#i am incapable of drawing them being normal i guess

[twentytwoarts]

i think there are better things i could be drawing my favorite disney characters doing but why do that when you can draw stupid stuff like this

[rexbalistidae]

FINE ILL RAMBLE ABOUT IT

Blame @lesbiansupavillain for asking and @autistic-haven for starting this. I am forcing you both to read my posts because it’s yalls fault this happens.

Leslie is actually the first person candide talks to in shadow gov bc she shows her around. Obviously she is incapable of having a normal interaction with any woman so she’s immediately enamored by leslie. No one really likes candide bc she doesn’t talk and seems cold, but when you finally get her to speak she’s overly enthusiastic and off putting. While leslie was always polite with candide it wasn’t until she got fed up with her friends’ rude comments about her that she decided to go over and actually talk to her. This is about the time where they both start to develop feelings for each other beyond looks.

Problem is leslie has a boyfriend (I think my great great great grandfather was like a wattpad author or something bc it shows). Hes not in any way abusive or anything but he is a major dick. It’s a really bad comphet cut her a break guys. At some point she breaks up with him and leaves their apartment. Without anywhere to go for about a week guess who she stays with (this week’s yuri Friday will have nothing to do with this WINK WINK).

Anyways that’s around the point where they start dating. It’s supposed to be a secret but most ppl just silently know. And they’re together for a while until candide just breaks it off bc shes the world’s greatest self sabotager. For years candide does everything to avoid her. Both of them rank up in their fields with leslie now being a board leader and candide just uhhh, whatever she does but now significantly more intimidating.

At ep 6 they’re forced into close proximity again and while both drunk start talking again (this was one of my drawings actually). They’re not officially back together but I mean… they are.

Ok now I’m going down the alternate timeline route where leslie is still alive.

In ep 10 before everything goes down with scudworth trying to kill candide, she tells her to meet her outside but obviously she never shows up. But after that fiasco leslie does come back in and find everyone dead, where she puts it together that this was candides plan. Late at night she shows up at candides house because she again has no where to go.

They spend that summer shutting down all of the side branches of the shadow gov including candides old workplace which maybe will be a comic later.

That’s it I think. I tried to sum it up as best as I could. Kill me.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.159 thoughts

Why yes, I am procrastinating on something important to do this week’s review. I’ll still do work on the other thing, but I wasn’t about to let something as petty as commitment to a client keep me from talking about Undead Unluck (nor will it stop me from talking about Cipher Academy tomorrow)

We’ve finally learned the name of the Artifact that constituted Phil’s body: Entruster, a life-sized doll that the user entrusts their body and feelings to in order to bring it to life and achieve their goals. If I’m reading this correctly, I think it subsumes the user to more or less create a robotic version of them, and unfeeling machine with the power to fulfill its task but without the capacity to feel joy at its completion. In other words, it’s basically an Artifact that grants power by effectively turning the user into Unfeel

The key difference, though, seems to be that a normal user of Entruster would lose their sense of self entirely, their mind breaking from the instant loss of their feelings, but because Phil is Unfeel, the process is incapable of damaging his mind. Entruster is not an autonomous machine fulfilling Phil’s last request, but a vessel to hold Phil’s so-

WAIT A GODDAMN SECOND

I PREDICTED THAT PHIL’S SOUL WAS INHABITING A DOLL BACK WHEN WE FIRST LEARNED HIS NAME WAS PHIL!!!

I originally guessed that his ability was Unfilled, and that he was an “empty” existence or that his soul stopped inhabiting his body, forcing him to “fill” a different vessel, specifically a doll Artifact. I turned out to be wrong about the specifics of the ability, but man, incredible that I guessed the nature of Entruster way back when based on so little info!

I think the name Entruster also gives us some interesting insight into the abilities that Phil has demonstrated with it; not only does he fire lasers and hover with some kind of laser propellant, but he also has turned his arms into stone and ice to various effects. I think that my initial idea for Unfilled might actually be more or less what Entruster is capable of; drawing in materials to incorporate into itself. That’s why it’s a doll, not just so it can assume the face of its user, but so its body can become whatever it needs to to match the situation, it just needs to be dressed up first. Whether it absorbs material or simply shapeshifts, I’m not sure yet, but its ability to turn its hands into blades is definitely something new we didn’t see in the previous loop, so I’m definitely looking forward to exploring Entruster more in-depth next chapter

Admittedly it took me a few reads to understand fully, but Fuuko realizing that Phil was awakening to Unfeel because he suddenly had trouble speaking is extremely sad. I think that might also be why Phil fell into the alien queen’s maw, because he lost feeling and couldn’t hold onto Fuuko anymore, though I’m not entirely sure. It’s interesting that Unfeel wasn’t instantaneous, but rather a progressive loss of feeling, as we could see a sort of transition from his base state to being unable to hold onto Fuuko and finally completely losing his ability to speak. After entering the queen, Phil doesn’t speak again for the rest of the chapter, only communicating to the audience in thought bubbles from then on

I really do hope that Phil gains some kind of loophole that will let him at least speak to his mother, it seems unfair for him to just end up exactly like he was in the previous loop after learning something new about feelings in this loop. That said, probably good timing to lose his emotions moments before seeing the corpses of the space station’s crew, I would rather not feel much about that if I can help it

I am very excited to see what these new Artifacts he has can do; a lance and what appears to be a shotgun of some kind. Sure, we still don’t know what Fuuko’s revolver can do aside from shooting bullets, but these will certainly do something, won’t they?

I do think it would have been good for us to learn a little more about the research focus of this space station earlier, though. On first read, I thought it was awfully convenient that Entruster was on the space station, but upon noticing the other Artifacts, I realized that there was research being done on Artifacts in general. Either a specific section or the entire station was likely made to research the technology of the Artifacts, so knowing that earlier would have made it easier to swallow the sudden appearance of Entruster. I’m also starting to think that the aliens aren’t actually alien, but the result of an experiment with an Artifact, but it doesn’t seem like it matters too much either way right now

It’s also very interesting that we’ve gotten two arcs in a row where government involvement with Artifacts is a major driving force; will we perhaps be getting an arc in the near future revisiting the idea of the rich and powerful viewing Negators as weapons and novelties? I don’t think it’s necessary, but addressing the less savory aspects of those who the Union is fighting for could definitely be an interesting angle to take before the final battle. In fact, that may well be how we’re reintroduced to Tatiana, since she’s the only character we know was trafficked by the black market

I think that the next chapter is going to be the best chapter of this arc, as while Phil keeps having good moments, seeing how he uses Entruster to defeat the queen and save his mother will definitely be the emotional highlight of this storyline

Sorry again for how long this review took, but honestly I’m finding that there’s an upside to doing them late - I get a refresher right before the new chapter, preparing me for what I’m about to see. Still, I’ll admit that the benefit of my initial reaction is lost, so it balances out if anything, but I hope that my readers appreciate it as a refresher at least

See y’all next week!

[ewmagines]

How about Tom and Matt slumber party hcs?

Hello I feel like these Imagines I constructed are kind of boring but mod matt reviewed them positively. Anyhow respectfully anon i feel like these are incomplete but i think if you want more it would be best to specify platonicism or romanticism and so on because we were a little unsure of what to do BUT I LIKE MAKIJG THEM THANK U FOR THE REQUEST

>matt insists on calling it a slumber party (what it is) despite you all being grown adults. He is simply honest with himself. Tom calls it that faux-ironically (pretending he thinks it’s funny but actually he thinks its kind of cute and it makes him happy but he exclusively says “slumber party” in a derogatory manner. Tsundere for sleepover)

>it’s only a “slumber party” because edd shooed your gay asses out of the living room (hes busy. he has things to do, re: sleep on the couch). Otherwise it would be “regular guys hanging out normally” or so tom insists

>torn. A slumber party in toms room would be greatly entertaining (partially due to the access to tords laboratory) but i really doubt he’d even let you in his room like ever. But he would NOT want to stay in matt’s room for any long period. Matt’s room would also be entertaining, and he’d likely spend at least 90% of the time mostly unprompted explaining where he got shit. HOWEVER the flooring of his room is very thin and probably incapable of holding all 3 of you plus all the shit he has. Also the temptation to go thru his stuff would be WAYYY too overpowering. And if you suggested touching or doing something he didnt want to do he’d immediately be like you are nothing to me. You are nothing to me

>so i guess you’re staying in matt’s room.

>the only place to sit besides the floor is on his bed. So you’re all essentially on top of each other or on the floor.

>natural environment for a matt. Gossip. Talking about himself. Acquiring information about other people and himself. He flourishes. He has shit to show you and it is time to do so.

>he’ll be like hmmm… Oop you don’t want to hear about this and then pique your interest and youre like dude. Seriously

>legally youre not allowed to fall asleep or tom will draw dicks on your face. Even if you fall asleep at 6 am, even if he’s already asleep, he will set an alarm for himself to draw dicks on your face. He might follow you back to your place and draw dicks on your face while you sleep there if you try to flee. You must be vigilant. Do not let him draw dicks on your face, whatever it takes.

[rurpleplayssims]

Minerva still a job pending that Aela wanted her to do, but she still approached the elder she-wolf. She was conscious that as much as she was grieving the loss of Skjor, Aela was obviously suffering more than she would, despite her silence. But Minerva needed to speak to her and as she was alone, it was the best time and place to say her piece.

Some of what Kaidan had said before had been bothering her, especially when she realised her had made a good point. It was time that Aela heard and knew what she was thinking. Minerva went and sat down next to her.

"I don't think anybody's caught onto our plan...yet" were the first words Aela said, not even bothering to greet her fellow shield-sister.

Minerva dismissed this with a shake of her head "I'm not here to talk shop Aela."

The she-wolf scowled "I thought you said you were with me to get revenge?" Her tone was accusatory, hostile and unfamiliar.

"I miss him as well and I realise that you lot knew him far longer than I did" Minerva said gently, not rising to the bait that the other woman had laid out. "But would Skjor really want you to go against Kodlak's wishes, to this extent? He is the Harbinger after all."

"You think you know our rules better than us?"

"No, I'm a whelp who clearly is being relied upon to do your dirty work for you" Minerva said bluntly, meeting the elder's direct gaze. Her eyes weren't kind but Minerva saw through the harsh appearance.

"You're grieving Aela" Minerva said. "You miss him, and that's made your dislike for the Silver Hand all the more stronger. But is it worth risking my life just to execute your own petty disputes?"

"They're not petty! The Silver Hand must pay for what they-!" Aela erupted, starting to shout but then when she realised her tone was louder than she wished, she stopped short, not wanting to draw attention to them. Luckily there weren't many in the main hall, besides Kaidan and Minerva's followers. Kaidan's eyes raised to meet Minerva's for a brief second before she continued but she felt his eyes on them long afterwards.

"And if I died?" Minerva asked cooly. "What would you tell Kodlak then? Would you lie and say it was a normal job and I was incapable? You all preach about about having a shield-sibling and that, ultimately, is what killed Skjor. He was alone and had to defend his life on his own."

Aela's eyes were burning with anger as she stared down the mage.

"You would just tell him I was too weak, too inexperienced?" Minerva guessed. "Anything that would rid the suspicion off your shoulders? I see, if that's how the Companions act, then I'm not sure I want to be part of it anymore."

"You're one of us now" Aela growled, sounding more like the wolf within. "In more ways than the most know."

"I am" Minerva agreed, nodding solemnly. "And I was wary about committing to that degree. However, I trusted you and Skjor and believed you weren't just using me for your own benefits."

She deliberately paused, making Aela consider her words.

"Was I wrong to think so highly of you both?"

With those parting words, Minerva got up and walked away from the simmering Aela, missing the way that Aela bit her lip and tears welled up in her eyes.

