#but i hope the general gist can be conveyed

[vastnbeyond]

to me, all my muses here are princes, just that some sometimes they forget it -coughs- gilly -coughs- romano -coughs- f.eliciano -coughs-

[sillyandquiteawkward]

Do you have any tips/advice for someone doing comics? Like, shorter ones, not necessarily longer form stuff? How to plan a lil scene, set up panels, etc? Anyway, I like your comics a lot, your art is really cool and I hope you have a nice day <3

i feel like i do what you arent supposed to do, but i write a lot of my short comics from the seat of my pants. i have a general idea of what i what to accomplish, sometimes i have some dialogue and stage direction written in my notes app, and i just. draw a rectangle and start going. that tends to be why a lot of my mspaint comics tend to be talking head type deals, haha. ill try to give some proper advice, but im also just a hobbist whos taken a some classes about communication through design and comics years ago.

most comics do well if you establish a scene with a larger set piece, then you can narrow down to characters or actions. show us where we are in space, and the audience can take that knowledge and move along the other panels with a stronger suspension of disbelief. (bc comics are all about giving toys to your reader and hoping they play with you) heres the first page of my anya n swansea comic illustrating this. big location panel, then narrowing down to character moments.

you notice as i focus more on dialogue, that my scenery gets left out. this is bc theres only so much space in a panel, so i need to choose what gets shown. of course this depends on what medium you work with, but the gist is the same amongst all types. dont give your reader TOO much to play with or they might get confused, or will start skimming. not what we want!

for shorter comics, id suggest something eye catching right at the beginning to catch readers attention. if you have multiple "pages" or breaks in the comic, make sure the last panel before the next page is enticing. be it a punchline or cliff hanger, something to keep the reader interested. jingle those keys. in general most short comics need to end on a punchline or satisfaction or deep thought. something for the reader to chew on after their done reading, or to inspire rereading. makes for a satisfying read!

but it also depends on how you want to structure a comic page. this comic of anya and curly i did is very different than the previous one i showed, and i think its one of my fav recent comics. it starts with a weird piece of dialogue that makes you ask "what does that mean" which gets answered by the next panels. theres visual and spoken repetition, theres very little said, and its short and sweet. very easy to read and reread, so its easy to take in, and its easy for the reader to sit with it longer and ponder it more. and be able to draw their own conclusions. play touys with meeee

i think when it comes to planning scenes, it depends on what you want the reader to get out of it. when i was planning this comic page, i really wanted to mention that curlys tear ducts probably dont work, and anyas been wearing the same contact lenses for months! i wanted to showcase their similarities and how they mirror each other narratively and i had the idea to use the onomatopoeia of drip to stand in for the drip of saline. but i didnt have any solid ideas past that. but i do like showcasing mundane sort of events, so i thought maybe just a simple exchange of using saline to wet curlys eye, and then her eyes. initially the idea to literally copy and paste the action of applying the saline was out of ease so i didnt have to draw it again, but i found that it worked for the narrative, so i leaned into that. i flipped anya around to better convey them as on either side of the mirror, and had anya repeat her dialogue.

something else to debate about in layout, is making sure the comic isnt too unbalanced (unless thats a theme/motif youre wanting to work with) in this comic page, anya always remains on the left side, except the first panel where she is on the right. i Could have swapped her and her dialogue in the first panel, so she stays on the left and better mirrors curly in panel 3, but if i did that, the comic would be very left heavy. anyas hair and her clothes are a heavy, dark color, it takes up a lot of visual attention. i thought the comic would look more pleasant for anya to be on the right in the first panel to balance it out, as i didnt find much narrative use for her to be on the left side always. the reader would still read the comic left to right and follow the typical reading pattern regardless. to make up for this, in panel 3, curly mirrors the angle she's at in panel 1, its not an exact mirror, but its enough that i was satisfied with it.

in other comics, it might be easier to play with how the eye would move across the page. regardless, its something important to keep in mind. you have to assume how the reader will read your comic, and if youre going to be breaking the rules, you need to put in lots of safeguards to make sure the reader can understand what youre doing. too much dialogue in confusing places? work with the speech bubbles to create hierarchy and flow so the reader knows how to read everything in order. number one rule of design we were taught was people are stupid, so you have to play at their level, or baby proof your level DX designers and artists know all the rules, but readers dont have a grasp on the rules themselves, just the vibes of the rules.

the most important thing with comics is legibility. if the reader cant understand or follow the comic, it might as well be like them not reading it at all. and the worst thing that could happen is they think what youre doing is pointless. so you have to juggle what you want to accomplish, what the reader can understand, what the medium limits you to, and what rules you think you can get away with breaking.

hope this is some sort of satisfying answer! i feel like im always hit or miss with advice XD;;

[fishiestickie]

ENOUGH DRAWING PEOPLE'S OCS. /SILLY WHERE ARE *YOUR* OCS I AM WILLING TO DRAW THEM >:D

OH! OH OH OH OKAY OKAY HERES SOME OF MY OCS

FLATLAND OCS YAYYY!:

so the first one is Marley, or M. Cube if you wanna call her that. The second one is Lyn, or L. Line.

I have yet to talk about these guys all that much, but the whole gist of their story is that Marley talks to Lyn about the third dimension.

To go more in depth: Their story takes place way in the past, long before the events of canon Flatland. Lyn is just your average line, though people don't really seem to look at her as "average" because she doesn't know how to talk to people, and also she's an absolute bitch. Yeahhh Lyn kind of just... doesn't like anyone in general... She's also a girlkisser btw lol, so's Marley.

But anyway, while Lyn is just living her life minding her business, Marley pretty much shows up out of nowhere to teach Lyn about the the wonderful fantastic world of Spaceland, yayyy. Naturally, Lyn is kind of skeptical and is her usual bitchy-self, but since she's always kind of questioned if everything she was ever told was right, Marley is able to get her to believe that there is in fact a third dimension relatively easily. She never directly shows Lyn the third dimension, though, mostly because she doesn't have the technology to do so (because if she tried to lift Lyn out of Flatland with her bare hands, she would die lol.) But with enough explaining and convincing, Lyn is taught about the third dimension, which is great for her.

So anyway, after that, Marley just leaves immediately which, naturally, Lyn is pretty devastated about (imagine if you were visited by a higher being and told about some awesome other world and then it just leaves.) She tries to keep this knowledge to herself for a few days, because she's already bad enough at conveying any info at all, but after a while she can't take it anymore and finally tries to tell someone. Which eventually leads to her being hunted down and executed, pretty much.

Oh, but thats not the end of the story!

This is 16-cell, A.K.A E. Hexadecachoron or Edgar. A being from the fourth dimension, or as I like to sometimes call it, Angleland.

So anyway, after a while, Marley goes to check on Lyn only to find that she's, y'know, fucking dead. So this is genuinely heartbreaking for Marley, because she had gotten attached to Lyn, then found out she's dead? Yeah. Sad. But before Marley can be all depressed about it, she's visited by 16-cell, the 4D guy. 16-cell tells Marley that he's here to teach her about the fourth dimension, much like Marley had come to teach Lyn about the third. Only this time, he actually shows her the fourth dimension. So after a while, while Marley is in Angleland, 16-cell tells her that he knows about Lyn, and says that Marley could see her again (because the fourth dimension is kind of time, kind of a spacial dimension, its sorta complicated...) to which, obviously, Marley agrees to do. So they travel through time, back to when Lyn was still alive, and 16-cell actually shows her the third—and fourth!—dimension. But anyway, Lyn and Marley reunite, yuri, the end. (For now, until I add more details to their story... thats just what I have right now...)

Sorry, just wanted to rant about them! I love my silly shape gals... Also maybe if you know their story you'll be able to make more silly drawings, so. That's sorta what I was going for.

Hope that all made sense btw.

I HAVE OTHER OCS TOO! but uh... I don't really have their stories fleshed out, nor have i named them, so right now I kind of just have a bunch of spare shape guys lying around. So yeah.

ILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR ART OF MY SILLIES

[khywren]

For your get to know your fic writer questions!! ❤️❤️❤️🫶🏼 (Again, sorry for so many!)

13, 14, 18, 32, 33, 54, 56, 58, 65, & 77!

don't apologize, my friend! i'm always more than happy to answer these! ❤️❤️❤️ (questions are from this post.) 13: what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

so the thing about this one… i don't actually know if i follow any "common" writing tips (or any at all, really); i just kinda do what feels natural to me and hope it all works out. i am absolutely not gonna tell anyone to do that because it's a recipe for chaos, but! i can give you tips that have become habits for me instead. so one thing that has helped me immensely when writing either a chapter or a one-shot is that i almost always start with the dialogue. it gives me a good structure for where everything is going and almost always serves as my outline. like, i have a general idea in mind for what i want to accomplish, but getting the dialogue down is kind of like coalescing some of those ideas into something tangible. so my entire WIP at that point will just be lines of dialogue in sequential order. then i write everything else around the dialogue. i know that's kind of a cracked way to do it and won't work for everyone, but i think the general takeaway is that you shouldn't be afraid to start a piece literally anywhere; you don't have to start with the opening sentence and end with the last sentence.

14: how do you write emotional scenes? do you ever feel what the characters feel? do you draw from personal experiences?

if i'm writing a scene that's similar to anything i've experienced in my personal life, i always draw from personal experiences as i feel like that makes the emotion more authentic. i do try to feel what the characters are feeling regardless of that; if i can get a sense for that, it makes finding the words to describe those emotions accurately. when i write those scenes i like to think about what each character is feeling, why they would be feeling like that, and what it is about their personality/backstory that would make them feel that way.

18: do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

titles are the bane of my existence. i hate them. i almost always title my fics after i'm done writing. many times i'll look to song lyrics because i find them helpful, but they can also convey the tone/general gist of the fic better than i can most of the time. i wish i was better at this, but alas. 😭

32: name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

ONLY three? 😭 i can and will gush about every single one of my moots all day long, so to make this easier on myself i'll pick three people based on my favorite thing(s) about their writing, kinda like separating them into genres or categories i guess? each of these people are incredible and amazing and i am very fortunate to have met them. go show them some love if you haven't read their work!

if you're looking for comedy, banter, and hijinks, look no further than @nerdallwritey. her series beauty and the bard is currently five parts long and has something for everyone! there's fluff, there's smut, and there's so much fun! her fics never fail to put a smile on my face and seeing a new fic in my inbox is like christmas morning to me. i adore the way she writes astarion, but everyone else always feels so genuine and perfectly in character as well. i've reread all her works several times and i cannot recommend them highly enough!

one of my favorite tavs belongs to @verbenaa; her longfic to eden is easily one of my favorites and one of the major sources of inspiration that got me to finish developing and writing for my own tav. if you're looking for incredible smut and a sassy, loveable tav, here you go! her prose are fantastic and the relationship she has between rin and astarion is such a treat to read. they play off one another so well! the last chapter really put me through the ringer in the best way and i cant' wait to see what else she has in store for us. she's also written some other one-shots and every single one of those i've read has been stunning!

one of my favorite all-rounder authors is @shewhowas39. her longfic juniper and starlight is a wonderful version of the game featuring her tav, June (who is an absolute delight and i love her very much). if you're looking for a wonderfully written durge fic you can really sink your teeth into, you've found it! there is always so much love and care and emotion in everything she writes, and it makes her work a true joy to read.

33: do you want to be published some day?

i think it would be fun! it's never something I've ever thought about actually doing, but i think having an actual book out there in the wild that i wrote would be really cool. who knows, maybe i'll have an idea for something some day.

54: what’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

hmm… this is tricky. for me, i really enjoy just getting an idea i'm excited about on the page and being able to share it with other people. i always feel accomplished when i finish a piece because it's very satisfying to create something from nothing; even if no one reads it, it's still exercising my creativity and engaging in a hobby i enjoy.

56: what’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

i'm not sure what parts of my writing are better than others, since i can only perceive it from my personal, limited perspective. however, as someone who came straight from academia and had never written fic until my first one-shot last august, trying to find my voice and seeing myself make genuine progress with that over the past year has been very rewarding! there are a few of my pieces that i really don't think hold up very well anymore, but knowing that i've improved since then is a good feeling. i always want to get better and hope i can keep doing that in the future!

