#i prefer to read about people who are not like me but that's me! you can want to only read about people like you and that's okay

[ghostlywhiskey]

pen pal simon - original post

every day after work, you found yourself sat at your desk attempting to write back a response to the soldier who referred to himself as ‘ghost’. crumpled up stationary surrounded your desk space, along with different types of pens as you obsessed over your handwriting. if one letter of your penmanship looked wrong, the paper would become another ball added to the collection of half written letters that contained slightly different, if not the same, wording in response to the thank you letter from ghost.

the simple questions he asked to get to know you suddenly felt like the hardest questions to answer, as if you were being graded on the facts about yourself. was he going to find your hobbies boring? maybe your hobbies were boring the more you read your response. the easiest question to answer was regarding how long you had been doing the care packages - a few years since one of your friends had a significant other that joined the military. stories often mixed with people who received packages and cards from family members frequently, but the ones where some received little to none are the ones that made you upset. so, you had decided to explain that to ghost and it was probably the easiest response of them all to write out. not single moment did the pen leave the paper for you to collect your thoughts or how to word your answer.

but then, you continued to answer the questions he asked you, and in return you asked him similar or different ones. again, you weren’t positive he would reply this time around, but you figured you’d still return the gesture of asking him questions as well. and when you finished writing it all, reading through it god only knows how many times for errors, you finally slipped it into an envelope. this time, no ‘treats’ were included, instead you had opted to ask him if he had any favorites, that way if he did end up writing you back then you could buy him what he preferred.

and after you mailed out the letter, you pushed the thought of it to the side to try and forget about it. but, you couldn’t deny every time you arrived home and checked the mail you were secretly hoping there was a response. but then a few weeks went by and there really was no response waiting mixed in with your other mail.

then after almost two months, after a shit day at work, you didn’t even think twice as you grabbed the mail and walked into your home. going through the motions of your routine - showering, cooking dinner and anything else you had to take care of, you finally sat at the counter towards the end of the night to sort through the mail. a small card was tucked between a bunch of other trash mail, your eyes immediately recognizing the handwriting. quickly, you opened up the envelope and sure enough, that same notebook paper was tucked into it, this time three pieces of paper unfolded in your hands. 

..it’s been quite hectic over where i’m currently at, so sorry for the lack of my responding…

...i’m a bit upset of the lack of treats, it definitely beats what we have to eat sometimes.

the reason you do the packages is quite sweet. is your friends’ partner still alive? you use the past tense when you speak of them. sorry if that is rude to ask.

you read every word of the letter, not once, but twice. and he didn’t just read your response to his, he took notice of the small details. you didn’t even realize you had used the past tense, but he wasn’t wrong in his assumption either when he thought they might have passed. it was like reading a full blown conversation he had to himself in his head; the way before or after some sentences, he would write out interjections. some sentences were followed by parentheses where he made his own little comment as well about what he had just written.

again, i hope you forgive my delayed response. hope it doesn’t stop you from writing back. don’t always have the time, but promise i’ll get back to you. maybe in your next letter you can send me a picture of yourself, i think it would be nice to put a face to the name that signs off on these. i can’t do the same, but i’ll find a way to make up for that. ‘til the next letter, ghost.

and while you didn’t get started writing your response that night, you did make your way to your room with a smile on your face. excitement was already brewing about what you would say in your response and the next anticipated response he would give back, even if he did take a bit to respond.

[puckinghischier]

Tentastrophe

Nico Hischier x Fem!reader

summary: reader and nico are in a secret relationship while on a camping trip together

notes: hi lovies! i got this request from my dear 🏔️ anon so i had to get right on it!! this was so fun to write and even more fun to play out in my head while i was writing it 🤭. also i had no clue what to name it so i quite literally just made up a word 🫣. i hope you enjoy!! happy reading! 🫶🏼

request: We’re camping and my tent ripped, can I please share yours?

[5.1k]

You hated the outdoors. Truly, you despised being outside.

You hated bugs, you were scared of wild animals, you hated the heat, you hated dirt, grass made you itchy, and you really hate the lack of indoor plumbing.

Literally, how do people enjoy spending a week out in the middle of nowhere, no signal for miles, no air conditioning, and eating the same four types of canned food? Not to mention your dislike of sleeping bags.

Who wants to sleep on a flimsy piece of material on the hard ground for days at a time? It’s just simply not appealing.

You continue to list off the things in your head you hate about camping and the outdoors in general while watching yourself be driven farther and farther away from the city through the windshield of Jack’s SUV.

“Oh c’mon, Y/N, don’t look like someone just kicked a puppy in front of you,” you hear from the front seat, Jack looking at you through his rear-view mirror.

You roll your eyes at him.

“Jack, I’m being taken to a remote location against my will with no access to a bathroom or civilization for seven whole days. At least if someone kicked a puppy in front of me, it’d be over sooner.”

“Woah, so you’re advocating for puppy kickers now, are you?” A new voice rings out, this one belonging to Dawson, who occupies the seat against the window beside of you.

“She’s not advocating for it, Dawson, she’s just saying she’d prefer it to being stuck in the woods with you for a week straight,” Holtzy responds from your other side, having been sandwiched between the two in the backseat of Jack’s car for the hour and a half ride to your unfortunate destination.

Dawson reaches behind your head to smack Alex’s. Alex tries to retaliate, and suddenly you have two hockey players trying to fight each other on either side of your body.

“Hey! Cut it out before you hurt Y/N! Coach needs her to get good footage this weekend,” Luke yells at the two forwards.

“Wow, thanks for showing me where my worth lies, Luke,” you deadpan.

Luke flashes you a grin before turning back around in his seat. “You’re welcome.”

You roll your eyes at him, knowing he’s just teasing you.

When you applied for a marketing internship at the Prudential Center a year ago, you had no idea that you would quickly become the team’s social media manager. After the initial six month period of your internship was over, you were making plans to find work elsewhere when you were approached by the team’s GM and asked if you were interested in staying on full time as the new social media manager.

You immediately agreed, knowing you had found your passion with working in sports and wanted to stick with it for as long as you could. It didn’t hurt that you had become such good friends with a handful of the players close to your age, four of which were in the same car as you right now.

You and Jack were the closest, though. The two of you bonded over your shared love of country music, a rare find outside of your southern hometown. You had found other interests in common, too, but becoming each other’s country music concert buddy is to credit for much of your friendship.

You grew close to Luke simply because of your proximity to Jack, but found that he’s become a little brother to you. People always assumed there was more than friendship going on between you and Jack, but both of the Hughes boys had become the brothers you never had, no feelings beyond that ever surfacing.

As your job continued to cause you to spend time with the team, you found yourself growing closer to other players as well.

Nico was another player you found yourself talking to long after your work duties were done for the day. Whether it was chatting before practice, pulling him a little too frequently to do interviews or make videos, or grabbing a bite to eat after practice and games because neither one of you wanted to end your conversations, you found the Swiss captain occupying a large chunk of your time both at work and outside of work.

Which doesn’t make it all that surprising that he asked you to be his girlfriend three months ago.

After a huge win over the Islanders at home, the entire team had decided to go out to celebrate. You had caught a ride with Jack that morning, but when you were searching for him so you could leave, he was nowhere to be found, already gone to whatever bar everyone had agreed on.

Nico had stayed behind to do a few extra post-game interviews, so when you bumped into him outside of the locker rooms on your search for Jack, he offered you a ride. You had mentioned how hungry you were, telling him you should probably go home and grab something to eat and change before getting an uber to the bar, but Nico had pulled into the first late-night diner he saw after you mentioned your lack of eating dinner.

The two of you sat in the 50’s themed diner for hours, ignoring all the calls and texts asking where you were and why you didn’t come out to celebrate. You didn’t even realize how late it was until you received a text from Jack, asking that you call him when you got up so he knew you made it home safe, apologizing for forgetting you at the arena.

Nico walked you up to your apartment after driving you home that night, despite the fact it was after three in the morning and they had a mid-day practice the next day. You still don’t know if it was the high of winning or the late hour, but he decided to kiss you at your doorstep that night. Three days later he asked you to be his girlfriend because he told you he couldn’t stand not being exclusive with you for a second longer.

No one knew, though. You kept on acting as if nothing had changed at work, and no one caught on otherwise. You decided it was fun to keep it to yourselves, enjoying being each other’s secret. You didn’t know the policy on dating your coworkers, either, so you didn’t want to risk anything by outing the relationship this early.

You felt bad lying and sneaking around Jack and Luke, especially, but you’ll tell them eventually. You enjoyed having no eyes on you, your relationship being simply between you and Nico right now. When you tell your friends and the rest of the team, it’ll be out there for good. Fans will find out, your boss will find out, and then your small bubble of Nico will burst.

That’s another reason you dread this weekend. Not only do you just hate camping and being outside for long periods of time, you’re going to be stuck being around Nico for a week straight with no chance to be his girlfriend instead of his coworker.

The trip is the team’s pre-season bonding activity, so you’re tagging along to capture material for future videos and pictures for the various social media pages and website. You had tried to send one of the other members of your media team, not thrilled at the idea of a camping retreat, but the head coach had requested you, specifically, because of your ability to convince the players to participate in various trends and videos.

You owe some of that to Nico, of course. After the two of you formed a friendship, he started telling his teammates they had to participate in whatever silly tasks you asked of them or he’d start reporting them to coach for making your job harder. Since his forceful request, you rarely had to fight to get any of the players to do the latest trending dance, or answer silly questions as they get on the ice before practice.

