#if anyone wants my personal reviews of any of these send me an ask and i'll be happy to answer it :)

[indigostudies]

a very incomplete list of cdramas (plus a few chinese films) i've watched and my rating for hsk proficiencies for them below the cut!

i've watched some shows that aren't included on this list, but i didn't watch enough of them to get a good sense for the level of challenge they pose, so they're omitted from the list. i've also included links to the mydramalist pages, if you want to get a sense of the plot.

i had to remove the list format, since tumblr decided i had too many characters per block of text, so i apologise for that. a number of these can be watched on youtube with english fansubs, but if you can't find something, you can always dm me and i'll get you a link!

沙海/tomb of the sea: this fits into the extended daomu biji/grave robbers' chronicles/lost tomb franchise, but you don't have to have seen the other shows or read the books to watch it, and the pov character is an outsider who also doesn't understand what's going on 90% of the time. this show is contemporary, and you could probably start watching it at a fairly low hsk level because it doesn't have a ton of complicated technical or genre-specific terms. the subbing in english decent, since it came out a while ago, but there are some errors that crop up with names and nicknames. if you wanted to watch it without subtitles, i'd say you could probably get the gist of what's being said at around an hsk 4 or hsk 5 level. it has 52 episodes, each around 45 minutes long. (mdl link)

双镜/couple of mirrors: set in the republican era, so some of the terms used are a bit outdated in terms of colloquialism, and it also has a mystery/detective element to it, so that could pose a bit of a struggle. that said, the show isn't actually too challenging in terms of vocab—i would say you could watch it without english subtitles at an hsk 3 level with some struggle, and with a fair amount of ease at hsk 4. 12 episodes, at 46 minutes each. (mdl link)

云泽传/legend of yunze: wuxia/xianxia, which makes the amount of unfamiliar terms higher if you aren't used to the genre, but the episodes are all very short, and the plot itself isn't overly complicated, which makes it easy to sit down and watch in one go. on a level of difficulty, as long as you're familiar with wuxia/xianxia terms, you could probably watch this at an hsk 2 level without too much issue, and the subbing in english is very thorough. has multiple seasons, but the first season is 12 episodes, between 3-7 minutes each. (mdl link)

神探/detective l: this is a procedural detective show, and it's set in the 1930s republican shanghai, so there's a combination of more formal/outdated language and specialised detective/case-related phrases. the english subs are decent, though, and the actors all enunciate clearly, which helps if you need to look up words. i would say this would probably be a bit of a struggle below the hsk 5 level, but you'll pick up a lot of new, crime-related phrases. 24 episodes, 40 minutes each. (mdl link)

不良执念清除师/oh no! here comes trouble!: i'll be honest, this one was a struggle for me because of the taiwanese accent. i can understand what they're saying, it just sounds like the auditory equivalent of someone coming into my house and moving everything a few centimetres to the left. this is also a procedural show, but contemporary, so not quite as challenging in terms of vocab to detective l, in my opinion..........but it's also got a heavy supernatural element, which does come with specific vocab. the subbing is good, but if you're going to watch it, this one probably requires a higher hsk level to keep up—hsk 5, at a minimum, in my opinion. 12 episodes, 52 minutes each. (mdl link)

s.c.i谜案集/sci mystery/sci: another contemporary procedural mystery show, but from the mainland, so there's no elements of supernatural. surprisingly simple vocabulary; you could watch this at an hsk 2 level and get the gist, and an hsk 3 or hsk 4 level would let you watch it just fine. has fairly good english subs, and i believe they set the show in hk, which accounts for the higher than usual amount of english usage, up to and including in dialogue. the only bit that might make it challenging is the heavy lean into the psychology, but it's all largely explained directly, since most of the characters aren't familiar with the terms either. 24 episodes, 45 minutes each. (mdl link)

成化十四年/sleuth of the ming dynasty: ming dynasty (mid 1400s, under the chenghua emperor) setting, but a fairly colloquial vocabulary. there are some specialised titles used, but those are fairly self-evident by the way the show is shot, and easy enough to look up. the english subs are good, and i would put this at an hsk 4 level—but even at an hsk 3 level you probably won't struggle too badly. my hangup here was, again, one of the leads being played by an actor with a taiwanese accent, though it's not too heavy. 48 episodes, 45 minutes each. (mdl link)

老九门/the mystic nine: dmbj prequel, set in the tail end of the republican era (1939, if i remember correctly?). has a lot of tomb- and tomb-robbing specific vocabulary, alongside the more dated modes of speech, so i would put this up at an hsk 5 or hsk 6 level, but there's decent subs, so you could watch it at lower levels, it would just be a bit of a challenge. 48 episodes, 42 minutes each. (mdl link)

猎罪图鉴/under the skin: contemporary procedural show; there's a lot of emotion- and motive-specific words used, and the fact that it's a procedural makes it a bit more challenging, in my opinion. i would recommend that don't start with this show, just because of the fact that it's pretty easy to get lost if you don't grasp some of the vocabulary. i'd put it at an hsk 6 level, but that said, the subs are good and you can watch it at an hsk 5 level with some effort, i think. 20 episodes, 45 minutes each. (mdl link)

春风沉醉的夜晚/spring fever: honestly not as challenging in terms of vocabulary as a lot of things on this list, and fairly contemporary (set in the 2000s). i would say if you're at an hsk 4 level, you will probably do alright with it. 116 minutes in total. (mdl link)

关于我和鬼变成家人的那件事/marry my dead body: another case of struggling to acclimate to the taiwanese accent; otherwise, not too complicated in terms of vocab, though there are some spirit/marriage-specific terms used. overall, though, i'd put this at an hsk 4 level as well. 130 minutes in total. (mdl link)