58: what part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc.)

definitely the brainstorming. i love daydreaming and thinking about all the possible ideas i could have for chapters or one-shots. i love thinking about stupid little jokes i could add in, or emotional scenes that make me kick my feet like a teenage girl or do 50 psychic damage straight to my brain. plus, there's far less stress involved in that process, since i don't have to actually commit anything to paper at that point.

65: tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.

i'm looking forward to getting over my current writer's block and finishing my kinktober prompts still! i'm very happy with 7/8 of the ones i've published so far, and even if the other 4 i was working on don't currently meet my standards, i'm confident i can come back and fix them up once i relax a bit and stop putting so much pressure on myself. i was having a ton of fun putting them together and i'm glad i participated this year.

77: do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter?

since you didn't specify a fic, i'll just write about something from my longfic, adrift~ i'm quite partial to the lake scene i wrote for chapter 6, when ysera finally gives in and opens herself up to astarion. on the one hand, it's a sweet moment of vulnerability for her, but also tragic in the sense that it's the moment she started to fall for astarion who is at this point very much still fully intent on using her for his own means. there's just a lot going on there for both of them and i enjoyed torturing myself while putting it al together.

[lady-harrowhark]

Would you mind. Explaining what the heck the locked tomb (is this the name?) is about. You post a lot of it and I know ✨ nothing ✨ but it sounds kinda interesting??? Into dumping is ok if you feel like lol

I would LOVE to explain what The Locked Tomb is and you DID get the name right and it IS interesting!

So, it's a book series written by Tamsyn Muir and three of the anticipated four books have been released so far. I say "anticipated four books" because it was originally a trilogy but then the last book was split up. I don't think any of us would mind if that happened again and it turned into a five book series. But I digress.

These books are notoriously hard to describe because they sort of encompass or transcend genres. It's a sci-fi fantasty horror murder mystery romcom situation. Plus, there's a LOT going on - I've often described them as an "intellectual escape room." There's so much happening that you don't realize is happening until it all comes together. Going back to the beginning after you've finished them is an entirely different experience than your first read because you can see how it was all laid out from the start - sometimes even in plain sight - and things take on completely different meanings. Also, each book is very different from the others. I adore all of these qualities.

So here's the gist of the premise for the first book:

Gideon Nav, orphan of mysterious origins, has been raised on the Ninth House as an indentured servant and trained as a swordswoman. The Ninth House has become isolated from the rest of the empire and its very existence is threatened by the dwindling population and lack of resources. Gideon is one of only two survivors of her generation, the other children having succumbed to a lethal illness when she was an infant. The other survivor is Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the Reverend Daughter of the Ninth, and the two have been at each other's throats their entire lives. Harrow's parents' deaths have been hidden from the rest of the Ninth (save for Gideon and a few of the Reverend Family's attendants) and Harrow has been secretly ruling in their stead for the past seven years, doing her best to keep the Ninth from falling into ruin. Harrow is a prodigious necromancer, specializing in working with bones. The Ninth receives a message from the Emperor requesting that each House send their heir and cavalier primary (a.k.a swordsman/bodyguard) to his home at the First House, where they are to attempt to piece together the process to becoming a Lyctor, one of his immortal Saints. Unfortunately, Harrow's cavalier has skipped town. Gideon begrudgingly accepts a deal meaning that she will pose as Harrow's cavalier in exchange for freedom from servitude. Upon arriving at the First House, the two meet the other Houses' heirs and their cavaliers and are informed that they will have to figure out the secret to Lyctorhood on their own, and that there will absolutely no communication with the outside empire. It's not long before someone turns up dead... and then another...

What immediately hooked me on the first book was the voice and tone; Gideon is a delightfully snarky narrator. Despite the humor, these books do not pull any punches with regard to emotional depth. Love and grief are at the center of everything these books do, circled by sacrifice and duty and gender and colonialism and religion.

This review is actually one of my favorite things to send to people to pitch them the books. It does a fantastic job of conveying both the premise and the tone of Gideon the Ninth. I also wrote a "pitch your fandom" piece that @wilfriede recorded and recently released. You can find both the audio and the transcript at this link.

I hope that gives you a sense of the series, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to ramble about the series that permanently altered my brain chemistry! If you ever get around to reading them, I would love to hear your thoughts :)

[dollofdeath]

[ENG Translation] Uryu's Character Episodes featuring Soun

originally i wasn't planning on translating these (or anything in general lol), but i've been undergoing such brainrot for these two especially since learning what happens in the main story that i had to do Something WHJGDJGH

just as a note, i use the default name (noa) for the agent. i do lean towards a localization style with my translations, but i'm also far from fluent in jpn so please feel free to correct me if you see any mistakes! thank you! the translations are compiled together under the cut, hope y'all enjoy 🫶

Character Episode: Favorite Place

Uryu: (I could have handled today’s business negotiations better… How frustrating….

???: Let’s wait here.

Uryu: (Over there on that bench is…)

Uryu: Soun-san…?

Soun: You’re Takato’s…

Drunk Woman: Hmmm, I can go for more drinks~ Soun, gimme another glass of wine…

Uryu: The woman leaning on you seems to be drunk…

Uryu: Is she a customer from Wisdom?

Soun: …She is, yes. I’ve called a cab for her, so now we’re just waiting.

Uryu: I see… That’s… a lot to deal with for your job, isn’t it?¹

Soun: It may be, but the work is worth it.

Uryu: Oh?

Soun: What about you? What are you doing here?

Uryu: I… wanted to enjoy the night breeze a bit, so I found myself out here.

Soun: Is that so?

Uryu: Yes.

Soun: …

Uryu: …

Uryu: (Maybe it’s because I don’t have anything in particular to say, but I can’t carry this conversation…)

Uryu: …Ah, it looks like the cab is here.

Soun: So it is.

Uryu: Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. If you’ll excuse me.

[Uryu leaves. The scene focuses on Soun.]

Soun: …

¹ he originally says その･･････大変ですね which is just like "that's... tough, isn't it" which i feel like is clunky as it is, so i tried to make it flow a little smoother and feel more in character for uryu

Character Episode: Matcha Hospitality

Noa: Excuse me! Sorry to drop by while you’re so busy before opening… I’ll just give these to you and go.

Soun: Wait there. It would be discourteous to you as guests if I didn’t serve you.

Noa: Oh, you made tea? Thank you very much.

Uryu: Is this… matcha?

Soun: It is, but I can get you something else if you’d like.

Uryu: No, it’s fine… Thank you.

Uryu: Ah…

Soun: Is something the matter?

Uryu: Not at all, this tea is excellent.

Noa: It’s very delicious, with a hint of sweetness.

Soun: Is that so?

Noa: Here are the documents on the virtual battle system that we discussed over the phone.

Soun: I’ll look them over.

Uryu: Our company has taken great care to collect the data in these documents.¹ Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Soun: Understood.

Uryu: Um, excuse me…

Soun: What is it?

Uryu: Usually, most places would serve their customers green tea.² Why serve us matcha?

Soun: Because I’ve been thinking about holding a Japanese-themed event at the lounge soon.

Noa: That sounds nice. So you and the others will be making tea?

Soun: We intend to, yes.

Noa: Wow, that’ll be a sight to see³. I’m sure the customers will be excited about it.

Uryu: (I might be overthinking, but… this matcha tea tastes just like my favorite.)

Uryu: (Could it be that Soun-san went out of his way to find out what blend I liked?)

Uryu: (I mean I’ve never talked to him before, so how would he know? No, it’s just a coincidence… Right…?)

¹ i did tweak this to sound a little fancier than a literal translation since uryu takes his job seriously, but the gist of it is the same

² the original line is お茶なら普通に煎茶で良かったはずです, which translates to something like "if it's tea, sencha (green tea) would have been fine" but i feel like that sounds clunky in english... i tried to convey something that had a similar meaning and flows better

³ the original line is へえ、絵になりそう which is literally something like "wow, that [sight] would be perfect for a picture" and y'all have no idea how much i wanted to translate that as "wow, Aesthetic" FJKSDJKFDS 😭

[akysi]

Hey Do you have any tips on making a logo because ive been looking to make logo for Ask blog and was wondering if you had any tips?

Hey, thanks for asking! :D I can be very wordy about stuff I’m passionate about so my apologies for the length of this answer ^^’ That said though, if you have any further questions feel free to reply or send another ask :) Here’s a few tips, I hope they help!

1. Choose a font (or draw one yourself) that fits what you want the logo to represent Similar to how specific choices are made to convey the intent in character design, font choice in a logo design can affect the overall “feel” of it, so try to pick ones that fit whatever you’re making the logo for. In other words, logos can have their own “character” too! Many character design principles, such as shape language and colour theory, can apply to logo design as well. If this is for a fandom/pre-existing media, try looking up those logos first if you want to match their look for your own. Also try studying logos you like in general to figure out how they're constructed, and use anything you like from them in your own design!

There are a ton of styles and combinations out there, but one of the biggest distinctions between fonts is serif versus sans serif.

Though not the case every time, serif fonts tend to look more old-fashioned/traditional, while sans serif usually appears more modern/digital.

While you can use any font for inspiration if you intend to draw your own, if you just want to type one out, then be sure to look up the usage permissions for it first. Not all are free for personal use and may be stolen even if they're listed as free online. If you’re unsure, search the font name and find the license or usage permissions directly from the creator/font foundry if you can!

2. How “fancy” you want your logo to be is up to you, but make sure it still works as a flat image as well This is less applicable if you’re only using the logo for one thing, but generally speaking you want your logo to be versatile enough to still be readable without all of the fancy gradients and drop shadows added. Those should be extra details, not the main component that's holding up the whole design, so to speak.

I recommend starting with the flat or black & white version and refine the design enough in that stage first before moving on the final clean/fancy version. Here's a comparison between the flat and full version of the logo for my comic project, Starglass Zodiac (original post here):

Even without all of the shiny stuff on top/underneath, the flat colour version still functions as intended. 3. Make sure the width/length/size of the logo works well for what it will be used for For example, if you want to use the logo on the banner for your ask blog, make sure it'll can be read well in that format. You can do this by either making the logo in a file that's the same dimensions as your banner, or testing the rough design for the logo on the banner first before committing to the final design.

Also make sure that the logo doesn't blend into whatever background you intend to put it on, especially if the logo itself doesn't have a background. Adding a black or white (or both) stroke around the logo can help it appear on more background colours.

4. Make sure the most important words are largest or are the focal point otherwise Similar to the last point, make sure that a viewer will get the gist of your logo even if they look at it quickly. This is most relevant for logos for things that have long titles or have a subtitle attached to a main name. If your logo will have multiple words, having a hierarchy of importance in size and/or colour can help the viewer see the most important part first.

--------

Now for some general additions/effects to consider for your logo!

Gradients - Your best friend, one of the easiest ways to make even the simplest logo look fancier than the flat version, if the overall style you're going for calls for it. These can allow you to have colour shifts over the whole design, or add highlights in parts of it to tie the whole thing together. You can also add edge highlights/shadows on top of these too.

Textures - Similar to gradients, textures can add a lot of flair to a design very quickly. Even gradients themselves can be textures already, like mimicking shiny metal or the like. They can also be used to represent something about what the logo is for, like adding a rocky texture for a logo involving mountain climbing or ancient ruins.

Strokes - These are outlines around your lettering that can help them be seen on multiple background colours, or to make specific letters pop out from the others. You can use multiple strokes on different areas of the same design as needed, but make sure they don't impede the legibility of the lettering itself! Many of the Kirby logos use several strokes at once, like this one below.

Backgrounds - Any colour/shape underneath the text to serve as a base for it. Similar to strokes, they can help the lettering read properly on multiple colours/shades. They can also provide additional information about what the logo is for or represents, like putting a sunset in the background of a logo that has "Sunset" in the name.

Drop Shadows and Outer/Inner Glows - These are often paired together, as they generally serve the same purpose; emphasizing the part of the design they're applied too. Drop shadows can help "lift" some parts of the design off the base, while glows can outline something instead, like a soft version of a stroke. It's very easy to overuse these though, so use them sparingly!

Bevels & Edging - Adding these to the lettering or other parts of the design can make them stand out more, especially if you add shading to it! One of my favourite examples of this is the main Spyro logo, both classic and modern :)

Blocking - Basically a way to make the letters or the whole logo look more 3D by adding "blocks" underneath it, which can also help add another colour to the logo's palette! Spyro's logo above uses shaded blocking.