[novus-ordo-seclorem]

Someone who shall remain anonymous because even my brother doesn’t know i have a tumblr:

“ First I want to say, I noticed some of your past journals about deleting your FA or not feeling like you're good enough to stay here. Please don't! You definitely are good enough. I wish I could draw as well as you! Stick to it, challenge yourself, find new subjects or species to attempt, study other artists' processes.. There are so many ways you can work towards getting to a level you DO think is good, and you already are! I think it's common amongst almost every skillset. Artists think their art is crap, Programmers think their code is sub-par, Athletes.. well I can't speak much regarding sports stuff but you get the idea. The more you stick to it, the better you'll get- even just naturally. And here's where my second thing comes in. And please, don't show this to him.. I've known him for like, 17 years. We met in a game called Furcadia in 2005 or so, maybe a couple years later. He seems to be incapable of sticking to.. anything! As soon as something frustrates him, he almost always literally destroys it. It's a love/hate relationship with technology that I've never been able to help him through. And I've tried, with mixed success. He just goes from 0 to 100 in a beat. And it's so hard to watch. He'll scrimp and save to like.. buy a VR headset, or build a nice PC.. and then fxcking smash the thing as soon as something doesn't work right. I swear, that fox troubleshoots with a hammer and his fists. He flip flops between being so desperate to have these nice things, to smashing them. It really kills me every time. I am so caring of my stuff, I appreciate what I can get. I dunno, I am not sure what the point of this message is. Just a little history I guess. I hate to say it, I was happy when I heard about your reunion.. but this is pretty much the outcome I predicted with the hope I was wrong. I thought, maybe finding this kindred spirit, a blood relation with so much in common, he might finally end up on a good path. But nah, he's stickin' to the same one I guess. I at least, can say, I don't think you need to worry much about him if you've cut him off. He may try to reach out again in a few months, or sooner, seemingly better. But it will just happen again. It always will. He's ragequit the Internet so many times, deleted all his accounts, disappeared.. just to come back like nothing happened. This usually results in "hey, do you still have xy or z? I deleted everything". And I always do, I've repeatedly saved so much art and data and stuff knowing he'd want it back.. Uhh, back to the point- I don't think he's gonna like.. go creeping around your house or anything. Though, honestly I can't say that with certainty. If he does start trying anything wonky or there's a confrontation, you should just do the normal thing and file a report. There are less eyes on him now than there used to be, and I don't think that's a good thing. None of what I've said here is or was an attempt to vouch for him or anything like that. I'm pretty much done with it at this point, I've deleted his credentials on any of the services that I run myself, and for the last time. I won't be replying if and when he makes his next comeback. Such a beautiful thing finally happened to him, and he trashed it. I just hate to see what a wrench he's thrown in your life. I hope this message helps in some capacity, and would hate if it makes you feel worse! D:”

----------

To put it all into context, last week my biological sibling found me at my job.  After confirmation (he had a picture of us when we were little ones in his wallet), we got to talking. And I heard more... and more... he’s a lot of things, including a reborn kitsune (fox spirit), and he draws his own comics in this very odd comic-y style...  he’s very intelligent, can program stuff- a vibrantly intelligent autism-spectrum man.  But he has a lot of negativity clinging to him and due to his upbringing, When I’m not working and i feel ready to talk to him again, I want to help him overcome these things... but I have to also remember to look after my family.

He’s already gotten upset with me and blocked me. Destroyed a $2000 computer.  I feel like... great. All of my family is ruined and fucked up... I hate it.  I can’t deny i really just hate it and I should have expected my brother to be a bit of a lunatic... but so am I.. just in a different way.  

I don’t know where to go with any of this... just going to play it by ear. And If I never post here again, ever, I’m probably dead or something.

More to come.

[yesimwriting]

Corridor Moments

A/n this is a request from @mariannagris for a fic with the Darkling x Sun Summoner! reader where they're having a cute moment and then Zoya walks in and sees that they're together and gets jealous.

I'm working on a longer fic that should be up this weekend!! I'm working through a bunch of requests/updates rn I promise lol

--

He's no longer guiding me, but he hasn't moved his hands away--one on my waist, one on my shoulder.

"Aleksander," I try to keep my tone casual, only hinting at a warning.

There's no way he misses it, but he still allows the hand on my shoulder to ghost across my collar before setting his palm on my cheek. "Yes, my sun?"

Before I can roll my eyes, he brushes his thumb across my cheek softly. His touch has started to become more casual, but I'm not sure the comfort it brings me will ever lose its novelty. I tilt my head slightly, leaning into his touch.

"We're not alone." The reminder is more for me than him. All of his actions are intentional, he knows the risks of his sudden bout of affection. "We may be in an empty hallway now, but we're not alone."

Aleksander leans forward slightly, forcing me to press my back into the wall to avoid melting into him. I don't miss his half-smile, a confident smirk breaking across his features. He knows what he's doing. "And what would we need to be alone for?"

The slightest hint of annoyance bubbles in my chest. For someone so determined, he enjoys playing coy more than he should. My lips part, prepared to call him out for his teasing, but Aleksander senses my hesitance like always. He leans forward again, this time pulling my chin up slightly so that our lips could brush together if I just inclined my head slightly.

The closer we get, the more I feel our distance. His eyes flicker downwards, focusing on the slight part of my lips. Aleksander angles his head downwards, allowing our lips to meet fully. Now that the barrier's been broken, I have no choice but to reciprocate with full force, my hands leaving his chest and finding their way into his hair. Aleksander's hands grab the collar of my kefta. He pulls me towards him sharply, as desperate as I am to eliminate space.

And then he pulls me away. I'm left pouting on instinct, lips slightly swollen and breathing a little uneven. "Easy," he chides, "We can't afford to get distracted."

I wrinkle my nose at him. He started this, pulling me out of the meeting under the ruse of important, private conversation. "And who's the one doing the distracting?"

Aleksander smiles fully. A real grin, the kind of grin that rivals any amount of sun I could ever produce. "You," he breathes, leaning in again and brushing his lips against my cheek, "Considering you won't leave my thoughts."

I let myself grin back, his unexpected softness an arrow that pierces through whatever's left of my composure. "You're awfully sentimental today."

He straightens slightly, expression still light. "Is that a bad thing?"

Squeezing the hand that he's placed on my waist, I beam at him. "Not bad at all--just different."

He's still looking at me with a fierceness that sometimes frightens me due to its wholeness, but something ancient and dark is settled behind his eyes. Something haunting that he won't let me help him with. I haven’t known him that long, but I’ve figured out that his affection is often a secret plea, a silent attempt to rid himself of darkness. What's the point of being able to summon the sun if you cannot banish the darkness that haunts those you care about? I raise his hand to my mouth, kissing each of his knuckles deliberately. He exhales at the contact, some sort of tension coiling in him at the chaste contact. 

I like us better when we’re alone. When he lets things like this slip from him as he tries to let my light in him. I could stay in this corridor forever with him. I could hold him by his hand to make sure he can’t slip away from me. 

Reality does not allow me to coddle my dreams. If I lose focus, he’ll be able to convince me to do anything--to forget my own name even. I drop my gaze to the hand I’m still holding, running my thumb along his knuckles. “We can’t--we can’t stay.” Not the truest sentiment--he can do whatever he wants. “I can’t stay.” The correction leaves me bitter. “Not for long.” The addition only softens the harsh edge of reality slightly. “People are already starting to think you’re extending favoritism towards me.” 

Aleksander lifts the hand I’m holding, taking my hand with him. He turns my hand over before placing a kiss on my palm. The contact is warm and fleeting and I’m powerless against the sentiment it stirs. “And this isn’t favoritism?” 

I roll my eyes, his warm breath is still against my skin. “That depends--am I your favorite?” 

His hold on my hand tightens slightly. “You already know the answer.” I let the corner of my mouth twitch upwards. Aleksander has already offered me more than I expected today, but it’d still be nice to hear him say it. “You, my darling, my sun, will always be my favorite.” 

I beam a little easier, warmth expanding in my chest. Still, the feeling isn’t enough to burn through all of my reluctance. His affection stems from the fact that he believes me to be his salvation. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me. How else could i have won his affections? 

“It’s easy to favor a Sun Summoner,” the response is soft, a bit of forced teasing edging my words. 

His eyebrows draw together as his hold on my hand tightens, turning from a gentle squeeze to a desperate grab. “Sun Summoner or not, no one else has ever held my favor the way you do.” Aleksander leans towards me again, the comforting heat of his breath on my cheek. “And no one ever will.” 

I’m reduced to nothing more than happy neediness, letting him cup my face and pulling me towards him. His lips meet mine with a desperate understanding that’s both bruising and coddling. Aleksander’s teeth graze my bottom lip, testing waters that are unfamiliar between us. I reciprocate, pushing even closer to him. He pushes us backwards, pressing me against the wall as he moves his attention away from my lips and down my jaw, leaving a trail of hot skin wherever his lips brush. 

“Aleksander,” I breathe, placing a hand on his chest, “Meeting--we need to--” 

He pulls away just enough to let me feel his grin, “That can wait.” 

“They’ll think things,” Despite my warning, Aleksander doesn’t pull away, his fingertips brushing against my collar. “They’re waiting,” he sighs against my hair, still careless, “Alina--she’s waiting...” He continues to touch me like I’m an illusion of the light. “And--” He smiles at my waning resolve, attempting to move forward to silence the last of my protests with a kiss. 

I turn my head, suppressing a reluctant laugh at his carelessness. Aleksander is not discouraged, pressing a kiss against my cheek. Shifting my gaze while placing my hand on his chest to make it easier to push him off fo me, I freeze. He must feel my new stiffness, because Aleksander pauses against me.  

Zoya. She’s standing at the entrance of the corridor, watching us--watching me--with such a sharp look of ill-defined displeasure I’m surprised I’m not physically withered by it. Awkwardness and something akin to guilt leave me blind as I try to create space between me and the unbudging General. Does he not see her? 

“Yes?” His voice leaves goosebumps against my skin--not an ounce of shame, but not a drop of that easy-going softness either. He’s General Kirigan again--sharp and incapable of shame or regret. He’s in complete control, all the power in the world is at the fingertips that are still on my skin. 

Zoya’s expression does not waver, eyes still locked on me. “Those in the meeting were beginning to worry, but I see that you’re occupied.” I was wrong. She’s not staring at me, she’s staring through me--like I’m nothing more than a thin curtain on a cloudless day during high noon. “I’ll inform the others.” 

“You’ll inform them of nothing I don’t approve of.” He’s fierce, the threat of venom apparent in each syllable. “And it’d do you well to meet the Sun Summoner’s gaze with a little more respect.” 

I’m quick to grab his forearm, desperate to articulate how much I’d rather him not pick this fight--not when most can barely stand me, not when the more I think of Zoya’s look I realize any bitterness towards me is something else. Not hatred, no--resentment. The kind of resentment that’s only ever a byproduct of something else. If I was bolder, I’d assume it a look of jealousy--maybe not over the man, but the attention and praise received for being nothing more than new and shiny. Her eyebrows knit together as Aleksander’s hold on me adjusts slightly. Okay, maybe the fact that I’m with Aleksander has something to do with it--but it has to be more than that. Her dislike of me, her constant myriad of comments and looks all points to a jealousy much more bitter than that of someone love sick. 

If something in her has been broken over time here, time around Kirigan and his pension for manipulating that I am not blind to and my presence and joy is a reminder of that, than I can bear her hatred. “She was looking at me normally.” Before he can challenge me, I move his hands off of me gently and slip away from between him and the wall. 

I guess that’s what it takes for him to understand that I mean it, Aleksander straightens and takes a step forward. His eyes linger on me as he walks forward. I stay a few steps behind him, a pathetic attempt to cling to any kind of properness I can manage. 

“If I were you, I’d at least comb your hair with your fingers before entering that room again unless you’d like to announce yourself as a form of entertainment.” 

Being a decent person is nauseating sometimes. “And take the fun out of it for you?” 

I don’t wait for her reply, moving down the hall to catch up with Aleksander. Still, when I’m no longer next to Zoya I brush my fingers through my hair in hopes of correcting any damage she’s created. Maybe I should be more worried. Maybe I should care about the opinions of others more. But every reason to stay away from Aleksander entirely feels so small. I’m not naive enough to fall blindly, but the thing about being a Sun Summoner is that you can bring light with you, no matter how dark the path you chose is. 

I watch Aleksander as he places a hand on the door to the room. He offers me one last, genuine smile. His path isn’t as dark as he wants it to seem, and even if it is, I don’t care. 

