#anyway the one i posted is the best written/less annoying of them all | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writingseaslugs · 2 years

Text

Octavinelle Romantic Headcanons

Time for my favorite dorm! Would you believe me if I said I originally took Idia’s hand and I wish I had taken Floyd because we are on the same psychotic wavelength.

Disclaimer: All characters in this series are aged up. For more information about my version of this world and the type of reader you can expect, please do a quick read of THIS post. Beta read by Grammarly, and all complaints can be filed with her.

Romantic Headcanons

Azul Ashengrotto

This man will be completely oblivious to his feelings for months. It’s not that he’s trying to suppress them; it’s just when it comes to emotional vulnerability, he’s not used to those emotions just yet. He’s never fallen in love with a single person, so he’s not going to recognize it at all. His mother probably never sang songs about what it feels like either, so he’s not going to let it click until it’s at the point where there’s no mistaking it.

He enjoys having you at the lounge, and whenever you come in, it's automatic VIP service. He thinks it’s more of a "Thank you for all you’ve done." Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, he at least recognizes that he and the twins have come to like you as a person. So, of course, one of his friends gets a better service. He gets oddly annoyed when you bring your friends along; nothing wrong with that. They’re rambunctious and can cause problems, so of course, he’d be annoyed.

Sadly nothing gets past the twins, and they notice how Azul treats you. Surely at this point, he’s repaid the debt with a drink on the house every time you come, the best booth in the house, and making sure his staff gives you special treatment. It keeps up despite his debt being paid which isn’t like Azul. Not to mention Jade sometimes comes into his office and sees Azul sighing longingly at the thought of something. Or how Azul will make an appearance at your table every time you come in to make sure the service is good.

Jade has to spell it out for Azul to realize, “Oh, I do like the human, don’t I?”. After that, it begins with him plotting. He’s a businessman, and he understands that aspect. If he’s to date you, it would need to be mutually beneficial for you as well. He already knows what he wants from the deal. Quality time with you, shared moments together, physical affection. Now, what would you want? He’s already giving you VIP treatment at the lounge, but perhaps he can find things you enjoy and take you to them?

He begins inviting you to his office for some tea or coffee, making notes of your personal tastes, and getting to know you better. Finding out what you’re passionate about and making small notes in a special notebook he has to hide from the twins (they find it eventually). Even asks your advice on how to improve the lounge and what you’d like to see. Asking if you’d be willing to work directly under him and help him organize contracts. This will go on for weeks, and eventually, you’re at the lounge almost every day, sitting in his office and chatting or doing your own schoolwork in silence and sometimes asking him for help.

The twins are the ones who have to get involved. All this courting, Azul being distracted as he thinks about you, needs to end. So the twins are the ones who drag you around and talk Azul up, finding out if you really like him. Obviously, you do, or else you’d be declining his offers. You’re very busy, so your showing up daily to spend time with Azul was a big thing. The Leech twins relay this information to Azul, and he’s both embarrassed yet relieved.

The next day he gets your favorite drink and dish from the lounge and sits on the couch across from you. He has a piece of paper with a written contract on it. It doesn’t look like his normal one, and he hands it to you. He seemed a bit tense, but you took the paper anyway. It was…to say the least, eye-opening. It was basically asking if you’d go out with him as well as all the benefits for both parties. Don’t you dare laugh at him; he’s approaching an unknown topic in the only way he understands. He’s doing his best; please appreciate it. Sign your name, maybe even put a little heart at the end, and hand it back to him with a smile, and he will be smitten.

He will treat you like royalty. He is still trying to figure out how to go about the actual dating, but he’ll be relieved if you take initiative. He’s pretty good at keeping his composure for the most part, but he can’t help how his face feels warmer when you hold his hand, begging him to take off his gloves so you can feel his skin. You’re going to have to be the one to show physical affection first so he can gauge where you two are in the relationship and what he can and can’t do yet. Once you show one thing you’re willing to do, he’ll just do it all the time. Kisses on the back of your hand are his favorite way to greet you, along with that smirk that has you dropping everything to him.

He tries to be suave most of the time, and while sometimes he gets away with it, you have to hold back giggles at how adorable he is. It makes Jade laugh, and Floyd retch at the sight, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. He is always going to escort you home from the lounge when your stay is over and even will allow Grim to come and visit too if that’s what you desire (he’ll only come for the food then ditch the moment you two are acting like in love fools).

Sometimes, if you fall asleep on the couch, he’ll play with your hair and tell you how much you mean to him. If you’re still conscious, just pretend to be asleep for his poor heart. You mean a lot to him and are willing to put up with a lot of his issues. Jade one time walked into his office to find Azul kneeling next to your sleepy figure, holding your hand and resting his head on the cushion, also asleep. He snapped a photo and will be using it against Azul in the future. If you find out, though…Jade best send it to you so it can be your new screensaver.

Bonus Bullets: It’s going to take a lot in your relationship for him to show you his true form. You had seen his overblot, but him naturally? You’ll have to bring it up a few times with him and be going steady for months before he agrees. He’ll probably invite you to his dorm room for a bath (you can wear a swimsuit if you’re more comfortable, he assures you). He has a huge bathtub, like most students in his dorm, to accommodate his true form. He’ll be hesitant and have you get in first, and he’ll get in behind you.

Compliment him. He will be flustered and at a loss for words. Sure he’s not as insecure as he once was, but this is you he’s showing this form to. The one person he absolutely cannot handle rejection from. So if you compliment him, he won’t be able to calm his racing heart. He’s sure you can feel it on your back. If you turn to him and cup his face, telling him how beautiful you find him? You just broke an entire merman, but he will die happy now. Give him a kiss, and you’ll probably feel his tentacles wrapping protectively around you. Don’t comment on it; just accept it. Bathing together is going to be a regular thing after this.

Jade Leech

The thing with Jade is that unless he decides you’re worth pursuing, he’s not going to do it. Between his duties at the lounge as vice warden, keeping Floyd in check, and his club/hobbies, he really doesn’t have time. If he thinks you'll be a “chore,” if he gets into a relationship with you, no matter his feelings, he will ignore them and end up ignoring you. There is no way to prove to him either if you’re going to be a chore or not; he’s mainly up to how he sees it. Chances are, though, if he does have it down bad for someone, he’s going to be more inclined to see them as a “break” from everything rather than a “chore.” Just don’t make him do everything for you.

After he’s deemed that you’re going to be more of a breath of salt water rather than a nuisance, it’s going to be a game to him. Finding out what makes you tick, what flusters you, and how he can use it to his advantage. Don’t put it past him to use mental manipulation on you to get you to fall for him. He’ll use every trick in the book to make you fall hard for him. He’s almost a yandere in this aspect, pulling at your heartstrings until you’re fully twisted around his finger.

When he decides there’s no chance you’d say no to going out with him, he’s inviting you to a private booth at the lounge for dinner. His treat, something you speculated at first. Surely, there was an ultimatum here. He wanted something from you. Still, that polite smile turned into a pout as he asked if he was really that untrustworthy. The answer is yes, but you bit your tongue and took him up on the date. He simply asked if you’d like to start going steady. It would’ve been super romantic, with the candle between you and the atmosphere, if you couldn’t see Floyd out of the corner of your eye cracking his knuckles. The answer was already going to be yes, though, so you didn't have anything to worry about.

At first, going out with Jade is like navigating a stormy ocean. It’s scary and dangerous, but the promise of what comes after is always lingering. When the sea finally calms down, you can see the beauty of the sun shining through the clouds. Jade will always be polite, asking if there’s anything you need, helping you with schoolwork, and making sure you have fresh food on the table. He’ll be bringing you a lot of delicious dishes when he notices your fridge is looking sparse; just be expecting a lot of mushroom dishes to be served.

Once the initial awkwardness of getting into a new relationship is over, you’re going to notice Jade is far more relaxed in your presence. His shoulders are no longer always slightly tensed up as if an enemy is going to hop out from behind a corner. He talks more freely, the words falling from his lips before he puts too much thought into them. It’s like a whole other Jade, one that’s more honest and only you get to see. When there are others around, expect the same sickeningly sweet Jade, but when it’s just the two of you, it’s more casual.

He doesn’t mind teasing you a bit more now, being far less sneaky about it and blunter. Seeing your reactions always gives him so much joy. He isn’t one to go for too much PDA, but if he knows it’ll get a reaction out of you, who is he to not indulge? Expect him to lift your head by placing a hand on your chin, so you’re facing him until he leans in close and whispers in your ear to have a good time in class. His lips barely touch the shell of your ear, but it’s enough to distract you for the rest of the day.

Jade’s kisses are always soft and gentle when you least expect them. If you’re helping out in the lounge and he sees you doing dishes, he’ll wrap his arms around your waist and push you forward until your shirt is getting wet. When you turn to complain to him, he captures your lips quickly and then chuckles at the squeaky noises you’re making. Spray him with the hose you’re using to wash dishes. He’ll give you a disappointed look and promise that he’ll get you back at a later day.

Be expecting a lot of nature dates or dates to the garden. He’ll be explaining every form of mushroom you guys come across, as well as other plant life. You’re going to be an encyclopedia of mushrooms by the time he’s done with you. It’s totally not so you could help him nurture the ones in the garden when he’s too busy. He would never trick his beautiful S/O like that. While going on hikes, be expecting to be gone all day, though. He’s a lot of fun, though, and if at any point he realizes you need a break, he’ll find a good place to sit down. At the end of the day, don’t be surprised if you need him to carry you down the mountain. Your legs will hurt if you’re not used to hiking.

The good news about his hikes is that nobody else joins you guys, really. He plans them out just for the two of you, and as Floyd hates hiking, he never bothers to ask to join. You’re going to discover the natural beauty of this new world. Your favorite location is probably a hidden cave that had luminescent mushrooms growing that shined so bright it lit up the cave. Jade let you sit between his legs as you guys ate your dinner there before offering to carry you back to your dorm.

Everyone is going to be cautious around you. Unless they were already part of your squad, expect students to be cautious. The thought of the scarier eel twin looms over their head. Not to mention Floyd is going to be protective over you as well, judging by how his brother deemed you worth his time. If something happens to you in the school, Jade is going to know and take care of it for you as soon as he can.

Floyd Leech

Floyd takes a liking to you almost immediately. Sadly not in the romantic sense, but more of the “You’re ridiculous how are you alive?” sense. He’s going to be laughing at you a lot, every time you mess up he’s somehow there to see it. You rarely ever see Floyd in a bad or grumpy mood because he finds you too entertaining. It’s like an instant mood lift for him when you walk through the door, and all he wants to do is mess with you.

He’s going to sabotage you on purpose; there’s no doubt about that. You just have the best reactions and somehow always figure out an alternative to fix things that are endlessly creative. You’re his little Shrimpy that can do the impossible despite your lack of magical prowess. It doesn’t take long for those close to Floyd to notice the instant mood change he has when around you. In fact, it becomes so obvious that when Azul or Jade need something done and Floyd is in one of his moods, they invite you to the lounge. Sometimes it backfires, though, and he sits at your booth and just talks to you the entire time, but at least he’s not running people out of the lounge with his foul mood.

When it clicks to Floyd that he actually likes you more than just as a piece of entertainment, he wastes no time. He wants to start doing all those gross couple things, liking holding hands and stuff. So when it clicks, unlucky for you might be midnight, and he’s showing up at the Ramshackle dorm. If you don’t answer the door fast enough, you might not have a door left over. When he sees you half asleep and rubbing your eyes, he can’t help but pick you up and swing you in the air. You’re going to be confused; Grim more so than you. A quick glare at the demon cat and Grims' running back to bed.

