#ahem. not the point. i want to add more pages

[crescentmp3]

hello. look at my project sekai profile

[strniohoeee]

reader is down bad for matt, like she blushes, giggles, goes mute whenever he's around and he kinda enjoys it and one day he finally asks her to go an a date and it ends super fluffy

She’s Got It Bad

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N was out of her mind in love with Matt, but she was shy. Which left her in awkward silent situations until one day Matt puts his foot down! 🌷

Warnings⚠️: None?? Writing kind of sucks also sorry if there’s grammatical errors I never proof read till two days later after I post lolll😭

Song for imagine: This Is How It Feels- D4vd, Laufey

So this is how it feels

To fall in love with you

To always think of you

To always dreams of you

You know when you’re reading or watching a romance book or movie, and one of those super cheesy slow mo scenes happen? Where an 80s love song is queued and the two love interests stare at each other while their hair oh so dainty blows in the wind? And you’re curling your toes as your heart beats for the next scene to happen? Just thinking “I need more! Give me more!” And then it goes back to reality and they end up walking right past one another….

And it wraps you into this hour and a half or 230 page book/movie about the girl wanting the guy….but the guy not really wanting her or simply seeing her as a sister or painfully shoving her in the friend zone? And you’re itching for more. Tired of this back and forth of who will get one another first?

And if you said yes to any of those questions then you are sure looking at my life right now…stuck painfully stuck in the friend zone. Mainly because I put myself there. Let's face it, I'm deeply afraid of rejection. Why ruin something that is virtually perfect.

I had it bad for Matt and I’m not so sure he felt the same way, but I’d never in a million years ever jump at that. I’d rather rip my ears off and tape them to the concrete and then run them over consistently for an hour… okay a bit graphic and a bit over the top but you get the point. He’s off limits and I’ve got it bad for him…

Most of our interactions consisted of short conversations, me blushing like an idiot and even sometimes going silent..offering a nod here and there. It’s even gotten to the point of having to leave the hangout because I was so nervous around him. I mean what if I said something that he found cringey? What if I embarrassed myself which I tend to do a lot might I add? Or even worse…what if he didn’t find me funny?

All these terrible instances bounced off my brain like a bullet ricocheting off of metal walls. As I sat chewing my lip, suddenly my thoughts were interrupted

“Helloooooo” I heard loudly from the other end of the phone call

Blinking out of my trance I soon realized I had been on the phone.

“I’m sorry Nick I got side tracked” I replied gripping the phone again

“Yeah I can tell you went rogue for like 3 minutes there, did you even hear what I asked you?” He asked laughing

“Uhhh yeah and I think you should go with the yellow shirt” I replied praying I wasn’t so far off from what he was talking about

“That was like 10 minutes ago, I asked are you coming or what?” He said huffing

“I’m sorry? Coming? Where?” I asked again as I furrowed my eyebrows

“This is why I don’t call you, you have the attention span of a fly” he said laughing which caused me to laugh

“I’m sorryyyy I was thinking about something” I replied to him

“Aren’t you always… I was asking if you were coming over tonight for movie night?” He said shuffling around

“Ohhh duhh of course I never miss Saturday nights with you” I said getting up to pack my overnight back

“Even though Matt and Chris are joining us this time?” He asked

This is where I hadn’t been listening previously and I almost choked on my saliva trying to form a proper answer.

“Uh.. *ahem* yes of course they can join us” I replied trying to seem chill

“Wow sooo nonchalant about that” he stated sarcastically

“Oh will you shut up” I replied stuffing my duffle bag

Nick opened his mouth to speak but on the other end it sounded like someone walked in his room

“Matt get the fuck out I’m on the phone” Nick said which made me laugh a bit

“Who are you talking to?” I heard Matt ask his brother

“Your girlfriend now fuck off” he said almost hissing at Matt

“NICK STOP” I squeaked over the phone

“I don’t have a girlfriend you sicko” Matt stated sounding annoyed…. I looked up at my imaginary camera (hmm how do I take that response) I thought.

Shaking that feeling off I returned to the call

“Okayyy bye nickkkk see you in a bit” I replied rushing him off the phone

Hanging up the call I sighed deeply… if I wasn’t already nervous to possibly run into Matt then oh boy was I in for a treat

Usually, Saturday nights were for Nick and I and I rarely ever ran into Matt or Chris. Usually it was Chris and him and I had a cool bond. We’d stop to hug and chat for a bit before Chris left to go out. And if I ever ran into Matt it was him leaving with Chris which prompted me to wave slightly and avoid all hugs. Rambling on about Nick needing me for something upstairs each time and not even giving them the chance to respond.

I usually shut my eyes and shook my head when I turned away from them and even muttered a few unkind words about myself to myself….

But tonight…tonight Matt was joining us which meant I couldn’t be awkward around him or else Nick would for sure point it out.

I had gotten to their house with dinner for all of us which we landed on chilis…. Good thing I was 21 I needed a to go drink…preferably strong!

Sitting in their living room as we all began to eat, Nick scrolled through Max as we sat on the floor with our food on the coffee table.

“We should watch Silver Linings Playbook I heard it was good” I said looking over at the tv as Nick had just passed the movie

“I’m down” Chris said shrugging his shoulders

Nick and I usually watched action movies where we’d see a bunch of sweaty hot men fighting bad guys. And most of those movies we’d just yell out if we’d smash the guys or not. I don’t know that Matt and Chris would want to take part in that so a rom-com was for the win!

Max was playing a few ads before the movie and as I was sipping my margarita in a styrofoam to go cup (how niche) Matt had called my name

Looking over at him I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Do you like rom-coms?” He asked me

I felt my ears getting hot and my face too….good thing I’m drinking and I can just blame it on the alcohol.

“I do, I love them actually” I replied nodding at him

“I love them too” he said smiling at me as he ate a fry

“Nice” I said nodding my head and looking over at the tv…why the fuck were their ads still playing? Squinting I turned back around to face him

“Uhh what’s your favorite?” I asked him clearing my throat

“I’d have to say 10 things I hate about you” he replied wiping his hands

“SHUT UP! Me too” I replied getting really excited and loud (blaming it on the alcohol once again)

“No way” he replied laughing

“No! like I swear! I have all the romance movies I’ve ever seen ranked in my notes app and 10 things I hate about you is number one, look see” I replied rambling as I opened up my app and showed him

His brows raised…an impressed look might I add

“Wow Y/N didn’t know you were such a hopeless romantic” he said winning at me

This made my heart flutter and my voice disappear? Sinking into my skin I nodded at him before turning to watch the tv

Throughout the whole movie I kept catching Matt looking at me but he’d look away quickly. This made my skin crawl in a good way though

The movie finished and I found myself emotional. I mean it wasn’t a sad movie but rather beautiful. Nick and Chris had gone to lay on the couch at some point in the movie.

So to no surprise Matt and I turned to find them fast asleep. Shaking our heads we cleaned up the living room and headed to the kitchen to place everything in the trash.

The hallway light illuminating the kitchen as I washed my hands

“I almost feel like Silver Linings Playbook is my number one rom-com” Matt and I both stated at the same time

Laughing I shut the water off and turned towards him

“I guess we really are similar” I said to him as I crossed my arms over my chest

“I suppose so, but I wouldn’t know you’re always running away from me” he said quietly

“Am not!” I replied standing up straight

“You’re always running away from me as fast as possible, you don’t hate me do you” he stated as he wiped down the table

“No” I replied watching his every move

“Then why do you run away? Do I stink?” He asked laughing

“No! You just happen to catch me when I’m busy” I say lying through my teeth

“Right…I suppose so, I do know how to get you at the right time though” he stated throwing the paper out

“Do you?” I asked cocking an eyebrow

“Yeah…when I take you on a date and have all your attention so we can really get to know each other”he says

“Well we’re friends so I do know you” I reply rolling my eyes

“No…know me on a different level that’s not…friends” he says smiling at me sweetly

“Not friends?” Was all I could mutter

“Just say yes to the date you loser” he replied shaking his head

“Yes..sorry yes I will go on a date with you” I replied shaking my head and giggling

“You’ve ever seen Notting Hill?” He suddenly asks me

“I actually haven’t” I stated

“Want to watch it?” He asked me

“But Chris and Nick are sleeping” I replied pointing over my shoulder

“You miss queues don’t you?” He asked cocking an eyebrow

“They don’t call me a ditz for nothing” I replied jokingly

He looked at me with adoration in his eyes for a moment before opening his mouth

“I mean with me…just me” he replied with soft eyes

“Oh....yeah” I replied breathlessly as I shook my head…am I that fucking stupid? I thought to myself

We shut off the tv and the hallway light. Matt led me to his room as I followed behind. It felt so foreign being in a room with a new undertone to it….more than friends

“You can sit closer I won’t bite” he says as he looks over at me

“Right, sorry” I say sitting closer to Matt against the headboard

The air felt awkward as we watched the movie, but Matt slid his arm over my shoulder and pulled me in

“I’m not a stranger” he replied as he snuggled me closer against him

Smiling against him I melted into his touch as we fell asleep to a romance movie. I guess being shy does work out in the end and I’ve always had it bad for Matt but after today? You’re for sure thinking

She’s got it bad!

The End

I wasn’t sure how to end this…it’s so HARD TO END A STORY WTFFFF. Anywho we’re almost at 2,600 followers🥹🥹. Yall I could cry this means so much to me I remember when I had hit 100 followers and I never thought I’d make it this far. I’m so eternally grateful for you all😩🖤🖤. I know I don’t update three times a day everyday like I used to, but I’m so glad yall are sticking around till this day when I post once to twice a week every two weeks. I don’t deserve you, thank yall so much🥹💕💕💕. Stay tuned for more work baes

-J💅🏽

[the-nysh]

Time for some in-depth trigunbookclub notes! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ First story arc 'episode': vol1 ch00-04~

A bit of a late start but I'm planning to reread the series again with the overhaul translation, hoping to catch what I might've missed the first time around vs Dark Horse's. Paying attention with more informed, detailed thoughts and impressions from the perspective of already knowing what happens later in the story. Special thanks to cerealandchoccymilk's translation notes comparing to their japanese copy for additional clarity!

Flipping through these pages again, and gosh I'm already surprised at how much information's densely packed in here! (I...may have miscalculated how long these commentaries might take...) I've already made some notes for the opening ch00: 'High Noon at July' prologue, and I'm not sure how far I can sustain this same level of detail (maybe I'll surprise myself), but for now I'll try to focus on what else I can observe and talk about from the manga's first official story 'arc' - which lasts for the first 3ish chapters, corresponding to the 98anime's episode 5: 'Hard Puncher.' Stampede actually begins with this same story arc in eps1-2! :O In short, about the town suffering in decline from their malfunctioning Plant problems, desperately in need of money that Everyone (citizens, hunters, and outlaws alike) chases after Vash for the huge bounty on his head, until the Nebraska family shows up to escalate more trouble.

Yup, that's where the manga's story begins, as ch4 already speeds right on through to the Sand Steamer arc! (After a 2 week timeskip) Which the 98anime adapts later in ep7, and Stampede ep6! :O So the pace of the early manga is considerably much denser and faster, with plenty of details to note in between.

After the prologue sets the tone--ominously post-disaster with human survival and hope, ch1 opens with the iconic shot of Vash's Wanted poster. Many people have already noticed the...unusually vague and contradictory bits of information on him. So much is 'unknown' (note: Dark Horse lists an unknown birthplace while overhaul lists an unclear appearance) and yet...he's suspected to be the 'murderer' of someone with a fancy alias, as a 'young' (est age24) horrible killer who's also a pacifist?? 🤔 (How does that contradiction work out?) Who's believed 'capable' of mass destruction...and yet, there's nothing really conclusive he's indicted with here. Most of it feels like unconfirmed rumors and hearsay, so what's the actual truth? Who is he really? There's the additional tonal whiplash of seeing his ~smiley smiley~ easygoing (and old western themed) mugshot in contrast to the prologue's (sci-fi) bleak & desolate shot of a city that looks eerily destroyed by a post-nuclear bomb, released or shot from a clear direction leveled at ground zero. Something disastrously huge happened here to account for that ridiculous sum of $$60 billion on his head, with way more missing info than the suspicions he's listed for. Something doesn't add up here, so that's what the rest of the story's about--for us to find out~

First impressions of actual manga Vash (just from this introductory arc alone)....and he's a cute & silly little guy! :'D Whose attention is sharp and alert (he's definitely no idiot) to his surroundings sensing danger, with quick reaction times and even quicker resourceful fingers. A little odd and creature-y; how does he move that way and get himself into so many ridiculously contorted pretzel upskirt positions?! (Ahem: Nightow gives him all the 'fanservice' shots so the women don't have to; I respect that~ Hey, and why do the 4 buttons on his coat's collar keep mysteriously unbuttoning away in the breeze like that too, c'mon!!) Very animated and openly emotive with range, from the uwuest sad puppy eyes ever seen (accentuated with pretty corner lashes~) to flipping into irritation as someone who's not above using petty sass to make his points either. Oh he cries, both blubbering to himself about his own misfortunes and empathetic to others' pain, and oh he gets angry with dialed up severity too. And yet...he's a nice guy (who's gentle and considerate with women!!! 📣 with none of that 98 weirdness shown here at least, and easily makes friends with kids; all these are good signs) with an aloof air of mysterious distance, like he's a tired, traveling loner. Who seems like he'd just happily prefer to keep to himself out of trouble, simply trying to enjoy his meals in peace...until people rudely inconvenience him or interrupt his day with violent guns blazing!! D: Oh my god what an upsetting life (everyone's so mean to him~) give this poor guy a break with some actual Rest and peace please!

More in-depth thoughts from chapter 01: 'The 60 Billion Double Dollar Man' Immediately the setting is a very lawless, harsh place to live. With daily injuries and murder cases galore, where violence is so commonplace that even kids yearn for their own guns someday (wow D:) People might be cold and inconsiderate to others, cause everyone has it Hard here--everyday is a struggle, but the biggest telling observation -to me- is that no one is evil. :O Everyone presented this arc simply does what they must to survive, that resorting to violence (without malice) simply becomes a necessitated choice or way of life for many. :') That, in itself, clues me in that humanity is not evil, despite how it may appear. (I'll continue this more.)