[fansofvow]

Interview with the one, the only Krissy (no last name needed)

I started following Krissy (aka @xekstrin) on Tumblr pretty much the minute I found out they were the mind behind my favorite Astoria route, Astraeus. And I am so glad I did. Their feed is always interesting, ranging from the thoughtful to the outright thirsty. If for some reason you don't follow them, I highly recommend you change that right now.

Krissy was kind enough to take some time out of a very busy schedule to answer some questions for the blog so buckle up, settle in and enjoy.

You are one busy person! A new podcast, an erotic short, prolific fanfic, one of which is nominated for the “best sex in fan fic” award from thegoodbits.com. There’s so much I want to ask you. I’d like to start with your erotic short, “Keeping You” which can be purchased on Gumroad, an online platform which facilitates the sale of products by creators directly to consumers. Why did you choose to use that platform for that particular story?

First off I just wanna say thanks for interviewing me :)

I guess I am pretty busy, but it was a surprise to hear someone else say that because that's just normal for me! There's also a ton of stuff I'm doing that I'm keeping dead quiet about on social media because NDA reasons...

I chose gumroad for that story because a few creators I admire had posted their stories on there and I was curious about how it worked! Whenever I'm curious about something new I wanna know all about it. The best way to find out is to just do it myself, so that's what I did.

Other reasons— It's difficult to get a short story published anywhere, and I knew I wanted a higher percentage of the royalties/sales to go directly to me. While doing this I discovered that Amazon takes something like a 35% cut of all sales while Gumroad takes roughly 10%. I just moved across the country and money is a little tight. And Amazon is demonstrably evil so that didn't hurt. I'll probably wind up getting some of my future books on Amazon eventually though, because like it or not it IS the largest marketplace for books right now. One day I will succumb to its siren call.

The response from readers was overwhelmingly positive and I'll probably continue to offer short stories on gumroad! Everyone was extremely nice and also funny. My readers are the best.

Pivoting to your fanfiction: you have covered numerous fandoms but your most recent focus, as anyone who follows you will know, is KDA. What draws you to that particular set of characters?

It's a bunch of hot women with juuuuuuuuuust enough canon information for me to fuck around with it however I like. I love four-man bands. I love colorful neon things. I love WAMEN. I love monster girls. I love music. I love the ARG style "narration" of finding out more lore via digging around social media. Did I mention they were hot? Evelynn is so hot and so my type she makes me weak in the knees. Highkey she was an inspiration for how I wrote Vivienne. I even gave them the same perfume. So in conclusion,

Your podcast, Trash and Treasures, was started with your best friend, Scooby and focuses on reviewing WLW content, with the focus (at first) being romance novels. What was the impetus behind the decision to create the podcast?

We were going fucking bananas batshit crazy during 2020 and were like "what if we started a podcast for an imaginary audience". Like singing in your shower and pretending it's on a world stage, but it was the two of us singing an impassioned shower duet with a kitty keyboard accompaniment. So yeah we also decided to release the episodes this year as things have gotten a little better for us both. It was a really nice excuse to talk to my best friend about books. We're aiming for three seasons I think?

Changing gears a bit, did you always know you would be a writer?

Yes. I'm incapable of being anything else.

What did your path to working professionally as a writer look like?

Luck, fucking around and finding out, being able to bounce back after COUNTLESS rejections, a partner who can pay half the bills and pat my back when I'm lying on the floor in a depression pile, and being too dumb and self-centered and hard-headed to quit. I know I'm a good writer but I'm also just interested in self-preservation. There's a pack of wolves chasing my every step and if I ever stop writing they'll hunt me down and eat me alive. It's very stressful!

Is there any work of art, visual or written, that you look to for inspiration?

I think I've re-read Sweet Guilty Love Bites by Shuninta Amano like a million times. I love melodramatic manga of dubious quality dripping with human emotion. I like new music. I like poetry. Ocean Vuong owns me right now. I like looking at art and trying to describe things in ways I've never heard before. Today I saw a very pretty picture of a river and spent some time practicing how to describe it. I just have to keep my blade sharp and ready all the time or I'll forget how to write and the aforementioned wolves will eat me.

If a VOW member made it, it's also my favorite. What an absolute powerhouse of talent. Everyone in there awes me.

Do you have a favorite piece of your own writing?

Oh, I get to FLEX? oh, you ask miette to SHOWBOAT? you ask me to flare my pretty peacock feathers for you??? [promptly forgets everything I've ever written] If it made you cry or turned you on or made you laugh or infuriated you, it's my favorite.

Many people who read this blog know you as a former writer for Lovestruck. And to be blunt, a writer that was incredibly important to the app. Just a look at the routes you have written is a testimony to how much work you put in. This may be a difficult question considering how long you were there and what you have been through, but when you look back on your time there, what stands out in your mind?

My opinion of Voltage has cooled significantly after that public statement where they made their opinion of their writers very clear. But my favorite memory was probably the time I made a producer blush with a high-heat scene. And the time my GIL producer was reading over Chance's wedding and sighed, "Oh, Krissy. That's too much blood." You can imagine I was very excited when Antonio's route had a literal bathtub full of blood. They wound up spoiling me in many ways. The relationships we fostered were, in my opinion, the backbone of many of the most popular routes.... too bad one of my last official conversations with them boiled down to "We never legally promised you would write Piama and any headcanons you sent us are legally our property. Do you understand that?" And I told them— happily— I never gave them anything I didn't want them to steal.

I think it’s safe to say Vivienne is your most popular route. Is there any other route of yours that you feel deserves more fan attention?

Lyris is such a good boy. Devastatingly so.

A friend of mine is a big fan of your writing, especially Lyris’s route, and asked me to please find out: What is your writing process like? Does it vary depending on what you are working on?

For myself— Often I'll write out of order. I'll write my favorite scenes first. Endings are important and I often do them first. Then I'll start stitching it all together. It goes MUCH faster if I have a good song on repeat. The trick is the song changes every day and I don't know which song it is until I hear it.

If I'm writing for someone else, I just do what they tell me, but if I get excited halfway through I might change things up and be like "I know you asked for A, but I think B is better, do you like it?" and if they like it we keep it, and if they don't I change it.

Do you have any other upcoming projects you would like to mention that I haven’t asked about yet?

Follow the VOW newsletter!!!!!!!! @vowtogether

Do you have a favorite quote or song lyric?

“If you live for people's acceptance, you will die from their rejection.” Just a reminder to myself. I have an awful people-pleasing instinct. Cucumber Quest also put it nicely.

Also, "There's never gonna be a perfect baby." From Adventure Time. In context it's about a bunch of wolves trying to eat a baby but they think the baby looks gross and sweaty and unappetizing and not the perfect delicious baby they were promised, so the leader wolf has to give them a pep talk about just going for it even though reality isn't living up to fantasy. It's SO stupid but every time I start doubting myself and feeling depressed about whatever I'm doing not being Perfect(™), I go, "Listen, Kris, there's never gonna be a perfect baby." I swear I say this at least 10 times a week.

The unofficial VOW Motto: All your threats should be actions.

I was a big fan of the show Inside the Actor’s Studio. Host James Lipton asked every single guest the same 10 concluding questions. I’ve picked 3 of them:

-What is your favorite word? Indelible. Ivory used that word and I immediately knew I needed to befriend them.

-What is your least favorite word? Squelch. >:C

-What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Herpetologist. Voice actress. Professional nuisance.

What would be your advice to anyone who wants to pursue a creative career?

This is mainly advice to myself but if you take something from it, all the better: Read widely. Don't create with the audience you are afraid of in mind— be that homophobes or people who are dead-set on reading the least charitable interpretation of your work. You don't get any better if you don't fuck up a whole lot. No one "makes" you an artist, that's something you have to own yourself, or otherwise you'll be published or whatever and still feel like you aren't real. Stop self-deprecating, it's much cooler and more interesting to pretend you are already great. Likewise everyone you think is "great" is actually Just Some Guy. Never underestimate the depth and breadth of bigotry. Anti-black racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, misogyny, all the isms, it's the dominant narrative, people in power profit hugely off of it and will never let it go willingly, and if you aren't actively paddling against it, you're often gonna get swept up into it.

Your peers, not your heroes, are the ones who are gonna save you.

[thinslxx]

Tw

Guess it's one of those nights where I don't want to live anymore lol

Not only do I have even more studying to do today, my mum just keeps yelling at me and pestering me for my depression room. I didn't sleep the whole night and she's over here telling to get the fuck up cuz sleeping tHis MuCh during the day isn't normal. And I have a drawing for a school event to finnish and I don't have the motivation to even lift a finger. Here I am saying I'll call my friend so we can revise math togather but instead I'm crying in my room yay. And today I entered my class and the first thing I hear is my class's local bullies saying how I don't do anything as class president how I'm not enough and how bad I am. Hoe I'm incapable of shushing the class. And I look at them like ?? Okay do u have to do these tedious fucking tasks as the class president like taking care of a fucking project for the entire school, do u have to go to meet ups of other classes and listen to everyone's bullshit, does our class teacher call you at 12 pm asking u to forward something to do something for the class ? Do you fucking LISTEN when I tell you to shut up during classes ? No. So sit the fuck down. Same ppl that judge me for not being in school often. I have psych therapy bitch and my stomach/digestion system is fucked up so I have to jump from one doctor to another you dumb fucking bitch. Also same people that kept coming up to me and literally pestering me on why I'm an atheist. Like they wouldn't fucking stop for days. thanks for adding to my anxiety very much appriciated 🤡

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers VANDEAD CARNIVAL ;; Kou Route ー Chapter 3

ー The scene starts in cafe Tarte Tatin

Kou: I’m pretty sure it should be around heー ...Ah, there it is!

Yui: You’re right. There’s a cafe here.

Kou: Ah, that table over there is free. Here, this is your seat.

Yui: Yeah!

I wonder what kind of drinks they sell at a cafe in the Demon World?

Kou: Stop! Hold on one second.

Yui: What’s wrong?

Kou: Could you leave our order up to me, perhaps?

Yui: You’ll choose for me?

Kou: Yeah, my picks! Okay?

Yui: I’m happy but...I’d feel bad for just waiting, so I don’t mind going with you?

Kou: It’s fine, don’t worry! This is the man’s task, don’t you think? We’re on a date after all~

I’ll go buy our drinks so you just wait here, okay?

Yui: Yeah...!

ー Kou walks away

Yui: ( I wonder what kind of drinks Kou-kun will bring. I’m a little excited... )

Male Vampire A: Hey, have you heard? Apparently this place’s juice has a little special gimmick. 

Female Vampire A: How so?

Male Vampire A: Ever so often, someone will hit ‘jackpot’ (1), suddenly growing a pair of animal ears as they’re enjoying their drink.

Female Vampire A: Eeh, amazing! I can’t wait~!

Yui: ( ...Actually, I might be a little worried after all. )

*TIMESKIP*

ー Kou returns

Kou: Sorry for the wait, M-neko-chan~!

Yui: Welcome back, Kou-kun.

Kou: I bought our drinks. Here, this is yours.

Yui: Thank you.

( I was somewhat concerned but...It looks normal from the outside. )

( However, I feel like it’s a little much? The glass is big too... )

Wait...Hold up...? Say, Kou-kun? Where’s yours?

Kou: I obviously got something for me too. See, right there.

Yui: There?

( As far as I can tell, there’s just this one drink for me though... )

Kou: Fufufu~ ...I can tell you’re confused by that look on your face.

I suppose that even you’ll be able to figure it out once you see this? Ta-dah! Now what could this be~?

Yui: What? ...A straw, right?

Kou: Yes, correct! Now, question time! What shape is it?

Yui: ...A heart?

Kou: Exactly! Two straws are tangled together, forming a heart shape.

No matter how dense you may be, I’m sure you understand now?

Yui: Don’t tell me, you want to share this juice amongst the two of us...!? 

Kou: You’re 100% correct! Why not? It seems fun!

Yui: W-Wait! That’s just too embarrassing!

Kou: Eeh? How strange for you to say that. We usually do much more shameful things, don’t you think?

Well, I’m usually the one initiating it~

ー Kou moves closer

Kou: Come on, let’s drink it together?

Yui: Uu...K-Kou-kun, you’re close...!

Kou: I approached on purpose. I mean, if I don’t do this, you avert your gaze right away.