There are a ton of other effects and ways to combine them, so feel free to experiment with a bunch of them! As one final example, here's a breakdown of the logo design I made for The Zodiac Experiment (Original post here) so you can see how these effects can work together on one piece!

Have fun designing! ^_^

[unproduciblesmackdown]

question re: for the joie de vivre, asked for the joie de vivre: were there any particular lines / details / etc that you put in with the intention of conveying "this is Nonbinary/Genderfluid Rian (Billions)", or was it more a case of "it's in the tags, knowing and perceiving is left as an exercise for the reader"

ooh yeah for the joie de vivre is for the joie de vivre so truly exactly in the spirit of things

most immediately to the point: more of the latter, where it's like yeah this interpretation has kind of always been there such that naturally it doesn't feel like anything would really be changed if hypothetically it was made to be addressed directly in the text. and then it's just like, yep, this is the framework / general perspective, and the tag is there as an exercise to know & perceive, or, of course, just be considering / ruminating on as much for enrichment & wellbeing

related to the "was already always perceiving rian as gendery" and also being gendery oneself it's like yeah it's not like there's people having these So Cis moments (and not in a closeted "oh yeah we're all so totally cis right. tfw" way) that'd need to be excised if using tags where anyone's nonbinary....then there's also the convenience of having a nonbinary pov character here also, And who's involved in everything going on, so there's plenty of room in that way for anyone else here to be nonbinary, or, say, "weird" with their Affect(tm) / comport / etc whatever. and there's no approach that like, for things to be Sexual is inherently also to heighten the supposed Gender Binaryness of everyone's bodies & behaviors, such as that [gender is a shell game, lift up the cup, there's nothing there] desirability / eroticism is described via how Unlike [thee Other gender] someone is innately being in this situation. fun to get into details without either worrying about maintaining some ultimate mystery Or preventing anyone from being like you're fingering which hole right now? not really important. there's classics like firmness softness pressure heat wetness to be found in various ways various places, and it can be appreciated & enjoyed for its physicality & stimulation without being a Test of how much someone has the supposed platonic ideal body for supposed platonic ideal sex....think taylor mentally refers to winston's Dick less than he does theirs in the other briefer fic i wrote, and after he refers to it as such first....let's check. yep! pov winston w/5 references specifically to their dick(tm) vs taylor pov 1 to his. with, naturally, some differences in what all's going on....also fun to do things like write winston blowing rian where w/this description it's like yeah it works no matter specifics of geometric configurations really. if someone's rubbing someone off then you get the gist of the essentials already, room to maneuver

with similar potential ambiguity, it's like, rian could already be out to these two in this fic, and if not, it'll happen at some other point, just chilling atm....less [whee yippee]ly, sprinkled the concept into the wip limbo in like Vignettes Of Malaise of basically winston in that misalignment where he's thinking of himself & rian as friends & hoping/trying for constructive developments on that front, versus, as in canon, rian thinking of herself as a person & winston as not a person (and even when trying to adopt that angle like aughh it's so difficult to do it like billions does it and have rian have such bizarre perspectives / lack of any consideration of pretty much any concepts) wherein it's like, winston might feel Affirmed to be confided in & have that apparently be a rewarding experience for rian, but then like, well if you think telling winston anything Vulnerable is actually instead a completely safe test run b/c again, not seeing him as a person you're sharing things with, just a possession you're doing things at/to....but in that scenario of course it's not About [textual nonbinarity win!] as thee crux of the idea. to write about her coming out or doing anything else where it's not miserable sure requires further deviation from / dismissal of canon ofc, and to write her already being out would require writing about something else going on also like ah shit compounding the difficulties lol

so yeah no like easter eggs in that way! but fr i did still have it in mind at all & engaging in some [text description of bodies / spatial movements / textures, with room to maneuver] is fun & enriching anyways and only pairs well w/nonbinarity. even when things are also "obvious" b/c they're also not meant to be Not, like well, no Gotcha surrounding that here. and no characters are particularly interested in Asserting Their Own &/Or Their Declaration Of Someone Else's Gender by way of this sex they're having somehow so it was like yeah not particularly like any room had to be made for [p.s. rian nonbinary] in that it was already gonna be there. not unlike winston's autistacity ofc, he's also not necessarily, specifically, explicitly Out about that, but doesn't need to be, may not know it himself, doesn't have to....as ever, the power that the [trans/autistic] similarities & parallels & overlaps & resonances etc etc can have here, but we have to spin off into an au about it

[gsmattingly]

Review "Once Within A Time"

I went to see "Once Within A Time" directed by Godfrey Reggio and Jon Kane. Most of the soundtrack is by Philip Glass. This film is only 52 minutes long. It is a strange movie. IMDb lists it as a comedy and fantasy and its short summary is "A comedic apocalyptic vision of the end of the world and the beginning of a new one, with unforgettable views and the innocence and hope of a new generation. " I enjoyed the film but I really had a hard time following part of the time. I could tell it dealt with something akin to Adam, Eve and the apple. I hadn't noticed that "The garden path Adam and Eve walk down is made up of iPhone cobble stones" I don't use an Apple iPhone and haven't actually looked at any. There are a lot of electronic references in the film. I was amused that Mike Tyson was in the film as "Mentor". A lot (most? all?) of the dialogue is unintelligible. You may be able to tell the general, um, gist of the message that is being conveyed, based upon the tone and gestures accompanying the dialogue. It actually has chapters which you can sort of tell but are actually spelled out at the end in the credits. Actually the credits give you a lot of information. In this instance, I wish the credits had preceded the film. Nevertheless I thought it was an interesting and entertaining movie that I probably should run multiple times in order to actually figure out what is going on. There is a lot about technology and I'm not sure whether it is noting the disadvantages or advantages of technology or is it a combination of both?

From a review in Variety, "There’s a lot to process, from mushroom clouds and dancing robots to flying saucers and a chimpanzee in a virtual-reality headset."

[scrawnytreedemon]

AUGH JUST SAW YOUR RESPONSE OKAY *throws a small boy at you* Vaati!!! (please god I hope nobody asked about him while I wasn’t looking-)

THERE WE GOOOO!! And not to fear! We alone are mouse-boy enthusiasts in this chili's tonight.

Right! For some context, I've only had direct experience with Minish Cap, and that was via an LP. I have a general gist of his motivations in Four Sword and Four Sword Adventures, but nothing more; as such, my characterisation will largely hinge on his depiction in Minish Cap.

Without further ado--! Let's begin.

First impression: Oh god, there's a fair bit? I had the idea that he was this gloating, menacing but lowkey bland villain by wider-fanbase standards who fit the mould of your standard arrogant-cunt sorceror-- Either that, or this bitch Gumpy™. There were also characterisations of him being this leery fuck who didn't know how to keep his hands off women-- I imagine largely thanks to his deeds in Four Swords.

Impression now: He feels like something right out of some early '00s kid DeviantArt page and I mean that in the most delightful sense. He's literally an albino mouse-fairy boy who was an apprentice to one of the most revered sages in his people's society, only to go, "NO!!! I do n o t t e wish to be Tiny Mouse anymore!!!" and then fucking stole the cap and fucked shit up. Vaati comes across as so juvenile here, and I'm genuinely surprised I don't see people outside of hardcore-Vaati stans lean into this? Because that's pretty fucking important, the fact that he's essentially a preteen that stole a bunch of power to... become God??? His motivations are disjointed, and while it's smart that he sat back and watched instead of leaping in like many others(cough, cough, Ghirahim) tried to do, but at the same time it lends itself to an utter lack of presence on his part, as he game's antagonist-- And I suppose this methodology makes sense, considering he is a kid. I say this about every Zelda villain, and I'll say it about him too: there's alot of untapped potential at play here, I think, were you to merely examine his character or toss him into a room with others and see how that character plays out. Vaati's fundamental immaturity makes a good contrast or even unveiling in regards to the motivations of his compatriots; maybe calling into question whether any of them know what the fuck they're doing. On a minor note, he's alot more jovial than I anticipated. It's obviously of the aloof-sneering variety, but I really didn't expect it; again, I'm surprised no-one thinks to convey this? It was a pleasant little discovery.

Favorite moment: The twist-appearance as Link and Zelda flee to the Elemental Sanctuary-- I knew it was going to happen, if they'd left it there a major thread in regards Vaati's ascension would have gone unresolved. Even still, the bossfight afterwards was underwhelming, from the looks of things, y'know, considering he's a demigod, but again I think that ties back to his complete lack of experience and self-discipline; and I'll be real, I was side-eyeing Ezlo the entire time with how willing he seemed to dismiss Vaati and place all the blame on him; nevermind that Vaati was his charge, and his behaviour speaks to Ezlo's methods more than anything else, but I'm getting off track.

Idea for a story: I'd say a moment of quiet reflection; maybe he's hauled himself up to his (stolen) room after a long day, and we get insight into his thought process and motivations. Maybe even some second guesses-- Only briefly, of course. Why stop, when he's this close to becoming a God? But it's lonely at the top; lonelier than one can ever imagine. But who is he to worry? At least he'll be lonely and powerful, and with that power he'll... he'll... He'll get to it, whent he time comes.

Unpopular opinion: Probably that I find more mature, surly depictions of him jarring? But I'm guessing that has more to do with his FS and FSA appearances-- Again, limited scope here. I don't think this one will be particularly controversial by Tumblr Zelda standards, but I really found it so jarring how Ezlo and the narrative as a whole seems so keen on avoiding why Vaati got here? All we're told is that he was fascinated by the darkness in the hearts of men, but like, why? And why did that metastasise into such destructive tendencies? Because alot of people do get curious of morbid topics, and in regards to psychology, that can blossom into an education in that field should that spark be nurtured-- I think it would have been incredibly beneficial to have had a Minish capable of looking into man's darker nature and seeking caution based on that-- After all, wasn't Ezlo's inability to anticipate that what lead to all this? The only time I can remember when Ezlo properly touches on the issue is at the very end when he apologises to Princess Zelda, saying that it was his fault any of this happened-- And he's right to! Especially considering what Zelda's been through. But any consideration as to Vaati and what brought him here is sweeped under the rug immediately. There's no desire to examine this; no want to dirty their hands with this filth. And like, is that not concerning? Regardless of the affection in it that becomes apparent toward the end, Ezlo reprimands and talks down to Link on serveral occasions; am I the only one wondering what part that played in all of this? How it could have worsened an already precarious mind like Vaati's? To be very clear, this isn't an absolution of Vaati's deeds-- I have no interest in doing that, as I don't think villains need to be absolved in order to gain consideration; rather, this is a frustration of how Zelda once again refuses to give that consideration to its villains, save for the fleetest of moments.

Favorite relationship: The thing about Vaati is that he's isolated, almost completely divorced from the cast in any meaningful interpersonal way; all bridges are either burned, or absent. And that's jarring, isn't it? I think any relationship could be a good one, and take his character in a number of interesting directions. Link? A foil, in regards to them both being under Ezlo's tutelage, and a potential for him to examine his own maturity; a question if he retains any innocence yet; maybe, even, if any of this is worth that. Ezlo? A confronation of the past he seems all to eager to throw away; all the bitterness and the contempt, all the hurt they both seem loathe to acknowledge. Zelda? Well, she's in stone for most of the game so I don't know how that'd work, but assuming this is an AU where she's merely interned instead of petrified, I think the examination would be similar in regards to Link's, but with the questioning amped up to 100 late-arc, that despite everything he's doing to set himself above others he's taken a shine to her, and now he's stuck wanting to pursue his goals but also... He admires her. He can't help it. He's loathe to admit it, but that firey sweetness she seems to hold for everyone and everything is enthralling; and they all return it, too-- Maybe, just maybe, he considers, even a little, that love may be more desirable over power-- Whether he pursues it, however, is to be seen.

Favorite headcanon: Oh!!! God, I can't remember who suggested it, but when I was scrolling through the tag, someone brought up the idea that Vaati's boss-morphs might be the closest we have to actually catching a glimpse at Hylia's true form-- And I can see it, now! The whole eye-thing actually makes alot more sense, if you consider it cognate to the Sheikah All-Seeing Eye. On the whole, it's a wonderful headcanon that adds so much to what initally seems to be the epitome of Zelda's eye-fixation, tying a villainous character to something adjacent to light, to holiness. If I might throw another idea in here, my own observation, I can't help wondering if this:

Is far more akin to this:

Than anything else.