I say this because the group of bandits who violently open fire on Vash in the diner, aren't there to hurt anybody else--they're only after his bounty (nothing personal), and in fact they assure the waitress they'll even repair the damages with that money later. Vash Notices(tm)~ Creatively resolving the situation thru non-lethal distraction, attrition, and his de-escalation + marskman skills using a child's toy. (So you see kid~ real guns aren't needed to win and save the day~) And I'm glad the overhaul translation made it clear the group volunteered giving up all their clothes & weapons to pay for the diner's damages as they concede defeat (that was...nice? of them), rather than simply walking away in humbled shame. Cause in the Dark Horse tl and old anime I didn't quite understand why they all suddenly stripped like that (to Vash's uncomfortable surprise: he didn't make them or expect they'd do that gesture either.)

We get some of our first classic Vash lines! yay~ Dark Horse kinda awkwardly botches his purple-prosey way to express his ongoing quest for 'Love & Peace,' so overhaul sounds more natural and faithful to the 98anime here: "[I'm a] hunter of peace, who continues to chase the elusive mayfly of love." (as opposed to a 'peaceful hunter' for the 'dragonfly' of love...which doesn't make much sense, since dragonflies are the hunters Dark Horse pls) Because striving for peace in this violent land is hard, and love itself (not necessarily 'romantic,' since familial and platonic kinds exist too) is as rare, short-lived, and precious to find here as a mayfly's tragically short lifespan...:') Man...

The whole thrifty 'price of one bullet for [insert any amount of food]' joke, cause whether pizza, pancakes (he ate those in the 98anime here), or donuts, his point still stands that choosing more food to live is more important/valuable than buying more bullets for killing & violence~

Violence which! He reasons that since no one likes to receive pain, he's decided to avoid any casualties. Apparently Dark Horse has the more accurate tl here, as it's about 'receiving' it: "pain isn't something anyone likes, right?" over rhetorically asking whether anyone can forgive 'doing harm' (overhaul). Because just SAYIN, as someone like him who personally KNOWS pain and what it's like to receive it etched all over his body, of course he'd feel awful and project empathize when others get hurt too. Never wishing they'd come to suffer the same as him. As long as he can help it, never again--whether that's to the pacifist level of preventing, stopping, relieving, or taking their pain upon himself in their place. But perhaps only lightly alluded to though or maybe I'm reading too much into his awkward sweating closed-off expression, since even he can't fully explain it yet; all the pain and scars of his past and the reasons why he refuses to kill aren't fully revealed yet~

...Oh my god, and we see our first official Plant bulb - which is so utterly bizarre to see it standing so bare and 'alone' surrounded by what amounts to only a roadside gas station & diner in the middle of nowhere. We know a single Plant can sustain a whole town..so why...it's almost like it was only recently 'dropped' (off the 'ship') or discovered as still active that civilization hasn't had enough time to properly settle around it...hmm.

But it marks the resting stop and first official appearance of Meryl & Milly! YES!! The girls show up in ~chapter one~ and are here to STAY, as important characters from beginning to end! 🎉 Meryl arrives with all the aura and swag of one whose larger than life ~presence~ belies her small frame. She's here for a reason, determined on a mission with a job to do, and has no time of day (she seems used to it as one who's experienced much of this before) for men who won't take her seriously or who make vulgar jokes at her (their) expense--thank you Milly's giant stungun for the karmic slap in their stead; don't dismiss, disrespect, ignore, or overlook these ladies, now!

I love that the moment Meryl's told the whereabouts of Vash, along with the wise advice to stay away from the current danger in that city--BAM she's already heading out the door (ditching Milly and their meal order?!) Reminds me how in the 98anime she ditched Milly in hot pursuit jumping off a tower wearing a parachute--like HELLO? Meryl pls! But here THEY'RE OFF~ on their way while Vash is...ulp, welp he's in trouble. :'D

Chapter 02: 'Looney Tunes' More worldbuilding's revealed to flesh out what we first glimpsed in the prologue: it's been over a 100yrs since humans crash-landed onto this desert planet and built up cities around the fallen ships, closely dependent on the viable technology brought within them. The first (!!) time the name 'Vash the Stampede' made history was once one of those major cities--lost July, was wiped off the map. Links are connecting, especially if he was deemed the prime suspect responsible for its sudden, unexplained destruction. The prologue said this disaster happened in year 0104, which matches being over a hundred years since humanity's 'arrival,' but just how long ago has it been since that incident? For Vash's name to build that notoriety for his bounty? For him to remain dangerously at large, yet uncaught, like a mysterious urban legend humanoid 'bomb.' The narration implies it's been a while for his story to be 'passed though the ages,' but we shall see.

But no time to ponder about that, because immediate tonal whiplash! Current Vash is in trouble and distress, running around dodging bullets, grenades, and the silliest cartoony hijinks imaginable for his life. Since after those first few guys in ch1, now the entire town knows who he is to be after his bounty too! aaaa~

Meryl & Milly are already here! (urgently, in hot pursuit to do....?) Meryl's pissed at how carelessly the town's handing all the chaos, as if they're all childish fools unknowingly playing with a nuclear warhead set to blow. (So interestingly, that's her first presumption about Vash; she's likely done her homework on July's historical disaster report.) Scaring Milly so much about the imminent danger (this town could be the next to explode!) that Milly stops, deciding she doesn't want to go anymore. :O Ah!! This interestingly reveals Meryl's likely the braver, more headstrong leader of the two, who seems to know what she's doing. Which is...wait, what does she plan to do here, exactly?? AAAAA!!! Bringing a megaphone into a warzone--alright, silly silly silly. She's SO silly, but so brave. And reckless. :P (Go Meryl~) Actually I like that she sees everyone here as humans first, who--she thinks, can still listen to reason even riled up in a mob. But even with her most ridiculously polite and ~formal~ way of speaking, you guessed it: the crowd pays her 'request' no attention. :'D (aaa! she's ignored; much woe and irony~) But whatever she has to say is so important that Meryl's determined and desperate to have her voice heard!

While wondering what on earth these two insurance ladies can still possibly hope to achieve here, now that the situation's chaotically escalated to the point the town chairman's called in the Nebraska family to pit against Vash...I'd say, in contrast to the town's many unsuccessful, over-the-top bombastic methods to catch him so far, I find it...very interesting that the ones who actually silently corner Vash (at gunpoint) are a room full of women. :O Interesting, very interesting~ (It seems the women in this story are the ones who can effectively get shit done~ So Meryl & Milly? Let's have faith to see what else they got~) As armed mothers, sisters and wives, prepared to do whatever it takes to get the money needed to save their kids and town from dying. So remember what I said about how none of the humans shown here are evil? Cause these women, and this whole town really, are just trying to survive (while resorting to violence); everyone has their own reasons to be after that bounty, with no personal malice towards Vash himself. :')

Vash of course, sympathizes with their terrible plight. And holy shit they said they lost 50 Plants?! (that's a shitton! D:) How is he holding himself together so well--ah, he is forcibly holding back his tears. :') BUT he's doubly conflicted, because he asserts he cannot afford to stop (as in, getting captured or killed) before he sees 'Him' again. (We know who that is, as there's only one stabby guy that could be.) The 98anime dub happened to mistranslate this line as 'the guy you're after' (who, the waitress!? she doesn't even know who [redacted] is!) so I imagine the subjects/objects were vague enough in japanese for that mistake to happen. Still, there's nothing else to really imply what Vash intends to do when he sees 'him.' Is it for revenge or something else he plans to do? It's unclear, aside from how clearly Vash gets angry and serious when it comes to 'him' (bonus: yes as suspected, Vash uses 'ore' as his personal pronoun like in the 98anime when it comes to topics about 'him' I'm glad to see those jp scans to confirm) That it must be something so personal/sensitive/grave enough that he realllllllly doesn't want to resort to shooting a room full of women when he's cornered (don't force him!!! pls he's already begging them not to make him do this), so that he can escape and continue his quest without dying early here. Whew... Fortunately no one has to make that difficult decision yet, because (unfortunately) the Nebraska's rocket fist breaks that building tension...and literally the entire room first.

Uhoh? But surprise!!! Vash is unharmed, gently holding the same waitress who'd just aimed a gun at him before, and somehow he managed to write a sassy "kiss my ass!!" returning message on Nebraska's fist--MULTITASK ahoy! (Also where did Vash grab that marker??? hah who knows~) But Milly's so worried at this point--and smothering Meryl from seeing anything, that 'bomb-kun' (Vash) has been provoked enough to explode! lmao :P (but will he?)

Chapter 03: 'Hard Puncher' Once again I need to appreciatively state just how gentlemanly and careful Vash is with these injured women; he fishes them out of the rubble and carries them all out to safety, one by one. Even Nebraska patiently waits, chilling there smoking a cig, for Vash to finish! They may be a notorious, haughty, and highly destructive family of outlaws, but see even the Nebraskas here aren't evil. :O Even when Vash moves away from the women to make space (and this is different from how the 98anime did it) Nebraska still faithfully aims at him, not them. But Vash needlessly dives forward to bodily shield the women from the exploding debris anyway! :O (In the 98 anime Vash was far away but Nebraska aimed at the women to force a lesson on him to make a choice, here interestingly not so; the women aren't helplessly made targets like that.)

Nebraska finds Vash's behavior odd, cause this is a duel - a quick draw match between a gunman and a cyborg's flying rocket punch (Nebraska himself is only after the bounty too for his own reasons; nothing personal.) So with Vash's own survival on the line, why would he continue to risk harming himself to protect others? Nebraska finds his actions wanting to save everyone hypocritical, and the Dark Horse tl seems to make more sense (closer to the 98anime's lines), when his reasoning's about 'his turn' to either be eliminated or become, either directly or indirectly, the killer (aka kill or be killed, even the choice with the whole trolley problem) when the time comes faced against an opponent who gives him nothing but trouble someday. So if Vash has survived this long unscathed (just think about him emerging from the July rubble...) then someone else must've already died in his place before (or so Nebraska thinks, he doesn't know Vash tries to find other creative ways to win without casualties, and gloats that today is that turn for Vash to die~)

But then...suppose Vash has killed somebody in his past before (remember the prelude about July 👀), wouldn't his choice to change and practice no-killing now be an active improvement over that - as a measure of growth or atonement? And not the same 'hypocrisy' Nebraska means? It'd become that way if say, Vash broke his current philosophy once it becomes impossible/unsustainable to uphold, and he had to kill again someday (as a choice, orr...forcibly no choice as even the women who cornered him this ch almost forced him a tough decision he didn't want to make) despite everything---ahhh, so then what does Vash plan to do when he sees 'Him' again? If Vash chooses to kill him then...whoopdeedo, Nebraska's hypocrisy point will be made. But anyway...

It's the first time we see Vash don his glasses when it's time to ~Get Serious~ for shooting a quick draw match (vs a rocket punch--note again, how Nebraska only aims for Vash, not the women, unlike the 98anime.) And here, Vash is still faster than his opponent!! Unloading multiple bullets that force the fist to veer off-course and miss him~ While aiming to break the cyborg socket of that arm for good measure so it can't be punched again. Interestingly a male citizen says Meryl's lines from the 98anime expressing awe understanding now why this skilled man is called 'Vash the Stampede.' But manga Meryl has none of that identity crisis confusion; she already knows who this Vash is and is determined to get right down to business!

Which is....? Calling for everyone to stop the fight!!! oh but it's already over~ I'm marking this moment down as the first time Meryl & Milly make eye contact with Vash--them awkwardly yelling from the rooftop of a building with the same diplomatic intent in their methods as Vash, by wanting to resolve things peacefully!!!!

BECAUSE!! Oh, you thought the girls were only here to be a slapstick comedy duo? SURPRISE!!! THEY WERE HERE TO SAVE VASH ALL ALONG!!! ;A; That important 'thing' that Meryl was so desperately trying to announce to everyone this whole time--but could never get her voice heard, was that Vash's bounty has been officially rendered null! Void, invalid, zero! Everyone had only been fighting, trying to shoot him dead, and destroying their own damn city for nothing! AHHHHH!! (I totally understand your anger/frustration here, Meryl--an authentic and capable short woman's struggle to be listened to and taken seriously! UGH! ;o;)

[But that's curious--why so suddenly NOW, or er, yesterday, did the government decide to call off his bounty? This is so sudden, and it's only in the first story arc too! Pretty sure his bounty remains active for much longer in the 98anime before his status changes later. So what was the most recent occasion or reason?? Especially if it'd been years since lost July happened to build his bounty, why is he only declared a natural/localized disaster--like that of an earthquake or typhoon, now? 🤔🤔🤔 As someone who can't be compared on the same level as other human criminals--wait, then hold up: how does the government, or the insurance company really, intend to 'control' or contain him then? By sending out two women?? To deal with the most dangerous non-human category risk alive?! Who sent them out here expecting them to make contact and negotiate or die trying right in the line of fire! Ahem.]

For what it's worth, Vash looks the happiest he's ever been seen so far, rejoicing that ~HE'S FREE~ from that marked life of running from everyone who comes after his head. :'D No more bounty to worry about means peace for real, right? Well not so fast!!! The girls are still here with a job to do. Bernadelli's 'typhoon' insurance premiums payouts are probably pretty damn huge to cover for all his damages all the time so...to prevent needless, costly risks and disasters from happening, they're here to ensure Vash doesn't get himself into any more trouble...by keeping him under their close watch: 24hr vigilant surveillance! 8'D (so he's not freeee~)

Considering how Meryl compared his risk factor to that of a nuclear warhead before, she's pretty damn bold and fearless!!! To waltz right up in his face, poking a finger in his chest, and offering him a gorilla grip of a handshake to officiate their first 'meeting' doing business with him! (Damn, girl!) Dark Horse's tl appears to be more accurate when she describes him having a 'chronic troublemaking disease' too. :P Hah~ She keeps her face tightly composed and 'professional,' but if she's this 'comfortable' to be in his 'dangerous' presence then...looks like she at least regards him--Vash the person, as human too. :'))

But instead of two insurance agents containing him for the benefit of their company and/or the government, it's more like Vash has gained two women bodyguards who're here to fend off any provoking or untoward attempts on his person. 😌 Anyone who doesn't like that and still wants to pick a fight with him (whoa mr Nebraska's not done yet!) can pack it up and go home!!! He's officially off limits! Back off, show's over! hahaha~ Cause the girls are armed (non-lethally! now doesn't that nicely align with his values) to defend themselves. He's quite a bit shook~ ;D

Chapter 04: 'Bang Bang!' starts transitioning into the Sand Steamer arc, but there's some aftermath details to note.

