#gon does poems

[purrfectlycontent]

the scars you gifted me are disappearing.

the charming blood red from when your claws tore into my skin

is now budding into something new.

something pink.

one day i may forget how i lived with you

and my life that has withered away

will blossom into something new.

without you.

— with love,

[aanoia]

Possibility

Sirius Black x reader words; 2,800+ warnings; heartbreak. not a happy ending ish. not proofread. no summary because I'm bad at them, just trust loosely inspired by Possibility by Likke Li and Dead Poets Society uhm I'm in an emo mood let's be fr. Also, it's almost midnight when I post this so tomorrow is December first! (the best month, my birthday month). And its the beginning of my Christmas advent calendar so if u dk abt it u do now :) Anywho, have fun. Both of the poems are mine, I'd love feedback!

There's a possibility

There's a possibility

All that I had was all I gon' get

Mm

“Indeed, I am aware that in the Wizarding World, poetry does not have much of an impact on the minds of its individuals. However, I am not from the Wizarding World.” Mrs. Greenbriar said with a small smile. “I’d like a poem, heartfelt and meaningful. Make it good, please. I’m interested to see what you guys can come up with.”

Y/n looked down silently at her paper, studying the small doodle of an owl on her piece of parchment. She shook her head and let out a soft sigh as she thought about the assignment. 

‘A poem?’ Y/n thought. ‘How in the world do I write a poem?’

“Now.” The professor continued. “I’m sure you’re probably thinking, how on Earth do I write a poem? Well it’s really quite simple. Sit and think for a second. Think of your happiest memory.”

Y/n’s mind filled with laughter as she remembered that day she spent with him. He grabbed tightly onto her waist, spinning her around in fast circles as she shrieked and clutched onto him tightly. He put her down and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips, locking in their fate as lovers. 

“I love you.” He had whispered. 

“What comes to mind? Christmas morning? First kiss? Whatever it is, you can make a poem about it. Now, think of your saddest moment. The moment where you felt like the world might just be ending.”

“Wait, what?” She asked, her mind in a fog.

He scrunched his brows, unbearable pain written across his features, “We need to break up.”

She shook my head, a nervous laugh falling from her lips. “No, you just- but we-”

“Y/n, please.” He pleaded, tears in his eyes.

Her eyes stung as her vision blurred, “You can’t do this.” She whispered and a tear slid down his cheek. 

“I have to.” He whispered back, and walked away.

Professor Greenbriars voice had softened, “Whatever you just thought of, make a poem out of it. Poetry is derived from emotion. It’s the key ingredient.” 

The bell chimed and immediately students shoved their parchment and quills into their bags. Y/n sat still, her mind blank as she fought back tears. She had done so well pushing that night to the farthest corner of her mind, bottled up in a glass of obsidian.

“Remember, my dear students, no poem is a bad poem. They all have meaning.”

There's a possibility

There's a possibility

All I gon' get is gone with your stare

All I gon' get is gone with your stare

“Are you working on the poem Professor Greenbriar assigned?” Marlene asked as she sat down at the table Y/n and Lily sat at, scribbling away on their parchment.

Lily glanced up, “Do be quiet, we are in the library.”

Y/n smiled and looked up from her paper, “And yes, we are working on the poems.”

Marlene groaned, “I don’t get it. The woman said it herself, poetry has no impact on our world, so why do we need to make a poem? Make it make sense.” She crossed her arms.

“She also mentioned how she isn’t from the Wizarding World, meaning she doesn’t care what impacts it and what doesn’t.” Lily replied before throwing her quill on the table angrily.

“Woah, what’s up with her?” Marlene asked Y/n who simply shrugged.

“I have no clue what to write, nor how to write it.” Lily explained, resting her head in her hands.

“Preach sister.” 

“You could always write about me, Flower.” James interrupted and Y/n’s amused smile dropped.

Lily shoved the man away, causing his back to bump into Sirius Black's chest. Sirius smirked, leaning over his shoulder.

“You guys wanna hear my poem?” Sirius asked, his eyes avoiding Y/n’s as his heart clenched.

“Not really.” Marlene answered, picking at her nails to show her disinterest.

“Okay.” Sirius said, pulling out the crumpled parchment from his pocket anyway and clearing his throat. “Get ready for this. Are you ready?”

James nodded with a grin and turned to face Sirius, “I was born ready.”

Sirius darkened his face dramatically, “A cat, on a mat.”

James put a hand on his heart, tears welling in his eyes, “Enough to make a grown man cry.”

Sirius bowed, “Thank you, thank you.”

Someone cleared their throat loudly, catching everyone's attention. The librarian pointed to the wall, where a magical sign hung with bold letters. ‘James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew are strictly prohibited in the library until further notice.’

James looked back to us with an apologetic look, “Sorry, ladies, but we must take our leave.”

“Couldn’t have done so soon enough.” Lily muttered, going back to her poem. 

Marlene sighed, “Y/n/n.” Y/n lifted her head again, a small smile on her lips.

“Yes, Marls?”

“Is your poem sad or happy?”

She glanced at the writing, “Have you met me?”

“It’s obviously sad.” Lily answered for her.

Marlene placed her hand on Y/n’s arm, “My depressed queen.”

“Don’t be rude.” Lily scolded.

“I’m not rud-” Marlene was cut off by her own loud gasp. The librarian cleared her throat once again and Marlene winced. The group of girls laughed quietly at the librarian's annoyed look, shaking her head dismissively as she cursed about kids these days.

So tell me when you hear my heart stop

You're the only one who knows

Tell me when you hear my silence

There's a possibility I wouldn't know

The warmth of the fire ticked Y/n’s legs as she sat on the couch in the Common Room. She stared silently at the neat cursive writing on the piece of parchment, overthinking every word that lay upon it. She fiddled with her necklace, the soft grip her teeth had on her bottom lip never leaving. 

The door quietly opened, just enough to not be heard as a boy walked through the portrait hole. Sirius paused as he gazed at the figure curled up on the couch, working once again on her poem. It seemed to be all she did these past few days. A flood of familiarity filled his body as he noticed her fiddle with her necklace. It was from her mom, he remembered. She never took it off.

“Working on the poem again?” He asked quietly, so as to not scare the girl. Despite his best efforts, she still jumped in surprise, scrambling to hide the parchment under the book she was using as a hard surface. He winced, “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.”

Y/n swallowed the lump in her throat, “You’re okay. And yeah, I am. I’m just reviewing it now, making some final changes.”

Sirius nodded, “You think we’re going to have to read them aloud in class?” He questioned, hesitantly taking a seat in the armchair next to the couch. Y/n straightened her back and cleared her throat.

“I sure hope not.”

“Is it personal?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

Y/n nodded slowly, “Yeah, it is.”

He nodded with her, “Oh, cool.”

It was silent and Sirius was about to stand up and leave before she spoke up, “Why are you coming in so late?”

“I went to the kitchens, I wanted some cookies.” He explained shortly. 

Y/n’s brows furrowed, “Did you have a nightmare?” She wondered aloud, remembering that was his way of calming down after a bad dream. When they were together, he’d invite her as well, for extra comfort. 

Sirius laughed quietly while nodding, “You remember.” He looked down to his hands.

“Of course I do. Despite the reason being bad, those nights with the elves were the ones I looked most forward to.”

Sirius looked back up, “Really?”

Y/n stared at the fire, “Yeah, really.”

“So, why are you up so late?” He returned the question.

Y/n shrugged, her eyes flicking to him only to find him already on her. “I couldn’t get myself to fall asleep.”

“Too much on your mind, huh?” He said softly and she nodded. “You know me so well.” She whispered.

“Yeah, I do.” He whispered back.

Know that when you leave

Know that when you leave

By blood and by me, you walk like a thief

By blood and by me, I fall when you leave

“Okay, it’s officially been two weeks since I have assigned you with writing me a poem, so now I’d like to drop a bomb on you, for some character growth.” Professor Greenbrior grinned, seemingly very proud of herself as students whispered. “You will be presenting your poems in front of the class.”

Y/n’s heart dropped and she felt eyes on her. She knew it was him, looking to her in worry. Her stomach churned in nerves, overthinking everything that has led up to this moment. She wondered why she took this stupid class in the first place, but she knew exactly why. He wanted to take it, so of course she did too.

“We will go in alphabetical order by last names.” Sirius groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “Yes, Mr. Black, you are first.” 

James clapped a hand on his best friend's back, “Go on, mate. Say it like you mean it!”

“Yes! Say it like you mean it.” Professor Greenbriar agreed as Sirius winked at James. 

Just like he did at the library, he took the crumpled paper from his pocket and cleared his throat. 

“I wonder if he wrote another poem or kept it the same.” Marlene said to Lily and Y/n.

“He probably kept it the same.” Lily responded as Y/n stared forward. Lily took notice and silently grabbed her hand. Y/n gave her a grateful smile.

“A cat, with a hat, on a mat.” Sirius said proudly as the class laughed while they clapped. 

“He added some pazazz.” Marlene giggled and Professor Greenbriar shook her head with a smile. 

“Forever the joker, Mr. Black.”

“You couldn’t be more right, professor.” He agreed as he sat back down in his seat. 

“Okay, Miss Evans.” The professor called up and Lily gulped.

“Good luck.” Y/n whispered and she smiled.

“Uh, it’s really short, not even a poem really. I just didn’t know what to write so I’m so-” Lily rambled and the professor cut her off.

“Miss Evans, does it convey an emotion you feel?” Lily nodded and the professor smiled. “Then it’s perfect. Go one, please, I’d love to hear it.”

Lily took a deep breath and read from her paper, “I don’t understand how. With my friends. I like to think we’re the same person in a different font. Two pieces of the same soul. But with you. We’re completely different, in the same font. Two separate souls tied together eternally with an unbreakable string. I’ve never believed in opposites attract. Until I met you.”