It's certainly make Ezlo's horror at Vaati's new form more understandable, and also serve as a lovely tie-in that Fuckign Around With Dark Forces™ leaves you looking like a little goblin person.

But yeah! That's that :) Sorry I'm late, hopefully though this makes up for that.

DO let me know what you think, though! I'd be delighted to hear your own thoughts on the matter.

[redrosesartcabin]

Kenji x first perspective female reader:

Things happened

—————————————————

(Hey, how is it going peeps! This was requested by @xxno-0xx . I hope you all, and especially the requester, like it. Only one warning: It involves some swearing, so if you don’t like that don’t read. If the requester doesn’t like it, please tell me and I’ll edit the story! Also: The story plays somewhere either between season 2 and 3, or somewhere around season 3. Though not in a canonical episode)

It’s crazy how things sometimes happen.

A very vague description, I know, but it’s the only way I can convey how I feel.

Things happened that made me have the opportunity to go to Jurassic Worlds Camp Cretaceous.

We had won the league as the best female Baseball team, with the price being -besides the typical golden trophy and some media glory- a trip to Camp Cretaceous for one of us. And as the team leader, I was chosen as the one who can go.

“Oh no it’s fine!”, I had said. I already had a funny feeling about the trip. But they all had insisted, “it’s fine”, they had said, “it’ll be cool” they said.

Oh and weren’t they just so right. I am super peachy.

Practically prancing through the jungle and killing Dinos with my little finger-

Ok that’s enough, I think y’all got the gist: The shit had hit the fan.

Things happened, that made everyone be gone, and suddenly it was up to us to survive on this pretend Prehistoric nightmare.

At least my beloved baseball bat had survived the fall of the Camp Cretaceous building. After that discovery I didn’t let go of it anymore. I took it everywhere with me, hitting every living being that even dared to breath in my new found friends direction.

Friends… I had never thought, before the evacuation of Jurassic World and all that crazy stuff happened, that I’d ever call any of them that. I hadn’t really found any of them to be friendship material. I love baseball and building things out of wood in my free time and had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. The only person in the group who had come close to that was Yaz, but she had been so closed off, that I couldn’t really tell before we became a group that fought for their survival. Darius also had been ok, but I was older than him and we didn’t have anything in common, so that checked itself out. Everyone else sort of annoyed me in one way or another. Especially Kenji’s pompous ass. He had appeared very full of himself and just generally narcissistic, or at least painfully self centered and pretentious.

Now imagine how surprised one might be, when one figured I was crushing on the guy.

Let’s just say, that things happened that made me see Kenji in a completely different light.

Turns out he has a good enough sense of humor to catch my drift when I speak “in sarcastic” as he likes to call it. Turns out, he was a loyal and fun friend. Turns out he was just a lonely soul, neglected by a father whose work is more important to him than his own son.

Everything turned out different than it appears about him. He still sometimes annoyed me with his pranks and especially when he wouldn’t shut up about his wealth. The latter however became very apparent as the means to show that he was someone, although he didn’t need to prove that anymore. But of course he would think that’s how people would like him, his father had taught him no better.

The first thing I mentioned somehow makes me love him even more. It annoys me, gets such a rise out of me, that it’s somehow funny again. It gives me a spark and Kenji seemingly seems to enjoy seeing that spark. And him enjoying that spark makes me somehow happy as well. It would start with a cat fight and ended in rigorous laughter.

“Why so serious?”, he would sometimes ask when I’d respond with a glare towards him when he’d steal my bat for what felt like the fifty millionth time.

“You’re getting so creative. I barely saw it coming”, I answered dryly and one could practically see the words alternating between being written in small and big letters.

“Well then you should have no problem finding your sweet baby bat then”, he cooed. Looking deep into his dark brown eyes and almost devilish handsome grin made me both want to punch and kiss him, which may have made me irritable and even madder.

“Finding? Why should I find anything if I have a living and breathing treasure map. Come here!”, I demanded with a creepily sweet grin as I’d walk towards him. Then he’d run, I’d run, we wrestled for a second on the ground only to break into a laughing fit, rolling on the floor, crying tears, resolving this nonsense prank and then getting back to either relaxing or fighting off Dinosaurs… again.

I didn’t think, however, that anything could happen between Kenji and me.

For many a reason, though only two are essential: For one, we were busy surviving, one barely had time to get downtime with the group, yet alone for themselves. Secondly, I didn’t really know, or couldn’t really tell, if he felt the same. Maybe it was my own insecurities coming to light or something, but I just couldn’t really believe it.

Seemed unlikely.

But then things happened.

Kenji and I were on the run from an especially nasty, big Dinosaur. We had been collecting some water in big canisters and wanted to head back to camp when it sneak attacked, unexpectedly.

It snared at us, opening its huge mouth, showing a row of thin, long, sharp teeth.

“Fuck off, you tooth pick mouthed asshole!”, I hissed back at it, flailing my bat at it in panic.

The reason for my irrational action was mainly, that we were stuck between two huge rocks, backed up against another rock with no way out.

Maybe hills or mini-mountain were a better description, but it’s also not important.

All that I could think of was that we were stuck and that little fucker wanted to eat us.

“Calm down, y/n, this isn’t making anything better!”, Kenji tried to reason with me. I was close to shouting some obscenities at him or a dry ‘got a better idea, genius!?’, but this time his dark brown eyes, that often had a mischievous twinkle, calmed me, instead of creating the usual spark. I crawled closer to him as we were pressed to the stone wall.

The Dino however wouldn’t give up. Vehemently, it pressed its ugly snout between the walls, stretching its uncomfortably wet tongue towards us and exhaling a nauseating breath.

I was paralyzed, as I looked at that thing, not knowing what would happen next.

Suddenly, I felt my bat being taken out of my hand. I watched as Kenji took on a fighter stance, the bat positioned over his head, ready for the hit.

“What are you doing! Didn’t you just tell me that we should calm it?”, I asked. He turned around, a frown adorned his face, “I said you should calm down”, is all he answered before he darted towards the animal.

“NO!”, I heard myself scream. I had never heard such a sound come from my throat. It was shrill, loud and all in all I couldn’t recognize myself. I was terrified, even more than when I first caught sight of this beast that had brought us into this situation.

Everything seemed to pass by in slow motion as I saw Kenji swing the bat towards its snout. At first I thought it was over for him as the Dinos mouth opened, the teeth seeming to scrape Kenji’s head, that’s how close it was to him… but then I saw Kenji swinging the bat again, directly hitting its head so that it flew against the stone wall. The beast wailed in pain, seemingly backing up, and just like that, it was gone.

“I… I made it”, Kenji first whispered, before he laughed, repeating, “I made it!”, even louder, jumping into the air and forming a victory fistbump in the air.

“That was awesome! Did you see how- Y/N?”, Kenji’s joy subsided as he looked into my angered expression. With a swift motion I took my bat back, glaring at him as I pressed out, between gritted teeth “let’s just go, hero”

Kenji seemed to have caught the sarcastic undertone of me calling him a hero, because I could physically feel his mood shift closer to mine, “hey what’s with that attitude? I just saved our lives!”

“By doing what I also wanted to do. Great!”

“You were panicking! I don’t know if you would’ve gotten a good hit by panicking. Besides, I couldn’t risk you getting hurt!”, he explained.

For a second I could feel my heart flutter, but that didn’t help my opinion on what just happened.

“But you were ready to risk yourself?”, I asked, my tone bitter.

“Why are you so mad?”, he asked, “we are safe, what more could you want?”,

“I-“, I stopped in my tracks, thinking. Yeah: What was I so mad about? He was right, I had panicked. Panic never helps with concentration and right decision making. I found it impressive, that he had the courage and the focus to fight the Dino off. But I just couldn’t fight off the thought of it going wrong. What if he would’ve been eaten?

“What-“, I wanted to repeat what I had been thinking, but could feel a hiccup, breaking the tear flood inside me. No- I was not going to cry. I took a deep breath, looking directly into his confused visage, “- what if it would’ve gone wrong, I’m just… I- I wouldn’t have known what to do without you. I can’t imagine being without you anymore”.

I saw and heard him gasp, his glance unfreezing from his confused state.

“I didn’t realize I was that important to you”, he answered.

I chuckled, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes, “everyone is important to me from the group, I wouldn’t have liked any of them to risk their lives for me but- but especially not you. I- I can’t believe I’m going to say this - I had vowed to take this to my grave ya know-“

“- Get to the point”, Kenji urged me.( I wasn’t looking at him, but he later told me he had smiled whilst saying it, I however thought he was getting annoyed and was almost too scared to continue. Stupid how that sometimes works)

“- I, eh- I’m in love with you I think. Or at least I definitely feel very strongly for you”, I confessed, “there! Now you have something to use against me. Finally got something you can laugh at again on this miserable Isla-mpf”, my self deprecating monologue was interrupted by soft lips catching mine. It almost took my breath away, but then I leaned in, still not believing this was happening, though it definitely was.

“I’m not going to laugh, I love you too. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk everything if I didn’t”

“That’s cheesy, but I appreciate the honesty”, I said, wearing my usual shit eating grin as I regained confidence back.

“Oh look who's talking now”

“Oh shut it!”, I laughed and just like that, I found myself kissing him again.

“And here I thought I had to worry, but you two just ran away to make out”, I suddenly heard Darius in the background, half serious, half amused by the moment he found us in.

I quickly broke away from Kenji, grinning sheepishly, “You know how it is Darius: You get chased by a Dino, and then you need a kiss to make the boo boo go away… just so happens I got a bit of a chap on my lips, and Kenji wanted to make it real good again”, I explained, earning a silent chuckle from Kenji.

Darius rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hold back a smile either, “let’s get you love birds home”

————————

And so things happened. Did we have much time to enjoy us being a couple? Not really.

Did more things happen, making everything crazier and tougher?

Did the rift between Darius and Kenji make me anxious as I was sitting by Kenji’s side, as he, with an expression that was too serious for my liking, drove the yacht?

Absolutely.

But I know, that at least he’s by my side still, as am I, and we will make things happen so that we can finally be free from this place.

Hopefully, we’ll make it.

Depends on what the Dino on the yacht has to say about it...

[mentally-in-northern-italy]

Wrong Idea — James Potter x reader

***not my gif***

Summary: You have a big crush on James Potter but have to live with the ‘fact’ that James is smitten with your best friend, Lily. But is this really the case, or have you just got the wrong idea?

Word count: 2.9K

A/N: Hi! Second fic, whoooo! No one really requested this but it just came to me. Again, a bit too long for my liking, but it’s okay. Any feedback is very much appreciated. Requests are open, so feel free! Enjoy!!

_________________

“He is totally staring at you, Lily,” you whisper to your friend as you stand beside her, both pretending to be overly concentrated on finding just the finest box of Chocolate Frogs that Honeydukes has to offer. 

“He is not,” Lily whispers back, acting as if this prospect sounds ridiculously unbelievable but you could see her small smile as she tried her best not to glance at his direction. She continued to act as though she was very carefully examining a box of Chocolate Frogs as you chuckled quietly, trying to ignore the faint pang in your chest.

James Potter. Star Quidditch player. Self-appointed ‘mom’ of the Marauders. Personification of the very cliche, but fitting phrase, “messy hair, don’t care”. And, of course, a very famous lady’s man.

And, lastly, your ‘former’ crush who was now seemingly smitten with your best friend, Lily.

You weren’t sure when it was exactly when you had realized that you were inordinately conscious of how you looked whenever he was around, how you stole quick glances at him throughout your shared Potions class, hoping he wouldn’t notice, or how much the thought of the raven-haired boy consumed your mind. Slowly, but surely, your crush on James had developed into something so strong and overwhelming, you couldn’t even think of confiding in anyone else. Not even your best friend, Lily Evans. 

When you had heard about the rumours and gossip circulating around the school, about how James was supposedly head-over-heels for a certain red-head, you had tried your very hardest to force those feelings out of you. You couldn’t have a crush on James. He liked Lily. End of story.