There's been at least a 2 week timeskip (Meryl says they've been here for over half a month) and the town's financial situation has been resolved thanks to the bounty on the captured Nebraskas covering for their needed money instead. (Ironically in Vash's place.) Vash's wanted posters are also starting to get torn down, since his bounty no longer applies. Meryl clocks Vash as an unbelievably nice/soft hearted person for offering the town all his credit and bounty money earned from taking down the Nebraskas himself. (Technically the girls subdued mr Nebraska at the end, but how sweet and generous of him~)

Still, since it has been a quiet 2 weeks without incident (what's happened in between now and then is anyone's best guess or anime filler territory~ but he HAS been a 'good boy' staying out of trouble if nothing's bad happened, right?) that Vash rightly has to wonder....just how long do the insurance girls intend to stick around him?? No time limit, or until their term ends, huh? D: Oh...well that's going to be a problem. (Knowing his lifestyle and quest to find 'Him' again...yeah, Vash can't settle in one place for too long, or risk those getting too close to him lest they get swept up in the danger...) Welp, since the Steamer's arrived, that's the perfect opportunity to begin his leave.

Hah! Meryl's so high-strung and on edge that Vash has suddenly ditched them, she rescinds her previous 'nice person' comment, thinking he's only playing 'nice' and innocent now to trick them and slip away. I...think she's jumped to some conclusions (cause while he is clever and skilled, his kindness isn't fake or trickery) just like Milly thinks he's transformed into a cat. :P

So relax, the Steamer doesn't even leave til tomorrow, he's only ~discreetly~ gone to reserve his spot, he's stayed here the whole time since they first met without randomly leaving them, and it's not like him (or at least, his manga self that is) to leave town full of his new friends made these past 2 weeks without saying goodbye yet, right?!

Cause he's already befriended Tonis! (Stampede reference! Rosa's name was also listed among the fallen women he rescued from the rubble.) And I'm pretty sure this kid is the same one who had that toy gun! He's totally a Vash fan now~

Also to note: it's the first time we see his travel duffel bag and cloak, and one of the Steamer's caravan guys keeps heckling Vash to hire him for their security. So much for him trying to keep a low profile. :P What's funny is that the insurance girls--with jobs, seem to have ran out of money these past two weeks while away from their office branches, yet Vash's 'finances' appear to be fine, even without the reward money he gave away.

I reckon that if the town has offered Vash free food in exchange for the generous blessing he's offered them, then I'm sure they've likely compensated him enough with means to pay for his passage on the Steamer, too. I mean hell, they've thrown him a whole lively going-away party tonight! While even going the extra mile to call in some expensive looking 'working' girls for his pleasure! :P

Now everyone and their mom has commented on him feigning drunken sleep as his way to 'politely' avoid it and turn them down. Apparently the original japanese line has him wondering whether it's a 'waste' (the 98anime has him wondering whether he regrets it a little) as depending on your interpretation, he could mean his choice (celibacy) is a bit of a waste when the chance is offered so freely, where he knows it's better that he shouldn't do/risk it despite how much he's possibly starved himself longing/craving for closeness, OR that he feels it's a bit of a waste for the town to have invited those nice girls all the way over here for the one thing he just can't give so easily (acespec lens). EITHER WAY, there's at least 3 narrative reasons why he'd choose to avoid getting too close/intimate with people like 'that' (for now): 1) his dangerous lifestyle--it's not safe to risk others he cares about; his distance protects both sides from further harm, 2) his scars--can't risk revealing those or their reaction to what he 'is', and 3) lifespan--uhoh spoilery, but still hurty for the gap between him and them. So he chooses lonely, sad boi hours in the dark... :'))

But what about the light? Check out what Meryl does during the party: sitting there watching him the whole time wondering about his ~mysterious~ ways. Even after another guy casually sits next to her wondering what she's doing. :P Her attention's still fondly on Vash. (MERYL I SEE YOUUUUUU!!!!) Especially after thinking he's a nice person, to thinking he'd ditched her, to seeing how he is now--having such a lively, open, rambunctious time welcomed among the town's celebrations. That the other guy supplies it's a wonder too--that Vash is getting along so friendly now with the same people who previously shot at him wanting him dead. :'D How accepting, how forgiving, how things change~

Final Vash notes on the Steamer: he still just wants peaceful alone time and Rest, despite how much others--like the caravan guy again, keep pestering him. :P He washes his hands after using the restroom! (Good etiquette!) And...his first pair of glasses barely lasted two chapters before they broke. :P Welp! He's off to befriend another lost 'stowaway' troublemaking kid...as the girls work their fare on board, blissfully unaware; just what can possibly go wrong~

[niceinchnails]

TUMBLR IS BEING WEIRD IM SEDNING AGAIN BC IFK IF IT SENT IM SORRU BUT UMMHII can I ask an objectum question? it felt like u wete the best to answer. how do u figure out if u are and know which objects u like? can someone choose to be objectum if they rlly want to be objectum? what r some common objectum expeienves that ppl have and may not even realize they r objectum? thank u

Ok i feel like i have to preface all my asks abt being objectum with i am NOT an expert im just some guy who happens to be objectum and im speaking from experience only. If anyone whos more of an expert on this kind of thing wanna add on/correct me on anything feel free too..

How do you figure out if you are and which objects you like? Ok i forgot when exactly i started id'ing as objectum but it was really mild/passive at first and then i played this. ahem. game. It got me really attracted to computers after that.. As for your case I think you just feel it to be honest if the label resonates with you. For me the "which objects" do you like came first but my recommendation for you is to just look at objs you like more than others and see if you feel any attraction towards them..

can someone choose to be objectum if they rlly want to be objectum? Hell yeah do wharever. I think i kind of chose to be objectum at first when it was like passive and milder but after a while it jist morphed itself into a huge part of my life that i cant willingly reverse (nor want to) so if you wanna be objectum be objectum O.k?

what r some common objectum expeienves that ppl have and may not even realize they r objectum? i dont knowwwwww.. this is just me spitballing and if you experience some of these it doesnt NECESSARILY mean youre objectum but i feel its worth talking abt? a. personifying/anthropomorphize objects or feeling attatchments to them e.g. getting happy when ur near them and a feeling of loss if you break them/lose them Or. talking to them sometimes. b. Um actually i dont have a scond point

Theres this really good website founded by Erika Eiffel with a bunch of resources&information regarding this topic. I havent found anything abt wondering if you yourself is objectum on this site, but i still really recommend reading through it, specifically the "What is OS" page

and if literally none of this applies to you Its OK i support you either way. you can ask me any more questions but i am no means an expert on any of this..

[tired-reader-writer]

*deep breath*

HOO BOI AM I INCREDIBLY NERVOUS.

The first outfit is just a very casual, home wear type of thing, I suppose! It's not much but he can just throw a coat on if he has to like say, receive a guest or meet someone or go out. Since I assigned the season spring to him for numerous reasons, I wanted to give this outfit soft spring sort of colours:

“Long associated with the cycle of life, birth/rebirth, and renewal/resurrection, the Vernal Equinox – Spring – signifies a time when light and darkness carry equal weight, creeping towards the Summer Solstice when the sun holds sway, extending the light of day.”

Hence, light green!

Those are almond flowers on his clothes, and as for my reasons for choosing almond flowers...

Buckle up babes, we're going on an Almond Journey.

“Highly revered in many cultures, the almond symbolizes watchfulness and promise of new life, as this tree is the first to burst into bloom in many countries. For the Jews, the almond branch was the model for the menorah, and for the Christians, it is a symbol of Jesus’ virgin birth. The almond blossom is also a symbol of bravery and courage, purity, hope, and love. From Greek mythology, the almond blossom is a symbol of eternal true love, unconquerable by death.”

×

“Blossoming branches of fruit and nut trees hold a special place in our ancestors’ collective unconscious. To them, the blossoms were sacred and held the Goddess’ promise of life and abundance. Ancient Romans revered the blossoming almond, showering newlyweds with the nuts as a fertility charm.

For our modern human psyche, the seemingly sudden bursts of color remind us of an eternal cycle of fresh starts, a recurring miracle. One day cocooned buds add diminutive points of color to dark branches. Overnight, the buds unfold into tiny blossoms, multi-petaled gems. Life begins anew, offering the promise of sustenance as the year ripens.”

Almond flowers bloom in spring, his assigned season (also, do you know how much of a hassle it was to find out when they bloom?? Google is such an asshat, it keeps giving mixed answers like “oh almonds are harvested in autumn” LIKE NO DUDE I WANT TO KNOW WHEN THEY BLOOM JFC—) (ahem anyways) and spring is... new beginnings, a fresh start, youth, idealism, that sort of stuff, right? And due to the role he plays in the AU (giving the clan a new start and some land to settle on, he's very idealistic and even though he matures he never lets go of said ideals, I've been wanting to write a scene where he “sat in vigil” alone as his two little ones slept kinda watching over them but I have not gotten to it I am so sorry, and while I'm guessing that the eternal true love business is supposed to be of romantic love I'm stretching it to include both romantic and platonic loves— aka he's a devoted and loyal husband to Kazai but also he will never stop treasuring Ayunnen and Kashi til the day he dies. And of course, there's no way he's gonna stop loving his little brother, and also his son.) almonds/almond flowers felt quite fitting. Also the Alborz mountains have almond trees, though I fucking forgot if almond trees originated from said mountain range. They probably did, iirc? Anyways, geographically it was a fit. (You have no idea how many times I've visited the Wikipedia page of the mountain range, bless them)

And the fact that it was used in wedding ceremonies is justba cherry on top. Not like he and Kazai are gonna need the fertility charm though LMAO

Anyways, moving onto the next one, it's just the same type of clothes as the first + a coat, suited for less relaxed settings! I tend to associate him with red, I wish I knew why, maybe it's his eyes, and I thought he'd look good in red so here he is, in red. A purple coat over that, and I tend to think of purple as the “family/household colour” as opposed to “personal colour” so I just made it the outermost layer, the “family/household colour” worn overtop the more personal colours, for more... I don't want to say formal, that's too stuffy for what I have in mind, but for like situations where he's not just with close/loved ones in a relaxed setting. That's also why I deliberately chose not to include purple in his first outfit. I thought I didn't have much to say about this one but huh, looks like I had a bit more than I initially thought. The yellow just looked nice on purple, haha. Though I did choose a softer, brighter yellow than what I'd give Kazai, to invoke the spring feel.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE ARRIVE AT HIS WEDDING OUTFIT. BOI I WENT HAM ON THIS ONE AND I THINK YOU CAN TELL. I have like. SO MANY THOUGHTS.

First of all, GREEN. Green is the favored wedding colour of the clan, and he's wearing lots of green to honor that. @innerchorus said he'd look good in green and I wholeheartedly agree. Look at him.

The pin I'm having him wear on his innermost layer is supposed to be of an ash tree seed, though I did take some creative liberty with the design so uh, does it look like an ash tree seed anymore? Anyhow, the reason for choosing it is:

What do the seeds of ash, sycamore and maple trees have in common? They all are enclosed in a wing-like structure that helps them disperse - away from the parent plant and indeed each other.

It was just smth I saw on some tumblr post, and I was like... “so the apple fell faraway from the tree” and kinda interpreted this as him distancing himself from his parents' deeds and attitudes to pave his own path. He did not agree with their actions and thought processes. The mountain range does have ash trees, too! So yeah.

As for the leaves on the red parts of his outermost robe, I did choose a very particular tree's leaves, and said tree is Persian Ironwood!

Parrotia persica, the Persian ironwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus Hamamelis. It is native to Iran's Caspian region (where it is called انجیلی anjili) and Iranian Azerbaijan (where it is called Dəmirağacı). It is endemic in the Alborz mountains, where it is found mainly in Golestan National Park.

And Golestan is:

Golestān Province (Persian: استان گلستان, Ostān-e Golestān) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, located in the north-east of the country and south-east of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Gorgan.

Oh but I'm not done yet. That's not the only reason I chose this tree,

The name 'ironwood' comes from the almost indestructible nature of the tree's timber which may explain why it is not commercially grown. Herbalists have used the species for the treatment of various fevers and respiratory infections. It is also used for food colouring and food flavouring.

Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water.

The wood is beyond strong, toughest in the face of floods, axes, and anything else.

I've even seen ironwoods described to have “unyielding strength”. Shapur, as I see him, is a very strict and stern (hence hard) man, but he is fair too. Maybe he and Kazai choose to plant an ironwood sapling? Undecided as of yet but I like the idea. I decided to include this in place of an entire tree like on Kazai's robe, mainly because I couldn't fit it on here but I still wanted to incorporate something for it. Tried making the leaves white, it clashed badly with the red imo, so... yeah.

The necklace! I feel like it's kinda lackluster but... I chose to stick with it. You'll see some similar choices as in Kazai's necklace, like the three repeating colours and such. There's also a wolf, I wanted more wolves on his actual clothes but... like with the tree, no place to put them on without it being cramped/jarring so... sadly I couldn't. The wolf is both Isfan and Areyan. His second layer, I really liked the asymmetrical trim look on his first outfit so I repeated that here, and of course, more almonds. This time it's the almond seeds, to reference the wedding thing. I tried to incorporate the colours from Kazai's wedding attire onto this too, to hopefully give a more cohesive feel. And as for the embroidery/detailing on the purple layer... I tried a bunch of times and decided this was nice. Also I wanted more pink on his clothes so... pink I included. In hindsight I probably should've included more white, this outfit doesn't have much white. But that could be in my favour too, since it could be said it's because Shapur doesn't follow that faith so he doesn't have as much but he still chose to honor it in subtle ways.