The class was silent before it broke out in clapping and cheers from every individual. Y/n smiled proudly at her best friend, knowing she’d never admit who it was really about.

“That’s about me, right, Flower? Me?” Speak of the devil.

So tell me when you hear my heart stop

You're the only one who knows

Tell me when you hear my silence

There's a possibility I wouldn't know

“And finally, Miss L/n, please take the stage.”

The room was silent as Y/n walked up to the front of the classroom, her nerves practically dripping from her pores. Her mind raced as she took her rightful spot in front of everyone, dreadful thoughts filling her head. Y/n took a deep breath and glanced at her paper, knowing she didn’t need it to read the poem she had memorized word for word.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Professor Greenbriar said quietly and Y/n nodded. 

“There’s a possibility. That my heart rests in the palm of your shaky hands. My body trembles as you tiptoe around it. The fear of shattering it once again petrifying. There’s a possibility. That you will leave yet another night. Stealing away what should belong to me. Stealing away the thing that keeps me breathing.”

A mixture of tears, mucus, and saliva stained her mothers shirt as she sobbed into her arms, her dads wrapped around both of them protectively. She clutched tightly onto the cloth on her mothers back, desperately trying to ground herself. Her heart felt as if it had been ripped around, shattered into pieces, and all the broken pieces had been shoved back in.

“Oh, baby.” Her mom whispered, her voice broken from seeing her daughter so distraught. She let out a strangled cry and her dad tightened his grip, refraining his own tears at the state of his baby girl. 

“We love you so much.” He added quietly, knowing it did little to numb the pain of a heart break.

Y/n ignored the people in the room as she continued, “Only you understand the depths of my despair. How my breath flees at the sight of beauty. How when you disappear the fall is silent. And the lock that was robbed from my chest. Falls still as the key simply disintegrates. Something so silent. Not even I realize that the world has ended.”

The morning after had been the most painful. When she had expected to wake up in the arms of her loving boyfriend, the night before only being a terrible nightmare, she had woken to find herself in her parents warm bed. Neither of them were present, so she cried again. Every fibre of her being already aching for his warm touch just once more.

Her mother came into the room, “Sweetheart.”

“It wasn’t just a nightmare.” She whispered and her mom nodded sadly, embracing her again.

“You’ll get through this. I promise, my love.”

So tell me when my sorrow's over

You're the reason why I'm closed

Tell me when you hear me falling

There's a possibility it wouldn't show

Y/n made eye contact with Sirius as she recited the last section, “There’s a possibility. That it leaves me breathless. As the key weaves through the tall trees. Never to return the lock. Never to return what once was safe.”

The class clapped louder than they had the entire period, and professor Greenbriar wiped away a stray tear as she clapped. Y/n ignored it all as she stared sadly at Sirius, who gazed back. His cold, gray eyes are glassy and regretful of the past. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Her dad asked and she nodded. 

“I’m sure, dad.” She responded, hugging him tightly.

“Don’t let that boy near you, or he’ll know what it’s like to come across and angry dad.” Her dad threatened and she laughed. Something her parents hadn’t heard much since summer break began.

“You’re very intimidating, dad, don’t worry.” She assured and he smiled, patting her on the shoulder.

“Oh, I’ll miss you.” Her mom cried, pulling her into a tight hug.

“You always do. I’ll miss you too, mom.” She answered, relishing in the warmth her mother provided. 

“Your sixth year. Oh, they grow up too fast.” Her mother said and her dad shook his head with a laugh.

“You’re so sentimental.” He teased and she tuned them out as she made eye contact with the boy who ruined her summer. They bickered in the background as all the memories came flooding back, every night she cried into her parents arms. She took a deep breath and kept her face stern, determined to not let him break her like that again. 

There’s a possibility that Sirius Black had just lost the best thing he ever had.

By blood and by me, I'll fall when you leave

By blood and by me, I'll follow your lead

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[wordsinhaled]

Alright y'all, I've been asked for some guidance and Middle English resources following up on my "Hob 'Middle English survives in me' Gadling" post, so... here goes! :D @slavicwitchling I hope this is a lil helpful! I feel like this... went way too in-depth for what was actually asked of me but feel free to say hi if you have more specific questions or anything else I can help with <333 (Or if anyone has q's about other random Medieval Lit Things that might be helpful for fandom please feel free to stop by!!! (Also lol, I make myself sound like an Expert or something but it's been a minute since I was in school doing this, though to be fair I'm diving headfirst back into this passion lately and may potentially be going back, so always happy to do some research if needed!)

What is Middle English? Middle English describes the period of the English language where it transitioned from Old English to Early Modern (aka Shakespeare's) English. During this period from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the late 1400s, English also borrowed a lot of characteristics from French, and a lot of changes happened grammatically & structurally to make English sound, look, and feel a lot more familiar to our modern ears than Old English does. Here's a helpful article on this! There's some debate on when ME was spoken but more or less 1150 to 1500. What did Middle English sound like? What would Hob have probably sounded like? Here's my back-translation of Hob and Dream's 1389 conversation into Middle English! Here is also an example of a Middle English lyric found in the manuscript Harley 2253 (which dates to c. 1340) - "When the nyhtegale singes" ("When the nightingale sings"). Middle English was beautiful and Hob probably sounded kinda like this! Actually just go listen to all of Briddes Roune it's so pretty <3 And here's what the manuscript page looks like!

When the nyhtegale singes,  The wodes waxen grene, Lef ant gras ant blosme springes In Averyl, Y wene ; Ant love is to myn herte gon With one spere so kene, Nyht ant day my blod hit drynkes Myn herte deth me tene. Ich have loved al this yer  That Y may love na more; Ich have siked moni syk, Lemmon, for thin ore, Me nis love neuer the ner, Ant that me reweth sore; Suete lemmon, thench on me, Ich have loved the yore. When the nightingale sings, The trees grow green, Leaf and grass and blossom springs, In April, I suppose; And love has to my heart gone With a spear so keen, Night and day my blood it drains My heart to death it aches. I have loved all this past year So that I may love no more; I have sighed many a sigh, Beloved, for thy pity, My love is never thee nearer, And that me grieveth sore; Sweet loved-one, think on me, I have loved thee long.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight read in ME

The Canterbury Tales General Prologue read in ME (this is 45 minutes long, but you can just listen to part of it, haha)

helpful resources & websites

Luminarium — an anthology of medieval literature 1350-1485; I especially love the section for Middle English lyrics & poems!

the Middle English Dictionary via University of Michigan Library; an AWESOME searchable database of Middle English words and examples of their usage in context within texts. You can use the "Modern English word equivalent" search function to back-translate things!

Middle English manuscripts online at the British library!

List of Middle English terms of endearment — helpful for Dreamling fics ;)

How to call someone beautiful in Middle English <;3

(Some) notable literary works in Middle English in case that interests anyone!

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400 — links to Harvard's Chaucer website w/ the text & in-line translations + helpful guides on how to read Chaucer, etc.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by anonymous, c. 1400 (the Gawain poet) — links to the Weston translation but I really like the one by Simon Armitage, which is great for learning ME because it's a facing page translation! I've seen a lot of people recommend against starting with SGGK as your first ME work because it's super weird and super steeped in Arthuriana, but like, I'm not gonna tell people what to read! If it interests you, you should read it :D Granted, I'm SUPER BIASED in favor of SGGK (it's my favorite work, no contest) but it could be good to be familiar with some Arthuriana first before reading

On that note, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Mort Darthur c. 1485 (links to a version online up on Project Gutenberg) is a translation & compilation by Malory of French & English Arthurian stories (the Old French Vulgate romances, the Alliterative Morte Arthure and the Stanzaic Morte Arthur). Fun fact, Le Mort Darthur was first printed by Caxton in an abridged version in 1485, right as Hob was getting in on printing! Afterwards they found the Winchester manuscript, which dates to prior to 1485 and is considered to be the more accurate version compared to Caxton's The Norton Critical Edition is a great unabridged Middle English full text version that reproduces some of the visual characteristics of the Winchester manuscript (illuminated capitals and fancy font for all the names, etc.) and has a lot of literary criticism, analysis, and a glossary in the back included. BUT I think this version could be a difficult read to get through if reading alone. Here is the Oxford World's Classics version (ed. Helen Cooper) which is easier/more approachable!

William Langland's The Vision of Piers Plowman c. 1370–86 (aka just Piers Plowman) - honestly, it really is not my favorite at all, but there is an entire International Piers Plowman Society. It's like the Ulysses of ME literature I guess??? So i... won't rag on it too much, haha; maybe I just need to revisit it and I will find something new in it to like. It's a series of dream visions in which the dreamer/narrator seeks a true Christian life. Here is the Middle English text (University of Michigan Library). Here's the Oxford World's Cassics translation

The Gawain poet is thought to also have written Pearl, Cleanness, and Patience, which are 3 works that survive in the manuscript Cotton MS Nero A X, the same manuscript as SGGK (the "Pearl manuscript", c. 1400) (more info on the manuscript)

[miyuhpapayuh]

fourteen

Back in front of the blank canvas, she deeply sighs.

What to paint?

She'd been sitting here for the last hour, wondering the same thing.

Flowers were always a favorite, but she was in the mood to try her hand at something else.

Maybe someone else.

Dipping her paintbrush into the deep brown paint, she sighed again and let her mind wander, while letting it dance across the canvas.

Halfway through, she pulls back and smiles at the outcome, feeling more smitten than she ever has before.

Turning the music up just a bit louder, she continues on, filling the blank space with her newest subject.

Once she was done, she sat and marveled at her work, placing her fingers over the fine detailing and smiling to herself.

Oh, Leon.

She'd painted him in five different ways, each one more strikingly beautiful than the last.

Never had she sat and painted a man in such vivid hues of brown, blue and orange. With such emotion, such thought.

“Wow,” seemed to be her favorite word to describe moments that involved him. This one was no different.

