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cheapshrimpysheep · 1 year

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Dance with Me

SUMMARY: The fairies left without the Fairy Gala decorations. Before the students take them down the next day, he sees an opportunity in the evening to invite you to meet him at the Botanical Garden.

CHARACTERS: Ruggie Bucchi, Kalim Al-Asim, Jamil Viper & Leona Kingscholar

TAGS: Fluf; GN Reader, Flirting, Kissing

WORD COUNT: Ruggie's part is the shortest with 600 words and Leona's the longest with 850 words.

COMMENTS: I was planning to write something shorter. But I got inspired while writing and it ended up in this. Ruggie's part is shorter because I think he would go direct to the point. Leona would need convincing to tell. I hope you enjoy. ;)

CONTEXT: The fairies left, but they left the Botanical Garden with the Fairy Gala decorations. Another group of students was assigned to remove the decoration the next day. But before that, he asked you to meet him in the Botanical Garden at night and in your Gala Couture.

“The fairies are back!!! We need you here! Don't forget the gala suit” This was the message you received from Ruggie when you were getting ready to go to sleep. You didn't question because there was no time. You just sigh, put on your Gala Couture and go. Grim told you this time he wasn't going, he wanted to sleep.

It was already night and the Botanical Garden with its fairy decorations and lit only by a few lights was beautiful. You call out to them, but only Ruggie appears. He was on his Gala Couture as well. And starts laughing at your worried face.

You sulk. “There are no fairies anywhere.”

“I mean, technically, there are two here right now.” He keeps laughing. You turn around as if you were leaving. “Hey! No! Wait! I'm sorry. I... just wanted to make sure you were coming.”

“You could have just asked.” you turn back to him.

“But...” he tries to muffle his laughter “This was funnier. Shehehe.” You were still pouting. “Aww. Don't be mad at me. Come on, admit that you're glad you came. Isn't the Botanical Garden so pretty like this?”

It indeed was. You didn't say anything because you know eventually he would tell you the true motive to make you go there.

“Hey, I was thinking.” He tells you “Despite Leona's grumpiness about all of this, I think they were having fun dancing. I want to have fun too. Shehehe.” He uses his phone to play music. It wasn't the Fairy Gala music, but it was the closest he could find. “Would you like to have fun with me?” He smiles and holds out his hand inviting you to dance.

He's not an elegant dancer but he sure is having fun dancing with you. So don't worry about your steps, get loose! That's exactly what he wants. His smile widens even more when he sees that you're having fun too. Looks like he actually learned some of the steps the others used at the gala. But only a few.

You eventually get closer to each other. Not exactly by accident. You two wanted to dance closer. While dancing you ended up looking at him with more affection. And that was what he took as a sign that perhaps he could go further.

“You're really cute, you know?” He tells you almost whispering, for how close you are.

“Are you saying that because of the suit and the flowers on my head?” You ask, hoping he denies it.

“No, that makes you beautiful. I'm saying that you are cute. It’s different. Shehe.”

“You're very cute yourself, you know?” You tell him and lift a hand to rub one of his ears surrounded by the wreath. “And this just makes you even cuter.” you smile. And he hugs you.

“Most people don't tend to think hyenas are pretty.” Ruggie says with his chin lying on your shoulder and with a little pity and annoyance in his voice. “Let alone cute.”

“They don’t know you. The more time I spend with you, the more beauty I see in hyenas.”

He takes his chin off your shoulder and puts his face in front of yours, your noses touching.

“The more time I spend with you, the more fun I see in humans. Shehehe.” He sees you pouting. “Oh come on, like I haven't already told you that you're beautiful.”

You kiss his lips. He was teasing you for that. That's why you feel him smiling for after reciprocate the kiss while holding you by the waist.

“Hey (Y/N)! Sorry I'm texting you so late. But could you come to the Botanical Garden? They still haven't taken down the decorations and it's so beautiful now at night. And could you come with your gala couture? I want to see how you look in these lights.”

This were the messages you received from Kalim when you were getting ready to go to sleep. You could have said no, but you wanted to be with him. Did Jamil know he was in the botanical garden? You decided not to wake Grim, and left a note in case he woke up and didn't see you in the dorm. “I'm with Kalim on the Botanical Garden.”

Kalim was right. At night, the botanical garden with its fairy decorations and lit only by a few lights was beautiful. You call out to him.

“I'm here. Just a minute.” You hear Kalim's voice, somewhere on the other side of the botanical garden. You're on one end of the green carpet the fairies used for the runway. Seconds later he appears on the other.

The two of you walk down the runway to meet in the middle. As he gets closer you can see that he has his hands behind his back as if he is hiding something behind him. You were smiling at him, so he didn't apologize again for sending you a message so late.

“You see? Isn't the botanical garden so pretty like this? It's a shame they have to undo this all tomorrow.”

“It’s beautiful.” you say “It has a kind of romantic atmosphere.”

“Yeah! That's why I invited you to come.” he said smiling and without thinking and only after that did he realize what he had just said, and blushed.

“And what are you hiding from me?” you laugh.

“AH?! Hiding? What? I'm not hiding anything from you. I just... um...”

“Behind your back, Kalim.” You clarify. You know you could mess with him a little, but poor boy. “You're hiding something behind your back aren't you?”

“Oh! That. He he.” He looks relieved, but the blush doesn't go away. “I was looking around the botanical garden and I thought like these flowers are so pretty. It's a shame they have to take them all out tomorrow. So, since they will be gone anyway...”

He took his hands from behind his back, revealing a beautiful bouquet. You can see that all those flowers are the same ones on the runway. You pick up the flowers with the sweetest smile and it makes him feel proud of himself for making you smile like that.

“Oh! But I asked you to come for another reason.” He uses his phone to play music. It wasn't the Fairy Gala music, but it was the closest he could get. “I had so much fun dancing, I wanted to do it with you.” He smiles and holds out his hand to you.

You put the flowers in a safe place and dance with him. As the two of you danced, you remembered one thing.

“Does Jamil know you're here?”

He looks at you with wide eyes like he's been startled. And then you finally see his carpet looking at you in a corner of the botanical garden trying to hide among the plants.

“I knew he would stop me from coming.” He said as an excuse he wasn't proud of.

“He'll freak out when he sees you're not in the dorm!”

“Yeah... I know... I'm gonna have a bad time after this. But it was worth it to see you so happy.”

You smile “I'm always happy when I'm with you.”

“I'm glad, because I'm always happy when I'm with you too.”

He was going to be grounded by Jamil after this anyway, so better give him your thanks now. You kiss him. And with this confirmation that your feelings are mutual, he returns the kiss enthusiastically to the point of grabbing you by the waist, lifting you up and spinning with you on his embrace.

“Good evening (Y/N). Is there any chance you could meet me at the Botanical Garden tonight? It's about the suits, so I'll need you to come with yours dress up.” Jamil didn't send you those messages too late, but late enough that Grim was already asleep but you still didn't get ready for bed.

Only you had a gala couture, so you decided to let Grim sleep and leave a note in case he woke up. “I'm in the Botanical Garden.”

It was already night and the botanical garden with its fairy decorations and lit only by a few lights was beautiful. You didn't need to call for Jamil. He appeared near by you with his hands behind his back, hiding something behind him.

“So was there something wrong with the suits?” you ask, knowing by the way he was looking at you that the answer was probably no.

He looks you up and down with a smile on his face, like he likes what he sees. “I don't think so. You look gorgeous on it, so I would say your is okay.” he says too naturally for you not to be flattered.

“Then why did you call me here?” you ask with a smirk “Shouldn't you be babysitting Kalim?”

“Don't worry. I already put him to sleep.” When he's with you, he feels more comfortable being his true self. Which is being more bitchy and smug than normal. Which in a way infects you.

He took his hands from behind his back, revealing a beautiful bouquet. You can see that all those flowers are the same ones on the runway. You pick up the flowers with a smile and look where they were taken from.

“They're going to be taken out of here tomorrow anyway.” Jamil explains “Better take advantage while they are here to give them a more dignified purpose.” he admires you with the flowers for a few seconds and then looks up “I'm glad I came to check out the botanical garden. It's really pretty like this.”

“It is.” you agree and then look at him “But why did you call me here exactly?” you raise an eyebrow “You know, since the suit thing was a lie.”

“I just wanted to make sure you came without spoiling the surprise.” He looks back at you “But there is one thing I would like to do with you. And that's why I asked you to come.” He uses his phone to play music. It wasn't the Fairy Gala music, but it was a slow version, quite similar. Jamil bows to you and holds out his hand. “Would you dance with me?”

“I'm afraid I'm not as good as you, though.”

“Would you like me to teach you then? It would be my pleasure.”

You put the flowers in a safe place and give him your hand. Jamil smirk and pulls you closer. You had to put your other hand on his chest to keep from bumping into him. And he puts his other hand on your lower back.

While you dance, he gives you some tips to improve your dancing, but over all he doesn't really care. Dancing with you is great by itself. That, and since you don't know all the steps, he might surprise you.

And he does! When the song is almost over, he spins you, and trips you so you fall back and he catches you. One of his hands on your back and the other on the back of your head.

You see him above you, the soft lights surrounding him. You notice him looking at your lips for a moment before looking back into your eyes (something that would be dangerous for anyone other than the one he have a crush on).

Your time to pay-back! You grab his collar and pull him to kiss his lips. You feel him smiling, like a smile of triumph. He puts you back on your feet while still kissing you. Calm and sensual kisses that soothe him. And this guy has been very stressed, so it might take awhile for you to separate from each other.

“Hey. Come to the botanical garden.” This was the message you received from Leona when you were getting ready to go to sleep.

“Now?” you text back.

“Yes”

“Why?”

“You'll see” Looks like Leona is on his bossy mood. “By the way, come with your gala couture on” Because he is being bossy, you decide to bargain.

“Only if you're also wearing yours. If I see you and I haven't got you on I'll turn around and go back to my dorm.” It took a minute or two for him to text back.

“Fine. But hurry up. I don't like to be kept waiting.”

Grim was already asleep, so you decide not to wake him up and leave a message just in case he looks for you in the middle of the night: “Leona “asked” me to go to the botanical garden.”

It was already night and the botanical garden with its fairy decorations and lit only by a few lights was beautiful. You see Leona lying at the other end of runway's green carpet. Was he napping? Well, he was wearing the suit, maybe not with all the trimmings, but it was his gala couture. Just like you agreed.

You walk across the green carpet to him. Leona sniffs the air and then opens one eye to see you approaching. He smiles and groans lazily, as if he's just woken up from a quick nap.

“It took a long time.” He complains as he gets up.

“I needed to change my clothes again. I was already in my pajamas.” you say, crossing your arms “And you're lucky that the botanical garden is close to Ramshackle.”

He laughs. That smug smile of his.

“So why did you call me here?” you continue “And with the fairy suit?”

“No reason in particular.” He perfectly lies “I came to check the botanical garden, saw that it had a good atmosphere and decided to stay for a while.”

“And what do I have to do with that?”

“I wanted my pillow.” he was referring to your thighs.

“What?! And the outfit?”

“I wanted my pretty pillow.” He laughs.

The truth is, you wanted to do it. One of the agreements you two have is that whenever you let him use your thighs as a pillow, you can pet his ears. But this time it wasn't enough. You were tired from the day, ready to rest and you had to change your clothes and leave the house in the middle of the night.

“And what do I get from that?” you ask

“You already made me wear this again and still want more?”

“That was for me to also come with the suit on.”

He sighs as he thinks for a moment. “Fine, what about this: I saw how you looked at me while I danced during the gala.” He smirk and you blush a little. “One song. What if I let you dance with me?”

“I thought you didn't like to dance.”

“I didn't like being forced to dance.” He clarifies. “But I also don't want to miss the opportunity to see that wonder in your eyes more closely.”

“F-Fine.” You try to control your blush, you can't give him more treats like those. “But don't choose a short song just to get this over with!”

“Ha, fine.” He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and searches for a song. It was so quick you could have sworn he had already prepared for it. “What about this one then?” You look at the time of the song, about 3 minutes, and it seems fine to you.

He puts the music to play. It wasn't even remotely like the Fairy Gala music. It was a song from his kingdom. But it was beautiful and slower than the fairies one. He straightens up and extends his hand to you, reminding you that he really is a prince. You took it.

He doesn't pull you towards him, instead he is the one who steps forward to approach you. Your right hand and his left were together, he takes your left hand and brings it to his shoulder and then he take his right hand behind your lower back. And then he guide you through the song.