The ornaments on his braids, I don't know if they can be seen but there's dark blue beads! I probably should've chosen a lighter colour but... that's Kashi's colour, haha. And the white string was for Ayunnen. I like to think that that ornament originally belonged to Kashi (maybe she wore it at her own wedding), that Kazai gifted to Shapur instead of wearing it in his own hair.

I tried to reuse the colours from Kazai's wedding clothes sleeve for the trim on the neck of the purple layer but somehow in my eyes the colours didn't work so I scrapped that and included silver/white instead, and a lighter purple instead of the pink of Kazai's puffy collar shirt layer— hence why I included that pink on the bottom instead. The earrings... I just thought they looked nice, haha.

So this is it!! This was... A Trip™ to write, and I can only hope it'll be A Trip™ to read too. If nothing else my mental gymnastics should be rather entertaining.

[leighlew3]

Q if you have time.. how long did it take you to write a script versus now when you’ve gotten so many more hours of experience doing it? Like more or less it’s complete and ready to be shared?

Hi!

So, tbh I think I've always written relatively quickly... when it flows. I've always been able to churn a script out in anywhere from 1-6 weeks, depending on if I'm solely focused on that one thing or not and how much time I can actually devote to it daily/weekly. Otherwise, it could take months if I get distracted or hop around between scripts. But my standard, since I started... a few weeks.

That being said, after writing many scripts at this point, I've certainly become quicker and smoother in terms of having to spend less time going back for rewrites after I churn out a new draft. For starters, I tend to proof and polish as I go versus doing a vomit draft (many people prefer the latter way of writing -- and to each their own). But my "first draft" because of this, is usually a tad closer to a typical 2nd or 3rd draft. And thanks to the experience of writing numerous screenplays by now -- I find that I usually hit the standard structural points organically, which thus saves time on trying to "fix" that later.

Stories now tend come to me usually fairly close to the structure they're expected to be, compared to when I was starting out. Example: back then, I'd know I wanted to tell a story about XYZ but I'd have to sit there and map out what the inciting incident actually was and when it should rightfully occur, and be sure I was following a three act structure properly, and figure out where those acts should end, and sort through what the story's true midpoint would be, and how to nail the climax on time and effectively, etc and basically focus too much on hitting all the 'expected' points in a screenplay. And, making a certain page count (sometimes coming up too long or too short).

Now, however, I find that I just hit these things fairly naturally as my story flows out of me in development. I'll write up an outline (or a jumble of bat crap crazy notes, ahem) and automatically, whatever I'm planning just sorta lines up and comes out hitting those elements without really trying, and I also usually land right at or at least close to the page count it 'should' be for the genre.

As you evolve, you find that things you used to have to sort of mark off like a check list and go back and fix later -- become things that happen organically and are built in from the start, thus saving time. And not just structurally or technically, but also in terms of character work and the overall story itself.

So yeah, TLDR: the more scripts I've written, the "easier" and a tad bit faster it's gotten, due to the basics and structure and such coming more organically now. Effectively, I'm spending my time more wisely. Thus, when I'm diving back into a script for a rewrite due to lets say realizing I could add a whole new arc or rework a plot element or character, etc -- I'm focused more on the meat than the bones, if you will. Which makes things go a lot faster, for me.

That's why it's really, really important as an emerging writer to get the basics down. Do the research on structure and formatting and all those bits, and most importantly: write as much as possible (and read as many produced screenplays as possible also) so that all of those "basic" / "expected" things like structure, format, etc come built in, automatically, second nature -- and thus you can spend the bulk of your writing time on the story and character work itself.

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Hello I wanted to ask you something since a few days now.

I REALLY REALLY LOVE NAMOR X SHURI❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

But he killed Ramonda and there's no going back from that 😭😭😭😭

Could you please give a deep analysis of how and why Namor x Shuri can be a thing in the future (IM SORRY IM ASKING TOO MUCH)

There was clear chemistry and I (& many others) HAVE SEEN IT. But damn he ruined everything and my girl's devastated and so I am. How's she gonna get back to him? How will he even make up for everything?

And ugh..... these antis call him manwhore, horndog, toxic and that's really hurting my shipper heart. Even paedo because of the age gap and that Shuri is not matured etc etc.

I really need you to lift my spirits.

And again I'm sorry for the trouble 😕

Never feel sorry for asking me stuff hahaha, I love answering them 💖💖💖

I don't get why people put characters into a box, like he's a villain so that's all he's gonna be. Dealing with anti-heroes, we need to understand that they are morally grey first and that adds a lot of complexity to how they operate.

Now as much as it's difficult to comprehend, none of these characters are real. These characters are on a page and the beauty about that is, their story can be changed however we wish like.

People acting like Namor is irredeemable and making others feel bad for shipping him with Shuri is absolute bollocks lol. I've seen so many ships that are even more problematic and yet people cherish them.

This may not be kind but having been on the other end of dealing with antis, most of them talk about toxicity and all that stuff as though people have not dealt with it in real life. The beauty of these characters is that we don't have to project people we know in real life onto them.

They facilitate ✨escapism✨ and make life a bit more bearable.

So my advise to you is *ahem* build those fake scenarios, enjoy Namor x Shuri, think of them going on dates, anything that makes you happy. That's the point of films and the reason they get made.

The Talokans and Wakanda are two kingdoms, we're not just dealing with two individuals. And in war, the inevitable tends to happen. So many real life scenarios where kings would kill the 'father' and then marry the princess when they conquer a land. Now if you think about it and replay those scenes it's quite clear how everything happens. Ramonda could have easily swum up to the surface and saved her life, but her CHOICE was to go back for Riri.

And what do we expect Namor to do? Put yourself in his shoes and see that he's doing it to save the secret of Talokan. He has no reason to trust these people, but you see him trying to build that through Shuri first. So it's a complicated turn of events. It's as it is, war between two kingdoms. In a scene like that, Namor is a king, Ramonda is a queen, Shuri is a princess. It's political, it's business.

As he hovers there, he can actually conquer the rest of Wakanda by killing Shuri to take the throne. But he doesn't. He's shifted the tide, as a king would do for his country and people, and put Shuri in that spot of being queen because he needs to be reassured of Talokan's secret. He's dealing it like how he would have dealt it because "he was blinded by hope" before.

So that whole bit, you can't actually blame anyone. Each one's doing it for a purpose. If we follow the antis logic, Bucky and the avengers were involved indirectly with regards to the death of his father. Then he should have never been a part of the avengers or helped bucky. He should have held onto that grudge.

To resolve this confusion, I keep going back to Killmonger's appearance. He starts off with the same sentence that Namor tells Shuri. "It's never about the how but the WHY?", killmonger should have been the first to be Namor's fan boy. But he's quoting that like he's a mirror, that Shuri is having those thoughts in her head focusing on the "Why" for her vengeance. He then could have approved of Namor's actions by saying that he killed her or that Shuri's family deserved it for having murdered his father. But instead, there a clear point being made that Ramonda sacrificed her life as a QUEEN not as a mother, to save another life.

So I interpret the whole thing differently but ultimately I would say Ramonda's death was an indirect loss because of the Talokan and Wakandan conflict. Yeah Namor will have to work his way back and realize what he had done on a personal level but I don't think he will apologize for it in a politically sense. He did what he had to, to keep his people safe. And diving into why he's like that will need another post lol.

But I don't get people calling him all those stuff. It hurts, I've been there. I literally am staying off til tok and other platforms because I don't want to hear about it hahaha.

Ps- so many books have 19 years old girls falling in love with a 2000 year old demi god or fae or eleven king. Shuri is 25 in this movie and is well capable to make her decisions as an individual. Namor is a mutant technically. Sooooooo age gap doesn't make sense here 🤣🙄

[cttrajan1206]

When you get this, answer one of the questions (or all if you really want!) then pass it on to 5 writer friends! 🥰 If you have more than one WIP, pick at random! We want you to talk about your works, and celebrate with you! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

ok lmao so i had to go and ask you for the questions but i'll answer them now <3

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Who is your favourite character in this WIP and why?

Ok so unfortunately for everyone involved i am not a novel writer-

WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED MY SHORT STORY!! DIGRESSION REDACTED. Literally. i actually had an explaantion typed out but you'll never see it now bc tumblr is a fuckwad <3

I'm gonna tag my writer friends to continue this because it's easier sdfogushdfg but thank you matt!!!

To follow the challenge (with fanfic or original):

@tsukiomoon @lovinglystrawberrycrepe @bea-writes-sometimes @genderlessfish @asadnerdtm @jawbone-xylophone @a-little-chai @blacksoul333 @hiddenarina @monoshii-wasu

(I kinda went crazy tagging a bunch of peolpe here because i'm genuienly curious for what you've all been up to and what you're writing!)

ok ahem ahem

Sheltered

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

The ending. As a writer who loves to build up to specific moments and gestures, this story requires SO MUCH planning and care to achieve the effect I want which will hopefully be a mindblowing one. And also a very sad realisation I hope. I want the reader to be SHOCKED. i need them GASPING. i need them HORRIFIED. but i can't do that until i write everything else first </3 but god yeah i really really really want to skip to teh ending

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Initially in the daydream stage, I modelled this as a short film script! But I don't write scripts often so I scrapped it and made it a short story instead. Additionally, as I wrote it I realised extra motifs and secrets to add! For instance, Kanto tells you something and will always draw back to that point but as I wrote this in, I realised it would add to the plot twist to have Nafiz never acknowledge this explicitly until the very end! Little things liek that which will require extra planning but contribute so greatly to the payoff.

OH YEAH AND LIKE. ITS CHANGED A LOT FROM ITS FIRST DRAFT. MOSTLY BC THE FIRST DRAFT WAS 9 PAGES OF HANDWRITTEN STORY WHICH I THEN. LOST IN BANGLADESH </3 But honestly i really love the rewrite more so tbh alhamdulillah that happened. Taught me to save my work properly too sdfogushdfg

Who is your favourite character in this WIP and why?

So few people even know about the wip but even fewer know that the two main characters, Kanto and Nafiz, are just my Twisted-Wonderland self-inserts re-contextualised to be humans of different ages to their ogs. This is a little on purpose though since the story is very close to my heart ;D

But in that regard, my favourite character is actually Kanto!! She's a really young girl in Sheltered but her dialogue, mannerisms and actions are so fun to write and most importantly of all, she is integral to the plot twist. I love how much depth I need to pour into her and she's the expositional character!

Who doesn't love their beloved tutorial?

[zellie-pdf]

How to Improve Your Vocabulary

Word of the Week: Assiduous: (adj.) hard-working, diligent

I believe that artists (writers, musicians, illustrators, etc) are the most self-destructive people in the world. As a writer, I'm forced to battle myself. When I use apps such as Hemingway Editor (an amazing app/website that helps you write clearer, more concise sentences (The website is linked here!)), I realize that a lot of my writing is at a "fourth-grade reading level". Fourth Grade? You're joking, right? The years I've spent writing and rewriting my book, editing, and polishing—all of that amounts to something a fourth-grader would read? Not that I'm bashing younger people and/or people with lower reading levels, but I wanted to at least make it to a middle schooler's reading level.

Read more?

How do I do that? Expanding my Vocabulary. The benefits of doing so are endless: - I'd sound more intelligent - My writing would be more challenging for an elementary schooler to read - It would improve reading comprehension - It could land me that job I've been wanting - I could think by using more intelligent language

Okay, enough rambling about me overthinking my own writing. How does one expand their personal vocabulary?

1. Downloading a Word of the Day app

I've found that using a word-of-the-day app helps a ton. To make it even better, I use Quizlet to study every word I've learned in the month. If you don't have enough storage or you just don't want an app, there are tons of word-of-the-day newsletters and content creators. I'm following a few on Instagram to add to my Quizlet collection. So, what does a WotD app do? Exactly what it sounds like. It sends you a notification with the word and definition of a large word. The one I use lets you choose between three levels, based on your vocabulary already: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. (Here's the link)

2. READ AND WRITE

This one seems pretty obvious. Reading books (or Tumblr posts!) helps you to see words in context. A lot of people recommend classics since they use bigger words. Honestly, just read whatever you want. If you need some classics for beginners, though, here's a list! The Great Gatsby (208 pages), Animal Farm (130 pages), and Frankenstein (280 pages). ^ I consider those for beginners because they have fewer pages than, for instance, Emma by Jane Austen (432 pages). I might make a post on classics for beginners... hm. Anyway, just read to your heart's content! Writing can help you improve your vocabulary, too. After reading so many books with tremendous vocabulary, you can put them into your own writing. You should also keep a dictionary or thesaurus handy while you write. - Write in a journal to start out! Instead of saying "My day was good." Look at your thesaurus and see some synonyms. "My day was spectacular, exceptional, superior, satisfactory, acceptable, adequate, delectable, brilliant, etc." This brings us to our next tip.

3. Keep A Dictionary/Thesaurus

Listen, I'm not saying you have to keep a massive book in your bag. All I'm saying is that these come in handy, especially when reading/writing! Plus, you can literally keep one on your phone. If I'm not mistaken, most phones come with one. And you can download one if you'd like! It can be a cutesy one or a heavy metal-themed one. It doesn't matter, as long as you use it! The point is, using one will help you speak and write better.

4. Practice using new words in conversations.

WARNING: This only helps if you become very familiar with the word! Using new words you've learned in conversations can help you memorize them and consciously put them into your daily vocabulary. Plus, it can make you sound smart if you're not an asshole about it. And if someone asks you what it means, just calmly explain it to them (ahem, don't be an asshole)

I hope this helped. Follow me for Words of the Week (I know they're not as frequent as words of the day, but it might help, just a bit!), and feel free to request tips or to give me some! I'm always open to constructive criticism.

[makeste]

BnHA 323: “I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People”

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all, “Izuku, I’m sorry.” Bakugou Stans were all, “[sobs for a week straight and tearfully awards him the Nobel Prize for character development].” Deku was all, “[faints in Kacchan’s arms].” Iida was all, “[trying to decide if Ochako genuinely tried to kill him a few minutes ago].” Horikoshi was all, “NO TIME FOR HUGS WE MUST GET BACK TO UA.” The civilians holed up at U.A. were all, “WE TOOK A VOTE AND DECIDED THAT WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE JERKS ABOUT THIS AND MAKE A BIG FUSS ABOUT YOU LETTING DEKU BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.” Deku was all “[stands there looking like he expected nothing less and breaking my heart more and more with each passing moment].” Ochako was all, “that does it, looks like I’m gonna have to do something about this... next chapter, that is.”