陈情令/the untamed: heavy on the wuxia/xianxia elements, so unless you're familiar with that, you might struggle a lot to get through it. this is a lot of peoples' entry into cdramas, though, so it's not utterly inaccessible, and has decent english subs. i would put this around an hsk 5, if you want to watch it without subs, though you'll probably still have to pause and look up some words here and there even then. 50 episodes, 45 minutes each, making it the longest on this list. (mdl link)

山河令/word of honour: arguably the hardest on this list, i would say, because it's so plot-heavy. i, as a native speaker, struggle to follow along with this for extended amounts of time because there's a combination of 1. a lot happening, 2. a lot of wuxia terms, and 3. a lot of references to literature/art/etc. i would put this up at an hsk 7 level, honestly. that said, the subs for this are very good. 36 official episodes with a 37th mini-episode, 45 minutes each for the regular ones. (mdl link)

天官赐福/heaven official's blessing: one of the easier shows on this list; i would put this at an hsk 3 or hsk 4 level; there's some words you probably won't know, but while it does fall under xianxia, it doesn't go into that as much in terms of vocabulary as cql/the untamed does. i believe both seasons have both official subbing and official dubbing into english available, but that's not how i watched it, and i've only seen the first season, which is 11 episodes and about 20 minutes per episode. (mal link)

致命游戏/the spirealm: not particularly challenging in terms of actual vocab, but as of yet, only the first few episodes are subbed, since it came out literally this month, and the other subs are all auto-generated and.............very lacking. that said, it's a contemporary setting, and i would put this at an hsk 5 level, give or take; there are some references to folklore, but the characters research and explain or deduce the explanations of what is happening as it occurs, and you aren't left to struggle to figure it out yourself. 78 episodes, but each one is a bit under 20 minutes long, so it actually isn't that much content in total. (mdl link)

[thueenz]

have any of u guys seen that cheeseball cat on tiktok/insta?? idk i dont use instagram. this one

i saw them months ago but they popped up again last night on my fyp and i want to talk about them so bad because theyre an occupied object as i like to call them (object with some kind of spirit in them, not to say haunted, just an object with some kind of 'being' or soul to it) and i find it endearing that a cheeseball cat i randomly saw one day is occupied. now we go under readmore

im pulling most of the screenshots from this video because its the one i saw last night so go watch if youre curious and to show the creator some love for their art!

if you have no idea who cheddar is they were not always a cheeseball, the creator bought them and painted them like this originally they looked like THIS

the being in them was present from the time of buying, they stick out like a sore thumb in this image specifically (likely because this is the day of buying and they havent settled into their surroundings at all)

luckily they dont seem to mind the fact that they were painted like a giant cheeseball at all. i cant say every being would take well to that, but if anything, they seem to like it. even if op and the fans on tiktok arent aware theyre 'there', they seem to enjoy the attention they get, and the individual love they have been given in the paint job. to be loved is to be changed or whateva. in all seriousness though they are fine with it, more than fine, which im glad lmao

theres plenty of beings in objects that are discontent with their situation, where the person theyre with either is not aware of them at all, or is misguided in their views towards beings in objects/uncaring/ even scared, but cheddar here seems perfectly happy. while others might shy away from attention, they seem to like the attention tiktok gets them.

i mean, they have their own little pedestal, special gift like baby cats that are custom painted, theyre special and named to the person theyre with, and people on tiktok love them. not a bad life if thats something you like! im really happy they feel so content, i get sad seeing beings that are unhappy on the internet but i cant rlly do anything about those cases so 😭

they really seem to like the person theyre with too, in this frame of them being picked up, their energy softens and brightens and makes my chest feel giddy and affectionate. theyre very cute i adore this cat i would give them a hug if theyd have me

i think they likely have a purpose or magical skill, but i cant pinpoint it further than 'they want to bring good into this persons life', which could cover a raaange of things.

theyre not malicious at all, they seem very content and friendly and i wouldnt feel uncomfortable around them at all in person so no worry of that. a bit intense before settling into their new life, but not bad. sometimes beings are just a bit intense lol. theyre not haunted by any human spirit, i can't say where they came from, or when, but i don't think they were ever 'alive' either animal or human.

i ♥️ cheddar and their sweet little cheese throne

[cupid-styles]

casual

partially based on casual by chappell roan and a lil bit of sad personal experience hehe

word count: 2k

content warnings: angst (no happy ending), references to smut, alcohol, harry being a douche, not ramadan friendly

main masterlist | talk to me

. . .

From: H (12:47 a.m.)

Come over?

To: H (12:50 a.m.)

Give me 15

From: H (12:52 a.m.)

K

. . .

It’s not unusual for her nights to look like this. Or her early mornings, rather.

It wasn’t always this way. When she first met Harry, she wanted nothing to do with him romantically or intimately. She’d heard about his reputation — it wasn’t anything bad as long as you were looking for the same thing. He was an expert in bed and the friends that slept with him always provided rave reviews. Ever excited rumblings of, “oh my God, he’s so caring! He made me finish twice before he even took his cock out” and “he’s the perfect one night stand — seriously, I’ve never had anyone better.” 

But Y/N didn’t care for that.

She was a serial monogamous, always bumping around from one lengthy relationship to the next. In hindsight, she supposes she wasn’t any better than Harry, who earned his notoriety from a series — a long series — of casual hookups. 

If you needed a rebound, you went to Harry.

If you were going through a dry spell, you went to Harry.

