings. Unlike in Naruto's case. Kishi uses clever narrative tricks and tools to tell his love story in shounen and he does it skillfully. His motives and intentions are clear as water. He uses inventive smokescreens and red herrings to escape from being too controversial and colour inside the borders of shounen, nothing like that in BNHA. To begin with, Horikoshi doesn't even delve into the sexualities of his characters, because his story is not about that. There's no context, no set up, nothing. His worldbuilding is simply conventional, by which I mean heteronormative, there's no talk about sexual orientation of characters. You see the usual shounen perviness by Mineta and Kaminari and typical straight girls going kawaai over good looking boys like Todoroki, what impression does that give? If Horikoshi wanted to establish his characters being gay, he would have set up the context mindfully and carefully, like Kishi did. Gay relationships and characters can't be shown so explicitly in shounen as that would jeopardize its distribution in the west. Reason? Censorship. That's why Kishi had to be so careful, his target audience might not get it, but the adults do. Well, unbiased adults do, at the very least. So the boys in bnha are gay just because? Because you want them to be? Storytelling and character building doesn't work like that.

Seriously everything you think works as 'analysis' isn't even valid. I honestly didn't even want to respond to this ask, given it's so surface level and ridiculously simple minded. Perhaps you are a tween or teen who thinks every time two boys or girls smile at each other or rescue each other, they are gay and in love. Lol, watch gay media. Like actually watch it and see where your arguments stand in the scheme of things. I will tell you, nowhere. Juvenile kiddy stuff. I won't entertain anymore asks like these, they are a waste of my time.

[cutiedwaekki]

Ok so I have a fic request if you’re interested! Basically Changbin is already really fat, and he’s with someone (whoever in skz you want it to be), and so his own lazy habits rub off on them, and they start eating more too. The person is in denial of their weight gain at first, especially as they’re skinnier than Changbin. Eventually though, they like getting fatter, especially as Changbin appreciates both of their growing bellies.

Ok thank you for hearing me out. Please write this, thank you 😌

basically, the fact that this was a request for a fic from you and that it included Changbin was a too good a thing to refuse to write 🤭

I think the last time I wrote so fast for a fic was a long time ago.

So for the pairing i go for a Seungbin because I think it's an underestimated pairing but above all it's my favorite 😌

I hope you like what I wrote ♡

ARE YOU HUNGRY ?

- "Hyung ... that's a lot of food isn't it?" Asked then Seungmin confused

- "What do you mean? I barely ordered a bit more than usual"

If "a bit more than usual" meant a dozen takeaway bags full of fast food instead of eight bags then yes it was more than usual.

-Hyung you know it's not healthy, I don't care what you do with your health but don't complain if you can't get out of bed without me" teased then the puppy like before sitting down next to him.

Changbin chuckled before putting his arm around his alant's shoulders and adding "You always say that, but you'd really like to see me at your mercy".

-"I just love your curves hyung that's different" he said without showing indifference while his hands they rested on his imposing belly to rub it

-"I'm sorry but this is more than curve" he interrupted him amused

-"What ? So you want me to say how much i love your fat ? You want to hear me saying how it drives me crazy hm ?"finally retorted the puppy with a smirk before snatching a languorous kiss from his lover

So as their Netflix and chill night was about to begin!

Oh, but let's introduce you to the couple.

On one side, Kim Seungmin works for a finance company. With his sarcastic nature and dark humor, he hid his devilish side behind his cute puppy dog looks that made everyone fall over. and he's also the number one fan of Changbin's body since day 1

He was of average height and very slim, so slim that you'd be thinking he was a model!

On the other side, Seo Changbin, his boyfriend of over 6 months, music producer for the JYP label and member of the trio 3RACHA who co-produced various music together, was his opposite, he might look imposing and frightening from the outside, but deep down he was a a melting marshmallow who could barely be spoken to.

Compared to Seungmin, he was small but above all big... really big! It was said that he should weigh between 130 and 150 kilos, but the brunette wasn't used to weighing himself. He was confident in his own body and love so much food to compromise

As you can see, Changbin was fat from a very early age, the son of a very well-to-do family. As he grew older, his love of food intensified, and so did his waistline, reaching the stage where he was now.

Their first meeting was something really special! it's was in a supermarket around 10 p.m , Seungmin was in a hurry and Changbin was tired, but as soon as they crossed each other's paths they lit up.

And it went on until now! They'd just moved in together, and although they'd have to get used to the routine of the other , it was such a pleasant feeling to live under the same roof as your lover.

and then over time they will be able to take on the other's habits for their own ...

.˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ .

- "Minnie? Why didn't you tell us we could have watched this movie together?" Changbin complained as Seungmin began to fall into one of his habits: hanging out when he had free time.

And it just so happened that the puppy had decided to do this on the day Changbin had to finish a music production and get to the agency, something he rarely did as he worked from home. So when the brunette saw her lover surrounded by empty snack packs, a pizza box on the edge of the table and an unfinished doughnut, he was only concerned that Seungmin was watching a film without him, even though they'd forbidden each other to do so.

-You don't like this kind of movie, so I didn't want to bother you with it" declared Seungmin, looking very concentrated on the screen in front of him.

- "I'd like to make an effort for my Minnie anyway" he declared as he scooped up some rubbish from the floor and slumped down beside his boyfriend.

-Ouch, don't push me too hard, I've got no more space afterwards".

The brunette simply giggled as she settled down to cuddle his lover and enjoy the film. Seungmin was right, he didn't like scary movies but he made an exeption just for clinging next to his boyfriend.

.˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ .

And moments like this began to happen quite often. Changbin, who found Seungmin to eat more , becaming lazier . He had always been an advocate of home cooking, and now found himself ordering food very often, claiming he wanted to spend more time with his boyfriend than cooking.

The reality? He'd become completely lazy! If it weren't for going to work, he'd spend his days in bed, cuddling Changbin and watching a movie in front of a fastfood meal.

But this new routine began to take its toll on him and his waistline...

You might say that eating so much junk food a day only made him fatter, yet he seemed not to notice how his belly was now resting on his knees, how his thighs had thickened and his hips widened! It was something he had to face every day when he had to put on his three-piece suit to go to work, but he just assumed that Changbin didn't know how to use the washing machine but didn't say anything because he didn't want his lover to take it the wrong way.

- "If your suit's too tight you can have mine, it doesn't fit anyway" Changbin declared before pinching his own belly, he too seemed to have put on weight recently but it was only an addition to his already large and massive body. Just like that, Seingmin began to wear Changbin's old costume without making any sense behind them, as if it were normal for him to go from size S to XL so quickly.

In fact, he was in a state of desilusion, and it wasn't as if the world was hiding from him that he was getting big! His desk chair squeaked loudly when he sat in it, his appetite had increased even morr, approaching that of his lover, and let's not even mention the talk of his colleagues on his back, because obviously no one was going to ask him directly how Kim Seungmin had turned into a whale in just a few months?

The answer? His boyfriend, whom he loved so much that he agreed to have another piece of cake, was the reason why he had to spend almost entire weekends watching movies and eating junk food. The answer? Love.

.˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ .

-"Binnie yah come help me my jean don't want to close" yell Seungmin from their bedroom while he was squirming to try to close the button of this pair of jeans (which incidentally belonged to Changbin at the time they met)

The brunette came waddling up to him rather quickly before coming to his side, breathing heavily as if those few smetres of avakt mzrches were hard on him and his big, fat body.

But as soon as he saw Seungmin wriggling into one of his old jeans, he couldn't help but giggle loudly, earning a dark look from Seungmin, who cried out "Yah, you're not helping me!

- "Sorry Minnie, but ... these pants definitely don't fit you, so stop insisting, I've got some others that might fit you".

But Seungmin persisted, for him it wasn't a question of size but of willpower. "It's your fault it shrunk in the washing machine" he then accused him before finally goving up , totally out of breath.Changbin took offence (or at least pretended to) and gave Seungmin a half-confused, half-amused look.

-"My fault? You forgot you did the laundry last week! Besides, I don't think the reason here is the jeans, but you".

- "So it's my fault ?!" The youngest then raged before sitting down on the bed, causing a tear on the back of his pants that made him blush violently while Changbin became even more amused.

-"Now admit it, Minnie, you've put on weight... and not just a little!" He said at last, grabbing the part of Seungmin's belly that was sticking out of his shirt.