For some reason, I can’t seem to figure out what you’re thinking even by staring at you like this...

However, even if I couldn’t see a thing, I feel as if I would still feel happy just from gazing into your eyes.

Yui: Kou-kun...

Kou: ...That being said, you’ll drink it with me, right? Yui.

Yui: ( ...No fair...! )

Kou: Ah, are you dissatisfied with the straw, perhaps? Would you rather have me feed you mouth-to-mouth?

Yui: No...!

Kou: Fufu, you should have told me sooner then~

I don’t mind. In that case, I’ll directlyーー

Yui: Wait, Kou-kun! Fine! I’ll drink it with the straw!

Kou: No need to be modest~ This straw is embarrassing for you, right?

Yui: It’s totally fine!

( Mouth-to-mouth would be much more embarrassing after all...! )

Kou: Fufu~ I figured you’d say that.

Personally, I would have gladly fed you mouth-to-mouth as well, of course.

Here. You take that side, okay?

Yui: ( It’s embarrassing but...I guess I have no other choice but to make up my resolve. )

( I-It really is embarrassing...!! Kou-kun’s face is so close... )

Kou: ...Fufu~ Say, M-neko-chan? Are you flustered?

Selection

→  A little...  (☾)

Yui: A little...

Kou: Why? Because it’s too cliched? Or because...I’m close to you?

Yui: ...B-Both, I guess...

Kou: Fufu, it’s because you’re way too conscious of your surroundings. If you simply focus on the guy in front of you...See? It’s no longer embarrassing, right?

Yui: ( No way...It’s only even more embarrassing...! )

→ Not at all! 

Yui: N-Not at all...!

Kou: Heeh, really~? You’ve grown then.

In that case, I guess this just won’t satisfy you anymore? Let me feed it to you mouth-to-mouth after all.

Yui: Wait, that’s...!

Kou: I’m sure it’d be child’s play considering how much you’ve grown? Come on...Move your face a little closer?

Yui: ...No, Kou-kun! I can’t...!

Kou: Fufu, I figured so. It’s because you tried to act tough when you really aren’t, M-neko-chan~

Kou: Geezー You really always stay so innocent.

In that case, I might as well just make your mind go blank...

Yui: Eh? Wait, Kou-kun...!

Vampire child A: Waitー!

Vampire child B: Ahahaha! In your dreams!

Kou: ...What’s this ruckuーー

*THUD*

Yui: Wah...!

ー The drink gets pushed over

*Splash*

Yui: ...! The juice...!

Vampire child A: Ah...

Kou: Ah-aah...All of it spilled on the floor.

...Say, you kids over there? Do you have a minute?

Vampire child A: Shoot! Run, everyone!

Kou: Ah! Hey!!

Vampire child B: Sorry!! Please forgive us since it’s the Carnival!!

ー The kids run away

Kou: Those little brats...!

Yui: Calm down, Kou-kun. They’re just children, you don’t need to get so upset...

Kou: You can’t spoil them! Those who waste food deserve a divine punishment!!

ー Kou runs after them

Yui: Kou-kun!?

Kou: M-neko-chan was finally in the mood to drink it as well! You scoundrels! 

Vampire child A: We already said sorry, didn’t we!?

Yui: ...They left...

( Could it be...Does Kou-kun usually get scolded by Ruki-kun for wasting good food...? )

( Either way, I should clean up the glass... )

ー A young Kou walks up to Yui

Yui: ーー Eh...?

( A child...? How long has he been standing there? I didn’t notice him at all. )

( Could he be a friend of those kids from earlier? However, he seems a little different... )

???: ...

Yui: Uhm...What’s wrong?

???: ...

Yui: Are you lost, perhaps? Did you get separated from someone?

???: ...

Yui: ( This is tricky. He won’t respond at all. )

( If I leave the cafe, I might get separated from Kou-kun but...I just can’t leave this child be. )

( Besides, this little one sort of reminds me of Kou-kun... )

Say, would you mind telling me your name?

???: ...

...Kou.

Yui: Eh...?

( Did he just say ‘Kou’...? )

ー The young Kou runs away

Yui: Ah...Wait!!

( I want to chase after him but...If I leave, then I’ll... )

... 

( I’m sorry, Kou-kun! I’ll return straight awayーー! )

ー Yui runs after him as the scene shifts to a side street

Yui: ( I’m pretty sure he ran into this direction... )

( ...! There he is...! )

Kou: ...

Yui: ...Kou-kun?

Kou: ...

Yui: Uhm...I’m sorry if this sounds weird but...

Are you...The same Kou-kun I know?

Kou: ...I am.

I am the Kou you know. However...From the past.

Yui: From the past...?

Kou: Exactly. Way, waaay before he met you.

Unlike the guy you know...I’m Kou during the time he was misfortunate.

Yui: ( ...The look in his eyes...Almost as if he is bearing a grudge of some sorts... )

ー Yui has a dizzy spell

Yui: ...!? 

( I’m suddenly growing dizzy... )

ー She collapses

*Thud*

Kou: ...

Yui: ( My mind’s going blank... )

Kou: ...Say, Yui?

Yui: ( Ah...Kou-kun’s holding my arm... )

Kou: Let me...suck your blood.

Yui: ...Eh...?

Kou: I’m not a Vampire yet at this time. However...That doesn’t matter.

I’m envious of him...So I want to do the same thing he does.

Yui: Him...?

Kou: Yes, him. ...My grown-up self.

It’s no fair he gets to have everything. Meanwhile I’m still incapable of even trusting someone...

The feeling of wanting to trust others...

Yui: ...!

( No way...He’s biting my arm...!? )

S-Stop...! ...Kou-kun...!

Kou: Yui!!

ー Kou runs up to her

Kou: I finally found you...!

Yui: Kou-kun...?

( I’m slowly regaining my focus... )

( Huh...? The small Kou-kun is gone... )

Kou: Why are you crouched down like that? Do you feel sick, perhaps?

Yui: No...I’m fine. I’m sorry for making you worry.

Kou: For real! You weren’t there when I returned to the cafe...So I looked all over for you.

Yui: Sorry...

Kou: Say, are you really okay? Your complexion is pale. Did something happen?

Yui: Well...

( I doubt he’ll believe me...If I tell him I met up with his childhood self. I barely even believe it myself, to be honest. )

( It might have been just a hallucination. However, the sensation of being bitten felt too real for that... )

Kou: ...Wait.

Yui: Eh?

Kou: That wound on your arm...A bite mark?

Yui: Ah...This is...

Kou: It’s a bite mark, isn’t it? I can’t imagine what else it’d be.

Hah...For real? I take my eyes off you for one second and you’ve had your blood sucked?

Yui: W-Wait, Kou-kun! You’re wrong, this is...

Kou: How am I wrong!? Someone sucked your blood, no!?

...Say, who was it? You happened to run into one of those Sakamaki’s and that’s how it happened? Did you let them because you went with the mood of the festival?

Or was it just a random Vampire passing by? You really are a cat in heat.

Yui: Please, Kou-kun! Listen to me!

Kou: Shut up!

Yui: ...

Kou: ...That shop owner was right back then. You’re keeping secrets from me.

You tempt me with sweet words about ‘picking me’ or ‘loving me’ but you deceived me, didn’t you?

Yui: ...! I didn’t!

Kou: If the only thing you’re looking for is a good-looking Vampire and a pair of fangs to please you...

Could you try asking someone else? There’s plenty of them out there, right? In your close vicinity.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be that guy. I...can’t stand that sort of thing.

Yui: ( The look in his eyes...It’s the same as that child from earlier... )

Wait, Kou-kun...!

Kou: ...I won’t wait. I mean, you’re fine with someone other than me too, right?

...See you.

ー Kou walks away

Yui: Kou-kun...!

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) 当たり or ‘atari’ is the term used for a winning lot in lotteries, lucky draws, etc. 

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 2

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 4]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/ REIJI]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ KANATO]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/ RUKI]

[thenickelportrust]

Scene Practice 2

The second of my scene practices! This one is experimenting a bit more with Ricky as he starts to question his sexuality with a non-female MC.

Specifically, in the space between a friendship and a relationship, where everything is in a bit of a grey area already!

This one is less of a specific scene-that-will-appear-in-game and is more of my practicing the idea and vibes of that time in the MC and his relationship!

Enjoy!

_______

“Okay, so I’m here.” You fold your arms across your chest, staring across the dark wooden desk to the man who, despite being the one who asked you here, keeps his blue eyes trained on the paper in front of him.

Ricky Dempsey doesn’t move to talk at first, which is the whole reason you spoke up first, but fine. With a sigh, you pull out one of the chairs from across his desk and plop yourself down into it.

Well, if you’re going to be bored…

“Guess you asked me here just to stare at your pretty face then?”

… You might as well try to find a way to entertain yourself. And entertained you are. It’s taken quite a while to figure out what makes the stiff-upper-lipped politician tick, and to be entirely frank you’re still not entirely sure what it is that gets a reaction from him… But you’ve gotten better at it. At least, you’ve gotten better at eliciting more than a sharp glare and the whip-like snap of his silver tongue, so quick on the trigger to insult. Sometimes, although this is a rare sometimes, but still, sometimes, you’ve even gotten him to blush.

Small triumphs.

Small triumphs that you’re not privy to now, as despite your not-quite-best efforts Ricky Dempsey turns away from his papers to pass you his usual narrow-eyed glare. “Are you truly that incapable of sitting there patiently for a mere moment?”

“Yeah, I am.” You grin in the face of his minor irritation. It’s more than a shit-eating grin, and it’s one that Ricky meets with a sigh and, miracle of miracles, places his pen to the side. Victory achieved!

“So,” You drawl, rubbing your hands together as you sit forward on your chair, “What’s up? Why’d you ask me here anyway?”

He remains silent-- victory substantially less achieved-- but he’s still looking at you, not the papers. Victory partially achieved?

Ricky stares at you for a long while, long enough that it even starts to make you uncomfortable. You can’t read his expression, and you’re not even sure he’s trying to read yours. Hell, you’re not sure he’s even really looking at you. He’s more just… looking in your direction. But he’s not spaced out, his gaze is as sharp and attentive as ever. He’s just… thinking. “You, uh, okay…?”

He blinks, and Ricky reaches for his pen for a moment, before his hand pauses, halfway between himself and the pen, and slowly falls back to his side. “Yes. I am fine.”

“You sure? You seem a bit… unusual.”

“Unusual?” He repeats, his chair turning slightly to the side as his head swivels with it, looking out the back window to his view. The corporate heart of Nickelport. You see smoke in the distance, a small stream of it, and something in the back of your mind-- the Rust instinct drilled into you over your four years of working for them-- thinks that there must be a fight going on. One just starting. It thinks that maybe you should be there to see it.

Living in Nickelport, and working for the Rust, it must have worn down your survival instinct.

“Yeah.” You force your gaze back to the politician’s profile. His jaw is set tight, his eyes locked somewhere unspecific on the horizon, maybe he’s looking at the smoke too. What’s his instinctual reaction to it? It’s probably different from yours. Probably. “Unusual.”

“I wasn’t aware unusual was a state of being. Perhaps unsure, or unlike myself, but unusual is more of a personality descriptor, or perhaps a physical description, I’m not so sure one could go from usual to unusual. You could also say I am unusually something, but you didn’t,” He turns his chair back around to you now, “At least, you would most likely have to say unlike my usual self, which I’m sure is what you meant to imply, but it is not what you said.”

“Yeah well then you’re being unusually deflective, and an ass at the same time, but that’s usual for you.” Still grinning.

Ricky doesn’t smile. “I have a request for you.”

Ah, and there was the meat of the meeting. “Oh? What’s up?”

“I…” He trails off, his gaze breaking, looking down, looking away and-- the tips of his ears seem red? Is he… blushing? But you haven’t said or done anything to make him flush and…

You lean forward, concerned, and reach for his hand, “Hey, Ricky, what’s wrong?”

His hand, which snaps back the moment your fingers make contact, “Nothing is wrong, do not assume.”

“I’m inferring, cause like we’ve established, this really isn’t like you.” Your voice is gentle now, sincere, and sincerely concerned.