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal is all “I just want you all to know that I spent nine million dollars turning U.A. into a giant Battleship-style grid that can burrow underground and zoom around in a giant subway maze because Horikoshi lacks a grounded understanding of both civil engineering and economics.” Back in the present day, Jeanist is all, “EVERYONE TAKE HEED, MY COMRADES AND I HAVE DEEMED IT EXPEDIENT TO CONVEY THIS AUSPICIOUS YOUTH BACK TO THIS STRONGHOLD. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE MAY DEPEND UPON YOUR GOODWILL AND ACQUIESCENCE TO THESE TERMS.” The civilians were all, “NO.” Ochako was all, “EMPATHY, MOTHERFUCKERS, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!” The civilians were all, “oh shit.” Anyway so Ochako is a giant badass, but I’m a little worried that she’s going to get struck by lightning. Please come down from there.

so before we start this chapter, I would just like to apologize for having not posted the ch 321 recap yet, and would like to reassure everyone, and especially Iida who is staring at me with Sad Wobbly Guilt Trip Eyes, that I will get to that as soon as I can

OMG FLASHBACK??

yes please Horikoshi please show us more of class 1-A and their Deku intervention strategy jam sessions

oh dear

Iida you are too pure and good for this cruel world. [sprays the U.A. civilians with a water bottle] NO. BAD CIVILIANS! NO OSTRACIZING SCARED AND EXHAUSTED CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE

EXCUSE ME RAT PRINCIPAL WHAT’S WITH THESE MIXED MESSAGES

???

RAT PRINCIPAL: he’s free to return to us at any time!!

ALSO RAT PRINCIPAL: but it’s too risky for him to return to us

?? ??????? ?????????????????????

so now he’s going on about how strong the U.A. Barrier is, and how it’s comparable to the defensive capabilities of Tartarus. this would have sounded a lot more impressive before chapter 297 lol

OH!!!! HELLO, WHAT’S THIS!!!

A TIMELY CALLBACK TO A CERTAIN MYSTERIOUS EVENT WHICH HASN’T BEEN REFERENCED SINCE USJ? [U.A. TRAITOR MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

so now Rat Principal says he upgraded U.A.’s security systems with his own “modifications”, whatever the fuck that means. I mean look, I’ve been saying for a long time now that U.A. is the best place for everyone to hole up, don’t get me wrong. but that was mostly on account of there not being any other practical alternatives. but you’re making it sound like you figured out a way to actually make it Decay-proof or some wild shit like that

-- hold up, DID YOU ADD A FORCE FIELD. DID YOU TRICK THIS SCHOOL OUT WAKANDA-STYLE YOU CRAZY MARSUPIAL. HOLY SHIT. because that would actually be perfect

LMAO

WHAT KIND OF GALAXY BRAIN BULLSHIT. “NAH THERE’S NO NEED FOR A FORCE FIELD, LET’S JUST PUT WHEELS ON IT”

oh okay so the whole campus is basically capable of burrowing itself underground. that’s insane lol I wonder how they pulled that off. probably got poor Cementoss working overtime

blah blah blah so basically the entire campus is split into a grid and each section of the grid is capable of its own independent movement. lol this is just the Merone Base from KHR. you thought no one would notice this casual plagiarism ten years after the fact, but YOU UNDERESTIMATED YOUR AUDIENCE, HORIKOSHI

“joke’s on you imma just lampshade it” WELL ALL RIGHT THEN

“look at me I’m so fucking self-aware” fucking swear to god. I can’t believe this man is my favorite mangaka of all time smdh

“excuse me, I wasn’t finished describing all the rest of this bullshit yet,” Rat Principal breaks in impatiently. “we also added a steel wall all around the underground of the campus that’s 3000 steel plates thick. that’s fifteen fucking meters of solid fucking steel just fyi. and if anyone fucks around with any part of it the defense system will activate immediately! and also all of the plates are independently motorized, whatever the fuck that means!! in conclusion you’re gonna need a fucking tower crane to suspend all of your disbelief by the time I’m through with this paragraph”

“also Shiketsu is almost as reinforced as U.A. but not quite because we still had to make sure we were better.” but of course. and apparently the two schools are connected via a secret tunnel as Hagakure mentioned earlier

LSDKFJLSDKJFLK

“WAIT WHAT” LMAO YOU HEARD HIM, NOW INASA CAN VISIT YOU BOTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE WEIRD DREAM HE HAD. GOD BLESS YOU HORIKOSHI

(ETA: moment of appreciation for Shouto and Katsuki having the same thought at the same time and making Knowing Eye Contact and saying the exact same thing out loud in perfect unison like the best friends they are. what a blessed day.)

so Tokoyami is all “but wait if you engineered all this shit all the way back during the Band arc how did you even know that Tomura’s quirk awakening would become a thing, Horikoshi -- uh, I mean, Principal Nezu”

and Rat Principal is all “lol idk”

“basically I just woke up one morning and was all ‘say, you know what this school really needs? a fifteen-meter-thick underground steel wall, and the ability to break up into little pieces that individually zoom around wherever the fuck they want.’ jesus christ. lol if money and common sense were apparently no obstacle why didn’t you just teleport U.A. to the fucking moon or something. maybe I should shut up before I given him any ideas

dsfaelkjldkjgl

you heard it here first, folks, all of this cost a grand total of nine million U.S. dollars. well technically it cost “more than” nine million dollars. never has that distinction been more important lmao. are we sure this barrier was really made of steel and not cardboard? who the hell sold it to them, Ea-Nasir??

this is my favorite manga series of all time. yes I am ashamed

“in conclusion please do your best to reach Deku-kun” SO WHAT WAS ALL THAT NONSENSE ABOUT IT BEING TOO RISKY THEN. anyway thank you for this super informative and edifying flashback, Horikoshi. I will cherish it always. I don’t even want to read another translation of this absurdity lmao, there’s something special about it just the way it is. pretty sure Horikoshi just had a cracked out fever dream one night and transferred it to the pages of the manga verbatim

anyway so back to the unruly mob

not their finest moment. please excuse me while I cover poor Deku’s ears and give him a good shoosh pap

oh wow the parents are out here too

is Mitsuki trying to hold Inko back?? that’s the last thing this fandom needs right now is more Mitsuki discourse fffwlkjs. and even Jiroudad, scientifically proven to be the best dad in all of BnHA, is just standing there silently looking vaguely unhappy. way to rise to the moment you guys

MONOMA

so this settles it for me that Aizawa is not at UA. I know a lot of people have been wondering about his whereabouts, and if I had to wager a guess it would be that something happened with Shirakumo/Kurogiri. I can’t think of anything else -- even the loss of an eye and a limb -- that would keep him from his kids at a time like this

anyway but this is excellent Monoma content right here though. I love that he apparently adopted Eri after a single interaction with her. also WHERE IS SHINSOU DAMMIT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW

and Kouta’s there too looking like he wants to run over to Deku but Ragdoll won’t let him :/

it’s gotta be pretty upsetting for him to see his hero like this and not having anyone stand up for him. [taps megaphone] IS THIS THING ON. OKAY YEAH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AHEM. PAGING URARAKA OCHAKO. GONNA NEED YOU TO GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND MAKE THAT BIG DRAMATIC SPEECH WHICH YOU ARE CLEARLY DYING TO MAKE. IF YOU DON’T DO IT SOON I’M GONNA HAVE TO STEP IN, AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT ME TO DO THAT SINCE MY SPEECH WILL NOT BE VERY GOOD OR INSPIRING, AND WILL PROBABLY JUST CONSIST OF “HELLO, YOU ARE ALL STUPID, PLEASE SHUT UP AND GO AWAY”

so now Mic is telling them to calm down. at least someone’s speaking up here, geez

OH MY GOD

MY MAN JEANIST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST: MAKING EVERYONE FEEL GUILTY AND JUDGED

OH MY GOD HE IS GIVING SUCH A LONG AND BORING SPEECH LMAO IS YOUR STRATEGY TO PUT THEM ALL TO SLEEP OR WHAT

truly in awe of this man’s ability to take messages which could easily be conveyed in ELI5-speak, and stubbornly convert them into incomprehensible language the likes of which you need a graduate degree in order to understand

“hey guys, so originally our plan was to use Deku as bait for the villains, but that didn’t really work and also we realized it was kinda dumb and was probably gonna get him killed, so we brought him back here instead.” was that really so hard, Jeanist. also are we all really just gonna sit back here and watch Jeanist take full credit for Bakugou’s plan just like that lmao

(ETA:

WHERE DID ENDEAVOR GO AND WHO IS THIS DIABOLICAL MASTER OF DISGUISE. lol I genuinely didn’t notice this because I was too busy digging through thesauruses trying to rewrite Jeanist’s speech; many thanks to @class1akids​ for pointing it out and making my day immeasurably better. take it easy there Dick Tracy.)

“anyway so please stop being dicks and let him fucking rest so he can save all your ungrateful asses” what an impassioned and inspiring plea. time to see if the masses will listen to reason

narrator: they did not listen to reason

oh my god finally Ochako is doing something. YEAH OCHAKO WOOOO SHOW THEM HOW IT’S DONE

hmm

this entire chapter is truly and utterly nonsensical to me lol

(ETA: on my second readthrough I’m fucking dying at how she stole the megaphone right out of Mic’s hand lmao. and how Kacchan is all “fuck yeah nothing I appreciate more than some quality fucking larceny.”)

oh I see she was jumping on top of the main building so as to scream down at them all more impressively

“ANYWAY DEKU IS PRETTY COOL ACTUALLY, YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN” couldn’t have said it better myself Ochako

lol uh

gotta say I did not have “Ochako reveals the secret of OFA to the entire U.A. Citizen Clown Parade” on my bingo card for this week. it’s a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off

SDLFKJSL

“NO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIM YOU GUYS. YOU THINK HE LIKES RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A RUSTED OIL DRUM?? HE DID THAT FOR YOU YOU UNGRATEFUL SLOBS”

so she is basically explaining the entire Deku Angst arc to them and explaining what a good and selfless protagonist Deku is, YES, PREACH

OMG IT’S THE GIGANTIC FOX LADY

not to insinuate anything, but what exactly were you doing standing out here with the hysterical mob, Gigantic Fox Lady? you’re better than that

-- KACCHAN SIGHTING!!

sdlkfjl. thanks for weighing in with that helpful and important observation. where have you been for the last five minutes. were you asleep. was it Jeanist’s speech

never mind, now he’s yelling at the civilians so I instantly forgive him

THE FUTURE NUMBER ONE HERO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. HE’LL BE HERE ALL WEEK

“anyway so I’m just going to end the chapter here” lmao seventeen pages truly do go by so fast. at least he didn’t try to force in a cliffhanger at the end this time. dare I say, growth

so I guess the civilians are either gonna have a Kamino and/or Fukuoka-esque moment where they remember how to be decent people and apologize to this poor young man, or else they’ll remain unpersuaded, and so Kacchan will have to knock a few of their heads around until they become more inclined to be reasonable. either option is fine by me lol

[nastybuckybarnes]

Of Kings and Beasts  -  Nine

Pairing: King!Bucky X Princess!Reader X King!Steve

Summary: Born a bastard of the King of Orlen, you’re thrust to the West to marry the Kings. However, the greeting you get is anything but warm, and your life with the King is far from enjoyable. He knows it isn’t your fault his husband is gone, but that fact alone won’t prevent him from taking it out on you.

Warnings: Angst, Injuries, Fluff, Language, Violence, 

Word Count: 2.9K

A/n: Another chapter is finished!! I’ve got an idea but it’s SO DANGEROUS AND Y’ALL MIGHT HATE ME IF I DO IT BUT ITS SO TEMPTING AND I THINK I’M GONNA DO IT ahem anyway I hope you guys enjoy this!

A/n 2: I’m posting this before work so I’ll reply to asks and comments when I get home tonight! Also, I’ve got the next part of Gangsta written up if y’all want that.... hehe

THIS SERIES CONTAINS SMUT AND DARK THEMES THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING TO SOME AUDIENCES!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Series Masterlist

~*~

“How have you been adjusting to this new home?” Thor asks one morning, a smile on his face. You grin back at him, the weight of Acadia lifted off your shoulders as you take a sip of your tea.

“Quite well. Although Loki has been an interesting addition.” The raven-haired man looks up from his book momentarily and gives you a look, to which you only smile.

From the moment you entered the cottage you knew it would be good for you to stay here.

“Well, we are at your disposal. I will have to go back to Asgard within the weeks to come, but Loki and the Valkyrie shall remain here should you need or want them.” You nod gratefully, looking out the window and pursing your lips as you watch the women spar outside.

“What? What is it?” Thor asks, following your gaze.

“I want to learn to defend myself. To wield a sword and fight off an attacker.” Loki scoffs from where he sits, his nose still buried deep in his book.

“For what reason should a queen wish to learn to fight? You will always have men for that.” Your defence is up in an instant, and you clench your jaw before composing yourself enough to reply.

“I do think that considering both my upbringing and the way I have been treated in my new kingdom, I have every right to want to learn to defend myself. I have many reasons to want to defend myself, none of which concern you, however, if you had the slightest idea of all that I have endured in my short time as queen you would not question me wanting to learn to defend myself. I have been shunned from my palace because my husbands fear someone will kill me. My own husbands have brought me far more pain than I would like to admit. I have every right to wish to learn how to defend myself and I will not hear a word from you about the subject!”

His brows raise to nearly his hairline and he looks between you and his brother before burying his nose back in his book, which elicits a chuckle from the blond king.

“If the situation is so severe that I need be sent away for my own safety, I need to learn to defend myself.”

Thor nods, a strong hand patting your shoulder comfortingly.