After he finishes swinging and calling you cute when you’re all sleepy, he’s going to just confess. “Hey, you should accept that you’re my Shrimpy from now on, okay?” Is that a confession? You’re too tired to think about it and just agree with him. He’s going to make you say it as well. “Say it. Say ‘I’m you’re Shrimpy,’ okay?”. Ask if you can go back to bed if you say it, and he’ll pout but say yes.

Sadly that’s a lie because he’s going to be dragging you out. You don’t even have time to grab a jacket; he just takes his off and throws it around your shoulders before leaving the dorm. You’re probably going to be gone for an hour or two inside Mostro Lounge while he makes you a midnight snack. You’ll be sitting on the counter, still sleepy, as he whips something up and is basically feeding you, calling you cute again. Hopefully, by now, it clicks exactly what you’ve gotten into, and if you smile after figuring it out, he’s going to lose it.

You never know the kind of date you’ll be getting when you are with Floyd. Sometimes he takes you on a whimsical adventure to get some stuff for the lounge that Azul tasked him with that he really doesn't want to do. Other times you find yourself being dragged fully clothed into a pool with him when he swore up and down he just forgot something at the Octavinelle pool. It’s really hard to be mad at him when he’s peppering kisses all over your face, though, his tail wrapped securely around you. He knows a spell that will dry your clothes right off, though, so no harm, no foul.

Floyd is more motivated around you. Again, going with you being his personal mood stabilizer, everyone is going to notice. You find it odd how often Ace is begging you to come to practice or games for the basketball club. Whenever you’re there, Floyd is always doing amazingly, so you never understand when Ace complains about how Floyd sometimes just grows bored at the game and gives up. You’ve never personally seen it, but you also doubt Ace would lie like that, and it does seem like a total Floyd thing to do anyway.

PDA is now part of your life, whether you like it or not. Floyd is a handsy, kinda fellow and always wants you wrapped up in him. It becomes common to come into the cafeteria and find you on his lap, feeding yourself and him because he “Can’t spare to use his hands when they’re occupied with squeezing his Shrimpy.” It’s just a little endearing trait of Floyd’s that you’ll need to accept. Besides, the kisses are worth it. They always leave you breathless, and he gives them all the time. You’re running late for class? Not so fast; you gotta pay the kiss tax. He will block you from your classroom unless you do.

Just like with Jade, people are going to fear you because of your boyfriend. Unlike Jade, who will go and deal with anyone bothering you in the shadows, Floyd will outright clobber them right in front of you. If you tell him not to, he’ll just do it later in some dark hallway later. If Floyd comes over to Ramshackle with some blood on his knuckles, try not to think about it too much. In his own words, “Disrespecting Shrimpy is the same as disrespecting me.”.

Floyd will have calm moments around you. You’d think if it was too silent, he’d get bored. He just enjoys being around you, though, even if you insist on doing homework and not playing with you. He’s going to have you on his lap again while you do homework and eventually fall asleep behind you. It’s the cutest thing, too, him nuzzling your neck while asleep and murmuring things under his breath. No, they aren’t going to be romantic words in his sleep. They’re more random, and sometimes his sentences strung together don’t make sense, but it’s fine.

#Twisted Wonderland #Twisted Wonderland x Reader #TWST #TWST x Reader #TWST Wonderland #Twisted Wonderland Disney #TWST Disney #Azul Ashengrotto #Azul Ashengrotto x Reader #Jade Leech #Jade Leech x Reader #Floyd Leech #Floyd Leech x Reader

2K notes · View notes

captainclickycat · 2 months

Text

So while we're on the subject, here are some other thoughts.

I found Neil Gaiman's online presence - and the more overzealous members of his fanbase - annoying. And please stay with me here, I promise this isn't me trying to be smug or claim I "knew all along" or anything. There's a huge gulf between finding someone a bit annoying and thinking that their behaviour online is less than stellar occasionally and suspecting them of being a sexual predator. I don't think there could have been any way of me "knowing all along" without reading everything in the worst possible faith, which I'm not willing to do and which I maintain is not a good or helpful approach in general. And to people who genuinely looked up to him and felt completely blindsided by the news, I'm really sorry. It wasn't your fault and I hope you can do something kind for yourself today.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I didn't like the way he handled criticism of his work, a lot of the time. I don't think creators are obligated to personally listen to and address every negative opinion of their work, or explain every individual aspect of it that someone disliked. But I felt like a lot of his responses to feedback tended to lean into and encourage praise, while being a little disingenuous and sometimes belittling towards criticism. (And really, why feel the need to respond to everything when you could just ignore it?)

I didn't like the way he always felt the need to weigh in on fandom debates or throw out "word of god" explanations for this or that thing, including when nobody even asked. (Want to know who inspired the "I don't care what the author said" comment in my bio? Take a guess.) Especially when some of them felt engineered to paint him and his work in the best possible light.

Again, I'm not drawing attention to all this in an attempt to claim any one thing was a blatant red flag or must have been down to some sinister motivation. That's not the point I'm trying to make.

But it is one of the reasons that I was always deeply uncomfortable by the culture of hero-worship and "touch not god's anointed" that always seemed to exist around him. Like regardless of whether or not you thought this or that criticism against him was warranted, the way people would treat him like some kind of messiah who deserved nothing but praise and lose their absolute shit whenever anyone said anything remotely negative about him was absurd. Nobody deserves that, regardless of what they've done.

But at the same time... you know, I liked his work. Not just "I liked the stuff he co-wrote with someone else" or "I liked the films and TV shows he worked on with a whole bunch of other people." I liked the books he wrote by himself. They had some parts worth criticising, sure, what doesn't. But overall I thought they were well-written and funny and thought-provoking and I enjoyed myself when I was reading them. Neverwhere is the first book I had a crack at re-reading in a different language, which should tell you how much I liked it. And I didn't even dislike everything he posted on the internet. I thought some comments were pretty funny and/or insightful. I even reblogged the odd post.

And I wasn't all that vocal about any negative feelings I had towards him, because... well, frankly because a lot of the negative feelings I'd seen expressed by other people about him tended to look like "he's the devil incarnate, his work sucks, he's the worst person alive and he secretly hates every marginalised group and people should feel ashamed for sincerely liking his stuff."

And I didn't agree with that either! I didn't want to be roped in with those people. I didn't feel comfortable around them, any more than I felt comfortable around the Neil Gaiman Defense Squad, Working Tirelessly Day And Night To Aggressively Stamp Out Any Criticism Of Our Lord And Saviour.

And honestly I'm not entirely sure what kind of broader point I'm trying to articulate here, or whether I'm just working through stuff in my head. But I will say that this kind of polarising, zero-sum-game approach to criticism is... bad. It's just bad. It makes it so people are reluctant to put forward any kind of nuanced stance, for fear that they'll end up getting pigeonholed into one oversimplified category or another, or it ends up pushing people towards one extreme stance or another out of sheer frustration or contrariness. And it makes it incredibly difficult to have any kind of actually productive debate when it comes to criticising media, or criticising creators. Inevitably people's hackles are going to be up whichever side they lean towards more, and a lot of people with valuable input will inevitably end up going "yeah, I can see how that's a good point, but also the last person who brought this topic up with me deemed it appropriate to send me a barrage of messages telling me to kill myself about it, so forgive me if I'm not interested in engaging any further."

Obviously a culture of hero worship inevitably makes it a lot easier for predators to operate, and I have no doubt that being inundated with messages about how wonderful you are and how everyone who's criticising you is in the wrong must make it a lot easier to rationalise your actions. But I feel like this tendency to paint everything in terms of "are they a pure uwu blameless smol bean angel OR the devil incarnate" is incredibly unhelpful regardless of what side you come down on. The "devil incarnate" crowd can be part of the problem too.

#neil gaiman

44 notes · View notes

mcytblrconfessions · 11 months

Note

if i see one more fucking tommyinnit in qsmp or tommyinnit in hermitcraft or even tommyinnit in fucking. dsmp fics maintagging characters with not as many fics im going to put every inniter in the world in a saw trap and blend them up and drink them and use their annoying powers against my local floridian politicians.

fuck you grian and tommyinnit would NOT be best friends fuck you hes not in qsmp for a reason can you all be less annoying for five seconds. most of the people still posting tommyinnit content to ao3 are shitty tcfsv wannabes written with no line breaks in wattpad format anyway. im gonna go eat an edible and think about bombing a building

okay

#confession #cc: tommyinnit #little haters #evil

154 notes · View notes

giltandgreen · 3 months

Text

Concept for Loki's Lair in New York

My concept for a fictional lair Loki occupies in New York in an AU I have not written and may never write about Loki getting some sort of Avengers I settlement where he gets banished to Midgard like Thor but instead of like actively trying to better himself he just becomes a Villain of the Week for the Avengers. But not like a scary villain rather an inconvenient one as Loki and Sigyn really like living in Midgard and so Loki is trying to prolong their stay as long as possible by being a headache/annoyance to the Avengers every so often without really messing anything up. Eventually, the Avengers catch on that Loki isn't really trying to do anything nefarious (his freeze ray that one time wasn't even plugged in and when they show up to the lair instead of fighting the Avengers his henchpeople just let them through the door with a wave and a smile) and start playing along.

Anyway, Loki's Lair is:

possibly Art Deco on the outside but Art Noveau on the inside. I've also considered it being Art Noveau on the outside and Art Deco on the inside. Art Deco seems more villainous but I feel like any room Sigyn designs is full on Art Noveau. Either way, it's a run-down apartment building somewhere that Sigyn and Loki renovated. Initially, there were some concerns about gentrification and the fact that a villain lair was going up in the neighborhood, but Loki and Sigyn have been really great about being positive forces in the neighborhood.

Has a room for all of the Loki merch that has ever been made, which Sigyn collects. Loki's merch is now being made and sold through the same Avengers line because he's become sort of an anti-hero more than a real villain. Most of the proceeds are funneled back into helping the neighborhood around the lair.

The room where all of Loki's big villain reveal/monologue scenes are held, which upon closer inspection really is just like a big stage with moving parts. (This room may also be occasionally used by the neighborhood LGBTQ community for balls free of charge.)

The room where all of the props for Loki's big villain room are stored when not in use.

A basement swimming pool where, as a sort of sidequest, Sigyn and Loki are keeping all of the alligators they rescue from the New York City sewers.

A craft room

A room adjacent to the craft room that is just used for storing glitter

Loki and Sigyn's bedroom with ensuite bathroom and double walk-in closest. This room arguably has the best views from the building and may be part of the penthouse.

The first floor lobby where there's always a couple of kindly henchpeople willing to help you into the right elevator and get to the right floor. Also two door henchpeople and a henchperson who watches the front desk, but if you look at the "security monitors" you'll find they're just watching Drag Race.

The henchperson breakroom, which is fully stocked and even has a fridge that Sigyn spelled to ensure people only take their own lunches following what has become known as the Reuben Sandwich Incident. After a little research, the Avengers find out that Loki's henchpeople not only get great benefits but Loki seems to the major force behind the creation of a henchperson union, which has really annoyed some of the other supervillains. This leads to a weird situation where Captain America refuses to fight AIM because it would require crossing a picket line.

At least two libraries

A really nice guest room for Frigga when she comes to visit

A slightly less nice room for Thor to use when he comes to stay the night

The classroom where Loki teaches his introductory heroing classes for youngsters (a la this post). Sigyn provides the healthy snacks for the classroom.

A massive kitchen complete with Asgardian style roasting spit.