If you were just horny and needed someone to go home with at the end of the night (and he hadn’t miraculously already found somebody else yet), you went to Harry.

And Y/N never planned to sleep with him. Ever, really. He was a fine friend, someone who mixed well with their mutual friends, but they hardly exchanged conversation except for the occasional nicetie. She had his phone number from when he planned Rachel’s surprise birthday party last year and they were friends on Venmo, passing back the same $20 every month for drinks or a shared Uber. 

That was the extent of their friendship. 

Until a few months back, when Y/N was down in the dumps. She’d been seeing this girl, Samantha, for a month or two, assuming that they were headed straight towards a happy, exclusive relationship — only to discover that Samantha was sleeping with and seeing just about 10 other people on the side. And it only came out because Samantha happened to contract chlamydia from one of her sexual partners, so she’d been forced to tell Y/N for the sake of her health.

Y/N's friends, Rachel, Maeve, and Len gave her time to wallow. They offered it to her on a silver platter, even, offering multiple girls nights out (and in), providing Y/N all the space she needed to cry and complain and talk about how hurt she felt. 

But then… a week of moping turned into two, which turned into three, which eventually turned into a month and a half. Her friends were exhausted from watching her spiral into sadness, so they did the only thing they knew: They sat her down and told her she needed to rebound. Fast.

“And who the hell am I supposed to rebound with?” Y/N asked through a sniffle. The only thing that made this whole thing worse was her friends staging an intervention for her because she was being annoyingly sad about her not-really-breakup-but-felt-like-a-breakup. “See, that’s the best part of being friends with a man whore,” Maeve replied eagerly. Len and Rachel sat on either side of her with bright eyes, nodding excitedly. “Harry! He already said he’s down and everything!” “Wait— you already asked him?” “We just put the idea in his head. Don’t worry, men are stupid,” Len quickly waved her off, “But he’s going out with everyone tonight. We’ll feed you a few shots to get you just buzzy enough, and then send you off to your night in heaven. You won’t even remember that girl’s name by the time Harry’s done with you!” Y/N cringed. “Hasn’t, like… everyone slept with him though?” Maeve shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s clean. He gets regular testing and uses condoms. Really, Y/N, it’s sort of a rite of passage at this point. But you should do it only if you’re comfortable— don’t let us force you into it.” Y/N swallowed tightly. She had to admit, the thought of a rebound sounded… appealing. She’d swiped through dating apps looking for one, but she was too scared that a one night stand would end in her bloody murder. And it helped that Harry already knew what he was doing, and— wait, was she crazy or was she actually starting to consider this? “Alright, fine,” she replied with a shaky exhale, “Let’s do this.”

That was four months ago.

And what was supposed to be an evening of stupid, lusty, casual sex turned into Y/N falling hard. It wasn’t her fault, though — no, not when he panted breathy promises into her mouth in the back of the Uber, mumblings of “just tonight, you know that, right?”. She’d replied just how she’d rehearsed it in her brain hours prior: “yes, yeah, I know— just tonight. Just for tonight.” 

"Just for tonight" shifted into Harry asking her to stay until the morning for breakfast and shower sex. Then, the following weekend, he texted her the ever classy you still awake? at just past midnight. She was indeed up, doing nothing but rotting on her couch and watching a documentary about the deep sea — and her hookup with Harry had been good, really good, and she wasn’t going to turn down another night of orgasms. 

As he wrapped a condom around his dick and pressed messy kisses down her neck, he whispered the same hurried sentiments from the weekend before: “didn’t see anyone I wanted tonight and we were good, yeah? It was good. So just… just one more night, okay? That’s fine, right?” 

Foolishly, with flittering eyelashes and her nails scraping down her back as he pushed inside, she nodded and echoed his words. Just one more night, that’s fine.

It didn’t take long for their friends to catch on when Harry would leave the bar an hour early without looking for someone to take home. Or, when they’d both be out and, like magnets slowly being pulled towards one another, they’d end up kissing on the street as they waited for an Uber to take them back to Harry’s place. 

The guys hounded Harry about it, asking if Y/N was finally the one to tie him down.

“Nah,” he’d reply with a shake of his head, “She’s a good girl. Too good for me.”

When Y/N’s friends demanded to know every last detail, she shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. It's... good, I think."

They only responded with small, tight smiles.

. . .

“Your mom texted me today. She invited us to come see them this weekend.”

Harry doesn’t reply — or rather, he makes an unassuming humming noise — as he gets out of Y/N’s bed, untangling his naked form from her sheets. He hunts down his briefs and pulls them on before stretching his arms out. 

“Did you eat dinner?” he asks, grabbing her tee-shirt off the floor and tossing it to her. She sits up, tightening the sheet around her chest. She shakes her head as she clutches the fabric of her shirt in her hands and watches him scroll on his phone.

“No. I thought we could get something.”

Harry hums again, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers. Swallowing, Y/N puts her shirt back on. She’s not sure why, but she always feels oddly vulnerable once they’ve finished hooking up. When she’s still naked and he’s already moved onto the next thing, like having plans with the guys or taking a shower before he heads home. She'd even purchased his favorite body wash and shampoo when he started sticking around a bit longer, but he'd never even mentioned it or uttered a thank you.

“Yeah, maybe,” he finally replies. He locks his phone and places it back on the ledge of the TV stand in her bedroom. The simple act makes her heart jump — usually, he’ll stuff his phone in his pocket as he’s leaving. Maybe he was planning on staying the night. “So listen, I know I took you to dinner at my parents’ place that one time, but I don’t really feel comfortable with you talking to my mom.”