Unfortunately for you, this means the higher ups see your success and suddenly you’re volunteered to do things like this. And really, what kind of social media content can you really create when you won’t even have cell service?

Tuning back into your surroundings, you notice you’re almost to the campground you’ll call home this week. You were so lost in your own head that you barely even noticed the four (grown) men in this car with you singing loudly to the F.U.N. song from none other than Spongebob Squarepants.

Jack and Luke were duetting the song, Jack taking the sponge’s part and Luke singing Plankton’s lines. Dawson and Alex were simply adding harmonies.

You really were in for a long week.

———————————————————————————

“Who in their right mind would put a twenty-four year old teenage girl in charge of putting together her own tent?” you whine out as Curtis walks over to see you trying to read the directions for putting together the tent laid out in front of you.

“Honey, I think you’re a little too old to be calling yourself a teenage girl,” he chuckles as he kneels beside you, taking the instructions out of your hands.

“I’m just a girl, Lazar. I will always be a teenage girl at my core, no matter what age I am. Therefore, I’m a twenty-four year old teenage girl. And I’m extremely incapable of building a fucking tent,” you cry out, crossing your arms and huffing.

Curtis just shakes his head and laughs, grabbing the rods that go inside of the tent to give it structure, putting it together for you.

You sit back and watch, trying to help where you can, but ultimately being reverted back to the role of ‘holding the flashlight for dad’, but instead you’re ‘holding the mallet for Curtis’.

Halfway through putting your tent up, you see Nico start walking in your direction. You admire your boyfriend, tan skin showing due to his green t-shirt being stuck in the pocket of his athletic shorts instead of on his torso. His black hat sits backwards on his head, hiding what you’re sure is sweaty hair. His favorite pair of sunglasses rest on his nose.

“Already making the guys do your dirty work, how dare you, Y/N,” Nico teases as he stops to stand in front of where you’re sitting on the ground.

“Listen, one perk of being a woman in sports is the fact that I’m always surrounded by men just waiting to save the damsel in distress,” you put your hand across your forehead to hide the sun from your eyes, squinting your eyes as you look up at him.

He rolls his eyes at you, flashing you a smile.

“Need any help, Curtis?” Nico calls out, but keeps his eyes on you.

“I think I’m nearly done, but if you want to start hammering the stakes in the ground that’d be great,” Curtis replies, not even looking up from the tent that had now taken shape.

“Sure thing. The mallet, please,” he reaches his hand out to you.

You hand Nico the mallet, looking up at him with an amused grin. “Get to it, time to do manly stuff and pound some sticks into the ground.”

You start to stand and Nico shoots his other hand out for you to grab onto, helping you heave yourself off the ground.

Once you’re stood in front of Nico, he pulls your hand toward him so you’re standing dangerously close to him, your chests nearly touching. You look around, making sure no one sees the position the two of you are in right now.

Nico leans down, lips grazing your ear as he whispers “Unless you want me to drag you behind a tree and do extremely un-coworker type things to you with the entire team right here, I suggest you don’t talk about pounding anymore this weekend.”

A shiver makes it way down your spine as Nico steps back, walking over to where Curtis is now standing, turning to face the two of you.

You hope he assumes the redness on your face is because of the warm sun, and not because his captain just threatened to do R rated things to you behind a tree.

Ten minutes later your tent is fully assembled and you’re blowing up your air mattress with a battery powered pump that’s seen better days.

Jack had laughed at your for bringing an air mattress, claiming it’s not really camping if you don’t sleep in a sleeping bag. You told him you refused to sleep on the ground with just a thin bag underneath you for the whole week. If you had to be here, you were going to make yourself as comfortable as you could.

You even brought a battery powered fan to sit in front of your bed incase you got hot at night, but you learned very quickly that even though it’s hot and humid during the day, the night is chilly and dark.

After everyone had settled in and the sun had set, Timo had managed to start a fire, placing a few hot dogs on a small grate he placed next to the fire while Jesper worked on opening cans of various types of vegetables to heat along side the sausages.

You laughed to yourself, knowing the team nutritionist would develop an eye twitch seeing what foods will be consumed by the players this week. The amount of sodium and carbs in the containers of food for the week were definitely not in line with the meal plan.

Finding a spot next to Jack, you go sit on one of the various logs around the fire, needing the heat to warm your chilled skin. Music played out of a speaker sitting on the picnic table behind the logs, one of your favorite country songs filling the space.

“Nice choice, it’s one of my favorites,” you nudge Jack’s shoulder as you sat down, assuming he had control of the music.

“Yeah it’s a good one, but don’t look at me. Cap’s the one with the aux right now,” he says, pointing to where Nico is standing by a tree, red solo cup in his hand.

You turn your head and make eye contact with him, his eyes having already found you. The raise of his cup and tilt of his head telling you he played this song specifically for you. Your face heats and you smile at the ground, trying to keep the grin from stretching too wide, not wanting to raise suspicion from the brunette to your right.

“Y’know, I wonder why Cap has any country music in his playlist at all, because last I checked his phone was full of rap and Swiss music and he told me country was his least favorite genre,” Jack starts, leaning closer so you can hear him over the music and chatter. “But then I remembered, I see you and him talking an awful lot after practice, before practice, and everywhere in-between.” You feel like someone has dumped a bucket of ice water on your head, worried Jack’s figured the two of you out. “You’re not cheating on your music buddy, are you?” he asks, looking at you suspiciously.

Relief washes over you. He just thinks you’re sharing music with Nico. Not that you’re seeing Nico behind everyone’s back.

“I might have mentioned a few good artists to him. But don’t worry, concerts are still reserved for you,” you bump his shoulder again.

“Mhmmm. Must have taken a lot of convincing to make a rap loving Swiss man convert to Zach Bryan,” Jack hums, still looking at you suspiciously.

“Just a few links sent is all,” you tell him, noticing he’s just staring at you. “What?” you ask, leaning back a bit.

“Nothing,” Jack shakes his head, his eyes gleaming with an idea. “Just thinking…have you ever thought about going out with Cap?”

You choke on air. You try to recover with a cough, claiming you swallowed the wrong way. “What, what do you mean?”

“You know, like you and Cap. Going on a date. Dating. I think you two would be good together. You guys already seem friendly enough, and he’s a great guy. Plus, I can see the way you look at him, Y/N. You definitely have a crush on the guy,” Jack teases.

You start laughing. Jack is confused by your reaction, not thinking his suggestion was funny at all, but you can’t stop the laughs from escaping.

“Oh, Jack. You’re funny,” you tell him once you calm yourself down. “That’s nice, but nah. I don’t think Nico and I should go there. Too many things could go wrong, y’know? Plus, who even knows if I’m allowed to date any of you guys. Workplace romances are frowned upon in most jobs, you know.”

“Okay, it wasn’t that comical of a suggestion. I was being serious, I think you guys would be great together. To hell with the rules. I can tell when two people are into each other,” Jack says with a hint of annoyance, not appreciating your little laughing outburst.

A look of surprise makes its way onto your face at his comment that he thinks Nico is into you, too. Maybe the two of you weren’t doing such a good job at acting normal around the team. You succeed at suppressing the laughter this time, figuring a second outburst would really make Jack upset. “Oh, you think he’s into me, do you?”

Jack looks at you like you just asked him if the sky was blue.

“Are you kidding me? Y/N, he literally jumps at the chance to be in any of your tik tok videos and he threatened the whole team so they would quit, and I quote, ‘making your job harder and just fucking do what you ask’ or he’d report us to coach.”

You can’t help but giggle this time, of course knowing all of this, Nico having told you himself after he did it, but you can’t let Jack know that.

“I don’t know, Jack, that doesn’t exactly sound like something he’d do. What does he get out of it? More interruptions during practice? More attention on social media? Doesn’t sound like Nico if you ask me,” you tell him, trying to play dumb.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe he gets to spend more time with you. He gets on your good side, helps make your job easier while making ours harder. Earns brownie points to butter you up so you say yes to a date one of these days,” Jack leans his head towards yours, looking up at you like he’s just proven his point.

You steal a glance over at Nico, his head cocked, silently asking what you and Jack are talking about. You shake your head with a smile, telling him its unimportant with the roll of your eyes.

“I don’t know, Jack. We’ll see, I guess,” you sing song, earning a sigh from the boy to your right.

“You’re hopeless, both of you. I need another beer,” he gets up, leaving you on the bench by yourself, chuckling at just how right your best friend is.

After all of the burnt hot dogs and lukewarm veggies were eaten, it was time to for everyone to retire to their tents.

All of the players had to double up on tents, you and the coach being the only two people with their own. The players that were sharing tents on this trip would be sharing hotel rooms all season, so the bonding began with them being able to exist in the same space for an extended period of time.

Your tent sat about 50 feet from Jack and Luke’s. Nico’s tent was in the row of tents in front of yours, three tents separating the two of you.

You quickly made your way to your own tent and started getting ready for bed. Not being able to wash your face or do you proper skincare routine, you settled for brushing your teeth with a warm bottle of water and applying lotion to your face before crawling into your make-shift bed for the week. You hadn’t packed nearly enough blankets, seeing as you assumed it would be warm inside your tent, but you were chilled to the bone. You kept your sweatshirt on, opting for a pair of sweatpants instead of the skimpy sleeping shorts you brought.

You settled into your bed, switching off the small lantern you had been provided.