#loki #sigyn #logyn #loki x sigyn #thor #avengers #sigyn x loki #marvel #loki's lair

31 notes · View notes

canmom · 8 months

Text

a big mercy in the world is that it's actually much harder to hijack someone's behaviour with some kinda visual stimulus than capital would like.

so despite the constant semiotic fusillades of advertisers trying to 'shit in your brain' as the ad hacking slogan goes, you still get better at shutting it out. the advertisers have to resort to more and more desperate means to try to get you to buy product. of course they sell this to their clients as subtle behavioral modifications that manifest without the target even realising. but despite the occasional breakout viral success, it's mostly just a zero sum desperate battle to remind you that they exist at all. most ad exposures are wasted on people who either were never going to buy the thing or were already going to buy the thing. advertisers mostly just copy other advertisers and follow fads but present themselves as the key to success like a court alchemist to a king. overall it's a cancer swallowing up more and more of its host.

this does not make it any less annoying.

anyway, ads are only one part of marketing, and since they kind of suck, the modern method to promote your shit is to try to get 'organic' promotion through word of mouth, positive user reviews on a storefront, etc. so of course many companies cultivate 'influencers', post shill reviews, buy fake metrics, and all that. since all these mechanisms then become immediately less trustworthy, an arms race develops of trying to camouflage the fake marketing speech as 'genuine', 'honest', 'unbiased' etc. the result of this on communication is bad, there's chaff everywhere, but once again the effort of the marketer trying to control you bounces off the wall that people hate it and will not go along with it if they can help it.

a more subtle approach is to just try and cultivate people assigning themselves the role of reviewer. this can create something a bit more symbiotic. the reviewer gets to build an identity out of consuming product and being a discerning connoisseur, and the stuff they like gets free marketing written about it. hence sites like goodreads and letterboxd. not only that but when the thing they like does well, the reviewer gets to feel proud that they acted as a kingmaker.

one weird upshot of all this is that a small company will get really worked up about a negative review on a platform from some rando and go out of their way to placate them. i feel like we're going to see more people exploiting this - ig the gacha mra shit in korea is in part a ripple of that, though those cunts went a lot further than just review bombing.

anyway I've participated in this machine. arguably all the writing about fiction i do on this blog is feeding into it. when i think about it, i think it stinks, but I'm not sure what else to do. there are authors i admire, and who are my friends, i want them to be read by people and have bread on the table.

obviously just because there are powerful actors whose primary concern is moving product doesn't reduce all the discussion of art to elaborate games around moving product. in some sense the 'product review' form is an invading force, best disregarded. but i feel like it would be unwise to ignore the ecological mechanisms underlying what gets made and how and what makes its way to my eyeballs... and how my own behaviours belong to that ecosystem. even if it's depressing to think in those terms.

55 notes · View notes

rainytrashh · 4 months

Text

— – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – -

Stop worrying so fucking much

Fic type-> Hurt/ comfort + angst

Warnings*-> Anxiety/ panic attack, PTSD

Word Count-> 1931, a short story

Please check out my other drabbles either on here or on my AO3, the link is at the end <3

~Masterlist~ | Most popular post

*I’ve written Marc’s anxiety/panic attack off of mine that I’ve had in the past but I don’t have PTSD so if there’s anything I wrote wrong please tell me so I can fix it and improve my own understanding of it, thx and enjoy!

— – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – -

You and Marc were working in the museum together, just chatting, not doing much of anything really. Well except when Donna was watching, which was more or less every five minutes or so because no matter how much you two tried to convince her that you were, in fact, cleaning the floors she just wouldn’t fuck off.

“Steven!”

They haven’t told her about their DID, they don’t think she’d react too well. They’re also glad she hasn’t been bothered to ask about the occasional shift in accents; she hasn’t cared enough to ask anyways.

“Donna-“

“Steven…”

“Donna, I’m cleaning you’re watching me do it.”

Daggers, right into his eyes. You can practically see them.

“Ma- Steven has the mop in his hand?”

-Is your attempt at defending him.

“Really?”

-Is her sarcastic reply.

You turn to Marc and give him a downwards smile, he side-eyes you pretending not to see but he can’t manage to suppress a grin of his own.

“And- I don’t see any mop in yours!”

She snaps, putting her hands on her hips.

“Don’t forget to do the bathroom, y’know the one someone managed to fuckin’ implode-“

“Yes, ok Donna.”

“Water literally everywhere! How does someone even-“

“We’ll. Be. Right. On it. Donna.”

You say stiffly cutting her off once more knowing their sensitivity around the subject, around what happened that day. Wouldn’t you still be a little freaked out if a massive demon dog chased after your alter and left you both just a little shook afterwards; finally making that alter finally aware of you? You know, big plot point in someone’s life to be honest.

Of course him and Steven are cool now, the whole ‘protecting the travellers of the night’ thing being over helps too. What doesn’t help is being able to remember all the bloody, action-packed, I’m-gonna-die moments that came along with it.

You give her the best ‘I’m being as polite as I can to you right now given that you’re my boss and I need this job, desperately’ smile that you have before she slowly turns and walks off.

“Could she’ve gone any earlier?”

“Yes, definitely.”

You catch his gaze after he glanced behind him in the direction of the bathroom.

“You… want me to do the bathroom?”

“No, no you don’t have to. I’ll help just like I’m helping now.”

You smile softly at him.

“Ok, I’ll take the mop. Do you wanna get the rag and spray bottle?”

He hands you the mop, swiping it from him letting the wheelie bucket it’s in trail behind.

“I’ll be back.”

He walks off to the cleaner’s closet.

You make your idle way over to the bathroom, fumbling a bit with your wired earbuds and phone to blast some music while you clean.

—

You see Marc in the corner of your eye, not being able to hear what he’s saying while waving frantically to get your attention. Taking one earbud out, you put the mop in the bucket and turn to face him.

“Sorry what?”

“I’ve got the rag and shit.”

He holds them up so you can see, he’s also oddly far away.

“Oh, ok yea. Just be careful the floor’s wet still. You… good?”

You glance down noticing he hasn’t stepped fully into the bathroom yet.

“Yea, of course.”

Your gaze clings to him worriedly before putting your earbud back in continuing to clean. You know better than to not trust his own judgement, who are you to tell him he’s not ok when he says he is…?

—

Alright Marc, time to do Steven’s job some more.

“You insisted on fronting today!”

As if on cue, an annoyed Steven from the back of his mind.

“I just wanted to talk to Y/n, I didn’t want to do your damn job.”

Marc snaps back almost instantly.

He looks up from the counter he’s wiping down and sees Steven looking back at him, he seems uneasy. A glance is shot in your direction to check you didn’t hear his sudden outburst.

“Marc…”

“What, Steven?”

“Your hands are… all trembly, maybe you should… take a step back from the situation mate.”

He sighs shakily, gripping the rag tighter in hopes to stop the shaking.

“I’m fine, stop worrying so fucking much.”

Steven scoffs. He throws his arms out and furrows his eyebrows obviously confused at how stubborn Marc’s being.

“I can quite literally read your bloody mind, you’re not fine!”

In turn Marc just hangs his head, closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths blatantly ignoring Steven. Eventually, he pries his eyes open and turns his head to face you, happily bobbing your head to your music trying to get a particularly stubborn mark out the floor- completely oblivious, as you should be.

He tries to focus on you, on grounding himself, as memories of that night weave their way into his head.

“It wasn’t nice for me either, please at least just tell them?”

There’s a sense of urgency to Steven’s voice now.

“Shut- shut the… shut up Steven.”

They both notice his voice beginning to falter despite Marc’s efforts to hide it. Him in particular notices it’s getting harder to speak because of his throat starting to close up, stupid adrenaline.

“Marc, you can’t be in here any longer…”

A plea from Steven- ever so soft, ever so tender, ever so endearing.

He tries to reply but nothing comes out, he ends up just pitifully mouthing Steven’s name. Everything is going so fast somehow, his breathing is getting heavier, sounds seem oddly muffled, and his body feels like it could topple over any second.

“Tell them.”

Marc tries to swallow but can’t get it down, he leans over the sink resting his forearms on the counter. He simply shakes his head and rests it in his hands.

As if Steven had managed to tell you from the mirror something was wrong, you turn around to see how Marc’s doing. Not so well obviously.

“Shit Marc, you ok?”

No reply although you see his shoulders tense up.

You yank your earbuds out and let them hang down from your pocket, the loud music swiftly reduced to a faint hum in the background. Jogging over to him you lean down a bit to try and see his face. He looks so… vulnerable like this. Your nerves begin to build up rapidly as you hear his raspy breathing.

“Marc? Please talk to me are you alright?”

He reluctantly turns his head just so he can see you out the corner of his eye, he’s crying now as you see tears drip down into the sink from his nose. He opens his mouth trying to speak again.

“Ok… come on, let’s get outside, give you some fresh air.”

He takes short gasps of air trying to catch his breath, and half the stuff you’re saying is getting drowned out by his heartbeat rapidly drumming in his ears.

You put a hand on his back as you pry him away from the sinks and lead him out the bathroom and through a backdoor, you have to hold onto him to keep his knees from giving out.

He immediately sits himself down against the wall with your help, you can feel his hands shaking against you.

“It’s gonna be over soon, just hang in there and… do what you need to do.”

You sit down next to him, God you really hope he’s gonna work himself through this. You know he will. You just care about him, a whole lot, and can’t help when you get scared for him whether he likes it or not. Seeing him like this is just so out of character, he’s always so confident and… shielded.

You start to pick your nails anxiously, glancing over at him regularly hoping for any kind of signal that he wants you to help more, that he’ll let you help more. In these situations you know he wants to be left alone, so even though you don’t feel like it you’re doing everything you possibly can.

He brings his knees up and rests his forehead on them, he digs his nails into the back of his head as he tries to calm his breathing down like Steven’s telling him.

“Focus on my voice Marc, don’t think just focus on my voice I’m here ok?”

“Breathe in, breathe out…”

“Don’t think about it think about what’s around you. What can you see, what can you hear, what can you smell…“

He’s trying, he’s really trying and so is Marc but he doesn’t seem to be calming down any time soon. His heart’s getting louder, his breathing’s getting choppier and everything is way more blurry than it was a few minutes ago. He doesn’t know what to do, and everything’s getting worse.

After what feels like forever you check your phone and see it’s barely been two minutes, while doing this you pause your music having forgotten completely about it letting it turn to white noise.

You let your head fall back onto the brick wall behind you. You sigh trying to calm yourself down now, you let the crisp wind hit your features and fill your lungs.

Unexpectedly you hear Marc’s breathing slow down, you whip your head around to face him and watch the grip on his hair let up.

“Marc?”

After a few tense moments you watch as he raises his head and faces you, tear stained face and red puffy eyes meet yours.

“Marc…?”

You furrow your eyebrows confused at his sudden shift in demeanour.

He shakes his head and gives weary smile, he taps his name badge- Steven.

“Oh…”

You nod your head, giving him a weak smile of your own.

“Well, you two good?”

He signals to his throat and nods instead.

Ah, it’s clicked in your head, they may have switched but all the physical things going on with the body would stay the same.

“Good…”

You both sit in a comfortable silence for a while, just letting the tension settle down. Ultimately one of you speaks up.

“Sorry-“

He clears his throat and stretches his legs out on the concrete staring down at his feet.

“Sorry you had to be around for that…”

“No don’t say you’re sorry, it’s not your fault.”

“But, we could’ve prevented it, easily!”

“It’s not Marc’s fault either Steven-“

“No no that’s not what I meant- I just… I could’ve done something. Take control of the legs or something and walked us right out of there, I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t, was I scared? Why was I scared to if I was scared? I just don’t bloody understand-“

“Steven.”

Your eyes meet, the calm in yours seeps into his before you look away. You reach to his hand and caress his knuckles comfortingly, oddly rough for someone who should be working in a museum.

“It’s ok now, what’s happened has happened, so try not to think about all these would’ves, could’ves, and should’ves. Just, think about what you’re gonna do about it in the future. Even better, focus on the now.”

Steven exhales weightily and lets his lead fall limp on your shoulder.

