#for me the question is do I pick the most or least matching style...

[m-oshun]

draw your oc in outfit etc etc

[gucciwins]

something new

wembley brings love and celebration 

Word count: 5190

A/N: posting something for the first time in months (since april) and I am very excited for you to read.  please let me know what you think. I enjoyed writing and promise I'm already working on the next thing 💜 asks

_____

Wembley Stadium.

It’s a place you had heard many stories about and even attended a show in 2019 as a gift for your father to watch his favorite band, Fleetwood Mac. This entire week has been remarkable, but tonight is the final night. You are here supporting your boyfriend, Harry, and because it’s the last night, there will be a celebration after with the attendance of everyone who knows Harry from family, friends, and workers.

When you first met Harry, you didn’t know he was Harry Styles. Many people would ask how you could not recognize the Harry Styles, but when you met him, he had a full beard and hair full of messy curls. He was dressed in mini running shorts wearing a black jumper and bright running shoes. The reason you spoke to him was his shoes. This brand is known for its style of color combination and lightness in weight, making it the running shoe. You had been debating buying a pair, and his looked well-loved. It wouldn’t hurt to hear an opinion from someone who wasn’t an online user.

“Excuse me,” you called out softly behind him.

He jumps and moves away from the counter. “Sorry, was I in your way?”

You do your best not to melt hearing his deep voice; it was comforting for some odd reason. You smile and shake your head. “No, uh, actually. I’m sorry to bother you. This is actually such a silly question now.” You pause, debating walking away while you can, but he encourages you to continue. “It’s about your shoes. Are the Hoka’s worth it? The online reviews have not been able to convince me, and I’ve read too many articles at this point. Yours look like they’ve seen a few miles,” you point out.

Harry looks down at his shoes and laughs, “so they do.” He meets your eye, stepping closer and away from the counter. “I’m on my fourth pair,” he confesses sheepishly.

You wince, knowing the price for these shoes is not cheap. “Are you constantly running? Are they easily worn out?”

His face reddens, and he fiddles with his necklace. “No, uh…I like having more options to match my outfits.”

You laugh, “that makes sense.” You pause. “Does that mean picking my first pair will be harder? I saved for one pair, and my pocket will hurt if I decide to bite the bullet.”

“I debated a few choices at my computer and ultimately bought two pairs. They were orange and yellow. Bondi are a good first choice.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” You notice the barista, Lily sliding a coffee on the counter and gesturing it’s his, meaning it’s time for you to go. “Sorry for bothering you, but this was very helpful. Sorry, I never got your name. I’m Y/N.”

“Harry. It was no bother.”

You doubt that.

“Bye, Harry.” You collect your bag and walk out, knowing you were going to overthink buying these shoes, and Harry would never leave your mind.

To no surprise, you’re back at your favorite coffee shop the following day, but this time dressed in your favorite jeans and a cardigan your grandma helped you knit over the summer last year. It’s pastel pink with flowers placed randomly all over. You didn’t dress cute for a guy. You dressed cute for yourself. At least, that’s what you kept telling yourself. Lily is a good friend, and after walking your iced latte to your table, she sat down for a moment.

“Nice conversation yesterday?” She ponders.

“Mhm…nice fellow.”

“Was surprised you bothered him?”

You look at her, confused. “Was it rude of me?”

“Some would say so.”

“I’m confused. We talked about shoes. What did I do wrong?”

Lily stares at you, trying to see if you’re joking. “Y/N, be serious.”

“I am.”

She looks around, leaning closer. “You spoke to Harry Styles. Popstar sensation. Most loved man on the earth.” Lily sees you processing her words, and before you can make rebuttals, she pulls her phone out and shows you a photo of Harry, the guy you met, under a Harry Styles update page.

“Well, shit!”

“Yeah, he at least looks interested in your conversation.”

You roll your eyes, “geeze, Lily, thanks for making it seem like it’s awful to talk with me.”

“Not what I meant,” she apologizes.

“It’s fine. The beard threw me off.”

“He’s a regular here. Comes every other day.” Lily excuses herself needing to get back to work, and with that reassurance, he wouldn’t be coming in; you enjoy your coffee.

You took out your laptop and began to work while keeping an eye on the door. Pretty soon, you got deep into your research and didn’t even notice when the door chimed, signaling someone knew had entered.

“You look really focused. Are you working?” Harry had walked up to your table, startling you.

The truth was you were not working, although you should have been; it was a Wednesday morning. You feel your cheeks warm up, knowing you’ve been caught. “Won’t lie to you, Harry. I’m looking at shoes.” You turn your screen to let him see you have a page pulled up for running shoes with multiple open tabs.

Harry laughs in surprise and gestures to the empty seat to join you. You move your bag, and he happily slides in. You move your laptop closer to him, giving him a better view.

“Those are cute.” You had been looking at a lilac pair.

“Right! But look at these.”

Harry frowns when you switch the screen to display a cherry-pink design. “Now, that’s a tough choice.”

“Ugh…I know. I’ve been alternating back and forth.”

“Okay, close your eyes,” he orders.

You look at him skeptically but do as he says.

“It’s a sunny day which is just a miracle here in London,” you laugh, and he continues. “You’re out on a walk deciding where to go for the day when a stranger points out your shoe is untied. You bend down to tie it. Now what color are your shoes?”

“Purple,” you answer without thinking.

“Well, there you go.”

“That was helpful, Harry. Thank you. Are you a therapist or something?”

“In another life, I would be.”

“Well, what do you do now?” You ask, genuinely interested.

Harry looks at you, confused as if you’re really asking the question. “I sing for a living. Uh…” he feels embarrassed sharing this for some reason. “I go on stage and perform.”

You frown, looking at him closer. “From my eye level, you look like a rugged Harry Styles.”

Harry looks amused. “Rugged. Huh, I thought the beard was good.”

“It is,” you quickly agree. “Sorry, I’m used to seeing videos of him—well, you clean-shaven.”

“I’m on a break. It’s a nice way to let go.”

Right.

You were at a crossroads now because you liked Harry. He was friendly and easy to speak with, but would this new information change everything for you?

“Maybe we can go on a run when your shoes arrive?” Harry suggested.

Your eyes lit up, “really?”

“Mhmm…I like running around the park.”

“Oh, I love finding new trails,” you gushed. “I bet you have found the best-hidden roads.”

Harry shrugs, “we’ll have to see.”

“Uh… I’m sorry for not recognizing you. I don’t know if that was weird or not.” You decide to apologize.

“You’re fine, Y/N. When you came up to me, I thought you wanted a photo, but clearly, my shoes were more interesting,” he teased. “It was nice being just Harry.”

You smile sheepishly at him, “you’re still Harry to me. Feel like you’ll turn into Harry Styles when you’re clean-shaven on stage.”

“Not for a few weeks, then. I have shows in Los Angeles at the end of January,” he tells you because he wants to bask in being just Harry for a few weeks more.

“Oh, fun,” you wiggle your eyebrows at him.

“Mhmm…” Harry waits for you to ask more, but instead, you turn the conversation to his workout routine.

From then on, conversation flows easily. You tell Harry you’re the oldest of three. Two younger brothers who live to embarrass you whenever they get the chance but love when you drive them around. You tell him about your job in publishing and that you worked your way up to being an editor. It’s a job you love dearly. Harry lets you ramble on, asking questions and wanting to learn more. He learns you’re allergic to mushrooms. Your first tattoo was a cherry you got at eighteen on an impulsive night out. That you’re the only family member in generations to be born left-handed.

Harry shares that he loves to travel because it gives him a place to miss and come home. He loves his sister and calls her his best friend. That he’s too competitive and loves a long game of Scrabble. He dreams of having a pet dog but does not want to commit when his life is on the road. You mention your family dog, Woodstock, named after the iconic yellow bird from the Peanuts comics. A yellow Labrador who runs up to strangers, always asking for belly rubs. You promise to take him to visit.

Your friendship with Harry grew from there. You would meet most mornings outside the coffee shop for a run and then for a coffee that turned into hours of conversation. You liked Harry and reckoned you liked him more than a friend, but there was no way you would change that dynamic and instead settle to be his friend. When Harry showed up one day clean-shaven, you were taken aback because it made him look younger, and it was as if you were seeing him for the first time.

“Don’t recognize me anymore,” he teases.

“I could spot those green eyes in a sea of people,” you promise him.

Come April, a shift in your dynamic happened. Harry wanted you to work out with him and his trainer. You thought he was crazy, but really Harry was dying for you to meet his friends. They couldn’t stop teasing him that you were made up.

“Harry!”

You both turned and found a man in a white shirt and shorts, similar to Harry, approaching you. Harry welcomed him in a hug before going to stand next to you. “This is Y/N. Y/N, Brad.”

Brad shot you a smile, “pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well.”

“It’s nice to put a face to a name. He can’t shut up about you,” Brad confesses.

“Oi! Stop that.” Harry frowns, but you can tell he doesn’t mind.

You end up having the worst workout of your life. Brad, not taking a moment of pity for you until he finally called it quits an hour later. You threw yourself on the grass, closed your eyes, and took slow breaths. You heard Harry laughing above you but did not acknowledge him.

“Come on, petal. I’ll buy you a coffee,” Harry offered.

You peeked one eye open, “and a scone?”

“I’ll get you all the goods you want,” Brad chimes in. “You were a trooper out there.”

“Fuck, I never want to work out with you again,” you huff.

“Don’t think we will if he has a say,” Brad points to Harry. “Never seen him so angry.”

“She’s my friend. Didn’t want to explain her death to her parents.”

After that, it seemed you only saw more of each other until one night at your home, Harry made a move you didn’t see coming. After the film finished, Harry turned serious.

“Y/N?”

“Harry, what is it?” You ask, concerned.

“I like you.”

You sigh in relief, “gosh, you scared me. I like you too, silly. You’re my best friend.”

Harry shakes his head. “You’re not listening to me.”

“Heard you loud and clear.”

He sighs, frustrated. “These last few months as your friend have been amazing. I feel so lucky you approached me to talk about shoes. While I enjoy being your friend every time we get together, these feelings I have continue to grow, and I can no longer keep them to myself. I like you, and I want to see where this goes.”

You sit there shocked because you never expected Harry to reciprocate your feelings, but he is pouring his heart out for you. “Harry,” you breathed out. “I-I-I like you too. I have for some time, but I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Me either, but Brad said a person as amazing as you would not wait around for me.”

You laugh, “tell him I’m a fool because I think I would have waited a lifetime for you.”

“I know it’s too soon to ask you to be my girlfriend seeing as we haven’t been on a date, but—”

You interrupt him. “Why can’t we say this is our first date? If we think about it, every time we have spent together could be considered a date.”

“Do you end a first date with a kiss?” He asks sheepishly.

“Only if it’s you,” you promise him.

When your wine-stained lips meet his, you feel a wave of peace surround you knowing that it might be soon, but the universe sent Harry to you. He was your other half. He made you better. You pulled him closer, loving the closeness this kiss brought you. Harry sighed, ending the kiss. You went in for a second kiss needing more of him for a little longer.

“Petal, baby. I’m here,” he spoke against your lips.

You giggled out of breath. “Sorry, I think I like you a little too much.”

Harry leaned his forehead against you. “I feel the same.”

“Good, let’s kiss some more and then have a sleepover.”

“Don’t you think it’s too soon, petal?” Harry asked.

You frowned, “you slept here two nights ago.”

Harry sighed, “you’re right.”

It wasn’t until a week later you made it official. Life was perfect, and you were happy. Harry knew starting a relationship as he began touring wasn’t the smartest option, but he was close to home and promised to check in at every chance. In each city he visited, he picked up a souvenir for you as a reminder he was thinking of you. It was cheesy, but he wrote you postcards from each city because even though they wouldn’t arrive quickly, they would remind you of him when you did receive them. It only made you like him more and knew you were falling in love quickly. There was no stopping it.

While you joined him at his special show at Slane Castle, you didn’t have the chance to meet many of his family, mainly only the band. They welcomed you with open arms, and how Harry never stops talking about you. It made you nervous. You hoped to live up to his words because these people and his band members meant the world to Harry.

____

Now being here to celebrate four sold-out nights at Wembley, it felt overwhelming knowing Harry’s entire family and friends from his childhood would be here. You’ve known Harry for months but loved him like he’s always been yours. It was a joyous day, but even that wouldn’t take away your nerves for the final night of seeing Harry shine on stage.

“No one is going to believe I didn’t recognize you when we first met,”  you tell him as the driver drove down a road that arrives at the back of Wembley, away from the crowd.

“Course they will.”

You give him a deadpan look, “you’re basically the face of the UK. A prince, some would say.” You sit up and clear your throat. “Oh, how’d we meet. Well, I met him at a coffee shop and asked him about his shoes.” You rolled your eyes, “sounds fake to me.”

“Good thing it’s the truth. Plus, I thought you were cute. Would have never worked up the courage to walk up to you, though.”

“Stop. You’re only saying that.”

“Nope, I mean it. Brad and the band like you.”

“I hope they do,” you muttered. “Only people I’ve met now. I’m meeting everyone.”

“You met Mum and Gem,” Harry reminds you. “Spent time with them for three nights.”

You sigh because, for a moment, you feel Harry doesn’t understand how overwhelming this is. Everyone here knows Harry. They know Harry from Holmes Chapel, and they know the amazing person he is. You feel happy to know and love him, but they’ve got a lifetime of Harry, and you’ve got months. It differs for everyone because you would move mountains to ensure he was happy. Except, everyone doesn’t know that. They don’t know you.

“Y/N, petal will you look at me,” he begs softly.

You take a deep breath and allow yourself to meet his emerald eyes. Harry takes in the worry shining bright, and smiles. “Petal, I love you. I know you love me. You remind me every moment we’re together and when I’m away. I don’t doubt it. My family knows you, maybe not your physical form, but they have heard stories and seen endless pictures. They will love you because I love you. If you get overwhelmed, you can always sit back and watch, they’ll understand. Most importantly, I will understand. I wish I could hold you as Mum introduces you to everyone. I told her to hold off, but she’s excited. Brad will be on the floor, and I know you enjoy that. You’re in safe hands.”

“I love you. Thank you. I know it’s your day, and I’m making it all about me.”

Harry shushes you, “hey, hey. We’re a team. Your feelings are just as important as mine. Now give me a kiss.”

You loved him, simple as that. He was the missing piece in your life.