“You know what happens if you tell someone this, right?” Despite what he said, he was smiling.

“Don't worry. I like to keep my privileges.”

"Your privileges, hum?" He brings his face close to yours, your noses almost touching. “What about mine, herbivore? I didn't even mention how sloppy you dance. Am I not being so nice?”

Was he asking for the privilege of having a reward from you? In his smug way. Why not? he was behaving well. He was even complaining less and smiling more than usual.

You kiss his lips, and he kisses you back with twice as much passion. The hand on your back bringing you even closer to him. The nap could wait a little longer. He could do it whenever he wanted, but that kiss was rarer and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

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secondbeatsongs · 4 months

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Hello, you said in some tags in a poll that Speed Racer (2008) is your favorite film. If you’re okay with it, I’d really like to hear more about why you love it. I love the Wachowskis’ work (they’re among my favorite directors), but I kinda ended up bouncing off Speed Racer (2008). So, hearing that it had a real impact on someone makes me very curious why. I’m not interested in criticizing your opinion or arguing with you, I’d just really like to know why you love it in the hopes I might be able to enjoy that movie more in the future.

oh god this is from seven months ago, I'm so sorry - but I do love almost everything about Speed Racer (2008) and I still think about it nearly every day.

I love that it's so bright and colorful and absurd. I love that it's an anime in live action form. and I love that at its heart, it is a story about love.

it's about the mistakes people make out of love, and the consequences of that. it's about the way children grow to understand why the adults around them make the choices they do, and maybe choose to do the same things. it's about taking risks for the people you love, and the pain of failing to change the world, because everything is capitalism and everything hurts.

(and it's also about being transgender btw. like, that's one of the main things about it - it is very much a movie about being transgender)

what if your father's choices hurt your older brother, and your older brother's choices hurt you, and now it's you and your younger brother staring down a future where you're going to end up hurting him by making the same choice?

and then...what if you can escape that? what if the broken parts put themselves back together, and the hope doesn't run out, and you're not alone with the things that haunt you? what then?

and now you're at the end and mistakes were still made, people were still hurt, but everyone's grown and changed and they're different now. and they've figured out that maybe, just maybe, you can change the world by doing something you love, by creating art and beauty and making people feel things.

maybe you really can defeat capitalism by driving a car really fast. and even if everyone thinks you can't...don't you have to try anyway? shouldn't you fight with the skills you have, the only way you know how?

what if it works?

and I'm not even gonna get into most of the Racer X stuff (because I want people to go watch this movie, and most folks probably won't be spoiled for it), but his whole deal is just...everything. I love him.

(if there's a guy from Speed Racer that I want to put in a jar and shake every so often, or maybe wrap in a blanket so he can have a nice nap, it's Racer X. he's a great character. prime blorbo material)

anyway I've been rotating this movie in my head ever since I saw it for the first time, and I think I've seen it...seven? times now? and I still cry at the final race, and I still get blown away by the intro sequence.

(the beginning of the movie is genuinely one of the best things I've ever seen - it does an amazing job of introducing you to the world and the story of the characters, and gets you emotionally invested in it right from the start. it's fantastic filmmaking)

also like. story stuff aside, from a technical standpoint, the movie is a masterpiece. it's the type of thing that people hated when it first came out, but when you look at it now and see how it was made, how it intentionally looks bizarre and cartoonish, plastic and surreal, you can see the exact vision the Wachowskis were going for, and it's brilliant.

the way they did the visual effects, the way they made the outdoor scenes feel so detailed, the way the driving and the tracks work - they put so much thought into that, and the behind-the-scenes vids show how cool their process was.

also uhhh cars go vroom, crash into each other, flip upside down, explode, maybe have bees and hammers in them sometimes?

(the above is me complimenting the unhinged vibe of the races themselves, which I love very much)

anyway I could make other full posts about the script of the film and how much I love it, or the cool side characters, or the fanfic potential of the amazing world of the film, or how I can prove that it's set in 1991...but I guess if anyone wants those rants, they'll just have to watch the film and then come talk to me. :)

(please. please come talk to me about Speed Racer.)

so, yeah! I kinda lost my mind there and made this post way longer than I intended, but I do feel strongly affected by this movie, and I hope this has helped explain why.

#asks #crescentwench #speed racer #speed racer (2008)#speed racer 2008 #the wachowskis #my beloved #also it's important for anyone who hasn't seen the movie or cartoon to know #the main guy. his name is Speed Racer #first name Speed last name Racer #also the movie has vague found family vibes because Sparky and Trixie are here and are a part of this family #don't worry about it. they belong here #and so does chim-chim #he's their youngest child #and also a chimpanzee #sbs rambles #long post

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stormxpadme · 27 days

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There's a bit of fanfiction negativity in the tags :(. Looking for something to cheer me up, what's your personal scogan fanfic favorites?

Yeah, I saw that, both in the scogan and scogean tag, with posts even including the character name tags. Like. Not cool, people. Way to make authors feel shitty who have been guarding the ship lighthouse for the last 20 years. Claiming in the most popular tags, there's only like 1 good fic among more than 1500? Wow, okay. So I was very happy to receive your ask. Let's counter that negativity with some awesome scogan reads!

Damaged by scottxlogan

Can't do any scogan rec list without including the leading authority on the subject. @scottxlogan is the author who pulled me into this ship years ago, not to mention they're a great friend, unbelievably talented writer and artist, and they deserve all the love. Damaged is surely one of their most ambitious projects and deserves every single view, kudos and review out there. Set in the DOFP finale verse that is no doubt the author's specialty, the story comes with an alluring, intricated plot that leaves you on the edge of your seat along with all the feels.

Submission by scottxlogan

I'm also including a newer work by the same author in case you just want to get a feel for how wonderfully she writes these guys, not to mention the shameless steamy goodness that are the author's smut scenes. scottxlogan is an expert at reversing common fandom tropes believably, and this will leave you longing for more of these power exchanges easily.

he carries the reminders by Wolfsheart

@mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea is another great friend and author I would trust even with my biggest squicks (not that she writes those anyway :D). She's not only technically brillant and very well-versed in the lore which makes every pairing she writes a great read (check out her Tony/Emma, too!), but she'll also never fail to make you laugh or put those hearts in your eyes. And don't miss all those pop culture references that even put Peter Parker to shame! She also gives us scogan fans exactly what we need with stories like this one, combining our fav hurt/comfort tropes with a healthy dose of canon fix it.

I loved you since I knew you by strangenewwords

@strangenewwords is a fairly new and dearly beloved addition to our group at @scoganbingo events, but she's already made a huge impact with her delicious smut and angst stories that hit you right in the feels. Technically also brillant, the linked story is definitely one you don't want to get spoilered for beforehand because the ending will leave you in absolute awe and tears. The author doesn't shy away from including the darkest sides of Scott's past but handles every subject with the necessary care and respect, and as I said ... You don't want to miss out on all that delicious smut!

The Day Before the Soldiers Came by Cerylid

Cery is offering a much-needed fixit for the team dynamics between the X-Men and Logan before X2 with this story. It comes with a lot of humor but also far more feels than you expect. The texting is hilarious but it's the quiet tones that get to you.

*****

Speaking of fix-its, since that negativity in the tags kinda got to me, too, I might just throw in one of my own works here too since I also got lots of Scogan stuff out there.

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold

is basically my go-to X3 fix-it. You look for something to make that movie right, you got it all right there. Along with a bit of horror (we are talking about resurrection, after all) comes a dramatic rescue mission in a mental limbo, and you get an Avenger and Emma Frost guest-starring. There's a couple of follow up chapters that explore both scogan and Tony/Emma a bit further, and we even get a Laura version in old movieverse along the line, and of course all the nasty nasty smut you guys are here for.

########

So, that's it from the top of my hat. All these accounts have even more great stories to check out, and there's lots of other scogan authors out there with great stories to enjoy. So don't let anyone tell you, there's no quality scogan stuff on AO3.

#sometimes stormy gets asked things #greyskulls #scogan #scott summers #wolverine #fic rec #fic recs #cyclops #scott x logan #cyclops x wolverine #if people are interested #i can look up some scogean too #i feel pretty much alone with my works in that section often #but there a few gems

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fategoflatass · 8 months

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I used to be so against the slow burn trope. Not because I thought it was shit; it's just, I usually don't have the patience to wait whatever-amount-superior-to-three damn chapters for my dear ship to finally be able to look at each other without blushing and/or hold hands. Thus why you often times see me reading oneshots or fics with the "Established Relationship" tag on them.

So you can imagine just how surprised—or maybe not, maybe I just didn't think enough about it—I was when I realized my newest fixation's main pairing is—canonically—the embodiment of slow burn. Because holy shit they're taking their time.

Nothing against how Kusuriya develops its love story—quite the opposite, actually. The relationship between Jinshi and Maomao, two characters that are written as beautifully as their romance, is a rather realistic approach as to how the same or a similar dynamic would developed in real life. In such a complicated situation, with such complex feelings about emotions—both external and their own—and attachment, makes sense that it takes so long for the relationship to finally sail.

The problem is, I didn't know I was signing with the Devil the moment I decided to pick up the light novel. Ten volumes and nothing has happened. Nothing.

And you can say that technically things have happened, because they have. I mean, Jinshi is just so desperate for Maomao to give him the time of day, you know what I mean? And even that isn't enough anymore and thus he has committed some of the craziest shit I've seen in any romance. Which okay, I don't usually read these type of romances but still.

What I mean by "nothing" is just, their relationship hasn't changed status. I could also say that it seems to go nowhere, but that'd be lying. Since, you know, it has changed quite a lot—just not in the way my impatient ass wanted it to. Because he can be as honest with his feelings as he pleases, and those around them might be heavely conscious of the tension and thus constantly tease those lovebirds (as they should), but babygirl's not helping, you know?

And I get it, Maomao's not the best at expressing and understanding herself, and she's also way too busy worrying about going as unnoticed as possible (she should give up on that one already, tbh) while keeping her head where it should be. But like, I can't help feeling frustrated over it like ‼‼

GIRL, FUCK THE RULES. TAKE THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN AND RUNAWAY SOMEWHERE NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY YOU. YOU THEN CARRY THAT BITCH BRIDESTYLE TO THE CLOSEST CHURCH AND MAKE HIM YOUR WIFE. PROCEED TO FROG AROUND, EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR UTERUS AS MUCH AS YOU'D LIKE, AND THEN TEACH THE PRODUCTS OF YOUR PRACTICES AS YOUR OWN GUINEA PIG THE WAYS OF HERBAL MEDICINE. AS EASY AS THAT.

But she won't. She'll take her sweet ass time being in denial about both Jinshi's and her own feelings, then maybe she'll proceed to analize herself and find out that maybe, just maybe, that affection that she'd been feeling for that loser became something else. Did said affection also become something more complicated? Absolutely. Does she know how to deal with it? Hell no, but fuck it. If I learned something from school is that you always leave the hardest parts for later.

Now you see why I was so against reading slow burn?

And you wanna know the worst part? I loved it—I loved every second of it, every word, every page. Every scene that seemed to help the relationship advance, only for Maomao to say nope and leave like she owns the place, which at this point she fucking might.

It feels like I, as the reader, am in the middle of a heatwave and some sadistic bastard won't stop teasing me with ice cream—they put it in front of my face, close enough that I can smell the cold. Then take a spoon and eat little by little while staring directly to my eyes. At times they seem to show mercy and feed me a spoon, only for it to be a rather small quantity of serving—serving that tastes so damn good at first, only for it to have such a bitter aftertaste. But if I gotta have something in common with Jinshi is that I'll never be able to beat the masochist allegations, so I'll wait patiently for the next spoon and its corresponding and seemingly enless teasing from that faceless being.

So yeah, I'm still against it, only that now I understand the appeal—even if I have yet to find out about the whereabouts of my sanity while still mananing with the little I've left.

#kusuriya no hitorigoto #the apothecary diaries #jinmao #mai.txt #long post #rant #?#did i just write a rant about a realisticly slow burning romance? yes #please understand i've no one to complain to about them #so i better let go these feelings before i explode and throw my pc out of the window or something #i tried being as spoiler free as possible but please tell me if i should change anything about... whatever this is

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spaceorphan18 · 27 days

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The Lady Whistledown Papers: 1x06 Swish (Part 5)

Welcome back, Gentle Readers, to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I’m taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton!