-"How dare you say that? I've only had to gain a few kilos, it's no big deal!"

- "Just a few kilos? Jagi , these jeans were mine, I was wearing them when we met. Remember how fat I was even before?" Declared then the brunette with a more understanding tone although amused

Seungmin sighed to himself, he had to face the evidence, if he'd just rip a pair of jeans from Changbin, who was very fat, then he'd probably become very fat too .... although he like the idea, after all, it's not as if he was going to lose that weight by magic.

-"Hyung, I'm hungry, let's order some pizzas!" he declared as he got up, stroking his own tummy to coax Changbin (which worked because he couldn't stop staring intently).

But the brunette didn't try to understand, in this kind of moment words weren't enough, so he just said "What kind of pizza do you want?"

.˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ .

- "Minnie, that's a lot of food, I don't think we can manage to eat it all. .."

Seungmin turned to Changbin in disgust, when did the brunette refuse food now?

-"You're the one who told me you couldn't make up your mind, so I took it all, and if we don't eat it all, we'll have something left over later".

-"But it won't taste the same afterwards".

- "Let's make eat now then"

- "I'm going to start believing you eat so much to try and look like me."

- "Or I'll make you eat much as I do so that I look thin even next to you."

- "You'll never look thin with that body" he camebashing as he patted her bellybmasskf lying heavily on her thick thighs

Seungmin just laughed before kissing his lover and adding, "At least I always want to go through the front door!"

-"Only for the moment"

[crystalsamethyst]

I have let myself be extremely vulnerable recently and I don't know if it's something people really care about but I'm going to talk about it.

The fact that I've been sharing the whole picture of who I am across several platforms is something I never thought I'd be able to do. There has been so much embarrassment and shame in my personal life over me writing fanfiction and latching on to series that I could barely even admit it out loud even though it was my entire sense of self. I couldn't talk about what I was writing. I couldn't share it. Even if people were genuinely interested, I'd have a panic attack thinking their perception of me would be altered and I'd lose everything.

Sharing what I write is extremely difficult because on one hand, it's a part of me, but on the other hand, there are things I have to incorporate for the stories that don't represent me at all and I'm terrified of people coming to the wrong conclusions about who I am as a person. Even if the writing is 100% aligned with what I wanted for it, that still doesn't mean it's always who I am or what I like or approve of for real life.

I also never thought of myself as a 'real writer' until I finished my own original book since fanfiction 'doesn't count' (in my irl world).

My username on fanfiction sites is different than the ones I share things about my actual life on and it will probably stay that way. It always felt like such a disconnect but I intended to stay anonymous, post what I wanted to, and not get found by a select few people who seemed to be able to find and shame me wherever I went (still found me on some of the sites but by then they didn't hold power over me at least)

So recently, I've been linking my work which is on AO3 under the same username I use for all sites I've posted fanfics on. I've even put direct links to my AO3 in some of my online profiles. There's a lot of my old work out there that I don't want to be represented by but someone liked it so I'm not going to take them down.

This is a very vulnerable process for me, admitting that I am a person and here is what I like and here is what I write. It might take a while until I'm comfortable sharing everything I wanted to post, but if I eventually do, I really hope people won't come after me for it (super unlikely scenario but, anxiety). I'm not scared of online hate, but I'm terrified of losing the respect and friendships of those I've connected with even if there is nothing even 'socially' wrong with the stories.

I really appreciate the support I've gotten so far. Especially with the TGCF community. I've had to learn a lot on my own since I started posting things like 13 years ago, and I'm still figuring out AO3 and learning new terms. I sometimes feel like a new young fan just now learning how the internet works.

I've been isolated a lot of my life and have several mental health issues plus autism so I'm super knowledgeable in some areas but completely in the dark in others that might seem incredibly obvious and commonly known, and it's the same for fandoms and websites. (I've actually been apparently using Tumblr wrong this whole time too for the like system. I've been using it mostly as bookmarks or read laters. Whoops.)

On a lesser note, I also never imagined I would start drawing again. I actually used to be pretty good at it but again, was shamed and ridiculed for a lot and compared to others so I stopped for a really long time. I'm glad I can share it without being tooooo embarrassed anymore.

It means a lot to me to be so supported, and I would tag a few of you specifically but I don't want you guys to feel called out. But please know that your support and enthusiasm means the world to me and I appreciate and care about you very much. Thank you for helping me feel safe while I'm letting myself be vulnerable.

[stormyoceans]

idk but seeing how much less jimmysea lolfanfest videos have surfaced compared to the other cps makes me even more excited for last twilight to air and for everyone to finally give them the recognition they deserve. they (especially sea) are so sweet to their fans and so hard-working. why are they so underrated????

IF YOU EVER FIND AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW ANON BECAUSE I'VE BEEN ASKING MYSELF THAT VERY SAME THING FOR THE PAST NINE MONTHS AND IM STILL LEFT WONDERING

i don't mean to sound like a hypocrite because i do always say that different people resonate with different things and that's perfectly fine, which is true!!!!! but while on one hand i do firmly believe in this, on the other i can't deny that the very idea of people disliking jimmysea is incredibly baffling to me. they both are such kind and humble boys, always appreciating their fans and everyone who helped them getting where they are now, and i know they are fairly quiet compared to other pairings and that maybe they will never be all-over each other all the time (both because of their personalities and their age difference), but i think you just need to see them interact to realize that they share an incredible bond

FOR EXAMPLE IM CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH THE TACIT UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE HAPPEN BETWEEN THEM WHEN SEA TEARED UP DURING THE LOL FANFEST AND JIMMY HANDED HIM TISSUES

LIKE!!!!!!! IMAGINE NOT NEEDING ANY WORDS. IMAGINE LOOKING INTO SOMEONE'S EYES AND KNOWING THAT'S ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THEM AND BE UNDERSTOOD IN RETURN. I THINK ABOUT THIS AND SUDDENLY IM IN MY BACKYARD WAILING WEEPING SOBBING SCREECHING WHILE SHOVELING DIRT INTO MY MOUTH UNTIL MY HEART GIVES OUT

anyway what was i saying........ RIGHT. THE POINT IS im very much with you in hoping that last twilight will bring them the recognition they deserve because they're the best good time boys so comfort shaped so sweet!!!!!!!

[welcometololaland]

Hellooooooo friend 👋🏽

For the fan-related ask game: F, G, N, and Z? Please and thank you. 😁

(P.S. I am one of your biggest fans. You da best!! 💕)

SONIA! (As you know) I am a huge fan of yours too. So, I guess we are even! Thank you for the ask :)

F - What is the longest you've been in a fandom?

Look, I've actually never published anything for Veronica Mars but I think I've been in that fandom since I was like fourteen or something! I've never truly left in the sense that I stopped consuming the media (as I have done in other fandoms), in fact, I was watching season 1 last night, and I do read the odd fic! So, I think I'd say Veronica Mars for the past *counts on fingers* SEVENTEEN YEARS (minus the two or so years after s 4 where I had to wallow in sadness).

G - Who was your first OTP?

I think it would have to be Logan and Veronica from Veronica Mars. The first OTP i was REALLY REALLY obsessed with enough to drag me into an entirely new fandom was definitely Alex and Henry from RWRB.

N - Three things I wish I saw more of in fandom?

I don't think I need to explain this, but more diverse voices in fandom. As a writer and as a person, I think I could learn a lot from others especially when it comes to life experience, culture, religious practices etc., and it's a gift when someone in fandom is willing to share those things.

More interaction in DMs and asks in a way which allows readers to know creators AND creators to know readers! I was explaining to someone last night that my extroverted personality really manifests in wanting to know other people beyond the surface level. I get that not everyone wants to reveal everything about themselves online (which is SO valid), but I'd like to have more meaningful conversations with people and interact with more people. I love WIP Wednesday and Seven Sentence Sunday and all that, but I also love talking to other people about THEIR writing or their passions or their lives. I don't want to just talk about my writing all the time lol. This is an open invite for anyone to chat to me about LITERALLY anything. I promise I'm very friendly!

Appreciation for the people who make writers as good as they can be - sensitivity readers, beta readers, the readers who leave really lovely long comments or any kind of comment that is funny or thoughtful or kind. I love writers in fandom, but from my personal writing experience at least, it takes a fucking village, and I want those people to have their virtual flowers!!! I don't think I've nailed this yet, but I'd really like to develop that skill.