___

The show was like no other. Harry, from the moment he got on stage, radiated happiness. The fans were the loudest they had been all week, filling you with so much joy. Anne told you to join her at the family box, but you decided to be on the floor as close to Harry as possible by the Jonny pod; you noticed Harry favored the side more, knowing his dear friend was in the audience tonight. From surprise songs to dancing and Mitch receiving his Grammy, you knew it would be a night you would never forget. As Harry began his encore with “Sign of the Times,” the rain started falling, and so did your tears. The fact that over 90 thousand people were here for Harry said enough. They chose to spend their evening with him, and he delivered to make it memorable.

You didn’t even notice that Brad captured a photo of you staring at Harry on stage with a giant smile and hands over your heart you would only see later when Harry made it his lock screen. Harry thanks the crowd for a magical night stating over and over again that he’s never been happier.

Brad wraps an arm around you and walks you towards Harry, who’s sharing long hugs and meaningful words with his bandmates. This is the man you love, and there’s nothing you’d change about it. You followed Harry to the dressing room, wanting a moment alone before the madness. Harry bounces around quickly to change, removing the overalls and shimming them down his waist. He slips on shorts, throws on a random shirt, and puts on his new Adidas Love on Tour sweater with his initials.

You lean against the door admiring him in all his glory. He didn’t bother for a shower, too eager to see everyone.

“I’m proud of you,” you whisper. “I know it might not mean much, but I am.”

Harry pauses, finishes tying his shoe, and walks over to you. He stops before you, his hands finding a home on your cheeks. “It means the world. Don’t ever think it doesn’t. We might only have been together for two months, but my heart has loved you my entire life. You being here is enough. I could feel your love from the stage.”

He connects your lips together, and you melt against him. Harry breathes life into you, and you never want him to stop. “I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, Harry. So much.”

“Good. Let’s go mingle.” You move away from the door and make your way outside when he tugs you back in. “Forgot one last thing.”

He hurries over to his bag, pulls out an identical sweater, and hands it to you. You accept it moving and look it over. Your eyes quickly find your initials on the right side, similar to his.

“Harry—this isn’t necessary.”

Harry shrugs, “it was your idea.”

You don’t fight him as he slips off your red leather jacket and helps you slip on the thin material. He fixes the collar making sure none of your hair is tucked under. Harry decides you look good, giving you a pat on the butt. “Now we can go.”

Harry held your hand as you walked over to the area Jeff had set up for the celebration. He mentioned there would be another location later in the night, but it would be good to let the crowds outside die out. On your walk over, Harry told you about outfits and signs he saw in the crowd. How overwhelmed he came when the rain came down. He felt at home.

You expressed how much fun you had, told Harry how Jeff and Tommy taught you the boot scoot during “Treat People,” and assured him many videos of your failed attempt were taken. Harry paused outside the door where you could hear the loud chatter, and you knew what was waiting for you behind those doors. Harry shoots you a look, and you give him a reassuring smile letting him know it’s okay to go in.

The cheers are loud when the man of the hour walks in. Everyone was quick to gather around him. You try to sneak away, but his grip on your hand stays tight. Every person who thanks him, he makes sure to introduce you.

“Love, go celebrate. It’s alright. I’ll be fine,” you tell him in a low voice.

Harry shakes his head, instead kissing you and pulling you along to meet and chat with new people. You felt a bit overwhelmed, but everyone has been so sweet. They asked where you were from? Scotland. What was your job? An editor. How did you meet? Coffee Shop. How proud were you? Immensely.

You kept trying to hang back, but Harry seemed to notice when you drifted away. He would kiss you and ask for your input in the conversation. You told him you were getting a drink and would be back momentarily, except you got a vodka cranberry and hid in a corner. Harry found you when your drink was half gone.

“Babyyy,” he called out. “Missed you.”

You felt your cheeks heat up as he wrapped himself around you. He moved you away from the wall, making you face the crowd, his hands around your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder.

“I love you,” he whispered.

You lean against him, happy to be wrapped in his arms, feeling safe. “I love you, bub.”

Harry takes a sip of your drink and hums at the bitterness of the cranberry. He knows you’re a social drinker because it allows you to relax and not be as anxious. You and Harry get lost in your world as you let him talk your ear off. He tells you about people around the room, who they are, and how they’ve helped them. Surprisingly, Harry can name everyone in the room, though it shouldn’t shock you much. It’s just the type of person he is.

Your boyfriend is an affectionate person. He loves having a hand on the small of your back or your hand in his. He wants to be close because he says he wants makeup when he’s away. Some would say it makes him look clingy, but lucky for you, you love his touch; it’s comforting. You could feel his smile against your skin as he planted kisses on your face.

Even while in your corner, people come up to you. When they see Harry begin to kiss your shoulder or whisper in your ear, they excuse themselves. You can’t help but feel you are keeping Harry from celebrating with everyone, not realizing he’s happy to celebrate with you in his arms.

“Harry! Sue!” Is yelled from across the room. You see a short, dirty-haired blonde yell and wave for him, but Harry is too busy peppering kisses all over your neck to realize.

“Bubby, love. They’re calling for you.”

He hums against your neck. “I’m perfect here.”

You sigh because the yelling continues, and you’re starting to feel overwhelmed because he’s not celebrating. Instead, Harry is ensuring you’re not nervous, which seems like the most boring job in the world. He should be taking shots with friends and telling stories about the last four nights.

“Go on, I’ll be right behind you,” you promise him.

Harry tightens his hold on you, “baby, you sure?”

“Yes, no go. I’ll even bring you a drink.”

“Te–”

“Tequila neat,” you tease. “I know you.”

Harry pecks your lips once, twice, and a third time before making his way across the room, but not before looking over his shoulder one last time at you. You shoot him a wink and exaggerate, looking at his bum and making him laugh. He moves his hips a little extra just for you. As Harry easily falls into the conversation, you use this moment as an opportunity for a breather.

You were alone for around five minutes when you heard footsteps coming your way. You were in a corridor that led you out to the stage if you continued walking down but stopped halfway, knowing no one would come this way. You were wrong.

Harry is who you expected to see, but to your surprise, it’s Gemma, his older sister.

“Hi,” you greet softly. The conversations with Gemma have been short, but from what you can tell, she’s wise beyond her years and always ready to listen.

“You okay?” She asks, straight to the point.

“A bit loud,” you gesture towards the hallway where the music can still be heard.

She nods, “I get that.” Gemma looks around before moving to stand next to you shoulder to shoulder. “Are you okay?” She asks again.

You sigh, “I—i-i.”

“A bit much for a family gathering.”

“A bit,” you exhale, knowing Gemma understands what you might be feeling.

“It’s the perfect opportunity, I feel. I did forget how overwhelming it was. I don’t even remember my boyfriend’s first family gathering.”

“Are you saying I won’t remember this in a few years?”

“Oh, you’re never forgetting tonight.” She smirks, “unless you keep drinking.”

You scrunch your nose at the thought. “Better not.”

The two of you stand in silence, and you know it’s because Gemma is giving you a minute to gather your thoughts.

“I just—I love Harry. I do. I hope you don’t doubt that, but I don’t know how to celebrate when you’ve all been here for him every step of the way. Year after year.”

Gemma deflates, “oh, Y/N.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have—” Gemma cuts you off.

“It’s okay,” she assures you. “It’s difficult because of his job, not because of who he is. But trust me when I say he loves you.” Gemma’s words are firm, and you believe her. As an older sister, you would do anything to protect your siblings but never lie to someone important.

“Harry talks about you every chance he gets. Did you know Y/N ran a marathon? She’s swam with sharks in a reservation center. Y/N’s CPR certified. She edited and helped publish five number-one books this year,” Gemma rambles off. “We all know so much because he’s proud and wants to share it with those close to him.”

“I-I didn’t know.” You let all of this process, but it’s a shock because some of the things Gemma listed mean nothing, but clearly, to him, mean everything.

“Everyone in that room,” Gemma points over her shoulder, “knows who you are and what you mean to him.”

“Everyone?” You whisper. It doesn’t feel real. You’d never been so loved, and it might be why you’re feeling overwhelmed because he wants to bask in your love. It’s not a show; it’s simply his way of showing he loves you in front of everyone he cares about.

“Celebrate how you want but know all we want is to see him happy. It’s clear as day that you make him happy. This is the happiest I’ve seen him, and it’s because of you. Maybe even happier than selling out Wembley.”

“Thank you, Gemma.” She hugs you tight, and it’s so familiar yet different from Harry’s. His is light and full of love, while Gemma’s is tight and warm. “He wrote you a beautiful song.” You’re referring to “Sweet Creature,” which he dedicated to her tonight.

“It’s a special one. Don’t worry. I hear you’ll be getting yours soon enough,” she teases. “I’ll see you inside.”

A few seconds later, someone else joins you. It’s as if your body knows who it is without seeing them because you feel the familiar flutter in your stomach as his smell wraps around you.

“Baby, where did you go?” Harry whines. Baby is a term of endearment that comes out a lot when he’s had more than one to drink. It’s your favorite during these times.

“I’m here,” you open your arms, and he happily falls in your embrace. “I’m proud of you, love.” You run a hand through the back of his head, keeping him close.

“Thank you, baby.”

“Like really proud. You’re so loved. What you do is incredible. I feel so lucky to be able to love you.”

Harry pulls back, and you see his beautiful eyes glistening with tears threatening to fall soon. “I love you.”

You press your lips against his and put all your love into the kiss. You wish you could spend the rest of the night kissing him, but there is more celebrating to do. Harry doesn’t let you pull away, instead deepening the kiss. You melt against him, forgetting your worries and enjoying this moment with him. A moment only for the two of you to remember.

“Let’s keep celebrating, my love,” you whisper against his lips.

“Still nervous?” He checks.

“Only a smidge.”

Harry smiles, “that’s okay. I’ll hold your hand.”

“You won’t let go?”

“Never,” he promises.

As you return to the party holding tight to his hand, he asks an important question. “Can I keep kissing you?”

Your laugh rings loud, echoing through Harry’s heart. You bring your hand up to rest at the back of his neck and pull him down for a kiss. “As much as you like.”

[delimeful]

failed bounties and fresh bonds (3)

G/T July Day 14: Instrument

warnings: dehumanization, mild blood, threats, captivity, child endangerment, lmk if i missed any

-

Roman was in the midst of perusing the brightly-colored wares at a market stall when he overheard the quiet conversation.

He hadn’t actually planned to stay in town for so long, but the innkeeper had mentioned the weekly market and he’d found himself wondering if maybe there were any toys or other entertaining items being sold there.

He’d be a poor excuse for an uncle if he didn’t even bring back any gifts for his treasured nephew, after all!

(And maybe if he picked the perfect one, he’d make some actual progress on getting in Virgil’s good graces. Or at least having the kid be even a little less terrified of him!)

It was at least worth looking, he decided, even if such a detour was a bit of a distraction from his journey. He would be in and out, easy as that.

Except one stall had pointed out another, which had led to another and so on, and before he knew it, half the morning had gone by. And he still hadn’t picked out a gift!

Before he could commit one way or the other, hurried whispering from the nearby corner caught his ear. He was a knight, which meant all his senses were keenly trained to pick up trouble. And mutterings about a monster? That most certainly sounded like trouble.

“Pardon me,” he started, cutting into the hushed argument with a dazzling smile. “As a knight of the realm, I’d be happy to help you out with your little monster problem! No bounty hunters necessary.”

“It’s not a little problem,” one of the townsfolk grumbled, while the other eyed Roman speculatively.

“You’ll get rid of it without charging us?” she asked bluntly, earning a glare from her companion.

Roman nodded, used to the question. “Such is the responsibility of a knight of these lands.”

“It’s not something we need to get rid of!” the first stranger interrupted with a scowl. “It’s powerful, it could be devastating on a battlefield. Your king should be buying it from us.”

“Oh, shut it,” the woman snapped. “You can’t get that beast to do anything but growl and hide away, and I want it out of here before the town becomes its next casualty!”

The man wheeled around to face her, his face purpling, but before they could start bickering again, Roman stepped forward.

“Why don’t you take me to where the monster is, first?” he said, patting the hilt of his sword reassuringly. “I won’t be able to decide anything without seeing it.”

The pair subsided with matching grumbles, and before long, they were walking down a small, overgrown path outside of the town, one that slowly curved into the rockier forest area that surrounded it.

It was interesting that he couldn’t find a trace of fear on either of his guides, even as they grew closer to where the alleged beast was. Wariness and irritation, sure, but none of the true terror that so often came with seeing one of the monsters of this land.

Roman didn’t think it was an ambush or trap, either. Perhaps they’d simply caught a particularly large wolfdog and gotten overexcited?

“Here we are,” the man said, his vexed expression fading away in favor of excitement, like a child showing off a new toy.

They’d reached the wide mouth of a cave, one that was squat and shallow, but still deep enough to house something large. There was nothing in sight.

“Are we supposed to venture inside…?” Roman hazarded, not too keen on the idea. His dislike of dark spaces aside, cramped quarters were the worst place for his favored style of combat.

The woman snorted. “Not unless you want to be bitten in half. Just wake it up already.”

The latter sentence was directed at the man, who scowled darkly at her before pulling an engraved bit of metal from his pocket. From a single glance at the intricate symbols and embedded stones, Roman assumed it was an enchanted magical instrument of some kind.

The woman shot him an assessing glance, as though to see if he had any negative response to the item, but he only met her gaze evenly, unperturbed.

His brother had wrangled the magic of his curse into its own kind of witchcraft at ten years old. Roman would be a hypocrite to believe that all forms of enchantment were designed to harm.

He had something of a bad feeling in his gut, though, and it only worsened as he watched the man press a thumb down against the sharp edge of the tool, pricking his finger to activate the device with his blood.

There was a pause as the man waited expectantly, and then frowned, before tightening his grip on the tool and yanking it through the air, as though pulling at an invisible cord.

With a muffled cry, something huge tumbled out of the cave into the light. Roman took a step back, feeling the color drain from his face.

That was not a wolfdog.

His attention caught on the identifying details first— the horns, the scales, the horizontal pupils, the wings— and he knew that this was a dragon, shifted into a more humanoid form (if admittedly one that was still dragon-sized).

In the next moment, Roman’s eyes settled onto the face beneath the mythical features, and his heart dropped like a stone. That was a child’s face, round-cheeked and crumpled up in distress.