She loved Leon. She was in love with him. No doubt.

He was just as in love with her, if not more.

She clouded his mind just as much. So much, she was his permanent muse for every piece of poetry he'd written over the last month.

Her hair.

Her smile.

Her scent.

Her eyes.

Big and brown,

Full of wonder,

Of love,

Of life!

Her wit,

Her charm,

Her spice,

Her warmth.

All wrapped in mocha,

Kissed by a thousand suns.

Curves that would make a blind man crash.

A sharp tongue that would make the most confident man crumble.

A heart of gold.

Skin made of silk.

A goddess, for real.

Meeting each other back in her love lair, the pair exchange their heartfelt gifts, neither of them ready for how it tugs on their hearts.

“You wrote me a poem??” She gushes, holding the orange envelope to her chest. Her twinkling eyes made him smile extra big.

“I did! You painted something for me??” He asks, staring down at the board, neatly wrapped in deep green paper.

“I did! You wanna open yours first?” She excitedly asks, making him tear right into it.

His surprised gasp, coupled with his shocked expression, does her in. She was hoping to god that he liked it, at least.

“Zora.. wow, this is so… wow!” He stares at the canvas, struggling to find the words that express how breathtaking it is.

“Do you like it?” She asks, shifting her weight.

“I love it, mama. Absolutely. I— I've never been painted before. I don't think anyone's ever even sketched my face! It's so detailed and wow.” He repeats, making her blush.

“I told you, you're my prettiest subject,” she smiles, “I've got a whole sketchbook full of your face.”

The way he looked at her could've melted her right into the ground.

“Read your poem, sweet stuff.”

“Okay,” she says, her voice coming out small.

Pulling the paper out, her eyes linger on every word, her heart beating double-time at his sweet, sweet words.

“Ohh, you just love to make me cry!” She laughs through her small tears, wiping them away with the back of her hand.

“You like it??”

“Hell yeah, boy! This is so sweet! I love the way you talk about me.”

“Like I can talk about anything else,” he says with a shake of his head. “You cloud my brain, woman. I wrote like five different poems about you.”

“Like you're any better! Got me drawing and painting you.” She stares at him wide-eyed.

“You're so talented, baby.” He coos, pulling her into his arms finally, wrapping her up in his warmth, while he feeds on hers.

“So are you, handsome.” She rubs the back of his head, kissing his forehead as he hugs her tightly to him.

“Our anniversary is in a couple days.”

“I know! Six months!” She gushes.

“It's crazy how time flies, huh?”

“Well, when you're having so much fun, it does tend to slip on by.”

“I made reservations, but I cannot tell you where. It's a surprise.” He says, snickering at the look on her face.

“We gettin’ all gussied up?!”

“Hell yeah, baby! Pull out your best dress and we gon paint the town orange.”

“Aw, you are so cute!,” she frowns, pecking his awaiting lips a thousand times.

“I know, lucky me.” He bashfully smiles, hugging her waist tighter.

“Now I'm gonna stress until Friday, tryna figure out what to wear!”

With the chilly air that late October brings hanging in the air, Zora was contemplating on 86’ing the dress idea altogether for something more practical, knowing how much she despises the cold.

“I have faith that we'll be able to pull something together.”

“Yeah, I probably won't be wearing a dress, though. It's a lil too cold for that.” She laughs.

“Yeah, I didn't even think about that,” he chuckles, "I just know that's your go-to. But, I know you're gonna look absolutely stunning! That's a given.”

“If it's possible, I love you even more.”

“Ah, my heart grows ten sizes with every glance your way. Every word you say,” he presses another kiss to her lips, dipping her back into her heap of pillows.

“Such a way with words,” she giggles, halting the wandering hand before it reaches the hem of her t-shirt.

“It's not over yet,” she mumbles, matching the frown he sported.

After summer ended, so did their free time. They were lucky if they got to see each other on the weekends, due to preparation for the holiday season.

The warehouse Leon worked at seemed to have a million pre orders for a variety of the new gift items they advertise, keeping him at work almost overnight, sometimes.

The pub had been jumping still with all the changes Linda made, including a complete renovation of the restaurant, which included an actual dance floor, an ole-timey jukebox, and a larger dining area and bar once she knocked out a wall.

Zora had started pulling longer hours, while Linda was in the process of expanding their team, which she didn't mind, but she'd never been so tired in her life.

At the end of days like that, the pair were lucky if they hit their own beds correctly, before having to jump right back out of them the next day.

And with their impending anniversary right around the corner, on top of it being the first one they were gonna go all out for, Mother Nature paying her a visit couldn't have come at a better time. 

But she was on her way out the door!

“I know,” she laughs, “that's how I feel, too! I'll be clear in like a day or so, though.”

Moving his hand back to her knee, he smirks. “Just in time for the festivities, huh?”

“Yeah, I may have an extra surprise for you, too.” She bats her lashes at him.

“Oh?”

“Maybe,” she smirks. “Maybe not.”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Friday dragged its feet and the couple's nerves along the way, knowing they were ready to detach themselves from their jobs without thought.

As if teleporting to her apartment, he opens the unlocked door like she requested through text, immediately getting an earful from him as he heads down the hall.

“Now, Zora, you know how I feel about unlocked doors.”

“Leon, you were like five seconds away. Nobody was gonna get me.” She says, staring at him through her vanity mirror while she applies her lip gloss.

“Still. I've got a key for a reason. Let me use it.” He says, before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, running his hand over her freshly pressed and still billowy hair.

“You look beautiful, as always. I like your hair.” 

“Thank you! I rarely wear it like this ‘cause it's so hard to keep up with, but I was missing it and it's a special occasion, and this qualifies as my something different.”

“Checked it off your own list?”

“Yeah, why not!”

“Why not.” He smiles, agreeing with her.

She smiles back, before standing to her feet to face him, both of them cracking up at the 360 they give each other.

“See? I had faith in you and you did it, Jean.” He pokes, twirling her around. “You look damn good, baby.”

A cropped white top and high-waisted, wide-leg distressed jeans was a pretty basic outfit, which is why god invented cardigans. An orange and pink one did just the job at setting her outfit off.

“I didn't find it until last night, don't be too proud.” She sighs.

“Woman, please. Point still stands, you put it together like only you can.” He flirts, wrapping an arm around her waist, their faces just a few inches apart as they gaze at each other.

“Every chance you get, for real.” She pokes back, making him suck his teeth, planting a kiss on her lips still.

“You already know it, sweet stuff.”

Taking a step away, she looks at him again. An orange beanie pulled over his low-cut and his beard was full and shiny, begging her nails to play with it, which she’d definitely ended up doing.

His green leather jacket, black sweater and jeans combo was doing so many things to her, as was the heavenly scent wafting off of him.

Vanilla? Bergamot??

“Whatever you're wearing, always keep a bottle near.” She speaks, earning a smirk from him.

“Yes ma'am.”

“You look so good, baby.” She compliments, moving back into his hold.

“Thank you, mama.”

“Mhm, and thank you for six bouquets of poppies! That was the cutest thing ever.”

“Anything for you,” he kisses her again, before looking at his watch. Right on time.

“You ready to go?”

“Absolutely.”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

The Petal Café was one of the newest, fanciest restaurants in town and Leon made quick with getting reservations, thankfully bypassing the huge waiting list.

“This place is so beautiful!” Zora squealed for the millionth time, making him laugh and squeeze her hand from across the table.

“I'm glad we made it, cause that waiting list is a year out, now.” He says with a shake of his head.

“What?? That is wild! Let's hope the food lives up to its hype!”

“I know, right. Everything looks really good, though.”

The waiter comes over and sits their drinks down, before taking their food orders and leaving them alone again.

“I'm certain we said it already, but happy anniversary, doll face.” He says, going back to squeezing her hands.

“Happy anniversary, baby. Best six months I’ve ever spent with anyone.”

“Same here, you’re one of my best friends.”

“Really??” She asks, squeezing his hands back now.

“Absolutely! It’s been an absolute dream getting to know the world is you, and to experience life with you is just as dreamy.”

She was thankful that she went light on her makeup, cause she knew it would’ve been ruined with him and sweet words.

“Oh, Leon,” she frowns, “you're the epitome of a dreamboat. When I say I love you, I really mean it. I don't think I can say it enough.. but thank you for showing me what actual love feels like,” her voice cracks near the end of her sentence.

A soft smile covers his lips, as he's keeping his own tears back.

“It's my pleasure showing you what you deserve, Jean. That'll never end.”

Knowing she was gonna cry, she beckoned him to her with her pointer finger, pressing her lips to his, giggling against them as her tears fell down her cheeks.

Pulling away to cup her face in one hand and wipe her tears with the other, he laughs as she reaches up to wipe his own tears away.

“Nique was right, we are sappy.” He points out, making her shake her head.

“Don't let her hear you say that, we'll never live it down!” She exclaims, making them fall into a small laughing fit.

“I love you, Jean.”

“I love you too, Avery.”

After indulging in the well worth it cuisine, the pair move their party to the expansive bar, which happens to sit right beside a huge flower garden, a few orange and yellow roses sitting the closest to them.

“How'd you know about this place?” Zora asks, sipping her rum.

“Eryn told me about it, actually. Saw an ad about them opening a location here and gave me the details. As soon as I heard the name, I knew we had to come here.”

“Aw, you know me so well!”

“I better, ‘fore somebody try and take my job.” He cracks, making her laugh and lean into him.

Any opportunity to wrap his arm back around her, he'd take it. Pressing another kiss to her face, he goes back to sipping his own glass of rum.

“Nobody could ever do such a thing, baby.”

“Touché, sweet stuff. Nobody holds a candle to you.”

Two more drinks and it was time for them to move their party back to the privacy of her apartment.

As if teleporting back to her front door, Zora pulls Leon inside and sits him down on her bed, before disappearing into her bathroom.

“I'll be right back!”