Z - Ramble about something

In light of paragraph (N)(3) above, I would like to make a personal shout out to YOU, @rmd-writes @athousandrooms and @celeritas2997 who have lived in many of my documents and put in SO MANY HOURS of work over the past (almost) 2 years. I really think my writing has transformed so much in that time. I can see such a marked difference in sentence structure, grammar, CHARACTERISATION and plot if I compare my writing from 2021 to now. It's actually very humbling to see how far I've come and I have to thank you all so much for helping me improve! Also, @dustratcentral for being such an iconic cheerleader. love your work.

(Send me an ask based on the alphabet)

[archiveikemen]

Abe no Yasuchika Main Story: Chapter 8

Side Story (His POV)

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting┊aikm’s Genjiden Glossary

The day after Yuno-san came to Kyōto…

We were about to head out to deal with some mysterious happenings that have been going around town.

Yasuchika: I’m sorry you had to help me with paperwork.

Yuno: It's fine. That was nothing compared to the amount of work you have to do.

(Yuno-san is so hardworking and humble.)

I gazed at Yuno-san walking next to me.

(The Shogunate is lucky that their fox princess has a pleasant personality.)

(— Wait, no. This personality is precisely what made Tamamo choose her.)

Unaware of what I was thinking of, Yuno-san got concerned.

Yuno: You have to repair the barrier and deal with ayakashi at the same time. It must be so hard on you.

Yuno: And on top of those, you still have tons of pending tasks piling up.

Yasuchika: I’m a prodigy, remember?

Things have always been like this.

And I would laugh it off all the time, but…

Yuno: … That doesn’t mean that they can dump all their work on you.

Yuno: I just wonder if there’s anyone in there who has ever put themselves in your shoes…

Yasuchika: …

(This might be the first time anyone has said that to me.)

Even Akihito-sama, who works behind the scenes in the Imperial Court, is unaware of how I work in the Bureau of Onmyō.

— But of course, there are some things about myself that I’ve chosen to hide because I don't want others to know about them.

Yuno: I’m just an outsider, so I’m sorry if I sound like I’m being too meddlesome. But I’m genuinely worried about you, Yasuchika-san.

(You shouldn't feel that way.)

Yasuchika: There's nothing I can’t do. — When there's someone who’s capable of completing any task, people would want to let them do all the work.

Yasuchika: But I don't find it a burden.

Yasuchika: I use it as a way to find out the weaknesses of the court nobles above me in rank and use them to my advantage.

Yuno: That's um…

Perhaps she was reminded of the incident with Sanemitsu, Yuno-san bit her lips.

Yuno: Alright…

Yuno: If there's anything I can help you with while I’m here, even chores, please don't hesitate to let me know.

(This should be fine.)

Convinced that I have successfully set my boundaries with Yuno-san, I smiled at her.

Yasuchika: Thanks. You’re so kind towards everyone.

(You should use your kindness on someone else.)

A man like me is not worthy of receiving such kindness.

Yuno: — I wish that were true, but I’m actually just doing this for my self-interest.

Yasuchika: Self-interest?

Yuno: You’re someone who has taught me a lot of things I never knew before.

Yuno: I want to do whatever I can to express my gratitude for you, even though I’m not as genius as you are.

(... Why is she so straightforward?)

(You know I’m not a good person.)

After staying silent for a while, I decided to be honest with her.

Yasuchika: You being worried about me like mad feels as if you’re trying to find my weaknesses.

Yuno: You make it sound like I’m the unhinged one…

Yasuchika: In that case, I’ll treat it as your revenge against me. Yeah?

(... Surprisingly, it doesn't feel so bad to have someone care about me.)

(Even though I don't like it when people try to get so up close and personal with me.)

Without realizing it, I had come to enjoy spending time with Yuno-san and talking to her…

But deep down, I knew that I shouldn't.

…

Afterwards…

Yasuchika: This place is so foggy that I can’t see my own feet. Are you okay? Yuno-san.

Yuno: Yes. Be careful, Yasuchika-san.

Yuno-san rubbed her arms due to the chilly air creeping out of the ground.

(— This is a sign.)

At the exact moment when I opened my mouth to warn her,

Yuno: Hey! Wait.

Yuno-san saw “something” hidden behind a tree and ran towards it.

Yasuchika: Yuno-san, don’t!

Yuno: Wha—?

???: … Whaat is it?

The girl whose arm Yuno-san grabbed was in fact, not a girl… it was —

(A puppet doll!)

The doll turned its neck to face Yuno-san with a creaking sound.

Doll: Shall we go together?

(Its taking her along—)

Yuno-san and the area around her started to become distorted in my view, then they vanished into a mirage.

Yasuchika: Think you can get away with this?

I pulled out a talisman from the cuffs of my sleeves and immediately started chanting.

In the bottomless void… I felt myself falling into another world.

…

All Dolls: KyaHAHAHAHAHA!

Yuno: Ahh…

(There she is.)

Yuno-san screamed and crouched down when all the dolls rushed up to her.

Yasuchika: I’ve kept you waiting. Your prodigious Onmyōji has come to your rescue!

Yuno: …!

I instantly cast a spell to protect Yuno-san.

For some reason, seeing her tearful face made my heart feel dreadfully uneasy.

Yasuchika: Of course I would come to save my precious dear assistant.

As for the reason behind the feelings welling up in my heart…

I never found out.

[airasora]

I've been going back and forth on talking about this for months... especially because I still have absolutely no idea what I think myself. So I need you guys' thoughts on something... specifically the Hogwartz Legacy game.

Now, it shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that I am NOT a fan of JK Rowling and haven't been for years. If you don't know why you're either part of the problem or you've been living under a rock. Short explanation is that she's transphobic as hell. So, naturally, I don't want to support her in any shape or form. I've never been a massive Harry Potter fan. I haven't read the books and only watched the first four movies or such cause I kept zoning out during the fifth movie and never made it through it. So, clearly, I wasn't one of the people who were completely distraught when JK Rowling came forward with her terf mindset.

However, I've always loved the world itself. The creatures, the magic and spells, the idea of a school for wizardry... All that is right up my alley. So, when I first stumbled across Hogwartz legacy, I had mixed feelings. I would have been all over it if not for JK Rowling. It looks fantastic, but I struggle with the idea of supporting this woman in any shape or form. I don't know if she earns a revenue for the game, though I'm guessing she probably does. I don't want to support her, but I do want to support the people who clearly put a lot of love and effort in the game.

Allow me to compare it with the Mulan remake. I decided to livestream the movie back then and someone asked me if I didn't care that the cast supported the CCP, whereas my respond was yes; I do care. That's why I didn't pay for the movie and was livestreaming it to encourage other people to NOT pay for the movie.

I'm not sure if a let's play could work the same way... since it's very different watching a movie through someone else than watching gameplay rather than playing it yourself. If it could encourage more people to NOT buy the game by giving them the option to watch let's plays instead, that would result in a lower profit for JK. But I don't know if that is how it'd turn out. My biggest fear is encouraging more people to buy and support the game through that. I definitely don't want to do that.

As you can hear, I've been thinking about this a lot... and I've argued both sides. There are two facts for me; 1, I would love the hell out of Hogwartz Legacy and 2, I hate JK Rowling and don't want to support her. So, I need some more opinions from other people. I've seen trans people hating JK with every fiber of their being, and I've seen trans people say they refuse to let go of Harry Potter just because its creator later came out as a shit human being. I've seen people arguing both sides (obviously JK's fellow terf people agree with her, but I'm not talking about those)

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts and feelings on this. You can just tell me what you think about all of this in the replies. Please don't start any fights between each other though; no one is going to get anything out of that. Argue and defend your opinion with being vile towards anyone else, please.

[keyotos]

I wanted to start writing fan fictions of my own and stuff (mainly of hsr and some other fandoms) but I'm not sure where to start. Your my number one favourite writer on tumblr and I was just wondering if you had some words of advice on where and how to go about it :) If you don't want to, thats fine as well. Love your works so much!