Sure, it was a child big enough to grind his bones to a paste in one swat, but that didn’t change the fact that he was seeing a kid in tears. A kid that happened to be awfully similar to his recently acquired nephew.

They were alike in more ways than one, he realized as his gaze dropped down to the thick metal cuffs that were wrapped around all four of the child’s limbs. They had no chains binding them together— or rather, no visible chains. The engravings visible on the metal were telling enough as to just what that enchanted instrument was connected to.

“Where did you get that tool?” he asked, dizzy with the shock of such a scene.

The man preened, mistaking Roman’s alarm for interest. “Impressive, isn’t it? Some idiot sold it to me for cheap.”

The only ones skilled enough to get cuffs like these on a dragon shifter were mercenaries, who were known for being demanding barterers. More likely than not, that ‘idiot’ had been pawning off a stolen good, hoping to pass on the consequences of crossing a mercenary guild to an unlucky buyer.

Roman remembered the faded scars on Virgil, and felt a boiling hot fury bubbling up in him. He took a step forward, expression dark, and the kid flinched away and huddled down. The motion was enough to send a shock of horror down his spine, dousing the worst of his impulsive anger.

Right. Get the kid out safe first, deal with scumbags later.

“This is certainly a dangerous creature,” he lied through grit teeth, and then held out a hand. “You were right to take me up on my services. I can take it from here.”

The man recoiled, holding the tool tighter. “I know something valuable when I see it, and clearly, so do you. It would be stupid of me to part with it without getting something for my time.”

Roman turned to look at the child again, trying to repress the hot anger bubbling in his chest. The kid wasn’t even watching them discuss their fate, eyes scrunched up tightly and hands twitching like they would have covered their ears, too, if their wrists weren’t still locked in place.

He had left to avoid inflicting more distress on a traumatized child, and yet here he stood, doing exactly that yet again. Roman grimaced, and then asked himself a question that almost never led him anywhere good: What would Remus do?

Turning slowly, he met the man’s eyes, set a hand on the pommel of his sword, and grinned.

“It would be stupider,” he said, slow and menacing, “to demand anything from me when I’m the one fixing your little problem in the first place.”

The man lost some of his confidence, wavering.

“If you’d prefer to lose a hand along with it, by all means keep hanging on,” Roman added, almost conversationally. “I’m sure even the bite of my blade would feel like tender mercy compared to the wrath that will fall upon you if the mercenaries that caught this beast find out you’re the one who stole that key.”

“Give it to him,” the woman snapped, expression hard and hunted.

Knowing what terror she’d sat by and abided, Roman couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad.

“Fine!” the man spat, throwing the tool at his feet. “Take it and go!”

The woman, keener on the uptake, grabbed him by the crook of his arm the moment the key hit the dirt, and yanked him back down the path from where they’d come.

Roman obviously wasn’t actually going to use the tool to make the kid attack them, for a very large range of reasons, but he wasn’t going to correct the misconception if it got them away from him and the kid quicker.

He leaned down to scoop the key up, grimacing at the glint of blood still visible on it, and then turned to look at the kid.

They quickly shuttered the eye they’d been peeking out of back closed, immediately curling in tighter and bracing themself.

“Dear child,” Roman said, sorrow heavy in his heart. “Can you look at me for a moment?”

There was a pause, the kid twitching in surprise, and then a slow reappearance of those big blue eyes.

“Hello there,” he greeted, keeping his voice soft. “I don’t know you, but I have a nephew that you remind me very much of. I’m sorry for speaking so harshly before, but I’d like to help you, if you’ll let me.”

“Help me?” the kid echoed in a large whisper, and then winced as though waiting for a strike to land.

“Yes,” Roman replied, once he was confident that he’d ironed the last traces of the fury he felt out of his voice. “Do you know how I could remove these cuffs from you?”

The kid’s eyes went impossibly wider. “Really?” they whispered.

Roman nodded firmly. “Really, truly.”

Their bottom lip wobbled, and Roman felt a sense of despair at what was turning out to be a month that proved him extremely inept with children, only for them to blink back the tears and keep speaking in that hushed voice.

“I don’t know how to remove ‘em, but I— I know if you get all the blood off, I can move my hands around normal again," they offered, watching him with an unsettling intensity, eyes lit with the tentative hope of a starved dog.

Roman pulled his canteen from his hip immediately, untwisting the lid with his teeth and promptly dumping the contents over the metal’s surface. The worst of the blood was washed away, and he dragged out a part of his undershirt to wipe off the remaining stain.

He couldn't deny a bit of apprehension, but rather than try and attack him or otherwise lash out, the kid only pulled their hands to their chest and curled over them protectively, the mingled stress and relief so visible on their face that Roman felt his own chest ache in sympathy.

“May I know your name, dear child?” he asked, pushing away his automatic nervousness as they shifted to sit up to their full height.

“Oh!” the child gasped, seemingly shocked that they’d only just recalled their manners despite the situation. “M’name is Patton, nice to meet you!”

“Well, Patton Nicetomeetyou,” Roman responded in jest, relief sweeping over him when the kid smiled, “You may call me Roman.”

He swept into a dramatic bow, adding the silliest flourishes in his repertoire, and Patton laughed, a soft, watery chuckle. The longer they spoke without being punished, the more they uncurled, slowly, like a flower blooming.

“If I may?” Roman asked, reaching a hand out.

He thought for a moment that the child would refuse— Virgil certainly refused any and all direct contact with him— but Patton only hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out, hovering their considerably larger hand in front of him.

“For you,” he vowed, and set the instrument on Patton’s fingertips. “Until we find a way to get those accursed cuffs off, you should be the only one to possess that device.”

Patton’s fingers drew back the moment they recognized the tool, inhaling sharply as they curled their fist around it. They sniffled slightly, but they were smiling again, as though they couldn’t help the surprised delight, so Roman didn’t feel entirely useless.

“My brother, Remus, knows much more about magecraft than I do. I would be honored if you would accompany me to his home. He may be strange,” Roman paused, and then emphasized, “very, very strange, but he’ll do what he can to help.”

Patton was nodding almost before he’d finished speaking, eyes still red-rimmed. “I can’t go home until I know nobody can make me hurt anyone,” they said firmly. “I wanna meet your weird brother, please.”

Now there was a sentence he almost never heard. With any luck, Remus would know what to do, or even Virgil, though Roman would be loath to ask anything that reminded his nephew of whatever horrors lurked in his past.

“Then meet him you shall! I’ll retrieve my horse from town, and we can be off!” Roman replied heartily, his own spirits lifted by Patton’s determination.

He wouldn’t have time to pick up a gift for Virgil, but that was alright. Roman got the feeling that his current endeavor was something his nephew would have valued more, anyhow.

[mayajadewrites]

I Wish I Hated You (Levi Ackerman x Reader)

summary: You don't do second chances. Especially after you gave your heart to Levi Ackerman, and he decided to throw it away so the next person has to repair the damage. Will Levi put his ego aside and finally admit his feelings for you are far deeper than you imagined? Or is a second chance out of the question?

warnings: eventual smut, this is a slow burn

ao3

C H A P T E R F O U R : B E N E F I T S

It's been over 2 months now since your breakup. 2 months of trying to heal, 2 months of trying to rebuild yourself and the idea that you don't need Levi to survive.

You've started to get dressed again - making sure you spend time on self care and actually caring about your appearance. Work has been the same, the coffee shop has become one of your safe havens honestly. It's like your worries fade away when you walk through the door and you can live a different life than the one outside.

You're about to clock out from your opening shift when Hange strolls in.

"Hi my love!" Hange leaned on the counter, tapping her fingers. "I have someone I want to set you up with." 

"Hange..." You raised your eyebrow. "I don't need to be set up with anyone."

"You need to get laid." Hange doubled down. "If anything, you'll have a little fun. What's wrong with that!" 

You stare at Hange for a moment. You haven't thought of laying in a bed with anyone else besides Levi. You can't imagine someone else touching your skin, caressing your curves, taking care of you in every way to make sure you reach that high.

It has to happen eventually. 

"Fine. Who is it?"

"Great! It's this cute intern at my job. He seems fun and young." 

"I'm 29 years old Hange, please tell me he's old enough to drink." 

"Oh yes of course! He's 23." 

You press your palm to your forehead. "I don't want anything serious. I would want just something casual." 

"Well then hopefully he doesn't fall in love with you! Are you done with work?"

"I am." You slide your apron off, pressing buttons on the register to clock out. "Do you want something before I leave?"

"I'll never say no to coffee." 

- 

Hange has the intern text you, turns out his name is Jean. Hange sent a picture of him to you before he text you - he's not Levi, that's for sure. He's cute though. He has light brown hair with brown eyes to match. He's a lot taller than Levi, which means he's a lot taller than you. 

Jean seems to be on the same type of time as you. He doesn't want anything serious, only fun. He's funny and sends you good morning and good night texts. Seemingly the perfect friend with benefits. 

Jean invites you out to a club on Friday night with him and his friends, which includes Mikasa. This eases your anxiety since you'll know at least one person there. 

Jean: It's all my work friends. I'm sure you know most of them.

You: It'll be nice to see them. Is Hange going?

Jean: I don't think Hange ever says no to drinks. 

When Friday rolls around, you cause a tornado in your closet looking for an outfit. You pick out a lacy corset top with jeans that hug your curves, and a pair of square toe black heels. Your hair is styled half up, half down with some of your hair framing your face. You add glittery lipgloss as the cherry on top of the look, carefully tracing over your lips as you look in the mirror.

This is the first time you're actually hanging out with Jean. It's also the first time in a long time that you're going clubbing. 

You take a picture in your full length mirror and send it to Hange for approval.

Hange: Holy SHIT!! You look hot! Jean won't be able to keep his hands off you. Be prepared to take him home ;)

You: That's why I took an everything shower. Lol.

You grab your purse and call your uber to head to the club. It's 10:30 PM - Jean said he was going to be there around 10 and you wanted to be late but not too late to where he thinks he's being stood up. 

-

You walk into the club and immediately spot Hange at the bar dancing like no one is watching. You smile to yourself as you tap her on her shoulder. 

"You made it!!" Hange practically jumped on you to hug you. "Jean is right there." She pointed.

You make your way to where Jean was standing, which was in a circle with Mikasa, Eren, and a few others. 

"Hey!" Jean gave you a light hug, his eyes tracking your movements. "You look amazing." 

"Thank you." You smile before looking at Mikasa. "Hi you!" 

"You never come out!" Mikasa said. "I'm so happy Jean got you out. Eren's grabbing me a drink, he'll love to see you!"

Jean introduced you to the rest of the group: Armin, Connie, Sasha, Reiner and Annie.

Jean got you a drink and stood close to you as the music blared. The group talked about work projects coming up and how stressful they are. Jean's hand snaked around your waist, pulling you a bit closer to him. He smells good - he definitely bought a strong cologne for this occasion. You lean into him, letting your ass graze over his pelvis.

You both start to move to the beat, now Jean's face is in your neck. He kisses your skin gently as his hips move in time with yours. The liquor starts to course through your veins, giving you more courage. You spin yourself around to face Jean, planting a kiss on his lips. His right hand lays on your cheek as he continues kissing you, his pinky moving back and forth on your skin. 

You let your body mend with Jean's, letting yourself have this moment. You haven't kissed anyone but Levi in years and this new pair of lips are taking care of you. Jean is fun. Jean is happy. 

You pull away for a moment to take a sip of your drink, watching Jean's eyes trail over your curves. You smile at him until you hear a familiar voice.

"Where is she?" Guess who.

"You're such a cock block." Hange rolls her eyes. "She's having FUN. Leave her alone." 

"This was your idea wasn't it four eyes." His voice is getting closer. "Ah, my lovely staff." 

You turn to see Levi, dressed in a grey sweater, blank pants and a pair of brand new sneakers. Erwin isn't far behind him. 

"Oh, boss!" Jean waves and then puts his hand back on your hip.

Oh shit. He doesn't know you dated Levi. Did no one warn him?

Levi's eyes went straight to Jean's hand. If looks could kill, Jean would be dead. 

Mikasa and Eren looked at each other - the only two besides Erwin and Hange that know of yours and Levi's relationship. 

Levi's eyes fall to you and you swear you can see fire in them. You lean your ass back into Jean, letting your head fall on his chest. 

"Hi Levi." 

[just-a-drawing-bean]

I love your art lots and I love hearing people talk about their art so I'm asking some of my dca moots a bunch of fun art questions, no obligation of course

What is the art piece you are proudest of?

2. What is the art piece you've spent the most effort/time on?

3. What art did you spend the least amount of effort on?

4. What art piece/pieces has crazy lore that you could spend days explaining?

5. What piece is so completely different from your usual style?

If you want tag an artist who you also want to see answer these questions feel free to though of course no obligation

Aw thank you!!! This is interesting ok hmmm the proudest piece is hard to pick because a lot of the other ones in this post I'm proud of but I guess this one. I had a lot of fun designing him and making him a silly little angry fish. I want to draw him more.

A piece I spent the most time and effort, apart from an animation, I'd say this one. It took a while to draw the flowers and pick out the correct colors since I was going for a particular art look. the fact that I drew this from an ask lmao, I got mega inspired by the suggestion.

Ha, what piece did I spend the least amount of time? oh boy I do a lot of low quality doodles and fast art but a more finished piece that was fast would be Fornite Eclipse because I literally speedran that and my friends kept me on a timer lmao although I did go back to shade a little. But an actual fast doodle is something in like under a min like this sun or something drawn in gartic phone which has a timer.

something with a lot of lore.... its not my lore but i could talk about the story and characters of Sleuth Jesters all day... <333

Something that is way out of style is the Spiderverse boys since its trying to match that comic colorful energetic style. very fun tho

[russetruse]

I know I don’t post writings here often, but I wanted to write something for @lizadale’s Dimigi!au. I don’t know Libby if you dream about the Dimigi!au but sometimes I do. I blame you sis. But also I added a lot more since you read the smaller version, enjoy almost 3k words on only part one of many.

Sorry it is written in 2nd person, but I blame Libby for getting me to only function in this style of writing but I can’t seem to write in any other prospective anymore lol.

I color coded characters, but what sucks is that this one doesn’t have black so I can’t use one of my original colors for characters speak. So the color I planned for one character had to move to the heart and the hearts color was originally black >:[ But I hope you enjoy.