Ricky Dempsey holds his hand as if it had been burned, unable to look you in the eyes. “I…” he swallows heavily, “I have a request.”

“Right,” You nod along slowly, “What do you need?”

“I need nothing,” He corrects, ever so specific.

“Fine, then what do you want?”

Somehow, that word seems worse to him, and again Ricky falls to one of his prolonged silences. It’s only broken by a small curse leaving his lips as he drags a hand up and through his hair. “I’d… my request is that, should you be willing, that you… kiss me.”

Now it’s your turn to blink, “What?”

The red on his ears begins to creep slowly towards his cheeks, “Is that such an unreasonable request?”

You don’t respond, your brain is still processing what Ricky “I reject any offer of friendship even if it's so much as implied” Dempsey has just asked you to kiss him. “What?”

The red has claimed his nose now, too, and is starting it’s charge down his neck, too. He grabs his pen with the violence of a knight drawing a sword to go into battle. “Nevermind.”

Your hand instinctively snaps out, grabbing his wrist before he can drown his mind in the distraction of his work. “I--” Your brain starts to catch up to the present again, slowly resetting, “I’m sorry-- but-- really-- what? Why?”

He doesn’t pull away this time, but his skin is burning under your palm, and he still won’t look you in the eyes. “Do I need a reason?”

“I mean it’d help, yeah.”

Ricky clears his throat again, squeezing the pen. “I… have been… having… thoughts… or-- no-- that doesn’t sound…” He takes a deep breath, his chest rising, stopping, and falling slowly as he exhales in a measured count. “Recently, I have been questioning some… assumptions I have made about myself. I have also been questioning… assumptions I’ve made about our… interactions. And my… interpretations of them. So, I thought, perhaps, when it comes to a hypothesis as… otherwise unfounded as the one I’ve been coming to-- to see, well, perhaps, a bit of experimentation was not-- is not… unwarranted.”

You try to translate from his work-around words to something more logical. “Ricky, do you have feelings for me?”

He jolts in his chair, finally pulling his hand away. “My entire life--” He answers lamely, softly, “My entire life I have believed myself to be one thing. I have not-- every person I have been with has been-- I have not ever questioned whether or not certain truths of  myself were not so true after all. It is not an… easy revelation to come to. Please do not ask me anything else. If you are incapable or unwilling of fulfilling my request then that is fine. I apologize for taking up your time.”

He’s apologizing. For Ricky, that is never a good sign.

“Hey,” You try to keep your voice gentle again, “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize, and-- I mean-- I can’t say I’d be unwilling,”

He looks up, a small spark in the back of his blue eyes. But you hold up a hand,

“But,” You add on, “You don’t seem like you’re wholly on board with it yourself, yeah? I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t seem very comfortable right now.”

His lips press tightly together, a small, hesitant nod bobbing his chin.

You smile, not your shit-eating grin but something small, “Hey, that’s okay. And it’s okay to be questioning, too, it’s not a bad thing.” You reach out, but stop halfway. Ricky seems to pull his hand back, so you pull yours back, too, and let it lie in your lap instead. “Take some time, okay? If you wanna ask me again, when you’re really comfortable with the idea, I’ll be here. Until then, no rush, yeah?”

Another silent nod, some of the red has drained from his face. Strands of his hair have fallen unnoticed onto his forehead, Normally, he would never have let even a single thing out of place-- not even a wrinkle on his suit or a hair from his head. But now the put-together Ricky Dempsey seems to be… shaken. And you lean back in your chair, “Do you wanna grab something to eat, instead?”

He looks up at you, meeting your gaze once again, finally, and that lets you see just how unsteady in his own skin he is right now. “Eat…?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m here, I haven’t had lunch, I’d put money on the idea that you haven’t, either,” And you don’t want to push the subject right now. “I’ve been trying to try this cool-lookin’ Thai place around the corner but it’s way out of my budget. But lucky for me I have this rich politician friend who, yknow, could out of the kindness buried deep, deep, deep--”

He sighs, settling back into himself as he brushes his hair back into place and rolls his eyes, “Of course. I should have expected you to have an ulterior motive.”

“You know me.” Back to your grin, back to normalcy as he finds his feet and stands once again.

“Very well,” Dempsey straightens his tie, “But you owe me.”

You hop up as well, clapping your hands together. “Sounds great! Let’s get going then, I dunno about you but I’m starved.”

[obeymeaskme]

Obey Me: Human and Demon Hearts!

A/N: You can find all the chapters pinned on my profile!

Chapter Three: Bonds mending (1/3)

Word Count: 1,563

Rating: 18+

“The best way to prevent this is to not back down. Don't give anyone else the ability to scare you, or get what they want.”

Satan's words reverberated in Noelle's head throughout the rest of the morning, quickly letting her settle down back into her normal happy-go-lucky persona. She gave herself the motivation to sit at the dinner table for breakfast. Though she didn't make eye contact with Lucifer, or Levi, she could feel the tension from that morning's situation rise. Everyone else around the table seemed to realize it as well, as no one talked. The only sounds that played in the silence was Beel's loud chewing, and the occasional clatter of cutlery. But Noelle's drama wasn't the only thing stirring up the atmosphere. Ever since the argument between Satan and Lucifer, there was a silent humming. It slowly got louder and it would usually go unnoticed in the household, but due to the silence, the humming could be written off as an almost low growl.

Lucifer had taken the final sip of his coffee before clearing his throat, and leaning back in his chair. He turned to the girls and began to converse with them.

“I'm inclined to ask you two about how you're both adjusting to Devildom, and your academics.”

Bella, having missed the earlier encounter, looked up with enthusiasm, happy to help change the uncomfortable silence she didn't quite understand.

“I think we're doing good. I mean, neither of us are failing our classes. I have more time to do other things when I'm in my room thanks to my study halls at RAD!”

The growling grew slightly louder as Lucifer turned to Noelle, his eyes demanding an answer from her as well. She could feel her confidence waiver, even after her talk with Satan. Something inside of her still managed to cling onto her confidence. Taking a quick glance at Satan she realized he wasn't at all interested in her response.

“Well... I can agree with Bella on that much. I'm not failing any classes... yet...”

As soon as Lucifer gave a disappointing scoff, the dead silence was replaced with an audible gnarl. Noelle and Bella had to follow the brother's faces as they all whipped their heads towards Satan. It became glaringly obvious that a verbal fight was about to breakout. There were silent pleas on everyone's faces. Mammon had even attempted to redirect the attention by telling Noelle she 'Just needed a more positive attitude'. Yet that didn't stop the second lower rumble mixing with Satan's growls. There was an unspoken argument between Wrath, and Pride and the air became physically warm, and humid. Lucifer was first to break the silence, startling everyone avoiding his glower.

“Is something the matter Satan? Perhaps you have more insight on just how 'well' you think Miss.V-”

He was cut off by a sparingly calm reply by the addressed.

“It seems that I, for once, do happen to know more than you. Scary isn't it?”

Noelle had started to calm down, the focus now off of her. Still she shook her head, wondering why this frayed her nerves in the first place. If only she was a tad bit stronger like Satan. Maybe then she could face Lucifer and his threats. That's when an idea popped into her head, and she took the conversation into her own hands. A Deathwish at her doorstep.

“It's nothing too important to you Lucifer. After all, what would a demon of your stature want with my own well being?”

The remark caught everyone off guard. A few coughs and a gasp or so tried to fill the in between. Lucifer looked back at her. Noelle's eyes and face seemed almost playful. He took a second to compose himself before answering.

“It's not me who wants to know. This is the fourth year the Devildom held it's student exchange program. Lord Diavolo wishes to keep close tabs on the students, so I will ask the questions and then create a report for him to examine”.

Noelle nodded in thought. Then another idea developed in her head, and she gave a rather large smile.

“Well, since you're not all that interested... I guess I could tell Lord Di-dia-”

A few chuckles were shared as she struggled to get Diavolo's name right before ultimately giving up on it.

“-The Demon Prince myself. You shouldn't have to stress out over me so much. I have no problems giving him a report if that's something he wants. After all it's the least I can do for you.”

Everyone's eyes widened as Noelle stood up from the table, ready to partake in getting the hell out of the room. But it seemed Lucifer wasn't quite done as he called out to her. Standing up and straightening out his jacket.

“Are you implying that I am incapable?”

Noelle gave a sheepish shrug, but voiced her disagreement.

“No. Why would I? I'm just saying, as the Avatar of Pride, and the future Demon King's right hand man, I can imagine you're up to your eyes in other paperwork. Paperwork that is much more important than writing some report on how well a human exchange student is doing. Especially so early in the week? I think Both me, and Bella can handle that so you can impress Lord- Ya' know, with your more complex work. The Prince must get terribly bored with academics he's probably the master of already. Then again it's just a thought.”

Stunning Lucifer with her speech gave the others a chance to pick up their empty plates with their own excuses to leave the room. Bella had given Belphie a look before they left, and he just shrugged in response.

A handful of minutes passed and Noelle was already far into unpacking the rest of her belongings in her room. She had ordered a bed and couch to fill some empty space as she sketched out floor plans for her room. A knock was heard and a groan was given in return.

“Come in, but only if you dare~”

Satan could be heard chuckling as he just about waltz in. After tripping over a few boxes, he recovered his saunter and stood by her side at a small artist table in the corner. He had come to ask her about how she handled the situation, but was quickly distracted by the delicate drawings that scattered her desk, and decorated her walls. She had looked up at him as he silently asked to pick them up and look. She nodded in return. He lightly traced over the graphite lines, and dried colored water of morbid monsters, and cute creatures. The blaring contrast intrigued him. They spent the next few hours bonding over the arts, and her own creations. They were all but done talking as someone out in the hall walked by. Taken aback by a rather loud laugh given by Satan at another one of Noelle's inside jokes.

Lucifer had actually wanted to make his way to his study to work on paperwork, ironically enough. He'd never heard the fourth born brother laugh in that way. Listening in through the door he caught a glimpse of Noelle's true personality. It was young, sometimes barely innocent, but knowledgeable. Satan had taken to her like it was nothing. Though it left a searing pain in his head to admit it, he had come to the realization that he was in fact wrong about her. He made false accusations based on her interactions with the brothers. And up until then they weren't the most uplifting. It dawned on him further as to why. She had foolishly chosen Leviathan as her guide through the program. Lucifer silently scolded himself knowing full well that Levi had a hard enough time socializing let alone with anyone he deemed as being normal.

Mammon and Asmo had seemed to avoid her this whole time, and the only time Belphegor and Beelzebub had interacted with her was when the two girls wanted to hangout. It seemed that Belphegor and Noelle barely got along, and Beel seemed to not pay much attention. Lucifer dragged himself away from Noelle's door and made his way to his destination. Even behind his large desk that he felt the most peaceful at, his mind was still boggled. He knew logically that she was bright. Her grades showed it, and the more he thought about it he found no true reason to dislike her so much.

Her display at breakfast was proof that even though he had threatened her that morning, she was planning on killing him with kindness. Satan was correct. Noelle's survival in Devildom was going to be based on how tough she was. However, she was too soft and emotional for the demon world, and Bella had no problem with it due to her constant interactions with the twins. Lucifer soon realized that if Noelle were to make it in their world, he'd need to change his mocking attitude. She needed to become more confident, and more willing to listen to him and his brothers. So how could he make that happen if they were all so cold to her. At least for now she had Satan. That in itself was dangerous but for now it was something.

[opbackgrounds]

Hi there Sarc' ;) I am sorry if the question has already been asked but I thought it could be interesting to have your opinion about this. While I love most of the female characters in OP and think that most of them are well developed and can be truly good role models for girls I still feel that Oda sometimes has a sexist view on female characters (the jokes about the naked bath scenes for example or Kororo being considered ugly make me really uncomfortable). What do you think about it?

Ah, I wondered when I would get this question. 

When people talk about sexism in One Piece they typically are referring to two different things: How women are drawn, and how they’re treated within the narrative. While there’s some overlap here, there’s enough distinction that I want to address them as two separate points in two separate posts, because I guess I had Opinions, and by god there should be a limit to how much text one tumblr post can be expected to hold. Consider this an introduction.

Buckle up, kiddos. This is gonna be a long one. 

Nami Face Syndrome Isn’t the Problem...