“You should tell Marc that.”

—

“Steven! Y/n! Where were you? No, I don’t want to hear it. You’re both getting inventory duty for a week. Yes a week, starting fucking today. Now finish cleaning that sodding bathroom, how long does that take you anyways I’d have it done in half this time already. No, I told you, I don’t want to hear it I’ve got more important things to do—“

— – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – -

My AO3

#moon knight #moon knight mcu #steven grant #marc spector #this can be read as romantic or platonic between you and marc or steven #y/n #panic attack #anxiety attack #ptsd #please criticise my work it really helps #constrictive criticism tho #don’t be rude 😭#donna 🙄#hurt/comfort

37 notes · View notes

seresinhangmanjake · 2 years

Text

Less Misery, More Company

Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Reader

Summary: Jake has feelings for you but you don’t believe it, so you play a little trick to get back at him for all of his flirtatious teasing. But that little trick fails miserably, and as the weight of your mistake settles in, you realize you owe him an explanation, one that requires you to admit some things you’ve long denied.

Warnings/Notes: fluff, implied smut, slight angst, implied past masturbation, mentions of alcohol, cursing, flirty Jake, spelling mistakes i’m sure.

So my life kind of fell apart over the last month and I have written very little. I finally got back to it but I’m still trying to get back into my writer’s flow. This is not my best work, at least from my point of view, but I did my best under the circumstances, so I hope some of you like it anyway. I’m actually very nervous to post this. Like heart-pounding nervous.

To those who made requests, I finally have a bit of time to start tackling them again so thank you for being patient.

Words: 3706

Requested: Yes

“You really want me to be miserable, don’t you, sweetheart?”

That not-so-simple question threw a hefty wrench in your so-far very peaceful day.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t find it in yourself to be one hundred percent pissed off about it. There was something irritatingly melodic about the way Jake Seresin spoke. His voice was neither too hard nor too soft; pitch neither too high nor too low. His words strung together in such a seamless way that you couldn’t help but be drawn in. His voice was a call to beckon you closer, with defining notes you could pick up on if in relatively the same space as you. But that didn’t mean you found him any less annoying than he consistently proved himself to be, and his question, which threw the pebble that cracked your expert concentration, only solidified that.

You didn’t look up from the tenth lime you were cutting into wedges from behind the bar as he waited patiently for your response. You only sighed, accepting that your last few moments of peace before the bar’s doors opened were going to be snatched up by the blond pilot.

“Hangma—”

“No, no, I get it,” he leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the bar top directly in front of you, “everyone loves when a hot guy suffers; puts us in our place and reminds the world we’re just like everybody else.”

Your eyes rolled before you could hold back the reaction, but you could see his smile in your peripherals, it bright and unnaturally mesmerizing. Which was exactly why you didn’t glance up. That smile had been a problem from the very second he first flashed it your way. Your knees had nearly buckled that night, heartbeat sputtering uncomfortably behind the wall of your chest. But that feeling immediately defused when he flashed it again at the next nearest woman.

“You don’t have to keep turning me down to make a point, gorgeous.”

Blowing out a deep breath, you grabbed another lime and began slicing. “Wow.”

As if he couldn’t pick up on your obvious distaste for the conversation, he continued. “So, what was it, huh? What brought about this general hostility towards ridiculously attractive men? Did the buff, popular boy ignore the awkward, little wallflower in high school?” His eyes narrowed. “Are you using me as a stand-in to get back at him in sort of twisted, subconscious way?”

You looked up, and you could instantly see his satisfaction at getting you to finally pay him an ounce of attention. “That’s not even remotely close to accurate.”

“Then why not just go out with me? If you do, I’ll make sure to broadcast that you made me work for it and had me on my knees before you agreed. So, you know,” he smirked and lightly slapped the top of bar as he straightened his spine, “everybody wins.”

That forced you to put your knife down, knowing very well that not doing so would have likely placed you in a prison cell for a good long while. “How exactly does everybody win?”

He gave you a look that said nothing short of I’m so glad you asked before he said, “Well, I get to be with you and you get to tell people I’m a beggar and not nearly as charming as I think I am, even though we both know that’s not true.”

“Those are not equal in value. Why would I willingly go out with you, which heavily requires my emotional investment, when I don’t even have feelings for you?”

“That’s a small detail.”

“Oh, is it?”

“It is when it’s a lie, beautiful,” he said with a smile, “One I’m sure you continuously repeat before you tuck yourself into bed at night as well as when you pour your morning coffee, so that when I walk in here, you don’t slip up from the uncontrollable desire to attack my mouth with yours or rip my clothes off.” Pearly whites continued to shine through curved parted lips. “Either of those I would find acceptable, by the way.”

An irritating shock of panic licked up your spine, traveling throughout your limbs before it settled. His words were too perfect, too correct. Within them contained a daydream you’d given up on long ago. But you knew how he was. You weren’t stupid, and having Jake Seresin’s attention on you didn’t turn you so.

Why that attention was on you, why he bothered to look a little harder at the girl behind the bar after the drinks were already in his hands, was beyond you. Out of anyone else, you seemed to be the person he felt the need to annoy. You knew Jake only wanted one thing from you, and you also knew if you allowed him in, you’d get attached. So you learned to keep him at arms-length, trying not to let his teasing get to you.

You were growing tired of it, really, the shameless flirting. Had it been genuine perhaps you would feel different, but this was not that, and day after day he played this game. However, it didn’t go over your head that you could be as sly as he was if you decided to exercise that skill. You could play the teasing game too, so why not?

Filling your hands with the lime wedges, you turned to place them in their clear plastic container. “You know what, Hangman,” you said, securing the lid tight, “you’re right.”

You smiled to yourself and walked around the bar towards him, only stopping when barely a foot stood between you. That unshakable smirk was still perfectly in place, but his eyes held a little less of that confidence. As they scanned over your face you could tell he was quickly trying to understand your next move before you made it.

You brushed your fingers against his in a feather-light touch making each of his long digits twitch in response. Like magnets, when you moved your hand a millimeter away, his followed, chasing. But it was the moment when he attempted to intertwine your fingers that damned him. He wanted more, and you knew you had him wrapped around your pinky.

A sweet sigh passed your lips as you leaned into him, chests matching from the rise and fall of inhales and exhales, body heats forming a warm haze around you both. Other than your playful fingertips, no other part of your skin connected with his, despite his clear desire to have it be otherwise.

“I am so…desperate for you,” you spoke slowly. His fiery gaze snapped to your lips as you licked them then gently nibbled on the bottom one before releasing it. “You couldn’t even begin to understand what I go through to keep myself in control.”

You dared to run an index finger up the length of his bare forearm, tracing the pulsing vein. Your heartbeat mimicked the rapid thumping under his skin.

His adam's apple bobbed harshly in his throat. “Y/N—”

“Don’t.” You shook your head. “Just listen.”

That finger moved to fiddle with one of the buttons of his shirt, then continued up the line of his neck, along the curve of his jaw, until you reached his mouth. You slowly swiped the pad of your finger over his lips. The heat of his hand echoed at your waist, not quite making it through the fabric of your blouse from him not quite touching you.

“I’ve wanted to tell you how I feel,” you continued, “but I didn’t know if I could. I didn’t think you would take me seriously.” You turned your head away in false shyness before letting the confidence overtake you. “Now though…now I know I can tell you what I want.”

You took your hand away and inched your body to his until the space that lived between you suffocated into nonexistence. Your chin lifted as his face tilted down towards yours.

“Jake, I want…” you swallowed.

“Tell me,” he whispered.

Your lips were so close to his. So close you couldn’t tell how much you would need to move to actually connect them. You could forget your plan now, kiss him if wanted to. He’d never have to know your original intentions.

“I want you to…to…” Your eyelashes fluttered.

His lips parted, ready to accept yours as you planted your hands on his chest, fingers splaying across the span of muscle. One of his palms landed on top of yours.

“…to go fuck yourself,” you said, shoving him hard enough that he stumbled back a bit.

Your laugh bounced around the empty space. You were nearly doubled over, so much in a fit of giggles that you didn’t notice the fallen expression on his face.

“That’s not funny, Y/N.”

“Oh, come on, Hangman. You’re always messing with me.”

“Yea,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck, “sure.”

His voice coated you in discomfort. You’d never heard that tone from him. Cockiness, arrogance, pure sex—that often spilled from his mouth like some creamy, velvety dream, despite whatever irritating words he actually spoke. But pain was what was before you now, unmistakable as it slipped through the narrow space between his downturned lips. It completely froze you through and through, and you couldn’t move to be able to stop him from walking out the front door of the bar.

-----

“And she finally joins!”

You half-heartedly chuckled at Rooster’s shouting as he raised his glass in the air, amber-colored alcohol sloshing over the rim onto Coyote’s lap, who angrily shoved his tipsy teammate in the shoulder.

Your shift at the bar felt agonizingly long, longer knowing how Jake had reacted to your teasing only hours before. You hoped he would’ve gotten over it by the time you were off and come into the bar with everyone else as always, but as you quickly scanned the area for the blond, you couldn’t deny the disappointment that sank into your gut at his absence.

“Where’s Hangman?” you asked, awkwardly shoving your hands into the back pockets of your jeans.

“Probably trying to glue the pieces of his heart back together.”

Your head shot to Fanboy in time to see Phoenix elbow him hard in the side and mutter some curses that had the man shrinking slightly in his seat.

“What!” You snapped.

Payback took a sip of his beer then said, “You did a real number on him, sweetheart. We don’t know what you said, but whatever it was, it hit him where it hurt.”

Your jaw slackened and you felt your knees go weak. Your ass would have hit the floor had Coyote not pulled out a chair for you to plop down into. Arms overlapping on the table in front of you, you dropped your head to rest on the backs of your stacked wrists, and a groan pushed up your throat and out of your mouth.

“Hon, it’s ok,” Phoenix cooed as she rubbed back and forth across the width of your back. “Hard as it may be for him to accept, you can’t control how you feel.”

Your head rose, eyebrows scrunched in pure confusion. “I don’t get it. I mean…since…when? How long has he felt like this?”

“Well, it’s been a while,” Rooster began, “I mean, I don’t remember the exact night he got hammered and spilled his undying love for you in a drunken slur, but it certainly wasn’t yesterday.”

“Oh, my God.”

“Yea. You’re lovely, kid; Smart, funny, beautiful—all that good stuff, but you’re as dense as an overbaked cake.”

Phoenix sighed. “Rooster.”

“I say it with love.”

“You really had no idea?” Coyote asked.

“No!” You let out a huff as you slouched back in your chair. “He hasn’t acted the slightest bit different from the day we met. How was I supposed to know he was serious?”

Even with that justification, you couldn’t bring yourself to feel any better about what had happened between you and Jake earlier. Something about the way he looked before walking out the door only served to reassure you that, despite not knowing how he felt, you were in the wrong here. Even had he only wanted to get you into bed, did that mean your attempt at such a joke was actually humorous in any way? Did you really expect him to shrug it off without an emotional response? Or worse, did you think he would laugh along with you?

Not a single one of those questions had a realistic answer that would satisfy you and curb your guilt.

Your hand ran down your face. “I don’t know how to fix this.”

Bob shrugged his shoulders. “You could talk to him,” he returned, lips around the straw sticking out from his glass soda bottle.

“There’s no way he wants to see me.”

“Of course, he does,” Rooster said, leaning forward. “I mean, he may not admit it to anyone, because, you know, pride and all. But he wants to see you every second of every day. This won’t change that.”

“That can’t be true.”

Coyote snorted and threw an arm around your shoulders. “Honey, we live with him. He says your name eighteen times a day—”

“Minimum,” Phoenix mumbled.