Calamitous Revelry

Part I

Luigi Prov

CW/TW: Trauma, abuse, triggers on abuse, mentions on drowning/strangulation

You run your fingers through his greasy, tangled hair. Every time he goes on a mission, it seems he neglects basic bodily functions. The longer he’s off on one of his Merloo missions, the more worried you become. It brings you back to the days of the Castle, how he only seemed to eat when the other members were shoving food in his face at the required meetings. Even back then, his mask didn’t hide much from you. He had long given up before joining that group. It just frustrated you so much, he puts his own well being always being last on his list.

”Can you be more gentle?” He spoke very softly, but the voice cuts through the silence. His fragile, small body, leaning against the frame of the claw foot bathtub. It knots your stomach seeing him like this. Why did he always do this? Why was being away from you for any extended amount of time so collapsing to his mental state? Were you the only thing keeping him from self-destructing?

”Sorry. You really knotted your hair this time. I am trying my best to be gentle.” You reply softly, not wanting to cause him to jump and flee. This was close to being just as bad as when you found him almost dead in the deteriorating remains of Castle Bleck. Dimentio being caked in blood and dirt. You were hardly able to handle how much came off of him then, but even this was trying to match up to that day. Right now, the bath water was darker than your tan skin. You click your tongue, a Dio habit that you had seemed to pick up sometime throughout the course of living with him. Very glad that you had rolled up your sleeves above your elbows before even starting to wash him. And the water being this dirty before you even started to actually scrub his body! You click your tongue again in annoyance and frustration.

You knew Dimentio wanted to teleport away. Especially after he walked into the house. Well walked was even an understatement. He half floated, half dragged his feet across the threshold when he opened the door to your entrance. You swore he was going to collapse there in the entrance if you hadn’t been there to grab him and hold him with your own weight.

What shocked you more was the jester actually complained as you fondled him in worry, going down your own checklist in your head as you did so. First, checking him for injuries since he did have some blood caked on his clothes, and you weren’t sure if that blood was his or another’s. Which raised even more questions that you knew he wouldn’t divulge answers to you. So giving up on even prying into the matter, you scoop him up bridal style, and rush him up the stairs. Your lips placing kisses on his scars around his left eye, making sure to not miss a spot and to distract him from what you had planned ahead.

He started struggling in your grasp as you started running warm water in the tub of the finished guest room and declothed him. The caked on clothes were a pain to get off of his dirtied skin. Through the frustration of removing the clothes piece by piece, you confirmed at least most of the blood on his clothes were not his. Which did not lighten the feeling of comfort you wanted from his return, it concerned you more. Whose blood was this and did they deserve such injuries from him? But you shake your head, another series of questions you would not get answers to. You needed to get him clean before you would even get any chance to put food in his system. Let alone would your mind allow you to put him on the back burner and cook food when you knew he needed to be cleaned up right away.

The jester complained as you worked on completely bringing him down to his birthday suit, still double checking for any injuries that may need stitches or extra care. He complained to you until you submerged him into the warm bath water, that’s when his demeanor changed. He then held onto you as if his life depended on it. As if the water in the tub would drag him below the water's surface and take his last breath. You also knew if you looked away, he would quickly teleport away. And your goal to get him cleaned up would long be abandoned.

It takes you way too long to comb out the knots and grime out of his hair, but this makes you feel a bit better. Well, until you wrap your arm around him; your forearm resting across his chest and placing your hand under his armpit. It always takes you by surprise at how tiny he is, not just in height, but in size. Your body is giant compared to him. And you were use to being called “too skinny”, but even you didn’t complain to the man you held in your arms.

You lean forward, and with your free hand, you begin to drain the dirty water in the tub. You really needed to replace it with fresh, warm water. His body tenses at the water starting to run again to refill the tub. The jesters heart was beginning to race in a panic from this. You press him tighter to you, slowly soaking your own shirt. What good did you get from rolling up your sleeves to only press a wet twink to your chest. But still, you do not let him pull away, hoping that he can feel your heartbeat through the wool top. Yet you also hope that he doesn’t feel the Chaos Heart beating as well in your chest.

”I am NOT letting you go.” You whisper softly into his right ear, your mustache tickling it. Dimentio squirms in your grasp, fighting his own instincts to flee. Every nerve he had, you knew told him to get away quickly. You bring your lips to his ear, pecking it with a soft kiss. His body squirms more at his own signals being challenged. A challenge to fight staying and be adored by you or flee due to the rising water in this situation.

”I won’t let you drown.” You speak sternly to him, not sure if it was in assurance for you or him. You start to nibble on his ear, your free hand grabbing the washcloth and rinsing it under the spout.

You can feel his fingernails dig into your arm as the water rises above his hips. You wince at this, but start to scrub the dirt and grime off of his legs and feet. You take extra time on his swollen ankles in another attempt to calm him. Letting your hand through the wash cloth slowly message his swollen ankles to make sure he didn’t do more damage to them then what appeared on the surface. You find yourself at a loss when you run the washcloth over his ribs. Your stomach turns seeing the jester's ribs through his skin so easily that you could count every one of them. It upsets you so much that he is neglecting himself when he is away from you.

”Luigi.”

You grumble, tightening your grip, mumbling under your own breath. Why was he like this? Why was he so willing to throw his life away? So many cared for him. He had more worth than he thought or believe he had.

”Luigi!”

You can feel your own anger bubbling and building in your body.

No one.

No one.

Not even yourself. Not even in the dreamscape. Not even against the chaos heart, or even in your own dreams, were you willing to throw your life away so easily. A growl builds in your throat and comes out through your own words. “Why are you like this?”

“Lui!”

Thu-Thump…

You freeze up, your body stiffens at your own thoughts. Only Dimentio was ever able to rile up so much negative emotions in you. King boo wasn’t even able to do this to you.

“Lui-“

Thu-Thump.

You feel his fingernails claw at both of your arms now. Digging deep enough to draw blood.

Thu-THUMP.

The nails dig deeper and deeper into your arms, clawing down from your elbows to your hands. With what little nails the jester had left, were tearing at your arms. You knew he feared water, but this was ridiculous at how much he was trying to get out of being cleaned by you. You tighten your grip to this, growling loudly in frustration and anger at Dimentio.

THU-THUMP!

Water splashes onto your pants, snapping you out of your own thoughts. The buzzing sound in your ears is replaced with the sound of splashing. Your eyes widen in shock as you quickly pull your hands away from his neck. Your arms and hands dripping from blood from the number he did on you.

You watch him in worry and shock as the ancient quickly yanks himself from under the water's surface. Dimentio’s body was shaking uncontrollably from fear, coughing and gasping from the need of oxygen that deprived him. You were unsure of how long you had held him under, but the water he was coughing up said enough. His lungs were trying their hardest to clear the water that you had forced into them. The ancients eyes never leave your bloody, shaking hands.

No…

No.

No! You would never do that to him.

Never!

THU-THUMP!

You can hear the heart beating loudly in your ears and chest.

”I’m sorry Dio. I-It wasn’t me,” you stutter though a shaky voice, “I promise. It was th-“

You reach your shaking hands towards him in assurance. But the second you do, the familiar sounds of the jester teleporting away before you can even finish your explanation. Your eyes now staring at a bodiless bathtub full of fresh water, with swirls of red in it.

”C-Chaos H-Heart….” You finish, your voice trailing off to a soft whisper.

THU-Thump…

You let your arms drop to your sides in disbelief. The heart had found another opening, this time by your emotions. It had taken advantage of your emotional loophole, and went after what was the biggest threat to it. The one you loved…

It wasn’t you. You would never do that to him.

Never…

Never!

The image of Dio’s scared. No, scared was an understatement. He was terrified. And when you closed your eyes, that expression from Dimentio showed on the back of your eyelids. The bathtub overflowing, starting to soak your jeans and socks.

You needed to fix this. But could you even fix it? You stand, ignoring the tub overflowing and slowly flooding the bathroom. Your soaked socks splash in the water as you walk over to the sink, ignoring your own discomfort. You pick up the phone with shaky hands. You were having such trouble dialing the number correctly on the keypad, that you changed to your call list and clicked the forth or fifth recent call down.

You lift the cell to your ear and after a few rings you hear an ecstatic voice that didn’t match the feelings you were having right now.

”Gigi! It’s been a while. What-“

”Mimi. I fucked up badly. I need Nassy’s help, now. It’s too much to explain. Please…Please tell her it’s urgent.”

”That bad? I’ll get a hold of her ASAP. Keep your door unlocked Gigi. You better be ready to explain then.” You hear the phone click to Mimi hanging up and you drag yourself out of the bathroom. Your wet socks slush against the carpet of your guest room, and you force yourself down the steps. The house sounds oddly silent, except for the sound of what you believe is still the bathtub running. You must have forgotten to turn off the water, but you don’t seem to have the energy to bring yourself back up the stairs.

You bring yourself to the couch and work on removing your drenched socks. Your hands are shaking so badly that the simple task is more of a challenge than it should be. You discard your socks on the floor near you and you pull your legs up to you on the couch, making yourself as small as your body would allow you to.

You bring your eyes to your hands. Your hands rough with calusis from all the tinkering and hard work you did, middle class work. Though it had been a while since you had seen blood oozing from them. You shake your head.

His body was so small, so fragile. He was so easy to force under the water with your hands. It was even easier to wrap your fingers around his thin throat and start squeezing. He would have been easy to break, easy to finish off. You could snap him like the twig he was. Would anyone really miss him? Didn’t he deserve to be dead? He still attempted to go after IT. He still wanted to go after his original goal with the heart. He wasn’t a fighter, he was weak in that aspect. You could so easily break him, all you would have to do is grab his neck and snap it. He deserved that.

“Enough!” You yell to no one in particular, grabbing at your own greasy hair. Heck there were times you would have never fought those thoughts after everything he had put you through, but these thoughts weren’t your own. You growl at yourself for letting the heart dig into your thoughts and emotions over Dimentio. He confused you so much and had your emotions everywhere. You had anger towards him, frustration, confusion, annoyance, but most of all…you loved him.

Thu-Thump.

You grasp your shirt above your own heart. You couldn’t imagine a day without him anymore. You wanted to spoil him with affection that he was long deprived of. You wanted to show him what the world should have long given him. You so badly wanted to let him figure out what the true meaning of his emotions towards you were. Why did this relic have to be such a problem, and everyday you were losing more and more to it. You bite your bottom lip. You couldn’t lose to it, so many would fall if you lost. It would return to where it was taken from. It would reopen the void that you had worked so hard with your friends to close. If you could rip it out yourself and stop it from what it was made to do you would, but you were already told what that outcome would be.

A loud bang on the door causes you to jump from the couch, almost hitting your head on the ceiling from surprise. Only for the silence to be followed by the door slamming open before you can even take a step towards the entrance. The voice booming louder than the door hitting the wall or knocking combined.

“Ye here lad? We rush’t here as fas’ as we coud. Dimensoon stil’ a’ problem withoot tae wee yin crossin’ tae gap fir us.”

[cowboyjen68]

Heya Jen,

So I feel like if I were a dude, people wouldn't look down on my clothing choices so much. Maybe it's just because people tend to, quite frankly, give less of a shit about what men wear and how they look in general while, and by contrast, focus a lot on a womans appearance.

I'm not quite butch in my own opinion, but I do tend to wear a lot of men's clothes, and even the women's clothes I wear tend to be quite practical. I like having my own sense of style. I like what I wear, but it doesn't seem to matter to other people, I guess it just seems like I throw on any old clothes to them.

I definitely tend to get this attitude more from women and, more specifically, my aunt. She's told me that I look like I've walked right off of a farm before, and while if anything I took it as a compliment, she certainly didn't mean it that way. In the past, her comments were more harsh, so it's an improvement. At least now it's not outright homophobic, i.e """asking""" me if I want to look like a lesbian or a boy in a rather condescending tone. It's more so a "THAT'S what you're wearing?" Thing. I even get the impression my queer friends just think I don't care about my clothes at all, and while I'm no fashionista, I do like putting together what I consider nice outfits.

Also, admittedly, like most people I do some days, just throw on clean clothes, I just don't see why, regardless of how I dress, it seems more worthy of comment and criticism. I don't see men's outfits commented on or criticized half as much, if at all, and we basically wear the same things.

This is just a very long-winded way of asking if you've gotten this sort of attitude too and how you deal with it? It's not like when I was younger and pushed me to try and wear more feminine clothes, though it still irritates me though I wish it didn't.

Thanks in advance for reading this whole long thing and being an open and out older lesbian who is willing to take time out of her busy day to answer so many questions from young lesbians and queer people alike.

I was never very well tapped into the fashion of the day. In my younger years I would put on what I wanted with no regards to what others might find proper. My mom gave up after on getting me to wear matching dresses and shoes or shirt and shorts outfits. Dad was fine when I came out of my Raggedy Ann themed bedroom in red cowboy boots, jean shorts and an orange shirt (with the bottom cut off) that said "10-4 Good Buddy".

In high school the one think my mom would not let me have was a three quarter length sleeved white shirt with a rainbow. She said I would get it too dirty and my shoulders were too wide for the fit. (she was not wrong in either case). So I tended to go with sweatshirts, t shirts and jeans. I was HORRIBLE at trendy clothing because I mixed and match too many things that just did not go together. I wanted overalls but knew that they were too "manly" for me, a girl. I went to the mall and spent my hard earned money on the closest girl thing, a peach colored pair of overalls for girls that were also kind of pedal pushers. It was NOT a good look.

Whenever I tried to be trendy I would bed it to be more what I wanted but not committing to "boys" clothes and it always went sideways in the worst way.

College saw me stick with t shirt and jeans but it was the 80's and everyone wore just that. Finally, a time in fashion where fashion was the same for everyone. Utilitarian and simple, at least in small midwestern college towns.

My mom would say to my young self. "are you sure that is what you want to wear?" or "Do you want help picking out clothes?" In retrospect she was trying to save me from drawing attention or getting picked on but just eventually figured I would either learn or live with it.

I know exactly what you mean about people assuming that me wearing what I was comfortable in as an adult was me just tossing any old thing on. My first girlfriend helped me by expanding my confidence and wardrobe. Custom made suspenders, men's dress pants and white button down for men instead of women's clothing that sort of mimicked men's style. After we broke up (7 years later) I still struggled a bit but slowly learned that the important thing was I felt good in what I wore and not what others had to say about it.