An important thing to remember with Oda’s art and storytelling style is that almost everything is hyper exaggerated for effect. You don’t go into One Piece looking for realism. You don’t go into One Piece expecting the characters to act like normal people. Everything--from the art to the humor to the battles--is stretched and pulled to its absolute limit in hopes of garnering a particular reaction. When a character is sad they cry big bubbly tears with dribbles of snot coming from their nose. When they laugh their mouths take up half their face. 

And when a girl is hot, her tiddies are two great big watermelons stuck to the center of her chest.

What is often dubbed “Nami Face Syndrome” within the fandom is somewhat misleading. After all, why was Wanda, who is a literal dog that walks on two legs, decried as yet another Nami clone at her introduction? I would postulate it’s less to do with her face and more to do with the fact that from the neck down they are virtually identical, something that’s made more obvious because Wanda is literally wearing Nami’s clothes

What makes this frustrating for a lot of people, myself included, is that it’s not that Oda is incapable of drawing more diverse body types, but that he often chooses not to. Take for example the Kuja tribe

or the Charlotte family daughters (thanks to Arthur at Library of Ohara for the resource). It’s pretty clear Oda has the chops to make his women as weird as the men, and he often does! For important characters, even. And yes, as the Kokoro example given above sometimes the gonkness is brought attention to, but for others like Lola and Chiffon it’s...not. 

(more on mermaids later)

But Sarcasticles, one might protest, even Oda’s “ugly” characters have ginormous boobs! Where is my itty bitty titty committee representation >:(

To which I can only shrug. For Oda, boobs on a woman are like abs on men. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, they’re gonna have ‘em

Seriously, Oda. What the fuck.

...So What Is?

I have a theory that’s impossible to prove, and that the problem isn’t so much Oda’s character design so much as the ratio of his male to female characters in general. It’s not that every female character is a Nami clone, but Oda has a template he uses for attractive female characters ages 16-25, the same way he uses Robin as a template for attractive women ages 26-35, which is how you get cases of mistaken identity like Viola for Robin or scenes during Reverie where one could be forgiven for thinking Nami’s supposed to be an identical triplet

 Oda does this for his men, too. It’s not as obvious because 1) Even men with similar facial features can have a wider variety body types due to Oda having a sliding scale of buffness he’s willing to attach to a pretty face and 2) There are more men. 

There are a lot more men.

In groups where the male to female ratio is more or less equal (Baroque Works, Big Mom’s kids) you get a wide variety of designs. But there’s only one female Supernova. There’s one female Warlord. CP9 only has one female agent. Only one of the Revolutionary Commanders is a woman. There are very few female background characters in crowd shots, especially among marines. Big Mom might be the only female Emperor, but she’s not young, In fact, when drawing her at age 28, Oda defaults to a much more generic “pretty girl” face before giving her much more striking, memorable features in her 40s

If you look at Oda’s male characters, the ones that are supposed to be hot are often given the same square jawline and the thin-bladed nose that at one point in time was reserved for Robin. Both Coby and Sabo had very distinctive noses before their glowups, while Ace must have had a laser treatment done on his eyebrows sometime between Alabasta and Marineford. 

But the biggest difference on the men has got to be muscle mass. The overgrown noodles of early One Piece are lost to the annals of time. Shanks alone must have gained 30 pounds of pure muscle from the time Luffy got his first bounty to his appearance at Marineford. 

Now, I will acknowledge that there is a difference between the increasing sexualization of female characters and the male power fantasy of giving Zoro bara tiddies post-timeskip. While I do think there are certain male characters specifically designed to be the Hot Dude, what I’m trying to emphasize here is that Oda works with templates for both men and women, and both of those templates have been exaggerated over time. Bigger boobs for women, more muscles for men. And when you’re only slotting for one girl in any given group, and that one girl has to be The Hot One then you’re going to have a lot of ladies that end up looking the same. 

My love for Otohime on this blog is well known, and I want to use her as an example of what Oda can do when he works beyond this template, because it’s really freaking good  

Otohime is neither conventionally attractive nor gonk. She’s dressed in very conservative, traditional clothing and has a narrow waist and small chest. 

There are no sharp edges on Otohime. Not her eyebrows, not her jaw, and most of the time not even her hands, emphasizing her gentle nature. You don’t see it as well in this panel, but Otohime’s head is often drawn wider than her shoulders, emphasizing her frailty. Oda gives her a longer neck to compensate, and the overall effect is a very soft, willowy figure. 

Her headpiece looks like a sunburst. The audience never sees her fins, so Oda gives her a scale patterned kimono-dress-thingy (my knowledge of Japanese clothing is, uh, not good) as a visual reminder that she’s not human. The sash that circles around her head harkens back to Japanese mythology as a symbol of divinity, similar to a halo in Western culture. And fun fact: Otohime is named after a god, just like Neptune, while her goals and ideals are pure enough to be heaven-sent. 

I’m not an artist, but this is a really damn good character design. A lot of Oda’s older female characters are. Dandan, Tsuru, O-Tsuru, Shakky, Kureha, Big Mom, and Nyon are all instantly recognizable and have strong designs, even if a few of them fall into the hourglass figure that Oda often defaults to. It’s just...there aren’t that many of them.

So the question becomes why aren’t there more women, and I think the answer is because, ultimately, One Piece is a series geared at boys. While I wish there were a few more important ladies, I can understand why there aren’t. 

Note, that doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that Oda is obligated to include more women. It’s just one of the facts of the shonen manga industry at this point in time. 

A more important question, I think, is why does every younger woman have to be attractive? And why do the attractive ladies have to wear outfits that are blatant fanservice? This is something I don’t have an answer for. Oda has said on more than one occasion that he writes One Piece with his twelve year old self in mind. It could be that it’s a calculated move to appeal to his audience, in which case it’s certainly worked because said Hot Ladies are constantly used in marketing and merchandising. It’s the Hot Ladies that top the popularity charts (although, to be fair, who’s there for competition?). In the most recent chapter a new Hot Lady was introduced, and the fandom went batshit crazy for her.

Even the fans who are very vocal about how Oda sucks at drawing women. It’s interesting how that works out sometimes.

Or maybe I’m giving Oda too much credit, and he’s just horny. Not having direct access to Oda’s mind, I don’t have an answer. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, because that’s usually how life is. 

But in a vacuum big tiddies are just a design choice. An exaggerated aesthetic, in a series full of exaggerated aesthetics. It’s when that design choice is paired with in-story comments, actions, and decisions where things really start to get heated. But that’s a whole other ball of wax, and there should be a limit to how much one tumblr post can be expected to hold. I promise I’ll get to the meat of your question next time.

Thank you so much for your patience. I really do think it’s important to start here before diving into everything else, if only because it helps keep my thoughts organized. I hope you’ve found this helpful, and if not, I hope to do better next time. 

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 107

Happy Tuesday, time for a new chapter!

Writing author’s notes three weeks in advance is hard, I am realizing.  However I am reasonably sure if I wait to write this note, I will forget, because Tuesdays are insane at work.

So, quickly: shout out to @baelpenrose​ for being my beta, as always. Also, thank you to @charlylimph-blog​ and @zommbiebro​, for the characters in this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy!!

I had to admit, as I laughed at Charly’s face when she stole a bite of my food, that Huynh - and therefore Jokul - had a point about eating in the cafeteria/mess regularly. Today, I had taken a page out of his book, and decided on my lunch based on what someone else was eating that looked good when I walked in.  No matter how the dish ended up being, the smile on the face of a random stranger when I stopped and told them their food looked good, along with asking if I could get some from the console, made my day.

Which was good, because it was the oddest fish pie I had ever eaten. In general, I neither hated nor loved fish pie - I needed to either have a request or a craving to make it, usually. However, when I originally saw it as I entered the mess, I saw flaky crust, meat, veggies, and a creamy sauce and called it a winner. I don’t think Charly was expecting seafood in general when she took a bite, and I certainly hadn’t been expecting scallops, even knowing I had gotten fish pie.

“That’s… that’s fish!” she sputtered, glaring at me in betrayal.

“It’s actually scallops,” I corrected, no less perplexed for that fact. “I was expecting mackerel and cod, or haddock. That’s what Conor always asks me to make, anyway.”

“But it’s fish,” she insisted. “I thought it would be chicken.”

“It’s not bad,” I admitted, taking another bite. “Just caught me off guard.”

Shaking her head and scowling, she got up to get her own food, returning with an actual chicken pot pie. Just as she was hooking her arm around it protectively - either protecting it from me or from my lunch, who knew - a pillar of grey and silver stalked up to the table before plopping down miserably. 

Now holding her pie over her head - to avoid being flanked? - Charly stared down, eyes wide. “Mr. Bjornson?” she asked, bewildered.

Craning my neck, I realized she had a point, although the hair was somewhat dishevelled and the robes were wrinkled beyond anything I had seen him wearing previously.  Not even Conor or I would wear clothes that creased, honestly. Hesitantly, I poked at him. “Did you just decide to die in front of my food?” I asked, skeptical. “Last time you interrupted my lunch, you were being kidnapped.”

Alarmingly, Jokul sat up, eyes red, sniffling back tears. “He won’t talk to me…”

Both Charly and I jerked back, surprised. Recovering faster, I carefully ventured a question. “You mean Ivan?”

Rather than answer out loud, Jokul gave a bigger sniff and nodded emphatically.

I was so not prepared to have this conversation, but I tried anyway. “Is everything… I guess, okay, for lack of a better term?”

“He works so much,” came the plaintive response. “He’s so tired all the time, and I’m trying to adjust to everyone looking at me funny and…” He stopped, tears rolling again, biting his lip in what looked like an effort to gain control.

“And?” Charly asked, setting her lunch down and carefully reaching to put a hand on his forearm.

“AndIdonthaveanyoneelsetotalktonowbecauseIrealizedIdontactuallyhaveany friennnnnnnds,” he blurted out quietly, the last part on a barely-constrained sob. I had to give him credit for trying to draw as little attention as possible while talking about something that was clearly a difficult subject.

“Oh, that’s bullshit,” Charly sighed softly, shaking her head. “Right, Sophia?”

I rocked my head a bit, thinking about it. “I mean…. I don’t know about friends, per se - “ Charly glared and kicked me hard enough to drive the breath out of me. “Hey! Cut me some slack?”

“I’m the one who got the punch,” she scolded, stroking his hair and carefully detangling it.

Fair. “Earning friendships may take some time,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to anyone about what’s going on, you know.”

“Who, Councillor?” he demanded sadly. “Who do I have to talk to?”

“Well, you clearly thought I was a good idea - Ow, Charly!”  Rubbing my shin, I continued. “Like I was saying, though. It kind of depends on what it is you want to talk about. If it’s struggling to come back from a negative public image… Simon, hands down, is the best person for that.”

Thankfully, Jokul went from looking despondent to confused. “Simon Rodriguez?”

Charly and I both nodded hard enough to pop our necks. “He was a complete ass when I boarded. I actually tried to kill him, and so did Tyche.  He can tell you the details, but in the end, he made the effort to be a better neighbor, and now he’s an amazing educator whose students adore him.”

“Arthur Farro was a warlord, however,” Jokul tried to object. “Would he not be a better source of insight?”

“Absolutely not,” Charly responded before I could draw a breath, shooting the idea down instantly. “Mr. Farro doesn’t care what other people think of him, beyond making sure they aren’t trying to kill him too actively.  He adheres to social etiquette in most cases, but it’s not for his own sake, more for the sake of those associated with him. Does he care if he’s trustworthy? Absolutely. Likeable…...” She winced as she trailed off, hand tipping in an ‘eh’ gesture.

“Which is why he wasn’t bothered in the least when you wanted a fight,” I pointed out, trying to draw the points together. “Whereas Simon didn’t realize how poorly people thought of him, and as soon as he did, he took steps to change it, even when it was hard. So definitely start there if you need guidance.”

“I will endeavor to do so,” Jokul nodded before his expression dropped again. “But what about Ivan?”

“There is nothing about him being tired that makes his ears malfunction,” I heard myself say. What? Why? Why was I doing this? “No matter how tired I am, my ear still works, and I can still listen to Conor and Maverick about their days. And sometimes that’s all that’s needed.  Mutual bitching about a bad day is… pretty normal, actual.”