“I knew there was a fire in you. I could see it in those eyes when you spoke of running from the Kings. I just needed to find it.” He rises to his feet and straightens his clothing. “Loki does have a special talent for pulling the fire from even the most docile creatures. But I will go speak with the valkyrie. They will be delighted to have a student to train.”

He leaves the cottage to interrupt the sparring outside, and you feel your heart skip a beat at the first piece of control that you will have over your life.

~*~

“If that will be all, You are dismissed,” King Steven says, his voice low and exhausted. The royal adviser bows then heads to the door, hesitating for a moment.

“Forgive me, Your Majesties, but I cannot help but notice the absence of the Queen. Where has she gone?” It’s not the first time they’ve gotten the question in the week that you've been gone, therefore they already have their excuse rehearsed and perfected.

“We simply have no use for her. If she cannot even bear our children then what use is she to us?” Comes Steve’s practiced response.

“We were instructed to find a queen who could produce strong heirs. Our wife cannot. So she is no longer of use to us,” James adds, his voice dripping in boredom as he looks over a document on his desk.

The royal advisor nods then excuses himself, bustling to his own office with newfound haste and purpose.

“It’s been a week and we are no closer to finding who it is than we were when she was here,” Steve murmurs after a long moment of silence, his shoulders heavy with the weight of their decision.

“I’m beginning to question whether it was a good decision to send her along with Thor. Especially after he threatened to make her a queen of his own. What if she were to agree?” James stands up and walks over to his husband, taking his shaking hands in his own and sighing.

“I would not blame her if she were to agree. We have treated her like a prisoner. I have... brutalized her and beaten her and I will never be able to repent. If she were to want him I would in no way blame her. He has provided her with a safe haven. She can confide in him and trust him in a way that she may not be able to again with us.” Steve sniffles and squeezes his eyes shut.

“We need to find who it is that has caused this and we need to make them pay.” James nods, smoothing his thumbs over the back of his husband’s hands.

“We will. But until we do, we must remain strong. The Doctor is recovering and when he is fully recovered we will ask him who it was that attacked him. We will find who is behind this, but we must be patient.”

~*~

“Again!” You raise your sword just in time to block a blow from one of the Valkyrie, grinding your teeth together as you push her back a step then swipe your own sword at her throat.

She hops backward, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“You are learning, Your Majesty. But you still hold back. Why? You cannot be afraid to hurt us,” The Captain says, walking forward and looking at you closely.

“You must show no mercy. Not when you must choose between your own life and the life of someone who means to do you harm. You will fight and you will fight to the death.”

Your entire body is burning with the exertion but you hold your ground, raising your sword and ready to go again.

“That’s what I like to see! Now, we go again!” Brunnhild exclaims, a grin on her face as she takes her fighting stance.

It’s just over two weeks since you began your training and everyone is surprised at how quickly you’re picking up on what’s being taught, but none more than you.

You’re just stepping out of the bath, muscles aching with a new type of strength that the Valkyrie have been beating into you, when your eyes catch a glimpse of movement at the window to your bedroom. A figure clad in all black is moving swiftly away from the cottage and disappearing into the darkness of woods, the setting sun aiding in the camouflage of the person.

Thinking that it’s none other than Loki going to wreak havoc on some poor defenceless wanderers, you don’t question it. Instead, you get dressed into a soft Asgardian gown and start preparing yourself for bed.

You’re just about ready to settle down with a book when a flash of white catches your eye from the window. You hesitantly investigate, heart hammering in your chest as you see a letter tucked securely in the window.

You open it and snatch the envelope before it can be taken by the wind, then shut the window again.

The seal on the envelope is that of Acadia, and your heart is in your throat as you realize that this could very well be a letter from the Kings. You’ve no idea what it may say, and cannot decide if you are more nervous or excited as you open it.

The script is not one you recognize, but your eyes greedily devour every word, the smile fading from your face at what lies on the page in your hand.

Thor finds you sometime later seated on the floor, the letter gripped tightly in your hands and your eyes focused on a point on the wall.

“(Y/n?” He asks softly, knocking against the doorframe to try and get your attention. You make no indication that you’ve heard him.

He enters the room, brows furrowed as he sees what you’re holding. “What is that? What does it say? Is it from the Kings?”

It takes a very long moment, but eventually, you find the strength to speak. But even then your voice is a weak rasp.

“Did you know the truth? Did you hide it from me as well?” Thor is beyond confused as he approaches you, taking the page from you and reading through the contents quickly.

‘Your Majesty,

Do not ask who I am nor how I know where you are, just know that you need be more careful who it is you call your lovers. They have sent you away, not for your own protection but because you failed at the task they wanted you for. They have sent you away because you failed to bear their children, this I promise I have heard with my own ears. I know not what they have told you but it is what I have witnessed. They have said this directly and I have heard it with my very own ears. You would do well to stay away from them, for they are dangerous. But I am certain that you and your late child are more than aware of that.

Consider this a warning, your majesty, for I know you are unsafe. You must take care and be far more careful of who you allow in your court.’

“Loki!” The prince is in the room within the same moment, his eyes full of confusion.

“Have the Valkyrie secure the area and find me the man who sent this! Travel to Acadia and alert the Kings. The Queen is no longer safe here.”

You’re confused. If the kings have directly told someone this, why then is Thor responding in such a way?

Loki is on horseback heading towards Acadia only moments later, and Thor is leaving the room as soon as the Valkyrie enter.

Brunnhild crouches next to you, a frown on her face as she glances at the note on the floor, its words echoing in your ears.

“Do not allow this to scare you, Your majesty. Do not give them the satisfaction of that.” You scoff and shake your head at her, “it is far easier said than done. All my life I have been punished for ever speaking, much less standing my ground. I have perfected the art of cowering, for men wish to do nothing but hurt and maim all so they can gain power.”

She sits down and shakes her head, taking your hand in hers and squeezing it tightly.

“You forget that we are all brought into this world through blood and through pain, your Majesty. We are the daughters of savage women. We are their savage daughters and we will act like it. We will bite and scream and we will take up space. We will not conform to their ideas of what women should be.” Her words are whispered into the still air of the room as if she were hiding them from any listening ears.

“Do not lower your voice for any man. Do not cower beneath them. You are a powerful being. One that can create life and you can also take it away, never forget that.” She pulls a dagger off of her belt and hands it to you, curling your fingers around the hilt before she continues speaking.

“You have the blood of goddesses and witches flowing through your veins. You hold a power that men could never understand. With every step we take, every time we refuse to cower... we honour our mothers, our grandmothers, and the ones before them. The ones who stood and fought and were torn to pieces. We will not be silenced. You will not be silenced. You are more powerful than that. You must remember your strength and your power. Do not let the men convince you that you are anything less than what you are.”

Your eyes sting and your throat gets tight, but she only hugs your shoulders and continues speaking.

“Your power is what scares them. Why else would they try to assert their dominance in such a way? But you will not fall. You will not allow them to treat you like that because you are the daughter of a savage. You are yourself a savage woman and you will act like it. Royal title be damned.”

You sniffle once, twice, three times, then nod, wiping your eyes just as Thor re-enters the room.

The Valkyrie take their leave and the King sighs, crouching down next to you and gently stroking your cheek.

“I’m so very sorry, Petal. You are no longer safe here. If someone was able to bring you this letter then I fear you are in far more danger than we had thought. The conspiracy against the Kings runs far deeper than any of us could have anticipated, and if we are to keep you safe then we must act quickly.” He pulls you to your feet and bustles around quickly, covering your shoulders in a thick cloak and packing a bag of your belongings.

“Wait, where do you mean to take me? If I am not safe anywhere?”

He tosses your bag over his shoulder and grabs your hand, entwining your fingers and giving your hand a soft squeeze.

“The only place you will truly be safe.” You’re still quite confused.

“We make for Asgard.”

[ladynyctophilia]

*SPOILERS*

((Just some of my thoughts on possible events that could happen with Judy and V living with the nomads.))

(Edited because I’m a perfectionist. 💀)

-------

Greetings, reader. It's been about two weeks since Judy and V left Night City with the Aldecaldos, and things couldn't be better ...except for one tiny thing.

Judy: *Lights a smoke, only to inhale it once before flicking it away as she approaches Panam.*

Panam: *Is to occupied with her vehicle to even notice Judy approaching, forehead drenched in sweat.*

Judy: Ahem. *Clears her throat and crosses her arms.* Panam. Dude. We need to talk.

Panam: Okay? *Blinks, rolling out from under her vehicle.* What can I help you with...”dude”? *Forces a smile, wiping away the grease on her pants.*

Judy: Okay...Well I just-

Panam: Is V alright??? Did she have a seizure? ?? Is she bleeding again??? *Stands up, concern growing in her eyes.* Fucking hell V. Can she go two seconds without bleeding???

Judy: No! *Flails her arms.* Fuck, no. *Shakes her head.* Nothing like that. V is doing fine, same as usual, I actually wanted to have a convo...about you. *Hugs herself, looking away into the sun.*

Panam: *Drops her wrench, looking pissed.* What?

Judy: It's been eating at me—you and V.

Panam: Me and V? *Picks back up her wrench with a laugh.* Bitch, you are crazy.

Judy: Don’t give me that shit Panam, you know exactly what I'm referring to. *Huffs, growing impatient.* You and V. What's that about?

Panam: *Rolls her eyes, returning Judy’s suspicious gaze.* Is there a problem?

Judy: Yeah. *Scrunches her nose.* There might be.

Panam: *Points her wrench at Judy.* Do I need to remind you who’s clan you’re traveling with?

Judy: No. *Sighs, pinching her nose.* Shit. Look, I’m grateful as fuck for what you guys have done for V...and me...b-but...*Shakes her head, kicking at the dirt while trying to find words.* Look. I trust V. She's very...special to me, and I don't want to have any problems with you, holmes. *Shrugs.* I just want everyone to be on the same page.

Panam: *Nods, arms crossed.* Uh-huh. And what page is that?

Judy: That V is my girl and I don’t take kindly to sharing. Simple as that. *Shrugs.* I know what V’s intentions are, but I don't know shit about yours...we just haven't known each other long. *Sighs, rubbing her head.* And as much as I hate acting jealous, I left those games behind in Night City. So if you’re into V, just say it; no point in lying.

Panam: Your girl? Games? Ha! Fuck this. *Waves Judy off and turns back around to the vehicle.* Look, Judy, I feel like if I don't answer your question, you won't leave, and one of us will end up with a black eye. *Takes a deep breath.* SO. For V’s sake and your conscience, the short answer is yes. *Shrugs, back turned to Judy.* V and I are more than “just friends.” I thought that was obvious. Happy?

Judy: Okay. Thanks...for your honesty, I guess. *Closes her eyes with a sigh.* I thought hearing the truth would make me feel better, but...*Just shakes her head and pulls out a cigarette.* And? Your plans are?

Panam: Pfft! What plans? *Picks the scab on her arm.* Other than finding a cure? Nothing. *Chuckles, popping open the hood.* V is my clan sister. She's a dumb fuck, but she's family and I love her, nothing beyond that. *Shrugs* That's it.

Judy: *Blinks, putting away her smoke.* That’s it?

Panam: *Nods, half paying attention.* Yep!

Judy: *Furrows her brows.* What was all that flirting about then? I thought-

Panam: JUDY!! FUCK!! *Throws her wrench on the ground and grabs Judy by the shoulders.* I DON’T WANT TO FUCK YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!! OK?? I like dick. DICK. *Is screaming at the top of her lungs. Yes, all the clan can hear.* OKAY?? Okay. *Pats her on the back.* Good talk “dude”. *She let's go of Judy and picks back up the wrench.*

Judy: O-oh. Oh! *Laughs away the tension.* Fuck. *Shakes her head, flushed and embarrassed.* Ugh, I'm sorry, Panam, that was a gonk move of me...I...well...sorry...it’s just...

Panam: *Smirks, looking over her shoulder.* Trust issues? And if you apologize one more fucking time, I will punch you in the throat. *Says that with a smile and returns back to her work.*

Judy: *Shakes her head, now smiling.* No...not anymore. V is just the first person I've been able to trust and rely on...*Stops, thinking of Evelyn*...in a long time.

Panam: Damn, that city really did a number on you, didn’t it? V’s told me a little, but not all.

Judy: *Sighs, and nods.* Yeah. Maybe I will tell you the full story sometime. I’m still...processing it.

Panam: That’s alright. Your past is your business. *Hands Judy a beer.* Before V, I thought I could only rely on myself, and then she reminded me of the value of family and what a rare thing that is to find and keep...*Gestures around* And well, I wanted her to become apart of that.

Judy: *Sighs, looking around.* Yeah...

Panam: *Bumps Judy with her hip.* Hey, I guess that means you’re apart of the family too. Even if it's temporary.

Judy: *Smiles, looking at the beer.* Thanks...I just feel like such an ass now. *Kicks at the dirt, mad at herself.* Ugh. Shit. Fuck. *Shakes her head, frowning.* I'm sorry for assuming.

Panam: Meh. *Waves a hand* Already forgotten. You aren't the first to assume, and you probably won't be the last.

Judy: You know what? You’re a good person Panam, kind of an ass, but the type of person you will never find in Night City.

Panam: Ha! Fuck you, basement dweller, I will drink to that. *Takes a swig of her beer.*

Judy: *Sighs, watching the sun set.* I think it's time I add a new tattoo...

V: Heyyyy! *Waves from afar, back from a mission.* Drinking without me? The AUDACITY.

Panam: Well hello to you too, fellow alcoholic. *Raises her empty bottle in greetings.*

V: *Flips Panam off with a smirk as she approaches Judy.*

Judy: V. *Smiles so hard it hurts.* Glad to have you back...and you can have my beer. *Holds it up.* I’m not really in the mood.

Panam: *Grabs Judy by the shoulder, roaring with laughter.* YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT JUDY JUST ASKED ME!!!

Judy: *Gasps, dropping the beer.*

V: Oh, this I HAVE to hear. *Grabs a beer from the cooler.* Spill.