Men get a pass because I think is it often assumed they just don't have the need or capacity to dress themselves beyond simple and what is on the floor. This is, of course, also an unfair stereotype. Many men lack the confidence to stop out of the easy and simple to try and dress better for public consumption so they get in a routine. AND women are assumed to always want to look good for others so when we don't fit the expectation of our culture we "just don't care".

NOW I rarely dress up because of my jobs. I wear "work clothes" most days because I know within an hour of getting dressed I will be dirty. But I am most confident and comfortable in my work clothes. When I do dress up to go out I finally am like my young self (wear what I want) with a little more awareness of what others see. I shop at estate sales and find vintage western style shirts and unique belt buckles to wear. I feel good, have my own style and i think others see my confidence because I am less concerned about what others think and just happy to be wearing what I love.

People start to see confidence over aesthetics as you become more comfortable in clothes you love.

Hope this help. You are not alone and i think many women (even some men) will understand this feeling you have.

[animehusbandharem]

I’m curious of other’s opinions on this: out of all the suitors, who is the most believable and least believable for “Belle” to actually fall in love with? Basically, how realistic would it actually be for her to fall in love with one of them?

I based my rankings based off a mix of Belle’s personality and the actual story and how it plays out - i tried to be as least biased as i possibly could lol

My ranking would be:

1. Leon: i picked Leon as most believable because of how quickly she warmed up to him and how compatible their communication styles are. They’re honestly almost too perfect that it makes me wanna gag (sorry Leon lovers lol)

2. Keith: He comes in 2nd similarly to Leon, the nice Keith and Belle get along so well and it seems like she has a soft spot for him from the get-go. It’s believable to me also because of how his story was written and i could definitely see MC ending up with him.

3. Rio: The boy next door has to be believable. Poor Rio lol. I put him 3rd because she has to get past seeing him as a friend which is a small obstacle, but it is totally believable because theyre already super close and it would make sense.

4. Chevalier: the “true” route. I love their story, and given their personalities, i think it was very well written for both of them to compliment each other. They have just enough in common to keep the stability, but also love languages to help learned and keep the spark alive.

5. Gilbert: the “bad boy”. He is believable to me because the slow progression makes sense, and you can see how both of them compliment each other and pique their interest of the other as well. It seems like a natural progression, and it’s one that we can see coming.

6. Clavis: the class clown. One of my favorite routes 🥰. I think the dynamic between Belle and Clavis are so quirky, that it works. It makes sense once she learns more about Clavis that she would fall for him.

7. Licht: Sweet emo baby. My first love. I put him lower on the list because he’s harder to actually get to know, so the likelihood of her truly being interested in him at first is likely low, but once she finds out he’s a sweet baby - she will be smitten and will fall.

8. Sariel: Daddy issues. I actually really like his route and i genuinely believe this could happen, the only reason hes lower on the list is because i think it would be less likely that Belle would sacrifice her “professionalism” but i do still think it’s a believable story!

9. Silvio: Loveable asshole. Okay, listen - i’m sorry Silvio stans… i ranked Silvio lower because it would take a lot longer for her to warm up to him… especially the way he talks to her - and quite frankly, with all the other options around, why would she fall for him when theres so many other princes?? BUT… i do think his route is very believable for what it is and i did enjoy it personally

10. Nokto: emo playboy. Let’s be real, she would be so turned off by his bullshit, i find it hard to believe she would even think twice about wanting to get to know him. When she does, i don’t think she would want to be more than friends.

11. Luke: Baby bear. I cant picture them together because of how young he seems honestly 😣

12. Jin: Titty idiot. His route felt so wrong and weird to me… it felt forced and awkward. This just doesn’t feel like a good match and it doesn’t seem like a natural progression to me. He doesn’t have much of a personality, and they both just don’t seem to fit

13. Yves: Baby girl. I cant take him seriously as a lover when even the game suggested that Belle questioned he may be queer. (Nothing wrong with this at all, just doesnt fit the narrative they are selling). I LOVE YVES and everyone needs one in their life, but he’s not believable as a lover… and we all know why 🙃

[hyunnieshannie]

Miroh

Chapter Two: Fair Fight

WC: 4.9k

Pairing: Jeongin x AFAB Reader / OT8 x AFAB Reader

Series General Synopsis: Hundreds of men respected you, bowed down to you, and most importantly feared you. None other than the second in command, and in line to take over one of the most prolific gangs in all of South Korea, Miroh. You had it all, money, respect, and seven of the most loyal men by your side. So why do you feel the need to bring in one more? What’s so special about this so-called assassin, Chan?

General Warnings: Violence, Mentions of blood, fluff if you squint, strong language, anything else I may have missed please let me know

PREVIOUS MASTER LIST NEXT

“Jesus christ, this is exhausting” one of the recruits, Jongho, said to another, Mingi.

“Bro, I know. I didn’t know it was going to be this intense. I would’ve prepped more if I knew to expect this.” Mingi said as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

The first of the tests was quite simple, in your and Changbins opinion. It was a fighting match. Recruits go head to head to win each fight. All fighting styles were welcome, as long as no weapons were involved. Each opponent that won moved forward in the winners bracket, and those who lost still had the ability to prove their strength in the losers bracket. Recruits were allowed to choose any opponent that was present in the room, which was always entertaining for you. For some reason the recruits really loved to pick Hyunjin and Han, who on the outside seemed weaker than they actually were. And your two boys always showed how skilled they were when it came to fighting. It always brought you such joy to see your boys absolutely crush the spirits of the new recruits.

It was another recruit's turn to pick their opponent. “We’re allowed to pick anyone?” he questioned.

Changbin nodded. The recruit smirks devilishly. “Ok. Her. I choose her.” he said as he pointed his finger at you. Everyone in the room was suddenly quiet. You remained stone faced and looked at Changbin whose eyebrows were squeezed tight on his face. You sighed and began taking off your jacket. You handed your now empty mug of coffee to Han and your jacket to Hyunjin as you made your way to the recruit. You could hear Changbin mutter your name quietly but it didn't stop you. You looked past the recruit and noticed Chan eyeing you, his hands curled into a tight fist, his eyebrows scrunched together in irritation. The smirk on the recruits face told you enough about him already - proud, thought he was hot shit, his ego too large to make up for his shit personality, someone who needs to learn their place.

You stood in front of him, hands at your side “are you sure?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

He pouted his lips at you, “having second thoughts, your highness?” he laced the nickname with poison. Your eye began to twitch. You turned towards Changbin and nodded for him to start the match. He rolled his eyes muttering “it’s your funeral” before he yelled for the start.

Your opponent immediately went to charge at you but you quickly dodged. How predictable of him. He turned around and charged back at you, you dodged again but this time landed a nice elbow to the back of his head. You reached into your pocket and fished a hair tie out to tie up your hair, giving your opponent a wave of your hand to pause his movements. He looked at you confused as he watched you finish tying up your hair. You chuckled, “well at least you have the ability to be obedient.” 

Apparently he didn’t like what you had to say and charged at you again, swinging his fist towards your face. You immediately blocked his fist, and landed your palm straight across his cheek, sweeping his arms towards his back and slapping your other palm right over his ear, successfully discombobulating him. He tried to kick out your legs, but you brought your knee up to his chest before he could, knocking the breath out of him. You landed blow after blow onto his chest and up to his face with your knee, successfully breaking his nose. He yelped as he stumbled away from you. He charged back to you, he grabbed at your waist and launched the both of you to the ground. You smirked up at him as he tried to wrestle for your hands. You got your legs out from under him and wrapped your legs around his head, pulling one of his arms up towards your head and you pushed your legs downwards, successfully trapping him in a leg lock. You squeezed your legs tighter and tighter as he continued to struggle to grab you with his remaining hand. He tried to kick his legs out to get leverage but you didn't budge. You just squeezed your legs tighter as you smiled and bit his hand that was trapped by your arms. You heard him make a gargled sound, most likely unable to make an audible sound because of your crushing thighs. You waited patiently until you felt him tap your thigh, signaling that he had indeed tapped out. You quickly let go of him and pushed yourself away. You got back on your feet and pulled your hair out of its ponytail as you walked back towards your boys. You felt movement behind you and you turned and WHAM. You punched your opponent square in his already broken nose causing him to fall to the ground. You tisked and shook your head at him, “Really? You couldn’t take the loss like a man and you just had to sneak up on me like a fucking coward?” You spat at him, “Bet you thought you were gonna win that fight easily, huh? Think again the next time you pick a woman cause you think she’s an easy target, alright?” you grabbed a towel from the stack in front of you and threw it in your opponent's face. 

You walked over to your boys and put your jacket back on and sat back down in your chair as if nothing had happened. The recruits were all looking around at each other, shocked that that had actually just happened. 

“Is it bad that I’m really turned on right now?” Han whispered into your ear. You laughed and pushed him away, making eye contact with Chan who seemed to be proud of the show you had just put on. 

“Well, who’s up next?” you asked, and the recruits got refocused to continue their trials.

~✷~

“Shooting range. As most of you know, this is a dangerous profession. Some of you have been in this game already and know just how bad it can get. We want to get a head start on where your skills lie. Targets will pop up across the field, you are to shoot every foe, but watch out for your teammates.” Hyunjin spoke from the observation deck with the recruits. “Alright Hannie, show em how it’s done” he spoke into the mic, notifying Han it was about to begin.

The buzzer sounded above the range, from the observation deck you could see the entire field. Debris everywhere, flashing lights throughout half the course, and targets everywhere. You could see Han make his way through the course, his hand gun poised and shining in his hand. Han was a fan of his silver glock - his go to weapon. He stalked his way through the course, expertly shooting each foe right through the center of the target and ignoring all of his “teammates” markers. After he successfully completed the course, the strobe lights turned green, marking he had successfully defeated all foes, and spared all teammates.

One recruit after another had gone through the course. Some failing and most passing by the skin of their teeth. The person you were waiting to watch the most, was last in the lineup, Chan. He had made his way to the course and awaited the signal. When the starting horn sounded, the strobes began. Chan was quite calm as he moved his way through the course, something a lot of the younger recruits around his age were lacking. Of course the older gentlemen who were recruited were basically pros at this, but for someone around Chan's age he seemed quite comfortable in the situation. He fired off round after round throughout the course, tagging his teammates as passes and shooting through all the foes. When he made it to the other side, the strobe light turned green, marking he had passed. A few of the younger recruits gasped in awe at how good this guy was. You were impressed to say the least, and judging from your boys' expressions, they were just as impressed.

Chan made his way back to the observation deck and was stopped by Hyunjin who met him out in the hallway. Chan had sized him up, he sure as hell was pretty, and surprisingly strong based on the fights he was pulled into during the last trials. Hyunjin looked at him quizzically.

“Where’d you learn to shoot like that? What’s your story?” Hyunjin asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the hallway wall.

Chan huffed and mirrored Hyunjins pose on the wall across from him. “I was a work for hire. Learned on the job basically.”

Hyunjin nodded, “so you’re an assassin.” he said plainly. Not really a question, more of a statement.

“I guess you could say that. I like to call it a gun-for-hire, but assassin works too.” Chan nodded back, finally earning a smile from the pretty man across from him.

Hyunjin didn’t say much else as he leaned off the wall and motioned from Chan to follow him back to the observation deck. Hyunjin made his way to stand behind you as Chan made his way to the front of the mob of recruits. Changbin began to address them all.

“Alright, we have a few more tests for you. We will be splitting you in half to make this process smoother. Half of you will be going with Hyunjin and Han to review interrogation techniques, and the other half will be following myself and Miss Y/n to review multi-weapons training.” Changbin announced as he listed off each name of the recruits, dividing them into their appropriate teams. 

The remainder of the tests were quite bland in your opinion. You were stuck observing the multi-weapons training when you would have much rather been a part of the interrogation squad. The only thing that was keeping your attention was the mystery recruit Chan. He was incredibly skilled, you could tell through his fighting style and his weapons training that he had been disciplined well in your world. You began to wonder where he learned it, itching to know more about this beautiful stranger. The more you watched him the more familiar he felt, like you had seen him before, but that was near impossible, you didn't recognize him at all. His aura was familiar, not his face. His face. You wondered where he got the scars that adorned his cheek, neck, and forehead. The gashes must have been deep to have left such scars. The one on his neck was the darkest and longest of the three. It stretched from below his ear to his jugular. The gash must have been cut with a ragged blade based on the way it had healed. The one on his cheek seemed to be just about faded but still quite visible, went from the top of his cheek bone down towards his lips. And the one that adorned his forehead sat above his left eyebrow almost all the way down to the eye. It seemed like he had seen some shit, much like you had. Maybe that’s why he felt familiar. 

You were pulled from your thoughts when Bin nudged your side, giving you a knowing glance. You rolled your eyes and muttered a ‘shut up’ before looking at the papers he was handing you. “It’s time to make some decisions.” Changbin had announced that the recruits would be escorted back to the main meeting room while the eight of you will deliberate on who will be brought into the ‘family’.

You met with all 7 boys in your private meeting room. It was your office but it was more of a living room than an actual office. There were large couches in the center of the room - enough to fit all eight of you - a large flat screen tv perched on the wall in front of the couches. A large workstation - Felix's usual spot - was placed neatly in the corner of the room next to the large floor to ceiling windows that stretched the back of your office. On the opposite end of the room was a large bookshelf adorned with movies, books, and photo albums of yours and the boys. In front of the bookshelf was your desk, simple, elegant, and of course covered in paperwork that you had not even dared to touch. And on the wall behind one of the couches was a mini kitchen, stocked with snacks, drinks, and of course your life-blood, coffee. Seungmin immediately made his way over to the coffee machine, noticing the exhausted look in your eyes.

You plopped yourself down on the couch dramatically, flinging your arm over your face and loudly sighing. “I fucking hate recruit day.” Jeongin chuckled as he snaked his way over to you, lifting the top half of your body off the couch so he could slither beneath you to rest your head on his lap as he played with your hair. You all began going through the recruits one by one, marking who should stay and what team they would best fit in. Seungmin had brought you your cup of coffee, and you thanked him wordlessly as you sat up and snuggled closer to Jeongin. Jeongin had repositioned himself sideways on the couch and opened up his legs and arms so you could cuddle more effectively against him. You smiled and shuffled your way on top of him, positioning your back against his chest and settling your legs across the couch. Seungmin had grabbed your legs off the cushion and sat down bringing your legs across his lap and gently began to massage your calves with one hand and remove your heels with the other.