For previous issues, follow tag : The Lady Whistledown Papers

Alright, let's wrap this episode up ;)

Letters

I want to know what book she's not actually reading. Also, picture of me every evening, if we're being honest...

She looks so cute in her fake sickness, I wanna just take all the screencaps!

So. Portia. She comes in going on about some dinner invitation that she's happy to have. Portia just thrives on being in society, and now that Colin and Marina's engagement has hit the ton, people are asking her to dinner all over the place. And, apparently Portia enjoys having spite invitations just so she can laugh in the host's face.

Penelope has other things to do. And she's got a very short amount of time to do it. So she fakes being sick to get out of social obligations so she can get some work done.

The timeline on this is interesting, though... The Featheringtons had dinner with the Bridgertons -- Colin told Marina give him a day. So, this is the next day/evening? So the end of this episode actually takes place on the morning after this one? So, Colin needed over a day for his plans to work out? Idk, time in this world is a little wonky sometimes, and I don't always feel like I know when I am.

I kind of love Pen's nervous determination. I love that she's sneaking around in her own home. She isn't sure exactly what she's looking for -- but she's gotta find something that'll stop this wedding.

Penelope is an adorable, yet terrible snoop. She goes through all of Marina's shit hoping to find.... something? I don't think she even knows. What she does find is Marina's suitcase packed and ready to go. And Penelope gets it -- she gets that Marina is going to run away with Colin, which makes her even more frantic. But girl... you gotta clean up your mess when you're going through people's stuff. She leaves everything everywhere -- Marina will definitely know something's happened in her room.

Anyway... what Penelope also finds is a bunch of letters stuffed in the back of her drawer, and upon looking at them, figures out that the one final letter sent by George is a forgery. I mean, I give this girl some credit, because that's some serious detective shit being able to figure that out based on one signature that's slightly off. But she is a writer, and there's a chance she's savvy enough to notice the content of the letter isn't in character, either.

Alright, so by the time Marina returns (from dinner?) Penelope has put Marina's stuff back in place. Good girl. Also, how long has she been sitting there waiting?

Anyway, so Marina is a little wtf about Penelope being in there and going through her stuff, but Penelope is so excited, she doesn't even wait for Marina to get done scolding her. She blurts out that the signatures don't match, and that she found a letter in her mother's handwriting to compare, to show that Portia was the one who did the forgery of George's letter.

Penelope is so excited about this development, she's practically bouncing. There is a way out of this mess without anyone getting too hurt! (I mean, technically, Colin's getting hurt but this would be less hurtful than what is going to happen, and way less than what would happen if he married Marina.)

And here's where the story really takes a turn. Penelope is excited, because she's found a way to save Colin, but also... she loves romance. And this proves that George never turned Marina away, that there's a possibility that George still loves her, that Marina can also get her happy ending with someone she actually does love. This development is important because it plays into what Penelope greatly desires herself - a great love story.

Marina is in shock, and really not accepting of all of this. She's skeptical of Penelope's claims, most likely because she's been coming to terms that George broke her heart, and has accepted that he isn't coming for her. And the practical side of her is winning out. George hasn't continued to write (though - would she know if Portia was keeping letters from her?) and Colin is a sure thing. And she just can't take that gamble. She won't take the chance on the possibility of love when she has security in her grasp.

And this just perplexes Penelope. She may be young and naive herself, but love is one of the most important things to her. Why would you not do everything you can to be with the one you love? Why would you not fight for your love? Why would you push it away?

Marina doesn't care. She still feels abandoned, and won't give up her one chance for a safe life. So, she burns the evidence, a symbolic gesture to the ending of that story.

And this is just too much for Penelope. Not only is Marina discarding her last ditch effort to stall the marriage, she's turning her back on love, and Penelope can't with that -- especially when she's in the process of trying to protect her own love from an unhappy life.

So, Penelope just blurts out that she knows Marina has a bag packed and assumes she's on her way to Gretna Green for an elopement, and for the first time, really starts to push back against Marina. What will she do when Colin finds out about the baby? How are you going to deal with the fact that you're really going to hurt him when he figures it all out?

Marina isn't necessarily concerned about that. She knows Colin will care for the baby, and won't kick her to the street, and that ultimately is what matters to her.

Penelope, rather emotional now, digs in. What of Colin? What of him and his feelings -- because they do matter, too.

Cause here's the thing about Pen. If this had been a sincere love match, I do believe she wouldn't have loved watching it go down, but she would have accepted it. She wouldn't have meddled. She's always felt that Colin would never pay her any real attention in the romantic sense, and she's come to terms with that. But this isn't a love match. And Colin is being actively hurt in all of this. And Pen can't help but stick on that point.

And... I kind of love this next beat. Marina stands in silence at Penelope's emotional outburst. The score comes in with its omniums score. Penelope's just showed her heart in a way that she hasn't before. Her love for Colin is a very sacred thing, but one that she tries her best to keep to herself, and it's finally burst through to someone.

(Granted, I'll argue they're all dumb for not noticing it sooner, but this makes for a lovely dramatic moment.)

All the pieces fit together for Marina, and she finally gets it, and says the quiet part out loud -- Penelope is in love with Colin.

The look of shock on Pen's face, though... She tries to reign it in, downplay it, be confused by the accusation. But Marina calls her out on exactly what it is. But this is going to be Marina's ultimate downfall.

Marina does not give Penelope an ounce of sympathy here. She calls Penelope's feelings a "childish infatuation" and an "unrequited fantasy". And believes, most likely because of the situation she's in, that she's more understanding of the world because she's lived more in it.

This conversation is so dense and complex. Do I think Penelope is young and in love with the idea of love? Yes. Do I think Pen's feelings should be dismissed? No. And this is where I think Marina doesn't get it. Because Penelope's feelings aren't entirely ungrounded. Not only has she lived with and managed her feelings for a long, long time, not only has she been realistic about her chances, her feelings aren't entirely unrequited.

Colin might be in his own fantasy land with Marina, but he and Pen have a very real friendship and a very real mutual caring for one another. It might not be in the same way, but it's dismissive not to acknowledge that.

And in a way Marina does, but how she does is actually somewhat cruel. She throws at Pen that Colin thinks of her no more than he thinks of Eloise... but she doesn't stop, she adds not even Eloise, but 'little' Hyacinth. Marina is throwing at her that Colin doesn't just think of her as a sister, but as a little girl who follows him around.

And to add salt to the wound, Marina says that Colin thinks of her as a woman -- as a sexual being as well as a partner, something that Penelope will never have (ha!). And it's just mean.

I get what Marina's doing -- it's part of the self preservation that she's being doing all along, because Marina feels utterly alone and if she can't save herself, no one else will. So she's being purposeful in her confrontation to Penelope. She wants to break Pen's heart. She wants Pen to feel defeated and give up.

And I have to wonder if some of this is self reflection on Marina's part. She feels so jaded and cold from what the world has thrown at her, she almost can't help but dish it out in the same way. It doesn't make it right, but you can understand why she feels the need to do this.

Well, Marina, you just fucked with Lady Whistledown and the man she loves, so you're going to get what's coming to you (which, i'll argue, is the better outcome for her, so it's not really that bad).

And here's where I'll stand up for Pen a bit. Because up until this point she's tried :

Encouraging Marina to keep up her correspondence with George

Appealing to Marina on an empathetic level

Helping Marina find another man who would still be a worthy choice

Going to her mother to try to persuade other options.

Going to Colin and attempting honesty about Marina's feelings for another man, but not spilling the actual pregnancy secret

Trying to prove to Marina that she shouldn't lose hope that the man she loves is actually still out there.

She has tried every avenue, and as I've said before, if Marina had had genuine feelings she would have stepped aside. But Marina has just been somewhat cruel in her actions. And yes, Penelope may be doing this out of her own feelings, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't care about Marina or her well being. Or that she hasn't been trying to help everyone in the situation.

So, Penelope flees, and goes off to write one damning Whistledown article. As Whistledown will say in season three -- when one loses hope, one becomes reckless.

Whistledown

The two plotlines of the episode -- Daphne and Simon's issues and the Marina story are going to collide thematically, and are tied together, rather brilliantly, in the Lady Whistledown voice over, that speaks to both situations.

The narration speaks of love and war and how the human heart is the most fragile of things. And I think, while it's definitely reflecting the intensity of the Daphne and Simon stuff, it hits differently when you know it's Pen. Marina did get to her. Her heart is really broken. But she's going to do what she feels, ultimately, is the right choice -- and reveal Marina's secret.

She knows what it's going to do to Marina, to her family, to Colin, and to the Bridgertons - whom she adores very much. The narration is unsure if it's the right choice, but it feels like the only choice.

This little moment of Pen and Eloise, it's always made me curious. Penelope and Eloise haven't had any kind of contact since their tiff a few episodes earlier, but that's the thing about best friends, is that they'll always be there when you really need them. And Eloise is there to console an utterly broken Pen. I do wonder what she said when Eloise inevitably asks what's wrong because. I wonder if she ends up telling Eloise the truth about Marina's pregnancy and the plans of elopement. Because at this point, that secret doesn't matter, Pen's already told the world.

I have to say, it's a nice little touch of acting that Penelope looks so young, really like a child, as she breaks down.

The Whistledown narration goes on to reveal Marina's secret -- letting the world know she was pregnant not only before she was engaged, but upon arrival to Mayfair.

And i love LOVE the composition of these scenes with the reveal. Colin is ready for his Romeo and Juliet moment, ready to go off and have this romantic adventure, live out his fantasy dreams. And the real world is going to come crashing in.

I kind of love the way Violet and Portia are just standing there, each waiting, each with their own complex looks on their faces as they've both read Whistledown and know. Violet is sad for him, but also frustrated and also a little of... I knew something felt off about this. Portia is just, disappointed and angered.

(Also the contrast of colors in the two scenes -- the Bridgerton blues vs the Featherington yellow/pinks, the lighting is so devastatingly gorgeous in both scenes, it really just amplifies the atmosphere of the moment.)

Colin's world is shattered. Marina looks resigned to her defeat.

And Penelope calls herself out in the narration (even if it's talking about Marina and Daphne as well) -- she knows that she crossed a line with this one. Knows that her actions may be seen as inexcusable. Was what she did worth it? Perhaps time will...

#bridgerton #polin #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #penelope bridgerton #colin x penelope #polination #the lady whistledown papers #i know the simon/daphne stuff is bad -- it is #but i still think this is my favorite season 1 episode

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mangokabuto · 5 months

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Proof of Usopp and Nami being Luffy’s vice/co captains? I would (genuinely!) love to see your thoughts and evidence, bc big agree

(Context:)

Hello anonymous tumblr-using friend!

As someone with a lot of knowledge of & a great passion for real-life historical piracy, I have VERY STRONG OPINIONS about how the Strawhat crew would fit into an actual golden age crew structure. When I said "I have proof" I was jokingly referring to my knowledge of historical piracy and how the characters slot into those trends, not any sort of "in-anime/manga proof" of Usopp and Nami being ""co-captains"" with Luffy, so if that's what you're here for then sorry lol.

BUT if you want to learn a little about golden age western-world piracy, (and my "au" of sorts for how each crewmate would be recognized in that context,) stick around! :)

(extremely long explanation under cut LMFAO)

First off, as i said in my heated/j tags, "captain" did not usually mean what Oda makes it mean in OP's world. I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN Oda is just as passionate about & did plenty of research about historical piracy, and is clearly pulling a little from wakō history, but mostly from golden-age western piracy (specifically mostly the post-spanish succession period, to my estimation).

That being said. Why he puts so much emphases on Captains and First Mates is BEYOND me, because irl they were not as important.

The captain WAS important, don't get me wrong, but they weren't the sole reigning commander of a ship. They were more like a figurehead, most of the time. This is a sortof flimsy metaphor, but think of Captains like the modern-day king or queen of England; They're hyped up as the #1 leader, they're an important charismatic face for the group, and they technically have last-say on important matters, but they are beholden to two other groups (like the cabinet and the prime minister).

During the golden age of piracy, most crews were commanded by a group of three people. These three people were usually the Captain, the Quartermaster, and the Bosun. Each filled a different role on the ship, and all three were democratically elected by the crew. In all important matters, the three would discuss together how to proceed/solve the current problem, and though the Captain COULD overrule the other two at any time, that typically got him handily shoved overboard via mutiny. By technicality there was a heirarchy of power between the three stations, (with Captain usually being the top dog, then the Quartermaster, then the Bosun just above the rest of the crew,) but in practice they held equal sway in decisions that would effect the entire crew.