Y/N furrows her brows in confusion. “She texted me, H. I don’t, like, regularly reach out to her.”

“Right, but it just makes this whole thing feel way more serious than it is.” he says, sitting back down on the bed. He maintains a steady distance between them and it makes a small lump form in Y/N’s throat. 

“Okay,” she murmurs slowly, “That’s fine, I get it. But… we never really talked about what this is.”

Harry glances up with wide, confused eyes. “We’ve said it a million times, Y/N. This is casual. Completely and totally casual sex.”

An ugly, involuntary chortle leaves her chest. He raises his eyebrows.

“We’ve been fucking for four months. That’s not really casual.”

“Yes, it is. It’s friends with benefits.”

“Sure, maybe, but that’s if you explicitly outline that you’re just having sex. No feelings involved.”

“We did that.”

“When?”

“At the beginning,” Harry responds. He seems frustrated now, but it feels as though he’s recalling a memory that Y/N was never even around for. “Remember? I told you, it was all just for tonight type shit. Nothing real.”

“Then why the fuck did you take me to your parents’ house two months ago?” Y/N demands, anger rising in her chest, “And why am I your date to all of your stupid, boring work events? And why the hell are you at my house like four times a week, and why do you have a drawer full of my clothes at your place?”

“Y/N—”

“This isn’t fucking casual, Harry. This is dating. You’re dating me and you don't even realize it.”

“I would know if I was dating you, but I never asked you to be my girlfriend. I don’t want a girlfriend, you know that.”

She groans and shakes her head, ignoring the way her jaw already aches from clenching it so hard. She grabs a clear pair of underwear from her drawer and quickly slips them on. Harry’s silent the entire time.

Suddenly, she whips around and faces him. “Have you been fucking other people?” 

A wrinkle forms between his brows. He shakes his head.

“No. I wouldn’t do that, and it’s unsafe.”

“Right,” she murmurs, placing her hands on her hips, “So piece it together, Harry. Neither of us are sleeping with other people. We’re exclusively seeing one another.”

“You’re just making this out to be way more of a thing than it is—”

“Oh, fuck off!” she exclaims, “You have a key to my house! That’s pretty serious!”

“I didn’t ask you for that!” he fires back as he stands up from the bed. They’re in a stand-off now, staring at one another with angry eyes. She snorts and shakes her head in disbelief.

“My friends were so fucking right about you. You’re such an asshole. You know Maeve called me a loser for thinking you were a good guy?”

Harry rolls his eyes as he grabs his phone and sweater, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

They don’t exchange any other words as he leaves her room. She sits back down on the edge of the mattress, listening as he stuffs his feet in his sneakers and slams the front door shut. She doesn’t even notice that tears are lining her eyes and falling onto the apples of her cheeks.

. . .

It’s barely 48 hours later when Y/N’s watching a YouTube video as she stands in the bathroom, doing her nighttime routine.

Like four months prior, when she hoped Harry would be a good rebound for her heartbreak, she's been moping around in self-hatred and sadness. She's in awe of how cruel and oblivious he's being, but more than that, she can't believe she actually believed he had real feelings for her. Ones that extended beyond sex.

She’s brushing her teeth when she notices a text notification come down, redirecting her attention from the influencer vlog to read the name of the sender. She taps on it to see a familiar initial.

From: H (10:32 p.m.)

Sorry for what I said. Can I come over?

[milaisreading]

Good day, dear! ^*^

I'm an anon who requested you some manager stuff yesterday and OMG YOU MADE ME SOO HAPPY! You're my favorite bllk blog now and I love your bllk manager series A LOT! Thank you so much for writing this. I'm not good enough at reviews but your writing is really good. I like everything: your long funny and cute scenarios, your imagination, manager-chan's personality. Thank you so much for writing my requests, I'm really thankful. Please stay safe and happy!~

Can I ask you for headcanons/scenarios about manager-chan takes care of boys (you can choose any characters you want) when they are sick/injured or have a mental breakdown?

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY!~

With love,

Garden.

Author: OMG?! Thank u sm from the words, it means a lot🩷 I didn't expect to become anyone's favorite, since there are so many talented BLLK writers, but thank u🩷 Hope u like this one and thanks for the request! Stay safe and thank u for reading 🩷🩷

Warnings ⚠️: none in particular. Reader uses she/her and there might be manga spoilers. Requests are open

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to: Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

"Reo!" (Y/n) yelled in shock as the boy fell in the middle of practice, thankfully Baro caught before anything could happen.

"What happened?" Bachira wondered as Nagi and (Y/n) ran over to the boy. His breathing was pretty heavy and it looked like his face was getting redder and redder by the minute. Cautiously, (Y/n) put her hand on his forehead, flinching at how hot it was.

"He has a fever. Nagi, can you carry him to the nearest medic room."

The white haired boy quickly nodded his head and picked Reo up and ran out of the training hall.

"The rest of you continue practice. I will inform Ego-san what had happened. Please don't cause a ruckus."

"Sure!"

"Don't worry, I will keep them at bay."

"Everything will be fine." (Y/n) smiled at their words and ran out of the room, hoping that it was just a fever Reo had.

"(Y/n) is so considerate~" Gagamaru said as the others nodded in agreement.

"I wish I was Reo right now..."

"Same."

"So it's just a fever? Nothing more serious?" Nagi asked, trying to hide his concern as (Y/n) walked out of the medic room. The girl smiled at the gesture, knowing how close these two are.

"Yeah, the doctor said it is probably a seasonal flue. Reo should be up on his feet in a few days. You should go and finish the training, before Ego-san takes your phone privileges away."