“So what do we think about this Chan guy?” Han asked as they were getting towards the end of the recruit list. You perked up when you heard the name but tried to remain neutral. Jeongin however felt you stiffen and lightly chuckled in your ear, not mentioning your reaction to the other boys in the room which you had to thank him for later.

“I spoke to him after one of his trials. Apparently he used to be a gun-for-hire as he called it. Makes sense why he’s so skilled.” Hyunjin said as he looked at Bin and the rest of the boys.

Minho tipped his head to the side, “Doesn’t that mean ‘assassin’?”

“That’s what I said. But he said it sounded better as gun-for-hire. I can't help but agree on that one.” Hyunjin shrugged as he got up to get some snacks from the minikitchen behind him.

“Well, I think we let him in, especially since y/n couldn't keep her greedy eyes off of him.” Han smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at you.

You just rolled your eyes, “yeah as if you weren’t also checking him out.” you spat back and Han just stuck his tongue out at you not being able to think of a comeback.

“I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t think he’d be this good, especially since he literally came in off the streets. But he’s really good, I think he could be a valuable asset to our team.” Changbin listed off as he spoke more to Felix, Minho, and Seungmin about Chan's performance during the trials, filling them in on all the details. Jeongin was only half paying attention to the conversation as he was too busy playing with the ends of your hair and the zippers on your jacket, quietly humming to himself. 

“You’re awfully quiet.” you speak softly to Jeongin while the other boys continue their conversation.

Jeongin leans his head closer to yours and rests his cheek on the crown of your head. “Yeah.” he says so quietly even you almost missed it. You try not to bring too much attention to yourself by bringing your hand up to his, threading your fingers together.

“Was it too much today?” you whisper while rubbing your thumb over the back of his hand.

He squeezes your hand in acknowledgement. A silent way of letting you know he’s overwhelmed. Jeongin had been through a lot, and being around new people who were incredibly skilled at killing people always put more stress on him than he would have liked. Especially considering that you and the rest of his friends were professional killers. The difference is that he trusts the 7 of you with his life. Those strangers out there don't know him, don't know you. How can he feel comfortable without knowing if they had any ulterior motives? And you understood how he felt more than anyone. You went through that trauma once before, you don't want to live it again. Recruitment day was never a fun day for you or Jeongin. 

“How about you and I spend some quality time together later, hm? We can snuggle up and watch your favorite bad movie?” you say softly, still not wanting the other boys to try to interject into your much needed quality time with Jeongin. You felt him relax behind you slightly at your suggestion. He loved spending time with you, especially when it involved snuggling. You felt him nod his head and whisper softly, “that sounds really nice.” You smiled and brought his hand to your lips, leaving a soft and quick peck to his fingers. As you did so, it seemed that the boys had come to a conclusion about this Chan boy.

“So, how does that sound y/n?” Minho asked with a knowing look in his eyes. He totally caught on that you were not paying attention to them one bit. 

“Recap.” you said as you looked at Han.

“He’s good, we need another on our team to make 8. So we should add him to our squad. He’s skilled enough and he’s young enough. Also he's completely unaffiliated*.” Han listed off.

“How do we know he's not affiliated?” you asked leaning off of Jeongin to lean closer to the coffee table between the two couches.

“Lix looked while the recruits were trying to hack. Key word: trying.” Seungmin rolled his eyes. Apparently this year's tech recruits were as disappointing as last years.

“Yeah, I did my research. He was quite hard to find. No identification for him existed before 5 years ago. Seems like he did all sorts of “for-hire” work. He did work for multiple governments, a couple of crime families, apparently he was also a gym teacher and swimming instructor for a while. But the dude's track record is stacked. Every job he did, he hit his mark. Cleanly too. No mess.” Felix spoke as he tapped away on his computer in the corner of the room. He wasn't doing any actual work from the looks of it, most likely playing a mind-numbing game where he doesn't have to think too hard.

“Hm. And why do we need an 8th? I am the 8th.” you said matter-of-factly.

“We are an 8 piece love, but the 7 of us are basically your bodyguards. It would be more effective to have even pairs of bodyguards at all times. Either 2 and 2 or 4 and 4. You can't be your own bodyguard, so don't even ask.” Changbin cut you off before you could interject. You hate that you have to be protected. You hate to have the people you love most throw themselves in front of a bullet and die for you. You think that sort of loyalty is dumb, mostly because you don't want to lose the people closest to you. You love them far too much for that and you’ve already lost far too many people that way.

“Alright, fine. I won't put up a fuss, but he's your responsibility.” you quip to Changbin. He rolls his eyes but nods at you. You slump back into Jeongin’s chest, he firmly wraps his arms around you snuggling you closer. “Do I have to go back out there with you guys?” you whine as you pull Jeongins arms closer to your face.

“Yes, princess. You still have to come back with us.” Seungmin says with a soft look. “These are going to be your men, your soldiers, not Big Boss’s. You need to make sure they know who the real boss is, and that’s you.”

“And you know that they already doubt you cause you’re a woman,” Felix says, eyes still trained to the computer screen in front of him.

“Well not exactly,” Hyunjin giggles.

“What do you mean by that?” Seungmin asks, quirking an eyebrow between you and Hyunjin, Changbin, and Han.

“Some stupid ‘man’s man’ picked to fight Y/N during his trial. Let’s just say that guys gonna need to see a plastic surgeon to have a remotely normal face again.” Han giggled. You felt Jeongin squeeze you tighter into his chest. You just looked at Seungmin and shrugged your shoulders, earning a smirk from him. Seungmin nodded in approval and muttered, “proud of you”.

“Alright we gotta get going,” Changbin motioned for everyone to get up. He looked at you and Jeongin and his gaze softened slightly. “Out you fools.” He chirped at the rest of the boys, slowly 1 by 1 they left the room. Changbin looked at you and Jeongin, “we’ll be waiting out here when you guys are ready.”

He left the room and closed the door. You and Jeongin just sat in silence for a few seconds, his arms were still so tight around you. You rubbed up and down his arm trying to calm him down.

“I don't like that you fought one of them,” he whispered to you, just barely audible, you wouldn't have heard him if you weren't sitting so close to him.

“I had no choice Innie, it’s not like I wanted to,” you muttered back. “It’s part of the rules. Anyone who's in the room can be picked. I was in the room. He picked me. There’s nothing I could’ve done,” you could feel his arms tightening around you once again. “If it makes you feel any better, he barely got his hands on me.”

“Barely? So that means he got you?” There was worry laced in his voice. You pulled his arms from around you and maneuvered to face him, holding his hands tightly in yours.

“Innie, look at me. I’m ok. Not even a scratch or a bruise on me. You know I’m one of the best fighters in this crew, especially when it comes to dumbass men who think they can pick on women.” you reached up and cradled his cheek in your hand, he leaned into your hand and lightly nuzzled into it. “I promise I’m ok,” you said, giving him a soft smile.

“I’m sorry” he whispered, slowly wrapping his fingers around your hand on his cheek, “I know it's your job but I just get nervous, you know?” 

“I know Innie,” you whisper back, bringing his head down to yours to press his forehead to yours. “I don’t want you to worry too much okay? I’m a lot stronger now. Nothing’s gonna happen to me, especially when I have you guys around.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. I just don’t want anything to happen to you again.” he whispered softly, unable to look you in the eyes.

“That was a long time ago, Innie. I’m not the same I was then. I can take care of myself now. And when I can’t, you guys always have my back.” you smile at him.

He pulls your arms away from him and wraps you in a bone crushing hug. You both sat there for a few minutes, basking in each other's warmth. He gently pulls you away from him and smiles warmly at you.

“We should probably go,” he whispers, leaning forward to rest his forehead against yours. 

You hum in recognition, “and don’t forget you and I have a cuddle date later too.”

He chuckles at your teasing tone. You both remove each other from your embrace and walk out to the rest of the boys. Nobody asks either of you any questions. They’re already vaguely aware of what went on since it has happened every year on recruitment days.

All 8 of you make your way back to the recruits. Changbin names off all of the people who have been accepted to join your ranks and thanks the men and women who didn’t make it for their time. You stay silent at the front of the room, eyeing the recruits that are joining your ranks. They were all pretty incredible based on their results, you were lucky to have them join. Your eyes finally landed on Chan who has been staring at you since you walked back into the room with the boys. This time he was staring a little too intensely as Jeongin stood next to you, a little closer than he probably should have. You make eye contact with Chan and he seems to snap out of his staring. He fights a smile as you two continue to look at each other.

“Chan,” Changbin calls his attention and Chan immediately stiffens and looks quickly from you to Changbin. “Please stay here as we would like to give you your assignment. The rest of you may leave and join the rest of your new teams.”

“Before you all leave,” you speak loudly, immediately commanding the room, all of your newest recruits looking to you in attention. “Thank you for taking the time to come here today to join our ranks. I will work to the best of my ability to take care of you all and protect you as much as you protect me. I look forward to seeing all of your abilities in the future. Make sure you all have something to eat before you go to your assignments, Kihyun will show you to the cafeteria.” Kihyun nods at you from the door. All of the recruits are still standing there looking to you. “You are all dismissed.” you smile at your new members.

“Thank you Ma’am.” they all say.

“It’s Boss, not Ma’am” you correct

“Thank you Boss!” they all yell, you chuckle to yourself and watch as they all file out, leaving just you, your 7 boys, and the newest recruit to your inner circle Chan. He’s still standing at attention, waiting for direction from you. He was definitely well trained.

“Relax Chan, we’re not gonna haze you,” you look at Han and Seungmin, “well, I actually can't promise they won't.”

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean? We’ve never hazed anyone!” Han yells, throwing his hands in the air.

“Need I remind you of Jiung? You hazed him so much he had to leave our team and join cyber just to get away from you two.” 

“Heh, yeah I remember,” Seungmin smiles.

“Anyway, we have your new assignment.” Changbin eyed Seungmin and Hannie as they reminisced. “You’ll be joining our team, the direct inner circle of Boss. You'll still go through the extensive trainings like the other new recruits, but this is an incredible privilege for you. We don't normally let new recruits join our inner circle right off the bat, so you’ll have to prove that we can trust you with intel, but for now, your main mission is to protect Boss.”

Chan looked down at his feet and cautiously looked back up at you. “Can I ask why you’re entrusting me to protect you when you don't normally do this sort of thing?” he asked, almost shyly.

You could feel the rest of the boys looking at you expectantly. Chan had kept your eye contact, his features had softened, you could tell that he was a bit insecure or shy even about asking you that question. “Well, obviously you are incredibly skilled. Your resume was pretty vague so we did some digging into your past and learned about your past conquests.” You saw him flinch at that but you didn't comment on it. “You were at the top of the list compared to the other trainees, incredibly skilled for someone your age, and it seems like you would get along well with my boys.” You took a beat and softened your gaze on him. “And you intrigue me.” Chan once again stood rigid, as if your comment caused his brain to short circuit, causing you to smile and let out a light giggle. 

“I intrigue you?” Chan asked softly.

“The thing you’ll get to know about Y/N is that she is incredibly fascinated by people she can't read,” Minho said from behind you. His statement wasn't wrong but you were still slightly embarrassed and you turned around to punch him in the arm just causing him to laugh loudly, throwing his head back with a huge smile on his face.

“Well, if we’re done here, I have important things I have to get to. You are all dismissed. Jeongin, accompany me,” you said as you so desperately wanted to get out of that situation and just snuggle up with Innie and watch movies for the rest of the day. The rest of the boys already had an idea that you weren't actually doing any work, but Chan just stood there still gazing at you. The boys said their farewells and you and Jeongin left to head up to your bedroom.

Tags @chanlixiiee @channiesbub @jaebaebaegot7 @maeleelee @iadorethemskz @maenijw @hangin-out-with-the-street-rats @sinforsuccubus ♡Thank you for letting me tag you♡

[ask-the-prose]

Hi there!

I’m starting a new Anne of green gables fan fiction story. I want to make a good strong opening for the first chapter. I want to get readers on fan fiction hooked from the start. How can I do that? I would love to get as many reviews on this story as I can. I have written other Anne of green gables fan fiction and I just don’t seem to get reviews and I can’t understand why. I want people to enjoy my stories. I have the summary written up and the beginning of the first chapter written up if you would like to see it.

Thank you!

Hey! Thanks for the ask :) apologies for the delay. I’ve been sick with a nasty cold! That said, this is a great question and one that I regularly play around with, and because of that, I have A LOT to say. This got long. Sorry!

Fanfiction is a great way to build your storytelling skills, and I personally love writing fanfiction myself! Writing fanfiction and writing original fiction has a lot in common, and so a lot of advice can be applied either way. But there are some things that fanfiction does differently that original fiction just doesn't have the same pre-ready audience for! So let's look at fanfiction a little closer, and I'll use this ask as a basis for a quick little fanfiction guide!

The Differences Between Original Fiction and Fanfiction

If you're writing fanfiction you probably already know the difference between original fiction and fanfiction, but for those looking to use this guide for their own purposes, I want to talk a little more at length about how fanfiction and original fiction really differ beyond just the dictionary definition.

Fanfiction is creative content using characters or setting from an already established piece of work that you did not create yourself. Whereas original fiction is original to yourself.

This difference is important to understand because when writing your work, you do need to understand your audience and why things work the way that they do. For original fiction, you're working with an audience that you have to connect with. But with fanfiction, the audience is pre-made, already invested in the characters, the setting, and sometimes the plot as well.

With fanfiction you have some leeway with how to write your story because readers are coming to the fanfiction already knowing that you are not the original author. That being said, there are a lot of FF readers who expect your fic to resemble the canon work, and so with all fiction, you will need to choose your audience and who you are gearing your work for. Your work will not appeal to everybody, even if your audience is pre-built. Everybody has different tastes, so what works for some won't work for everyone.

Take Advantage of Canon

You're an experienced fic writer, from what you've said, so you are familiar with canon and I'm betting you've read other fics within your fandom, right? This can be used to your advantage.

Some of the most successful fics I've seen, and some that I've found are most appealing to me, are the ones that incorporate canon into the fic in new and reimagined ways. One way to do this is to match your writing style, which is a fun challenge if you're ever up to it. Another is to use symbols, motifs, and other aspects of the story in new ways or settings. One most relevant to your question, though, is to reference canon in your own fic.

It can be assumed most of the time that if a fan is reading your fic, there was something about the canon source that appealed to them. So if you're unsure how to start your fic with a hook, take a look closer at the canon. Really pick it apart, and take a look at what appeals to you and why.