HOWEVER, outside of "big crew-wide decision-making moments" where you needed to assemble the three leaders, they didn't always have to coordinate. Depending on what situation the crew was currently in, one of them would be de-facto in charge of the crew, and the other two would step back unless the one currently in charge did something that needed to be challenged, like they made a bad decision or (in a more extreme case) broke the articles.

The Captain was in charge during times of battle. The captain's primary role was as a fighter, performer, and military commander! If the crew was attacked or about to attack someone else, the Captain would immediately take charge. (Now, real pirates weren't actually violent in practice as frequently as pop culture would have you believe, but that's a whole other topic. The reason "performer" is listed in the Captain's "jobs" is that part of their responsibility as a captain worth their salt was to scare enemies into surrendering without a fight through theatrics and reputation.)

The Bosun was in charge when the Boat was damaged or needed upkeep. The Bosun was not always the greatest carpenter or shipwright in their own right (in fact, in larger crews, they usually weren't either of those things), but they would be the one to get together with the shipwright and worksmen and assess damage, organize repair teams, and keep the boat running as well as possible. The crew followed their lead during repairs, and they were the go-to authority on any matters concerning the physical boat.

The Quartermaster was in charge the rest of the time. The way the Bosun is in charge of the physical boat, the Quartermaster was in charge of the crew. They were responsible for enforcing the articles, dealing out discipline, and the crew's general well-being outside of battle. In that same way that a bosun didn't have to be a shipwright, a quartermaster wasn't usually a doctor or cook, but they worked closely with them. Being in charge outside times of battle meant that the Quartermaster was also in charge of headings and navigation, and more often than not they were the ship's navigator, or head navigation/deck officer if their crew was large enough to have more than one nav. They also usually handled the crew's finances/pay and cargo. Is this starting to sound familiar yet.

So. After establishing the roles. I don't think I have to persuade you that while Luffy is most definitely the Strawhat Captain, Nami is our Quartermaster and Usopp is our Bosun. At the VERY LEAST this is true on the Merry Go.

You could possibly persuade me that Franky takes Usopp's place as Bosun once they get the Thousand Sunny, but I would be hard to convince. (I could be persuaded that Usopp loses his position as bosun on the Sunny, but Franky does not behave like a bosun as much as a head carpenter, and Usopp functions like his carpenter's mate. It's almost like, post-timeskip, they don't have a bosun anymore, and Zoro fills the newly empty position on the leadership trio?)

Now, these roles are not concrete, and they didn't always make up the "management trio" on a pirate ship. Some very small crews just didn't have enough people that they needed to single out their three favorite guys; they could just all vote on important decisions together. Sometimes the management trio included the surgeon or the first mate instead of the bosun. There were many crews where the Quartermaster was considered the top-dog highest authority instead of the Captain at all times. Even during the golden age pirate crews varied greatly, but the Captain/Quartermaster/Bosun trio was most common.

As for the ship hierarchy, there was a trend you could rely on no matter who the "three leaders" were. Everyone was generally considered of equal importance on a crew, (hence the elected offices and avenue for mutiny,) but there was a chain of command of sorts? Or at least people who would be shown greater respect and responsibility based on what they provided for the crew:

Captain and/or Quartermaster

Bosun and/or Surgeon/Doctor, and sometimes the First Mate

Everybody else, including captain's other mates.

Speaking of Captain's Mates... On larger crews, every important role on the ship had a "mate," or an apprentice chosen by the person in question to replace them if they should die, or otherwise be out-of-commission. Quartermaster's Mate. Bosun's Mate. Doctor/Surgeon's Mate. Carpenter's Mate. Etc. However, the Captain had MULTIPLE MATES, because his job was front-line combat focused. Ergo, he could easily die and need a replacement. Quickly. And his replacement could need a sudden replacement! So, depending on the size of the crew, the captain could have anywhere from two to eight mates, who were ranked by number. That's why the captain's highest-ranking mate is called the First Mate. Because there was usually a Second Mate. And then some more of em.

The First Mate's job is to be a good ass fighter, and back the Captain up on whatever they're currently doing. They hype the Captain up and enforce the Captain's decisions, no matter what that decision is. This is why they were usually not put in the management trio on most crews, cause you could imagine. The conflict of interest. (There's supposed to be three of them so that no one member has too much sway. Which could be sabotaged if two of the three are captain and captain's favorite soldier LMFAO)

I have no idea why, in the world of One Piece, all of the emphasis seems to be on Captains as the end-all-be-all leaders of their ship and the First Mate as the second in command. Especially when Oda clearly KNOWS about the other roles, since he's written characters that fall into them like perfect puzzle pieces!

...Well, okay, I have some idea. This is a shonen series for teens and being the captain/king/etc is wish fulfillment, and wouldn't be as cool for the projecting readers if you were part of a leading council with two other mooks. But. I can still be salty about it LMFAO <3

#These roles put Usopp's objection over scrapping the Merry in a slightly new light huh? :) /j #i love pirate lore #thank you whoever's here for reading my long ass pirate history rant #i love you for indulging my hyperfixation muah <3

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dean-winchester-is-a-warrior · 2 months

Text

Things Learned and Unlearned Ch. 10

Series Summary: Y/N has spent her life trying to outrun her mother's reputation. When she meets the rich and successful playboy, Dean Winchester, how quickly can he get her to stop running?

Pairings/Characters: Dean Winchester x Y/N, Sam Winchester, Jessica Winchester, Lucy Winchester (OC)

Warnings: Each chapter will have it's own warnings, but there will be smut, seduction, virgin!reader, playboy!dean, Edwardian era BS attitudes surrounding sex and women. (Technically it's set in 1900 and the Edwardian era started in 1901, but you get it.) Angst, Fluff, all the good stuff that regularly pops up in my series. 😁

Chapter Warnings: Implied smut, angst. Read the tags if you're especially sensitive to certain triggers. I don't want to put them here because they're sort of spoilers.

Word Count: 4,698

A/N: Here's Ch. 10. I so appreciate all the love and support you're all giving this series. Hope you enjoy the latest installment. ❤️

Series Master List || Main Master List || Tag Lists

Soft snow drifted slowly past the window, white lace against an inky black sky. The world was muffled, and it felt like there was only the two of them in all existence.

Y/N loved these moments. She wished they could last longer.

But their first week together was almost over and she could feel the vice-like grip that time had on her life.

They'd been out and about, all over New York and she loved it. But these were still her favorite moments - when the world slept, and time slowed.

She laid on her side, stretched out and naked beside Dean. She was propped up on her elbow, her cheek resting in her palm.

Dean dozed lightly as she ran her free hand up and down his torso. He was covered to his waist with the blanket, leaving the wide expanse of his chest and the flat of his stomach exposed for her to run her fingers over.

As she brought her fingertip up to trace over his lips, Dean's breathing changed and his eyes fluttered open. When he saw her staring down at him, his eyes closed again and a sleepy smile pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Why are you staring at me?” He asked in a voice rough with sleep.

Y/N shrugged and ran the tips of her fingers over his cheekbone and down his jaw. “I don't know, you're just pretty, I guess.”

Dean's smile grew wider and he turned his head slightly so he could kiss her knuckles as she slid them across his scruffy cheeks.

“Well, then by all means, continue.” His words were slightly muffled against her fingers.

His eyelids fluttered open again and Y/N sighed deeply at the site of his stunning emerald gaze. He wasn't pretty, he was beautiful - the most beautiful man she'd ever seen, easily.

Dean quirked an eyebrow. “What's going on inside that mysterious mind of yours?” He asked softly.

Not wanting to admit that she'd simply been swooning over him, she smiled teasingly.

“I was just thinking that there's an awful lot I still don't know about you. I have questions.”

Dean rolled his eyes playfully. “And you've decided the best time to ask me these questions is at,” he looked at the clock on the wall, but couldn't make out the numbers in the darkened room, “at this ungodly hour of the night? When I'm exhausted?” He finished.

Y/N grinned. “Yep.”

When Dean just shook his head with an indulgent smile, Y/N launched into her questions.

“When is your birthday?”

“January 24th.”

“Ooh, it's coming up.”

Dean shrugged and nodded. “Soon enough.”

Y/N put a finger to her lips, thinking. “Mmm…what's your favorite meal?”

Dean thought for a moment. “Steak and potatoes. Medium rare.” He held up a finger. “Uh, the steak, not the potatoes.” He clarified.

Y/N chuckled. “Good choice.” She paused for a second. “Have you ever been in love?”

Dean's surprise showed on his face before his expression darkened and he pulled away from her, sitting up against the headboard. He shook his head and his tone attempted to be teasing, but didn't quite make it.

“You went from steak and potatoes to love?” He said the word with a hint of a sneer and shook his head again.

“No.”

“How do you know?” Y/N asked, aware by his expression that she was on thin ice, but desperately wanting an answer.

“I know because I know.” When Y/N opened her mouth again, he cut her off. “Next question.” He said firmly.

Disappointed, but realizing that was all the answer she was going to get, she moved on, sitting up as well, and tucking the blanket around her nakedness to guard from the chill. Without Dean's warmth, she got cold quickly.

“Um…what kind of student were you?”

Dean's tightly stretched smile softened a little and he shrugged.

“An unruly one. Sammy was the good student; he was the one who loved school.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I left school when I was thirteen to work.”

Y/N frowned. “That's awfully young.”

He shrugged and his tone was a little too nonchalant. “I like my work.”

“Still, it's a shame you didn't have more time.”

Dean’s brow wrinkled. “Time for what?”

“To be young.” Y/N said, her tone sympathetic.

Dean shook his head. “I'm good.”

Y/N was going to ask more questions, but suddenly Dean pushed up to his knees and used his weight to shove Y/N backwards onto the mattress.

He reached between them to yank away her blanket, but it didn't matter; she didn't need it with his warm skin and searching fingers back to heat her up.

As he pressed hot kisses down her body, Y/N gasped. “I thought you were exhausted.”

He smiled wolfishly as he moved back up to claim her mouth. He slid his fingers up through the slick wetness that was pooling between her legs, making her suck in a breath as he ended the kiss.

“I'll sleep when I'm dead.”

***

The next morning, they were both exhausted. Dean slept later than he'd meant to and woke up running.

He came out of the washroom as he tied his red and blue striped tie around his throat.

“Oh, there's a friendly poker game this evening that I'd like us to attend. It's being held in the private back room at Gladwell's Gaming Hall. It's being organized by the group at Northern Freight, but men from Clearwater will be there too along with others. There's going to be a lot of business happening amongst us, so I probably won't be much company.”

He finished tying his tie and darted back into the bathroom, his voice rising so he could still be heard.

“But I think it's important you come, so we can keep up the facade of a social gathering anyway. Other women will come with some of the men, I'm sure.”

“But not wives.” The words were out of Y/N's mouth before she could stop them, but she wished she could take them back immediately.

Of course not, you fool. Y/N thought angrily at herself. You think these men are going to invite their wives to a gaming hall?

There was silence from the bathroom for a moment and then Dean came out, brushing something from the sleeve of his perfectly tailored dark blue suit.

“No,” he said quietly. “Not wives.”

Y/N shook her head and smiled widely, trying to dispel the awkwardness surrounding them.

“Alright, I'll be ready for seven?”

Dean nodded, walking towards her and bending to kiss her lips briefly. “Good.” He cleared his throat. “See ya.”

He left the room and Y/N felt her stomach sink. The prospect of the gathering didn't fill her with excitement, but she tried to put it out of her mind, reassuring herself with the words she'd been using a lot recently.

It will be fine.

***

By ten o’clock Y/N felt sick to her stomach, and all she wanted was to escape back to the night before, and the soft peace to be found in the dark.

The evening had started well enough. She'd worn a pale pink gown, with a pink and cream striped bodice that was cut in a way that complimented her figure well. The gown had short sleeves which Y/N paired with a pair of long, cream-colored evening gloves.

Dean's eyes glowed when he saw her, and that was enough to make Y/N very pleased with her choice.

Dean had said the party was taking place in a “back room”, which led Y/N to imagine a small, smoke-filled parlor with dingy lighting and yellow walls. She should have known better.

Instead, the “backroom" was the size of a small ballroom. There were seven or eight poker tables set up at one end of the room, and a light buffet and bar at the other. Throughout the evening, food and drinks were served liberally.

All over the room were pockets of couches, chairs and settees for the women, and occasionally the men, to recline on. They were welcomed into the room by George Taskett, the president of Northern Rail and Freight.