OMG I'VE NEVER BEEN SOMEONES #1 FAV WRITER BEFORE WTF. THANK U SM???

for headcanon inspo/writer inspo in general, i would read a lot of romcom books. or watch a lot of romcoms. for me, inspo comes from songs/books/movies/tiktoks i interact with. inspo comes and it goes; don't worry if you don't have constant inspo for new content. just as long as it feels authentic and it's twisted in your own way, then it will be good.

pinterest and spotify are gonna be ur favorite apps. i use pinterest for layouts, aesthetics, cute poetry for inspo, etc. spotify also helps for inspo, for example if you listen to a song u like then u could possibly base a scenario/headcanon/etc off of that. and personally, when i listen to music that fits into a certain scene i'm writing, it really helps me encapsulate the emotions i want in that scene, which in turn makes my writing better (at least to me it does).

if you are writing headcanons/drabbles/etc, make sure it has an aesthetically pleasing layout. what i find that headcanons/drabbles that look more organized usually have more interaction because it looks more aesthetically pleasing and well-rounded. you may want to add colors (using graphics, borders, etc) so that it would appeal more to a reader than no color and blank layout.

be creative with your writing!! literally write whatever you want and i guarantee you at least one person is gonna like it and read that work for life. and don't be discouraged if your works don't get lots of notes the first time. the tumblr algorithm is messed up.

some other short notes

no need to have a masterlist so early. u may want to have at least 2 or 3 works published before u create a masterlist. masterlists don't have to be on the same level as van gogh on levels of creativity, so don't stress tm abt that.

if ur ever thinking abt letting ppl request, don't be too hard on urself if u can't finish them. at the end of the day, you are writing for urself. prioritize yourself.

take care of urself while writing. writing takes time and effort and brainpower (ugh), so if ur ever feeling burnt out, don't be so hard on yourself bc writing is hella work

don't compare yourself to other writers. your writing is your writing and it's so special because of that. ur writing is already so amazing bc YOU ARE THE ONE WRITING IT

to summarize all my thoughts

inspo from media

listen to music + use pinterest

make sure u have cute layout (for profile AND works)

write whatever tf u want. if other ppl don't appreciate it then it's their loss

don't be so hard on urself. remind urself that ur writing is incredible!!

[driftingmoonmenace]

Just wanted to reach out because of the vent post. If you decided to stop, it's within your rights. But as a DCA fan, please don't stop if it's because of doubts.

Your artwork is amazing. I love seeing all artwork that people create on here for the boys. And I think a problem artists have, is we just feel an urged to create something that someone else hasn't done before. We see a pose or a scene that someone else created; And some people may feel they can't create that anymore because someone else already did it. I get in my head that way too, I think all of us deal with it at least once.

There's a small snippet comic, to wear an artist would compare themselves to someone else in the example of a cake. We compare ourseling others artwork. Thinking that there's is better, so why do we even try. But the fans who love the fandom don't care if two look the exact same. They're just happy to receive more content to look at. Fandoms die because we give up, We can feel small if our stuff doesn't feel seen or well received. And, that feeling is kind of inevitable on a site that only creates views through traction of reblogs. So Don't be afraid to reshare your artwork so that it's new on the tags page.

I don't care if everyone draws the boys in the exact same standing pose waving, or Little Moon being a menace, it's all precious to see. Make things that have already been created. I don't care if you're AU has scenes that share a similarity to 40 or 100 other stories. Because sometimes the thing that they all share is a comfort to others. And people love gobbling up content that they enjoy.

I'd kick your imposter syndrome if I could. You don't need it. You're a peach, a precious creator. And I'm gonna be a menace now and reblog purge your stuff now; so this loveable hellsite can be reminded that all artist's work matter and are appreciated. Please smile, please know the work you put out into the world is appreciated. Please know it's okay if your artwork doesn't come out how you saw it in your head; We don't see the results in your head, we see the result that you share with us and we get to appreciate it anyway. Don't let perfectionism or competition stop you from sharing what you love. I hope creativity and inspiration stay by your side ❤️

Thank you for all the sweet words, and all the likes and reblogs on my stuff too!!! You're too kind and I appreciate all of it truly. 💕

I don't think I could ever really stop creating DCA stuff as long as I got them silly jester boys knocking around in my brain lmao. I just get caught up in my feelings and anxiety sometimes unfortunately.

Everything you've said is very true tho and I agree!! At the end of the day it's all about enjoying what you love and having fun at your own pace and in your own way (and def keeping you, your limits, and well being in mind too!)

[lupine-princess]

She Thinks- Part 3 (Final Part)

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: M? (just to be safe, since there is discussion of sex. Also violence in later parts.)

Pairing: Female OC x ??? (it's a surprise/choose your own-ish? There is a reveal moment, but you could easily put in whoever you want I suppose)

Warnings: implied rough sex/choking/etc., torture/violence in later parts, Not Beta Read, description of Bad Sex, Brief Attempted SA, Brief Discussion of SA (more mentioning that its not happening and is not going to happen), ANGST, Character Death

Word Count: 8358 (Ummm...this one got away from me I guess...sorry again? Though the chapter length will probably be the least of the things y'all are going to want an apology...)

Cross posted on AO3 @- Lupine_Princess

Note: I am *so* sorry it took so long! The muse was playing coy and I haven't had the time to really sit down and finish this. But here is it. The conclusion to my first fic ever. I literally finished this maybe 30min before this posting, so there are probably typos, but I wanted to get this out and not agonize and nitpick for days and delay this further. Anyway, as mentioned before this is a songfic and the Song and Singer credit will be at the end before people tags. There's a bit of irony to this being sung by this particular (freaking awesome) artist, but I didn't think about that until just now. Considering this is my first fic, and I'm a nobody in the Fan Fic world, this is probably not needed, but PLEASE DON'T REPOST MY WORK ANYWHERE. Last thing, this is probably obvious at this point, but this doesn't have a happy ending. It didn't go exactly how it did in my head when I was planning it, but it was never going to be an HEA. So for anyone rooting for them to be together, I am *SO* sorry. I should have made it clear in the beginning, and I didn't think about it until tonight. I really am sorry. New tags are for this chapter only, and are things I didn't expect to be a thing in this story until I wrote it. Except for the last two. They were always going to be there for this part. Thank you for reading and giving feedback for those who have, I appreciate it greatly. No idea if I'm going to do this again, but never say never right? I'll probably at the very least leave fan fiction to the professionals for a while if nothing else. lol

Alright, here we go:

Part Three

The woman recalls the six months that had passed since That Night, and can’t help but notice things that she hadn’t seen at the time. In herself, she sees how she had changed. One encounter had not been enough, obviously. She had wanted more. Of course she had. How could a person experience something so visceral, so powerful, so intense, and not want, not crave, more? Even now it baffles her that anyone could or would not understand. Not that she had really spoken to anyone about it, but there had been questions, pointed ones, about Him and That Night. She had tried her best to explain the draw in terms that would not paint her in a bad or sordid light, but it was like trying to explain a sunrise to someone who has lived in a dark room their entire lives. She knew they didn’t, couldn’t, understand, and she felt sorrow for them. She had experienced something profound and felt changed by it to her core, but they had nothing to compare it to, and so couldn’t even begin to grasp it.

Even more concerning than that though, she realizes now, she had started to think of Him in terms of being her’s. She had planned in her mind what she would say to him when he inevitably called. What she would wear on their first date. The woman didn’t count either the party or the resulting inferno of lust as their first date, for obvious reasons, but she had planned out the evening that would count in detail in her mind. She had decided that she would have to return to her Mama’s lessons regarding sex though, which meant that there would be none of that for at least a few weeks. Despite this though, the woman looked forward to seeing him again. To just being around him. She longed for it. Craved him like a drug. So much so that her distraction was remarked upon by various people. She had always smiled and waved away their concerns, but it occurs to her now that they were right to be worried. Because, as with most drugs, the high she was on would not, could not, and did not last.

When He had not called a week after That Night, the woman had gone back to the motel. Sure that he would still be there, she had knocked on the door of the room he had stayed in, and had been shocked when a different man entirely had answered the door. The man and his wife were very confused at a woman they didn’t know, in a town they were merely passing through, knocking on their motel room door. The woman was supremely embarrassed of course and had given multiple apologies for bothering the couple before going to the front desk to ask about Him. The woman stops in her reflection for a moment and scoffs at her childishness as she realizes that she refuses to even think his name now, though she cannot bring herself to forget it. The problem with this realization, however, is that she also cannot force herself to use his name, even in thought. Even now. Perhaps especially now. Now it feels less like rejecting Him and more like protecting Him.