"And you? I can't leave Reo alone." Nagi said nervously as (Y/n) patted his arm.

"No worries! I will stay here and take care of him. Ego-san will send one of the senior staff members to fill in my manager duties for the next few days."

Nagi's short lived nervousness and worry died down as he realized what that meant. The boy slowly leaned down and blinked at (Y/n).

"What do you mean you won't be with us during training?"

"I can hardly be with Reo and you guys at the same time." (Y/n) answered. Nagi's eyes were dotted for a moment, then it looked like a light bulb had gone off and he started coughing.

"Oh! I don't feel well either... Seems like I have to stay with you and Reo-"

"Nagi Seishiro, get back to training... and never try your hand in acting." Ego's voice came from one of the speakers and (Y/n) laughed at the statement, as Nagi didn't do well in that department. The boy huffed and after a minute or two he agreed to go, although reluctantly.

Sighing, she walked back into the room and the nurse gave her some instructions on which medicine she should give him and what to do when the fever gets higher. (Y/n) was also given a new meal list that the boy will have to follow.

'Some of this food makes me realize how lucky I am to still be healthy.' (Y/n) cringed and ran out to get the lunch.

A while later (Y/n) came back with the food, just in time as Reo was waking up. She put the tray down and walked over to where the boy was trying to sit up.

"Don't get up so fast. Your head will start spinning!" (Y/n) warned as she helped the boy up and lean against his pillow.

"What happened?" Reo asked, feeling his face get even redder at the closeness.

"Nothing much, you seemed to have caught a seasonal flue or something. Ego-san said that you will stay here for the next few days, so practice in canceled for you."

"Oh? Sorry... I didn't want to cause any issues. Why are you here though? Shouldn't you be with the team?" Reo wondered as (Y/n) went to get the tray with food.

"I am here to take care of you. Ego-san already called in for someone to do my manager job. Everything will be fine." (Y/n) grinned as the purple-haired boy blinked at her words, her words slowly registering in his brain.

'Take care...of me?! Wait! She will stay here with me for the next few days? Alone?! Breath, Reo! Play it cool! Losing it in front of (Y/n) will be of no use.' The boy gulped and even though he was sick, he felt a weird bubble of happiness light up inside of him.

And so, truthfully to (Y/n)'s words for the next few days she barely left Reo's side during the day. Whatever he needed she would get for him, check his temperature and talk over the most random things while (Y/n) was cleaning up for the day. Reo himself felt at peace after a very long time, knowing he was cared for so much by his own crush really meant a lot to him.

'She looks even prettier today than yesterday. I wonder how the others are doing without her... must suck being them!'

3 days have passed and while Reo was enjoying his time being sick, the rest...well they didn't like this new arrangement at all. Not only will Reo miss out the practices for the next few days, but (Y/n) will also be gone. Nagi didn't like any of this, the substitute manager didn't allow him to play on his phone during the break. Baro, Rin and Isagi got punished by running 5 laps for every argument, Aryu was forced to tie up his hair in a bun, Bachira was called for a time off every time he went above what was needed for the exercise and Gagamaru... well he couldn't take any more criticism on his stance at the goal, since it was the most comfortable one for him.

"This is unbearable... When is (Y/n) coming back?" Chigiri whispered as he untangled his hair.

'I miss (Y/n)'s way of tying it."

"I don't know, but I can't do this running for too long." Isagi groaned along with Rin. The two already had 2 arguments.

"I don't like this guy at all." Baro muttered.

"What are we supposed to do? Ego-san ordered her to take care of Reo. Lucky bastard..." Otoya said, glaring at the new manager, who was busy scolding Bachira and Kurona for playing rough again.

"I hate this training. If only he would stop telling me every 2 minutes to change the way I stand... (Y/n) always encourages me to do it my way." Gagamaru groaned, taking a sip of his water.

Nagi didn't speak at all, he was in a foul mood ever since that incident happened, and not being able to play on his phone and see both (Y/n) and Reo was taking a toll on him.

Kunigami kept on sulking, as the new man kept telling him to slow down at certain times, Yukimiya and Karasu got scolded at least 3 times for joking and not taking anything seriously. Hiori by now was the only one who was on the new manager's good side.

"That guy pisses me off more than Kaiser." Kurona said, sitting down next to Karasu.

"Welcome to the club. His stuck up nature explains why he isn't a manager." Kunigami said, missing the way practice used to be less stressful.

"My monster is telling me to kick a ball in his face next time." Bachira grinned.

"I would say don't... but please do." Rin groaned.

"Why are Niko and Hiori pissed?" Isagi wondered as the others turned to look at them.

"Huge issue! We need to speak with Ego-san!"

"I wish Reo never got sick or miraculously gets better!"

"Yeah, you are not the only one who wants that." Baro rolled his eyes.

"No! That new guy just trash talked (Y/n) to a staff member and said he will ask Ego-san to get a new manager." Niko and Hiori yelled at the same time. An eerie silence fell on the group and they snapped their eyes at the duo.

"What?! What do you mean change managers?!" Isagi yelled out, being the first one to get out of the shock, followed by Chigiri and Bachira.

"Alright, I am throwing hands then if that's what he wants." Bachira said, but got held back by Yukimiya.

"Did you two hear that even right? (Y/n) does a great job." Gagamaru asked as Niko nodded his head.

"We heard him talk about it outside. We need to talk with Ego-san or Teieri-san!" Hiori exclaimed.