“—And,” Coyote continued, shooting Phoenix a look at the interruption, which she chuckled off, “Not only is he saying your name, but if you’re unlucky enough to walk by his room at night he’s moaning it, too.”

The rest of the team groaned in unison as Coyote smirked at you.

“God, that I am getting sick of,” Payback added, shaking his head.

Fanboy slammed his empty glass down on the table. “Oh, you’re getting sick of it? I’m the one who shares a wall with him!”

Rooster tilted his head side to side in consideration. “That’s fair.”

“True,” Phoenix answered.

Bob snickered. “I forgot about that.”

“Because you’re all the way down the hall, Bobby,” Fanboy snapped.

“Hey, I share his wall, too,” Coyote said, “Although I don’t really hear him anymore. I’ve learned to block it out.” He looked to you and patted your shoulder. “No offense to you of course, sweetheart. I love you as much as the rest of us—well, excluding Hangman. He’s got us all beat there."

-----

“Which door?”

“That one.” Rooster pointed at one of the gray slabs in the center of the wall on your left. “Now listen here, young lady, you tell anyone—”

“I know, I know,” you held up your hands in mock surrender. “If anyone asks, I’ve never been here before in my life. I got lost somehow. I’m drunk and I stumbled upon this base.”

“Good girl.”

You smiled at the praise and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Thank you, Roose.”

“No problem, kid.”

Then he was gone. Likely back to the bar with the rest of them, as he should be. Your friends’ jobs were no joke, and they needed the break after work. The opportunity to unwind was well owed.

Stepping forward, you took a deep breath. Your fingers anxiously pulled at the hem of your t-shirt, then they curled into a fist and you rose your hand to knock. And knock. And knock again without answer.

“Jake,” you whispered through the barrier keeping you from him. But nothing.

You sighed, leaning your forehead against the door. A piece of you—a sliver, really—wondered what the hell you were doing, why you were bothering when without a doubt in your mind Jake would turn you away, if he spoke a word to you at all. But the rest of you knew exactly why you were here, waiting for any hint or whisper of a sound on the other side of that door.

Suddenly, your weight fell forward, nothing but the dry, thin air to hold you up. Or so you thought, until your body was smacking into a wall of muscle. You cursed as strong arms wrapped around your form.

“What the hell?”

“Jake!”

He stood you up straight. Rough palms cupping your cheeks forced your eyes to meet. He blinked hard a few times, shook his head a little, and blinked again. His index finger and thumb cautiously grabbed a small section of your hair and rubbed it between the pads before brushing those loose strands behind your ear.

“Ok,” he said, a bit of curiosity in his tone, “you’re really here.”

Nodding, you replied, “I’m here.”

Jake stared with suspicion. You couldn’t blame him. Had he shown up at your door an hour before what started the next day you’d have been just as confused, likely a little pissed.

“Can I come in?”

Without response or hesitation, he moved to the side, allowing you to brush against tanned, bare skin before taking in your surroundings. There wasn’t much to the room. Plain furniture, dull lighting, a few books on the nightstand. It was simply there to serve one purpose. But the pale color of the walls and the dark, laminate flooring birthed a chill that a dozen blankets couldn’t shield you from. Jake deserved more. He deserved warmth and a body in his bed to wrap his arms around, and something to call home, which, according to your friends, Jake had sworn he found in you.

You turned and faced him. “Jake, I—”

“How did you get in here?”

Your airway seized at the dryness of his tone. “Um…Rooster,” you squeezed out. A dead beat passed, but receiving no reaction, you continued. “Jake, I’m sorry.”

Large arms crossed in front of a larger chest, a slight pout forming on those lips; a petulant child in the form of the man you were so desperate to have forgive you. “I don’t care.”

“I care.”

“You’re only sorry because you think you hurt me, and your conscience can’t take it. You’re not sorry because you didn’t mean it.”

That deflated any optimism left in your body and you resisted the will of your shoulders slumping. If he truly believed you didn’t care then maybe you were fucked. Maybe you missed your opportunity to not just apologize but to have him as your own the way you knew he had wanted you.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Again, he didn’t respond. He didn’t react anywhere except in the eyes which shown in a quick flash of protest, but it was gone within the half-second, concealed by a practiced expression of military sternness. He clearly wasn’t begging you to stay, but neither was he shoving you out the door. Ok, baby steps.

“I never thought you were serious,” you said, debating whether to take a step toward him, but the fear of him backing further away from you squashed the impulse. “I thought you only wanted to sleep with me.”

“Who says that isn’t the case?”

“Rooster, Fanboy, Payback, Coyote, Phoe—”

He groaned, running his hand down his face. His other hand rested on his hip. “I’m surrounded by fucking traitors. I swear, if I wasn’t forced to work with them—”

You kissed him then, lips meeting in a soft press, because Fuck baby steps.

“Do you love me?” you asked the moment you pulled away for a breath.

His irritation dissipated and he almost looked…shy, though you could hardly believe it. His head turned as if to avoid your stare, then he swallowed hard and nodded.

“Then show me,” you whispered, leaning forward to press your lips to his jawline. You continued those kisses slowly, gently down to his neck. “Show me, Jake.” You licked the words into his skin.

You sensed the slightest hesitation. Brief, but there. Then you sucked a little at sensitive skin and a strangled moan tumbled forth. Vice-like fingers firmly grasped your waist, twisted you in place, and pushed you onto the bed.

-----

“What do you want from this?” he asked as he ran his fingers through your hair.

Your head rested on his chest, but you rose to look at him, lifting your body with a hand pushing down on his pec. The fingers in your hair moved to your spine in a barely tamed motion, keeping your form against his as if you might be rising to leave his bed. But unless he kicked you out of it, not a chance would you untangle yourself from his sheets.

Y/E/C eyes met his green, both sets of eyebrows scrunching a bit at the center. He had no idea what you would say and you could see it plastered across his face. You hadn’t proven to be trustworthy, and clearly your actions and thoughts didn’t aid in showing how you felt, so with conviction you said, “You.”

He shook his head, brushing his hair back with his free hand. “I meant after tonight.”

“Still you, Jake.”

“How?”

“Huh?”

“In what way?”

Rapid-fire questions. Not everyone’s favorite type of interrogation, or no, not interrogation you realized, drilling. He was drilling you like a sergeant with a softer voice, but you supposed it was fair enough.

Leaning down, you kissed him, your hand resting on his cheek, his holding onto the back of your head. Jake had told you he loved you, five times by your count while he had been inside of you, perhaps more, but every thrust—sharp, deep, shallow, or soft—fuzzed your brain far too much to remember accurately. From that, you knew the truth. Despite the twisted game you played, which, for other men that might have been enough to drop all intentions of a future together, Jake still wanted you, and you were willing to give that man everything.

He chuckled deeply at the little nip you gave his bottom lip, and when you separated he pressed a long kiss to your forehead.

“I’m not going to break your heart, Jake,” you swore. “You’re mine now.”

He reached over and grabbed the back of your thigh to pull over his waist. Your body followed until you were straddling him, your breasts smushed against his chest. As he had when you first stepped into his room, Jake tucked loose strands of hair behind your ear. “I’ve always been yours, honey,” he said.

“And now I’m yours, Jake.”

tags: @marvel-ousnesss @thespeeder @nobody7102 @marrianena @fangirlingoverfangirls @blue-aconite @my-soulmate-is-mycroft @dempy @chaoticassidy @alana4610 @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @dracosluvbot @smoothdogsgirl @smit41

841 notes · View notes

yumedoca · 8 months

Note

Hi! How are you?

I was thinking about Urusei Yatsura and I must admit I don’t understand Ataru. The more I think, the less I understand! Would you help?

Why is he so insistent with the womanizing? Why he needs it so bad? He really wants the attention of all of these girls or is that supposed to represent his biggest desire for freedom above all else? It’s sort of messed up that he priorizes his so-called freedom and the skirt-chasing above being with the girl he loves and who loves him back and that he knows he’s hurting said girl with his behavior (both the girl-hunting and by withholding affection) and he keeps doing that anyway 😭 (... Not that Lum is a saint either but that's besides the point). Ataru's unwillingness to compromise and to give up on his habit really gets in the way of him truthfully experiencing "True Love", doesn't it? It seems like he would rather lose Lum than commit to her. Do you think he would have acted differently if it was with Shinobu?

Oh, and I've seen some speculation that explained Ataru's lechery as being the result os his relationship with his mother and the lack of motherly love he received growing up, so he actually goes after all these girls because he's that starved for affection. What do you think?

Hai there, Hope you're doing great!!

Sure, I'll help you out!! Ataru is a complicated individual, after all. But first, I think it would help you a lot if you read my write up on 'Ataru's Love for Lum' first since whatever I've mentioned there is very vital to understanding Ataru as well.

And I haven't even started yet but I have a feeling this will be a sequel to the linked post above since this ask does bring up some questions I don't think I've directly touched in that one.. so...

I hope my fellow UY's are having a great day because today on ‘Yuca Analyzes Silly Things (For No Reason)’, we'll be talking more about Ataru and his relationship with Lum!

And naturally there are spoilers so proceed with caution..

Ok now, let's begin!! Your first question is 'Why does Ataru womanize?' As for the initial reason? Not completely sure. The manga shows that he's just always been like that, even as a kid. It's just never been talked about. And I don't believe in the speculation which you stated btw, because I wouldn't say that Ataru had a lack of motherly love. Yeah, Mrs. Moroboshi can be a bit comedically harsh, but most of that ends up being a one time joke. In fact, she actually really does love Ataru and takes really good care of him (to the point where she waits for him to arrive before eating dinner, says she'll save up money on him so he can go to a good college and other details like that which you can catch here and there), she's just worried about his idiotic tendencies, that's all.

The best theory I have about his womanizing is that ever since he was little he's always seen women in a sort of 'very nice and sweet onee-chan' sort of way. What supports this theory is the fact that Ataru's mom seems to be the most involved in his life compared to his dad (who's either at work or buried deep into his newspapers, he does spend sometime though) and has the most agency in the family. Because of that small Ataru probably had a better view of woman, which probably made him want to meet more and befriend them but since he was small and an idiot, he would just cling onto them which naturally annoyed them to the point of there being rumors about him. And as he grew older (and hormones), this 'liking' eventually became lust. Another theory is that it might be genetics since both of his parents have fallen for someone else during the series' run, but that's like the only thing to support the theory. In the end, I'm still not completely sure. Like to be fair, UY is a gag which wasn't exactly written with much thought (yeah, the character development is unintentional. I'm pretty sure it's a result of RT writing each chapter by going with the natural flow of the story, which is why the characters grow gradually. This isn't something any writer can do btw) so not everything would have an explanation.

Next is 'Why is he still womanizing? why does he want these girls?' Because he's young. He's still a teenager and he likes women and he has for years to the point it's a habit. Habits are hard to break so he can't suddenly be dedicated to someone out of straight up nowhere (especially if she basically got them 'married' instantly when he's still just a teenager). His love for women is just a huge part of his personality, it's just not something he can throw away in an instant and because of that he remains attached. What does not help matters even more is the number of gorgeous girls who're usually around him on a daily basis, girls who are incredibly cute, beautiful, sexy.. tell me, just tell me exactly how easy would it be to break his girl hunting habit when that's the case??

As for Lum, Ataru doesn't emotionally hurt Lum with his womanizing for the most part. Sure, the hope he would stop does linger in her but his infidelity for the most part only makes her mad more than anything else, and she recovers from her anger pretty quickly. Lum getting deeply hurt, is actually quite rare (and has happened very few times in the series) since she's mostly very outgoing. Whenever she's that hurt, we, the readers are made aware of her feelings because unlike a certain idiot, she doesn't keep how she feels to herself. But for the most part, Lum just goes into furious rage rather than any sort of deep feelings when it comes to Ataru's womanizing and yes, Ataru is completely aware of that so he knows he isn't hurting her in any serious way.. and if he did hurt her in that manner, he would probably want to fix things with her..