“Whatchu hidin’, baby?” He slurs, a wicked smirk crossing his face at the thought of what it just might be.

“A surprise!” She giggles from inside the bathroom, making sure everything was sitting the way she needed it to— not that she'd have it on long, anyway. But still.

Slipping out into the hallway, she pulls her hair up into a sloppy bun before strutting back into her room, where he sat with his jaw in his lap.

The jade hued lace teddy hugged her figure like a second skin, holding up and framing her voluptuous body in the best way possible.

“Wow.” His eyes traveled up and down her frame, as if he was savoring this moment.

Here she was, standing in front of him in his favorite color, and all he wanted to do was rip it off and take her in every way possible.

“I take it that you like it?” She speaks, pulling him out of his trance, his gaze now on her face.

“You look absolutely breathtaking, girl. I love it.” He responds, reaching out for her hand and pulling her to stand in between his spread legs.

His strategically placed kisses made her giggle and softly push his face away.

Sticking his tongue down her throat, he pulls her flush against him, groping her fat ass with his big hands. Her left leg finds its way over his right one, soon straddling him altogether.

Licking a trail from the corner of his mouth to the sweet spot on his neck, her fingers work to remove his jacket, dying to have full access to his broadness.

Next to go was the sweater, ultimately making her lose her mind. He'd been hitting the gym pretty hard and boy was it doing him some good.

“So damn fine,” she moans, pushing him back onto the soft bed, reaching underneath herself to undo his belt buckle, biting his earlobe as she slides a hand inside his pants.

He grunts in response, assisting her in pulling his clothes away until he's in nothing but a pair of briefs that were already being tugged on.

Pulling them away, she swings over his lap backwards, now facing the rounded mirror on his dresser. She smiles at her reflection and wraps her hand around his dick, softly jerking him.

His groans fill the air, especially when she bends over to stick her ass in his face and drool all over him, sucking him like she had a point to prove.

Mesmerized by the jiggle in her hips and ass, his hands reach out to slap each cheek, eventually slapping the wet spot between her thighs, making her inch away, an audible gasp leaving her full mouth.

“Come back,” he rasps, pulling her hips back in his direction to rub his thumb over the steady-forming spot, his head falling back into the pillows as her tongue swirls around his sensitive tip.

“God dammit, baby,” he moans, sending another fire smack to her ass. Taking him to the hilt, they both groan as he hits the back of her throat.

He wishes she could've seen how wide his eyes were as she holds him there for a few moments, and does it again, and again, moaning all on him and making his toes curl.

“Fuck… I'm cummin’, Zora… fuck,” his hips jerk upward as she milks him for every single drop, giggling once she releases him.

Pulling her back on his face, the seat of her lingerie was pulled to the side and his nimble fingers played in her wetness, making her bite her lip and grind against his hand.

“Fuckin’ soaked,” he grunts, sliding his middle fingers into her, reveling in the sweet moans that fill the air as he curls and pumps them into her gspot.

“Shit, right there,” she breathlessly moans, dragging her nails up and down his stomach.

“Right here?”

“Yes, I'm g-gonna cum!” She gasps, throwing her head back once his fingers begin jabbing at her spot, making her gush onto them in no time.

Wasting no flipping her onto her back, he pulls the lace away from her body, kissing every inch of skin he came across on the way.

Hooking her legs around his waist, he glides into her and grunts at how wet, how snug, “fuck I could bury myself here, you feel so fucking good.”

His slurred praise hits her ears, while her eyes are stuck in the back of her head as he thrusts into her so deeply. Her hands find his chest.

“Oh my god,” she whimpers, “so d-deep!”

His lips find her neck, as her body clings to his. Her breathy moans hit his ear.

It had been so long since they'd found themselves in the moment, which made them savor it now for all its worth.

Declarations of love and affection leave their lips, as their peaks get closer and closer to erupting. Sweat blanketing them like a second skin.

“Cum with me,” he groans, as he ground his hips into hers, making them see stars at the same time. The cry that left her lips made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Blissed out, they lay still entangled as the aftershocks pass through their bodies. Dazed smiles cover their lips.

A second wind comes sooner than later, sending them into their next position of the night. Both of them facing the mirror as he hovers over her, spreading her thighs to glide right back into her.

One hand is splayed across her chest to pull her flush against his own, the other planted firmly into the bed as he pumps into her, mumbling shit in her ear that would make her blush if she were able.

Both of her hands were rolled into the sheets, trying her best to throw her ass back onto him, but those lethal strokes are nothing to play with.

“Fuck me,” she helplessly whines.

His breath tickles her skin, his kisses along the back of her neck make her shiver. “Just like this?”

“Yes,” she breathes, “yes!”

Speeding up, he crashes into her sweet spot so precisely it makes her cum in an instant, a heavy sob leaving her mouth as he continues.

Her hands found both of his wrists, as she was desperately needing something to hold onto.

“S-so good, Leon! Please don't stop!”

“Fuckin’ you all night, baby.. all night.” He smirks, pulling his hand back to smack her ass.

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

“Ooh, she's being loved properly. Look at that glow!” Nique teases, just as Zora spots their table.

“Hey, y'all.” She greets her sisters with a hug and kiss, before taking her seat beside Nique and kissing her cheek.

“Hey, lover. How's life been?” Neoma pokes fun, making Zora roll her eyes.

Not being one to post much about her relationship on her social media, besides a few pictures here and there, Zora felt compelled to make a dedication post for their anniversary and her sisters, of course, found it and left all types of crying, heart and kissy face emojis in the comments.

“I should be asking y'all that.”

“Let's talk about you first, though.” Lovita redirects just like an older sister does.

“Life's good, lemme lone,” she mumbles, still “mad” at them.

“Oh come on, we went wild in the comments, but we're done now!” Neoma pleads.

“Yeah, promise!” Nique adds.

Zora looks at her oldest sister, raising an eyebrow. Lovita sighs and shrugs. That was as much as Zora was gonna get from her, since sorry is not in her vocabulary.

“Fine. Life is beautiful!” She smiled, making them reciprocate.

“We've seen! You two are too much,” Lovita frowns, over the moon happy for her littlest sister.

“How was your anniversary?!”

“It was the sweetest day. Not like, every day isn't just as sweet, but he sent three bouquets of orange poppies to my job and three more to my apartment. We had already exchanged gifts a few days before, being too excited to hold onto ‘em. He took us to the Petal Café, and y'all! It's the prettiest place I've ever been in! The best food ever! There's a garden next to the bar! It was so me. He's such a hunk.”

The chorus of aw’s commences.

“How much did you cry?” Neoma and Nique ask.

You know what! Too damn much,” she answers, laughing at herself before they could.

“Such a big baby, oh my gosh!”

“I know, ugh. He's just so… wow.” She smiles again, shaking her head.

“Yeah?? We pickin’ out baby names, yet??” Nique squeals.

“Girl, no. I made sure I stocked up on my birth control. No babies… yet.” She purses her lips together for a second, watching their expressions shift, but before they could lay into her again, she re-redirects the focus back onto them.

“But, what about y'all! How's everything?!”

Nique jumps at the chance to tell her best friend just how head over heels she is, to which she outwardly gushes.

“Since we made it official, I met his mama and he met mine— she loves him— he's been showing up to my office with lunch, sometimes it's hand-prepared!! Y'all know I love a man that can cook!”

“Food be good, don't it?!” Zora asks, the smile on her face is too bright.

“Girl, if you see me gain a lil weight, don't say nothing! And if you see him gain a lil weight, you heard me the first time,” she snorts, “cause he's just as fed. Baby got an appetite the size of Texas.”

“You did tell ‘em you loved a man who could eat.” Neoma points out, making her blush.

“And eat, he does.”

“Dominique!” Lovita yells, her jaw dropping.

“What??! He does eat a lot! Sometimes, it's me– hell, most times, it's me.” She covers her own mouth, high-fiving Zora with her free hand.

“I knew it,” she laughs, pointing between Neoma and Lovita, “you two owe me money because what did I say??”

“Y'all bet on me?!”

“No, they bet on you. I knew you'd have him that boy in the palm of your hand before the end of the year and they bet on it taking a little longer.”

“What, y'all ain't think I still had it in me?” She asks in faux outrage.

“Girl, you been celibate for like a year or so, I ain't think he was really gon affect you like that. But, I shoulda known after that phone call I heard.”

“What call??”

“Man, Nique was on the phone with this man, talkin’ his ear off about her job and Ron big stupid ass had done something else that she had to undo, and Darnell was telling her about how he was gon come up there and stomp a hole in his ass if he didn't get it together, cause she was way too important to be doing favors for the incompetent. Nique got to giggling, and I knew it was over. I ain't never heard her sound like that.” She finishes, blinking dryly.

“Yeah, I had nothing better to do, obviously. It was a very funny conversation.” She adds.

“Ne, you've always been so nosy. Maybe you and Nique are related.” Lovita jabs, making Zora laugh.

“Anyway, Nique please record the fight when it happens ‘cause Ron been needed an ass whoopin’. But seriously, you two are adorable! I knew it was coming once he called you his baby. I'm so happy for you.”

“Thank you! I'm so happy for me, too!” She laughs, fanning her red face.

“Neoma, you sharin’ next?” 

She smirks. “Craig is a dork, for real. He's so funny, so smart. So stubborn, Jesus. So fine,” she sighs. “He drives me insane, but boy do I love it.”

“Always the one for challenges, lord.” She shakes her head. “But, as long as everything is going good, I love it for you.”

“Thanks, sis. We're not a couple yet, but we're getting closer.”

“Take your time, girl. If it's meant to be, it'll happen.” She assures her older sister.

Their hands join in the middle of the table for a sweet squeeze, before everybody's eyes dart over to Lovita, who's yet to share.

“Do I have to??” She asks.

“Yeah, what the fuck?”

“Okay, okay! But y'all cannot judge me.”