At any rate, the woman had gone to the front desk and asked the clerk about Him. Surely, she rationalized, he wouldn’t just leave without saying something to her. He had her phone number, she knew, and she couldn’t have missed his call, because he would have left a message or called back. But the attendant had told her that He had checked out the day after the party. Hours after she had left, so had he and she felt her heart crack. The clerk had given her a pitying smile, so the woman had straightened her spine, plastered her own smile on her face, thanked the young man, and left. He hadn’t even left a note for her.

The mind is an amazing thing, the woman muses now. In effort to stave off feelings of abandonment, rejection, and humiliation, her mind had attempted to come up with a different likely scenario. He checked out a few hours after she left, hadn’t left a message for her with the front desk, and hadn’t called her, so he must have had to leave quickly. In an act of what the woman still considers extraordinary mental gymnastics, the woman had decided that He must have gotten called to another case and had to leave without time to contact her. Which meant that he was probably too busy solving a case and bringing justice to the wronged that he had not had a moment of peace long enough to call. He would undoubtably call her when he finally had a moment and the two could plan for him to come back to town for their date. Perhaps she would even break her rule on carnality once more since he was working so hard. She had felt sympathy and understanding for him at the time, but a week after her ill-fated visit to the motel and still no phone call, the woman had begun to get angry.

Perhaps he lost her phone number? Inconsiderate, yes, but not unforgivable. An honest mistake. It could happen to anyone. This led her to seeking out the acquaintance who had introduced them to in order to either get His phone number or a message to him. Unfortunately, the acquaintance was once again out of town, so that would have to wait. In the meantime, the woman had decided to start her research into Him. She really should have started that earlier, but she had been distracted. Now that she had to wait on their mutual acquaintance’s return, she had time to do what she should have done from the beginning. As she settled in and got started, she had smiled to herself at the idea that she was going to learn everything there was to know about this man that had gotten past her defenses and Mama’s Rules. She was sure, using her usual resources, she would find a treasure trove of interesting information. Birth date, parents, siblings, schools, grades, college and/or military service. Since He was a federal agent, she knew she could also find out about cases he’d worked. Commendations. Current cases. Whereabouts, even, assuming the case was high profile enough. Which it must be, given they had needed him in such a hurry.

Nothing. The woman found…nothing. Not one bit of information. At all. She had wanted to scream in frustration then, and honestly, she still wants to, but didn’t dare. She had searched records all over the country. Every state. Nothing. Not even information that could lead her to information. She had called the FBI. The most local office to her and then the one in Washington D.C. They said they didn’t have an agent of that name with them and never had. Thinking she must have had the agency wrong, she had waded through the alphabet soup that was federal agencies. Nothing. The most hopeful answer she had gotten was that they could/would not talk about employees, past or present.

The woman was starting to get the feeling, a month after That Night, that something was wrong. He still hadn’t called and she couldn’t track down her acquaintance to ask about Him. Her frustration mounted when she realized another month later that the acquaintance had to be actively avoiding her. They were spending a lot more time than usual out of town and when they were, they were never with the group of people they and the woman had in common. Further, the woman had finally realized that the story she and the group was probably false and so nothing she had been told would or could have led to any information. When she had brought this up with mutual friends of her’s and the acquaintance’s, they were confused. They had said, maybe the information was wrong, that didn’t mean it was an intentional lie, and what did it matter anyway? He was clearly just passing through. The woman had not told them, of course, about how she had spent the night after the party. They may have judged her for her indiscretion. Or worse. Told other people.

Four months after the party, the woman had gotten tired of trying to organically meet up with her acquaintance and had gone to their house. Only to find that not only were they not there, they clearly hadn’t been for quite a while. It struck the woman as odd, so she asked the neighbors when they thought the acquaintance would be back as well as how long they had been gone. They neighbors said the acquaintance had left last over a month ago and while they didn’t know when the acquaintance would return, they were getting concerned since the acquaintance had never been gone this long at once before. They would be gone for a week, two at most, and then return home. Usually, they looked like they had some kind of ailment, a limp, a sore shoulder, scrapes, cuts, even bruises, but the neighbors said the acquaintance would take a week or so to recover and then leave out again and the cycle would repeat. But this time was different.

It wouldn’t be for another two weeks after that, that the woman got some information of any kind. Though decidedly not the kind she wanted. One of the neighbors called the woman to let her know that someone was at her acquaintance’s house, but it wasn’t the acquaintance. The woman’s heart had leapt as she decided that it must be Him. He had come back and would have answers and apologies. As the woman looks back over that time, she realizes she was nothing short of delusional. Mama had told the woman, you can’t always get what you want, love. You will be denied sometimes. Rejected sometimes. But how you handle the situation, and yourself afterward, determines your future successes. Those words had never quite rung true for the woman, because she had never been denied or rejected. She had always gotten what she wanted. Now, it seemed, her luck had run out.

The woman had rushed over to her acquaintance’s house once more, eager to see Him again. When she got there however, He was not there, but an older man in a baseball cap driving a car that looked like it belonged in a junk yard rather than on the road. She had had to school her face and hide her disappointment, and replace it with concern for her friend. The older man told her, gravely, that her acquaintance had been in a hunting accident while away and he was there to clean out their house and put it on the market. She had expressed the required sorrow, sympathy, and shock, and inquired at how the man and her acquaintance knew each other, only to be told they had been ‘hunting buddies’ years ago and had made a deal with one another that whichever one ‘went first,’ the other would clean out their belongings, ‘put them to good use,’ and ‘offload the house,’ since neither had any other family.

After a bit more small talk, the woman had gone back home feeling…off. The older man had the same…presence as He did and, she had just realized in that moment, so did her acquaintance. It was an air of leashed danger and made them seem larger than life. On Him it had been incredibly sexy and massively erotic, on the older man and her late acquaintance, it made her feel anxious. Nervous. Like she needed to run away as fast as she could and not look back. She assumes now that, had she not been so ridiculously attracted to Him, she would have felt the same way in his presence. As it was, she had been so clouded by hormones that it had only heightened her interest in Him and all sense of self-preservation had flown out of the window.

Only once she was back home did she realize that she could easily have asked the older man about Him. She quickly decided to call the acquaintance’s home to try and talk to the man, but there was no answer. She called the neighbor that had called her initially, to see if they could get the older man to come to the phone, only to be told that he had left shortly after she had. The woman thanked the neighbor, hung up the phone, and threw it down the hall as hard as she could. It had taken every ounce of restraint she had, but the woman had managed to hold in her scream of rage and frustration until she could make it to her bedroom. Once there, in the safety of her room, she had snatched up the nearest pillow, held it to her face, and screamed herself hoarse. Unfortunately for the pillow, it hadn’t helped. It and two of its fellows had met grisly demises at her clawed, enraged hands. That hadn’t helped either. Not only was she still livid at her lack of luck, she had also had a mess to clean up and three pillows to replace before bedtime. It just hadn’t been her day.

The woman had indulged in a bit of a temper tantrum, stomping through her home, slamming doors open and shut, in search of her broom and dustpan, a bag to put the pillow remnants in, and extra pillows from her linen closet and guest bedroom to sleep on later that night. The actual cleaning itself wasn’t done in the most calm manner either, which only served to make the task take longer, which subsequently made her more angry. Seemed like a vicious, never-ending cycle of frustration and feathers, until suddenly the dam broke. One moment the woman was swearing a blue streak, the likes of which would have had her mouth washed out with the strongest soap available if Mama had heard her, and stuffing feathers and cloth into a garbage bag with rage filled vigor. The next she found herself sitting on the floor, still surrounded by feathers, sobbing her eyes out.

As undignified as it was, and pointless to boot, she had been unable to do anything about it. She had cried until the tears ran out and her body was weak. Too weak to move. Too weak to drag herself to her bed. She had spent the rest of the night on the floor, the occasional stray tear leaking from her eyes. When she woke up the next morning her body was stiff and she had a headache that could have put all other headaches to shame. Still, she couldn’t find the will or strength to pull herself off the floor even then. Her throat burned, and her stomach clenched around nothing. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before, and had lost quite a bit of water during her crying spree, so it made sense that she was hungry and thirsty like she had never been before. It only added to her despondency, however. Her overwhelming lack of desire to do anything at all should have concerned and motivated her to get up and take charge of her life once more, but she couldn’t even muster up enough energy to feel anything at all.