Does the source start in media res (starting the story "in the middle")? Then you know that in media res would be an effective hook on this audience. If canon starts with a dream or another cliche, then using a cliche yourself may be forgiven at the least or even appealing to your audience. You know your fandom better than I do.

You don't HAVE to use whatever tool canon uses if you don't want to, but it is an excellent place to look first when making creative decisions about your fic.

The key to the hook involves tension. A good hook gets the reader engaged in the story by asking questions and making them wait for the answers. Your reader wants to know what's going to happen next, and the best way to do that is to read the rest! Tension is created using stakes, so you don't necessarily want to wait to give your reader a reason to care, but a little mystery goes a long, long way.

Getting Comments

This is where my personal advice may get disappointing.

Getting comments and reviews on your work is something that the writing community has always had a problem with in regard to how to get them and how to get more of them. I tend to stay away from this part of the discourse myself because my opinions tend to be unpopular, especially with newer writers. But the best thing I can say on this topic is this: comments and reviews are completely outside your control.

There isn't a magic system or style or process or cheat code that will get you more comments or reviews. And believe me, I've tried. I've written since I was literally 12, and in fandom, you will find the most engaged readers across any platform and any media. Original fiction is infinitely harder to get engagement with (you might see writers on tumblr talk about this at length) than fanfiction. And so when it comes to engagement, you have 1 point going in your direction by simply what media you've chosen.

Fanfiction, by its nature, is designed around a pre-built, already excited, and already engaged fan base. The people reading your fic already love the original source and are also probably discussing canon with others, searching for and enjoying fan art, memes, meta, whatever. So these people are already engaged. I've found that no matter how well you write and how interesting your fic idea is if your already-engaged audience doesn't leave comments in general, it's going to be hard to get them to do that differently.

I'm not familiar with Anne of Green Gables myself, so I'm not familiar with the fandom. But I've been in a large number of fandoms over the years across many different platforms. Comments on ao3 are not as common as comments on, say, ff.net. Wattpad is difficult to get readers on, let alone commenters. Royal Road and others have very specific user bases that engage with some content more than others. So comments can depend upon where you are posting your fic.

Comments can also depend on how large your fandom is and the specific fandom-wide attitude toward comments and discussion. I write fic in a small fandom right now, and while my views and kudos are pretty low compared to my larger fandoms, my comments are higher because there are fewer of us, and we all recognize each other's URL. Big fandoms may result in people being more comfortable with anonymity and choosing to lurk instead. That doesn't mean people don't like your work. They, for whatever reason, just don't want to say anything to anybody.

Fanfiction also has a lot of differences in engagement when talking about tropes or kinks. When tagging your fic, always tag it appropriately, but there will be a portion of your readers who clicked on your fic because of one or more of your tags. If you're writing explicit fic, people specifically looking for the kink you're writing for will be more engaged and more likely to comment because they want to see more of their chosen kink. The same goes for tropes like "enemies to lovers," "soulmate au," or "coffee shop au."

An 18-chapter soulmate au I wrote 5 years ago in a huge fandom got 68k views and 300+ comments. So looking at those metrics, you can say, large fandom +1, popular trope +1, it was a popular ship +1, and it was on ao3 +1, and 18 chapters = 18 times I was on the first page of the "recently posted" dashboard. Those boosted my chances of getting comments. On the other hand, let's look at what really matters here: ratios. If you count all of those comments, which about a third to half were response comments from me, then out of all of my viewers, .4% of them left a comment. Less than half a percent of my readers said anything to me. And that number goes down when you take out the comments that were mine. Taking out my responses and dividing them by chapters, that's about 8 unique comments per chapter. Not much when 68k pairs of eyes saw the fic, right?

Now if we look at a more recent example, I have a current fic that is in a small but engaged fandom, arranged marriage au (related to canon), and that one had about 20 comments and 500 views. That's 4% of people who clicked on the fic and left me a comment. I didn't respond to many of those comments this time around, so that ratio doesn't go down all that much depending on how we filter comments.

I've played around with trying to engage my audience. Things like asking a question in the author's note to spark conversation in the comments worked somewhat but not all the time. Responding to comments doesn't seem to affect that number either. People aren't really looking at whether you've talked to others in your comment section before leaving a comment themselves. Simply saying, "I'd love to hear your thoughts!" Tends to do enough for my taste, but ultimately that won't always work.

In general, engagement on fics has gone down in recent years. I don't have the numbers to back it up. I've been around a while, enough to have lost original documents for my works at least three times. From my experience, though, fandom has changed its culture from what it used to be. I don't have the answers, but I do know that there are clever ways to engage your audience that can still make fandom a fun place for you.

Ultimately this is a long-winded way of saying that you can't control other people's actions. Even some of the most incredible writers I've seen have struggled with the comment conundrum. It has nothing to do with you or your writing and everything to do with the other person and the millions of unpredictable factors that go into why they made the decision to leave or not to leave a comment. Believe me; it's hard not to let reader engagement affect your sense of pride in your own writing. And I've found the "write for yourself!" advice mostly useless.

The best you can do is the little things that drive clicks and increase eyes on your work. Everything else is up to the reader.

– Indy

[eeblouissant]

Unorganized (angsty? Also unedited) Dorothy thoughts I wrote down on the train this morning :)

- Dorothy seemed much more passive before the divorce, & regardless I headcanon her being that way (until Stan effectively destroyed it). She was unhappy & then became very depressed through being married to him, I think she coped by disassociating whether she was aware of it or not. I don’t think Dorothy remembers a lot of her time with Stan (not her kids, Never her children. she’s separated Stan from them for a long time now) simply because she wasn’t there mentally - she chose not to be. We see (or, at least I do) a drastic shift in the way she behaves around Stanley even when she’s in a room with Blanche, Rose & Sophia. Some of the only people she feels like she doesn’t need to “disappear on” in order to tolerate. Her pessimism was a result of Stanley (specifically before & during the divorce, it was a painfully slow process.) & she uses it as a defence mechanism, or a safety blanket. I like to think that she wasn’t that way growing up, even the opposite.

- Dorothy is Very good at tuning out. If she doesn’t want to pay attention to you, she won’t. And you’ll never know the difference. (I saw a mutual mention her also just straight up taking out her hearing aid, so, she also definitely does that lmao– poor Rose gets the most of it)

- Anyone who’s spoken to Dorothy since the divorce, & knew her before it happened, especially before Stan – will tell you that she is Not how they remember her to be. And I think this is why so many of the people around her (besides the Obvious Reasons to hate him) have immediately taken to disliking Stan, the damage is so visible & absolutely undeniable that it would be impossible not to have something against him, no matter what role they might play in Dorothy’s life. Sophia would obviously harbour the most resentment, next to Dorothy. I don’t think Dorothy has been able to grasp just how badly Stan hurt her yet & I believe that is partly another choice she’s made. That &, she doesn’t remember much about who she was before anymore, anyway. It would just depress her to try & uncover.

- Side note on that last point, Blanche & Rose have definitely not believed Dorothy whenever she might have shown them old photos of her. Jaw drop moment for sure. & of course cursed Stan to all hell – I think Blanche would have gotten a little emotional. As much as she’d want to poke fun for a laugh I don’t think she’d have been able to bring herself to. She recognizes how tragic what happened to Dorothy is & was immediately. Not to say that Rose wouldn’t.

- I love love picking apart the ways Dorothy’s changed, the drastic change in how she chooses to dress (ignoring trends, & all that, just for a second) has always been interesting to me. We see a younger version of Dorothy in clothing that hugs her figure & creates an explicitly, traditionally, feminine silhouette. While after Stan dumps her, she’s begun leaning towards a style that could at times be considered more masculine. Especially in the new silhouette she’s created. This could for sure just be me reaching. I like to compare her to Rose, though, who still dresses in styles Very reminiscent of the 50s’. I’ve talked about Rose dressing the way she does because of Charlie before but I’ll address it here again, because Blanche is also very similar here. They never really changed because they never felt a need to, it’s obvious that Dorothy felt the need to do something. (brought on through insecurities, Stan, her own mental health, the list goes on. She needed to match the outside to the inside because she didn’t feel like that same passive person she was once. Imposter syndrome … question mark? Just a touch, perhaps.)

[lady-of-endless]

Hello! May I please request a one piece matchup? If you're too busy please feel free to delete! <3

--

BASICS

Name: Mochi

Gender: Female (she/her)

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual (any gender match is ok!)

SIGNS AND TYPES

Zodiac: Libra sun, Libra moon, Leo rising

MBTI: INFP

Enngram: 4; the individualist

Alignment: Chaotic good

House: Slytherin

Love Language (Giving): Physical touch, quality time

Love Language (Receiving): Quality time, gift giving

PERSONALITY

Likes: Video games, reading, drawing, writing, crochet, cross stitch, Sanrio, frogs, mushrooms, cows, coffee, sweets, summertime

Dislikes: Chores (executive dysfunction), cold weather, bitter foods, crowded places, overload of sounds (sensory issue)

Personality: I'm a very quiet person, but I'm also very friendly and bubbly. I love making friends even though I have social anxiety around new people. I'm not the most talkative, though I can hold a conversation: I'm a great listener, at least! I love spending time with my loved ones, especially my special person. I try really hard to make people feel welcome and relaxed when they're around me. Despite being quiet, I'm generally quiet communicative. When it comes to negative feelings it does have to be dragged out of me a bit, but otherwise I'm an open book!

I'm very chill most of the time, and can be very laid back. More a follower personality. I can be a bit cavalier as I deal with everything through (often quite dark) humor, but if I ever make someone genuinely uncomfortable I'm good to stop. I do need to be told peoples feelings directly though as I'm not a good judge of others unless I already know them well. Because of this I don't sus out peoples intentions well and see the best even when maybe it's not there. I'm pretty naive and gullible tbh. If you dig my humor, though, I'm really funny.

I'm very mental health aware. I suffer from anxiety and bipolar II, so I can be a lot. That being said, I'm very observant with those I love and very good at dealing with ups and downs in myself and others. I'm very introspective and always in my head for better and worse. I'm always striving to better myself, but tend to doubt myself and give into negative self talk.

I value my found family above all else. There's nothing I wouldn't do for them and I've been told I'm too loyal. I also value accountability, a growth mindset, and ambition.

Im very indoorsy and a bit of a homebody. That being said, I don't mind being spontaneous from time to time or going out if there's something interesting to do.

I have my moments of insecurity for sure but I'm pretty confident most of the time. Like I said, I'm an open book - I'm not shy to talk about anything with someone who asks and is seemingly well-intentioned! I honestly just have a huge interest in how people think and love picking their brains lol. I also love silly theorheticals for this very reason.

I'm a big softie who unsuccessfully pretends to be a tough guy. I've got a major weakness for cute things and wouldn't hurt a fly in reality. Soft candy with a gooey centre fr.

APPEARANCE

Hair: I have shoulder-length very dark brown wavy hair with a side part and grown out fringe. My hair is plain but it's soft!

Eyes: I have beautiful, big chocolate brown eyes with long lashes. They're one of my favourite parts of myself!

Body: I have olive skin, a pear figure, and am overweight. I have about 7 smallish tattoos, and piercings in my lips, ears, and nose.

Style: usually I'm very hobo-chic with all sweats but my preferred style is either full alt or cute pink dresses and bows.

--

Tysm for your time! Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions!

Author's Note: Thank you so much for this request and how detailed and well structured it is! It made my work really enjoyable. As a side note, you seem such a nice person. Hope you'll enjoy it! 🌹

I ship you with...Trafalgar D Water Law!

(lovely gif is not mine, please show appreciation to the OP)

- Your chill and laid-back way of being is what naturally draws him to you. Afterwards, your bubbly side is what keeps him close, all whipped and annoyed.

- He hates to admit that you are exactly what he needed.

- You both seem loyal, mature and ambitious. Once he discovers those traits in you, he decides that he wants you close. An ally, maybe. That's what he sees in you initially.

- A softer demeanor is what Law needs to heal from his past. You being a softie is what will keep him getting better. Is also a side of you that he wants to keep as a secret, not wanting others to try to use it as manipulation.

- Being introspective is a mutual trait so at times, it will be a little complicated for you to figure out and communicate what's happening between you two.

- He's the first to notice that you're feeling anxious. Maybe because he's a doctor or maybe because he worries for you, who knows? (Hint: It's both.)

- The innocent gullibility you mentioned is something that triggers Law to take care of you. And also to tease you, good luck.

- Soft hair? Lay next to him as he's studying and let him run his fingers through your hair while he's reading.

- A cute scenario? You two would have late night convos about tattoos and piercings. Both being half asleep, talking about what other tattoos or piercings you want/consider cool.

- About your style, I think you two would make a great power couple when you go for the alternative aesthetic. If you go for the cute pink aesthetic, there's something about it that makes him whipped.