You felt even worse when Lily would blush mildly, her cheeks turning as red as her hair, whenever James stopped you two to talk in the middle of the hallway. How Lily would talk your ears off about how much she hated James, and how annoying and arrogant she perceived him to be, but you knew better. You knew Lily liked James too, maybe not as outwardly as James liked her, but enough to make you feel like a terrible person for liking the same guy as your best friend of five years.

And now, you couldn’t help but notice the way James’ eyes seemed to follow you two, as he stood by a shelf at the entrance of the shop, watching you both weave around the shelves stocked with sweets and treats in Honeydukes, talking quietly amongst yourselves.

“Lily, you like him, he likes you,” you try to tell her once again, ignoring how it made your heart sting a little every time you thought of them together, “why, in Merlin’s name, are you acting so oblivious?”

“[Y/N],” she scoffed, feigning offense, “I’m not acting oblivious. And I don’t like him. I just don’t… mind him.” 

“Mhm,” you hummed as you picked up a cauldron cake off the shelf, “I totally believe you, Lils.” 

“Believe what you want, [Y/L/N],” she retorted with a clever smile but the smile started to falter as she started to look more nervous, looking steadily at something behind you.

You turned around to look at what it was exactly that had her looking so alarmed and were just as alarmed when you saw James approaching you two, after abandoning the display he was previously taking a close look at, with a confident smile set on his handsome face. 

“[Y/L/N],” he greeted as he smiled at you for a millisecond too long, sending butterflies in your stomach into a frenzy, “Evans.”

“Potter,” Lily greeted him back curtly, her face set into a smile that conveyed politeness but not necessarily obvious interest.

Maybe it was your failure to repress your intense feelings for James, but you could’ve sworn that he was looking intently at you, perhaps in the hopes that you would also acknowledge him in some way. But, you didn’t trust yourself to be able to speak without melting into a stuttering mess so you stayed quiet, averting eye contact, and fidgeting with the packet of the cauldron cake in your hands. 

“Did you need something, Potter?” Lily questioned, raising a single eyebrow. James’ gaze still hadn’t left you but he was forced to tear his eyes off of you to address Lily. 

“Oh, no, I don’t need anything,” he remarked, regaining his confident (bordering on arrogant) composure as his eyes involuntarily shifted to you once again, “I just wanted to ask something.”

This captured your attention as your eyes jumped up from the cake in your hands to the sly smile that James was sending you and Lily. This is it, you thought, he’s going to ask her out and--

“Is there any chance, [Y/N],” James started out, sending you a sincere look, making your breath hitch in your throat, “that you could give up that Cauldron Cake?” 

“Huh?” you say in surprise. Cauldron Cake? 

“The one you have in your hand,” he smiled, “Uh, Padfoot, apparently, has been craving one for a few weeks and, unfortunately, that’s the last one they have. I looked all over.” 

“Oh,” you said, a bit awkwardly, evidently struggling to find the right words for this unusual sort of situation, “yeah, I guess you can…” 

“Y’know, I told him that’s not how cravings work,” he tried to crack a joke as you handed the cake to him, his hands slightly brushing against your own, making you weak in the knees, “but he claims I wouldn’t get it. It’s just a dog--, uh, a Sirius thing, I guess.” 

He laughed an incredibly awkward laugh, while you and Lily stood there, clearly unsure of what to do. It would not be correct to say you didn’t laugh because  you thought what James had just said was unfunny… no, it was more about the fact that you hadn’t understood it at all. This wasn’t like James. Sure, James’ jokes weren’t hilarious but they certainly weren’t as… dry as the one he just told. If you could even call it a ‘joke’. It sounded an awful lot like he just winged it -- came up with a half-assed joke just for the sake of coming up with one. Not a typical James Potter move, that much you knew. 

Lily was watching this exchange occur with weirdly curious interest. She wasn’t sure what was happening but she also couldn’t tear her eyes away from darting back between you and James. It didn’t take her too long to get a general gist of what was going on… she was the brightest witch in her year, after all.

“Right,” you say, attempting to swiftly leave this incredibly strange conversation, “I’m afraid Lils and I should get going now. Enjoy the… cake.”

“Oh,” James looked down at the cake, as if he had entirely forgotten he had it in his hands and then back up at you, “yes. Thank you, by the way, for the cake. I’ll see you back at the common room, [Y/N]. Evans.” He nodded in Lily’s direction, while he mentally cursed himself for acting so awkward.

Before anyone could say anything else, you took a hold of Lily’s gloved hand and started to lead her towards the exit of the shop, ignoring whatever it was she was saying to you. You shook your head a little as ridiculous thoughts started flooding your brain. Why did he use my first name and not Lily’s? Am I reading into this too much? Am I going crazy? 

You had decided that the latter two were more likely to be the case when the corner of your eye caught an entire shelf in front of the entrance of the shop, stocked with Cauldron Cakes. And the display wasn’t too far away from where James originally stood. In fact, that’s the very display he was checking out when you had noticed him staring. 

________________

You groaned as Marlene and Lily dragged you out of the dorm room, against your will, mind you, insisting that it was absolutely crucial that you abandon your History of Magic of homework and follow them.

“We have a test coming up!” you tried to reason with them, “Lily, Mar, come on, we should be studying!”

“Studying can wait, [Y/N],” Marlene said to you, matter-of-factly, “Quidditch cannot.”

They dragged you by the arm, through the Gryffindor common room, to the Quidditch game, which was just about to start. Today was a big day; the first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. 

You, of course, knew what this meant. 

James Potter. Flying around on his broom. Being a brilliant chaser.

You had never been a particular fan of the game, but when you had started liking James, you found yourself going to the Quidditch pitch quite often. That is, until you deemed your feelings for James to be forbidden. Now, Quidditch games were just about the same as rubbing salt to your, very deep, wounds. 

The way he would look over at Lily, who stood right beside you, and wink at her made you angry. And not angry at Lily or James, but angry at yourself. All the glances he would send her way only made you get mad at yourself for ever feeling this way about someone who was so far out of your reach.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Lily said as you snapped out of your thoughts, leading you through the hallways in the direction of the Gryffindor stands.

“Yeah,” you mutter under your breath, with a twinge of sadness, making sure she wouldn’t hear, “for you.”

_______________

Gryffindor had won the match. Hufflepuff played exceptionally well, but it was no match for the Gryffindor’s brilliant offensive tactics. 

As the Gryffindor seeker had caught the snitch, the cheering in the stands rang out. You, Lily and Marlene jumped up, screaming and clapping, overjoyed at this brilliant win. 

“Come on,” Marlene said excitedly, “let’s go down to the pitch!”

“What?” you asked, alarmed. You did not want to be in close proximity to James right now. Not when his jersey would be clinging onto his body and his hair would be all sweaty and his face all red, making him look even more hands-

“Yes! Let’s go,” Lily agreed instantly, dragging you by the arm. 

You groaned once again but you knew they wouldn’t listen. As you three, no, as you two were walking down, -- Marlene was practically skipping -- thoughts of the Quidditch match in action flooded your mind. James sent so many winks and smirks in Lily’s direction that you could’ve sworn by Merlin that some of them were to you. Or this was just wishful thinking. After all, Lily was sitting right beside you. You decide that this is just you getting confused -- but then again, why did Lily always glance your way after James smiled at you, as he scored a goal, expecting you to react in some way? And why did she look genuinely pleased, instead of having even the hint of jealousy in her eyes? 

There’s nothing for her to be jealous about, you told yourself repeatedly, he was looking at Lily. 

As you three reached the Quidditch pitch, you could see clumps of students, crowding the Quidditch players, congratulating them excitedly. 

“Lily, I came to the match,” you tried to whisper to her as you two stood there, unsure of where to go, “can I please go study now?” 

“No, [Y/N] [Y/L/N]!” providing special emphasis on your full name, yelling loudly, capturing the attention of everyone on the pitch. Everyone’s head turned to look at you as you seemed to shrink into yourself and Lily wore a proud smile on her face, looking at you slyly. 

The mention of your full name had attracted a lot of unwanted attention. But it also, almost immediately, seemed to attract some wanted attention as well. 

Well, not wanted, that wasn’t allowed as per your rules, but appreciated, nonetheless. 

James’ head turned to you as he diverted his attention from some excited first-years to you and Lily. Your eyes had widened remarkably, your face had started to heat up and the butterflies in your stomach who had seemed to be asleep previously, had now woken up. 

“Oh, would you look at that,” Lily said quickly, “Thomas Lee looks dashing, I’m going to go tell him congratulations!” And with that, she walked away from you and towards Lee, the Gryffindor keeper.

James had started walking over to you as you stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do. Do you meet him halfway? Do you keep standing there? Merlin, why did this have to be so difficult? 

“[Y/N], so glad you could make it,” he smirked at you as he pushed his sweaty hair back. 

“Uh, yeah, congratulations,” you said, trying to keep yourself from looking at his figure, “you played really well.” 

“Thanks!” said James, with, what looked like, genuine gratefulness, before the look in his eyes turned cocky again, “Although, I’ve played better. This game was a piece of cake.” 

“Of course,” you couldn’t help but smile softly at his words. This is the James you knew. The James you liked. The James you shouldn’t like.

“Speaking of cake!” he exclaimed suddenly, trying to salvage this conversation from turning awkward, “Thanks again for that cauldron cake! I was so bummed when I found they had run out.” 

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” you told him politely, when you remembered something. 

They hadn’t run out of cauldron cakes. In fact, they had them all piled up on the shelf right in front of the entrance. Before you could say anything, James started speaking again.

“Y’know, there’s a Hogsmeade trip coming up,” he started out confidently, but the slight shaking of his hands and the easy-to-miss quiver in his voice indicated otherwise.

“Yes, I know,” you told him, quietly. Was he telling you to ask Lily for him? Godric knows you would never be able to do that. “Lily knows too, so… you can ask her. I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

“What?” he looked very surprised, his eyebrows had furrowed as if he had no idea why you had mentioned that. 

“The Hogsmeade trip. You should ask her. She might seem like she would say no but she’ll say yes.” You ignored the feeling of your heart sinking. 

“But, I don’t want to.” he said with a slight shake of his head.

“What?” 

“I wanted to ask you.” his voice had gotten unusually quiet.

You were in absolute shock, to say the least. James Potter wanted to ask you? To Hogsmeade? What about Lily? 

“What about Lily?” you asked, confusedly, “I thought-- everyone thought--”

“I like you, not Evans,” he told you with no hesitation, “who said I liked her?”

“Literally everyone thinks so.”

“Well, they must have gotten the wrong idea.”

“But--”

“[Y/N], for someone so bloody smart, you are incredibly oblivious,” James said, with the slightest bit of his irritation showing through, “Didn’t you see me staring at you? Winking? For Merlin’s sake, there wasn’t a shortage of Cauldron Cakes back at Honeydukes! I just wanted to talk to you.” 

“But you were staring at Lily,” you say defensively, “not me. Why would you do that?”

“Because… I like you?” 

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do!” 

You shook your head in frustration. You couldn’t do this to Lily. This is not what best friends do. No, there is no way you would act on these feelings.

“Lily!” you turn away from James and make your way over to Lily, “we need to go.” 

You drag Lily away from Lee and start making your way off the pitch, leaving Lee and James staring at you both in confusion.

“So, did you say yes?” she asked you as you tried to walk as fast as you could without making it seem like you’re running away.

“What?” you turn to her. 

“To James? He asked you out, didn’t he?” she asked eagerly. You were surprised to see she wasn’t sad. At all. In fact, she seemed happy for you. 

“But you like James,” you tried to tell her, trying to work this whole situation out, standing only a few feet away from James and Lee, who were watching this interaction intently. Didn’t she?

“I thought I did,” she told you, “but I think I only convinced myself that I did, because I thought he liked me. To be honest, I really don’t. And all those times you tried to tell me he was staring at me? It was always you, [Y/N], I just happened to be standing right beside you every time.”

“But, I--,” you struggled to find words. 

“Look,” Lily said as she put a hand to your shoulder, “I know you like him. I also know he likes you. Why, in Merlin’s name, are you acting so oblivious?” she said, imitating your words from that trip to Honeydukes.

“You really don’t like him?” you asked, unsure of what you wanted the answer to be. On one hand, you would love to go out with James, on the other, you never wanted to hurt Lily’s feelings.