You laid there for what felt like ages trying to fall asleep. Every little snap of a twig or rustle of leaves made you scared a bear was about to claw its way through your tent.

You thought you had imagined it at first, assuming the wind was blowing and causing your tent to slightly ruffle in the wind. But when it happened a second time, this time the sound of something fiddling with the zipper of your tent following the ruffling, you were starting to panic.

You sat up, pulling the blanket to your chin as you saw a hand push on the door of your tent, a quiet yelp making its way out of you.

“Shhh, it’s just me, let me in,” you hear the familiar, accented voice of your boyfriend ring out, huffing while walking over and unzipping your tent just enough for him to slip through.

You walk back over to your air mattress, turning on the small lantern, looking at Nico standing in the middle of your tent. He was wearing a tan sherpa fleece with plaid pajama bottoms. He had to hunch over slightly, his height being too tall for your small tent.

“What the hell are you doing in here? You scared the hell out of me, you know that?” you whisper yelled at him, careful to not raise your voice too high as to not wake any of his teammates.

“My tent ripped, can I please share yours?” Nico asks with a smirk on his face.

“Oh, yeah? If your tent ripped then where’s Jesper sleeping, huh?” you raise your eyebrow and cross your arms.

“I just left him to fend for himself. Didn’t exactly want to invite him to sleep in here with us. Never know what he might see,” he walks towards you, placing his arms around your waist and pulling you close to him.

He looks down at you, your position mirroring earlier when this exact tent was being assembled, but you had no fear of anyone seeing you now.

“Hi, Schatz.”

You giggle up at him, unraveling your arms and placing them on his shoulders. “Hi Neeks.”

“I’ve been waiting all day to do this,” he mumbles before bringing his face down to yours.

You lean up on your tip toes to meet his lips, sighing contently into the kiss.

Nico pulls you closer, no space left between your bodies as his sucks your bottom lip into his mouth. You tangle your fingers in his hair, pushing against him into the kiss.

His tongue swipes across your lips, asking for entrance, and who are you to deny his wish? His tongue slips into your mouth, effectively deepening the kiss.

Nico walks you backwards until you plop down onto your air mattress, bringing his knee to rest in-between your legs, his forearms on either side of your head to support his weight.

You tug on his hair slightly, earning a groan in response. He starts grinding his pelvis against your thigh, which was your sign to stop this before it got too out of hand.

You pull back, pushing him up off of you slightly. He looks down at you with blown pupils and swollen lips. “Alright, tiger, slow down. We’re not having sex with several tents full of your entire team a few feet away.”

Nico deflates and brings his forehead to rest against your shoulder. “You couldn’t have told me that before I got a stiffie?”

“Sorry, shouldn’t have let yourself get so worked up. Should’ve known I wasn’t going to go there with this many people around,” you laugh at his whiney tone.

He rolls off of you onto his back, slinging his arm over his eyes.

“What are you doing? Quit being so dramatic,” you roll your eyes, trying to grab his arm and remove it from his face.

“Stop, trying to think of sad puppies to make my boner go away,” he swats your hand off of his arm.

You bust out laughing for the second time tonight, but this time you throw a hand over your mouth to stop the noise. The conversation about puppies in the car on the way here earlier making its way to your mind, making you laugh even harder.

“Okay, I think I’m good now,” Nico finally says, sitting up.

“Good. Don’t even think about getting handsy, either. This,” you gesture between you and Nico, “is not happening tonight. Or any night this week, for that matter.”

“Got it. You don’t want any of my teammates to hear you scream my name while my tongue is ins-“ you slap a hand over Nico’s mouth, not letting him finish that sentence.

His eyes shine with amusement at you, seeing your own wide in surprise. “Can I trust you to take my hand off of your mouth?” you ask him.

Nico shakes his head, but not before he darts his tongue out and licks a stripe up the palm of your hand, causing it to fly off of his mouth.

“Okay, you’re disgusting,” you scold him, wiping you hand on the blanket you’re both sitting on top of.

Nico just laughs at you in response, finding your annoyed expression amusing.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed. I’m already sick of you and the week hasn’t even started yet,” you tell him, pulling the blanket back so you can settle under it.

Nico follows your lead and places himself under the blanket at well, pulling your body close to his.

You lay your head on one end of your pillow while Nico places his on the other end, not having brought his own from his tent. The two of you just lay there facing each other for awhile before you remember to reach over and turn off the lantern once again.

You’re appreciative of the new warmth Nico brings to your bed, finally feeling yourself get sleepy.

“Wait, how are you going to know when to wake up before everyone else and go back to your tent?” you ask him, knowing his phone was in his vehicle, none of the players allowed their devices with them. You and coach were the only ones with phone privileges this week, even though they didn’t even work out here.

“Don’t worry, I will. First time I wake up I’ll sneak out, don’t worry,” he assures you, kissing you on the forehead before pulling your body flush to his, resting his chin on the top of your head.

Neither one of you must have woken up at all during the night, though, because when you wake up the next morning to the screams of “I knew it! I knew they were into each other! I told you so!” from your best friend as he stood inside your tent at the end of your bed with not only Luke, but with half of the team standing outside the wide open door of your tent, you were confused until you felt the weight of a body against yours. You open your eyes to see Nico’s scrunched face, the noise waking him up as well.

You both roll over and open your eyes, noticing your audience.

“I called it! I knew there was something going on here! How long have you two been together?” Jack bombards the two of you with questions despite you having literally just woke up.

“Get the hell out of this tent before I get coach to make everyone run three miles today,” Nico grumbles, his voice gravely from the early hour.

“No way, we need an explanation,” Dawson speaks this time, his expression matching Jack’s pleased one.

“You’ll get your explanation, but for right now, get out. Let us actually wake up without fifty people in our fucking tent. Now go, get out,” Nico pulls you closer to him, hiding your face in his chest and slinging a leg over your own.

“But-“ Jack starts again, but Nico removes an arm from around you and points at the door, “OUT!” he says sternly, his captain voice making an appearance.

The group of men start grumbling, but ultimately leaving your tent, zipping your door back up so you and Nico could have a bit of privacy again.

“Nico, you didn’t wake up,” you say, your voice muffled because of how close he’s holding you to his body.

“Sorry, Schatz. Was sleeping too good, I guess. Always happens when I’m sleeping with you. You’re like my own personal melatonin.”

You chuckle at him, not really mad that everyone found out, just wishing they hadn’t found you asleep together on a tiny air mattress.

“At least the boys know now. Now I don’t have to keep sneaking around at practice. I can stare at your ass loud and proud now,” Nico says, detaching himself from you and rolling over onto his back, rubbing his eyes.

You reach over and hit him in the chest. “This doesn’t give you permission to say innapropriate things to me while we’re at work.”

He rolls his head to look over at you, “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he smiles innocently, causing your to roll your own eyes and sigh at him.

“Hey! You guys better not be having sex in there! I’m implementing a no bone zone when I’m within a hundred feet of you two! Get your asses out here and get to explaining!” you heard Jack shout once again, beating his fist on the side of the tent.

You bring your hands up to cover your face, embarrassment flooding your veins.

“Jack! Suit up, you’re coming with me on a little run,” you hear coach shout, earning a “Shit, Nico this is your fault!” from Jack.

You burst into a fit of giggles.

You can’t help but feel like a weight has been lifted off of your chest, not having to lie to some of your closest friends anymore. You also foresee your week of no time with Nico changing slightly, figuring Jesper will be down a roommate for the remainder of the week.

Nothing, though, not even sharing a tent with Nico, or sneaking off to find open areas to gaze at the stars at night, could make you like camping.

You almost change your mind the night Nico takes you to a clearing, laying a blanket on the soft grass to stare up at the sky before he gifts you a necklace with his initial on it, the engraving on the back echoing the small “I love you” he whispers in your ear as he clasps the jewelry onto your neck.

You almost thought you liked camping then, until you walked back to you tent to find Nico had left it unzipped and a possum had made a home in the corner, hissing at him as you screamed loud enough to wake the whole team.

Yeah, you hate camping.

[ao3commentoftheday]

This may be silly, but it'd be really cool if you could, like, make a list of common things ao3 users should tag! I have memory problems and tagging is legit a struggle bc of that.

When it comes to what you "should" tag, all that's required are the Ratings, Warnings, Fandoms, and language. Everything else is optional and will depend on your preferences as a writer and how much you care about people finding or avoiding that specific work.

Generally speaking, the things that I find important to tag are:

the character(s) who make a significant appearance in the fic. I judge significance by whether someone who loves that character would be satisfied with the amount of "screen time" that character gets in this specific fic

the ship(s) that make a significant appearance in the fic

plot points that make a significant appearance in the fic

genre or mood that will give readers and idea of the vibe of the fic

I feel like you might be asking specifically about those plot points, or additional tags in general. Honestly, there are so many out there and so many more that are possible that it would be incredibly difficult to create an actual list. (although if anyone has one, please do link it in the notes)

I personally find it easier to just think about what my story has in it and then type things into the tag field and see what autocompletes. I do the same thing when someone writes me an ask about how to tag their work. I look at the description they've provided and start typing key words and their synonyms into the additional tags field to see what pops up.

If you're worried that you might have missed something that someone might search for, you can also leave an author's note asking for suggestions of tags you might have missed. Remember that not all suggestions will be applicable, so take them with a grain of salt.

Specific fandoms can get really specific tags. Like, not everyone is going to need to use The Soulmate Goose of Enforcement, for example. If you see tags like that while you're reading, maybe start a note on your phone or open up a document and just start keeping track of them.