See how Ataru wanted to talk to her here when he thought she was emotionally hurt? But it was actually buildup for her rage..

The next bit I want to talk about is how both of them love teasing, irking and messing with the other, Ataru likes poking at Lum's temper and Lum likes messing up Ataru's enjoyment with women because to them, their daily antics are like a game which neither wants to lose because of their pride. Like that, their 'he flirts, she zaps, she chases him' thing isn't something they take to an emotional value. It's their game, a game which neither wants to give up.

Now with that done, I want to talk about what you said regarding 'Ataru prioritizing his womanizing over Lum' which has evidently shown to be incorrect. One example is in the 'Electric Jungle' arc, when he left a date with some girl just so he could go on his date with Lum. It's not always a girl accepts Ataru's request; the chances for that is most probably lower than his chances to go on a date with Lum, yet he still left his date with the girl anyways because he knew Lum was waiting for him. Another example is the fact that Ataru won't accept a harem if it doesn't have Lum in it. If Lum isn't in the harem, the harem means nothing to him. Heck, the reason why he wants a harem is because he needs Lum with him, even if there are other girls. Lum is what matters the most to him.

Next is the topic of Ataru and 'true love', Ataru isn't someone who yearns and is desperate for 'true love', but he still does hold it with value. To Ataru, 'true love' doesn't mean flirting, kissing, etc., it means something much deeper, something that comes from the heart. The former can be done even if you don't love someone truly, but the latter is what 'true love' is. There's also a bit more to it but I've already talked about this in the above linked analysis, so I'll just copy-paste that part here instead of writing it from scratch:

Now if he does love her, then why doesn’t he agree to do couple stuff (here I mean stuff like kissing, flirting, saying “I love you”, etc.) with her? That’s because he does all those things with other woman to the point they have lost that specialness. It may still be special to her, but not to him because Lum isn’t any woman, he’s the only one he actually cares about and he doesn’t want to give her the same treatment he gives other women.

So, yeah, it's exactly what I said..

And finally the question 'Would he have acted differently if it was Shinobu?' Of course, we all know that they used to be exes and we do get to see how it was back then as well so we'll just use that info. The womanizing part remains the same for the most part, Ataru would chase skirts if it's either Lum or Shinobu. But the difference would be in whether he shows affection. With Lum, Ataru knows that she'll never leave him and that she will only love him (which is true) but Shinobu isn't like that. Shinobu didn't have any other options and she was already friends with Ataru which is why they started dating. But when she's presented with a better option (temporarily Rei, though only in term of handsomeness, she turned him down because he's an idiot, and later Mendo) her mind immediately wavers and prefers the better option, after all she wants the one who is the match made for her. Because of this, Ataru can't hide his feelings (which he eventually ended up losing anyways) or else it's literally over. It's also easier for Ataru to show affection towards Shinobu since he's always been friendly with her, unlike Lum who he treated terribly at first.

And I think that's it! This ended up being hella long and I ended up spending a lot of time on this (so.. to those reading, please like and even more importantly, reblog! pretty please?) and I hope I was able to clear all your questions anon! Ataru's a tough nut to crack but once you do it you'll see why it is that way. Anyways, that's it, thank you for taking your time reading this and have a great day ahead!!

28 notes · View notes

gunsatthaphan · 9 months

Text

🏆 Top 10 of 2023 💫

a few anons have requested this and I was also kind of indirectly tagged by @blneobin, @elizabethsebestianhedgehog and @khaotungsfirst for slightly different posts but I decided to just combine them all into one 😄 hope that's fine with everyone ✌🏻

My watchlist wasn't very extensive this year due to time reasons but here are my personal highlights:

Don't think I have to explain much about this one lol (she says as she proceeds to write a whole paragraph) After the masterpiece that was The Warp Effect and the disaster that was Never Let Me Go, I was nervous about what Jojo was gonna cook up with this one lmao but luckily my fears were unjustified. The watching experience was absolutely insane and it turned me into a different person in the time between August and October lmao. It wasn't perfect, I got annoyed at times but overall it's undoubtedly my number 1 this year. SandRay my loves, my babes, my roman empire lmao. I loved their story so much, they were the main characters for me lol but it was such a good ensemble in general and each cast member was the perfect fit for their respective characters, including Mond as Boeing who was the cherry on top of all the madness and also my boy Mix as the first Only Friends Stay guest, leaving room for imagination lmao. It was raw, real and unapologetically chaotic aka my favorite kind of plot. pure perfection. Jojo outdid himself once again. 10/10.

No words just vibes. It went by SUPER fast and I'm still mad that they chose to air an 8 episode show twice a week like whose idea was that?? To air a treasure like this in the course of 4 weeks is more homophobic than Jim's family lmao. But anyway. Doesn't change the fact that it was an incredible production, so visually stunning, so carefully written and so well executed down to the tiniest detail. It deserves every single award it won because what a masterpiece. It made me extremely emotional but in the best way. I'm still in awe. amazing. life changing.

I kinda hate to admit this bc it was SO full of crack lmao but it was SO much fun?? I had low expectations but I had the best time from start to finish. It made me laugh so hard I frequently dislocated my lungs lmao, the overall watching experience was just incredible. Story-wise it was sprinkled with the typical Domundi nonsense, the surreal cartoonish vibes were dominating and it was overall another show where I couldn't tell you what the plot was afterwards lmao - but everyone who lived through the Cutie Pie experience wouldn't expect anything less from these people lol. I loved it.

We're only halfway through but I'm so obsessed with it that I'm including it lmao. It's SO adorable and pure, offgun are back with the puppy honey vibes in all of their fully evolved glory lol, the writing is excellent imo and it's the perfect balance between silly, cheesy and honest emotions, good communication and the notorious offgun magic lol. Whenever I say I want a good romcom, this is what I mean. I was so annoyed when it was announced as I was convinced it was gonna be a downgrade from Not Me but it's really not. It's just another show where OG can showcase their dynamic in a completely different setting. I love it.

I'm still having mixed feelings about this one due to obvious reasons but looking at it from the outside I have to include it because objectively speaking this was an excellent production. The narrative was intelligent and worked so well, my boy Gawin was shining so much as Pisaeng, I still can't believe he wasn't the first choice because he's literally the perfect fit for this. I loved the symbolism, the blossoming romance and just Pear. that's it. just. Her. she was incredible. G&K had good chemistry, I was struggling with K.'s presence but the show was just so good that it overshadowed the rest. Loved it.

This show got a lot of hate which I sort of understand as it was low budget, cheesy and with heavy lakorn vibes but on god it really hit the spot for me lmao. JaFirst are my runner-up babes lol, I love their dynamic so much and seeing them make their comeback in this with completely reversed roles had me squealing lol Punn was the most adorable cookie, others cringed, I blushed lmao I loved the setup so much and him and Achi were everything. period.

Another show that's still airing but I'm really liking it so I'm including it as well lol. It's surprisingly well written and Pavel is doing fantastic in his comeback, I had lowkey written him off after the disaster that was Coffee Melody but he's back stronger than ever. Love that for him. The rest of the cast is very solid too, a lot of familiar faces who all stepped up their acting game since I last saw them with a special shoutout to Thanapon who is doing amazing. The story is super interesting and goes so far beyond just the racing stuff which was my apprehension when starting it. And even the omegaverse stuff is not as bad as I thought (so far.. don't wanna jinx it lmao). It's overall doing very well. Love it.

This one also got a lot of backlash lol but I loved it!! JoongDunk are my second FirstKhao lmao they're very dear to me, their on-screen dynamic is good actor carries weak actor and I'm aware of that lmao but to me they just work so well. Idk what it is. Even though Dunk's acting leaves room for improvement, they have a ton of chemistry and they're mastering the secret crush plot. This was fun and light, not too serious and I found it very enjoyable. the only thing that irritated me was the butchering of AouBoom like what in the world was that. Tee probably added them because he had to and disregarded them in the process but their story was abysmal. But putting that aside, it was a very nice show.

This was very brief for Mame standards lol and I was considering dropping it after episode 2 but then it surprisingly picked up, I started to really get into the story and SunnyPak worked very well for me. I was surprised that they just disappeared afterwards as I was expecting MMY to milk them like the rest of their couples but oh well. Mame made her GL debut in this which I appreciated but I wish they had casted someone else as Marine because sorry sweetie but she was terrible lmao rip. Yiwa was a very sweet and likable character and she deserved a better partner. That plus the special episode being stupid as hell, It's getting raking #9 lol.

This whole season was... a very wild rollercoaster ride lmao. I would say it was a 50/50 for me, half of the episodes were fun and the other half were horrendous lol. My personal highlight were The Eclipse episodes, they were pure fluff and adorableness, paired with some minor dumb fights but overall this was exactly what I was craving after the ordeal AkkAye went through in The Eclipse lmao but also I could easily sit through 10 episodes of Akk and Aye just being cute and cuddly and doing absolutely nothing else because duh. They're my comfort couple 🥺 I also quite enjoyed the ATOTSxBBS crossover and also surprisingly the ABAAB and NLMG episodes were a lot of fun!

thank you 2023 for - once again - giving us good gay food lmao. here's to an even better 2024 🧡

#top 10 #bl dramas #bl drama #top 10 bls #top 10 of 2023 #🧡

50 notes · View notes

hirukochan · 2 months

Note

Hi I'm wondering how to improve my writing

Hi there!

Oof, idk if I'm the right person to ask there. Writing has always come natural to me. I started creating my own stories when I was a child. Storytelling just has always been a part of my life, but I will try!

Practice.

Writing is a skill. It may come easier to some people just like art, dance, crafts - any creative activity really - but it is still a skill and a skill can only be improved by doing it over and over and over.

Don’t be afraid to try.

I’ve seen countless posts of people being stuck on their worldbuilding for years without ever writing a single word. World building is great, collecting resources to improve your writing is all good and well but they will be of no help to you if you don’t ever actually start to write.

Don’t be scared to suck.

I’ve written plenty of stuff that’s bad. I’ve deleted entire chapters and started over because it was just not working. It can be frustrating and it’s fine to take a step back for a moment and come back with fresh ideas. Not everything you write has to be shared with the public. Scribble down brainfarts on a napkin you never look at again. Fill notebooks with story shreds you’ll never expand on. Just write. Get comfortable with writing. Try out new things even if those aren’t what you want to write. Every creative writing class will tell you to not write fiction and while I disagree with the notion that fiction is somehow less, it is not bad advice to step out of your comfort zone and challenge your skills. I wrote a few short stories that were set in the ‘real’ world and while it was hard, I think it really helped me improve.

It’s worth experimenting with different mediums as well. Some people prefer to write on the computer, some do their best work on paper. I like to switch between the two when I notice myself getting stuck. I have one story I write almost exclusively on paper. It’s annoying to type it all into my computer after but it’s worth the extra effort.

Read a lot. Artists look at other artists’ work and study every detail of their work. Every author has a different style. By reading other peoples’ works in different genres you broaden your own horizon.

For years I got stuck on all these rules some people have made up for writing and while some of them are sound advice, most published authors break those rules too. Unless you want to get traditionally published, writing is a hobby and hobbies are supposed to be fun. Don’t get hung up on trying to be perfect. Just write. You can come back later and edit or don’t. I don’t. I do some haphazard spell checking and that is it. I don’t enjoy editing. I don’t like rereading my chapter over and over to try and get it perfect. Perfection is a myth anyway. Some people will not like what you write and that is fine. Your audience is out there, even if it might take a moment to find it.