“Girl, what did you do?”

“Remember that night y'all slept over after the game day we had?” She asks, watching them nod in response.

“Well..”

Smirks decorate their faces as she gets ready to spill what they'd already seen coming.

“Clyde and I had sex, that night and I swear I've been in love with that man ever since.” She sighs.

“In love?” Neoma repeats.

“Yes. In love. I love him.” She spells it out for her younger sister, while she slowly blinks back at her.

“Girl, I know that feeling. That's how I felt the morning after me and Leon had sex.” Zora says, shaking her head. “I was done for.”

“Really? I felt like I was going crazy, at first. Like I woke up a little before he did and just kinda stared at him like, “you have fucked up, cause now I love you.” It was wild!”

“Literally such a wild feeling, I agree.”

“Wow, y'all makin’ me miss my man.” Nique snorts, internally giddy as hell that she gets to call him that.

“Aw, her man.” Neoma coos.

“Stop it,” she laughs.

“But, ‘vita,” Nique starts, “we would never judge you for how you feel. Sex is such an intimate experience, I'd be afraid if you didn't feel more than you already had about him.”

“Yeah, I know.” She sighs, “I know.”

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” she smiles, picturing his face in her head. “Nothing’s wrong. He's perfect. Realistically, of course.”

“Yeah?” Zora asks, beaming for her sister.

“I can't stress it enough. He's sweet, funny, well-rounded.. he's a hard worker, might be a lil rough around the edges, but so am I. We don't clash at all, it's always so refreshing to be around him. And my goodness, that man is so damn fine.”

“He is very handsome. I believe we all lucked out like I said we were gonna! Sounds like I'm owed some thank you’s.”

“Zora, do not ruin this sweet ass moment.”

She rolls her eyes and grabs the champagne flute from the table and tipping it toward her lips for a sip.

“Wait. What kinda gifts did y'all get each other??”

“Oh, he wrote me a poem and I painted him.”

Their eyes widened.

“What??”

“Aw, you painted Leon!?”

“You painted?!”

She smiles wide at their reactions, shaking away the urge to burst into tears.

“Y-yeah, I painted. It's been a few months since I've painted, but really, it's been so long since I've actually been motivated to do so. Y'all know that relationship of mine just drained the life out of me and everything I loved to do just vanished. And, I'm finding the purpose for it again. In something and someone else. Y'all should've seen his face when he unwrapped it,” she smiles like he's right in front of her, “it was priceless.”

“Wow, I'm so proud of you, Zora.”

“Aw, thanks,” she frowns, wiping the lone tear that fell.

“Oh, don't start crying. We’ll be here all night!”

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Having a few more days of freedom, Zora and Leon get back together for another sip and paint, with another spin to it.

Nique had given her the idea to make Leon the subject for Zora to paint. And of course, this sounded like some fun and some trouble. Well worth both, she already knew.

“Okay, so you're actually my model, today.” She says, taking in his raised brow.

“Really? That's cool! You need me to pose?” He asks, beginning to flex his muscles and make her laugh.

“Yeah, actually! Hold on,” she stands up from the couch and heads towards her dining area for a chair, pulling towards the middle of the floor.

“Okay, come sit.” She says, patting the chair.

He strides across the floor in a show for her, which she appreciates, more giggles leaving her and he kisses her forehead before sitting down.

“The cutest man, ever.”

“I know,” he replies.

Sauntering into the kitchen for a stool, she pulls hers up to her easel and sits, looking to her left to make sure she's got all the supplies she'll need.

Peeking out behind the canvas, she eyes him but keeps the request on the tip of her tongue.

“What you keepin’ from me?” He asks, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Uh… don't think I'm crazy..”

“Who's sane?”

“Leon,” she says, sighing to herself.

“Zora, come on. What is it? You want me to pose like The Thinker? Huh? Something more interesting, perhaps?”

“Yeah, way more interesting.”

“Okay, throw it at me, baby.”

Pulling her head back behind the easel, she swirls her paintbrush in the clear water, letting the request fall from her lips.

“Strip.”

A few moments go by with nothing but silence, and just as she's about to poke her head back out, she catches sight of his shirt being flung over her head.

Pants next.

“These too?” He asks, making her peek back out, staring at the hand that's hooked in his briefs. She deeply sighs and shakes her head.

“You can keep those on.. for now.”

Enjoyyy!

Ch 15

@thegifstories @sheabuttahwrites @honestpreference @ghostfacekill-monger @soufcakmistress @blackerthings @abeautifulmindexposed @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @mauvecherie-writes @cecereads209 @blowmymbackout

[tumharimummykibahu]

lmao i laughed so hard calling someone that they're Imtiaz Ali's movie istg this is the worst compliment I've ever heard...i mean what exactly are you trying to compliment on ??? His stolen narratives?? overly dependant on female kinda male leads encouraging misbehaviours of men in the name of love.... The toxic relationship he romanticises in his movies.... imtiaz ali is just wannabe rumi he translates his poems and writing in hindi and use it as dialogues.... Choose beautiful destinations and ar rahman ofc that's You're the scenery of his movies you're the music of his movies yeah that you can def be girl.... fs you are that

Okay...yes I consider that a compliment and a very good one

Firstly the movies and directors i choose to call my faves are completely my choice

Secondly are we really going to find EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING out and call it problematic? Does anybody care?

AND WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY "FEMALE KINDA MALE LEADS" OH GOD ARE WE REALLY STARTING THE TOXIC MASCULINITY TALK IN 2023? REALLY? and you're telling me jab we met had a toxic relationship ?? Sachi? Fr? Bro men like Kabir singh can keep their fucking fragile masculinity in their fucking pockets

aapki baaton se lag rha hai you are a kabir singh supporter then because if you think FEMALE KINDA MALE LEADS are somehow problematic theres something wrong with you

If y'all gon be talking about imitiaz ali being problematic ah dont even get me started HE HAS MADE MOVIES AHEAD OF THEIR TIME AND THEY ARE STILL RELEVANT THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN THEM RIGHT?

Youre telling me movies like jab we met,highway,jab harry met sejal,rockstar are all bullshit because they show ''overly dependant on female kinda male leads encouraging misbehaviours of men in the name of love'' oh wow

I kinda feel you haven't seen any of these movies

Because if you would have you would know that HE NORMALISED SELF LOVE SUBTLY THROUGH JAB WE MET'S GEET in a society where women are portrayed as people who should be shaant susheel type he made a character so dear to me who has taught me all that I know of self love and confidence

And men? Please dont even get me started on men ADITYA KASHYAP WAS THE IT MAN literally the most non toxic guy ever the way he treated geet and the way he handled the love he had for her ? O m g are we really calling aditya the female kinda male lead y'all really be spitting anything atp

And bhai if you're really interested in that cancel culture type of stuff please block me because I like what I want to like and I dont like people like you who try to find problematic stuff in every single bollywood thing because one thing about me is thay I WILL DEFEND BOLLYWOOD I WILL DEFEND JAB WE MET I WILL DEFEND THESE MOVIES IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE LOG IN ON TWITTER THIS IS MY SAFE PLACE -

[ragnarlothcat]

1/2 Maybe Obi-wan goes on a LITLLE too much about how it’s actually lucky anakin asked him for help wooing padme- otherwise he would have sent her running with his attempt at poetry... & anakin gets a bit miffed cos ok maybe poetry isn’t his forte but he isn’t /that/ bad so he tries his hand at a love poem to prove obi-wan wrong & proudly presents this to Obi-wan for his evaluation:

2/2 “Her hair is as brown as dirt, Sometimes she wears a skirt. If I had eyes like hers I would see so prettily; Even if her eyesight were bad, with padme by my side I could never view the world shittily. She is my rock, my angel, my love; After her I will chase like a cat after a dove.” Obi-wan crying because all those years tutoring him were for naught 😩

Awww Anakin and his terrible poetry!!! I absolutely love it. Obi-Wan wants to immediately give Qui-Gon a refund (I figure Qui-Gon is Anakin's guardian after Shmi dies? I guess?) because he clearly did the worst job educating Anakin and also, while he's on the subject, why is he in love with this guy? (This is answered immediately afterwards when a) Anakin gets really passionate talking about his noble horse, Artoo, and Obi-Wan is so charmed by his earnestness and sweetness and b) they train together and Anakin gets all sweaty and shirtless.)

Actually I think I have an idea for the ending now which is a shame because this entire AU requires skills that I'm not sure I have. Do people ever like...subcontract parts of a fic? I don't think I'm an Anakin level poet but the trouble is that I've built Obi-Wan up as the best poet in off-brand France and it'll ruin the mystique if whatever I write for him is bad or even just mediocre 🤔 I'll think on it!

Either way, thank you for the laugh. Anakin really does mean well!

[drdamiang]

NO MORE

NO MORE

no more poems, paintings

three act strucures,

somgs

nothing to transport, nothing

to inspire

the visions of

the precious decades

all

thrown out

simple economics really:

supply and demand

city after bankrupt city

cutting, killing

every

creative grant

and now

its all

gon

the books have gone

the libraries have gone

the theatres seem

to be

closing down

the groves

have been ploughed up

statues have been

toppled

their stone recycled

(where other than those

of current corporate

executives

or business tycoons

or the current political class

who make

so much money for them

and good! I say

best

thing out

for words and pictures

that do not commuicate

straight

(as per

cybernetic model) are a

waste of profit

waste

of tax

are as

self-

indulgent, narcisstic a luxury

as they come

above all, that demonic genre,

satire,

which refuses to know

its place

should receive

the kiss

of death

accept

short

shrift

accept

that we

people of

grandeur

pinnacle

summit

polish and

yes,

class

need not

apologize if

we do not

prioritize

in our best intetests

for what

could be

in the national interest

possibly

that does not

first favour us

we

elected to this power

by popular will

and divine

comnand

that the best

must rule

and the

rest

hang

[jude-thedude98]

S.C. Says it's time to write a new one

And I guess I'm due one...