The common ones like Angst and Smut are easy enough to see while you're just bopping around on the Archive, but if you want to get an idea of other tropes and things, then I recommend Fanlore - specifically this page, to start.

[ghostiidasponk]

ROMEO F. SENN-HEISER

Diasomnia 3rd year - Film Research Club

OC INFO BELOW THE CUT

Thank you to @thehollowwriter for the OC template! :D

Basic Info

Name: Romeo F. Senn-heiser

Homeland: Land of Pyroxene

Species: Human

Birthday: March 15th

Age: 18

Height/length: 180.34cm

Dominant hand: Left

Family: His sister, Delilah.

Preferences

Hobbies: movie watching, scriptwriting

Likes: His buckwheat pillow, Sticking to the script, Observation, His sister (PLATONIC PLATONIC PLATONIC PLATONIC GTFO).

Dislikes: Terribly made improv., Talkative people (hypocrite), Loud noises.

Favourite food: Onigiri.

Least favourite food: Onions.

Personality:

Romeo is a mostly quiet individual, however tends to be surprisingly talkative when communicated with. “A total yapper” -Ace. Although not necessarily introverted, as he will only approach people so long as they are interesting enough.

Hyper-intelligent, with a vocabulary that may intimidate those who try to talk with him at first.

(He is very Will Wood coded.) His way with words may also be seen in the scripts he writes for the Film Research Club, often going to Vil Schoenheit for criticism because of his respect for the artist. Would also consult Rook Hunt because of his passion for poetry, as well as his observant eye.

"Ah, my vigilant comrade, your astute observations have illuminated the shadows within my script, like a lighthouse piercing through the fog of my narrative. Your insights are a beacon, guiding this vessel of creativity away from the treacherous rocks of oversight."

-Romeo to Rook

Outside of his club activities, Romeo will either be seen strolling around campus, reading in the library or sleeping in Diasomnia, however, he will only go into Diasomnia either before or after Malleus’ group has arrived to avoid Sebek’s shouting.

On weekends, he goes home to help his little sister out at home because their parents are mostly working abroad.

Romeo has two moods, do something and finish it as quickly as possible or procrastinate til the very end. It all depends on his interest on the activity, much to everyone’s surprise.

"Ah, why the look of astonishment at my dalliance with procrastination? The homework, a dreary endeavor, devoid of inspiration and zest. Any rational soul would recoil from such tedium, seeking refuge in the more vibrant realms of imagination."

Over all a total nerd and a good older brother figure. May not get along with everyone, but his ‘unique’ thinking tends to keep peers entertained, unbeknownst to him.

Some Fun Facts/Extra Info:

> Probably neurodivergent

> Aroace

> Tends to be very doting with children (NOT IN THE PEDOPHILE WAY GTFO) as they remind him of his little sister back at home, Delilah.

> When asked about his glasses, he will start yapping about how they were a gift from his sister.

> His parents work abroad and only come home on winter break to spend time with the family. He doesn’t talk about them much.

> Cat person.

> Based on the guilty gear character 'Bedman'.

> Horrible, and I mean HORRIBLE with sports.

Flat colors

(the neon green hurt me)

[vegaseatsass]

The Sol-tuation is a lot more nuanced than that!!

Who knew I, an absolutely feral Mingjoe shipper, would end up making so many posts about the secondary love interest who never stood a chance with our protagonist, but I truly think they're doing some fascinating things with this character and it hurts a little to see so so so many fandom reactions that take what's happening on the surface as the full story with no interest in peeling back those appearances.

I will say before I start: huge credit to @zhouxiangs for so many of these opinions, she shared a few insights about Sol with me today that completely reshaped my interpretation of the character, so thank you x 2389234, this post is not exclusively My thoughts. (Also SolYim as a ship is galaxy brain and the only thing I now want for Sol's future. Thank you for that TOO)

So I very much understand why what it appears Sol is doing - ignoring Joe's clear lack of interest in him to pursue him, taking every opportunity to touch him, and working overtime to prevent Joe from seeing the truth about Ming and his obvious devotion, so he can still "win" Joe instead - is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. Straight up, situations where people I'm not romantically interested in have pursued me despite my clear and direct (and often hard-fought because I used to be a huge people pleaser) "no" are something I hope to avoid for the rest of my natural life. Relentless pursuit can be a sexy fantasy if you want someone back, as Joe does Ming, but for most of us, it's emotionally pressuring nightmare fuel if you don't.

But I would argue that's really not what's happening. An extremely essential missing piece of context to Sol's behavior is that Joe died because of his relationship with Ming, and Sol spent years grieving him. In episode 9 in particular, they're all face-to-face with the cold hard truth of that grief, and I don't think Sol is any exception, even if he knows Joe is back now. In episode 8, Sol confirmed Joe was back, and he was so euphorically happy, but he was not pushing and shoving Joe to hop into a relationship with him, was he? He was just delighted Joe was alive. But this episode, he's suddenly faced with the very real prospect that Ming and Joe still have feelings for each other. That Joe may return to the man who got him killed. Who Sol, in his own eyes, failed to protect Joe from in his first life, even though Sol so badly wanted to pay back Joe's sincerity to him. And I think the threat of losing Joe again is making Sol (who ran back to Korea instead of processing his grief and guilt over his death) a little insane.

I mean, let's talk about Sol in Joe's first life. After Joe told him he couldn't return his feelings, did we see any inkling of this frantic episode 9 pushiness? Sure, there was the moment where he tried to convince Joe that he and Ming were incompatible, after watching Ming need to hide Joe from his family in what I'm sure read as shame to Sol. I can give Sol some grace for this knowing he struggled with coming to terms with his own sexuality (see: the first time he ran away to Korea), and is now trying to overcompensate for who he was in the past, but you don't have to give him this grace if you don't want to. I can admit his desire to support Joe as a friend is compromised by the tumultuousness of his longing for Joe. Like there's also the fight with Ming on the staircase where Joe gets knocked down and Sol and Ming just keep fighting. Sol is not a saintly unselfish being who keeps his feelings and his desire to protect and support Joe perfectly separate, by any means. (To me this is part of why he's interesting and human, but I get that we all have different character preferences.)

But dinner with Ming's family aside, when first life Joe tells Sol he doesn't want to be with him, Sol lets it go and is happy living in the friend zone. When Joe tells him not to come over and intervene when he's trying to break up with Ming, Sol listens. Sol believes that Joe can handle himself and he respects the boundaries that Joe sets, regardless of what he wants or hopes in the privacy of his own heart.

And what happens without Sol's intervention? Without anyone's intervention? Joe dies. Joe is chained up in a basement - Joe was not safe with Ming, Joe was not able to clear the situation up using just his words - and blacklisted from the industry, driven to desperate financial straits and killed.

So my read of Sol is that he's scrambling to make himself a shield. He thought he was already in a role where he could support Joe, this time around, but this episode raised the threat of Joe going back to Ming and dying again, and now he's frantically trying to change himself into something that can actually keep Joe from doing that. If Joe suddenly decided he wanted to be with Sol and not Ming, would Sol be happy on his own behalf? Of course, I'm not denying that. But I really think so much of the desperation to offer himself as a romantic choice is to try to show Joe he has options that aren't Ming, to try to intervene in ways he didn't in Joe's first life, at any cost.

You can't force someone not to return to an abusive partner, the same way you can't force someone not to commit suicide, or make any other choice where they could get hurt or disappear from your life forever. It's a necessary journey for everyone, to realize you have to respect your loved ones' agency even when they're making choices that terrify you to your core. Sol has not learned that yet, and I'm not defending how pushy and out of pocket he was being this episode. But I'm really, really sympathetic to the absolutely frantic terror that I think was underlying it. If you've never had a suicidal loved one or a loved one trapped in a destructive cycle, it's easy enough to expect Sol to do the right things (the actually HELPFUL and supportive things), instead of the toxic, selfish things. For me he's a far richer and more human character for making the wrong choices, though. For being selfish, but not about wanting to possess Joe and force his feelings Sol's way. About wanting to keep Joe alive and unharmed by force, instead of trusting Joe to make his own choices. Again: you have to let people decide these things for themselves. You have to! If you don't support your loved ones' agency, any other support you think you're offering them is useless and suffocating and will genuinely compound whatever they're dealing with, make it much harder for them to heal, leave, etc - whatever the "healthy" choice is, they can't make it with you forcing them into it. They can't make it without you surrendering to the possibility of them making the "unhealthy" choice; without you accepting that it is their choice. But for a fictional character to go from "genuinely supportive friend" to "publicly announcing you're in a branded relationship a day after your own funeral" because he sees you slipping from his grasp - not emotionally, but potentially literally, metaphysically, permanently, AGAIN - well, to me, that's juicy and compelling.

I'm also more sympathetic to Sol than to Wut when it comes to telling Joe that Ming loves him, frankly. I think Joe needs an impartial friend (Yim!!!) that he can process all his Ming issues with openly, because it is never helpful to feel like because your friends know that your abuser/ex/etc harmed you, you can never go to them to process the moments of kindness and love. Joe needs to be able to look at the full picture of who Ming is and what Ming feels and decide for himself, he doesn't need Sol strongarming him out of accepting that Ming is capable of both great cruelty and great love. But Wut always takes the path of least resistance and it absolutely maddens me. To just say, with no qualification, "The man I and only I know knocked you out and kept you locked in a basement loves you, actually" is absolutely insane and irresponsible. I do not for a second believe Wut was ready to express nuance, to say, like, "I think Ming loves you in his own way, but that love is dangerous and possessive and I hope you stay away." If we see anything in the text that demonstrates otherwise I'm happy to be wrong about this, and then I would be in the "Let Wut speak!" camp. But for now, I do think he was going to play the role of an enabler, just because he finds it easier to let Ming handle Joe's estate and be in Joe's life than to fight it. Lol it still doesn't make Sol right to try to keep Joe from seeing the full picture, but I'm sympathetic to him going wtf, Wut? Do you really think Ming loves him? knowing what Wut knows.