"Hmmm... Isagi, Baro, Kunigami and I will go talk with Ego-san. The rest of you stay here and cause as much ruckus for that bastard as possible." Rin spoke up as the others nodded their heads. As much as the boy tried to keep his calm, he really couldn't. Rin held (Y/n) to a great standard and anyone who tarnished her like that man did deserves at least to lose his job.

"Your fever went down! Maybe one more day of rest and medication, and you are free to go!" (Y/n) exclaimed as Reo nodded his head. He was happy that he was getting better, but he will miss these past few days where (Y/n) gave him her full, undivided attention.

'Man... this day is both good and sad.'

"Ya know! I am happy to see you play again!" (Y/n) suddenly said, causing the girl to look up at her in surprise.

"Really? My skills are nothing special though. Far away from Nagi, Isagi or Rin." Reo said, and he really meant it. Although he had Nagi on his side while playing, he was far from his genius best friend when it comes to talent. That alone caused a flood of insecurities to enter his body whenever (Y/n) would watch the team play, as he knew she probably had her eyes more on the skilled players like Isagi or Rin or Baro.

"What do you mean? Not everyone can copy as fast as you can, basically make themselves invisible. Just because you aren't like Rin or Isagi or anyone on the team, doesn't mean you aren't a great player." (Y/n) started speaking, and Reo's full attention was now on her. The boy could feel his heartbeat quicken and his cheeks started to turn a light pink shade.

"Y-you think so?"

"Of course! You survived this long because of your own skills, not Nagi's. Don't put yourself down. I for one, find you great!" (Y/n) said, giving him a closed eyes smile. Reo felt his heart nearly leave his chest at the last part.

He was about to answer back when the doors to the medic room opened rather quickly, startling the duo.

"What?"

'Not now... we had a moment!' Reo groaned as he made the voices of Chigiri and Bachira out.

"(Y/n)! Please come back, this is getting unbearable!" Bachira said, running to Reo's bed where (Y/n) was.

"What do you mean?" She wondered.

"What Bachira wants to say is... this substitute manager sucks." Chigiri said honestly.

"He is strict and yells at us for no reason most of the time. Aryu even has to wear his hair in a bun." (Y/n) winced a little at that part, knowing Aryu hates that a lot.

"So I am guessing you are disappointed in the arrangement Ego-san and I came up with..." The girl laughed nervously as the other two nodded their heads.

"Well not really. Please tell us you are coming back soon." A pouting Bachira said as he tugged on (Y/n)'s shirt. The girl looked between the duo and Reo before sighing.

"Well, Reo should be up on his feet and training tomorrow, we are just waiting for what the nurse has to say." (Y/n) grinned, patting the said boy's back.

"Ahh that's good then." Chigiri and Bachira said in unison as Reo pouted a little.

'Well, at least I got compliments and care from her these past few days... It felt really nice to hear all that.' The purple-haired boy thought as he smiled softly.

'He really got all that care and attention from (Y/n) alone to himself... how do I make myself sick?!' Chigiri wondered.

'Do I need to take cold showers or pray for a flue now?' Bachira thought, trying to stop himself from glaring at Reo.

Meanwhile on the other side of the building, Ego was looking dumbfounded at the four boys in front of him.

"What do you mean fire her? She is the only one who could put up with you idiots."

"That's what we said! So you won't listen to him?" Rin questioned as Ego nodded his head.

"I won't. Now get out of my office, I will deal with that man."

"Thank you, Ego-san." Isagi said, genuinely feeling relieved that the man was on their side.

"I still think we should beat him up."

Baro whispered to Kunigami, who nodded his head.

[nobodywritingao3]

unnamed monster & caretaker au

Tasked with feeding and caring for the king's resident monster, Tommy is constantly overworked and fully expects to die before he's twenty. He has an odd relationship with the beast and makes it a point to keep details about himself private, but it's difficult when the creature is the closest thing in the world he has to a friend.

wordcount: 2.3k 🕸 read it on AO3

CW: - hard vore mention - soft vore mention - mentioned abuse and dehumanization

‼️‼️‼️ Unfinished, unedited one shot. Proceed with caution

@gracideaviolet sent me a writing prompt and this is what i originally wrote for it. i like the concept but i wrote this at a not-good time and when i reread it, i didnt like the quality enough to fix it. if you like this story, let me know cuz that might give me motivation to properly finish this thing. feel free to take the idea but please credit and send it to me cuz i like this story and wanna see what someone else does with it

Tommy finished loading the cart and took a second to breathe.

He heard the beast shifting around in the dark. "Are you doing okay out there, Sunshine?"

Despite his tiredness, the sweet nickname made him smile.

"You know you eat a lot? It's a pain in the ass to load myself."

He meant it as a joke but silence hung in the air a second longer than it should have.

He cleared his throat. "I don't mind it. I'm compensated."

The beast snorted. "Not enough."

Tommy laughed awkwardly and didn't say anything.

He walked over to the control panel and started up the track.

The cart was big enough to fit a barn, and filled to the brim with various livestock, prisoners of war, and whoever else might have found themselves on the king's hit-list. Nothing sent to the monster was alive. It was a point the monster whined about a lot, but Tommy much preferred it that way. It was already disgusting having to spend hours upon hours piling the cart with bloody meat (sometimes human!) by himself, and the day he was handed a living person would be the day he faked his death and fled the kingdom.

He pressed a few buttons, tried not to cut himself on several rusty levers, and the rail obediently started itself up with a few revs and puffs.

The beast hummed contentedly at the noise.

The cart began to run along the track, disappearing from his view and descending into the inky black cave. He heard the gate creak open and he heard it creak close. And then he heard the beast begin to eat.