But truth comes through self reflection.

I need a made a mess in my life

That's why everyday I work like Cinderella's step child

Burning the midnight oil

Because I can clean the outside of me but no amount of spic n span is going to clean the inside turmoil.

Until I turn foil

Over aluminate

I pledge allegiance to this day

That on this time when i

Take a swing

I won't strike out

Getting down because I'm lost in the crowd

Depending on the wow's and the woah's

But these woes that follow me down

Drown me out.

How can I expect to know who I am when I can't even hear how I sound?

So let this day be a reckoning

Not a threat but a calling.

Because the phones been ringing my whole life

I've just been too scared to answer it.

Maybe because of what the he said she said

Or the he thinks she thinks

But I got four winks

And one stinks

And I'm not saying that I don't know my shit don't stink

I'm saying I know that in between curled toes and bathroom magics

Comes the cracks of asking

When is this all over?

When does my season my time change?

The answer like S.C. Says

When I stop depending on Everybody's approval

Fuck their approval.

I APPROVE MY MUTHAFUCKIN SELF!

Not sittin and waitin

Wishin you could jack my johnson

Nah I got two hands more than capable and versed well.

Hell

Look at these lines

I find the times in between Why's wise

I get HI's

Not on Cloud 9's

More like Eleven's.

Eleven Reasons to take care of myself

And Eleven More Reasons Not to Ever Go Back To Old Mt Old Self

Because my Old self would have deleted this poem by now

In fear they were hurting somebody's....well

It's time to overcome thyself.

Because I'm tired of sitting and talking to my therapist

Sounding pathetics because I already know the answers they gon give.

You may not like giving up or quitting

But

You have to stop giving your all to someone who doesn't deserve it

And

Quit thinking that you're never going to get out of this.

Because you being here in this therapy sesh

Is the next and the right

And the best step

I have take for me.

Get medicated when you need

Get into your word - I mean yours not someone's already written

And set yourself free.

Because like S.C. Says

There is no time like the prezz.

To Whom It May Concern, There is No Time Like The Prezz by Mr PoetAll

Inspired by S.C. Says

https://youtu.be/jLOBDCjfNxI

[jeremiahwrites]

Impermanent Mark

"Someone's fingerprint that, a thousand years ago, Killed darkness and killed death. I am also that fingerprint, marked on a stone."

- Flower in a Classic Whisper, Chon Pong-Gon

Julius, he is an excellent painter. His recent artworks are of stacked rocks and butterflies. He makes his own ink, his brushes are found branches. Then he writes and writes until words fill the canvas.

I love that he's a maker. I love his mind and his hands together. He tells me the correct color and then he makes his mark - makes everything out of nothing. I love the tattoo on his back that says "you are as impermanent as this".

When we first started, I thought that we can only be a temporary kind of love. I was young and active at church. There I was taught I can't love this man or any man at all. When we started again, I now believe that we can be another kind of love - the kind that makes a mark, the kind that creates everything out of nothing.

He has an intimate understanding of impermanence. And I love that I learned to embrace it as much as he does. We learned to dance with the poetry and riddle it brings. The stones we stack by the river may not last forever, but the importance is in the tower we created together.

I wrote this poem for his 25th birthday:

[purrfectlycontent]

letter to a furry friend

there is nothing better than

warmth in your arms.

my fingers brush against your fur

and you, trusting, small, content,

your feeble heart beating against your chest,

close your eyes and push for more.

you only have so many years to live

yet, you willingly spend them with me.

i wonder how long we’ll last.

[seokjinsonlyone]

this what i think bts love language is

a/n: this just my thoughts besties i ain’t do no formal type of research or nun just let my lil imagination sprint 🥸🤪

namjoon:

physical affection/words of affirmation

okay so i said physical affection for one bc like he seem to like initiate contact with people around him a lot

like in interviews he be having his hand on whoever next to him thigh or like when he be performing if it’s someone next to him he throws his arms around them a lot

not to mention like whenever jimin or jk or whoever start feeling up on him he never rejects it or makes a face or anything like yoongi does he just accepts it

like there’s so many stage clips where jimin will come and rest his chin on joon’s shoulder and he just lets him

or jk will just start touching on him some way grabbing his arms or sumn and it doesn’t phase him at all

another example is like on day 2 of sowoozoo when tae randomly came and linked arms with him and hobi during mikrokosmos hobi was like 🥴🥴 but joon was just 😌

and then there was that magic shop muster moment when jk was talking about how much he loved joon and how he was his beginning you know as president of the joon fan club does and namjoon couldn’t help but to go over and give his number one admirer a hug you know the moment

same thing with compliments he lowkey be eating them up

like you know how whenever hobi gets complimented he be like “😶 don’t say those things” joon don’t do that

like when they was asked to take their jackets off during the butter shoot and namjoon was like yeah okay and everyone started hyping him up and he was just 💁🏼‍♂️😜

and again on day 2 sowoozoo when he pushed his hair back from his forehead and everyone went OHHHHHSWJJSJS SEXY NAMJOON and then he decided to murder us all by tilting his head back on top of that adding insult to injury i would insert the picture but for my mental health i will not

and again whenever they talk about him being such a great leader he never shies away from it doesn’t cringe always accepts it so you know it must mean a lot for him to hear those things

aside from that tho he’s such a poetic person

like he is definitely involved in an intimate affair with language so there’s no way he wouldn’t appreciate you verbally telling him how he makes you feel

like just think about how many times he’s said he wants to sit down with each army and listen to their story

that being said if this was your man i think you’d definitely have to both show and tell him how you feel

like if he was about to head out for work you definitely got to kiss him before he leaves

and if you on the phone with him the last words you’re saying are i love you

and he’s definitely gonna cherish it each time always gonna have that cute little smile dimples caved in his cheeks bc you love him and he feels it

seokjin:

acts of service/words of affirmation

alright so ngl the reason i said acts of service for seokjin is like almost 100% based on his reaction to tae setting up that birthday event for him where he had his friends send him messages

he talked about it for WEEKS like he was genuinely so moved that i just like he has to love it

and then there’s like how much he bothers jk to like do simple stuff like i’m specifically thinking about that one moment in bon voyage 4 when he was sitting down at the table and called jk to help him up

and then there’s also little things he does for others like when he peeled tae’s tangerines for him or when he offered to feed yoongi bc he was driving or how he always offers bites of his food before even gets a chance to taste it

now i say words of affirmation bc he always searching for a compliment

my minds going to when jk hurt his foot and jin was pushing him in the wheelchair and kept feeding him lines to say about how he was such a good hyung and how he loves him

or in the behind the scenes for the boy with luv video and he kept tryna get tae to compliment him for being witty

and my boy never misses a chance to introduce himself as worldwide handsome

even though he does a lot of those things jokingly there are moments when he’s serious too about giving compliments and shy when he receives them like in those be interviews when he called jk a singing genius and jungkook was talking about how he had the most range and he got all ☺️☺️

or that moment from in the soop when he was comforting yoongi about like not having regrets and when yoongi told him he wanted to be like him just those kinds of moments let me know words are important to him

which just made me remember how hard he tries with his lyrics and how important they are to him like when he was writing awake and he talked about how he kept getting rejected but he was super insistent bc it was important for him to sing the words he wrote and don’t even get me started on moon i just-

anyway jin done said many times he is a man of the present so if you’re with him you gotta actively show/tell him

if you’re at the store pick him up some gummies

if you know he’s got a long day ahead of him maybe pack him some snacks to take with him in the morning

if his hair looks nice tell him

send him messages throughout the day even if he can’t respond immediately

he claims he’s a man of the present but whenever he takes a moment to reminisce the past he’ll look back and know just how much you care about him

yoongi:

quality time/acts of service

listen as much as this man loves spending time alone the time he spends with others means a lot to him

like how he always go fishing with jin even tho he ain’t particularly fond of it

or how like in in the soop he had made plans to play games with jimin and did so extensively

also from in the soop when he had spent most of his day outside reading but then he had heard everyone starting to make the theme song and immediately ran to get his equipment to record and what not

not to mention his poem from the end of that one run episode where they went on like a mini trip or whatever and he was like “what a relief that we have seven members. what a relief that we have each other.”

like being all together is important to him

like i just think about that one scene from one of they movies ion remember which one but they were all gathered around the table and it was when he had told them how he actually hurt his shoulder and they was talking about how they was worried about jk and how he need to come out his room and it’s not even the content of the scene but just like the fact that he ain’t have to be there but he was

and also can’t neglect to mention how he whined for y e a r s about how ain’t nobody come to visit him on set when he was filming the videos for his first mixtape like mans wouldn’t let that go and then how touched he was when they made appearances on his daechwita set even if he couldn’t express it properly

and how he begged for them to make cameos in the video and how happy he was when jin and jk did

and he doesn’t ever forget to mention whenever him and hobi hang out he’s like yeah we went for a drink and dinner and talked and blah blah

he loves it when people make an effort to be around him

now acts of service i got this all on a whim okay like… listen… we all been there we have all watched an ideal type video on youtube don’t lie okay

and up there it be like he want someone to bring him food in the studio and take care of him and stuff like that and in this case the math maths

you really can see that in how he treats others

like just the other day i saw a gifset somewhere and the boys were like yeah yoongi always takes care of us he don’t make eye contact tho

not to mention how he always cooks for them when they go on trips

and even though he ain’t give seokjin his song yet we know it’s coming! eventually!