And so, she had laid there on her bedroom floor, surrounded by feather and destroyed pillows long into the afternoon and evening once again. When she had finally been able to pull herself up off the floor, she stumbled her way to her bathroom, thanking every God she had ever heard of that she had sprung for the extra-large tub, despite never having had anyone to share it with. The thought sent a pain rippling through her that she feels even now. As a matter of fact, digging through her memories of the past hurts more than anything she’s ever felt. Searching for answers she not sure she’ll ever find. She’s not even sure she wants them anymore, to be honest, but she still can’t stop herself from hunting them down like a bloodhound on a scent. Mama always said that if someone looked up ‘stubborn’ in an encyclopedia they would just see a picture of me, she remembers with a slight smile. That smile grows as she recalls that Mama actually had put her picture, not just in the encyclopedia, but also the dictionary under the aforementioned heading. It had been an inside joke between the two of them. Something that no one else would know or understand. Something that was just theirs and theirs alone. These thoughts on the back of remembered pain of that day allows for a single traitorous tear to escape her iron control.

Shaking off the feelings that have crept on her, she remembers the next days as though she is watching a movie. To totally honest, that’s how she had felt at the time. Like life was movie. Something she was only watching happen, and merely experiencing second-hand.  She can now see how she missed some very important clues, but even now she can’t exactly make sense of them. She had enough knowledge and understanding to see that she had been depressed following her epic crying spree even then, but there were some things that weren’t quite…right.

Her friends, her former lover and their wives, had begun to look at her with…pity. Even now thinking about it, the woman can help but feel indignant. They pitied her?! How dare they! She is not one to be pitied. She is better than that, she knows, and a familiar iced coated acid feeling creeps through her. With a distinctly unladylike snarl, the woman pushes the feeling away violently. It feels too much like fear and sorrow for her to accept it right now. She has better things to think about and more important issues at hand to deal with.

Aside from the unacceptable pity being directed her way, the woman recalls that the friend that had escorted her to the party That Night had also been changing. She had set him up with a few women she knew that would have been more than acceptable matches for him, but every time something had happened. The women would call her the day after the date and tell her in confused tones that he had not been the warm, hospitable gentleman they all knew him to be. Instead, he was rude and curt, almost angry. And cold. They said it was like he looked right through them, as if he didn’t have the time to even truly acknowledge they were there, until they had tried to talk to him about literally any topic, at which point they would wind up talked over, talked down to, or dismissed entirely. They all had said they had asked why he was in such a mood, only to be told it was “nothing that can’t be taken care of,” and they had then asked the woman if she had spoken to him and what they had done to deserve such treatment. Especially when the end of the date came. It seemed that despite his wholly unappetizing behavior, the woman friend had still had…expectations and made his dates very aware of them when he took them home. The only thing that could be said to his credit in the entire situation was that when the women had obviously told him they could not be less interested in anything he had to offer that night, he had simply nodded, said good night, and left. It was as if he hadn’t cared what the answer he got was either way.

Only one woman, the last incidentally, had taken him up on the offer he had made after their date. The woman recalled how the young woman’s voice had trembled slightly when she had told the woman of that night. It wasn’t anything like what the woman would have expected of her friend. Granted, she hadn’t kept track of his sex life in the past, but the young woman’s description had shocked and appalled the woman. Apparently, the cold, impersonal, overbearing demeanor her friend displayed at dinner had carried into the young woman’s bedroom. There had been no tenderness of any kind whatsoever. There had been only orders given in a hard voice accompanied by hard hands, and harder thrusts. There was no consideration at all shown to his bed partner. He had been wholly selfish, caring only for his own satisfaction, which had come blessedly quickly, and nothing for hers. The young woman had admitted over the phone that once he was done, he had appeared to want to stay for another round, but she had asked him to leave, not being able to stand another disappointing romp like the first. He had shrugged and left without a fight, but not before throwing a crude, “Thanks for the ride,” over his shoulder before the door shut.

The woman couldn’t believe her friend’s behavior. She had resolved not to set anyone else up with him until she could deal with him herself, which she had intended to be a few days later. Unfortunately, the day after the phone call with the justifiably unhappy young woman was the day the woman had found out about her acquaintance’s death and things had spiraled from there. Finally, things with the woman and her friend had come to a head about a month after her pillow destruction and crying jag. He had come over the woman’s home, with the stated intention of checking on her and seeing how she was, what had happened, and how he could help.

At the time that woman had been grateful, but even then she had noticed that something in his demeanor, hadn’t matched his words. Maybe it was his eyes. Always before, they were warm and caring when they looked at her. On that day, she felt like she understood what they women she had sent on dates with him had meant by ‘cold,’ It was like staring into frozen stones. Beautiful stones, the woman is willing to admit even now, like diamonds, or some other gemstone, but hard and cold all the same. Remembering those eyes sends a shiver down the woman’s spine and her throat tightens with fear.

Pulling her focus from his eyes, the woman returns her thoughts to the conversation they had had. Conversation, ha! the woman scoffs, that wasn’t a ‘conversation.’ His visit had been going well at the very beginning, despite the unnerving feeling of wrongness that had been crawling across her skin, when things had hit the proverbial fan. He had asked why she was so “down” lately, and the woman had thought that finally she could talk about the situation with someone who could understand. That wasn’t what had happened. The moment she had mentioned Him her friend had suddenly sparked to life like a firework in a spectacular explosion.

She was honestly still confused to this day about the sudden change in him. Not just with her, but with the women she had set him up with and even other people around town. It seemed like over night he had gone from the kind, funny, helpful, and understanding man they all knew and loved, to a cold, unfeeling man who thought nothing of other people and had a hair trigger temper. At the time she hadn’t noticed the changes as they happened, but that day in her home, she saw what everyone had been talking about. It had been shocking to say the least.

The woman still shudders when she remembers the look in his eyes as he raged at her. He had ranted about her fixation on Him, calling her a “pathetic, delusional whore,” and while she was reeling from that verbal barrage, he had continued raving about how her manipulative ways would come back to haunt her and that she needed him to straighten her out by any means necessary. Those had been his exact words actually. “By any means necessary.” She had been confused, shock, and more scared than she had ever been before. Even more than that one pregnancy scare between high school and college. Nothing had come of it, obviously, but she had taken that lesson to heart every bit as much as she took Mama’s lessons to heart. Since then, there had been no scares, and so very little to fear. It isn’t that she doesn’t want children even now, it just hasn’t ever been the right time, not to mention that she wasn’t and still isn’t married. The scandal of an unmarried mother may have lessoned with the times, but that did not mean that it was entirely gone. That and this town is a bit behind the times in general, the woman admits, somewhat begrudgingly. It had never been a problem for her before, in fact she was more than capable of making that state of affairs work for her rather than against her. The antiquated way of thinking that surrounded her had paid off greatly for her, so it had never been in her interest to challenge it overtly.

Off topic again, dammit, the woman growls at herself. Forcing herself to focus on that day, she shudders once again. From cold or fear she isn’t sure. She remembers how she had listened to her friend rail against her while she stood frozen, right until the point he had grabbed her upper arms, slammed her into one of her living room walls, and kissed her. Kissed?! Please! she scoffs, if that was a kiss then the lion must love the gazelle! And not as food! She can almost still feel his lips on hers. Teeth digging in to her flesh. Tongue forcing its way into her mouth. It was violent and painful, and decidedly not in a way she enjoyed. Just as she gagged on his probing tongue, her shocked mind had finally caught on and reacted to what was happening. He was pulling at her blouse, her knee, of its own volition it seemed, jerked up and none too gently landed squarely on his testicles. At the same moment, she expressed her displeasure with the tongue in her mouth by biting down. Hard. She had never thought blood would taste any way other than vile, but in this instance, it tasted sweet. Like victory.