They weren't nice sounds by any stretch of the imagination - ugly rips and wet squelches of flesh - but Tommy had been at the job for a while and was long used to it. He settled in and waited for the creature to finish its meal.

"So how was your day, Keeper?"

Tommy hummed. "About the same as it always is. My master told me that the king will be coming in soon for a performance review, but I've no idea when that might be."

The beast paused its munching before hesitantly starting again a moment later. "I - why?"

He shrugged, assuming the monster could see him from the dark. "Something about me holding down this job the longest out of anyone before."

"Hm."

"I don't understand why that would intrigue the king. And no offense to you personally - "

"Uh huh," the monster sarcastically interjected -

" - but this isn't exactly the career path I'd have chosen. If I knew how to transfer I probably would have. Honestly - I have no idea how the others could have quit this job. I was under the impression that this is the sort of thing you do until you die."

It laughed at that.

Tommy sighed.

He was quiet for a few moments, a question sitting heavy on his tongue.

He shouldn't ask. It's impolite.

The monster shifted around. "Spit it out."

He gave the darkness an accusatory look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

There was a huff of laughter. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're doing that thing where you want to say something but are worried about what I'll think. It would be adorable if I wasn't desperate for decent conversation."

"Fuck you." He said it with a smile.

"Well? Are you going to say or not?"

He scrubbed at his face. Fuck it. "What were your other keepers like?"

The beast went silent for several long moments.

Shit. "You don't have to answer if you - "

"I didn't much care for them."

Tommy didn't say a word.

"The feeling was mutual." It sighed heavily. "You're a much better replacement, Sunshine."

"I'm sorry for asking."

The beast purred. "Don't be, dear. I pressed you. And I don't mind answering." It jostled the cart. "And I'm done eating."

Tommy nodded and powered up the control panel again. The cart began to recede. 

It appeared from the darkness, picked completely clean and shiny as if it never been covered in blood at all.

It scared him a little, how quickly the monster could eat such a large amount, but he dismissed those thoughts as easily as they came. When would that ever affect him?

He checked the clock. He still had a few hours before he had to report back. "Do you mind if I stay with you longer?"

The monster laughed conspiratorially. "Oh, but that's against the rules," it said in a high mockery of his voice.

He flushed.

He had been terrified of the monster when they first met. He gave any excuse to leave the beast as soon as he could, including that the rules specified that spending unnecessary time with it was prohibited. That was true, but no one would have known if he chose to linger. In hindsight, it had been terribly obvious how afraid he was and he's only embarrassed that the monster pretended to believe him.

"You're the worst."

"And you still want to spend time with me?"

Tommy blew a raspberry at the darkness, earning a few laughs.

It was comfortably quiet for a few seconds before the monster spoke again. "Why are you curious about my old keepers?"

He tugged at his fingers. "Do you know how I ended up here?"

"You never talk about it."

He frowned. "And I never will," he responded coldly. It never gave up asking. "But do you know, generally, how someone ends up working this kind of job?"

The monster was quiet. "Yes."

Tommy didn't say anything for a minute. "The king is very angry with me. I don't want to see him again. However the other keepers escaped..." He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. If the king requests an audience with me, it isn't for any good reason."

~

When the king acquired his monster, he hired out help to feed the thing and keep it under control. He made sure the beast ate lavishly, but now matter what they fed it, it never seemed like to satiate the creature. But it hadn't died of starvation and that was good enough. When its caretakers started to disappear, it wasn't difficult to guess what happened.

But acknowledging the problem would mean addressing it too, and the king simply didn't care. In the end, he realized he had the perfect way to quietly do away with those he needed gone. He sourced this job, with its one hundred percent rate of 'job abandonment' to political adversaries or people growing affluent enough to take his throne.

Which takes him to the present day, and a rather interesting problem.

When some servant boy had spilled a bottle of red wine down his front during a gala several years prior, the king had been so angry that he threw the child in a dungeon and left him there. When the monster's then-keeper inevitably disappeared, the king came to the boy and grimly informed him of his punishment.

He hadn't expected the child to last more than a couple of days. He'd even picked out his replacements.

But lo and behold, the boy remained present at his job post for a week. And then that week became several, and those several became months, and those months became a year and a half.

The king couldn't understand why it hadn't eaten him yet. He was fifteen at this point, certainly the youngest to feed the monster. Was it waiting for him to grow up? Did it want to watch him sprout up before it made its attack? It was perfectly sentient, and the king knew this even though he denied it upfront. Shouldn't the monster trust that the sooner it finished its current keeper, the sooner he would be replaced by another?

Had there been someone who had managed to bring this creature to subservience? If so, then the king took special interest.

And if not, then it was long overdue that the servant boy be put to death.

~

Being a human's lapdog wasn't a dignified experience, but it was a fed one. Driders were megafauna, making it hard to get enough food. It certainly didn't help that the human kingdom believed everything was its rightful property and saw driders as a threat to them owning more than they could eat.

Wilbur certainly didn't enjoy his life, and he was almost always hungry anyway, but at least he was alive.

He lived in a dungeon below the castle, but he wasn't sure what a castle was and he barely understood the concept of a dungeon. He hadn't seen the sunshine in years, and his keeper was his only company.

He liked his keeper. The boy was kind. He didn't threaten to pee in Wilbur's food or throw rocks at him. He asked him how his day was, and even made it a point to handle the meat carefully as he transported it into the cart. He seemed lonely, and made up excuses to stay. He was a cute little thing, and Wilbur wanted to stick him into his brooding pouch and keep him there.

~

The cart rolled into Wilbur's enclosure, and he greedily snatched it up and began to eat.

His keeper sat at a table in the light.