It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t get the response to your work you crave. No amount of telling yourself you write for yourself will change that. In the end, we know our stories. We don’t need to write them down to know them, nor publish them on the internet. We do that because we want to share our little world with other people and in a time were kudos and comments are at an all time low it is easy to feel like you are shouting into a forest and your words get lost between the branches.

I’ve let myself get discouraged by this too. It’s the reason A Servant of Death hasn’t been updated in forever. I recently published two oneshots I’m pretty proud of but because they are both rare pairs, I got barely any responses.

I can’t tell you how to deal with disappointment. It’s something I struggle with. I just have to believe that my stories reach people. That someone is glad they were written even if they are too shy or busy to tell me.

Find fandom friends. I find it is much easier to deal with my disappointment when a story doesn’t do as well as I think it might deserve (and I’ve been spoilt rotten with the responses to ‘Your tears are of no relevance to me’, going back to my rare pairs and less popular ships after that was and is a hard transition). Join a discord, be active on tumblr, find your people that share the same brain rot as you. I’ve made so many great friends over at the Snarriet Discord, it’s a wonderful community - you just need to find it.

Now I know that even if no one else will read it, @snapesmorningcoffee and @loneamaryllis are always among the first to read my sick and twisted stories. I can’t tell you how much of a difference that makes!

So…yeah. My biggest advice is to just write. Forget all else. Set a timer for five minutes and write as much as you possibly can in that time even if you just end up writing ‘idk what to write’ over and over. You’ll automatically get better at it the more you do it, the longer you do it.

#ask #writing advice

10 notes · View notes

mrsnancywheeler · 6 months

Note

ok so this is something i ALWAYS #think about whenever i listen to breakup songs, and esp after that blurb u wrote about billy blindsiding the reader with that scathing song.

but what do u think about the dynamic between billy and a shy!reader, or someone who hates being in the limelight. Like they met when the band was somewhat popular and the attention she got for being billy’s “girl” was tolerable.

they’re still in a situationship, and they still argue a lot, but I’m just thinking about the potential angst of billy writing the most insane breakup songs about her, and shes just crying bc all of their business is being aired out 😭 PLEASE i can imagine him being such an ass about it lowkey, he’d be like “what? i thought you wanted to be treated like your special. None of the other groupies have songs written abt them😁” SIR???

She understands that it’s the price you pay for being with an artist, but he can get so mean with it, esp if its a song like regret me. But 1. He’s billy dunne, so ofc she comes back. 2. Sometimes he tries to “make it up” by writing a (very vague) love song that may/may not win her back.

tbh I’m just projecting but this has been idea has been in my head for a while LMAO sorry if it’s weak/doesn’t make sense🫡

-🦅

no like pookie would just like to sit in the background, be backstage, avoid media as much as possible but then they're getting into a fight because billy's the worst and suddenly he's insisting one of the songs on the album is gonna be one where he explicitly talks about the negative side of your relationship and of you, again giving regret me core

"billy please don't put that on the album, that's private stuff, please" you're literally begging because you don't need people knowing all the toxicity that comes with being billy dunne's girl

"you're a groupie for the lead singer of a rock and roll band, don't act like don't want attention" he's just doing a line and is just annoyed

"I don't!" he's scoffing but you literally feel like you might cry, "please, billy, it's gotta stay behind closed doors. people can't know me like that"

"baby, it's good fucking song, you can't just ask me to scrap one of the best pieces I've ever written just because it hurts your feelings." and you realize he's dead serious and just start bawling, because now everyone's gonna know how tumultuous your relationship is. how unsteady you are.

because I'm always comparing them to fleetwood mac and the rumours album, this reminds me of how stevie nicks talks about go your own way and how it made her feel.

"most girls would be on their knees for me to write a song about them, and you want to be my girl but what? don't want the songs? then you're not gonna be my girl"

"fuck you, billy. fuck you!"

OKAY SORRY I'M LISTENING TO FLEETWOOD MAC AS I WRITE THIS AND GOLD DUST WOMAN CAME ON AND JUST- it's about a girl trying to get through a difficult relationship and doing a lot of drugs, I'll do a post because this is so something billy would write about his muse that's pretty scathing and personal

but like a song like that, that analyses you in and out, so infuriating

anyways yes, he does try to make it up by writing a song that's less scathing, it definitely still references how difficult the relationship is, but mentions the love there too. and she's really just going for it because she wants to be with him even though it's hurting her.

it makes sense pookie, thank you for your service 🫡💋

#wanda 💋#billy dunne x reader angst #billy dunne angst #billy dunne #billy dunne x reader #djats x reader #🦅 anon

9 notes · View notes

lakesbian · 1 year

Note

I’ve been stuck too nervous to start arc 17 because of all the conversation about it making me nervous. Is there anything you think will convince me to get to it?

this is going to contain some arc 17 spoilers because i can't talk about why it's good without saying at least some concrete things about it

anyway. after some research (making a post asking why people don't like it) i have come to a conclusive awareness of the most prominent reasons 4 the two primary camps of opinions abt arc 17

why some ppl think it's one of the most excellent arcs in the book: - extremely well-written fucked up horror tragedy - extremely cool and scary and interesting perspective on the simurgh (give it up for the simurgh everyone give it up for the simurgh) - engaging character writing & dynamics - context 4 a bunch of worldbuilding shit delivered in an interesting little packidge - some of the best character concepts in the book (noelle/krouse) why some ppl find it boring (have not actually seen anyone who Hates it i think just ppl who find it boring/uninteresting): - no taylor PoV or undersiders for the entire arc - flashback that puts the main plot on pause for the entire arc - underdeveloped and/or uninteresting focal characters - unlikable/annoying focal characters

now obviously i am an arc 17 enjoyer. so my refutations to the reasons i've seen ppl disliking it for are: - this is 100% a matter of personal taste. like it's understandable to be less engaged w/ parts of the story that aren't about your guys of choice, but it worked for me because i enjoy the rotating cast of perspectives. i like how it expands the world of worm more. it Is time spent away from taylor and friends, but it's finally providing context for one of the most built-up mysteries in the book, so, like. i do not mind taking a brief taylor break to read what's basically a really good wormverse horror story. we already have like 1.6 million words of taylor so i think if you're going in with the awareness that you're going to just take a little one-arc break from her and then get back to her & try to be open-minded about it you might find it not such a big deal

- i can understand why it induces "AUGH come on i wanted to find out what happens next" syndrome but i'm a "that's ok we get there when we get there :)" person about books so again i personally did not mind. the pacing just works 4 me. like you get the mystery of wondering what's wrong with noelle -> the dread of having it revealed via arc 17 that she's a simurgh plot and subsequently this was always fated to happen and end horribly -> being thrown back into the Noelle Incident afterwards with full awareness that because it's a simurgh plot horrible things are going to happen. which is good! it provides context at the perfect moment to maximize the impact of revealing how tragic and awful the situation is.

- i do agree that the travelers aren't as well-developed as they could be, oliver & cody particularly, but it wasn't an issue for me during the arc. i think they all have the amount of characterization necessary to make it feel appropriately tense. even if they aren't the most distinct characters in the book, they do their jobs Well Enough. i actually really liked some of the genesis/trickster interactions in particular, and i think the most important character (trickster) ends up really well characterized in a fascinatingly detailed way. it overall captures the gist of what we need to know to be compelled by the travelers just fine.

- no none of them are especially likable but this one is like. fully just a personal taste thing. i don't care if characters in a book are likable people, i care if the narrative & themes are well-written and compelling. which they are! also the fact that krouse fucking sucks and the character dynamics are all unpleasant and uncomfortable is genuinely a pro of the arc 4 me. them fucking sucking and causing problems is part of their charm, and also literally integral to why their character concepts are interesting. "found family that never should have been a family" is by default going to involve some level of suckiness. also, like, taylor isn't likable. she's manipulative and violent and uncommunicative and would generally be awful to hang out with. all of which is part of her charm. if you can like taylor for the interesting ways in which she sucks (affectionate) then surely you can like the travelers for the interesting ways in which they suck (affectionate). but even if you don't their Story is still worth breaking down and paying attention to. because it's good.

best case scenario for reading it is you think it's excellent (which it is) worst case scenario you just find it kind of boring. which isn't a big deal, there are plenty of worm arcs that people find meh. if you've gotten thru the rest of worm you can get thru arc 17 too, it's ultimately just another worm arc at the end of the day. one i would highly recommend, but ultimately just another worm arc. no reason not to give it a try, because all that will happen is you'll either go "that was good" or "didn't love that" and then carry on with the rest of the book.

#ask #scarf don't look #worm spoilers #hope that helps

18 notes · View notes

protags-fic-blog · 1 year

Note

Not exactly a request (if you want to take this) but out of the games you usually write for, which boys do you think would do well or prefer a partner who’s more introverted or shy?

Want to send in a request? They're always open! For more, check out my masterlist

anon when i say i went crazy omg. I don’t write for a lot yet (DiaLovers says soon but I haven’t had the chance to even finish my first route), but I figured I’d do everything i've written for so far since it’s not fandom specific! and, I *might* make something based on this later because this fits in to my brainrot so well (introvert club). this post got pretty long (4 fandoms..... eek!) so it's hiding below the cut. the fandom headers are highlighted for easier navigation. thanks so much for the 'request'. and of course, i do want to take this <3

Amnesia: Memories

I think most would do well with an introverted partner, but their type of introversion would vary. Shin and Kent could also work well with an extroverted partner, and I don’t feel like they’d really care about intro/extroversion. Toma definitely likes a shy partner—it’s the possessiveness in him. He likes feeling like he’s the only person that gets to know you. Ikki works well with introversion, and tbh is probably a secret introvert. Public outings are just a bit risky given his eyes, so a partner that doesn’t mind staying in would be great. Ukyo’s best introverted partner would be one that is content with keeping to themselves, but isn’t so shy that they won’t talk to other people.

Brothers Conflict (god I fucking love this franchise the brainrot is real)

At first glance, the Brilliant Blue boys would be the ones that work best with an introvert. But there’s more! Since there are so many, I’ll do one sentence each. (I am lying)

Masaomi definitely works great with an introvert. He’s always exhausted after work and spending time with loved ones is his way to relax. Ukyo is similar, though ‘time with loved ones’ means time with his partner. Kaname could go either way, but I don’t think he’d care. Hikaru would be fine but if you cling to him he’d get annoyed. Would introduce you to someone and leave you stranded because he has other people to greet.

Tsubaki would think it is the cutest thing, no doubt about it. He’s already very clingy anyway. Azusa wouldn’t mind, but would want you to get out of your shell. Natsume could go either way, but he’s more introverted. Louis would enjoy amicable silence. Subaru would definitely feel a little awkward with someone shy, because he’s shy too. I think he needs an extrovert to kind of lead the way. Iori is cool with introverts. He also thinks shyness is cute, but it could lead to awkward situations. Yuusuke could work with a shy partner, but it’s really an ‘it depends’ type of thing. Do they dislike people? Or is it just a preference of who they hang out with? All depends. For Fuuto, it’s either great or horrible. If it’s a public affair, you better hope you’re good at parties and meeting people. But if it’s something more private, he’d probably get really jealous if he saw you talking with other guys, so being shy would have its benefits.

Ouran Host Club

Kyoya prefers introverts. Same with Kaoru. They’re already introverted, but they hate when people put pressure on them to be social, and other introverts are less likely to do that. Hikaru also likes people who keep to themselves and are fine on their own. Now, maybe this is a hot take, but I think Honey would also really like an introverted partner. Already, he hangs around Mori a lot. But I think he would work best with someone who really opens up around him.

Variable Barricade

While all of them probably could work well with introverts, I can only see Shion as the one really preferring an introvert over anything else. He’s a very quiet, keep to yourself, sit in the same room doing different things type of guy. He would hate if you ever got shy around him, and would still want you to talk to other people, but if you needed him for emotional support he’d be there for sure. Very much a token husband but that was his dream.