Y/N knew this was the man Dean was hoping to win over and that it would mean a lot for his business (and by extension, his employees) if he could impress the white-haired gentleman. So, she worked hard to be as friendly and charming as possible when she met him.

He was a lively older man, easily in his late sixties, but still sharp and engaging. His bright blue eyes twinkled as he gave a slight bow over the hand Y/N held out to him.

“What a charming companion, Mr. Winchester, a lovely addition to our party.” He said smoothly.

Y/N blushed at the compliment which only seemed to delight the gentleman further.

Their conversation was interrupted, however, by Byron Temple, the vice-president of the company. Unlike George Taskett, Y/N knew this man frustrated Dean completely, and she immediately understood why. The man gave off a very unsettling quality. His stare was too intense as he raked it up and down her form. His smile seemed oily when he shared it.

“Indeed, Winchester,” Temple said, picking up the thread of Taskett’s comment, “where have you been hiding such a beautiful bloom?”

Where Taskett's compliment had felt genuine and kind, Temple's was cloaked in something dark that made Y/N step slightly closer to Dean.

The man continued to stare at her, licking his lips before addressing Dean again. “I believe I know what you were doing when you thrice canceled our meetings. Who would want to talk about boring business matters with something so delectable just waiting for them to get home?”

Y/N felt Dean stiffen beside her and take a step towards Temple. But George Taskett spoke before he could.

“You forget yourself, Byron.”

It was clear who was the real power at Northern Freight because Byron was instantly full of apologies.

“No disrespect meant. I just think you'd be a hard woman to ignore.”

Taskett smoothed things over by introducing Y/N to some of the other women, including a beautiful woman with chestnut hair and pale blue eyes that he introduced as his “dear friend”, Viola.

“They'll keep you company while we men gamble away our good fortune and sense.”

Viola patted Taskett’s arm. “Win big, Georgie.”

Taskett seemed slightly embarrassed to be addressed like a six year old schoolboy in short pants. But nevertheless he kissed his companion’s hand and moved over to the poker tables.

Dean kissed Y/N's cheek and gave her a wink before he followed.

Unfortunately, Y/N’s shy nature didn’t serve her well when it came to getting acquainted with the women she went to sit with. Most of them seemed to know each other already and chatted easily together. The conversation began innocently enough - what they thought the new fashions were going to look like in 1901, where they thought the hemlines and waistlines were bound to fall.

They discussed the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar and exchanged some stories and anecdotes about acquaintances known to them all. Though she wasn’t joining in, it was an interesting enough conversation to keep Y/N invested and listening, nodding along quietly.

However, as the evening wore on and the wine, champagne, and sherry kept flowing, the women began to loosen their tongues and things soon became a little crass and then a lot carnal.

The women's voices fell as they began discussing some of the men in the room, as well as others they'd known that weren't present. Eventually nothing seemed off limits. The women began comparing their lovers’ techniques and stamina as well as the size of their bank accounts and…other things.

Y/N was trying desperately to fade into the background, but she knew her face was turning bright red as she listened. She now knew more about the men sitting around the tables than she ever wanted to.

Amanda, a blonde woman with small gray eyes which she rolled in annoyance, explained her lover's biggest flaws. “Grant farts every time he comes. It's completely disgusting and will rip me away from anything close to a climax.”

The women all laughed. “But,” she added, “I've never had a man demand so little of me. You know, he's perfectly content to just let me lay there while he enjoys himself. So, I can't complain.”

“Thomas really spoils me.” A woman named Celia boasted loudly over the end of Amanda's sentence. “When I saw this simply exquisite cameo in the window of Francois’, he insisted on buying it for me.”

A dark haired woman named Doris scoffed. “Of course he spoils you. It's the only way to combat his fat stomach and bald head.”

The circle of women laughed again, though Celia was unimpressed. Y/N tried to smile, hoping to stay out of things, happy to be ignored. But Doris quickly turned her flashing black eyes in her direction.

“This one on the other hand,” she said, pointing a long skinny finger at Y/N, “has landed the cream of the crop!”

Y/N just smiled and nodded again, hoping someone else would pick up the conversation. But all eyes turned to her.

Viola spoke up. “Yes, how did you hook him? Doris has been after him for years without a nibble.”

It was Doris’ turn to frown as the women chuckled. She scowled at Y/N and then lifted her nose. “Doesn’t matter. I'll get another chance soon enough. We all know Dean Winchester changes women like he changes his socks. Isn't that right, Faye?”

She caught the eye of a plump woman whose curly blonde hair couldn't possibly be her own. Faye smiled wickedly. “Best month of my life! I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” She sighed dramatically. “But he never goes back to his previous women.” She looked at Y/N and wagged a finger. “So, take my advice, darling, enjoy every minute.”

The women all nodded knowingly and began pestering her and Faye for details about Dean. Coming to her rescue, Viola cut them off.

“Yep, gotta hold onto those good ones that’s for sure.”

She launched into a story about the first man to take her in; she explained that she’d been a stage actress when she was young and he’d discovered her there.

Most of the other women seemed to know the story well, because they broke off into other conversations amongst themselves. But Y/N was transfixed by Viola's words; they made her stomach tighten in a very unpleasant way.

“He just plucked me from the stage. He said I was too beautiful to be ‘hoofing it for the masses’, as he put it. Swept me away to his country estate.”

She shrugged. “It may have been a little boring out in the country, but it was rich and lush. It was heaven. Then wouldn't you know it - wife shows up, screeching like a mad woman and chucks me out of the house, not a cent in my pocket.”

The women listening along with Y/N, commiserated as Viola shook her head. “Don't be fooled by pretty words girls,” she said wisely, “get those rocks up front.”

A few minutes later, some of the women began pairing off with their men, most of whom needed cheering up, having had poor luck at the tables. Y/N looked over to see Dean still sitting casually in his chair, a fat pile of chips in front of him. It would be some time before he left the table.

For a little while, she sat on her own, trying to digest everything she'd heard, and slipping what she hoped were discreet looks in Faye’s direction.

What had her relationship been like with Dean? What had she done with him?

A sarcastic voice popped into her mind.

Well, I bet she wasn't denying him access to anything; and very likely, she wasn't trying to hang on to her virginity by not letting him bed her properly.

Y/N felt her cheeks burn, partly from embarrassment at her thoughts and partly in a completely irrational, jealous rage at Faye-the-fake-blonde. Y/N tried to stop, reminding herself that Faye had been perfectly cordial to her and that she was being uncharitable. But logic and rationality weren't readily available to her at that moment.

Eventually, Y/N gained some company when Viola crossed the room and grabbed up her hand, pulling her over to sit on a small settee in the corner. She patted Y/N's hand as she let it go.

“I just wanted to make sure that you weren't upset or bothered by what Doris or Faye had to say; Faye is old news to Dean, I'm sure, and Doris is just jealous.”

Y/N shook her head; she didn't want to talk about any of it. “No, it's fine.”

Viola smiled knowingly. “You have to understand where they’re coming from; you scored the prize bull your first time at the rodeo.” She arched a brow. “This is your first time at the rodeo, isn’t it?”

Y/N shrugged, not sure how to answer that. But Viola nodded, coming to her own conclusions. “Being new to the life can be exciting and a little scary, I know. But I meant what I said earlier. Be cautious. From everything I've heard, Dean is incredibly generous. Take advantage of that, because you don't know what the next one will be like.”

She lifted her hand. “Not that I'm saying you shouldn't enjoy yourself.” She reassured her, sighing in much the same way Faye had, very wistfully.

“I suppose we're all a little jealous of you, even me.” She shook her head. “I don't think there's a girl in here who wouldn't happily drop to her knees and give that man anything he wanted if he said he'd take her.”

When Y/N just stared at her, Viola put a hand over her mouth and giggled lightly.

“Gosh, you really are new, aren't you? Don't worry, you'll fit in soon enough.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper and she spoke behind her hand. “But you've just got to tell me. Is he as good in bed as everyone says?”

“I…uh - I don't…” Y/N stuttered, completely at a loss for how to answer that.

Viola gave Y/N a conspiratorial look. “Making him wait a bit, are you?”

Y/N just sputtered some more, but Viola wasn’t paying attention. “Word to the wise when it comes to that tactic. It can work really well. Men love the ‘innocent flower’ act, and you can string them along for quite a while that way, and reap all the benefits.”

She held up a finger in warning. “But you can't deny them too often, can't do it for too long, or they get angry and lose interest. Make sure you're timing things right.”

For another thirty minutes Viola went on, giving Y/N tricks of the trade and unsolicited advice. Y/N appreciated the sentiment, but it wasn’t helping her nausea.

“Take my Georgie,” Viola said with an affectionate look in his direction, “he can't get it up anymore which is a shame, but he spoils me a lot to make up for it. And you've gotta play the hand you’ve been given. My apartment on Bleeker is an awful lot nicer than what Celia has. Thomas can barely manage to put her up in a one room flat on 78th Street.”

She shrugged delicately. “But, she too is playing the hand she was dealt, because it's still a big step up from where she was when he found her.” She shook her head. “Some leaky mess on Channing.”

Viola gave Celia a pitying look. “I hope she's smarter this time around when Thomas goes looking again. Hope she watches her money and finds a good buyer for that cameo he bought for her, so it lasts her till the next man comes along.”

Throughout all of Viola's advice, Y/N couldn't seem to come up with appropriate reactions or facial expressions. In the end she just felt herself go blank and numb.

She knew Viola was trying to be kind, trying to give her advice, help her fit in, as she said. But Y/N felt sick at the way she talked about jumping from man to man like it was nothing.

No, Y/N thought to herself, it's not nothing.

According to Viola, it was everything - the ability to find a new man when this one dropped you.

Finally seeming to catch on to some of Y/N's upset, Viola patted her arm.

“Oh, sweetie, don't worry. Like I said, Dean is incredibly generous to his women. And a pretty little, innocent looking thing like you,” she shook her head, “you'll get snatched up quick when Dean is done.”

Y/N had no response; she just nodded. “Thank you.” She said huskily, praying this conversation was over.

Very thankfully, she saw Dean making his way over to her. Viola patted her hand again and rose, smiling coquettishly at Dean as she passed him. Dean's face was content and happy as he approached Y/N.

“All in all, I'd say this was a very productive evening. Managed some good talks with Taskett, all while emptying Temple’s pockets.” He said with a wide grin.

Y/N smiled lightly. “That's good.”

Dean frowned a little. “Is everything alright?”

Y/N nodded, not wanting to burst the bubble of his evening, and really not wanting to describe hers.

“Oh, yes, just tired. Late night, long day.”

Dean lost his frown and smiled. “Yes, absolutely. Would you like to go now?”

Y/N hoped her frantic nod didn't seem too eager.

“Alright, I'll ask for our coats.” He strode away to speak with someone, but as he walked out of ear shot, she felt a presence come up behind her.

She turned and started slightly as Byron Temple appeared at her elbow.

He snickered lightly. “I'm sorry, Miss - Taylor, was it? I didn't mean to frighten you.”

She wanted to tell him that he was a liar; everything about him said he was there to put her on edge. He stood too close and he dipped his head too low when he spoke. She could smell the brandy on his breath and wanted to step back, but that would mean falling onto the settee.

So, she merely smiled and shook her head. “No, it's fine, sir, you didn't frighten me.”

His eyes lit up. “I like the way you say sir.” Again he raked her up and down with his gaze. He leaned imperceptibly closer and spoke very low.

“You can call me that again, as soon as Winchester sets you aside. Then you’ll come stay with me and learn what it's like to be fucked by a real man.” His breath was hot against her neck as he lingered a moment before he slithered back the way he came.

Y/N felt dizzy, like she might pass out.

Or scream. Or run at the disgusting man and scratch his eyes out.

But Dean showed up at her side to help her into her coat, and she remembered that Temple was someone he was supposed to do business with; she couldn't cause a scene.

So for the hundredth time that night, she smiled when she wanted to cry and let Dean escort her away from it all.

***

She knew she was too quiet on the carriage ride home. Dean asked her twice if everything was alright. Both times, she answered that she was just tired.

She knew he didn't fully believe her. When they got back to the hotel, he helped her out of her dress and corset, but before he could do anything more, she moved into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

She splashed cold water on her face, but she emerged still feeling ill. She'd changed into one of her new nightgowns, a long, lace and silk garment with a dressing gown to match. She tied the glossy belt around her waist as she entered the room, and Dean paused as he was removing his tie to give her a low whistle.

“Huh. I think I get you naked too quickly when we get home every evening. Need to let you put on these beautiful things so I can take them off you.”