[apalapucian]

🛒 🛠️ for the ask game please!

thank you so much kelsey! sorry this got so long oh my gosh

(send me writer emoji asks? 🥰)

🛠 What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

i'm answering this first because the other one got long so i'm putting it under the cut, but — i use the usual: notes/pages app, word, but ALSO HERE MOSTLY. i write there a lot because i don't get distracted with formatting as much, and it's literally just a screen with text, and THE TYPEWRITER SOUNDS kind of help me get in the mood. it's a gem.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

ooohh hmm, i love this question and i'm sorry in advance for going off, but it really made me think! as a basic pinterest/instagram girl, i tend to make my fics picturesque? which a few readers have pointed out. for more specific things: i grew up beside the sea, so in a lot of my modern AUs i have a place called 'the cove' (it's in seven things, wilted flowers, and rising sun), which is based on an actual cove my family and friends (and an ex) used to go to when i was young. yellow roses are also a recurring thing, as they're my favorite, as well as, more recently, a pick-up truck (this one being a bts — the kpop group — thing). i've also written an abandoned fair in the forest into multiple stories, just because i feel the visual of it (rusty rides, faint garbled calliope, overgrown but lush grounds, phantom smells and sounds, torn posters and faded colors and whatnot) like, i feel it matches the marauders era as a concept/narrative? in that you can clearly imagine what it once was, but this is what it is now? anyway. you can see how whimsical i can get lol.

i like angst as much as the next jily writer/reader, and i used to do so much of that in my early years (as an oldie 🥲). i've written like, james getting tortured (like that's it, that's just the whole plot of it) and james surviving halloween '81 alone and james having to kill lily in a zombie apocalypse and heavy breakup fics and stuff like that (most of which i can't read anymore because my writing style has shifted and it's hard for me to read them now), but over time i think i've leaned more toward cozier, everyday stories, where there's still angst and looming big evil and closer everyday evils, but i try to make all that almost just a background to more-focused friend group dynamics and seeing people in new light and developing crushes and such. like the conversations and scenes are quieter and calmer now, somehow. or i hope they are, at least. i still occasionally write heavy stuff (like rising sun and time lapse), but they've definitely gotten significantly less over time (and only when i'm going through something personally and need an outlet). oh oh there's this video of jungkook (i'm sorry for making everything about bts but um) in the run music video shooting reels, where he compares the hyyh part 1 and part 2 tracks and he's like, "part 1 explores the little moments of happiness nestled in this omnipresent, blanket of sad; while part 2 explores the sads still present in a predominantly happy, colorful time of your life." and he's like, "it's almost similar but they're not." i think i'm in my part 2 era of writing. as in it's still writing the sads but within something overall happy. i think that's what i want to explore now and that sums it up nicely.

for character nuances, top of my head: james's interest in physics and a habit of scratching the skin under his wristwatch (something i do); sirius and agatha christie and owning a coffee shop or a building/property of some sort; lily and doctor who. i've also written multiple modern AU fics with them having the same superpowers because i think it matches their personalities: james shifts energy, sirius is telekinetic, lily has a healing/killing touch (depending on what she wants to happen), and peter can tell/sense when someone is lying or not. remus is still a werewolf and a coder/hacker lol.

my OCs are named terrence hunter and jeanne marchbanks (who is sometimes jeanne jung), and they are everywhere. and these made-up place names i always use: mango moon street, rosepine hollow, chuckskates diner/cafe.

for scenes: i always try to insert a lily x sirius moment because i love them being bffs and they're just such a fun dynamic to write.

THERE. i'm sure there are more i actually asked mary for this but this is already so long omg i'm so sorry. thank you so much for sending, kelsey!!! and for reading all the way up to here!!! 💜

[blazehedgehog]

I’d love a completely new Sonic and Sega All Star Racing Game in 2025 or 2026. Both to see an expanded cast from more Sega franchises (Yakuza, Persona, Puyo Puyo, Hatsune Miku, Angry Birds, the “Power The Next Level” IP revivals) and due to untapped gameplay potential for a sonic racing game. My question is: if we were to get a new Sonic and Sega ASR do you have any ideas or hopes for how they could evolve the gameplay of a sonic racing game? (Aside from adding all content from the past titles)

I mean, do you have to evolve it? I'd like a straight collection, which means basically freezing all the gameplay features in time in the Transformed era.

The thing about those games and Mario Kart is that they don't evolve much. With a few exceptions, most Mario Kart games are what they always have been. More evolution than revolution. Tweaks to power sliding mechanics, maybe the ability to better mix and match characters and parts, but still Mario Kart after 8 or 9 games.

Where Sega and Sumo's games differed was having a real, proper singleplayer campaign. The plan was apparently to always have a story mode in those games, but they didn't get enough budget to pull it off until Team Sonic Racing. Regardless, they always contained at least some kind of singleplayer mission structure outside of the context of just racing, racing, racing. That's something that Mario Kart always lacked.

They can keep those as-is and still be a step ahead of most Mario Karts.

I dunno. I have a lot of ideas for what could make racing games better, though. I like to play those alone, by myself, against the computer. At risk of giving these ideas away for free, it's like...

One feature I liked from Dirt 2 that Codemasters struggled to carry forward was the idea that other racers on the track were characters you could interact with. Real people. They would banter with you as you raced, get angry if you bumped into them too hard, chat with each other during races, etc.

Codemasters got away with that for a few games but did sort of bring it back in newer entries like Grid 2 and Grid Legends, but it's lacking that human element -- you'll get an alert that you have "a new rival" because you were too aggressive with another racer, but there's no visible reaction or audible dialog to reflect that. And with how much Codemasters leans on having stories in those games, despite having the foundation for a Telltale-style "[xyz] will remember that" system, it never has bearing on the plot.

They are so close to unlocking the true potential of that system and they never fully commit. There's untapped possibility there for sure.

The other thing is, like, these games always have a finite amount of content. You play something like Ridge Racer 4 and it's always the same tracks, in the same order, every time you play. But does it have to be?

A lot of racing games will let you pick individual tracks one at a time if you want to switch it up, but I don't want that. I want to be able to tell the game "give me a new cup" and have it assemble one on the spot.

It's like a fighting game, right. What's the main fault of early Smash Bros. games? You fight the same characters, in the same order, every time. Later Smash games, and indeed most fighting games, offer you up fighters in a random order, so every time you fire up Arcade Mode, you're never entirely sure who your next opponent is.

So back when stuff like the Spelunky Daily Challenge was a hot conversation topic, I often wondered why racing games couldn't have, like, "The Grand Prix of the Day." Generate a playlist of four existing tracks in a random order for every day of the year.

Like, Mario Kart 8 has, what, 64 tracks right now? It should be able to generate me a new Grand Prix playlist of four tracks on command in trillions of variations. Technically, this is sort of what Mario Kart Tour does, but even then that's locked in to a live service model of "seasonal" content and you still eventually run out of Grand Prix cups to race on for that month. Also, Mario Kart Tour sucks and is bad to play.

And, like, what if you could share your Grand Prix playlists with others? Send them to your friends, issue challenges, configure parameters like mirror mode and reverse races. Maybe designate specific racers as being "experts" for that GP with different traits to race against. Maybe even let the friend record a ghost or some kind of Drivatar-style profile to race against as part of the GP.

This feels so natural and obvious to me. And to be fair, Forza Horizon games also kind of do some of this, but it's still not the same. It's not what I'm looking for.

When I play a racing game, the less I have to interface with the menu, the better. I'm here to race, not to scroll through track lists and be indecisive.

[evilwickedme]

Idk if you have been asked this before, but what ur ur opinions in spideypool? I love the ship, but I hate how utterly hard it is to get a good comic out of them it's so sad

I think the reason I haven't been asked this before is because nobody really thinks to ask someome who writes spideypool fic what they think about the ship, but that's actually a really good question!

I love spideypool. I've been a spideypool shipper for about as long as I've been into marvel comics, since Deadpool was one of the first comics I picked up way back when in 2015. At the time it was pretty much omnipresent in the fandom, and for good reason - Deadpool's crush on Spidey is and was literally canon, or at least as much canon as it can be when it's played for laughs, and there's a lot of charm to their interactions.

To me, the appeal lies in the way they affect each other. Deadpool's got this whole hero worship mixed with actual attraction thing going on on his end, and Spidey has this whole "this is the most annoying man on the planet and possibly in the multiverse but also he's like pretty funny and our fight styles blend well" thing going on on the other end. A high quality longfic for these two will go into issues of morality and find where either of them need to or choose to change for each other, for better or for worse, and can easily include a heavy bit of angst regarding Wade's chronic pain and mental health issues or Peter's anger issues and monetary problems. A high quality pwp for these two will be very funny. These are both things I find incredibly appealing in my ships.

Also, visually, they really do fit together. Afaik, Deadpool's outfit was designed mostly to parody Deathstroke, but there's some Spider-Man in there anyway, and they look all matchy-match.

So why is it so hard to write a good teamup comic for them? Um... I'm not so sure that it is? Like I think that Deadpool annual from 2013 or 2014 where he and Spidey end up switching costumes is so fun and shows some of Wade's tendencies to mix hero worship and attraction really well, and a lot of their other early interactions are short but memorable. I think the issues of Daniel Way's run of Deadpool where Wade and Peter team up are some of the only actually good issues in the whole run, because Daniel Way actually wrote some themes and ideas into there and then didn't drop the ball immediately! He dropped the ball later, but not immediately, which is rare for him.

The main Spider-Man/Deadpool teamup comic seems to have mixed reviews. I haven't read through the whole thing yet, but like, I think it's fine? It certainly isn't outright bad, and it has some fun moments. I think the main problem with it is that it was created for and aimed at people who were fans of the ship, and then didn't really look beyond surface level into why people like the ship. Like I said, spideypool is at its best when it struggles with issues of morality and has some give and take, where both sides learn from the other. The team up comic is more like... Deadpool is bad cause he kills, but he wants to prove to Spidey that he's a good person! And then he tries to prove that by killing Peter Parker, who he thinks is evil (the team up comic started in a weird time in spidey's continuity where he was running a fortune 500 company, it's a whole thing)!

It's a lot of hijinks and shenanigans that I don't mind in fic, but prefer in smaller doses and one off team up comics. If I'm reading an ongoing, I'm going to want it to like... Be about something. At some point. A static character for a mainstay title is fine, but for the most part I want these characters to do something together beyond coexist. I think the best moment in the volumes of Spider-Man/Deadpool that I did read is the one where Wade introduces Spidey to Ellie Camacho, his daughter, because it forced Peter to reevaluate how he sees Wade. But then the itsy bitsy storyline happens, and it's such a shallow understanding of what makes Peter a good hero and what makes Wade ... Uh, Wade, and I think it just makes for mediocre storytelling.

I don't know I guess the problem is when we only had the one offs, we had a taste of something great, but when we got it in longform we realized the first bite was great, but the whole thing was a little stale.

I could write it real good tho, in case you're wondering. Marvel don't lose hope you can still hire me marvel I know you're reading this mARVEL

[darkisucksanditwrites]

visit

There weren’t many things that Alhaitham would genuinely worry about.

On the fingers of one hand Cyno could list them; his position as the Grand Scribe, his precious books, his morning coffee (he was particularly fussy about it) and with some shy disbelief, Cyno had to admit that he, himself made the list.

So to see Haitham fuss about his appearance for once in his life was very interesting to say the least.

“Don’t you think you’re overdoing it a bit?” Cyno commented from where he was leaning against a wall of Haitham’s bedroom, arms crossed and head tilted curiously watching the other man fret uncharacteristically with the choice of his outer tunic.

He had two options: light gray and dark green and he couldn’t decide which one to match with his black short he had on for today.

Cyno thought it didn’t really matter; to him nor to the person they were going to visit anyway.

“Not at all.” Alhaitham said, putting on the tunic – the deep green one, and then picking up a comb from the dresser.

Cyno rolled his eyes and pulled from the wall, walking up to him. He himself was dressed down to simple loose pants and a shirt that barely reached his waist. Perfectly normal and casual outfit for a casual dinner visit.

Yet, Alhaitham insisted on dressing up for the occasion.

“You know he won’t notice right?”

Haitham ignored him in favor of styling his hair.

Cyno sighed.

“You’ve met him already.” He leaned over the dresser, his back to the mirror so he could look up at Haitham. “I don’t see why you think it’s such a big deal.”

Haitham lowered the hand which held the comb and looked at Cyno. His hair was now neatly pushed back, revealing more of his forehead and both of his eyes.

Cyno swallowed. He looked good. But he didn’t need to know that. Hell, he probably knew that already anyway.

Haitham frowned suddenly.

“Why do you assume I won’t take a visit to your only living parent seriously?”

“I didn’t say not take seriously. I just don’t know why you should stress over it so much.”

“I’m not stressed over it.” Haitham answered a bit too quickly and Cyno hummed knowingly. They were silent for a moment, Cyno observing Haitham further primping in front of the mirror and part of him wanted to feel a little jealous he rarely did that for their outings but then most of their ‘dates’ were very casual and mostly at home anyway, just how both of them liked.

“What about your grandmother?”

Haitham paused and looked at Cyno, curious about the random question.

“What about her?”

“You said that if she were here, she would love me no matter what, because you do.” He paused for a moment fighting against the embarrassment and the warmth in his face. “So why do you think Professor will be different?”

Haitham put the bottle of cologne back on the dresser and stepped closer to Cyno, crowding him a bit in his space.

He put one warm palm on Cyno’s cheek and tipped his face up so he had to look him in the eyes.

“Ah that’s because I am not as easy to love as you are.”

Cyno’s breath caught in his throat and his blush finally exploded on his face. Haitham held his gaze for an unnecessary moment longer, before he smiled in satisfaction and pulled away.

“Besides I know he doesn’t like me.”

“Ha? How come?”

Haitham shrugged.

“We had an unfortunate exchange of views some years ago.”

Cyno raised an eyebrow, ignoring his still hammering heart from the stunt before. Haitham was right though. He wasn’t the easiest person to love but that didn’t mean it was less rewarding to when he did. Quite the opposite.

He dismissed the thoughts. For now.

“And you think he’s going to held it against you?”

“Of course.” Haitham said, fixing his hair a bit.

Cyno hummed again.

“Especially if you’re his son. He’s not going to approve you being with just anyone.”

Cyno frowned.

“Haitham, I am an adult. If Professor has a problem with the choice of my partner, then that’s…his problem not mine.”

Haitham didn’t respond.

“But I don’t think he will.”

“That would be preferrable.”

Cyno signed. He grabbed the tails of Haitham’s tunic and dragged him to his level. Then he dipped his fingers of both his hands into Haitham’s perfectly styled hair and purposely messed it up.

He silenced his murmur of protest with a silent ‘hush’. Haitham sighed and let Cyno do what he wanted until his hair was back to his usual look.

“There.” He said and then pressed his forehead to Haitham’s, eyes closed. “Just be your typical self. That’s all I want.”

“Usually, people do not enjoy my ‘typical’ self you know.” He murmured.

Cyno snorted.

“I am not just anyone.”

Haitham’s lips twitched.

“That you aren’t.”

Cyno pushed him away.

“We’ll be late.”

Haitham looked at the clock.

“Mn. Indeed.”

“Professor won’t like it.”

Haitham looked at him for a moment before he smirked.

He grabbed Cyno around the waist and brought him close for a deep kiss.

“Too bad.” He said when they parted and Cyno had to put his hand on the dresser behind him when Haitham let him go so suddenly.

He disappeared into the kitchen, before he reappeared with a bottle of chilled Mondstad wine.

“A peace offering.”

Cyno smiled briefly.

When they closed the door, Cyno took his hand and huffed in amusement.

“So you are nervous.”

“A bit.” He finally admitted and looked at Cyno. “I believe we are now very fashionably late. Shall we?”

“Mhm.” Cyno hummed, squeezing Alhaitham’s trembling hand in his and they set off to meet the man that raised Cyno and gave him a home.

AO3 link