Panam: J-JUDY THOUGHT....*Is laughing so hard, she's crying* SHE T-THOUGHT- *Can barely stand, Judy is the only thing keeping her up.*

Judy: SHUSH, YOU GONK!!! *Groans, pushing Panam away.*

Panam: *Glaldy falls, laughing and gasping for air.*

V: Judy...*Looks at her with THOSE eyes*

Judy: Uhh....*Sweats.* Nothing! I...erm...It was nothing! *Clears her throat.* I have something over...*Looks desperately for an escape*...THERE..hnng...*stomps away, covering her face* so embarrassing...Carol! Help.

[the-nysh]

Does Bakugo resemble Genos more or Garou, in terms of misinderstood angry explosive overpowered emotionally constipated young man?

Oh there's definitely a mix of traits/parallels going on. :P In terms of reception though, the way fans will unfairly demonize him in some of the worst no-nuance, bad faith takes imaginable resemble Garou's on steroids. (Ex: the establishing baseline 'swan dive' comment is just as 'irredeemable' to those who can never see Garou past the early 'Mumen' moment - it's precisely the same unforgivable, blinded brick wall effect from those who refuse to read the merits of their char arcs beyond their introductions.) So yes, the misinformation spread because of their similar hated 'controversial' status is rampant in both fandoms. But Kacchan has it worse simply because his 'popularity' is bigger to be misunderstood more, to the point that even BONES portrays/adapts him poorly like a stereotype.

And then when it comes to understanding the story's vital, core relationship with the mc (as the deuteragonist), even when it's literally spelled out on the page, the way certain fanboys will still dismiss his whole character and vehemently deny his very importance (closeness & emotional connection) to the mc is exactly the same treatment that Genos gets. :P Funny that~ To be dismissed and deemed 'unimportant' for the same reasons. And then in terms of looks/surface traits, being blond and fashionable with testy "I'll kill/incinerate you" tempers (+ serious work ethic) and literally fire-explosive hands...yeah, they have all that in common too. Including the same trope parallel to be 'killed' to bait the mc.

But beyond that, Kacchan also has more of the tenacious grit to win no matter what, natural budding leadership qualities as a hero, intelligent abrasive asshole wit, and adaptive fighting nerd prodigy traits as Garou when it comes to their behavior. :O (Unlike Genos when it comes to being fueled by family + revenge.) Which I've gone into more detail here and here, and I might add their defensive insecurities/struggles/self-perception with weakness and the relevancy of having their self-worth/world views challenged from their early formative childhood years if I wanted to go deeper, but for most everything else, Garou has the same instinctual, self-sacrificial (self-destructive) drive as Deku's, even down to their inherent compassion yet obliviousness not taking their own life/health into account when it comes to feelings(tm) and self-preservation - so even Garou shares a mix of classic shonen protag/deuterag 'hero' traits, ahaha. :P And of course, Genos shares Deku's earnest admiration to downright obsessive note-taking skills for his interests(tm), but ahem, the topic is about Kacchan.

Which I can say, when it comes to looks/tropes/narrative position + closeness to mc (leaning more Genos), fan reception (both - combined), and behavior/values/drive (leaning more Garou), Kacchan gains the familiar love & hate of both worlds characters to the extremes! 8'D

[cheri-translates]

Headcanon - how he announces that he’s going to become a father

This work, 论如何官宣自己要当爸爸这件事, was originally written by 喵小柒吃很少 on Weibo, and she has given me permission to translate it 🌸

[ GAVIN ]

On the training grounds of the Special Task Force, Gavin is currently conducting practice drills with the team. He’s donned in his uniform, his expression stern. His valiant and formidable profile stirs tiny ripples across your heart.

It’s almost noon, and you’ve specially brought a homemade bento to reward your husband for his hard work. Carrying a bag with one hand while the other cradles the slight swell of your abdomen, you walk towards Gavin--

“Why did you come here?” Gavin is visibly shocked at your appearance, hurriedly taking the bag from your hand and wrapping an arm around your waist gently. 

He’s completely unrecognisable from the serious Captain seconds earlier.

“Didn’t you mention that there isn’t a canteen in STF? So I brought good food over for you~” You explain with a smile.

Without Gavin’s orders, the STF members stand in position, not daring to fidget. Seeing that a large crowd is observing the two of you, you feel self-conscious and decide to leave. 

“You should carry on with what you were doing. I’ll go-”

“Don’t go.” He grabs your hand. Slightly embarrassed, he adds, “Ahem. Since Dad gets to eat, how could Mum be left hungry... Stay and eat with me, okay?”

-

Member A: What? What?! Did I hear wrongly? Captain Gavin is going to be a father?

Member B: I’m in shock! What a sweet romance...

Member C: Captain is so tender towards Sis-in-law! I’m left with no regrets...

Eli: So lovey-dovey. Tch. What? I’m envious? How could that be? (I could even become the child’s godfather!)

[ VICTOR ]

When you reach LFG, Victor is currently in a meeting. After texting Goldman to ask where he is, you decide to wait outside the meeting room.

From the gap between the blinds, you admire your husband’s dashing face. With a silly smile, you sneakily snap some photographs.

Just as you scroll through the exploits from your photoshoot happily, the door to the meeting room opens. Victor is the first to appear, followed by a group of shareholders and employees. Of course, there’s also the competent Goldman.

“What are you doing here?” Victor asks, an unconcealed tenderness in his voice.

“Hehe, can’t I appreciate CEO Victor’s unparalleled charm?” While you speak, you tap open the photo gallery of your phone, wanting to show him the pictures you took.

Seeing you hopping over to him, he hurriedly uses his hands to stabilise you, afraid that you’d fall.

“Why are you still so childish when you’re about to become a mother?” He asks, settling his large palm on your abdomen.

-

Employee A: Huh huh huh what did I just hear? Is Lady Boss pregnant?!

Employee B: Is that true? CEO Victor is finally getting promoted to a father?! His youth is over!

Employee C: Oh my goodness! CEO Victor was so affectionate just now! Is that truly our boss?

Goldman: You’ll eventually get used to feeling like a third wheel.

[ KIRO ]

It’s the weekend and Kiro is at home. Feeling bored after dinner, he decides to do a surprise livestream--

Kiro’s Weibo Post: Newsflash! I’ll be seeing you live soon! 

Although it’s a spontaneous livestream, it’s viewed by over a million people in just a few minutes.

“Hi! Good evening everyone, have you all had dinner yet?”

Comments on the screen: Mm I’ve eaten

Comments on the screen: Kiro, did you eat less this time?

Comments on the screen: I’m done!

Kiro glances at you as you sit behind the camera, gesturing wildly for you to come over. Feeling too shy to appear on camera, you pay no attention to him.

He pouts, and even make a disappointed “oo” sound. You’re tickled by his antics, and a laugh escapes your lips.

Comments on the screen: Did that female voice belong to Miss Chips?

Comments on the screen: Kiro, we want to see Sister!

Comments on the screen: We want to meet the legendary Miss Chips!

Seeing these comments, Kiro grins. “Miss Chips~ The fans want to see you!”

In the end, Kiro tugs you over to the camera.

“Let’s do an introduction!” 

Kiro points at you. “This is Mummy Chips~” 

Then, he points at himself. “This is Daddy Chips.”

“And there’s also...” Kiro points at the slight swell of your abdomen. “Baby Chips!”

Comments on the screen: Ahhh Kiro is going to become a father!

Comments on the screen: Oh my goodness, this is definitely going to end up on the trending page!

Comments on the screen:: Our bean has a child!

Savin: More public relations to deal with...

[ LUCIEN ]

Lucien is teaching the night class again.

After work, you secretly attend his class in Loveland University. Entering through the backdoor, you take a seat in the final row.

Unlike a majority of classes, students fervently snatch up the front few rows. Not a single person hides in the last few rows to use their phones. 

Feeling slightly fatigued from your physical state, you end up drifting off to sleep, resting your head on the table.

In the haziness of sleep, you feel a warm, gentle pat on the head. Eyes fluttering open, you discover that Lucien is standing next to you.

“Student, I hope the habit of sleeping in class wouldn’t be inherited by my child~”

At this moment, not many students have left the classroom yet. Everyone’s gaze is focused on you. In a voice only the two of you can hear, he whispers, “Let’s go home.”

-

Student A: Is that Teacher’s wife? My goodness! Teacher’s wife actually came to listen to his class! How sweet!

Student B: Hey hey, shouldn’t the main point be how Professor Lucien is going to be a father?!

Student C: Professor Lucien is so gentle...

Ah Ming: Teacher is definitely going to take his wife home... what should I do? My thesis hasn’t been analysed yet... Life is difficult.

[ SHAW ]

Ever since the two of you got married, Shaw had been performing less frequently in Live House. Recently, however, he started taking up gigs again, saying that he wanted to regain the feel he had before.

As such, you decide to sneak into Live House after work without Shaw’s knowledge, wanting to give him a surprise.

After the band performs, the members leave the stage. Shaw sets the bass down and trails after them. At a glance, he sees you seated in the front row--

“Why are you running around everywhere?” Despite the rebuke in his words, concern and surprise flashes across his eyes, betraying his genuine feelings.

“So he can witness how dashing his father is~” You respond, gently patting the slight swell of your abdomen.

The band members come over to greet you. “Sis-in-law is here?” 

When he sees this bunch of people disturbing you, he gets visibly upset. “What? Envious?”

Adam pipes up. “It’s your fault for making all of us feel like third wheels.”

“Tch, there’s one more thing to be envious about.” Shaw caresses your lower abdomen, the corners of his lips twitching into a smile. “I even have a child.”

-

Band Member A: What? That brat Shaw is going to be a father?!

Band Member B: Why? Why don’t I have a girlfriend???

Band Member C: Bros, just look at how proud he looks... [cries manly tears]

Adam: Let me perish! Don’t try to stop me!

-

More translated and original works: here

–

[ Permission to translate ]

喵小柒吃很少: Hello~ Firstly, I’m really touched that you like them, I feel very honoured~ You can translate the works! If more people who like MLQC can read them, I’m very happy too 💝 Thank you!

[blackberry-gingham]

Can I request a cute Ringo x Reader where Ringo falls for the reader who’s just an assistant in the neighboring recording studio from theirs?😆❤️ and the reader is extremely shy haha

😂😂😂 I was actually referring to my very long list of drafts and requests, but I do appreciate the eagerness to help a bored girl out, so I’ll do this one now anyway haha. Besides, Ringo needs more solo fics on this blog and shy reader is always a good one 😌🥺 Thank you, and enjoy!

---

The old florescent lights hum overhead, flooding the recording room with a bright, hot light. Ringo wipes the back of his palm across his forehead, vaguely listening to John, Paul, and George as they discuss some tweaks they should make to that last recording or so. Paul never seems to be satisfied, and now John and George have teamed up to start bickering with him. Their alliance does not matter however, as it would appear Paul has no plans to budge.

Their voices get louder and louder, and Ringo lights up a cigarette in the meantime, hoping it’ll help with the pounding in his head. Doesn’t he get a say in all this? The others may not say it, but he knows what they think. He’s the weakest link here, “Just the drummer, not even a very great one”, or some rubbish like that. 

John slams his guitar down onto its stand with a twang ad now he’s dangerously close to being up in Paul’s face as he continues to argue. George appears as though he’s about to fall back and mediate the situation he helped escalate, but before anyone can do anything, Brian slams the door open, “That’s enough now! Get out and cool off, the three of you!”, he shakes his head out and rubs it as though it’s hurting him, before taking his leave.

“Fine by me!”, Paul gives John a pointed look and storms off, with the other two making similar statements and following close, but not too close, behind.

And poor little Ringo is left alone. Forgotten. 

Suddenly the room feels cold, like the vacuum of space, and Ringo himself is the one feeling hot. He knows he’s not one of the star trio, but how about a little respect, eh? Maybe a “you’re doing great Ringo?” Or, “you can take five, too?”

But no, nothing of the sort.

Ringo’s face twists into a scowl as these thought swirl through his mind. He’s as much a member of this band as any of the other three! This isn’t fair! On that note, he smashes his cigarette into a nearby ashtray and jumps up from his stool as it clatters to the floor. You know what? He needs more then a break. He needs some fresh air.

With a head full of steam, he stomps down the stairwell and through the hall, all the way to the big, double glass doors. He only stops when the sound of pouring rain breaks through the fog of his thoughts. The rain is coming down in droves, thundering in a flurry of drops off of the sidewalk, and not a single soul can be seen outside. 

For a moment, he considers turning around and going back to the studio. Or perhaps finding an abandoned break room, away from the others, and blowing off steam there, but...

No. He shakes out his head and heaves the heavy door open out into the downpour. He’s had enough of this whole damn building, and he’s not going to let a little rain stop him from getting the break he needs.

Ringo walks and walks as the icy water soaks through his fine suit, to his skin, and down to his very bones. Perhaps this wasn’t the wisest decision, he thinks. He takes a few more steps, trying to tough it out, but after a window rattling sneeze he decides to duck into the next building he can. This whole street is made up of little recording studios, so it’s not as much of a change of scenery as he’d have liked... but at least it’s something.

A corridor filled with office doors stretches out before him and, rather then continue leaking a little pool here in the entry way, he decides to go find somewhere to take a load off. 

Ugh, he feels absolutely filled with water, like a damn sink sponge. Ringo tilts his head to the side as he sloshes along and bangs the side of his head, hoping to dislodge some water. It seems to be having some effect at least, and just as he’s about to switch ears, an unexpected collision knocks him on his back.

“Tsk, oh no no no...”

A timid voice mutters softly, and even through his waterlogged ears, Ringo can hear the sound of scuffling and paper shuffling. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Um, are you... alright?”

Ringo sits up, but his soaked mop top is completely obscuring his vision. He can only imagine how silly he must look to you right now, sopping wet and a full curtain of hair hiding nearly everything except, of course, his bulbous nose. Great. He huffs, and parts his bangs with both hands to see you.

You look about as shy as you sound, and perhaps even a little afraid. But also... kind, and sweet, and caring, and... Pretty. So pretty...

“Oh! Ringo! I um... I’m such a big fan...”, you laugh nervously, and despite the warm words, your face seems caught in some sort of a wince as you go about busying yourself with picking up your stack of papers and folders.