and whenever they be ganging up on jungkook yoongi always the first one to be like “stooooppp you gon make him cry”

my baby just always be doing little things for others to show he cares okay 🥺

so if you got with my baby you gotta take care of him 🥺🥺🥺

he really needs someone that understands him bc he not gonna say anything

if you’re all hanging out together make sure you’re by his side so he knows you want to be there with him

if he’s busy stuck in his studio drop by even if you just end up laying on the couch he’s gonna appreciate you just being with him

and bring food my baby getting buff he need all the veggies and protein he can get

hoseok:

receiving gifts

i really had to think about this one but once i connected the dots yeah it makes total sense

like he looooves shopping loves getting stuff so when other people give him stuff i know he just 🥰🥰🥰

hobi lights up when he gets gifts they don’t always have to be big but i know he very much appreciates them

like how in the army corner store festa video when asked to bring something meaningful to them he brought those figurines which was the first gift a fan gifted him

which makes me think about how those limited edition figurines dropped and hobi was like i need to get one for namjoon and then namjoon was like i need to get one for hobi and so they ended up with like two of them or something like that

also from festa in the little photo booth mission every time he won a prize he was like yaaasss omg and was thinking of ways to put it to use like when he got that picture frame he immediately stuck them film strips in it he probably got it hanging in his room or in his studio by now tbh

and i think it was on the canada run bts episode where jk bought him those slippers and he was super happy

even when they were in hawaii and him and jin were hungry on the bus and he asked jin for gummies like ofc jin had to get on his nerves first but when he finally gave him his snacks he went from 😐 to 😚

or how he still has that change purse that namjoon bought him in malta (probably still got the money in there too tbh)

speaking of malta got me thinking about how tae went out of his way to win hobi that flamingo bc he said he’d never seen one and when tae gave it to him he went parading it around telling everyone that tae won it for him and then said he was gonna put it in his studio

and he got that chicken leg pillow they gave him from you quiz on the couch in his studio

and i think it was from the 2020 winter package he was so happy when jin bought him those ugly little troll elf things with the hat you know what i’m talking about

and he commented like three times when jungkook drew that picture of him for his birthday

and we know mans be giving gifts too

like how he got yoongi that coffee truck on the set of daechwita

and when they were on the speak yourself tour and he went out shopping on a day off and bought jin a sweater or something

and how he slaved through like 2 or 3 lives making bracelets for the members and then gave it to them on the bang bang con live

and the most devastating one of all when they had to give each other gifts i think it was on the run episode with all the water games but i could be wrong anyway and like most of them gave each other gag gifts like their merch or whatever but hobi gave jimin (and the rest of the members) a cd for his song promise it had a little photo book in it and everything 😭😭😭

so like whoever gets with this fine specimen gon have to throw a few dollars together to make sure this man is kept

not really i’m sure he doesn’t expect you to sell your car for a gucci peacoat or your soul for a rolex

but if you did decide to save up for some time to get him a little extravagant gift i know he’d more than appreciate it

more often than not though it’d be the little things that got to him like if you bought a simple t shirt from the store but then kinda like upcycled it drew little doodles on it wrote “i’m your hope” somewhere on it there would definitely be a picture uploaded of him on weverse or twitter wearing it

or if you decided to compile the pictures of you two together into a scrapbook or something he’d keep it somewhere accessible like in a drawer in his desk in his studio and flip through it with a little smile on his face when he’s missing you

and even if it was something even smaller than that like say he mentioned in passing that like idk he was out of eggs or something and you bought him some he just might marry you

jimin:

physical affection/quality time

the first thing that comes to mind with this for jimin is how he comforts his boys

like there’s so many behind the scenes clips from tour where like jk or tae will be upset with their performance and crying and jimin would be the one to come up behind them and hug them and wipe their tears

same concept for that one moment in bon voyage 3 when they told him that tae was crying and he just kinda hugged him and wiped his tears and hovered around him to make sure he was okay

or when they left hobi at the gas station in bon voyage 4 and then went back to pick him up he still hugged hobi even as he was laughing evilly

also in bon voyage 4 when they went on that helicopter tour and they was on the mountain and him and tae tackled each other and was rolling in the snow

and he is just like always in jk arms like he just jumps on him for no reason like in that video where lee hyun is acting as one of bts’ management

also in the behind from i think when they were practicing for the 2019 bbmas i believe at some point jungkook was holding that man spinning him in circles or sumn like that

and there’s also that one comeback show when him and tae were in the comic book cafe and they were just cuddled up together looking at tae’s phone practicing english i think

and on that one joon live when him and tae crashed and just caused a whole lot of commotion i’m pretty sure at one point they were cuddled on the couch and then jimin told tae his breath stinks and tae proceeded to open his mouth over the air purifier

anyway clearly he is a man with hands

but he also is someone who loves to spend time together it’s important to him

like i just think about how when they had their “break” back in 2019 he talked about how he just traveled the entire time and he went with various friends and family

and i’m pretty sure it was bon voyage 3 when they were doing their friendship trips and trying to make fresh pairings or whatever he was like i don’t think there’s any surprising pairing with me and it’s like… that’s true

like you got minimoni, minimini, jikook etc… all tried tested and true man gets around his band

and he’s the main one who’s always like “yeah bro we should live in the dorms until we’re 50”

and he always talks about how he can’t be alone and how he’s always gotta be doing something with someone

and his lives!!! his lives!!!! when he spends time with us it’s always so intimate and personable

like you can’t tell me that i ain’t have dinner with him and jin after a show in the hotel room and we drank off camera even after the staff told us we couldn’t 😤🤚

there’s also that time he went live and someone said they had some kind of condition and then he took it upon himself to look it up and try to find treatments

just liiiike whenever he goes live every minute counts bro and yes this is me trying to summon him bc we ain’t had a solo jimin live since october and i know they super busy but i miss 😓😓😓

so for this mans i just feel like you just gotta really be with him

just like he makes every second count you have to as well

like he’s gonna want to have your full attention and you’ll definitely have his he’ll be obsessed with you tbh

however he doesn’t always have the time and his schedule definitely isn’t the most accommodating so he’s gonna want someone to put in the effort

but as long as you make sure he knows you’re all in he’ll always meet you halfway

taehyung:

words of affirmation

now this one has been stated explicitly multiple times and he’s admitted it himself

specifically during let’s bts in their segment within the segment and namjoon was like taehyung the kind of person who grows from compliments

and i ain’t even got the right words to express how i feel about the smile he couldn’t help when hobi had them all tell tae that they like him

not to mention the story he told during the festa video last year about how he always tried his very best to get hobi to praise him and how disappointed he was when hobi didn’t get it

and i may be tripping but didn’t like earlier this year he didn’t post on weverse or twitter for like a month or so because he wanted to keep seeing us say how much we miss him???

and in bon voyage season 2 when they had to write letters to each other and he wrote his to jimin and then cried when he read it

there’s also a moment in bon voyage 4 when he and rm were about to sleep in the same space and he asked joon if he could cuddle him and joon was like 🥴🤚 how bout no and tae was like you do like me right? and rm was like yeah of course but let’s not cuddle bro

also in that weverse magazine interview they did he talked about how depressed he got when they weren’t able to perform and he only felt happy for a while when he was able to communicate with us

and in turn he’s very verbally supportive as well

like at that one fan sign they was talking about bon voyage and they asked army which season they liked better 1 or 2 and someone said 1 and taehyung was like “😐 now why would you say that bc namjoon won’t even in that” even though really it was only like 1 or 2 episodes he missed out on

and like he’s always hyping seokjin up like when they were doing the map of the soul 7 comeback live and jin was talking about how he wasn’t a good dancer and taehyung was like 😡 don’t say that bc it’s not true you’re good and you always been good

and in the let’s bts thing again it was important for him to let jimin know that he likes him best like they really are best friends y’all 😭

and when he talks about how much he loves suga’s raps

and that moment in the soop when he set up a date for him and jungkook to talk out whatever tension they had or whatever

and how during those individual be interviews he had hobi flustered when he complimented his passion for music

and he always be saying like the most comforting stuff on weverse letting army know he’s there as a source of comfort at all times even when he can’t be

like this man is literally the creator of borahae meaning that we’ll love and support each other for a long time

so if you get with tae communication is key!!!

you gotta tell him how you feel about him

if you’re out and about and see something that reminds you of him? tell him. if you like his hair that day? tell him. if he does something that pisses you off? tell him. if you miss him? tell him. if you love him? tell him.

like y’all gon talk about everything and nothing at all some days you’ll be discussing aliens and parallel universes other days you’ll be like discussing the future of your relationship

and ya know he a busy man so you not always gon be having long and drawn out heart to hearts so i think he’d love it if you just sent messages throughout the day something that let him know you were thinking of him even if it’s just a picture of a possum you chased down or if you spammed him with tiktoks you thought he’d like

he’d be looking at his phone like 🥰🤳 thinking about how much he loves you

jungkook:

physical affection

now this lil menace right here is touchy

always down for a cuddle

like on the canada episode of run when they were about to pick out rooms and he was like firmly latched onto hobi on the couch while they waited

and when they were practicing home for the magic shop muster and yoongi sat in the arm chair and immediately jk sat in his lap and tae sat in his lap

or how in in the soop after they were done eating he just went and latched onto jin’s back

and how tae had went to go wake jk up that one time and they ended up falling asleep

or how jk had went to wake up jimin that one time and they ended up falling asleep

there was just a lot of jk cuddles going on in in the soop so i’ll move on

let’s talk about the pool water debate run episode where in the end jk decided to latch onto jin’s back yet again

i’ll take this moment to mention the jinkook moment that lives in my head rent free for no valid reason it’s from the life goes on countdown video where they were reading the post cards and he was wearing that big pink sweatshirt and jin was wearing that pink and black bomber jacket and jk just grabbed jin’s arm and held onto it and played with it and when he was done he just threw it away i… i think about that moment a lot there’s an entire section in both my head and heart dedicated to that moment anyway continuing on

i’ll talk about that time they were backstage for a show and they had them blow up mattresses and suga was minding his business resting and jk just rolled up and moved his legs and laid beside him and then hobi decided to pile on top

and whenever they’re on stage he’s always the most delighted when joon would suggest a hug he’d be the first one over there nose scrunched up giggling he loves it

there’s also many instances in interviews and lives where he just can’t keep him hands to himself

just like that last butter live when tae ended up with a crown of forks thanks to mr kook

and he never misses an opportunity to feel up joon

which makes me remember that time he kissed namjoon on the forehead

and he is just always carrying jimin for some reason

so in conclusion… physical affection

and if he was your mans you’d be on the frontlines of receiving all he has to give

not necessarily in public or around a lot of people but in a space where you both were comfortable yes

you’d just have to accept that when you’re standing around he’s going to give you a shoulder/neck/back massage for no particular reason

and he will latch onto you in different positions for extended periods of time

and you gotta do the same! like that’s your man! go give him a hug! a kiss! let him know you love him

cuddle up to him while y’all chilling watching tv

hold his hand while y’all talking

just like grab onto him and never let him go

he’ll be hoping you don’t

[couldyouspeakmyname]

gon and riz (separately) x younger/shorter m!brown bear reader who loves to sing?(and is good at it) headcanons?