He came up behind her as she tucked away her evening gloves in the wardrobe drawers. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her cheek, placing soft kisses along her neck.

Her body responded immediately; her stomach fluttered, and she could feel her nipples harden against the silk of her nightgown.

But she still felt sick from her evening - heartsick and unsure of everything, and it stopped her from melting into him completely. Dean noticed quickly and turned her gently in his arms.

He cupped her cheeks and let his thumbs sweep across her cheekbones. “Do you just want to sleep?”

Viola's voice came back into her mind.

“...But you can't deny them too often, can't do it for too long, or they get angry and lose interest…”

What rules came along with the role of mistress? Could she just go to sleep? Her thoughts were a whirling mess as she looked up at Dean, questioning.

“Is that allowed?”

He pulled back from her slightly. “Allowed?” He asked a little hesitantly.

“I don't know the rules.”

Dean frowned. “The rules about sleeping?”

Y/N paused for a breath. “About saying no.”

Dean's eyes widened and he stepped away from her completely. His expression was incredulous.

He raised his hand and pointed a finger at her. “You wanna know the rules…” He paused briefly. “... about saying no to…me.”

Y/N shrugged; her head was aching. “I'm just curious.”

Dean's jaw ticked. “Curious. About whether or not you're allowed to refuse me.”

Y/N folded her arms across her chest. Anger she couldn't explain began rising in her chest.

“Well, strictly speaking…I mean, you're paying for everything, paying for me, so doesn't that make me an employee? Don't I have to do what I'm paid for?”

For a flash Dean looked like she'd slapped him. “Jesus Christ.” He said, hoarsely.

After a beat, the hurt in his eyes melted away to be replaced by anger.

“You really need to ask me whether you're ALLOWED to say no, or whether I'll just say ‘too bad’ and force you?”

His anger bolstered her own. Everything was confusing and she was exhausted and all she wanted was to cry on Dean's shoulder. But instead she balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth before speaking.

“That's a little dramatic, I'm not talking about you forcing me.”

Dean spoke loudly over the end of her sentence. “That's exactly what you're talking about, Y/N. If I try to bed you and you say no, and I just take you against your will?” He threw up his hands. “Y/N, that's the goddamn definition of rape!” He ended on a shout and Y/N felt tears prick the backs of her eyes.

Dean spun away from her and swiped his hand down his face. When he slowly turned back to face her his voice and his expression were cold.

“Fine then, the rule is as follows; in the future, when you're not interested in having me touch you, all you have to do is say no. And trust in the fact that I'm not going to just ignore your wishes and molest you.”

He grabbed up his coat from where he'd tossed it on the green chair. “You’re tired. So I'll leave and let you sleep.” His green eyes were as hard as jade as he stared at her a moment, before looking at the ground. “Goodnight.”

He walked out the door, and Y/N half expected him to slam it. But he closed it quietly, taking away her anger and leaving her with nothing but a ticking clock and a battered heart.

Jensen RPF and Any/All Characters:

@lyarr24

@lacilou

@deans-spinster-witch

@globetrotter28

@suckitands33

@alwaystiredandconfused

@evznackles

@jackles010378

@impala67rollingthroughtown

@krazykelly

@candy-coated-misery0731

@envyaurora95

@spnwoman

@deans-baby-momma

@luvr4miya

@arcannaa

@viviwatchestv

@winharry

@ladysparkles78

Dean Fics Only:

@roonthelittlespoon920

@slamminmine

@zepskies

@safiyas-world

@aylacavebear

@waywardcheshire

Any/All Fics Regardless of Character or Fandom:

@kazsrm67

@slut-for-evans-stan

@sexyvixen7

@nancymcl

@hobby27

Everything Incl. Fan Edits:

@k-slla

@leigh70

@eevvvaa

@kickingitwithkirk

@foxyjwls007

@notinthislife50

@roseblue373

@mishkatelwarriorgoddess

@avanatural

@mrsjenniferwinchester

@all-alone-he-turns-to-stone

@deangirl96

@stoneyggirl2

#dean x reader #dean x y/n #dean winchester au #dean winchester fan fic #dean winchester angst #dean winchester au fan fic series #tw: sa mention

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do-you-ship-it-polls · 7 months

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About the blog:

This is created just for fun to poll people on their opinions on ships, because shipping culture is something that I find fun. I’m sure this has been done before but I haven't seen any active blogs doing it, except for tournaments. Please stay civil and block the people that make you angry. (Or just ignore them.)

I also run the blog @do-you-know-this-baby and @aretheyqueer

I’m mainly going to be focusing on anime or cartoon ships, but you can submit any show/movie/book/game etc.

Pedophilia and incest is not allowed, but am otherwise lenient with it. I don’t consider myself a proshipper, and will sometimes deny ships that aren't technically illegal. If I accidentally post something awful then you can let me know. I do not care about your hatred for antis.

I'm not posting Harry Potter, Hazbin hotel or Helluva boss characters.

This blog is lgbt+ friendly, of course.

Feel free to send me an ask if you’d like to ask questions or have a suggestion, or something else to say.

Other similar blogs (none are affiliated with me):

@do-you-ship-this-comic-ship

@do-you-ship-this-book-couple

@worlds-worst-ships

@are-they-queerplatonic

@shouldtheydivorce

@quadranted

Submission rules:

Submissions can be sent through the form below, or through an ask to this account!

No real people

One ship per form, but you can send in multiple forms at a time.

There are currently 800+ submissions so it'll take a while to get through all of them, but your submission could show up at any time since I don't really go in order as much as I should.

I also sometimes miss duplicate submissions so if your text isn't included, I apologize!

Here is a spreadsheet with all published ships and their votes, if you prefer it over the blog search feature, or want to check something easily. It also includes denied ships.

Fandom jail

Fandom jail is for fandoms who bother me too much but don't deserve to be banned forever. This means polls featuring these characters will be put on hold. The fandoms currently in jail are:

None!

Tags used:

#anime ; #cartoons ; #movies ; #tv shows ; #books etc

#not a poll

#asks

#fanart friday (feel free to send me fanart you want to be featured)

#crackship poll and #april fools for joke polls

#tournament poll

#polls #shipping #ships #fandom #anime #fandom polls

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sixth-light · 5 months

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13 books tag game, tagged by @amemoryofwot

1) Last book I read:

Starter Villain by John Scalzi, in an effort to 1) get back on my Hugo nominee completionist bullshit and 2) give him a second go, since I was deeply unimpressed by the first one a few years ago. It was...you know the thing about how badly-written books can help you learn more about writing than well-written ones? That!

2) A book I recommend:

I am metaphorically grabbing everybody I know by the collar and telling them to read Some Desperate Glory, unless the subject matter isn't for them which is fair, but it's so good.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

I distinctly remember finishing Gideon the Ninth at like 11pm because I couldn't wait until morning, which must be seen in the context of me being asleep by 10pm every night of my life I get a choice in the matter.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more)

I went through a solid decade of reading Hogfather every Christmas and I've probably got a few more left in me.

5) A book on my TBR

I've got Mary Beard's latest book, Emperor of Rome, on reserve at the library.

6) A book I’ve put down

Tried The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart last year because it was blurbed well and I was in a fantasy mood, and got like...twenty pages in. It didn't leave enough of an impression for me to remember exactly why, just a general 'I don't care about these characters' vibe.

7) A book on my wish list

Kate Elliott is being very kind about progress updates in her newsletter and I want her to have the time she needs...but I am also chewing at the bit for Lady Chaos.

8) A favourite book from childhood

I was SO into Redwall as a kid. First fanfic I ever wrote.

9) A book you would give a friend

This is hard because I always want to rec specific books to specific people, I sincerely believe there's no generic book which is good for everybody. Um, maybe All Systems Red since Murderbot seems to resonate with a wide audience?

10) The most books you own by a single author

(Physical books only) An ACTUAL single author? Anne McCaffrey for sure. An alleged single author? I own 36 Trixie Belden Mysteries books.

11) A nonfiction book you own

Storm over Mono, which is a really interesting account of the fight to save Lake Mono in California, a scientifically interesting and historically and ecologically unique place.

12) what are you currently reading

Technically between books but I'm about to start The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older. I liked the first one fine but it didn't grab me grab me, so we'll see how it goes.

13) what are you planning on reading next?

My mostly-science book club is going retro and reading Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman which I have been putting off because I have Heard Things about Richard Feynman...but also I gotta gird my loins and get onto it.

I have not been around Tumblr enough lately to think of who to tag but with 100% sincerity, if you see this and it starts the wheels turning in your head about books you've read lately and so on, you're it!

#books #book recs

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whoishotteranimepolls · 4 months

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Since we're allowed to ask for someone to explain the appeal of characters, can I add Silvers Rayleigh, Benn Beckman, and Marco to the list? I do not understand why so many of you find them attractive. I mean on the Funny tags post. Rayleigh and Beckman have the most extensive sections, and Marco has some funny ones, too. However, I find them highly unappealing. I mean, Rayleigh is just your drunk Grandpa, and Beckman is your drunk uncle. Marco, unfortunately, looks like a pineapple and is part bird. So I seriously don't know how anyone finds him appealing, but I know his fans are out there, and they're very loyal. So can any of their fans. Please explain to me their appeal. Apparently, you guys exist and not just exist. You guys appear to be ride-or-die loyal, and I do not understand.

Now, I watch One Piece. I enjoy One Piece, and the show has so many attractive male characters, but you guys are going crazy for Silvers Rayleigh, the drunk grandpa with a gambling problem that I'm pretty sure the family only keeps around because he taught everyone how to do tax evasion and is willing to take the fall if anyone gets caught because at his age live in prison doesn't mean all that much anymore

Or Benn Beckman, the drunk uncle with the smoking problem. Now, I'm pretty sure he only has the smoking problem because he had to finish raising Rayleigh's red-headed disaster of a son he found as a stray when Shanks was. What 15? Dealing with a teenage Shanks would turn anyone gray and to smoking, but I don't think gentle parenting works on Shanks, and Beckman should have tried something a little bit more forceful. In fact, I think he should be demanding compensation from Rayleigh because Shanks has only lost one limb on his watch. But back to the point, I'm pretty sure most people find him attractive because of his competency kink. Still, there has to be more to it because of how much is in that section on that nicknames and tags post because, apparently, his fans are. How should I put this? Absolutely rabid for him, and I would love to know why. That's the term I think works best. If you don't believe me seriously, go check out that post

Or poor Marco, that haircut does nothing for you. It's just cursed you with the nickname pineapple head. He's also technically part bird, well actually part Phoenix close enough. And I don't understand why anyone would want to get down and dirty with a Phoenix, but I have seen way too much fanfic to prove otherwise. So, can his fans explain His appeal because? I am just trying to understand you guys.

Because again, I watch One Piece, and there are so many attractive guys on that show, especially of the DILF variety, but I do not understand the Rayleigh, Beckman, or Marco fans. So can any of their fans explain their appeal

Defend Your Blurbo #3

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans.

Well, here are some photos of the blurbos and questions. Now, they are right when they say Beckman and Rayleigh have two of the most extensive sections on my nickname and funny tags post for one piece, which I will link. So I do understand where they're coming from on that part because when I was first putting that post together, I did not expect those two to have such long sections

Otherwise, One Piece Fandom, Defend Your Blorbos

#defend your blurbo #benn beckman #silvers rayleigh #marco the phoenix #one piece #not a poll #spicy

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fereldanwench · 9 months

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I didn't want to completely sit out a year-in-review, but for reasons I'll explain at the end of this post and under a cut, doing the traditional pick-one-pic-from-each-month approach just wasn't going to work for me. So instead, here are 20 of my favorite shots (in no particular order) of Valerie from 2023!

(I'll share solo Goro shots and shippy/story shots in two other posts before the year ends.)

Some thoughts about this year (cw for anxiety and depression mentions):

So yeah. I actually hadn't planned on joining in on the virtual photography year-in-review fun in part because... Well, frankly, I wasn't sure if it would actually be fun for me.

Although I do have pictures for every month, the first third, maybe even half, of the year was a struggle on almost every conceivable level. A lot of it was shit that carried over from the end of 2022, which was also an incredibly difficult year for me. I don't really want to delve too deeply into why--Some of it was personal, some of it was professional, some of it was fandom, and if you know, you know.