He sat up, paling, with a horrified expression on his face. “Oh dear gods, how do you manage two?!”

Charly and I traded glances of confusion before looking back at the distraught man who was slowly inching fingers toward my fish pie. I nodded to Charly, who wrinkled her nose and got up to grab him some food, while I addressed the former cult leader. “It’s usually easier than just one,” I confessed. “If one of us is too tired or sick, there’s always someone who can pinch hit.” I wasn’t about to admit that it was also made easier by the massive family I had acquired during my time on the Ark. That was the last thing he needed to hear. Softening slightly, I tilted my head and placed my hand on his arm. “Jokul, do you really not have any friends, anymore? What about… the ginger kid. I never got his name.”

“William,” Jokul spat with more force than I had seen since the day we met, catching me completely off guard. “A sycophant. He almost immediately asked what my plans were to continue forward with ‘our plans’.” The air quotes were a nice touch, but his face was nothing but sour. “I had to report him to Councillor Kalloe,” he confessed, face falling into a frown.

“Oh, wow,” I murmured. “Okay then. We need to figure out how you can meet other people, I think.” I was barely able to resist the urge to hit myself in the face. We? Why was this a we thing all of a sudden?

Thankfully, Charly came back, nose wrinkled at a second portion of fish pie. As Jokul dug into it, she perked up slightly. “The Undine! They have cultural events all the time!  And! Andandandandand,” she started bouncing in her seat with each syllable. “Ivan loves those events. Not only does he drum up a lot of work, but he also loves meeting new people! You can do a date thing!”

That was, by far, the most harmless suggestion Charly could have made, and I made a mental note to send her a candy-basket at some point. “Plus, if Ivan is there, Zach and Hannah should be, too. You met them, right?”

“Did I?”

I managed not to roll my eyes as I reminded him. “The couple that were talking to Ivan the day you, um… met him?”

“Oh!” he exclaimed, sitting up straighter. “He mentioned they were friends of his!”

“Lord bless it,” I laughed. “Those two are probably his closest friends, honestly.  So, something like that would be both a chance to make friends and something you can do with Ivan!” And something that does not require me to adopt someone who recently did his best to be a pain in my ass. 

“And you said I can still just… talk, to Ivan, when he’s too tired to do anything else?”

“Yes?” I confirmed, slightly bewildered. “He still cares, I would think.  Keep in mind, he does manual labor for a living, by choice.  If he’s too tired to move, he is probably physically incapable of moving.  It would be like Conor coming home, showering, and flopping on the couch.  Good luck moving him, just grab him a pillow and blanket.”

Jokul arched an eyebrow at me, recovering something resembling his former ego. “I am quite capable of carrying Ivan to a proper bed, thank you.” His face abruptly softened. “I’m just new at… this…” he waved his hand vaguely. “Relationships, during a time of peace, I suppose.”

Huh. That never occurred to me, actually. “Hang on,” I thought out loud. “Have you had any portion of this conversation,” I frantically pointed between the three of us, “with Ivan?”

“Not.. yet?” came the sheepish response.

“Sir!” I sputtered. “If you do not go home right now - take your pie with you! - and talk to your poor…. Partner, boyfriend, whatever. If you don’t talk to Ivan, I will give Arthur permission to re-administer the ass-whooping and deal with Ivan later over it!”

Rather than being offended, Jokul seemed to take the admonishment for what it was, and dashed off.  Charly, breathless with laughter, managed to recover just enough to give me the stink eye. “Did you just give solid advice to your adversary?”

“I won! Sort of,” I argued. “Besides, anyone that upset about a romantic relationship deserves some kind of slack, right?”

“Were you really going to sic Mr. Farro on him?”

I groaned, burying my head in my hands. “The less he knows about this entire interaction, the better. I’ll never hear the end of it.” And then, just as if my day could not possibly get any better, I heard a familiar, dry voice snark from behind me. 

“The less I know about what the better?”

Oh, hell.

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[worldwidemochiguy]

the man in the moon (Yandere! Yoongi)

Summary: You can’t help but gaze at the stars and he can’t help but gaze back at you. 

Word Count: 1.7K

Masterlist

Warnings: Yandere, Kidnapping, (kind of) Stockholm syndrome, Dissociation, bad writing. 

Authors note: I got the idea and then made this and tbh it’s kind of shitty which makes me sad bc it could have been a cool concept but ah well lol. 

The man in the moon is my man

He never say nothing so I know he understands

He’ll never break my heart 

I know he’s here to stay

Tell all the other boys to go away

I’ll take the man in the moon 

- Man in the Moon, by Voice of the Beehive 

Yoongi had a fairly repetitive schedule. He would wake up and then… well. That was basically it. He preferred not to go outside, deeming the bouncing gait he had to adopt to travel around as ‘undignified’, even if there was no one else around to see it. He spent his days in his meticulously shuttered compound. Covering the windows was necessary, given that the moon was far slower at rotating than its orbital partner, Yoongi thought with contempt. 

Rather than having a cycle of darkness and light over 24 hours, it took his planet almost a month to complete a ‘day’. Even Yoongi was incapable of sleeping when the sun’s full glare was seeping through the thick window panes, and after enduring a week and a half of the torture, he went around with a hammer, an armful of boards, and a budding vendetta against the sun. 

Eons later, Yoongi’s skin was infinitely paler, his eyes were infinitely piercing, and his life was infinitely dull. Yoongi sometimes dabbled in casting his gaze onto the Earth, the ugly planet he was stuck forever facing towards. Normally, what he found was severely lacking. Stupidity, and greed, and petty squabbles seemed to be all the human race knew how to do. But, for lack of a better option, he kept on looking. And then he found you.

From the moment he saw you, he knew you were different. He almost thought you were a fallen star, stuck in a place you didn’t belong just like he was. You were clearly brighter than any other filthy human marring the Earth, and you only became increasingly so as you aged.

Yoongi’s eyes followed you everywhere, he saw when you learned how to ride a bike, when you got your high school diploma, when you got your first promotion. He resented every second of the hours you were woefully hidden from view. It was ridiculous; he could peer through hundreds of thousands of kilometres of space and locate you with ease, but as soon as you disappeared behind the curve of the Earth, you were out of sight? 

Yoongi couldn’t bear it when he couldn’t see you, even if he knew you were going to bed in that time and therefore had less of a chance of getting hurt. He was very protective of you. How could he not be, he reasoned, when he had saw you grow up before his very eyes. Of course, he had previously watched billions of souls come into existence and age and wither and die, all without sparing a thought. But he could never let that happen to you. He could not let you be another distant creature, always in his sight but never in his reach. 

It was difficult for Yoongi to watch you living your life without him. The first time you kissed another man, he felt an anger that had never before reared its head rip itself out of him. It raged along the shorelines of the Earth, coaxing in fearsome waves from the deep. It ripped along the streets, blowing with the force of a thousand gales. The moon almost tilted off its axis, turning its back on the Earth for far longer than it should have done. 

Yoongi saw the devastation his rage resulted in. The loss of thousands of lives. The destruction of property built by the hands of men. He only felt a flicker of satisfaction. It didn’t matter, it wasn’t enough, he would never be able to harm those around you (those who wanted to hurt you) without also hurting you in the process. You were too far, the only way he could touch you was with a broad wave of violence. And that is how Yoongi came to his conclusion.

He could not harm those around you without harming you. You were stuck down there among danger. The solution was simple: he needed to draw you to his side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He’ll never break my heart, I know he’s here to stay,” You sang, or — more accurately — shouted, using your deodorant stick as a makeshift-microphone since your friend had already snatched the hair brush. “Tell all the other boys to go away!” You screamed the lyrics together, dancing around your cramped living room. 

“Mina!” You called, pointing the stick at your friend, “Solo!” 

She cackled and then sung along with the song blasting on the radio, laughing so hard she could barely get the lyrics out. When she pointed at you again to finish the song off, you did so with flair.

“I’ll take the man in the moon.” You crooned. You both paused dramatically as the bassline faded out, before collapsing into giggles on the carpeted floor. Mina had come over to try and cheer you up after your boyfriend had forgotten to show at your anniversary date, again, and she had obviously succeeded. 

“Y’know,” you started, once the laughter had died down, and Mina hummed in acknowledgement. “My parents would always tell me about the man in the moon.”

“Tell you what?” Mina asked, rolling over onto her stomach and resting her chin on her forearms.

“Well… they would tell me stories about him.”

“Such as…?” Mina prompted, and then burst into giggles as you chucked a pillow at her for her impatience. 

“Such as… that he existed. Like, he was sent there as a punishment.” 

“Punishment? For what?”

“I don’t know,” you floundered, “For, like, being weird or something. Anyways, the point is-” you stressed, “I’ve always felt like there was someone watching me. From up there.”

Mina’s immaculately groomed eyebrows flicked up.

“So you seriously believe there’s a man on the moon?” You flushed and sat up, shrugging your shoulders slightly.

“I don’t know, it’s just… weird, I guess.”

“It’s not weird, you’re weird.” 

Mina was expecting the pillow being swung at her face that time, and fought back valiantly with a throw cushion. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your body cast a shadow along your moonlight-bathed room as you leaned your forehead against the window. Up there in the sky, the moon continued to shine as it always had done, your eternal silent companion. It was a full moon that night. You noticed that as you brushed a finger against the glass separating you and the night sky. It was difficult to believe the moon was so far away, it almost felt like, if you only opened your window and leaned out, you could cup it in your hands.

It was almost a compulsion that led you to lift the latch. Like the pull of the tide, you leaned away to twist the handle and then drew back to breathe in the night air. You couldn’t trust your eyes, as it almost looked like the moon had swollen, now bigger, brighter, closer. It became blurred, hidden as your breath formed translucent clouds which eddied on the cool night breeze, swirling faster and faster. You pitched your body further out of the window, taking one arm away from its steadying position on the windowsill to reach out. To brush the moon, as it started to take on an almost unnatural glow.

Like a moth to its burning cold flame, you were drawn in, your eyes wide, your face gleaming white as you approached the moon. A pair of eyes were stretching across space, fixed on you unerringly, coaxing you out. You felt a hand enclose around your outstretched palm. It tugged you forwards slightly, and you lost your balance, tipping into the open arms of the night. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, sweetheart. Wake up. Can you wake up for me?” The kind, almost intimate words were uttered by a voice that sounded like it hadn’t been used for some time. The hoarse, gravelly tones echoed in your head as your eyelashes fluttered. Immediately, there was a cold hand cradling your head, and another beneath your back, helping you to a sitting position as you squinted, still unable to take in your surroundings. 

Slowly, your vision cleared. A man was bent over you, his striking dark eyes swimming with concern. His skin was… so white it almost hurt your eyes to look at. The paleness seemed to have even leached the colour out of his hair, leaving him as an almost wraithlike figure. 

“W-where am I?” You croaked, your own voice rough as if it had been a long time since it was last used. You glanced around the room, trying to find an indicator of the time, or of where you were. You could find none.

His lips quirked slightly, and he guided your body back down to the bed.

“You’re safe.” He told you. “That’s all that matters. Now sleep.” As he commanded it, your eyes shut and everything went dark again. 

The man brought you strange things, food that was not food, gifts that felt almost unnatural — a doll that followed you around the room with its eyes, an hourglass that never ran out of sand. You couldn’t seem to break out of the limbo you sunk into when you fell out of your bedroom window and into this strange place. There were no windows, and when you asked the man — Yoongi, he told you to call him — what time it was, he simply smiled and told you he didn’t know either, and didn’t care to find out. 

Sometimes you woke up and felt those eyes on you, and he would be watching you. He would always smooth your hair back — which was starting to grey, or was it just paling, like his? — and tell you not to worry. He never told you what he wanted from you, and after a time (you don’t know how long) you stopped caring. You passed through many rooms, all of them the same, all of them lacking windows, until you found an exit.

You went outside and saw Yoongi, standing sentinel on a rocky outcrop. You climbed over to join him, and turned your gaze to see what he was looking at. There stood the Earth, small and inconsequential from your standing. By now, you could hardly remember what it had been like to live there. Yoongi turned to look at your blank face, skin as pale and glowing as the moon, and he smiled. He was alone no longer. 