Anyway this is sooooo long so I will try to wrap it up, but I wanted to also talk about Sol and Joe and physical touch. Like I said at the beginning, I totally understand seeing how often Sol hugs Joe or grabs him and feeling uncomfortable imagining yourself in Joe's shoes. But as uncomfortable as EYE would be with Sol's affections, I want to try to analyze how Joe the character feels about all this. Now one of the things I most love about this series is the opaqueness of all the characters' choices, how there is always ambiguity and room for more than one interpretation. So if you watch the scenes where Sol puts his hands on Joe and think Joe looks trapped or unhappy, that is your prerogative! I noticed that the two times he shook Sol's touch off in the episode were when he thought Sol was going to stop him from breaking into his loft, and when he thought Sol was going to cause a scandal with Ming at the press party. Otherwise, from where I sit (my interpretation only!), Joe does not appear to experience Sol's touch as something unwanted or unsafe. I would actually make the argument that having someone he's known for years sharing a bed with him, hugging him, holding his hand, etc, could be offering Joe essential tactile comfort he's not getting from anyone else while he's in the midst of grieving his past life. For all we know, the level of physical intimacy between them is something that completely predates Sol acknowledging his feelings. This could be a normal level of touchiness between them, and not an example of Sol "taking liberties" or trying to force his way into Joe's heart.

To me the upshot of everything is that Joe, to my eyes, seems to feel completely safe with Sol and his professed feelings. When Sol brings his feelings up again when they're getting their makeup done, Joe's response ("how did the conversation turn to this?") pinged me as playful, affectionate, not uncomfortable and pressured. Joe is absolutely terrified of Ming's feelings for him and, significantly, what they would do to Joe's feelings for Ming - he is keeping himself away from Ming by the power of "You don't love me and never did" and when that crumbles so will most of his ability to resist him, I think - but Sol's feelings can't do anything to Joe. They can't make him want things he doesn't want, and they can't make him want things he doesn't want to want. I would argue that Sol is a friend that Joe feels safe around, and his open crush on Joe causes a bit of awkwardness, to be sure, but it doesn't make Joe feel pressured to do anything but be himself. When he's with Sol, he's not afraid of Sol, Sol's feelings, or Joe's feelings. I think that's important to acknowledge! The same way that Sol needs to accept that Joe is allowed to make the choice to go back to Ming and it's never been in Sol's hands, imo fandom needs to accept that if Joe is comfortable with Sol and his affections, we can't argue that he is being pressured by them, or in danger, or anything else.

But that's just my interpretation! I am happy to be disagreed with, haha. I just think Sol is as rich and interesting a character as Ming, but many of us as viewers have more trouble with flawed and selfish kindness (Sol) than we do with complex cruelty (Ming). But I love flawed and selfish kindness. I love characters who are trying so hard to be good and to take care of people they love, and fucking it up and not seeing the ways their wants and fears are getting in the way. So I love Sol. And obviously have a lot to say about him lol.

[magpod-confessions]

People saying the tmagp "statements" are worse or less scary is interesting to me, I don't think I ever found any TMA statements scary. Like at all. In fact I assumed they were supposed to be kind of hokey and goofy. And that's why I was able to listen so comfortably!! I hate horror, I scare easy. There are some exceptions which is understandable given there is more variation in the writers, but tmagp statements have stood out to me as way cooler, more impactful, and yes, scarier. I love the idea of them being read out by an automated text to speech that gets more uncannily human throughout. Didn't like the snake one and the tiktok one was a little painful but... I guess my point is, I think there are plenty of instances where there is something interesting there, and maybe people who are saying tmagp seems like a cashgrab know something I don't, but I don't see why someone would assumed that's all it is based on the actual quality. Obviously personal preference is a big player here. Also I feel like it's still so so early. TMA presumably did not have this many people scrutinising it before episode 20. The expectations are also different and that's gonna impact how you feel about it.

.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Jude's True Vow Wedding Event - A Dissection ☾.

Yes, I realize that I am extremely biased, but after a few days, and re-reading his CE story from BW: A True Vow For The Jet-Black bride, I thought it'd be fun to pick everything apart and dive deeper into his qualities, (And I'm talking more than just "He doesn't like the mistreatment of women"). It's quite lengthy, but I hope you all like it. Under the cut due to spoilers about Ellis' route as well. And these are just my personal notes and thoughts, you don't have to agree, but please don't gripe about it.

Jude: In a week, no attendees, ‘n I bought a few dresses, so pick whatever ya like.

At first glance, you might think he’s being a rich jerk, but let’s break it down.

Thoughtful & Protective: Jude went out of his way to buy a number of dresses for Kate to choose from, and I love him for it. He could’ve just bought one based on his personal preferences and said, “Here, we’re getting hitched, wear this.” But, he didn’t do that, he let her have options. Obviously, he didn’t allow her to go to a boutique to have one custom-fitted, no doubt because people know who she is, and it runs risk of her getting hurt. Still, even ready-made dresses can be altered by Crown staff (which I’m sure is what happened.)

What it boils down to is this: Jude was protecting his bride, and yet he still still allowed her the experience of looking over different dresses, and no doubt trying them on just as she would’ve done at a boutique for a more normal wedding. Also, he’s a very busy guy, and not just with roughing people up over collections, his trading company - Raven - is extremely successful with several branches expanding, so the fact that he took the time to even do this for her is endearing. He gave his beloved the bridal experience she deserves.

Jude’s eyes widened when he saw me. Jude: Suits ya.

This is just because. I just love that Jude is Jude, and this is his way of saying she’s beautiful, and I gush over it.

Jude: You’re goin’ to hell, too. (There is a SEPARATE thesis on this line that I am compiling.)

Considerate & Yielding: “Considerate? The heck are you saying Ciele? How’s that the case?” Before I explain, let me just say that I laughed so hard at this sentence because it’s soooo Jude, and no one (at least I hope no one), says that to the love of their life while they are at the altar. So I can see why people might hate for him for saying that, especially if you know nothing about this guy. Some of you do and still dislike him and that’s okay, but the reason why I say he’s being considerate is because from the very beginning, he’s hated the fact that Kate was literally dragged into Crown, when she did nothing wrong. Kate herself says in this story, that out of all the Crown members he was the one who worked so hard to have her return to her normal life. Here are some reasons:

She’s innocent. She doesn’t deserve to die.

We’ve seen in his POV events such as his first Black Wedding event, and his 1st Anniversary event, that he finds it unthinkable that someone like her would be with him (the total opposite of his wickedness).

From his POV of his 1st Anniversary SE Premium Ending: (I know. The most disgusting person is the one who thinks it's okay to be with her.) Throughout the entire story, he is trying to send her home, and he uses underhanded methods to do it, but by the end of the story, he’s captivated by the determined look in her eyes, and he’s absolutely disgusted with the fact that he’s starting to think it’s okay for her to be with him.

When I thought of it, I personally feel like Jude is reminding her that if she chooses to marry him, (Or perhaps because she does something in his route that could be considered condemnable), she’ll fall to hell with him. Which is ironic seeing that they’re getting married in a church knowing that (separate thesis later).

Either way, Kate mentions that he says this with a complicated expression, and I think it’s clearly because he is still uncomfortable with her (some one whom he considers to be clean), staying with someone like him. Still, he apparently loves her so much for her determination, that he is willing to accept someone who’s willing to go to hell with him, whether that’s a figurative hell or literal one.

Jude: ……Heard ya told Ellis ya wanted a weddin’ ceremony.

Attentive: Well, yeah. He’s attentive by nature as a businessman, but I love that he channels this into his lover as well. You can be attentive to your work and neglect your mate’s wants and needs, so 10/10 hubby material here. It’s also kind of cute in a way that he dodges Kate’s question about how he found out about that. Either Ellis blabbed (which is totally feasible), or Jude overheard the conversation himself, and our information junkie no doubt has his ways of getting that information easily.

Now, we don’t know how much time passed from the time Jude heard that bit of info, to them actually marrying, but he put every thing together fluidly and he thought of everything. Her dress, the venue, security, the attendees (or lack of), and the time it’d take place - he arranged it all on his own and surprised her with a wedding. That’s a lot of work all on it’s own on top his personal work, Crown missions, and his hobbies. Kate didn’t have to lift a finger. Sign me up.

Jude: I can’t have a normal life, and I can’t have the married life you’re thinkin’ of. If ya wanna turn back - do it now.

Straightforward: We all know that he doesn’t have a problem voicing his thoughts or opinions, and it’s not beneath him to withhold information, or to skirt around an issue. However, by now he is very clear about what he can’t give her. They will never have a normal life together and he can’t give her that white picket fence marriage most dream of, and I respect him for that. He isn’t going to entice her to enter into this marriage contract with empty promises of a future they will never enjoy.