“No! Not even one bit,” she reassured you, “I’m a bit relieved, really, plus, I think I’ve found myself a keeper.” She turned away from you to face Lee, still stood a few feet away from you two, and smiled. Lee winked back. You laughed at this and reluctantly turned your head to James, also stood a few feet away from you. He stood with his confidence a little diminished, looking defeated. But he still gave you a small smile and waved awkwardly.

“Go! Say yes,” Lily told you, chuckling, “We can even go on double dates together.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully at Lily before you took a deep breath in and started to make your way towards him. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Um.”

“Let’s start over,” you told him as you straightened your posture and fixed your hair. 

“Start over?” he asked, regaining the arrogance.

“Ask me out again, Potter,” you told him, having found confidence yourself after your talk with Lily. You no longer felt bad about liking James. And you felt even better knowing he liked you.

“Oh, yes!” James plastered his smirk back on his face, “There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up, [Y/N].” 

“Yes, I’m aware,” you nodded and smiled, stifling giggles from erupting.

“Let’s go together.” he said cockily, his eyes twinkling.

“That was pathetic, James,” you said as you started to laugh softly.

“Hey!” 

“But yes. Let’s,” you told him with a mischievous smile, “Maybe this time, I can help you find the very noticeable, hard-to-miss Cauldron Cake display.” 

“Deal.” He sent you his infamous James Potter grin at which you grinned back.

[ignitification]

Midoriya Izuku - Green for Hope, Red for Burning Passion

I always asked myself why exactly Horikoshi has changed Midoriya's character design so drastically.

Indeed, we go from a character called Yamikumo who looks like a feral child with the bad habit of eating his nails off, and drinks more coffee than humanly possible to an anxious bunny who smiles awkwardly and does not know how to accept compliments.

To me, the difference is absolutely insane. Izuku's hair and eyes are uniform and reflect his character and surname. However, a thing that I find peculiar is how the dark (Black/Green) and the Red theme are a constant throughout particular tellings of his character.

The legendary red shoes are one of Deku's main features. It's part of his character. However, I just got to think why exactly (especially having an idea on why was green used for him) and I think that the answer might be very very banal. However, I do think that this is not the only reason.

First of all, there is the most simple reason which I could think of: Midoriya Izuku is described as plain. In my opinion, plain does not really define Midoriya but the concept of him being bland and capable of melting into background is fundamental to express him in the most little details (however, there are few things which inwardly contradict this description: first and foremost his freckles). But as it might be, and Midoriya is indeed considered not worthy look at for more than once (at least as described in the manga - which is also one of the reason why his design has been changed so much, as Yamikumo had literally zero chance to go unnoticed), it appears clear how this suppression of character, of wanting to relegate Mido to a background role is what instead pushes Izuku forward to make a bold choice of something like wearing red shoes. They are strikingly particular, and noticeable: which means that Midoriya is not happy about being an npc, but instead wants to be noticed and in some way stand out.

The second reason, which I mulled over if was relevant enough is All Might. A recurrent color in all All Might's costumes is Red (and Blue, which kind of reminds of Superman and the American Flag. A fact that I found interesting as well if how AM wears Blue, Yellow and Red while Midoriya wears Green and Red, and of course Blue and Yellow together form Green).

And finally the third and final reason (at least, for now) is that Red, as a colour reminds Deku of Kacchan (even if arguably, we see in the first panel of the manga how Izuku wore already his shoes so this might be false and instead it might refer to the fact that Red is Izuku’s favourite colour only), who we know he associates with victory. As the mental image of Kacchan, who was red eyes, is his substitute for him being able to stand proud, strong and capable to win, Izuku might want to express this strive to be strong.

But what do these two colours mean, stand alone ?

As for Green: this colour, in different cultures, is associated with "Hope" . I think here the main gist and general going is that Midoriya represents Hope for the Heroes, Hope for the Unwanted, the Broken and the Damned (the Villains). I talked about Izuku being a Symbol of the New Society here, but in short, with Izuku Midoriya being fundamentally associated to the colour green, I think Horikoshi wants to express two things: how Izuku never loses hope (to be a hero, to have a quirk, to be a friend to Katsuki who bullied him for years or Shouto who straight up challenged him even before getting to know him, to reach and to save everyone) and how he represents and spreads hope for others (Eri, Kouta, the same Todoroki and Katsuki).

Green indicates life, renewal, harmony and safety. Which, in this sense, points out Izuku's nature as a person and how he is bound to feel restless unless he provides comfort to everyone, and that desire to save desperately anyone who he can reach. Green is a calming and soothing colour. It also stands for prosperity, freshness and progress - which point out not only the conclusion of Deku being N1 Hero, but as well at him 'changing up' the society and becoming the Symbol of Hope and Change (on which I briefly touched upon here).

However, on a negative side it also stands for Greed (wanting to be a hero and follow AM steps even when he had a hard time adapting his body to his new quirk) and Envy (Bakugō first and foremost and the generally heroes and those who has time to wield their power properly). In this negative meaning of the colour, I think Izuku’s selfless nature comes to the surface even more: how he feels bound to feel negative emotions which spur his renewal and development (after all, he did unlock Black Whip after Monoma had insulted Bakugou), but at the same time use this emotion toward a bigger goal (him being mad at Shigaraki, but at the same time wanting to save him - I wrote about this too here).

Green, is, finally, the colour of the Heart chakra: an expression of how Midoriya puts everything before him, because his heart cannot take the selfishness of thinking of himself first, which also come hand in hand with his sacrificing nature and reminds of his name meaning and the association made with the number 9. Indeed, “Opening the Heart chakra allows a person to love more, empathise, and feel compassion” - which in short, stands for an externalisation of Mido’s personality.

On a shorter note, in Japan, the colour green represents youth, eternity, vitality and energy - which, in its own way is both a confirmation and a denial to other references made in Izuku’s character, such as his dangerous nature, him not being concentrated to live on for more than he is allowed to fulfil his duty (him being tied to number 9 and so on), and at the same time it reminds us of OfA, as it gains more power and energy and at his cheery, youthful persona.

As for Red, as the colour of Blood, it also stands to indicate '' Danger, Sacrifice, Courage" (which reconnects to his name's theory and numerology, of which I talked about here, in short).

In addition, red is usually used to professionally gain attention (it's hard to miss something so bright) and convey confidence. We know for a fact that Deku has been wearing red shoes since he was a kid (or at least, since he met Bakugō, which coincides with Izuku being four) and that despite being Quirkless, he always showed courage in standing out to people even when they thought of him as 'inferior' because on his unusual condition.

Among other negative meaning, there is an overflow of temper, anger, agitation, and overbearing, demanding and oppressive behaviours. As clear as day, these characteristics relate more to fiery Katsuki than Deku, but as stated before, Deku puts Katsuki as model and adapts his combat style to resemble Katsuki’s. So, this overflow of energy and action is a double-edged sword which affects both Katsuki and Izuku in different ways (and is mellowed out in Izuku’s character by his other soothing characteristics , but more on that later).

Also, Red, in Asia is a lucky colour which might (or not) hint at how, despite everything Izuku got his 'lucky' chance to inherit AM's power and follow his dream of becoming a hero. Particularly, in Japan this colour is associated and denotes strength, passion, self-sacrifice. A transmission of feeling as complex and empowering as the ones Deku fills while he is living his everyday life as a future hero, summed to his nature and inherited quirk.

Red is also a magical and religious color. It symbolized super-human heroism to the Greeks and is the color of the Christian crucifixion, which might be as meaningless as other things, but in this case it might greatly relate to the type of enormous power Izuku tries to reign in, and to the self sacrificing spirit which he proves again and again.

So far, the meanings of the colours which have been associated with Deku are in line with his name, his personality and even the storyline which has been drawed out.

Among other meanings red represents power, courage, energy, passion, and creates physical effects such as enhanced metabolism, enthusiasm, higher level of energy (which comes back to the initial reasons on why Deku chooses Red as a distinct colour for himself and his shoes).

The color red is linked to the most primitive physical, emotional, and financial needs of survival and self-preservation.

Finally is also the colour of leadership, determination and courage. So in short, the colours red, where it indicates energy, action and strong emotion-filled desires and aspirations, is also weak to overbearing aspects which transform empowerment into negative traits (which is what, in the end, is represented by Bakugou). It is also strong-willed and can give confidence to those who are shy or lacking in will power (the shoes in Deku’s case). 

Red is the colour of the First (or Spine) Chakra and usually allows a person to be grounded and connect to universal energies, while Green is the link between spiritual and material.

What do these two colours mean in association with each other?

Onto how these two colours are related to each other, especially considering the premises made, we see that Red (life-giving properties, trust, belonging and violence) and Green (health, eternity, youth and greed) are not only opposites, but they complete and balance each other out. Indeed, to reign over emotions and actions, to red is usually added green which indeed is a pain-relieving patch for red’s intensity (the theory of Bakugou and Deku being two sides of the same coin are thriving).

Midoriya Izuku is an intense person. His personality allows him to balance out his power with a selfless nature, and while he himself is sweet and caring, his fiery eyes (and shoes) express for him his utmost sincere feelings, which deep down are very telling. As mentioned before, Izuku responds to Monoma when he insults Bakugou and makes a jab at how actually Bakugou is the one who ultimately terminated AM, by unlocking a new dangerous and powerful quirk, which is so powerful and fiery, and red in his intensity, that they need Shinsou’s intervention to actually calm him down.

Izuku is a overly protective person: he has forgiveness as a foremost characteristic and even if he does mention how he will not forgive Shigaraki for what he has done, on second though he realises that even a ‘monster’ like Shigaraki deserves to be saved, and therefore his other nature takes over.

Therefore, the coexistence of these factors, and his personality are probably at the origin of why Midoriya has had such a drastic make-over before becoming Midoriya Izuku, and why the colours of Red and Green are fundamental in the description which lets us have a full picture of Midoriya as an individual: something who is full of hope and energy, striving to express whisk power and passion while trying to concern only himself with the danger that comes with his mission to save everyone.

[feynavaley]

Congrats on the 1000 followers!!! You deserve it :) Anyway, if you’re still taking requests, could I ask for fluff involving Canada being doted upon by another member in the FACE family? You can pick which/as many family members as your comfortable with and if it’s canonverse or au. Honestly, what matters more to me is that Canada is being loved and adored appropriately by his family haha~

Thank you so much!! 😍💖 For your kind words and for the request. 😊 I'm afraid I ended up straying a bit from the prompt, I hope it's all right!

———

The Best Reward

“...And this is how you’ll prevent them from fighting and actually have them listen, for a change. You don’t want to give them the occasion to bicker, you see? But the thing is, you also don’t want to make it overtly clear that’s what you’re trying to do. Most people don’t react well if they perceive something as an imposition and will do their best to go against it, at that point. Subtle manipulation, instead, works much better. If you set the right circumstance, most people will follow...”

There was something odd. The thought struck Matthew all of sudden, making his speech lose vigour.

Something’s missing.

A few heartbeats later, he registered it: Alfred wasn’t talking. In the unnatural silence, his brother was staring at him, his face frozen in shock.

Matthew’s breath itched, heat rose to his cheeks.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Was it too much?”

Actually, Matthew wasn’t even sure of what he had been saying... he knew the gist, but not the words he had used. Under the constant pounding, his head was too light, everything felt disconnected and a bit too far away.

I really need another coffee...

He couldn’t recall when he had drunk the last one. He had a vague feeling that it hadn’t been too long... but it hadn’t helped much. Clearly.

Matthew fidgeted on his feet, contracting and releasing his muscle in an effort to get back into focus and fighting the urge to press his fingers to his throbbing forehead. He almost missed Alfred slowly shaking his head, even though his brother was right in front of him.

“No, no, it’s all right!” Alfred reassured him with the genuine earnestness only he was capable of. “You’ve been a huge help, don’t apologize!”

He typed something on his laptop, then stopped in contemplation of the spreadsheet he had shown Matthew earlier. As he did so, he fished a cookie from the plate in front of him and nudged the same towards Matthew.

“Here, have a treat. You earned it!”

Matthew almost recoiled away, barely restraining a grimace. He should have been hungry, he hadn’t eaten in more than a day... but at that point, the slight, constant nausea lingering to the back of his senses sapped away any appetite.

Fortunately, Alfred didn’t seem to notice, too focused on his work.