Sure thing!

Gon

Loves to listen to you sing. He stops whatever he's doing so he can listen to you

Probably knows how to play some instrument himself, but not very well (he's rusty) but he'd love to play music with you

If you sing him lullabies, that's the sure-fire way to make him fall asleep, no matter how stressed he is

He's not a singer but may hum the last song you sang as he grades papers

Likes to rest his head on top of yours

Writes poems to you, and sticks them in your lunch before you leave the house

Riz

Please sing for him while he cooks

He isn't musically inclined himself, but he really appreciates that you are

Loves to cook for you

Your singing soothes his anxiety

Loves that you're small than he is, and may try and carry you around

Call you Honey, because of course he does

Brags lowkey to the other drama kids how well you sing...expect Pina to demand to hear you

Best hugs, hands down.

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (1/22/22) Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849) Poem by Gon-Chunagon Sadaie (1839) from the series "One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse" Polychrome woodblock print, 26 x 38.1 cm.

"One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse" was Hokusai's last important print series, and one left incomplete at his death. This print, one of Hokusai's most dramatic, liberates the strong emotion compressed into this single stanza by Gochunagon Teika (Fujiwara Sadaie, 1162–1241):

Waiting for one who does not come my passion burns as the unceasing fires beneath the salt-pans around Matsuho Bay.

Teika, one of Japan's greatest poets and critics compiled the first collection of one hundred poems by one hundred poets.

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

ITWW, Tohje

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writer’s own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgment value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

In the Weeds Wednesday (with Tohje, @tohje​ )

Let's talk about your writing process. How does a fic start for you and how does it progress? It starts with a strong image or association. For example, “Malalignment” started with this mental picture I had about Obi-Wan cleaning a sleeping Qui-Gon's face in the medbay after a battle. After that, I outline in gibberish (a mash-up between my mother tongue and English) what scenes I want in the story and how I want the characters to change.

I usually write chronologically within the story, but if I'm stuck, I might jump around a bit, especially while writing a longer piece. For me, it's extremely satisfying that the plot and setting– for example: the mission and all its turns– reflect the characters' inner changes and dilemmas, so I plot around that. I don't plan motifs or symbols beforehand, but they usually start to emerge while I write, and I grab them with two hands and greatly enjoy using them.

How does writing in English factor into your process? I can't write in short bursts in English. I need more than an hour to concentrate.

How long does it take you to get a fic to a place to send to a beta reader? “Litanies” took, like, two weeks before I asked someone to give it a read. Longer pieces take usually four to six months, and of course I have a few eternity projects I have been sitting on for years now. I'm very lucky that people I ask to beta read for me know my style and my stumbling blocks intimately by now, so usually one round with them is enough.

What do you look for in a beta? Well, sometimes I'm still amazed that somebody is ready to do that kind of thing for me. Truly. It's time-consuming, because they have to check the grammar for me in addition to continuity errors or moments of too-much-vagueness (especially that last one!) so, I look for kindness, firmness and an eye for detail.

What’s the hardest thing you've ever attempted with a fic, and why was it difficult? I have a work-in-progress where Obi-Wan falls to the dark side on Tatooine to protect baby Luke. I chose a very fragmented style for it, and the act itself is so wildly out of character compared to my basal vision of him. So I have been wrestling with it for months now.

Some other fics have been easy to write but hard to publish because the character's wants or needs have actually made me realize something deeply private about myself, something I hadn't articulated before. Now when I look back, it might be something that actually resonates with the readers, because it's one of my more popular pieces: “Litanies”. I was reluctant to publish it because I felt...exposed to the elements, with Obi-Wan's pov. Litanies' Obi-Wan is my most personal Obi-Wan, and that Obi-Wan seems to feel true and resonate with readers, if I understand correctly.

And what were you hoping to articulate in that Obi-Wan? His need to be seen, to be under a loved one's true gaze. His need to shake a loved one. Finding the ability and strength to do so, which he didn't know he was capable of a moment before.

Now, for what I ask of everyone: say something nice about your writing. I like to write poems. Sometimes they get too long, and then I call them fics. Writing is my way to try to stay tender in this world, and I think it echoes in my words.

Any last advice for fellow writers? For English as a second language writers: Read, read, read in English. Grow a thick skin; not that you should accept anything unkind towards you, but you will make mistakes with the language. Even if you think you did alright. Because you did, despite the mistakes. They happen, you bristle, you learn.

[ragnarlothcat]

I’ve been caught in the clutches of the poet au and I’m unable to escape it (but to be honest I’m not trying that hard). I read this poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton and it just screams poet Obi-wan in denial.

This is so beautiful and it does fit poet Obi-Wan perfectly 🥺 This is him before the events of the fic I guess, or the poem that's circulating around court at the very start and the people who pay any attention to poetry realize immediately who Obi-Wan is writing about. The trouble is that probably includes Qui-Gon, who I have as Anakin's guardian. Maybe that's why Obi-Wan is so anxious about saying anything to Anakin 🤔 I haven't written any disapproving parent stuff before. And maybe Dooku is Obi-Wan's dad/guardian!

I'm getting ahead of myself. Thank you for sending this, it's lovely and very inspiring 🥰

[aiweirdness]

My Name is Bot

Text-generating neural networks can do a lot more now than they used to. When I first started generating things with neural networks, sentences and even simple phrases were mostly beyond them (that didn’t stop me from trying, with hilariously inept results). But now programs like GPT-3 can keep track of much larger blocks of text, capable of writing multi-question personality quizzes (as long as you don’t mind that the tests make no darn sense).

Now here’s one I’ve wanted to do for a while: there’s a form of poetry called bredlik, introduced in late 2016 CE by Sam Garland after a cow was discovered licking the loaves at a bakery:

my name is Cow, and wen its nite, or wen the moon is shiyning brite, and all the men haf gon to bed - i stay up late. i lik the bred.

With its pseudo-Chaucerian spelling and meter of strict iambic diameter, bredlik is one of my favorite things the internet has produced. And, now that the interest in bredlik has declined from “very niche” to “virtually none”, it’s the perfect time for me to see how a state-of-the-art neural net does at generating bredlik poems.

I gave GPT-3 15 example bredlik poems, focusing on those that stuck to the standard 8-line length. I also included a (subject, verb, object) header to each poem so I could specify the topic. The cow poem above, for example, got (cow, lick, bread) as a header. Then I gave GPT-3 a few headers to add to, and here’s what it produced:

(giraffe, trick, bot) my name's giraf, and on the veld i lik to pley with bouncing gait but when it's cold i shiver, no. my tunge wil bach, i trip the bot.

(bot, make, memes) my name is bot and wen i memz i go into the street i maek the sound lik dok dok dok lik boom boom boom but all at once i see a meme and i can't meme.

It’s close. It’s soooo close. Terrible, though. It does make an effort to match my prompt, even when I sabotage it with way too many syllables or something:

(cat, eat, broccoli) my name is cat, and wen i feel the smell of treat, i jump up fast from box or seat, and run and leap and seize the feep, and say, yum, meep!

(moon, moon, moon) my name is moon and wen it’s night and stars are out and you don’t see a single sound I am the one to set your heart I moon the moon

It occasionally gets the rhythm right, though it’s curiously bad at counting lines. It tries to do the pseudo-Chaucerian spelling but some of its misspellings are so weird that I suspect it’s just making up words. Other times it uses real archaic English, which is not the point of bredlik but it’s still kinda cool that it drew the parallel. Note that it is also almost following the rhyming scheme, especially if you take some liberties with how you pronounce the made-up words. For the rest of the poems in this post, GPT-3 generated not just the poem, but the prompt as well.

(Sheep, graze, name) My name is Sheep and wen it’s nyght i like to bleepe with shut and ee and munch upon the buettom green of grounges fourm i lik the name

(fish, lick, thing) my name is fish, and wen i see the mote that doth bestow upon me the gift of life and givith unto me a watery strife i thank the fen i lik the thing

(bell, scare, doom) my name is bell and wen you kno the wyld dark nere to Hell’s abyss and in the mire the dead a roon you think it’s naym the bells will toon i scare the doom

I’m surprised at how often GPT-3 did manage to get close to bredlik, since AI-generated poetry is notoriously hard, and even careful scripting can produce glitchy poems with unexpected odes to mining company Alusuisse. Still, in this post I’m only showing a few of the generated poems - most of them not only fail to fit bredlik, but do so in a boring or unsatisfying way. The exception is this poem, which has definitely strayed from bredlik, but on the flip side contains the phrase “beely might”.

(Bee, use, thief) My name is Bee and wen I see a moth upon a tree I use my beely might and steal it from its fight And then I lik the thieft

Subscribers get bonus content: more neural net bredlik poems than would fit in this post, including many that are for some reason quite unsettling.

My book on AI, You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why it’s Making the World a Weirder Place, is available wherever books are sold: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s - Boulder Bookstore