[pink-imagines]

a matter of strength

request: So I wanted a really self-indulgent fic with me and Todoroki. My friend started shipping us and now I can't stop thinking about it. Friend even got me to do some kabedon art and I don't remember what led to the discussion of kabedon but then I was like "Well I guess I'm drawing Todoroki trapping me against a wall." So I want a fic of my self-insert OC meeting Todoroki and whatever the hell leads up to him doing a kabedon. It's certainly preferable for him to like me back, but more than anything I want him to be in character. So if the kabedon is because he's fed up with me flirting or something, then so be it. (requested by @kawayuni​)

a/n: i hope i wrote your quirk in the right way!!

warnings: self doubt, a fight scene but nothing too gory

masterlist

requesting rules

If it wasn’t for the the fact that Todoroki was with you, you would’ve probably been dead. 

You really didn’t know what happened, you just froze. To think that today would finally lead up to this moment.

-

You woke up that morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day! Sure, maybe it was a bit hard to get out of bed but you did it eventually! Which is really all that counts. Around 7 am you were almost out the door to get to work and you were at the train station at 7:30. The station was crowded but you did your best to slink through to get to where you needed to be. 

Once you got to work you immediately went into the office to see if you had any paperwork you had to get done. “Good morning, Y/L/N.”, a familiar voice said from behind you. “It’s indeed a good morning, especially now that I got to see you!”, you jokingly said and smiled at the receptionist who walked past. “You’re too sweet, Y/N.”, she laughed and walked over to the break room. Without hesitation you got to work and finished what needed to be done, you really just wanted to get out to the action. You weren’t always needed out, since you were a rescue worker but sometimes you got to go out on patrol. Today was that kind of day! You were actually patrolling with Todoroki, which you were very excited about. You had first met him at UA during the sports festival, and since then you had developed a little crush on him. Who wouldn’t, really, tough?

“Ready to go, Y/H/N?”, Todoroki asked as you got out of the changing room. “Ready as I’ll ever be, handsome!”, you grinned at the way his face got slightly more red. You were what people would call a flirt. Really you just tried to compliment people in that way, and most people were fine with it. Todoroki was one of those people and you had a fun time teasing him about the fact that he would easily blush. Sometimes you’d get a smile or even a chuckle out of him, which is why you usually saved your best one-liners for him personally. 

During your patrol you kept it flirty and lighthearted, calling him by nicknames and telling silly pick-up lines. Todoroki didn’t complain, and simply went along with it, sometimes he’d roll his eyes but he’d always have a smile on his lips while doing so. “I appreciate you serving looks, but I’d also like to be served some food.”, you joked, “Wanna go out for lunch after patrol?” Usually you’d go out for lunch with the person you were patrolling with after doing your job, which is why you loved patrolling with Todoroki.  “Yeah, as long as we get back in time. I have some paper work to do.”, he nodded, ignoring the flirty remark you made even though his ears were turning slightly red as well as his cheeks. “Great what do you want to-”, you didn’t look at where you were going and bumped into someone, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” “Watch where you’re going.”, the man growled at you. “Sir, it was just a mistake. They apologiesed.”, Todoroki said in your defense. “Heroes these days... they’re so incapable...”, the man kept walking in the opposite direction of where you were going. You looked back at him for a while, there was just something that rubbed you the wrong way about him and you couldn’t get it out of your mind. “Are you okay? You know you shouldn’t take what he said to heart, right?”, Todoroki brought you out of your own head. “Yeah, yeah! I’m fine.”, you shrugged it off and decided to not focus your energy on a grumpy man.

Once your shift was over the two of you went out to get soba, still in your hero costumes mostly because you were to lazy to take it off but also in case of an emergency call. You could never be too careful, the only downside was people staring at you and the commotion around it. “We always end up eating soba when we’re going patrolling together.”, you commented at random, after there had been a long pause of silence where you had just been eating. “It’s my favorite...”, he shrugged and looked up at you, “... I like eating it with you.” Todoroki wasn’t much of a talker, he wasn’t a flirter either, but in some sort of way, in certain moments, his words would make your heart skip a beat. Maybe it was the fact that he usually didn’t talk much and that when he did it left a much bigger impact. Or it was the fact that he chose his words so carefully that each of them really meant something. Before you could respond to this with another one of your flirty remarks both of you got a stress call. It was an area near you, which is probably why you got it in the first place.  “Let’s go.”, Todoroki said, got up and threw some money on the table to pay for your food.

When you reached the scene it was a building on fire. You approached one of the medics helping out at the scene. “What’s going on here? What can we do?”, you asked. “There are already heroes inside, but there are still hostages being held.”, the nurse said stressfully, “Just try to get them out safely. There’s a villain in there- I don’t know what he wants-” “Alright, thank you!”, you said as the nurse ran off to help some other victims, “Let’s go!”

While Todoroki helped out in trying to put the fire out, you were helping people out of the building. “Not too many people at once!”, you told them, “Five is just enough! Don’t worry, I’ll get all of you down.” You got them down by lifting and sinking rocks, almost like an elevator, which is why they couldn’t all get down at once. With the best of your abilities you tried to focus on helping them, but you could also feel the steps of someone approaching quickly through the vibration in the ground. The only thing you could do was to hope that it was just another hero, or a hostage further in the building that had managed to escape on their own. “Y/H/N, the villain is approaching your area!”, you heard through your earpiece. “Got it!”, you answered. Shit... As you helped the next five people on the hovering rock you put up a stone wall against the door. “The door is barricaded, but I’ll need back-up. I won’t be able to hold it that long.”, you said to your mic. With one hand holding up your barrier and the other one slowly sinking down the five people, your energy was about to reduce faster than normal. Still, there were only three people left after this one so you told yourself to suck it up and finish the job. “Back up is on the way, but please keep the door barricaded!”, the sound from the earpiece startled you a bit, but you kept your balance. “Thank you.”, you answered shortly to keep as much energy as possible. You heard the door open and a familiar man’s voice groan, probably a reaction to your barrier. With a sigh you told everyone to keep quiet, hoping you wouldn’t get caught or that he wouldn’t bother. “Heroes these days... they’re so incapable.”, when you heard the voice say that your entire body froze. It was the man from before. You looked down the building to see that the people down there had gotten off. With as much power you could muster you brought the rock back up. When you turned to tell everyone to get on you were met with the villain smashing through your barrier. You dropped the rock to the ground and hurried to the three people left, creating a new wall around them. It was a wall that you didn’t have to hold up yourself, though you knew it would soon turn into gravel so you had to work quickly. You tried capturing the villains legs by incasing them with stone, but he just broke himself free. Every single attack you tried to stop him with failed, and you were slowly getting more and more tired. All the while you were trying to protect the innocent citizen from this delusional man he was mocking you. “What kind of training are they even putting you through nowadays? It doesn’t seem like it’s working.”, he laughed. You heard the agonizing sound of the wall around the people you were trying to protect crumble to the ground. You fell to your knees out of exhaustion and pure disappointment over the fact that you were uncapable of doing this by yourself, even if you were a rescue worker and not a hero. Out of the corner of your eye you saw a tiny figure. Your head snapped over there, only to see a child who had been in hiding until now. You hadn’t even noticed the fact that there weren’t only three people left. Because of the movement of your head, the villain followed your eyes. In a moment of pure panic you did the only thing you could think of; use the last of your energy to build two stone barriers, one around the child and the other around the other three people. “You’re just gonna leave yourself open for me like this? You do realize that I’ll just kill them after I take you out, right?”, the villain laughed, “You really are useless, aren’t you?” He raised his hand towards you, and as you were expecting the blow something cold appeared right in front of your face. A wall of ice had stopped the villain from giving you one last blow. “You’re alright, Y/N...”, you heard Todoroki whisper, “... come with me, the civillians are gonna be okay. We brought back up, it’s just a matter of time-” You blacked out.

When your eyes fluttered open again you were met with a bright light. It smelled like carbolic acid and a distracting hint of flowers. A slight beeping was heard every second or so. Once you got your vision back and looked around the room you understood that you were in a hospital. The slight smell of flowers came from the boquet on the nightstand next to you, and of course the beeping was from a heart monitor. A nurse came into the room with a relieved look on her face. “Oh, you’re awake!”, she smiled kindly. “Where am I?”, you muttered out. As you tried to rub the sleep out of your eyes you realized you were hooked up to a drip. “You used too much energy and blacked out. Don’t worry, it’s only been a few hours... and you should be ready to head out if you just rest for a bit longer.”, the nurse explained, “You’re recovering quickly, but I recommend you take a few days off work.” As the nurse left the room you thought about what had happened. You weren’t strong enough to take down the villain, and in return those innocent people probably got traumatized. With a deep sigh you put your head in your hands. If it wasn’t for the the fact that Todoroki was with you, you would’ve probably been dead.

When you got back from the hospital you didn’t take those days off that the nurse recommended. Instead you went to work and did paper work. You would’ve gone out on patrol but that was too far according to the agency. On top of that, you had been avoiding Todoroki like the plague. Whenever you looked at him you just felt helpless, and you didn’t want to show your face to him after what had happened. You didn’t want to face him because you thought you were too weak for him.

Sometimes, even though you weren’t allowed to patrol, you’d just take a look at your hero costume. You missed getting to go out, but you had to fully get better before you got to do so.  One time when you were in the changing room for your break, looking at your hero costume, someone opened and closed the door quickly behind them. “You’re back?”, a familiar voice asked. When you looked back to the voice’s owner your face blossomed with different colors of red. Todoroki walked closer to you. “I got back four days ago.”, you muttered out and closed the locker door, ready to walk out of there. “You didn’t think of stopping by my desk? Maybe say ‘hi’?”, Todoroki wasn’t usually this forward, “I was worried about you, you know.” “You shouldn’t have been.”, you sighed, “It’s not like I’m that important to the agency.” When he tried to take a few steps closer you backed up, but was met with the cold material of your locker behind you. “Y/N, what are you talking about?”, the way he said your name so softly made your heart flutter, but you couldn’t give in. “I’m just saying that I’m not as powerful as the rest of you, so I’m not important to-” Todoroki’s hands slammed down on the locker behind you, his hands were right by your head. “Did you ever think that I’d be worried about you for selfish reasons? Or do you think I’m some sort of machine?”, he walked just a bit closer to you and let his forearms lean against the metal behind you, “You don’t think I take what you say to me to heart?” You had never been this close to him before, he could probably hear your heart beating out of your chest. You really didn’t know what happened, you just froze. To think that today would finally lead up to this moment, a day that seemed so normal as if it was any other day. “I talk like that to everybody, Todoroki, I-” “Look me in the eye and tell me it’s the same.”, he said with a low tone. You finally met his gaze, his piercing eyes were almost unbearable but you kept yourself steady. “I can’t...”, you admitted. “So why can’t you believe me when I say that I was worried? I don’t care if you don’t think you’re strong enough to matter. To me you matter, and what you did during that mission was nothing but strong.”, he had calmed down a bit and now talked in a softer voice, “I’d really like for you to see that too.” “Todoroki...” “Please call me Shoto.”, he said. “Shoto...”, you tried the name out, “... Shoto, you matter to me too and hearing that from you means a lot... but could you maybe back up a bit?” At this point you could feel Shoto’s breath against your lips and your face had become increasingly more hot every second. “Right! Sorry...”, Shoto backed away from you, and you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t miss his warmth. “... so you’re saying you... knew that I like you?”, you muttered and he nodded, “And you like me back?” Shoto nodded again, and that tiny motion made your heart burst with fireworks and butterflies and your head was buzzing as if you had just gotten drunk for the first time. “No more mindless flirting?”, he held out his hand to you. “No more mindless flirting.”, you took his hand gently. As soon as you did so he started walking out the door, dragging you with him.  “Wait, where are we going?”, you blurted out. “I’m taking you out for a coffee, so that we can finally have a date.” “You don’t think that could wait?” “No.”

-

extra:

“How did you find out that I like you? I mean I act like that around everyone.”, you asked and took another sip from your cup of coffee. “I didn’t know...”, he admitted, “I was talking to the receptionist and she kinda let it slip, actually.” “Are you serious!?”

-

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