But he doesn’t want you to be scared. Or nervous, or intimidated, or stressed, or... or anything like that! He wants to see that concerned, but sweet smile he heard you wearing when you were first talking and didn’t know who he was. He sees the very faint little lines by the corners of your nostrils, and just by that he knows you like to laugh. He sees how eager you are to collect these things and go about your day, and he feels a connection to you through it. He knows what that’s like... running around and doing other people’s business. 

Hop to it! 

We need this done like that!

Don’t mess this up!

All of it.

Ringo hurries around to scramble onto his knees with you, “Oh no no, I’m sorry! Here, let me help...” He snatches up some stray pages into a nice stack, and as much as you want to tell him it’s ok and he doesn’t have to, you can’t bring yourself to say a peep.

The two of you work in harmony, and as you finally reach for the last sheet, it would seem Ringo has the same idea. Your hand touches down on it first, with his finding it’s way right over top of yours. It’s surprisingly big, particularly compared to yours, and while you blush at the thoughts it’s giving you, Ringo is thankfully too distracted by how soft and perfect your skin feels under his callused paw.

You come to your senses quickly though, forcing yourself to snap out of your daydreams. Nervous energy takes over and you jerk your hand away a little too roughly. “Ahem, sorry but I really mu- ow” You put the last paper on your stack and set the whole thing down to cradle your hand. A small cut has been made on your knuckle and a fine line of blood begins to seep out.

Ringo looks guiltily from your injury to his ornately engraved ring, the culprit of your little gash. He bites his bottom lip and adds his papers to yours, before scooting closer. “I uh, I-I’m so sorry. Uh here, here...”, he pulls out a handkerchief from inside his suit jacket and goes to apply it to your now freely bleeding cut.

“Oh, you don’t have to-!”

“No no, I insist! It’s the least I can do...”, he looks up at you almost pleadingly. Anything he can do to communicate to you how badly he wants to help.

With your go ahead, he gently wraps up your hand with a neat little bow underneath. He holds your hand in both of his, offering it timidly to show you his work,“...Better?”

Relived, you smile sweetly at him, and it’s even more wonderful of a sight then he imagined, “Yes, thank you... Still hurts a bit though”, you chuckle.

“Oh... I know a trick to help with that!”, Ringo smiles cheerily, gently grasping your fingers in one hand and slides his other down to support your elbow as he brings your knuckles to his lips. They’re thick and soft and warm... and as though a soothing fireplace has been lit beside you, suddenly it feels as though any rainy day chills or frayed nerves have been purged from your body. 

His lips linger on your knuckles for a few extra seconds, and when he comes up to the shy, but blissful smile you’re wearing, he thinks in that moment that nothing would make him happier then to see you happy... But knowing he was the one to give you that smile... He’s over joyed. 

And with a fleeting thought, he wishes he could give you a smile like that every day. He finds it that adorably endearing...

He brushes his hair out of his face once more, still holding your hand, and gives you a toothy grin as he huffs a nervous laugh of his own. His eyes are caught on yours now, and how sparkly and vibrant they are. He can’t bear to tear his gaze away, even as he asks, “I... uh... C-can I help you take your papers?”

You give a tiny, melodic laugh and the sound of it sends Ringo’s heart pounding with excitement. With your free hand, you return a stray loc of hair to the rest of his side swept bangs and when his face is all clear, you press a soft, timid kiss to the tip of his long, round nose. 

“I’d love that...”

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Ya know what these self-indulgent Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow posts need? Self-indulgent banner art, that’s what.

Spoilers for issue #4!

Let’s start this off right with CREATOR CREDITS. Issue 4 of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is titled “Restraint, Endurance, and Passion.” Written by Tom King, Art by Bilquis Evely, Colors by Matheus Lopes, Letters by Clayton Cowles, and Edited by Brittany Holzherr. (w/ Assist. Editor: Bixie Mathieu & Senior Editor Mike Cotton)

THE STORY: 

Right, so this? This issue? Best one yet.

Also the bleakest of the bunch thus far; even though we don’t always see the brutality of the space pirates that Kara and Ruthye are following, there’s...the suggestion of it. The aftermath. And how Kara responds to it.

Okay, getting a little ahead of myself. BASIC PLOT SUMMARY: Ruthye and Kara continue their pursuit of Krem, who has taken up with Barbond’s Brigands.

The Brigands basically just. Murder and terrorize people, for profit.

Each planet they visit brings new horrors, as well as people who need Supergirl’s help.

And help she does.

KARA-CTERIZATION:

I yell a lot about the art on this book, and have, in fact, openly admitted that I’m primarily here for Evely and Lopes.

Well, that wily son-of-a-gun King went and wrote some of the best ‘Super’ stuff I’ve ever read and dang it, dang it, now I gotta yell about the words too. XD

Specifically, I wanna yell (in a good way!) about some words that occur towards the very end of the book.

Kara and Ruthye have Seen Some Things; things like genocide and mass grave sites and horrible violence, and upon reaching a planet where peaceful monks were slaughtered, Kara’s had enough, and needs to leave because if she screams, she’ll destroy what little is left of the monks’ monastery.

Here’s the text in full, because my gosh. It’s so good:

“What I write next I write based on my observations in those long-ago days at the side of the greatest warrior in the history of this august reality we all call home. It is important to note that my assertions do not rely on anything Supergirl said. It was not a subject we ever discussed or even approached, but nonetheless I believe it to be as true as the turning of worlds. You see, what is not well understood about the daughter of Krypton is that her power was not one of action but one of restraint, endurance, and passion. She did not choose to fire a beam from her eyes, or have breath of ice, or run faster than a speeding bullet. Or any of her other well-documented miracles. No, she held back her heat vision to look you in the face. She warmed her breath to converse with you. She slowed herself to walk by your side. Ever moment of every day, she suppressed the forces churning inside of her. All of the energy of a dead world that strained against her many barriers, eternally demanded to be released. I believe this effort hurt her. I believe she lived her life in pain. But I reiterate again, for I think it important enough to repeat--These beliefs are based on my time at her side, watching her as she moved through strife and sorrow. If you were to have asked her, I have little doubt she would have claimed that such as assertion was absurd. She would say she felt fine and well and then she’d as you if you needed any help.”

A long chunk of words, I know (this comic is DENSE!) but like. This is it. This is one of the defining attributes of the Supers--all that raw power at their disposal and they choose to help people, to be kind, to suppress that power for the benefit and safety of others.

HNNNNNNNG.

Hope, Help, and Compassion for All.

Whole lotta folks claimed at the outset of this book that King did not understand Kara, that he was a bad fit. And that may be so, I suppose--there’s a whole other discussion about like. The violence and swearing and ‘does that belong in a Supergirl book?’ But the characterization? Getting that Kara and Clark are just good people? 

King gets it. He got it in Superman: Up in the Sky and he gets it here, in Woman of Tomorrow.

Other things King gets! Kara is stubborn! Kara is passionate! Kara is going to fix things, even if the effort of doing so hurts her, physically, emotionally, and mentally!

(Fuuuuuuun fact for the crowd saying that Woman of Tomorrow is vastly superior to the CW show: TV Kara is ALSO all of those things! King isn’t pulling this stuff out of thin air. It’s almost like...gosh. I don’t know! Both the show and Tom King are pulling from the character’s comic history, or something!!!! HOW NOVEL.) 

Like, seriously. There’s a lot of overlap. Stop pitting Karas against each other!

Anyways!

I promised art, so here is art!

Oh, right, forgot to mention, Kara literally THROWS HERSELF INTO THE SUN to express her grief and anger, so as to not cause that unnecessary destruction. She gives new meaning to the phrase: Set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. 

More art yelling: GOTTDAMN, the way Evely draws Kara just colliding with the surface of the sun and then the way Kara’s hair like...becomes the flames...

I am FEELING FEELINGS. HOW DARE.

Also, props to King and Cowles; King for deciding to have that initial scream, Cowles for the way the letters burst forth from the point of impact on the sun, and then back to King who decided that it would just be...devastating silent screaming from Kara, for the remainder of the scene. 

Back to the characterization, I just wanted to highlight something I mentioned...earlier on, I think? In these posts? But haven’t brought up recently, and that is how this book has not once brought up Zor-El, and I think Superman only got a quick mention in issue 2.

Honestly, I think that’s gotta be some kind of record.

It’s so refreshing. Not because I think there should never be mentions of Clark, or anything--I love that boy--but because so much of modern Supergirl comic drama is mined from the same like, angsting over her place compared to Clark, or her crazy sometimes-a-supervillain dad. 

There is no Clark and Kara drama here, no manufactured friction, because it’s just. A cool Supergirl story! 

Gonna keep going, but let’s do it with some more...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Once again, Mat Lopes is all over the dang place with his palettes, it’s marvelous.

Each new planet gives Evely the opportunity to go hog wild on the worldbuilding and design, and similarly! Each new locale is an opportunity for Lopes to set the tone with colors. Like, here, towards the beginning of the book, we’ve got a planet bathed in this warm, pale yellow/orange light. 

(Quick note: “Sure, yeah, I get it. We all have our duties. And it’s mine as a neighbor to do what I can to help you with yours. Please.” A+ Kara content. We love to see it. And then locating the remains of the alien’s daughter, so that they can go visit the grave site and have some emotional closure???? It’s just. So. Touching.)

Anyways, back to colors.

Like!!!! LOOK AT THAT JUMP. From the soft, almost pastoral feel of the delicate oranges and yellows to HARD GREEN, PINK, AND PURPLE. (Difficult colors to pull off in print, I might add.) 

(This is also an interesting scene, character-wise, because I think it helps re-contextualize some earlier stuff with Kara. Like, I’m mostly thinking that incident on the bus, where she was swearing at the passengers as the space dragon was about to destroy them. Here, we see Kara kind of...goad this alien woman into releasing her pent up emotions by yelling at her/getting her to fight, and you can clearly see at the end of it that Kara did not mean the things she said, because check this out:

She goes and gives her a hug once the woman is able to finally cry.

It’s not ‘Kara is being mean, Kara is swearing at her’, it’s, ‘Kara has an unorthodox solution to a problem, and she’s gonna FIX that problem, NO MATTER WHAT.’

Circling back to the bus thing--again, that could be an instance of ‘unorthodox approach to a weird situation that Kara is going to handle because lives are at stake.’)

But also, DIG THAT KIRBY KRACKLE, BAY-BEEEEE!

And a little Strange Adventures easter egg! The Pykkts! 

(I think those guys are unique to the Black Label series, rather than deep Adam Strange lore, but don’t quote me on that.)

Moving on to YET ANOTHER PALETTE, one I’ve dubbed, ‘Treasure Planet Purple/Grey’

Love Ruthye’s snoozing against the door, waiting for Kara.

Also, just as striking as the colors of the environment, are the colors used on Kara. 

If you compare this page with the previous one, Kara’s eyes are a paler shade of blue, and the red-rimmed look on her eyes here is not as intense as the red-rimmed look we saw back in issue one, when she was confronting Krem. 

All of which to say! There’s a pale, haunted quality to both the linework and the colors. Like. We know Kara has Seen Some Things. But she’s shoving all that stuff down to protect Ruthye, to save Krypto, and to stop these monsters, and you get all of that WITH COLORS AND LINES ON A PAGE.

I love it, I love it so much.

OTHER BOOKS WISH THEY HAD THIS LEVEL OF CHARACTER ACTING, I TELL YA! THEY WISH THEY HAD THIS BEAUTIFUL ALCHEMY OF INKER, COLORIST, AND WRITER WORKING IN SUCH TIGHT TANDEM!

Ahem. XD

Alright, last bit of art, lest I just. Post the whole issue in here. (Which I’m honestly always tempted to do but Strong Feelings about Piracy hold me back.)

JUST HECKIN’ LOOK AT THAT BLUE, MAN. JUST LOOK AT IT. S’BEAUTIFUL.

And more stunning character acting from Evely. Like. Bottom middle panel. The expression, the tilt of her head and the shadows on her eyes...

*insert silent flailing here*

Oh, also, KRYPTO LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVESSSS (for now). 

I’m never right about these things, so I’m glad the one time I’ve correctly read a thing is when it involves Krypto not, ya know. Being dead. XD

Also absolutely love that Kara’s instinct is to send Ruthye home to protect her--once more leaning into that whole, ‘I’m going to protect you, even at great cost to myself’, though of course we know that she can’t send her home, not here, not now, just halfway through our journey. 

ERRRRRRGH, so mad we’re not getting twelve issues of this! CURSE YOU, POOR SUPERGIRL TRADE SALES! CURSE YOOOOOOU!

That said, King’s pacing? Has been phenomenal. I feel like Strange Adventures and even Mr. Miracle kinda...I’m not gonna say dragged, that’s not quite right. But it is more build up, I guess. Takes a while to get to the payoff.

Here, I think King is pushing things steadily along as he doesn’t have the benefit of an additional four issues, so he has to get to the point, so to speak. Keeps everything moving.

SOME FINAL, MISC. STUFF:

I’ve sort of glossed over the darker stuff from this issue, and I just wanna note that like. This is a book that features a bad guy getting stoned (in the death sentence way, not the drug way) on panel. Like. I can’t recommend this to children.

I can’t even really recommend it to some other Supergirl fans, because I know that the King elements will be too off-putting. 

It never feels like the book is going too far, though. At least in like an...exploitative way? If that makes sense?

The violence is handled with discretion, I guess is what I’m trying to convey. This could very easily tip over into like, gross shock factor territory, if not handled well, but I think the creative team pulls it off.

...Still wouldn’t hand this book to kids, though. XD

As mentioned, we’re halfway through this series! Can’t wait to see where it goes--every time I think I have this book figured out, it surprises me. So, like. Bring on the Dinosaur planet! With no sunlight! I wanna see how Lopes handles THAT. XD

(But Oh, OooooOOooh, we gotta wait until NOVEMBER.)

(Hhhnnnnng!)

(Then again, maybe that’s good; we’ve got the TV show in the meantime, and then once it ends we can pick right up with new Supergirl content just a few weeks later.)

(...Aw. Made myself a little sad, thinking about the TV show coming to an end.)

:C

So as not to end on that sad note, here once again is tiny, smushed Kara:

Give ‘em the ol razzle dazzle.