“Man, I had never thought so much had to go into planning the seats at a conference... You’re so good at this, Mattie! And you don’t even really frequent most of these people at all, how have been able to pick up all of this?”

Matthew shrugged, uncomfortable under his brother’s bright eyes. Alfred’s praises were everything he had ever wanted. He wished so strongly he could accept them, but if he was honest with himself...

“It really isn’t so hard,” he muttered in an apologetic voice. “You just have to watch and listen. I’m sure you could do that too, if you wanted! I guess I just have more time for observing, since I generally have nothing important to contribute on.”

That had come out really wrong. Alfred’s forehead scrunched, a frown tugged at his lips.

“Mattie—”

God, where is that coffee?

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that! I’m not trying to blame you or anything, it’s just that—”

His pathetic attempt at an apology wasn’t enough, for Alfred’s frown tightened even more.

“Mattie, this isn’t—”

In a stroke of luck, a notification lit Matthew’s laptop just at that moment. A skype call from Arthur.

“Sorry, I really have to take this!”

Without leaving Alfred time to protest, Matthew opened the call.

“Hi, Arthur! Sorry for getting back at you so late, I had some issues with some stuff Chris sent me so I had to call him and then his PM, but I think everything should be in order now!”

He strongly hoped so, at least. He had proofread everything five times, he was embarrassingly prone to typos and small mistakes when he was so tired... He couldn’t submit something like that to Arthur. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more anxiety clogged his throat with the suspicion what he had done wouldn’t be enough...

“I can give it another check though! You know, just to be sure.”

“Matthew...”

Arthur was frowning.

Oh crap, what did I do wrong?

Trying to hide the panic mounting in his chest, Matthew offered Arthur a fake, strained smile.

“Yeah, I’ll do that if you give me just a moment! The deadline is 12 am, isn’t it? Yes, I’ll—”

“Matthew, what are you doing?”

The note of concern in Arthur’s voice made him pause. A moment later, Matthew realized that in bracing himself against the table, he was slowly tilting towards the laptop.

“Oh, sorry!”

He offered Arthur a sheepish smile and straightened up, bringing his arms back to his sides. His head swam at the sudden movement, but he managed not to waver.

I need to get it together.

And a coffee. He also needed a coffee. Or two or three, most likely.

Confusion shone in Arthur’s eyes.

“Matthew, what are you apologizing for? I had asked you to give me a hand with the documentation, and you did everything by yourself instead. Do you know what a relief it was, when I saw everything was in order?”

Matthew could empathize with that feeling so strongly it almost hurt. It was why he had done so, after all.

“Don’t apologize. I am the one who needs to thank you, there isn’t any apology involved in this. And there’s no need for another check, either. I just did it myself, everything was perfect.”

A wave of relief washed over Matthew. A weight he hadn’t even been conscious of was lifted from his chest – but with that, the exhaustion loomed closer as well.

Matthew forced himself to stay stiff.

“Actually, it was even better than what I would have done myself,” Arthur went on from the screen, “I have no idea of how long it took you, but—”

“But you’ve also been helping me with this!” Alfred cut in, startling Matthew.

He hadn’t noticed his brother getting up – but Alfred was now next to him, peering at the camera.

“And it must have taken forever, too! When did you even find the time?”

Matthew shrugged.

“It really wasn’t that much.”

In fact, the more he thought he about it, the more he realized his help could have been much more substantial. Even if Alfred always approached everything with a quite... relaxed mindset, he had as much work as Arthur, after all – it came with being such an important personification. Matthew, instead... there wasn’t such a weight pressing down his shoulders. Not helping his brothers would have just been selfish. More and more ways he could have eased the burden crowded his minds in a dizzying rush, ideas, projects...

His confused thoughts scattered away when a strong hand landed on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“No, Mattie, it was! And you managed to do it for myself and Arthur as well.”

Alfred’s earnestness was almost painful. Matthew know he wasn’t good enough to appreciate such praises, yet, he couldn’t help the small seed of hope that blossomed in his chest.

“Seriously, Mattie, you’re really amazing!”

“I... am?” Was all Matthew could manage dumbly, as he stared at his brother’s bright eyes. Even when he blinked, the confidence they conveyed didn’t change.

“But... I didn’t do that much, I...”

“Matthew.”

This time, Arthur was the one talking. He was using the firm tone he employed to convey he truly meant what he was saying and would not tolerate being contradicted.

“You’ve been an incredible help. You saved me a lot of time and trouble, and from what I understand, you did the same for Alfred as well.”

“Yep! That’s right!”

“You need to accept the compliments, you deserve them.”

“I...”

If both his brothers agreed with that, it had to mean they were right. Matthew flushed in embarrassment – yet, the sudden spark of pride curling in his chest quite welcome.

Both Arthur and Alfred were smiling.

Did I really manage that?

Apparently, he had. The realization finally sank in along with a sudden wave of exhaustion that made Matthew waver.

Alfred’s hands grabbed his shoulders, steadying him.

“Whoa, Mattie!”

“Matthew, when was the last time you had some sleep?” Arthur asked from across the screen, his voice laced with alarm.

Matthew gave a dry, delirious chuckle.

Today marks the third all-nighter in a row.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Who cared about sleep? His brothers were proud of him. Nothing mattered more than that.

Alfred and Arthur exchanged a glance. Eyebrows raised, a slight frown. They seemed to agree on something with a small nod.

“All right then,” Alfred stated with a shake of his head, a fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I think you’ve earned some good, uninterrupted sleep.”

Matthew didn’t resist as his brother wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started leading him away from the desk. His head was pounding, but his smile didn’t waver.

“Good night, Arthur,” he yawned, even though he couldn’t recall what time it was in Europe so it might not have made sense.

It didn’t feel particularly important, at the moment. He had been useful. His brothers were happy. He was going to have a good rest.

(word count: 1,571)

[arsenicpanda]

coming from an amateur writer, do you have any tips on writing smut?

ngl, I’m an amateur myself, having not finished much smut and still not written the actual act of sex from the perspective of one of the people experiencing it. So idk why you came to me, but I am flattered. I'm not great at advice on the act of writing, but I’ll do my best to talk about process and shit.

1. Read smut. Read lots of it, read varying qualities and varying lengths and as soft-core and hard-core as you’re up for. Read it for fun, just taking it in, and then read it with a critical eye. What works? What doesn’t? Are there any tropes (general, character-specific, or ship-specific) that you like or dislike? Why? What’s especially hot? What makes you cringe? What kind of language do you like? And so on and so forth. Ask questions and answer them.

2. What’s your setup? Like, which characters, which ship, which universe? If it’s an AU, how does the AU change things from canon (especially important if you’re doing ABO, which is its own can of worms I’m not getting into here)? What’s the relationship between your characters and what’s the situation in which they fuck?

3. How do your characters feel about sex in general and with respect to the ship you’re writing? How horny are they in general, for the other character(s) in the ship, and in this specific situation? What are they into and not into? What are their previous experiences (or lack thereof) with sex and romance? What experience do the characters have with each other? Are there specific experiences they might remember and use or is there certain knowledge they do or don’t have about their partner(s) (For established ships, I like to mention previous experiences and knowledge of what the POV character’s partner(s) are into as a way to show that there is real history there. For unestablished ships, I like to include that figuring out process some and the reactions to experiencing stuff for the first time, either in general or within the specific ship, to show that newness of the relationship. Maybe there’s mention of a certain preference the POV character already knows about, or maybe the POV character makes note of a preference they learn during the fic. Stuff like that.)? How loud are they during sex? Are there any sex acts that this ship would engage in no matter what (e.g. I maintain all smut with Jughead that isn’t a quickie should include him giving some amount of oral sex)? How many times can they orgasm? How sensitive are they? What’s their refractory period? And so on, and so forth. Note: once you come up with answers for this section for your ship once, the next time you write smut for them, you’ll really only have to make adjustments according to the universe you’re in, so that’s nice.

4. What kind of fic are you writing? Is it pwp? Smut within plot? A character or relationship piece? Basically, are there any arcs to get through, what are they, and how are they going to relate to the smut? How explicit is the smut? What language do you want to use to refer to genitals and orgasms and such? What POV are you writing in? How much do your characters talk? How “realistic” are things? Are they practicing safe sex, including safe oral sex?

5. What’s actually happening? I like to plan out a smut scene ahead of time so I know how it starts, where they are physically, what the characters are doing (hand, mouth, genital, etc location and movement), how one sex act moves into another, what can be seen/heard/felt/etc based on POV, what’s physically possible at all times, if there are any accessories or toys I need to explain them owning and where they’re kept before the smut, and how it ends. It also helps me make sure the smut doesn’t significantly overlap with something I’ve already written or am planning to write. I also write an outline, which you don’t have to do, but does help if you ever go weeks or months between working on it because then when you come back you don’t have to strain to remember what the plan was. You can also just go with the flow and just write, but definitely keep location of body parts and what the POV character can actually see/hear/etc (for example, if your POV character is blindfolded or bent over, they can’t describe their partner’s face) in mind as you do.

6. Write it. Vary your sentence structure. I find good smut includes not just physical action, but emotion and especially sensation, but you might disagree. If you're struggling with repeated words and shit, maybe look for lists of words to use when writing smut. Probably look up tips for writing smut in general, ask people for advice (which you already are, so good for you!), etc. Draw upon your own experience if you have any, and if you don’t, maybe look into people’s accounts, sex tips, etc and check if any questions you have about sensation have been answered online anywhere, e.g. on reddit. But don’t try and make it perfect all at first; just write it. One approach that’s often effective is to do writing "sprints", that is, sit down for fifteen minutes and just write; you can continue for another fifteen minutes when you're done if you want, but you'd be surprised how much you can get done in fifteen minute segments over multiple days. Also, I recommend writing in google docs with the setting of “Add space after paragraph” (go to Format, then Line & paragraph spacing) for ease of transferring to AO3. Actually, here's a good guide on working from google docs an moving to AO3; look at it before you start. Google docs is also useful for when you have a beta because it lets them make suggestions instead of straight-up changing things themselves. Also, take note of where you use italics and non-italicized punctuation together (this will be useful when you need to publish to AO3).

7. Read it carefully and with a critical eye like you would someone else’s fic up in #1. Make sure that you can follow the action based solely on what you wrote and that nothing impossible or contradictory happens (e.g. teleporting body parts, a single hand in two locations at the same time, people twisting or reaching in physically impossible ways). What do you think is missing, where, why, and how might you fix it?

8. Revise it.

9. Repeat 7 and 8 as much as you desire until you’re satisfied, or at least as satisfied as you can be without peer review.

10. Send it to beta. Like, seriously, send it to beta because, if nothing else, your beta won’t know what’s supposed to be happening in the scene, so they can tell you if you’ve successfully conveyed what happens. If you have anything in particular you are uncertain about or want help with, ask your beta to pay close attention to it. Seriously, betaing is going to be much more effective if your beta knows what they should be focusing on most.

11. Repeat steps 7 and 8.

12. Title it and write a summary. Feel free to ask your beta for help here.

12. Congrats, you’re done! Transfer it to AO3 from google docs and save it as a draft. AO3 by default puts a space between italics and non-italicized punctuation, so go through your list of those combos and manually delete the extra spaces. Now add your title, tags, and summary. Don’t tag side pairings/pairings the fic doesn’t focus on in the relationship section; if you need to warn readers of them, put them in the additional tag sedition. If you’re writing an ot3+ that isn’t an established, feel free to tag the pieces of the ship involved (e.g. Betty/Jughead/Tabitha would also tag Betty/Jughead, Betty/Tabitha, and Tabitha/Jughead). But if the ot3+ is already popular within fandom, only tag the ot3+. Don’t tag characters who aren’t central to the story. Tag all warnings and kinks involved especially.

I think that’s it? I guess I might have overly walked you through, but that’s the process I recommend. I mean, I don’t always follow all the steps (While I get the gist of character/emotional arcs before I start plotting the smut, I often really nail them down after I’ve decided on the events of the smut because the latter is generally what has me writing the smut in the first place and I tend to get ahead of myself. Things would probably be easier if I didn’t do that though), but they’re good guidelines, I think? Regardless, I hope this helps!