The main obstacle I had here is that looking at a lot of the shots I took from about January to May (give or take a few weeks on either end) honestly reminded me of Bad Times™️. I've worked really hard to pull myself out of that depression/anxiety cycle and return to a healthier approach to fandom and online socialization in general, but I just didn't want to spend a lot of time in that mental space. There are a few shots from those months that made it to my favorites, and I hope one day I can look back on that stuff and just feel the good from it again. Alas, that day is still not here.

But I am happy to report that the other reason I wanted to approach the review differently is a lot more positive! It's also two-fold: 1) I spent the earlier part of this year exploring more of a technical side of virtual photography and 2) I was really prolific the last third or so of this year so trying to narrow faves from about August until now was just not possible.

One of the few good things about the end of 2022 was being able to upgrade my graphics card, which meant I then had a rig that could support ray-tracing and hot sampling. As a result, I started putting a lot more focus on lighting and getting acquainted with new tools. I also was trying to work with the new AMM posing system, which is very convenient in some ways (100s of poses without reloading the game!) and a complete pain in the ass in others (can't move characters without their poses breaking!). Custom photomode poses + Nibbles Replacer has been the game changer I've been waiting for.

Or to put it more succinctly, December 2022 through about April 2023 felt like a relearning/return to basics kind of creative period, which is essential, but also means I just don't really like a lot of what I did, lmao.

Then, shockingly (I'm not shocked at all), starting treatment for my anxiety and depression in the second half of this year suddenly made creating a lot easier and fun again! Crazy how that works.

Even bumping this little review up to 20 shots instead of 12, there are still pictures from the past few months that I had to cut as favorites. There was just no way I could condense the amount of fave shots I took from August to now in just 5 options.

I also owe quite a bit of this revival to modders for asking me if I wanted to take shots for them--Exploring more of a fashion photography approach to my shots I think did a lot to build on what I had learned earlier in the year and encouraged me to try something new. I don't want to tag anyone in this long-ass glorified diary entry, but if you invited me to take mod shots for you, just know that it really meant a lot. ♡

And that's where my head has been with a yearly review! Is filling out a little template with 12 pictures this serious? No, it definitely is not, lmao. But hey, overthinking shit is still something I'm working on. ✌️

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077edit #cp2077 screenshots #oc: valerie v powell #g: cyberpunk 2077 #mine: edits

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cheapshrimpysheep · 1 year

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Broom Flying Tutoring

SUMMARY: How would it be if they were assigned by Coach Vargas to help you with your flying lessons?

CHARACTERS: OB Students (Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, Vil, Idia & Malleus)

TAGS: Fluf; GN Reader

WORD COUNT: An average of 340 words per character.

CONTEXT: Seeing how bad you were doing in the flying lessons Coach Vargas decided to pair you with another student. Either with someone who is good at it to help tutoring you or with someone who is struggling just as much as you are for the two of you to help each other. But what if they also have a crush on you?

Coach Vargas chose him for being one of the best students in the class.

He's a great tutor, strict, but good. If he has a crush on you, this will be a great way to show himself off to you.

He will tell you all the technical stuff like: How to position your legs and feet; What back posture you must have; Where to focus your attention; etc. “Hands at half past noon! … twelve thirty…”

When you fail, he will not be as "tyrant" as he would be with his Heartslabyul students. He knows you don't have magic and you’re trying your best. But he will still be strict with you. His way to caring.

When you succeed at an exercise, he will congratulate you with his smile on. He'll also use it as a proof that it is not impossible to you and that you can do even better if you two keep practicing.

If you are on the same broom for him to make a demonstration, he would be the one in command, and you would be holding onto him from the back. Thank the Great Seven you can't see his blushing face from where you are.

If you fall from a great height, he will use magic to save you because he knows he's not strong enough to catch you alone. And then will run to you to check if you're not hurt. Once he sees that you're okay, he'll sigh and tell you to be more careful. You almost gave that boy a heart attack.

Coach Vargas chose him because, despite being the best at the class that’s not enough to pass. So, if Leona doesn’t help you Vargas will not pass him.

He's the worst best teacher ever. He is the best because he can actually make you fly on the broom by yourself at the end of the day. But he’s the worst because of the way he does that: with a lot of smug and pretending he doesn't give a dam about you.

When you fail, he’ll sigh, put your fingers to his forehead like you're an idiot, and tell you to "try again, herbivore." as if his technique is right and you're the only one failing.

When you succeed at an exercise, he will give you his signature smug smile and tell you something like “See, it’s not that hard if you do as I say.” He will continue with the simplest exercises, hoping that will be enough for Vargas until the end of class. He just wants to end it and go take a nap somewhere. Maybe on your lap as thanks.

If you are on the same broom for him to make a demonstration, he will be behind you with his hands on yours to show you how to control the broom. A guy as prideful as him is not the little spoon type. He will eventually lean on you out of laziness, and as a way to mess with you.

If you fall from a great height: The minute before that he would be making fun of you, and the next he will reach to you on his broom like a bullet. He'll catch you on his arms, sigh annoyed and tell you how clumsy you are and how much work you're giving him because of that. Secretly relieved that you're okay.

Coach Vargas chose him because sometimes is good to pairing two people that are equally struggling to help each other, for them being more comfortable with someone at the same level.

If he has a crush on you: THIS IS HORRIBLE!!! He’s going to look like a complete idiot in front of you. NO! You should not see him like this! Please assure him that it's ok and you will not think less of him for that.

He only can help you as much as you can help him. Best case scenario: you will exchange observations about what you may be doing wrong and somehow overcome it and actually improve on your flying skills.

He doesn't have the same problem with you as he had with Jamil. You’re helping him as much as he’s helping you so that’s already a well-structured deal.

When you fail, he’ll smile charmingly at you and encourage you to keep trying.

When HE fails, he will be extremely frustrated and irritated by that. But will make his absolute best to hide it so you don't notice. He’ll hesitate to try again. He already humiliated himself in front of you once, he doesn't want to do it again.

When you succeed at an exercise, he will congratulate you with a smile, but a fake one. He is happy that you succeed, but now your one step better then him. His not mad that you’re getting better, but if you keep that pace, you'll be so much better than him you'll look down on him. No! He's exaggerating and he knows it. You're not like that. But he still wants to look good, especially on your eyes.

When HE succeeds at an exercise, he will be extremely proud of himself and vocalise some on that. And if you praise him for his good work, he will feel both even better and flattered. If he blushes (he will), he’ll hide it from you.

You’ll not be at the same broom. Too dangerous for the both of you.

If you fall from a great height: he would probably already be on the ground for safety in case that happened. He will use magic to slow your fall and then catch you in his arms. “This is why I don't risk going to high.” Once he realizes he's carrying you bridal style, he'll gently set you down, maybe apologize, and try his best not to think about it too much. He needs his focus.

Coach Vargas chose him because he knows he’s a good tutor and have the profile of one. He just hopes this goes better than with Azul.

Of course, it does! He’s a great and a patinate teacher and you’re a good student despite your difficulties.

When you fail, he’ll be totally chill about it, at least on the outside. He will try to continue improving his teaching to find the best technic for you. You're not as insufferable as Kalim, so he has no problem helping you. And if he has a crush on you, oh the pleasure to be your tutor is all his.

When you succeed at an exercise, he will not just congratulate you, he will do that with his rarest and biggest smile. As if that conquest belonged to both of you. As you are one of the few people who genuinely appreciates his work, you deserve that smile.

If you start praising his work as a teacher, he'll hide his blush with his hood and tell you that's nothing special, that you are the one who is a good student.

If you are on the same broom for him to make a demonstration, he will be behind you with his hands on yours to show you how to control the broom. He genuinely believes that's one of the best ways to teach you, but he needs to concentrate on the teaching and not on your positions. He is a mix of blush and smug.

If you fall from a great height: he would probably already have made one our multiple plans in case that happened. He´s ready for anything. He will catch you with no problem and make 100% sure you're okay. Maybe he's not blushing for holding you in safety because he probably already made something similar with Kalim or so. The fact that it's you it’s just a sweet and delightful bonus for him.

Coach Vargas chose him because, like Riddle, his one of the best students in the class and have chances to be a good tutor.

And like Riddle, he is a great tutor, strict, but good. Just put the extra that besides him wanting to teach how to fly on the broom, he's also teaching you how to look fabulous doing it. No one tutoring by him will look sloppy on a broom!

And if he has a crush on you: EXPECIALLY YOU need to look as beautiful as he sees you.

When you fail, he’ll sigh and do a mix of incentivise you and demanding you to keep trying. “Come on, my spudling, you can do better than that. Put it a little more effort.” The “my” part is if he has a crush on you ;)

When you succeed at an exercise, he will congratulate you. He’ll maybe even tell you he’s proud of you. But then he will keep demanding more for you to reach your full potential. His way of caring.

If you are on the same broom for him to make a demonstration, he would be the one in command, and you would be holding onto him from the back. He'll tell you to grab on tight and don't fall. As fi you could control that part. And then to pay attention.

If you fall from a great height, he will catch you flawlessly. And then scold you. Telling you that that’s why you should have a good posture on the broom. Looking elegant was just a plus. Weren't you listening? Unfortunately for you (or not), the more he scolds you means the more he likes and cares about you.

Coach Vargas chose him because of the same reason he could have chosen Azul. sometimes is good to pairing two people that are equally struggling to help each other, for them being more comfortable with someone at the same level.

If he has a crush on you… NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! Coach Vargas can’t do this to him. Besides being a total noob and already being humiliated in the public square during classes, now he has to do it in front of you? He never selected the hard mode on this! Please assure him that it's ok and you will not think less of him for that.

Do you REALLY want to learn how to fly? I mean, you could just try to hide from everyone and pretend you don't exist until the end of the class. He can compensate you somehow for dragging you with him. Make sure you don’t fail at the class.

What? You want to learn how to fly AND help him too?! Damn you really are a weirdo, hum? Hey, don't get him wrong, better than being a normie. F-fine… he will try… but don't complain if you both fail the class because of him.

When you fail, he'll probably start telling you things like "See, this kind of stuffs are nightmare-mode for noobs like us." and "Keep trying will just be a bad-management of HP." But don’t listen to him. Be as stubbornly positive as he is stubbornly negative. Even if is just to prove him wrong. Nail that level!

When you succeed at an exercise, Pum pum pum pum pum, level up. But for real now, he will probably say something like you levelled up. If he was indifferent to you, he couldn't care less about it and would keep saying that's just a waist. But because he does like you and maybe even has a crush on you, he will be more like: “W-wow, you actually did it! That’s so… um cool… An achievement unlocked for sure!” He’s actually impressed by you.

You’ll not be at the same broom. Too dangerous for the both of you.

If you fall from a great height, he’ll probably panic, but will still be able to cast a spell to save you and make you land carefully on the ground. “Y-y-y-y-you okay?” He’s more scared than you. Once you assure him that you're fine, he’ll look sulky and be like: “This is like one of those traps for greedy players and none of us have high enough HP or AC for that!”

Coach Vargas chose him probably because he (like anyone) could tell that you two were close and feel comfortable with each other. Plus, he also being one of the best in class. Since he can also fly WITHOUT a broom.

He’ll try his best, but he will not be a good teacher. This because he flies instinctively. And it's hard to teach someone how to do something when you just… do it.

That and he will probably past more time admiring you and your effort and talking about humans not being able to fly and other subjects that actually teach you. He’ll basically forget you two are still on a class.

When you fail, he'll not think much of it. After all, you’re a human who doesn’t know how to fly and you don’t have magic. In fact, he's more expecting you to fail that you succeed. (“No, really, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. I wasn´t expecting anything from you to start with.” Remember?)

When you succeed at an exercise, he’ll be surprised. A good kind of surprised, despite if he trying to express it, would not sound so congratulative. More like: for a human with no magic that was indeed impressive. And of course, he will be smiling with proud at you.

If you are on the same broom for him to make a demonstration, he will be behind you with his hands on yours. To show you how to control the broom? Maybe. But maybe more just because he wanted to be this close to you, like his hugging you. He’s also behind you because is the best way to protect you as well.

If you fall from a great height… what great height? No matter how high you would fly, he will be right next to you. In or out his broom. If you fall from your broom, he’ll catch you right there. It will feel more like a fall from the bed. And he will be enjoying you safe on his arms maybe too much. “Um… you can put me back on my broom now, Tsunotarou… I’m fine, I promise.” With him, you will be the one blushing.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

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ominous-feychild · 2 months

Text

✦ Writer Questionnaire 2 ✦

Thanks for the tag, @the-golden-comet! (And @the-letterbox-archives tagging me when I was almost done here, haha)

Heads-up! Long post!