His howl of pain wasn’t too shabby either, she remembers with a smirk. The smirk fades quickly when she recalls the enraged look on his face and the slap that followed. Stunned once again, her ears ringing, she only vaguely heard the names he screamed at her before he slammed out of her house, leaving with a slight limp. The woman had breathed a shaky sigh of relief that it was over and briefly considered calling Jordan and filing a complaint against her friend and asking for an officer to give her an escort her to and from work and home for a few days, or at the very least just to have someone aware of what had happened and give some advice on what she should do. Then she realized for advice she might be better off calling Brian, even though he would probably tell her to press charges, which she didn’t want to do. Her thought was that if she called Jordan and made a complaint, an officer would go and talk to her friend and make him stay away from her. If her friend ignored the officer’s warning, there would already be a record of what happened so things would be taken care of more quickly.

In the end, she decided not to call either Jordan or Brian. She honestly felt that this was just a hiccup for her friend. He was obviously going through something and a police presence in his life wouldn’t be helpful for him to get out of it. While the woman would never again trust her now former friend, nor would she want him around her, she still wanted what was best for him and to see him do well. Even a whisper of impropriety in which the police were involved could, and likely would, destroy his business, his credibility, and really his life in their town. He also probably wouldn’t be able to start over in a new area either, unless it was quite far away, which would cost more money than he would wind up having. She couldn’t bring herself to risk that happening to him. Not for the man he had become, but for the boy and the friend he been.

Despite her resolve, she had felt a nagging in the back of her mind urging her to tell someone what happened. She had felt it for days. After a week of the feeling, she finally decided the when she got home that night, she would call Zachary. Practical and pragmatic, Zachary would know how to handle things while being discrete. Her now former friend might wind up a bit worse for wear, but as long as he didn’t bother her, or any other woman if she knew Zachary as well as she thought she did, his life would go on overall uninterrupted. If he didn’t…well…people left town all the time without telling anyone else, presumably moving on to bigger and better things while avoiding awkward questions, especially if they had the kind of money her ex-friend had. What was one more person, right?

She had considered calling for an escort home that night, but decided against it. While it wasn’t exactly an unusual occurrence, it would still bring up more questions than she was prepared to answer at that moment. Instead, she had finished out her day, long after her colleagues had gone home to their families, thinking not about the conversation she was going to be having when she got home, but rather about how much she longed to have what they had. A husband, someone who supported her and was her partner in every sense. Love. Babies. The perfect apple pie, white picket fence with a dog in the yard life. No, it wasn’t for everyone, but it was what she wanted. She had realized that she was lonely and tired of living her life the way she was. She wanted to settle down, and using Mama’s lessons and rules, the woman was sure she would find the perfect mate for herself the same way she had for others in her life. She understood it may take longer for her than it had for them, because she knew she was more…selective than they were, but she knew it would happen sooner rather than later. And so, with thoughts of white dresses, bassinets, and lullabies in her head, she walked to her car to go to her lonely, empty home with a resolved smile on her face.

She should have called for the escort.

The only thing she could remember was a soft rustling behind her, not unusual given the trees around the parking lot, then a sharp pain in her neck. Everything went black almost immediately. Almost. Just before the inky blackness descended, she caught a glimpse of a man. Her now ex-friend. And on his face was the most sickeningly sinister smirk on his face.

When she woke, she was on a bed. Her neck hurt, her head was screaming, and her vision was blurry. She had no idea where she was and her heart was racing in fear of the unknown. Naturally, she jumped to her feet to begin trying to figure out not only where she was, but also to find a way out of this place. Unfortunately, while she was able to get up without issue, she quickly realized that where didn’t matter nearly as much as what, and what was some kind of concrete room. No windows. One door. Metal. Undoubtedly heavy, and absolutely locked. She was trapped. The only way out was that one door, and she knew the only way it would open was if…when her ex-friend came into the room. He would be ready for anything she might throw at him, of course, so her chances of escape were very slim. She could only hope at that point that he would do what ever he was going to do, then let her go. She categorically refused to entertain any thoughts about what he might be planning beyond hoping that he would ultimately let her go.

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, and so had no idea what time it might be. She only knew that she was incredibly hungry and thirsty. Almost as soon as the thought had entered her head, however, a flap she had missed on the bottom of the metal door opened and a something was pushed through. On inspection, she saw that it was two pieces of bread and a paper cup of water on a tray. In her hunger, she snatched up the bread and devoured it, before gulping down the water. It barely took the edge off, but at least it was something.

She jumped when the flap opened again and the tray was yanked through in the opposite direction as before. Upon realizing that someone (she could easily guess who) on the other side of the door had known the tray was empty and had taken it back, she started to talk. Well…less talk, more yell. Questions abounded. Answers were demanded. None were given. She refused to plead, so decided instead to bargain. Assurances that if he only let her go, she would never tell anyone about this occurrence. They would get him help with whatever was going on with him. She would help him. The bargaining ceased when she heard, barely, another door, further away, close. He clearly wasn’t interested in what she had to say and had left.

And so, things had gone for what she could only assume were the next 4-5 days. Three times a day the flap in the door would open, two pieces of bread beside water in a paper cup on a tray that was retrieved as soon as the three items where removed. She had continued to try and talk to him. She still wouldn’t plead and would die before she begged, but she asked for answers and bargained to the best of her considerable abilities. She even lied. Lied like it was her job. It is, or was, but it seems uncouth to say the quiet part out loud like that, the woman muses with semi-forced humor. Forced because there is nothing even remotely amusing or humorous about this situation. She had yet to get any answers, let alone any interaction whatsoever beyond the push of the tray and its retrieval.

Throughout it all, the woman imagined her life outside of this place. The things she would do once she got out of here. The places she would go. She knew now that there was nothing in this town any more. She knew everyone and none of them were to her standard for a husband, though that standard had somewhat lowered in her time in the large concrete box that was her current residence. She thought she might try to find Him, but she had no idea where to even start. Maybe she could find that older man that had been at her acquaintance’s house that day, but she was struggling with remembering him name. Usually she was good with names, but between the high emotions she had been feeling at the time and shortly after, coupled with the knowledge that he wasn’t staying, and her current fear, hunger, and dehydration…well, simply put her mind wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. Even now, she casts around in her mind for that name. Ronald? Richard? No. Not an R. Not an R…a…B? Yes! B…something! the woman recalls excitedly. A breakthrough finally! B. B. Brandon? No. Bartholomew? Absolutely not. Shorter…Bill? Billy? Billy! she decides. She’s still not entirely sure she’s right, but she can’t be bothered with that reality right now, because frankly, she desperately needs even that small win.

Because her circumstances had changed. And not for the better. She couldn’t be sure how long ago it was really, but it had to be a day or two there had only been two trays. The first had half of the rations she’d been getting which, while they hadn’t been nearly enough before, she really couldn’t afford to lose. She spent the day curled up on the bed, shaking with hunger pangs worse than ever before. Her throat burned and her head pounded. When it can to about the time that the second tray would be delivered, she had pulled herself up and over to the door to wait patiently. She had waited in vain. The tray never arrived. The disappointment had nearly crashed her and her resolve wavered. Wavered, but did not collapse, thankfully. Her disappointment coupled with the overall insufficient food, however, had left her unable to go back to the lone source of comfort in the room. For hours, she laid on the floor in front of the flap, willing it to open and provide her with a nourishing, filling meal. Eventually, her will prevailed and the flap indeed opened. The tray was passed through and upon it, while not the meal she wanted, were the standard two bread slices and paper cup with water. She had sighed in relief.

Naturally, she tore into the bread and gulped the water in a most unladylike manner, but she didn’t care. She was quite literally starving. It wasn’t until she noticed that the tray hadn’t been retrieved that the thought that something might be a bit suspicious about this particular meal. That’s when the first wave of dizziness had swept over her and she felt herself falling backward. She heard more than felt her head hit the cold concrete floor, and mused that it would probably hurt when she woke up. If she woke up. The last thing she was aware of was the heavy metal door opening and her now very much EX-friend walking into the room. The same sinister smirk smeared across his face. She was all but certain that this was her last moment.

But she was wrong. Although on further reflection she wasn’t exactly sure that was good thing. She had woken on the bed again. But this time was different. She was naked. And bound. Shackled actually. As soon as she realized the vulnerable state she was in, she immediately began shivering. Cold and fear. Fear and cold. The war between the two feelings was never fully won by either, so they traded off for the role of most prominent. Outweighing even the burning thirst and vicious hunger. Something she hadn’t thought was possible, but now she knew she was wrong about that, too.