[theslashmix]

Valzer a Quattro Mani

There was a grand piano on the stage, quietly sitting in dignified and lonely majesty. It was easy to picture a string ensemble or a small orchestra next to it, maybe even a singer, filling the air with emotion and sound. Nix found himself walking towards it- it felt profoundly unjust that such a beautiful instrument should stay there, dusty and abandoned, as if it didn’t contain the potential for one of the few amazing things that humanity had managed to create.

The theatre was empty, dusty, and forlorn when they entered. The air inside was still and hushed, blanketing everything in a very oppressive manner: and yet, there was sort of an expecting quality to it, decided Nix as he looked around, considering. It was as if the theatre was holding its breath. Waiting for somethi ng to happen.

Somewhere in the bowels of the theatre, someone found the main switch, and the electric lights flickered to life, dimmed by globes of opaque glass. It was the same trick they used in the Opera of Paris, to mimic the mysterious and romantic light of candles that reflected so beautifully on the ladies’ jewels.

It was a beautiful place: only a well done Baroque could manage to load such an excessive amount of decorations in a single place and not be tacky. Curls of gilded stucco glinted in the dim light, and chubby putti angels carried horns of plenty and wreaths of flowers around every balcony. The chairs in the audience had been pushed to the sides and piled up unceremoniously: they must have been there for a while, because spiderwebs had already started to festoon them.

The silence was, surprisingly, not broken by the sound of dozens of combat boots stepping on the empty wooden floor of the audience. On the contrary, it seemed to suffocate the noise, as if the theatre itself was shushing them. Nix felt the sudden urge to tell everyone to shut up and take their place. He expected at any moment to hear the discordant, and yet harmonious, soaring sound of an orchestra tuning up. It was a familiar sound that he had heard many times. His mind went back to the many concerts he had seen in his life, especially as a child: a concert was always a moment of peace, a moment when Stanhope Nixon had to shut his goddamn trap and let Nix enjoy something beautiful. Oh sure, after it Nix always had to hear him bitch about how boring these concerts were. But to Nix, the sound of an orchestra tuning up would always be a soothing sound.

There was a grand piano on the stage, quietly sitting in dignified and lonely majesty. It was easy to picture a string ensemble or a small orchestra next to it, maybe even a singer, filling the air with emotion and sound. Nix found himself walking towards it- it felt profoundly unjust that such a beautiful instrument should stay there, dusty and abandoned, as if it didn’t contain the potential for one of the few amazing things that humanity had managed to create.

“Lew?”

Dick had quietly walked over to him as he fondly stroked the sleek curve of the piano. What a beautiful thing it was, made of briar root, all mottled in various shades of warm brown, with gilded legs and edges. It was a pity that the gilding was peeling off in spots, but it gave the instrument a homely feeling.

“Look at this beauty, Dick” he sighed, as he opened the lid to peer inside. The cords seemed intact, and miraculously rust free. He propped it open and moved to the keyboard, sitting down before reverently lifting the lid and revealing the neat row of ivory and ebony keys. They were not perfectly aligned anymore and some wiggled a little- this piano had been well loved and used, before the war had forced its master to abandon it. He pressed a couple of keys experimentally- the plink-plunk of notes was startling, actually shattering the silence that had weighted on them like a wet blanket.

“You can play the piano?” asked Dick, looking at Nix in mild awe. Nix snorted.

“As much as I hate it, I do come from high society. Of course I can play the piano, Dick. It was either that, or the violin. I wish I could have picked up the pipe organ: then I could have lived in a beautiful gothic mansion while ominously playing Bach’s fugue in D minor during dark and stormy nights and wearing a dark cloak. I would be the perfect Count Dracula. All dark, mysterious and very villainous.” He placed his right hand on the keyboard, playing the first few beats of the fugue. Not bad, although the tuning was slightly off. But that was to be expected. Who knew how long it had been abandoned there, exposed to the ravages of time and war, without the care of competent hands that knew its worth! Nix was honestly surprised that it hadn’t been chopped into firewood already. He was a bit rusty and hadn’t played in a long while, but his fingers were absolutely itching to run wild on the keyboard.

Suddenly, he was aware of a shift in the atmosphere. Everyone was looking towards him- the soldier’s instinct of checking every new source of new noise kicked in no matter what. But now, the tension in the air was different. Nix had played for audiences before, and no matter how small they were, the feeling when you captured someone’s attention was very distinct. That attention was very real and tangible, like a weight on your shoulders. For a moment he was certain, absolutely certain, cross on the heart and hope to die kind of certain, that the theatre itself was alive, and Nix had just had the misfortune of capturing its full, undivided attention. It was all too easy to imagine the thousands of putti turning their little carved eyes towards the stage. It was vast, looming, and a bit more than vaguely threatening as it waited to see what he would do with the beautiful instrument.

He cleared his throat, trying to dispel the sensation and looked up at Dick, who was now leaning on the side of the piano, idly running his fingers on the polished and lacquered wood.

“Well, I’m no Rubinstein, mind you, and I’m a bit rusty. But what would you say to some serenading?” he said with a cheeky grin, knowing full well that his lover would catch the meaning underneath the joking tone. Dick smiled that soft little smile of his that always seemed to radiate comfort and warmth from within him. It was so sweet it hurt, and Nix wanted nothing more than to make him smile like that forever. He promised himself that they would have a piano someday, and maybe he’d even teach Dick to play it. He could picture them in their home, sitting side by side on a stool, as he guided Dick’s long fingers across the keyboard: it was such a sweet, domestic image that he felt his heart ache with longing.

“I would love it.” Dick said, his smile widening: there was no hint of joking in his tone.

Nix turned his attention to the keyboard, and placed his hands on the ivory keys. What should I play? He wondered, as he tested them and his own fingers with a few scales. It was a bit difficult to concentrate, with that nagging sensation of being stared at by the theatre itself- he felt his neck prickle. He repressed a shiver and shook his head. He needed to focus on Dick, not on the eerie atmosphere of this place.

He needed something sweet- this was a serenade, after all. But maybe not something overly lovey-dovey. Für Elise… nah, that was boring and overdone, and too saccharine. His next option was Moonlight Sonata, but he discarded it: even if the general gist was right (moonbeams and sweet nighttime made for a perfect ambience for a secret serenade), the piece was just on the wrong side of too dark to be romantic. Debussy was an obvious choice if he wanted the moonlight theme- or he could just take a little step further and go for one of Chopin’s Nocturnes. The one he liked best was n.2, and let’s face it- it was just perfect. Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 9 n.2 it would be, then.

He paused for a moment, focusing on the flow and ebb of the notes in his head, on Dick and all the things he wanted to say and couldn’t.

He started playing, and suddenly, it was as if the whole theatre had sighed deeply, and settled down, listening intently, no longer threatening, but still single-mindedly focused.

Dick was focusing on him, too, but at least his attention was comforting and flattering, not threatening or unsettlingly intense. He was almost languid, as he relaxed against the piano to enjoy his secret serenade to the fullest. He had his eyes closed and was swaying gently with the music, while his fingertips were pressed into the wood of the piano, intent on catching every single vibration.

Nix hoped that the vibrations could convey all the things he was feeling. The unexpected depth of his feelings for the redhead, and his gratitude to whatever higher being that Dick actually reciprocated. The fear of losing him and the nebulous fear of the future, of the “what now” when the war would be over and they would need to decide what to do with their relationship. He poured all of it and more into the music, uncaring that there were fifty other men in the room, listening. It wasn’t perfect- he missed a couple of notes here and there. But it didn’t matter.

When the last notes ended, there was a moment of stunned silence before everyone started clapping frantically, whistling and stomping. it was as if they had just witnessed the concert of the century, instead of just Nix mauling Chopin in an abandoned theatre in a bombed city in the ass crack of nowhere, Europe.

He looked up at Dick, blushing slightly. The redhead was smiling openly, his gaze soft. Maybe he hadn’t mauled it too much, then. Maybe he had managed to convey at least something.

“That was beautiful, Lew” Dick said quietly, before moving up to the stool. “What about a duet?” he proposed, sitting down. Nix had to scoot to make space for him. An expectant silence fell again in the theatre, with the boys shushing each other (Bull had to slap a hand on Luz’ mouth to forcibly subdue his cheering), but Nix ignored it in favour of exploring this new facet of Dick.

“You can play the piano?” he asked, surprised.

Dick snorted, in a mocking mimicry of Nix’ earlier reaction.

“Of course I can play, Nix,” he parroted. His long fingers splayed on the keyboard, in the wrongest position that Nix had ever seen- he probably didn’t have a formal education in music, Nix reasoned. His piano teacher, Miss Price, would have had a stroke. “Let’s see… this is one of my dad’s favourites” he said, playing a few notes.

“The Blue Danube?”

Dick nodded, smiling softly.

“May I have this waltz?” he asked, with a mischievous wink.

“Gladly, milord. You lead,” said Nix, feeling his own lips widening in an answering smile.

Dick began playing, and Nix let him go for a few beats before joining, taking his time to see what tempo Dick would set. Then he started to follow, starting an accompaniment melody with a little bit of variation thrown into it just for fun. Dick had picked up an andante pace, but it was a bit too fast for Nix’ taste: this waltz was to be savoured, not rushed.

“Slow- down- a bit” he murmured, staccating his words in time with the music. He gave Dick the correct tempo with his accompaniment.

“Just- like- that,” he said. “One-two-three, take your time with this waltz. Don’t rush it.”

Nix found himself grinning, as Dick followed his lead and their hands danced in synchrony on the keyboard: back and forth, back and forth, weaving a complex pattern, like a boat ploughing through the soft waves of the great Danube. This was a bit like dancing: they weren’t well practiced with it, and they kept bumping their elbows and hands, as if they were dancing for the first time together and kept stepping on each other’s toes.

They couldn’t dance in front of everyone- but they could do this. They could duet and make the music dance for them while they sat close on the stool, their bodies touching, and everyone else was none the wiser to the deeper meaning of it all. Dick nodded and swayed in time with the music, and he smiled whenever his gaze met Nix’.

Maybe he’d take Dick on a cruise on the Danube after the war, he decided. They would wait a bit, so maybe Europe would have time to rebuild. If the state of things on the western front was anything to go by, it would take years for the Old World to rise from its ashes.

Still, it was a beautiful dream to hang on to. He imagined himself lazily lounging with Dick on the deck of a narrowboat, while the ancient landscape of Europe passed by. It would be green and lush, hale again after the war. He could imagine Dick with a cup of ice cream and a tourist’s guide, pointing at the various landmarks.

Nix felt sorry, when the cascading notes of the final crescendo vanished in the air. He would have liked to dance on the keyboard a little longer. But they could do it again, he reasoned. Now they knew that they could dance like this, together.

He followed Dick off the stage as the redhead brushed off the thunderstorm of claps, stomps, “bravo!” and “encore!” with an embarrassed shrug, before sending the men back to their duties. He paused for a moment before exiting the theatre, peering back into the now dark hall: the silence had fallen once more. But now it didn’t feel as heavy as it had when they had first stepped in. The large, looming presence he had perceived was still there, but the threat was gone: their offering had been deemed worthy and accepted. With a shiver, he wondered what would have happened, if this hadn’t been the case.

He promised himself that he would come back and fill that silence some more. This place didn’t deserve to remain silent and empty.

Later that night, Nix was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Dick had snagged them a good billet: the room had a locking door and, ineffable luxury, a double bed. Tired as they were, they still spent an extremely pleasant half hour of slow, passionate lovemaking in the fresh sheets: Dick had felt the pressing need to show Nix just how much he had appreciated the serenade, and Nix sure hadn’t minded.

Now they laid down in a warm cocoon of blankets and limbs, with Dick pliant and boneless in Nix’ arms. It was rare that they could sleep together like this, and Nix considered it a privilege when Dick nestled himself in his arms, exhausted and sated, accepting for once to be held and protected. No one else would ever see Dick like this.

“Thanks for the dance” murmured the redhead, who was already drifting off.

“You’re very welcome” answered Nix, smiling and placing a tender kiss on his lover’s red curls. He chuckled, when he heard Dick snore lightly, and he shifted a bit, settling down. He drifted off to sleep, picturing the pair of them in a grand ballroom wearing their best dress greens and waltzing elegantly, spinning so fast that the world around them was a blur.

Someday, he thought, before sleep finally claimed him. Someday .