Fair: For lack of a better word, I feel that he is very fair. Take this moment of him and her alone in the church as he presents her with a contract. He’s offering her a fair chance to leave him before she signs her life away to him, and more than that, Jude dignifies Kate by allowing her the choice to run from him one last time (assumptive), prior to signing the marriage contract. He doesn’t force her to stay with him, and was even prepared to offer her time to think it over. To be honest, I expect to seem something in his route, so this is his last effort to let her leave because he will never let her go afterwards.

And he’s always been fair, even when dealing with trash on his missions, instead of killing them off, he gives them the chance to keep their lives through rigorous labor. Now, we all know they are either sent to the coal mine or the lab for presumed human experimentation, but Jude actually values human life. He doesn’t kill unless he really needs to, or if the person is deemed completely worthless, so while it’s not the best end for the person who enters into a slavery contract with him, it’s the fact that he has the minimal amount of human decency to offer them options.

The marriage vows themselves.

Cautious, Faithful, Communicative, Wise & Romantic: Their mutual vows are as follows: 1. I have no objection to this marriage. 2. Infidelity is strictly prohibited. 3. Regarding money transfers, a separate contract will be prepared and a mutual agreement will be reached.

I promise to make this hell we share together a life filled with happiness.

I think it’s all kind of self-explanatory, but I can see how some might roll their eyes at the fact that he’d make her sign their marriage vows with financial stipulations, but this is Jude and he always has a reason behind his actions. I’m confident in that he’s not only doing this to protect himself, but her as well. Look, let’s be real, when we get married we are combining households and we are also taking on another person’s debt so to speak…..what I mean is, if my credit is clean, but my spouses is not, it limits a lot of options for us. Also, exchanging money and sharing expenses can cause a LOT of problems if you don’t discuss these things prior to getting married. He is wise to exercise caution (especially since he’s gathering as much money as he can to attain a certain goal that is yet to be disclosed), and Jude will never allow his wife to lack in anything materially.

He takes fidelity very seriously and I’m sure this has to do with something from his past (perhaps not he himself, but the consequences he witnessed because of those actions…..perhaps he was a consequence himself (?)). Any man who vows to be faithful to me and makes good on that promise, is TOP tier to me - as a divorcee of a spouse who was unfaithful to me- this means a LOT to me. And the fact that not only she is agreeable to the marriage, but he is too is HUGE. Jude views marriage, or love on the whole, as a curse. He’s come a loonnnng way, and I can’t wait for his route to be announced to see what exactly is the catalyst that motivates him to change.

Further, his promise to make their crazy, hell-like life one of happiness, along with all the other things he did just to make this wedding happen, is the cherry on top. It’s like the crescendo of his romantic side. And yes, I fully believe that Jude is a romantic, this event alone convinces me of that. Kate had told him in the event that he made her dreams that she’d told Ellis about getting married to come true, and while all he did was laugh at her while he pulled out there wedding contract, he didn’t deny it. He truly did make her dreams come true, it was in Jude’s style, but he did it in the most thoughtful, discreet, and sweetest way he could, and that to me is truly romantic.

The bottom line: Jude is PEAK to me. And yes, these notes are lengthy, but I had a lot of fun doing this, and I haven't done this in a while. Nice to take a break from translating and delve into things more. Again, we can't be dogmatic on things, this is just for fun. Now to start writing my other word salad thesis *Laughs like Palpatine*

[4theitgirls]

el’s book reviews & recommendations (pt. 1)

I. Ward D by Freida McFadden

my most recent read and a new favorite! i heard that this one was pretty creepy so of course i had to get it. i’m so glad i did! this book is about a medical student on her psychiatry rotation who has to spend a night on a locked psychiatric floor, but there’s a deeper reason that she’s dreading it. if you like psychological thrillers where you don’t know who you can trust, this one is for you!

II. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

another psychological thriller that i absolutely loved. this book follows the story of a young girl that goes missing. this one can be a little confusing because you’re going back and forth between timelines and narrators, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly. everyone is interconnected in such an interesting way. i’m not sure what i thought the ending would be, but it wasn’t that.

III. The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

this is another one that goes back and forth between two main narrators, one of whom has gone missing. like ward d, you really don’t know who you can trust in this book. i prefer the previous books listed to this one overall, but i really do love this book and i LOVED the ending.

IV. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

this is one of those books that you either love or hate. i’ve heard that it’s boring while also hearing that people couldn’t get through it because of how graphic it was. it definitely is graphic when it comes to SA, torture, and murder, so please be mindful of that if you would like to read. this book is about a woman who finds snuff films on her newly deceased husband’s computer. whether you love or hate this book, this book is a ROLLERCOASTER.

V. Confessions by Kanae Minato

a shorter book in comparison to the other books on this list, but is just as good and just as thrilling. this book is about a teacher and her students, two of which have murdered her daughter. this is another book that goes back and forth between narrators and timelines, but it wasn’t confusing to me at all. an all time favorite of mine and i’ll always recommend this one!

[ladykissingfish]

*Sasori goes into Deidara’s room, closes the door, and sits at the edge of his bed*

Sasori: Alright, brat … what’s the matter?

Deidara: What do you mean?

Sasori: I’ve been working on my puppets day and night for over a week and you haven’t come in to bother me once. Furthermore, Konan has informed me that, without prompting, you’ve been bathing each day, eating regular meals, getting along with everyone including Itachi, AND you’ve been going to bed every night at a reasonable hour. And … and is that a book you’re reading?!

Deidara: Oh, yeah, hm … *holds it up* Zetsu lent it to me. Gardening techniques. Thinking we should all plant some things in the spring next year.

Sasori:

Sasori: *moves over to Deidara and lays his hand first on his forehead, then each of his cheeks*

Sasori: Mm; your temperature feels normal enough. Does your throat hurt at all? Have you experienced anything like dizziness or nausea? Here, open your mouth, let me look at your tongue …

Deidara: *laughs* Relax, Sasori. I’m fine. Just thought I’d try being more mature for a change, hm. Don’t you like having a boyfriend you don’t have to constantly run around after, cleaning up his messes and mediating his problems with other people?

Sasori:

Sasori: *scoots over again and hugs Deidara to him tightly*

Sasori, softly: Idiot. I love you just the way you are. I like your loudness, I like when you pop your head into my door a hundred times to ask me ridiculous questions when I’m trying to work on puppets. I like you telling me about some petty revenge you’ve got planned for Hidan or Tobi. And if you truly wish to garden, that’s fine, but …

Sasori: *starts kissing Deidara’s neck* I can think of much better ways to get filthy than digging in the dirt …

Deidara, tearing up: D-Danna! That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me, hm! I love you too. And if you prefer I be my old self, then —

*from the hallway*

Hidan: Don’t we get a fuckin’ vote in this?!

Itachi: Please don’t just “love him for who he is”, Sasori-san. Encourage him to be better. Please.

Konan: Just because you’ve chosen to settle for insanity doesn’t mean the rest of us have.

Sasori and Deidara:

[laithraihan]

Would you be comfortable sharing any personal info (age, profession, relationship status, etc...)? Completely understand if you're not but it's always really interesting learning about the lives of ppl I admire. Again, if that's not something you wanna do it's totally understandable! I love your art!!

Ah thank you so much 🫶 and sure I dont mind sharing some stuff but to be very honest Im not an interesting person, so I'm sorry in advance for disappointing you.

So I'm a woman (or something like that) even though I use a male pen name for art, Im 22 years old, 151cm (4'11"), the eldest daughter who has two teenage siblings who are both taller than me and make fun of me for being short. I do not have a profession and I do not go to school due to a disability I will not disclose. Im a lesbian engaged to a butch, we've been together for almost 4 years (our anniversary is in August)

My favorite season is winter because all the bugs are dead and I despise summer because the bugs are alive. Im also really scared of butterflies for some reason. Im scared of winged bugs in general. Ive never seen a cockroach in my life but I'd probably kill myself if I saw one. I really hate bugs. The winters are harsh here but I like walking outside when theres light snow falling at night. Im also a bit obsessed with Christmas lights but I dont celebrate Christmas, I dont follow any religion in general but my family is Muslim so Ive been raised with that. If I could just put Christmas lights in my room all year then I would do that. They look really pretty.

About my ethnicity I think everyone knows Im Algerian already, well Ive only been to Algeria once when I was like 8 years old so I dont really remember anything. All I know is that my uncle would keep telling my dad that I convinced him to stop smoking and that he's eternally grateful for that but I literally cannot remember what I did or said back then so I just pretended I knew what he was talking about. Anyway. Id like to go there again one day. I most likely will go soon in the future so it makes me happy to think about it.

My first language is French and Im somewhat fluent in English but it needs more work. Whenever I speak English I have to think harder about the words that come out of my mouth and I start saying things that dont make sense. But my pronunciation is good so other people just assume Im fluent. Also I understand Derja (Algerian Arabic) when people talk to me out loud but I cant form sentences and respond back so I just answer people in French. I know how to read Arabic script and I understand basic words but again I cant form sentences. As for Japanese I can only read Hiragana and Katakana and a bit of Kanji, and my understanding of the language is worse than Arabic, so I practice by translating Japanese song lyrics, reading news articles and talking with Japanese users online

Honestly I dunno what else to say, I dont really have any special skills or anything like that. Unless you count memorizing all the metro stations in Montreal but thats only because I had to use public transport all the time when I was a kid because my parents never felt like driving me to my appointments. At that point I probably visited every single station because I had to go to many random places. I dont have a drivers license but I prefer walking to places in general even though there are no stores near my neighborhood, but I think it's better for me because I get to walk more. I think I really like the idea of travelling in general but I dont have friends for that, my parents also wouldnt allow me to hang out with friends so it's a bit unfortunate

Oh and lately Ive been enjoying making eggs for some reason, I think Im good at doing that. But I only cook whenever Im hungry and I rarely feel hungry so I dont cook many eggs. I also dont like cleaning dishes so I avoid making huge meals in general. I dont really eat much in the first place but I still like food. I really like going to restaurants too. I just like going outside in general. I like listening to music and talking with people, normal stuff like that. Im running out of things to say so I'll probably just stop there.