And so, it is. Since the moment she had woken up chained to this bed, naked as the day she was born, she hasn’t moved, hasn’t been able to, other than the occasional shift or to bang her head back in frustration. She is more uncomfortable than she has ever been. Her arms and shoulders ache, but had largely stopped hurting other than a sharp twinge here and there, which honestly would have concerned her if it weren’t for the entire situation as a whole, but things being what they were, she can’t be bothered to care. Other than to be grateful that part of her discomfort has ended. The rest though is all but unbearable. Because she can’t get up and pace like she normally would when she got bored, she has to lay there with her mind spinning desperately searching for something, anything, to alleviate the boredom. She can’t warm herself or at least cover up with the blankets, so she is fully exposed, which is a different kind of discomfort, but still valid, and she is freezing. She is losing feeling in her feet and legs, though whether that is because of the tight bonds holding them to the bed immobile, or the frigid cold, she can’t tell. She also hasn’t had anything to eat or drink since ingesting the clearly drugged bread and water. The only silver lining, if it can be called that, to that particular issue is that she has stopped feeling the thirst and the hunger. Either because they have disappeared, or because she has gotten so used to them, she has no idea. And to add insult to injury, because she is chained down so securely, she can’t reach the single hole in the far corner of the room that had been serving as her toilet this whole time. She is filthy, having had not opportunity to bathe since she had been brought to this place, and now she was covered in her own waste. If there was anything at all beneficial about starving and being critically dehydrated, it was the fact that particular indignity had all but ceased as well. Again, something she would ordinarily be concerned about, but in her nearly delirious state, she can’t force herself to look passed the fact that she isn’t getting any dirtier.

Somewhere in her mind she knows, though. She knows that she is not long for the world and that her time now is likely being counted in hours and minutes, rather than days, weeks, and years. As that simultaneously depressing and comforting thought skips across her mind, she hears the metal of the door clang, creak, and open. Her heart leaps to her throat. Fear yes, but it’s also been so long since she’s seen anyone else face, she doesn’t care that it’s the face of the man she used to think was her closest friend. The relief is short lived. As he enters, he begins to talk. And the things he says…he tells her that while her absence has been noted, no one actually cares. The town gossips hiss to each other that it’s probably her own fault and that it’s likely for the best. Her friends don’t feel that way of course. They are saddened by her sudden disappearance, “What a pity,” they say, “what a loss.” But ultimately, they can’t be bothered to put forth any real effort into finding her. They are wrapped up in their own lives and won’t bestir themselves to much on her behalf. Even the police investigation into her disappearance was token at best.

Her outrage at the knowledge that she has been cast aside and forgotten by those she benefited and benefited from the most is tempered only by pain. Because while he talks, the man wearing her friend’s face, for that is how she thinks of him now, (they can’t be the same man. He can’t have changed this much. she tells herself trying desperately to soothe and distract), he cuts. He carves. Red lines racing over ever inch of flesh. During his monologue about how all of her insipid dreams are all for naught, he makes her bleed. Sometimes he lays down the blade for another implement, each is a new level and type of pain she had never thought to experience, but he always returns to the shiny, straight metal and continues his “artwork” as he calls it.

He tells her over and over that if she had just noticed him, given him the time, accepted him, loved him, he would have given her everything she ever wanted. A home, warm, welcoming, and safe. Love. Acceptance. A partner. Children. Beautiful babies to sing to and tell stories and teach and play with. He would and could have given her everything. On a never-ending loop he berates, belittles, and taunts her. Her friends don’t need or miss her. The town she thought she ran is still running and better in the one week she’d been gone than it ever had under her watch. Her home had already been emptied out, her belonging stored until an auction could be arranged, and the building itself already sold. No one had wasted any time completely erasing her from their lives and the town. She will never leave this room. All of her dreams and ambitions will end here with her. She will never have a husband in her arms or a child on her hip. Her memory, such as it is, will swiftly fade for everyone and when someone does think about her it will be with pity before they shrug off the thought and move on with their lives. And all because she had chosen some man, some stranger, she didn’t even know over him. If she had chosen him that night, instead of “whoring around” with Him, she wouldn’t be laying here right now. She would be safe in bed with him, her friend and new lover, dreaming of wedding bells and strollers, but instead she decided to make the wrong choice, once again, and he would make sure it was the last one.

The woman’s heart breaks over and over and over as a man she used to love as family tears her apart physically, mentally, and emotionally. The one thing, the one line he didn’t cross, was that he had not touched her. He hasn’t violated her in that way. It was one experience she was assured she wouldn’t have, but not because he wouldn’t cross that line, but because she “she didn’t deserve” him and she was “even too filthy for” him. She got the feeling he wasn’t talking about the layers of dirt and refuse she had accumulated, but she can’t find it in herself to care. It doesn’t even necessarily make sense really. She is going to die. She knows it. She has known it, but somehow, she takes solace in that one thing. And if her dalliance with Him had been what prevented that act from taking place, she can and will find it in herself to be grateful for that even though this whole thing is His fault.

The woman loses and regains consciousness several times over the course several hours. Every time returning to the waking world to hear her Not Friend ranting like a mad man, laughing at her pain, and layering more and more of it one top of the other. She has long since broken her vow against crying not to mention screaming, but can’t beg, not coherently at least, even if she wants to. Since she had woken chained up on the bed, she had been securely gagged. A gag that had now been soaked in blood and other bodily fluids generated during her ordeal. If she could, though, she would beg. She would beg him to have mercy and let her die. She knows that’s a fruitless wish though. He has no mercy. Not for her at the very least. He has made that perfectly clear time and again.

Finally though, finally, blessedly, she feels the end, the Reaper, Death himself, approach. She almost sighs in relief, but holds herself back just in case her Not Friend finds a way to bring her back from the brink. The thought of this agony, this hell, continuing cannot be borne and she prays one last time once again to every God she’s ever heard of that this really will be the end. She can still hear her Not Friend rant, though now it is muffled, like someone talking from far off. He is asking questions now. Demanding answers she hopes he doesn’t expect her to give. She couldn’t if she wanted to. Not that she does want to. Maybe if he gets angrier, this will end quicker. Either way, at this point anything that makes him unhappy pleases her. Probably twisted, but no less true. Slowly, she turns her head toward him, very purposefully. She can actually feel her heart slowing and see the final darkness at the edges of her vision. She has nothing to lose anymore. She doesn’t care anymore. It makes her brave in her last moments.

Again, her Not Friend demands an answer to his question. Her Not Friend wants His name. Apparently, he can’t remember it, and for some reason it’s important to him. He also wants to know what she knows about His whereabouts. She can’t imagine why. Still, one last push and it’s over. And it’ll do her slowing heart good to see him stymied one last time. She is dying and he is the one killing her. She is entitled to be a bit mean she feels. And so, strength fading quickly, the woman grins around her blood and spit-soaked gag showing bloody cracked teeth, and very intentionally, deliberately, slowly turned her head away from him. His rage was hysterical. If she could, she would have laughed, though one thing does confuse her. Just before he is out of her sight for the last time, she would swear she saw his eyes flash black. And there isn’t enough blood in her body for her brain to work properly, so she probably imagined it, she reasons quickly. It doesn’t matter anyway. The darkness the had been on the edges of her vision has almost completely covered it. Her Not Friend’s screams and yells mean nothing to her anymore. But one thing does. She can’t believe it, but she wants her last thought to be of the man who ruined everything. The man who made her feel alive and got her killed. Him. Slightly resigned to her own sentimentality, but resolute nonetheless, she calls up his image in her mind. How he looked went she first saw him That Night, but also when she last saw him, asleep, hair a mess, back covered in red lines, justifiably exhausted. She smiles to herself one last time, and with her last heartbeats, her last precious moments, she thinks

His name was John.

Song Credit- Reba McIntire "She Thinks His Name Was John" (side note: this song is about something very different and very real, and I have the utmost respect for that and Ms. McIntire for doing it in the first place. This fic came about because I binge watched Supernatural after listening to this song and my sleeping brain mashed them together. It turned into a massively rabid plot bunny that I had to write. But go listen to the song and prepare fore chills at the very least. I tried to do it justice, but I'm not sure how successful I was.)

Please comment and let me know what you think now that its complete. Good or bad, I don't care, but please be nice about it. Constructive criticism instead of flames. And I don't feed trolls. I block them.

@kittenofdoomage @holylulusworld @impala-dreamer @imanuglywombat