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

Two months ago to the date actually??? Or, at least, that's when I first uploaded a story here. My first actual Writeblr post was me hopping in on an open tag on the 6th of June, haha. I thought it was just a month, but looks like the summer's gone by in a flash! 😭

What led you to create it?

So, I'm a writer on Tapas! I'd been attempting to social network on other social medias (twitter and bluesky) but wasn't getting anywhere, didn't like the general formats, and uh... I'm sure I don't have to explain why I don't want to touch Twitter with a 10-foot-pole anymore. Let's just say, if you haven't seen, it's just as bad as (if not worse than) everyone says. Anyhow, I'd seen lots of Tumblr short stories on other platforms and started investigating what it's like here. Didn't know what "Writeblr" was or that it even existed, but eventually stumbled into the field after posting my short story. Thanks, @darkandstormydolls! ❤️

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

How supportive everyone is??? Like omg you guys are so sweet, idk how to take it. Also I love seeing how much passion everyone else has for their writing, haha.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

Uhhhh, I think I'm pretty open about the things I'd like people to know about me, haha. I never mean to offend, so if I accidentally say something wrong, please tell me! I'm autistic and very dumb.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

I'm ngl I keep meaning to build out my followed tags for my fandoms, haha. The only fandoms I really see things for are TMAGP (10/10, TMA is my obsession. I am obsessed. It is one of my Special Interests and I love it with all my heart) and House of the Dragon??? Except I'm not even a fan of HotD??? So that's kinda annoying, haha. (Aka, my fandom stuff, but that's on me.)

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Rising From the Ashes, tragically. (Because it's one of the LAST things I should be working on right now, haha.) Otherwise, I'm of course always obsessed with the Arcane Rifts. Then I force myself to be obsessed with Sun and Shadow, though it's slowly growing on me, haha.

How long have you been working on them?

Haha, so I've historically jumped around a lot in working on different things, so these are approximate guesstimations!

Rising From the Ashes has likely had 3 or 4 years put into it/the characters. If you include the Calamity Crew (which overlaps with it in the timeline and originally ended up merging with the cast of RFtA), I'd say definitely 4 years!

The Arcane Rifts has had 5 years put into it.

Sun and Shadow is very new; I'd say it probably only has about 4 months of work in it? It's part of why I'm less interested in it, haha. Less I've put into it and less I'm attached to.

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Oh... oh dear. How could you ask me this??? 😭😭😭

Rising From the Ashes has existed since, I think, 2016. It started (tragically) as an RP starter on Google+. I wish I was kidding.

To those unaware of how it worked in that space (and likely similar ones to this day), you'd post a starter and people would join in with their own characters. 99% of the time, they'd drop out before long. However, I'd work out details of the characters in the process and carry that info over into the worldbuilding. I eventually stopped RPing with the masses and settled down with a single "partner" who I'll call Kris.

She's the one who stole my docs.

The Arcane Rifts technically originated as another RP starter? It never got attention, though, and instead my ideas for it simply carried over into the worldbuilding in general.

One of the characters of the original starter was important in the worldbuilding. It was not a character you see in the early books of tAR, though, so don't bother trying to figure it out. But, since he was so important, his origins were also important.

The Arcane Rifts started in 2019, as I wanted to make a story building out said character's origins. It was originally going to be a duology, the first book being Gene's backstory and the second being how Gene and The Other Guy's lives intertwined. (No, they were not gay for each other! 😂) It's since changed a lot, and focuses basically exclusively on Gene, haha. The last book in the series will probably be focused on the other character, though!

Sun and Shadow started for a romance novel competition on Tapas which has since ended. I didn't get to finish it in time for a lot of reasons, but I primarily cite stress and exhaustion from working full time at a physically-intensive job. It grew shockingly quickly and I had some fans donate to me related to it, so I'm kinda forced to work on it, haha. Dw--I like it! It's just harder to work on for a number of reasons, haha.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Tragic, the questions you're asking me--

It depends, haha. I'm autistic and hyperfixate a lot. Also, for one, that's a suuuuuper vague question??? Like what do you mean "how much time"--how much time within the day? How often in general? Idk, man, haha.

I think about the Arcane Rifts a LOT!

I've put an incredible amount of time and effort into it, and I'm in love with 90% of the characters there. Even the background characters have had a lot of work put into them, getting relatively fleshed-out backstories to make their motives understandable (even if not agreeable!), and I love them all so much, haha.

Except Katerina. She's a bitch.

I also think about Rising From the Ashes a good amount, and it's invaded my brain again lately, haha.

I took a step away from RFtA and basically all of my other stories late 2021 when Kris (my ex-writing partner) and I had a falling out. It was incredibly difficult for me emotionally to look at anything I worked with her on, and obviously RFtA was a huge one (actually, tAR was the only thing of my early works she had nothing to do with). Since early this year, I've finally been able to work on it again and it's been incredibly fun removing her stuff, actually!

I think all that is a good part of why I keep randomly getting obsessed with it again, haha. It's like looking at old friends (the characters, not Kris) and being all "omg??? I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER??? PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE BEEN UP TO!!!" except it's removing Kris's stuff, haha.

I think about Sun and Shadow a lot more than you might expect with how much I talk about not preferring it, haha. I love the characters! Crow and, actually, Valyarus especially. They're both super interesting characters, and I'll randomly find my brain working out scenes between characters interacting with them.

(The problem with SaS is that, as a book, it's incredibly different from my usual works. It's a small cast of Frey/Crow and technically Daleira, while most of my stories focus on larger casts. It makes for a VERY different experience, and so it's a lot harder to work on)

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

Actually, I've got a ready answer for this one! Until SaS, I was dedicating my time to the Arcane Rifts and had prepared the answer:

Percy Jackson meets Lord of the Rings in a steampunk fantasy world full of ✨mysteries waiting to be uncovered✨

(I'd say the "mysteries waiting to be uncovered" part ironically/accidentally mockingly most of the time, whoops, haha. I always feel awkward advertising my works.)

It was awkward when people would get actually interested in it from there and ask more questions, haha.

To clarify: that's my tagline for the Arcane Rifts! The story has gods and demigods messing with mortals, using them as their playthings and being REALLY immature babies because they don't really face consequences for their actions like PJ. Then, it's a lot more "grounded yet fantastical" like LotR, where magic is kinda infused with reality and yet you still have issues like starving to death and whatnot.

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created. Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

UHHHH THERE'S A LOT TO LIST???

Try this for a taste! These are just the guys I've gotten colors for!

Freya, Crow, Daleira, Valyarus, Grimnir, Soren, Gene, Tazin, Mislav, Adilzhan, Ludmila, Rada, Caspar, Nikolai, Gennadi, Oska, Rieka, Liesel, Carmin, Nora, Sammy, Kieva, Caron, Varik, Elazi, Riaan, Roman, and Tiberius! (Though Tib is getting a name change sooner or later)

Who’s the most unhinged?

Unhinged in which way? There's a lot of options there, haha.

I'm going to give honorary mentions to Valyarus, Gene in the later books, Tazin, Rieka, Gennadi, and Tiberius ! (Why does it not surprise me that most unhinged characters are from tAR? 🤣 Also I swear it's a coincidence most of the unhinged characters are red.)

(... Probably.)

In general, I'd say that, incredibly ironically, the Existence of Order is the most unhinged of all my characters. She's just incredible at hiding it.

(Tbf half of the Existentials probably belong on the "unhinged" list anyway but eh. They still don't compare to Order!)

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

I'm going to give this as a tie between Gene and Sammy!

Gene has my 'tisms and just about all of my trauma, so we have a lot in common, whoops, haha. Also there's a... very specific detail about his character that makes him easier to write in general. It's just a major spoiler. 👀

Similarly and actually identically to Gene in some ways, while Sammy has a lot in common with me, he's also incredibly perceptive! (Although we don't share that fact.)

Due to the way I write, their analytical natures allow for them to spit straight facts about the worldbuilding and the people around them rather than beating around the bush, haha. Both are highly investigative, try to learn and understand everything around them, and notice small details other characters wouldn't! It makes it much easier for me to write, because uh... well here's an example of what my outlines look like.

Long story short: I include a lot of detail which I then transfer into the POV's character narration, cutting out details which they wouldn't notice or think about, haha. In Sammy's case (which that scene has Sammy as the narrator/POV character), very little information gets cut out because he's so perceptive!

(Here, as a treat--have another example!)

(In this scene, Nikolai is the narrator. Even the outline gets "filtered" to mirror the characters' way of thinking--like it's Nikolai himself seeing Caspar as "doll-like". The crossed-out stuff is details I most likely won't mention, but noted for myself, haha. I do the same thing if/when including details about the motives and thoughts of non-narrator characters.)

Do you ever cringe at them?

Gene and Sammy?

A B S O L U T E L Y .

Gene is a wreck in basically every way and desperately needs help (that he won't get until he meets Dimitry). As much as I love him, there's a lot of moments where you just can't help but wince and be all "shit, did you REALLY have to do/say that?"

Sammy on the other hand? He's a terrified, control freak manipulator who panics the moment he feels like he's losing control of a situation. It can be painful to watch, even if simultaneously fascinating.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters? AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

I explicitly go out of my way to add backstory to and develop each and every one of my characters until they "write themselves", haha.

I want my characters to feel like real people, so I do my absolute best to make them as real as possible. (That's part of why tAR is so massive...)

Special shoutout to Dimitry here, btw. Dude COMPLETELY screwed over the planned and intended from the earliest days path of the Arcane Rifts. I've mentioned before that Gene is villain-coded, yeah? Want to know why?

Because he was MEANT to be one! Then Dimitry had to come along, be the sweetest, nicest fucking person around to Gene while he was going through the worst part of his life, and keep Gene from slipping off the deep end!

MITRY, YOU PIECE OF--

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

I absolutely love, love, love!!! people asking questions about my characters!!! 🥰

I would absolutely prefer them as Asks sent to me, and especially would prefer if separate subjects/questions were sent in separate Asks! Like, say you were going to ask me about Gene and Dimitry. I'd rather two separate Asks, one asking for whatever you wanted to know about Gene and another for whatever you wanted to know about Dimitry, haha. However, if you wanted to ask a single question about both, that obviously is fine as a single Ask!

On writeblr engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I definitely scope out before I follow, yes.

I choose based primarily on the personality of the person behind the blog, but the WIPs/vibes can also have an influence on my decision, haha. I'd rather follow people with kind/supportive personalities, and I'll eventually start liking their stories even if they're not initially my thing!

What makes you decide against following?

Bigotry. Moment I see it, I'm on the lookout for even the slightest hint of more and, if I see it, I'm OUT!

(That includes things like: homophobia, transphobia, TERFs, ableism, racism, xenophobia, etc.)

Also, while I include angst in my stories, the people who are big on "I have nothing but bad stuff in my writing and I'm proud" are, uh... not on my "follow" list. While they can write what they want and enjoy it, grimdark is not my thing. Angst is best in moderation and I very purposely control the amount of it in my life.

(Also Kris's--my ex writing partner's--obsession with "grimdark-ness" is a good part of why I'm so ecstatic to remove her stuff from my writing. Yes, I've tried it. For years. I hated it. Please and thank you. Also note that I proudly call myself an evil writer, so it's not like I don't love angst, it's just--moderation. Seriously.)

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Yes! I think a good 50-30% of my interactions are with non-moots, haha. I go out of my way to try to support my moots, but I'll definitely share support with anything that catches my attention, no matter who it's from!

To be fair, though, I think a majority of non-moots I interact with are on my mental "probably going to follow soon" list. I can be slow to make decisions, haha. It doesn't help that I try being active with my moots, so I'm trying to avoid growing that list too quickly!

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Haha, depends what you mean by that? My brain is definitely too full of my own characters to have any space for anyone else's, but I definitely do think of others' characters at times! There's plenty of y'alls characters I really like, haha.

Just... omg, my hyperfixated AuDHD brain refuses to focus on anything except for the Hyperfixation of the Moment™.

This was a huge one! Hopefully I'm not screaming into the void with this one, or you guys enjoy finding out more about me and my WIPs.

If you're curious about the reason this is labeled Writer Questionnaire 2... well guess what!

Tagging (gently! This is a lot, haha): @honeybewrites @yourpenpaldee @paeliae-occasionally @mysticstarlightduck @illarian-rambling @.darkandstormydolls (tagged you earlier in the post haha) + open tags!

Divider from @cafekitsune!

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