[pweepsie]

Serious post / please read.

If you don’t care for me breaking my “character” (because, yes, this IS a character I front as when I’m submissive, this is not how I act in real life or in interactions outside of here.) then scroll, this isn’t for you. If you DO care then read PLEASE.

This will mostly likely be the only post besides for my intro that will be serious in any way.

(Long post ahead, lots of reading.)

I am aware that with a lifestyle and blog like this there’s always going to be creeps and downsides to it, but it’s getting to a point where I need to address it. Me being a submissive is NOT an invitation to take what you want from me no matter what.

I have repeatedly been receiving threatening, demeaning and disgusting messages for how both how I live/act and simply refusing a request. You will know if you are one of these people because I’ve asked you to check my blog at the exact time this is scheduled to be posted—and also because I am assuming that you are aware that you are a piece of shit.

BDSM is not about demeaning shaming or being disgusting to anyone in it. All of those are in some ways kinks, yes, but there is a very big difference between a kink and genuinely horrific behavior. If someone refuses a request or corrects you in any way on their limits—apologize, don’t bother them again, and think about yourself for a bit. Did you check to see if they have an intro/boundary post? Did you add for them to only do it if comfortable with it? Did you decide to send it regardless of their boundaries because you were desperate? There’s many more questions I could give you to contemplate but my job isn’t to babysit every rotten person on here.

It’s not my preference taking the time to explain what should be very basic concepts to everyone on here but I’m doing it anyway because I’m worried about some of the safety concerns this behavior has raised.

Basics

First of all, in any sort of session/scene or serious interaction between a dom there just has to be a very strong foundation of trust, communication, and respect. These are essential for ensuring safety and well being of all participants. Do not, I repeat, do not engage in a serious (often real life) session with a dom who doesn’t know what they are doing. There are MANY things that could cause long term harm to your or them. Educate yourself well on something before even beginning to practice it.

SSC/further basics

Now, let’s talk about SSC. This stands for Safe, Sane, and Consensual. Safe: all activities should be conducted in a manner that minimizes risk and prioritizes the physical and emotional safety of all parties. This includes (but is not limited to) safe words, aftercare and clear communication of boundaries. Sane: any activity should be carried out with a clear and rational state of mind. It’s extremely important that all participants are fully aware and understand the nature of the activities they are engaging in. Consensual: consent is paramount. All parties must willingly agree to participate without any form of coercion or pressure. Consent must be informed, enthusiastic and can be withdrawn at any time.

Open and honest communication is vital. Discuss boundaries, limits, and expectations beforehand. Regular check-ins during and after scenes help ensure that everyone is comfortable and consenting. A hard boundary is something that will never, under any circumstance happen because it is outside of the limits of one member in some way. A soft limit is something that isn’t someone’s favourite but may be engaged in anyway if they are convinced to do it (and they are consenting and enthusiastic about it. Not that they are being pressured into it), simply change their mind, or maybe their partner is very into it so they decide to give it a try.

As said before, educate yourself about the practices you are interested in. Proper knowledge and preparation can prevent accidents and misunderstandings. This includes understanding the tools and techniques you plan to use and recognizing the signs of physical and emotional distress. There are many ways to accidentally cause harm to someone, especially in more intense/hardcore kinks.

Impacts

Following the ending of a session, the surge of adrenaline and endorphins lead your body to a temporary imbalance. The rush of these chemicals leaving your body, known as sub drop, can be just as impactful. While you might be a very willing participant in these activities (or even find they reduce stress!), your body will react accordingly. Often during a session you will experience prolonged stress, which causes your body to continually produce cortisol, which compresses your immune system.

If you were on the receiving end, it is very likely that you will be sore from receiving punishments or being bound, potentially in uncomfortable positions. Both mentally and emotionally, you may feel exhausted, disconnected from your partner or confused over your enjoyment at the scene. You may even be disoriented and feel disconnected from your body. This is normal. If you’ve experienced anything else following a session, chances are that’s normal too! Other symptoms include: lethargy, inability to regulate body temperature, high or low blood pressure, nausea, pain, headaches, dizziness, weak muscles, lack of focus or even unconsciousness. This can come as quite a shock, especially if you weren’t expecting it. This is where aftercare comes in. If you are a sub it is likely that the guidance and aftercare from your dominant partner will help ease the symptoms and bring you back down safely and comfortably.

Aftercare

Aftercare is absolutely necessary, regardless of the intensity of the session. The popularity of cuddling and food after a session have led quite a few people to describe aftercare as “Cuddles and Carbs” I will admit, the name is very cute but there is a lot more that goes on for aftercare to be done properly. The first step will always be to properly care for any bruises, abrasions or other injuries. This must absolutely be done, regardless of reluctance towards it. This might mean cleaning and bandaging any abrasions, rubbing soothing ointment on an ass that’s been spanked red or applying an ice pack to reduce inflammation of a body part. A first aid kit should be part of your aftercare kit, as well as remain on hand in case of any mishap during the session.

A glass of water or Gatorade will hydrate your body and introduces electrolytes that are needed. A tea could also work. It’s also a good idea to include a snack—it should be light and healthy, such as fruit, to replenish natural sugars that might have depleted during the session. Salty snacks boost potassium, which most likely dropped due to dehydration.

The physical contact you need or provide as part of aftercare varies with your relationship, but I would say the most often practiced is simply cuddling. Cuddling is a great way provide physical contact as well as boost oxytocin. If you and your partner aren’t exactly cuddle buddies a warm blanket or robe is an easy way to substitute.

You’re going to feel lethargic from all the hormone activity in your body, so sleep is a crucial form of aftercare. Some people simply need a nap (sometimes with their partners), while others need a full night’s (or more) of rest to allow their bodies to repair and return to normal.

After all of the boring but necessary steps, you’re free to do as you please. Some couples may enjoy simply talking and laughing, continuing to cuddle while watching a movie, or taking a bath. All of these are great ways to help your emotional and physical state.

Aftercare is, of course, not limited to subs. Aftercare for dominant partners is important—but I’ve spent about forty five minutes writing this, so most likely that will be posted sometime tomorrow.

Thought of something else I should post regarding the safety side of BDSM? DM me!

(I’m only not sure what the most popular tags are so I just tried to add as many as I could so this gets recognition.)

[toaster-trash]

“Aaron Tveit is a tenor he shouldn’t have been cast in a baritone role”/“Sondheim is rolling in his grave rn”/“He sounds too cute and unthreatening.” Genuinely shut the fuck up oml how does it feel to be boring asf 😭 He played the role extremely well, the songs sounded great in his vocal range, he WAS extremely threatening, and y’all are just being petty and puritanical about this shit. I’m a hardcore fan of Josh Groban and Len Cariou’s interpretations of the character, but Aaron Tveit did just as good of a job playing Sweeney Todd as anyone who came before him.

Sweeney Todd is a show that is and always has been continuously reinterpreted and played around with, while still keeping its core characterisation, plot and themes, which, just saying, were way clearer under Tveit’s portrayal of the character than for example, some of the “classic” baritone portrayals like George Hearn (iconic as his performance was, totally rewatching my 1982 proshot DVD on loop over here). He captured the sympathy and tragedy of the character whilst still being feral, aggressive, passionate and threatening, he’s a great actor and apart from the very mild set-back of his vocal range just being higher, he’s probably the best portrayal of Sweeney Todd I’ve ever seen. And even then, his vocal performance was far from bad — I’d totally stick it on in the background if he had any songs professionally recorded. He just doesn’t have the deep oomf that Josh Groban had, but if we’re going to talk about Tveit’s Todd being too “cute”, I’d totally say the opposite — as much as I absolutely love Groban’s interpretation of the character to bits, he arguably kind of lacks the feral aggression other actors who’ve played Todd have.

And, as for “Sondheim is rolling in his grave”, excuse me?? Sondheim has always been explicit about wanting an actor that can sing over a singer that can act. He reworked the structure of “Send In the Clowns” specifically for Glynis Johns because “she couldn't sustain notes,” his words. Not that either Johns or Tveit can’t sing, but you get the picture — yeah, no, Sondheim would absolutely not be rolling in his grave because a tenor played a baritone role he wrote extremely well and opted a couple notes higher than they were originally written.

Also, while I’m on the subject, listen, ok, I love the original 1979 cast recording so much that Angela Lansbury was my top artist (😭), and Annaleigh Ashford is actually my icon oml I absolutely adore her, but bsfr the hate on Sutton Foster was wayyy out of order. I’m not really a fan of a lot of the stuff she does (no harm to her or anything, just a personal preference 🤷‍♀️), and I think her portrayal of Mrs Lovett was a LITTLE bit surface level at times, (imo she didn’t REALLY have the same super strong characterisation that Ashford brought to the table tbf?), but for the most part she was actually really really funny and her chemistry with Tveit was on point, and she was still really good during those serious scenes too.