#amnesia memories #brothers conflict #protag-writes #ouran high school host club #variable barricade #headcanons #add to masterlist

10 notes · View notes

mejomonster · 6 months

Text

I finished final fantasy vii rebirth and. Some mixed opinions.

The main good points: as a Sequel to original FF7? Its good. The women are all written well (which was a concern considering Kairi and Lunafreya in past games), and everyone was in character just fleshed out more (with 2 slight exceptions). What the game did best was accomplish an open world game, world spanning adventure, stick fairly well to some main highlights from original ff7 (which is what people wanted for ages) and with new stuff thats fun if you like the world, very little wasting of player time (so much better than ff7 remake). It did open world well, pacing well, side quests and mini games well, characters well, combat well, and overall gave the feel of what square enix was maybe Hoping and Wishing to successfully accomplish in a mainline game for years but either hasnt been able to achieve on a technical level or fumbled in the past. (So no time wasting dungeons like ff7 remake, fleshed out open world with stuff you enjoy doing so more than ff15, open world so more than ff13, and combat that feels like things theyve learned and improved on well). How it feels to play? Great, fast paced, no dead time, all enjoyable game you came to play. (With the exception maybe of Cait Siths box mandatory mini game and the aerith in ancient temple magic platforms thing but they both werent too difficult to push through if you dont enjoy them).

The bad? Mostly... if you treat Rebirth as a SEQUEL to original ff7, these arent major issues. They just annoy me as a player of the original ff7 game. Because i know plenty of people will ONLY play ff7 Remake and Rebirth etc, and never know the original characterizations. So 2 characters were slightly unlike their original ff7 selves, and instead more like their Advent Children (and general non ff7 appearances) selves: aerith and sephiroth. Sephiroth's character being NOT like ff7 originals is more irritating personally. Because yeah... i get it. As a sequel to original ff7, this Remake/Rebirth Sephiroth might be from the future (so he is Advent Children esque version of himself), hes had time post losing his way to really get all mysterious and hyperfocus on cloud and be a looming vague pest. But the thing is... in the original ff7 the reason we learn hes used to be a SOLDIER war hero, is so the cast and you are confused why he kills Shinra people. Then you and the casy figure: well cloud remembers sephiroth finding out hes a monster cause of shinra, justifiable for sephiroth to hate shinra. Unflrtunately Sephiroth also decided to hate ALL HUMANS. Then you later find out maybe Jenovas controlling Sephiroth/one with him etc. But the key here is you find out at some point in original ff7 that sephiroths goal is mainly Destroy World because Hes not Human. Rebirth... does not clarify this very important and very BASIC point ever. Maybe it assumes its so basic that as a ff7 fan you should know.. but plenty of new players wont. Rebirth clarifies yes sephiroth may be Jenovas kid... but the whole MOM, im an ancient like Jenova! Oh Jenova isnt an ancient oh well fuck humans anyway! Either way fuck humans ill kill them all! None of those Very basic sephiroth motives are clarified much. I felt Rebirth did good explaining the Gi and the black materia. But to make Sephiroths motives so vague, why he wants to end the world SO VAGUE, why hes in clouds head (the black robes are everywhere but the game HINTS theure sephiroth clones but never actually spells it out eevn though its a BASIC KEY DETAIL). Now... because Rebirth is a sequel, it makes sense... if hes Advent Children Sephiroth he already knows he isnt an ancient, knows hes Jenovas kid, knows he wants to fuck with Cloud specifically now and the world generally but not necessarily so singlemindedly desperate to just kill all humans. So yes, Sephiroth is in character for his future self... but i feel like even with him less SINGLE MINDED and freshly with Jenova, clarifying some basics of his Original old timeline motives... would be helpful to new fans. So it annoyed me. I think the biggest Not Good writing decision in Rebirth was to never fucking clarify Sephiroths original basic goal: im not human like mom, hate humans, kill world. I suspect the writers either thought players KNEW so hinted instead of being on the nose (but to new players theyll just be CONFUSED), or they plan to explain those basic things in game 3. Which seems stupid to me and shouldve been explained earlier.

And Aerith. As a sequel? She remembered the other timeline which explained some moments she was calmer than original ff7. She forgot, then toward the end of Rebirth she seems to have remembered the other timeline again and that she needs to die and X happens etc. So her being calmer based on the plot they wrote for Rebirth? Makes sense. However... i deeply miss her Original FF7 personality where as an Ancient she freaks out a bit LIKE sephiroth, paralleling him, that shes not human, a freak, that it all rests on her as only one ancient left. Their overwhelm parallels each other. Aerith is more scared in original ff7 of being the only ancient, of what it means, of finding out more. That fear is slightly there in Rebirth but WAY LESS. its only a little in cosmo canyon and almost gone in the Ancient Temple. In ff7 expanded universe theyve changed her character over time to a calmer wiser goddess type like in Advent Children, and so yes in Rebirth when she remembers the alrernate timeline it makes sense she'd be calmer like her future self. However... i miss original ff7 aerith. I miss her initial shock, loneliness, fear of the weight on her shoulders, not being sure what to do. Her and Sephiroth, because of Rebirth writing them to know more, act more like their future selves and so. While it is in character and logical to the Rebirth plot. Its also sad to me that anyone who only plays Remake and Rebirth simply wont see what they were like WHEN these revelations were brand new shocks to them, forcing them to react and grow and fear. I dont think Aerith is written bad, i just think because this game is in reality is a Sequel im just personally mourning that it didnt have that as much of the original Aerith's personality who was afraid and discovering. Mostly her Rebirth personality is similar to original ff7s. But in some high tension moments shes way calmer and wiser than in the original. I miss getting to see some of that before to after character growth.

Oh and. The aerith dies scene. Does it make sense in context of Rebirth written as a sequel? Sure. Is it impactful? Not as much as the original. In Rebirth, theres a scene where Cloud is losing control and listening to Sephiroth and attacks Tifa, causing Tifa to fall into mako. That scene is high stakes and emotional and lands WELL. Later in Rebirth, when Aerith actually dies, Cloud has not lost control and isnt the one who killed her. Its fine, as a sequel to ff7 i get the choice to make him able to stop himself from hurting her. But it does make the scene less impactful: now cloud will NOT be blaming himself for her death, will not be struggling with the guilt and fear, and will not be as terrified of losing control again. Since he wasnt the one who attacked her. And since he saw her ghost/something post death, hes not even sad or grieving her. He thinks shes fine. These 2 things will result in a WILDLY DIFFERENT cloud moving forward than the original ff7 one who very much was distraught and horrified he did that. So like... as a sequel its fine these changes were made. But death wise... i wouldve prefered like, cloud drops her from up high qhile struggling with whispers, or doesnt get to her in time and sephiroth stabs her when shes too far away. The way Rebirth did it, cloud was near her, she gets stabbed anyway. It seemed to me almost like the writing was trying to vaguely or softly kill her, like somehow making it vague would make it hurt less. Yeah it did hurt less... but id rather if a character i love dies that its a Worthy Scene for them to die in. A strong meaningful scene that makes me cry, that felt like the loss it is. The Rebirth scene... couldve done its plot as intended and just make Cloud farther away or something and it wouldve been better to me. Maybe the writing point was Cloud thinks its fine, and its still not, and he cant even feel distaught because he cant tell if she died or if things are fine? Thats the only angle i can see where maybe the death scene did what the writers wanted? Anyway. Aeriths moms death made me sob, Aeriths death did not. It is what it is. I feel like Tifa, crying in my heart off screen, the game acting like Cloud like its fine and it looks fine to him but im confused like Tifa aa to why hes (the game) treating it that way. Lol.

Overall? Um 4/5. 8/10? Really solid square enix game, Amazing as far as final fantasy 7 SEQUELS go. It has one main weak spot in treating Sephiroth fully mysterious when a few clarifying details could help the game stand on its own Better (and make Sephiroth a stronger enemy character instead of a vaguer one). The other weak spots are more my personal preference and mourning the parts of ff7 original i miss and had wished were in this, but as this is a Sequel in a parallel timeline i dont feel the parts effect Rebirth on its own merit. It IS the best Square Enix game ive played in ages, at least since Final Fantasy X or XII. I thought it was better than FF13, FF15, definitely better than ff7 remake (i hate time wasting dungeons and bad pacing its a dealbreaker), and than kh3 (although kh3 was quite good for a kh sequel). I get to play FF16 next, which will hopefully be as good as Rebirth or better! Since its also on the PS5 and clearly from Rebirth, the square enix main team can do excellent combat, open world, level design, mini games, side quests, and good pacing now. So i'll just have to see if ff16's story is better. And i am guessing it hopefully will be, since Rebirth as an ff7 sequel has some weirdness to its plot quite typical of ff7 extended universe stories like Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. Whereas ff16 is a brand new plot, so they have nothing preventing them from a tight excellent written story except themselves. I am curious how BIG ff16s world will be though. Because ff7 Rebirths world was MASSIVE and very full of stuff, tons of mini games, cool stuff to find or do or little character side quests. If ff16 also takes me 60 hours to beat the main story its gonna be thw longest final fantasy main title ive ever played.

Rebirth is very replayable if you enjoyed it. I will probably replay ff7 original soon.

#final fantasy vii rebirth #ff7r #lb #rant #oh and shipping discourse lol: if you ship tifa x aerith? GREAT TIME #tifa mourns aerith more than cloud does. tifa aerith ARE IN LOVE. great time for me as an aerti fan and ot4 fan #i do think in theory the writers had aerith x cloud scenes more in Rebirth since aerith dies at the end. and predict game 3 will have #more tifa x cloud scenes. so itll be even by the end. i think everything was in character tho tbh #(in my opinion anyway)#like. aerith x tifa x cloud x zack i ship and they clearly all CARE for each other. zack loves aerith but also saved cloud #when aerith likes cloud. zack is big enough to be happy for aerith and want her to have what SHE wants.#cloud loved zack and was so fucked emotionally when zack died he convinced himself he WAS zack. tifas his childhood crush. aerith likes him #and he gradually does like her back too. (clouds very not interested in crushes tho tbh. hed happilt be in ot3 with #tifa and aerith or ot4 with zack or ot3 with barret too if they just told him to be)#and tifa loves cloud but wisely isnt sure how he feels OR whats going on mentally with him. and is focusing on building trust #that cloud will communicate with her BEFORE getting romantic (shes wise we should all copy her). and she loves aerith. which is goof #cause cloud isnt giving aerith some care she Needs. but Tifa always does give aerith that support.#tifa knows aerith likes cloud. so tifa simply is likinv her 2 crushes (happy to be in an ot3 if aerith and cloud would start it)#but tifas shy and slow going ans values friends MORE so shes not making any major moves until she knows the other 2 aerith and cloud #are emotionally stable (and theyre lol not)#and now shes grieving aerith so :/. my point is: all the romance is written very in character #very similar to original ff7. and if ur a tifa AND aerith as characters fan like me?#its really NICE to have 2 main woman leads in a game (with romance even) who are full characters ON THEIR OWN #and really well written and with relationships outside of cloud. (again... after lunafreya and kairi #i was worried tifa or aerith as love interests might get written BAD or flat or destroyed writing wise #by some shitty square enix writer *cough* who tends to butcher woman characters if theyre love interests)#so im super glad i could just enjoy tifa and aerith #also as a Non romance lover. i enjoyed that Rebirth focused HEAVY on friends but had very little actual romance #flirting yeah sure. but aerith and tifa never even kissed cloud in my playthrough (yay for me)#their crushes are just side details they mention to be direct and communicate (wise of them) but the romance isnt the main point

2 notes · View notes