And don’t get me started on that one time I read a comment that said “Sweeney Todd is not a comedy”….bro… some of these people don’t even know what the fuck they’re talking about 😭

[corvodumpy]

explain blaseball to me like I don’t know what baseball is

In the most simple explanation possible (simple does not mean short), it was a baseball simulator where the fans could bet on the teams with fake currency. The teams were all original teams and the players were randomly generated from their names, stats, position, down to their preference in coffee and pregame rituals. Fans would pick a favorite team and use the money they gained to buy raffle tickets, which were submitted into an online election system.

The election page contain simple things like "improve one of your players batting stats", "trade a player with the season winning team", or massive rule changing things like "The Top 4 Teams of the Regular Season must run an extra base next season" or "Every Season, a random team from each Subleague will become the 5th Playoff team. A best of 3 Wild Card series will happen on Fridays."

Fans would often work together to pool their raffle votes on what they wanted. The winners were pulled at random but the more votes you submitted the better your chances. The game took harsh turns into cosmic horror very quickly. The first season allowed fans to vote to "open a forbiden book" which resulted in the book cursing the game as a whole, causing solar eclipse weather which caused the umpires to occasionally turn into mindless killers who would randomly incinerate players mid-game. These deaths were permanent and the player was immediately replaced with no fanfare.

Fans often got very attached to their teams players, drawing art of what they look like or writing up stories about them, so their deaths often really meant something to a lot of people. Fans would often find ways to manipulate the simulation to do weird things, or try to push their team in interesting directions to reach some goal. The game devs often noticed what the fans were doing and would play into their games to cause many funny "monkeys paw" results.

One of the most famous involved a player named Jaylen Hotdogfingers. She was killed when the forbidden book was opened because she was the best pitcher in the league and it wanted to punish us. There was an option in an election one season to "steal the 14th most popular player onto your team" and fans quickly noticed you were still allowed to claim dead players were your favorite. Jaylen was listed as playing for the "Null" team because she was obviously dead, but it still counted as a real team. Fans succeeded in trading with this "null" team and jaylen was brought back to life. Fans refer to this as Necromancy.

When she started playing, she returned to pitching, but she started causing "Hit-By-Pitch"s, which was not a standard part of the simulation at this point. Players hit were marked as "Unstable". Eventually, an unstable player was incinerated, and that instability spread to another player activly in that game, and text read out "[PLAYER] was incinerated, A Debt was Collected."

So jaylen was spreading some "mark for death" on players on purpose to repay whatever God controlled this game for bringing her back from the dead. This lead to a domino effect of death until this debt was repaid that many fans call "Ruby Tuesday."

Overall the game had a few main plots, one involving us challenging/killing one of the gods of this game, the other fighting against the "boss" turning the game into a profit hungry hellscape. The fanart was insanely good, the unique stories every fan had about their team and players were always fun, and a lot of good was done for many different charities. Many fans would get together and make music, resulting in a band and record lable.

All fan communication was done through an official discord or team specific sidecords, so live games had live fans watching in real time. It really was a "you had to be there" thing, a real cultural event. Fans have done everything they can to preserve it. Nothing will ever match the energy of the live discovery of events in a live chat, but the messages are all still in there, and there's a website to replay the old games exactly as they were. And the blaseball wiki is a blast to scroll through even if you never watched it because all the player and team pages are filled with the stories fans made up.

Anyways Goobie Ballson did nothing wrong

*coughs up blood and dies*

[zarvasace]

I've been going through your ao3 bc I've n been having a hankering for Four/ colors content

Hyrule's fic where he has the loftwing tattoo is ouch in the good ways. Boy had it ROUGH and if I found out that happened to my bestie I would also puke so I get you, Sky.

And the one where Red and Vio grow up in a cult and Red is the perfect little cult angel so they'll be allowed to LEAVE and they haven't seen the sun for 16 years like my heart. Those poor boys. They just want to see their brothers and Red was too young to even remember them ;-;

I picture that Red and Vio found a nice house with a big garden and they spend all day relaxing in the sun and hanging out and nothing else happens to them and they're happy and also Red helps Zelda and the knights find and put a stop to the cult cause Red has alllll the information about them now.

Well I certainly have my fair share of Four and FS boys content. XD I've actually been meaning to add on a bit to the cult one, so here's a fun little epilogue! ~1k words, some CWs for implied religious trauma, some cursing, and moderate angst.

(said cult-themed fic is here! It's a whump fill and imo one of the more intense ones so.)

---

Green wipes his hands off on a towel and heads to the doorway to poke his head into the living room. “Hey, Vio.”

“Sorry!” Vio says, startling. The book in his hands jumps as he shuts it too fast. He looks up at Green, then blinks and settles. “Sorry,” he says again, this time apologizing for apologizing. 

Green takes a second to bite his tongue—he harbors an eternal, ice-cold hatred for the people who'd somehow managed to get it into Vio’s head that reading was something to apologize for—then shrugs in what he hopes is a nonchalant way. “I just wanted to ask if you had a preference between tomato sauce or cheese sauce for dinner. Blue and Red should be back soon.”

Vio slowly reopens his book to the page he'd been reading. “Um, I think Red likes cheese better.”

“Okay, well, what about you?” 

“I don't really have a preference.”

“Cheese, then,” Green says, just as the door to their little house swings open. 

Green’s little question had startled Vio, but Red's loud, enthusiastic greeting very much does not. 

“Viooooo! Guess what I have!” Red bounces in, wearing something a lot like what he'd worn that first day. It's red and yellow and reminds Green of festival robes. The thin fabric accentuates the way he dances in and presents a set of ominous-looking black iron keys to Vio in both hands. 

Those keys mean absolutely nothing to Green, but Vio raises his eyebrows. “You really did it, then.”

“Did you doubt me?” Red smiles. 

“Can we melt those down?” 

“Oh, I definitely plan on it.” 

Blue follows Red into the house, closing the door behind them both. He wears Vio’s old grayed cloak with the heavy leather mantle, though now there’s a splatter of blood across the side. Where Red is clearly very pleased with what they've done, Green can see Blue’s anger simmering beneath the surface. 

In a flailing of angry movement, Blue rips off the hood and tears the mantle off his shoulders. He bundles it all up and dropkicks the thing into the wall with a shout. 

“Woah, Blue,” Green says, stepping in but not touching him yet. “You okay?” 

“I'm fine!” Blue snaps. He throws his hands into the air. “I’m just dandy! I'm totally not traumatized at all! And I bet you aren't either!” He gestures to Red and Vio, who watch him warily. “We're all really well-adjusted members of society! Nobody treated me like shit while they thought I was you! Nobody at all!”

Green drops his towel and grabs Blue’s arms to stop him from throwing a punch at the wall. He's done it before. “Calm down!”

“Why should I?” Blue keeps shouting, but Green can see the shine in his eyes. “They kept saying, oh, they're good people, just misled, just take care of some of the leaders and everyone will be fine, but you know who gave a damn about me? About Vio? When we staged that—that—”

“Blue!” Green shakes him, hoping to snap him out of it, but all he does is shake the tears out. 

Blue is more prone to punching out his feelings than crying about them. The tears that fall down his face are out of the ordinary for him. He looks at Green like he did every time he became despondent: like he hopes desperately that Green can fix the world. His rage is quickly giving way to full-out sobbing, and it's a bit startling. This hasn't happened in years. 

Green has gotten good at dealing with Blue’s moods, but Vio and Red very much have not. Red has moved to stand half in front of Vio, as if to protect him, and Vio’s eyes have gone calculating. Then Red leans back to whisper something, never taking his eyes off of Blue and Green, and Vio responds, too quietly to hear. 

Blue starts to push away from Green, red in the face, but Vio is right there, hands raised as if he doesn't know what to do with them. 

��Um,” Vio says, “I'm sorry.”

“No, I'm sorry!” Blue interrupts, his voice breaking. “I didn't mean to—to get mad—and we didn't find you—and I had no idea—” 

Red taps Vio on the shoulder and whispers loudly. “Ask if he wants a hug.”

A short, wet laugh interrupts Blue’s tears, and he shakes his head as if to say it isn't necessary. 

Vio’s face goes tight in a wince, and Green starts to move to interrupt, but then Vio raises his arms and wraps them around Blue, and Blue’s sobs go quiet almost instantly. After a few seconds, they readjust so Blue can hold Vio back. Vio definitely isn't crying, but he does hide his face behind his bangs and Blue’s neck. 

Red looks like he's about to cry, too, so Green nudges him. 

“Want to help me make some sauce for pasta?” 

“Really?” Red says, looking up. “Yeah. I do.”

“Come on.” 

Red drops the keys he holds on top of Vio’s discarded cloak, then follows Green into the kitchen. He's a little subdued, but still enthusiastic. By the time Red burns his half of the sauce (surprising no one), Blue and Vio have shifted to speaking quietly on the old couch. 

It's going to be a long road of healing, even considering how far the four of them have come so far. But now they know that the cult isn't going to come after Red and Vio, or kidnap anyone else, for that matter, since they got the princess and knights involved. But Vio has begun to keep his books in plain sight, and Red curses a little more every day. Red goes outside into the sun most days, and drags Vio with him every so often. They moved to a nice little house, and visit their father at least once a week. Blue has been happy, and so has Green. 

It's a long road, yes, and doubtlessly it's an uphill one. But they're on it together. 

[plulp]

hey guys. remy design

[edge-oftheworld]

'shallow hearts for shallow minds that ache to be alive' the chokehold you have on me