Wilbur finished his food in a few seconds and toyed with the cart. He always made it seem as if it took him longer to eat than it did.

"Do you have a family?"

The boy froze at the question. "Why do you ask?"

Wilbur pouted even though he knew he couldn't be seen. "We've known each for so long. I don't even know what your name is. Can't I know just a little?"

His keeper awkwardly laughed, fidgeting with his fingers. "Oh... I guess you're right."

Wilbur's heart leapt.

"I don't have a family."

"Oh." Shit.

"Yeah."

What was he supposed to say?

"I don't have a family either."

His keeper peered into the darkness. "What are you?"

Wilbur smiled. He skittered to the bars of his cage and leaned against them, towering over the boy, though he had no idea. "Would you like to play twenty questions?"

"You're so lame, seriously, what are you? I don't even know what you look like."

I could show you, he wanted to say.

Coming out of his cage was easy. The king assumed it could hold him but no one actually checked. And aside from his keeper, no one had been in his dungeon for years. In reality, the bars had long been bent open and Wilbur could get out whenever he pleased.

It wouldn't be difficult to come through the bars and present himself to his keeper. Pick the little figure up in his hands and take him into his cage with him.

When he'd eaten his previous keepers, they'd always been replaced. If he captured his current keeper and stored him away in his brooding pouch, then he'd never be lonely again.

It was tempting.

"That's probably for the best," he said. He stepped away from the bars of his cage and curled up on the floor.

He liked his keeper. He wanted him to be happy. Just because Wilbur was stuck in a cage didn't mean he had to be as well.

"Do you think I'd be scared of you?"

Wilbur looked down at himself, at his large stature and eight legs. His fangs came down to his mid chin. "I think you'd be terrified, dear."

His keeper smiled. "I don't think so. I have a suspicion that you're just harmless."

His heart melted. Oh stars, he wanted to eat this kid.

He massaged his aching brood pouch. "You're sweet, Sunshine."

~

The cart was left in his cage while he was sleeping. He woke up confused, spying it in the corner of his enclosure and wondered why he'd been fed overnight. Where was his keeper? His mind jumped to the worst conclusions.

He found him inside the cart. Bound and gagged and looking terrified beyond all reason.

"Oh, Sunshine," he murmured.

His words had the opposite intended effect, his keeper starting to panic and writhe at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, hey... Calm down, okay? I'll get you out of there." He reached into the cart and picked him up in his hand.

Despite the circumstance, his heart soared. This was the closest they'd ever been.

The figure was tiny in his palm, and still struggling.

Wilbur quickly undid his bounds, being mindful of his sharp claws against the human's body. As soon as his hands were free, he was clawing at the gag around his mouth.

"Don't eat me! Please, do not eat me..."

Wilbur's stomach dropped.

"What? Sunshine, why would I eat you?"

The boy continued to sob.

Wilbur cupped him to his chest and headed towards the bars of his enclosure. He expertly clambered through and came out the other side, his skin exposed to the light for the first time in more than a year.

"Dear? Can you talk to me?" He stroked his head with his thumb and brought him eye level. "Why were you in my feeding cart?"

His keeper stared at him in shock, and it was then that he remembered his keeper had never truly seen him before.

A hot wave of embarassment and self consciousness overtook him.

He awkwardly set his little human on his table and receded back into his enclosure.

"Sunshine?" He prompted once back in his cage. "Are you..."

"Could - could you get out the whole time?"

Wilbur's mouth went dry. "I - well, yes, I could but - "

His keeper stumbled off the table and hit the ground with a nasty sounding crack.

Wilbur sprang to his claws and scrambled forward. He popped his head out between the bars and stared down at his little keeper. "Are you okay?"

The human stared up at him with terror on his face and scrambled backwards, running for the door.

"Shit, shit, wait, I'm sorry! Please stay, please, Sunshine - "

The door slammed behind him with a resounding crack and Wilbur flinched backwards.

~ ~ ~ 🕸

i used to love drider aus back in 2020 🕷️🕷️🕷️

just a freaky little guy whose half dude and half Fear. potential off the charts.

my tag list got lost when my computer was annihilated (</3) but let me know in replies if you want to get @'d and i'll make a new one

oh yeah link to the writing prompt and story i did fill out

[borderlinebelle]

Hi. We are all wearing meat/skin suits, lemme tell you something nice about yours, please?

🫡♥️…🦵🏽💪🏻 👁️🫦🦶🏽👂🏽👃🏽🦷👅

TODAY, I’ll be… live girlblogging body positive comments to all audience submitted photos on tumblr live.

Today: Saturday///September 16th///11am-4pm EST

follow me, join my live to see the logistical shit show attempt of my dreams!

READ MORE BELOW TO FIND OUT HOW THIS WORKS ☺️

the general run down:

$10 VENMO = 1 positive review for 1 photo of anything below the neck, any and all body parts and genders are encouraged!

every body is beautiful and it would be my honor to keep your photos unseen while sharing an authentic description and positive comment! Yes.. even you, cis straight men, I know your dying to send those 🍆 pictures to someone because you’re not sending them to people without their permission right? Right. 👍🏽👀😅☺️

You keep the power.. Although a description of the photo is given on the live stream to the audience so they can participate, you can choose to send a pseudonym, keeping your body totally anonymous. Private reviews are not yet available!

Do you have a body part you want to show off?

Do you have a part of your body that you want someone to look at but you’ve been too embarrassed to share it with many people?

Did you take a sexy selfie and want a pansexual woman’s opinion before you send it?

As a polyamorous cis black woman/content creator/recovery rangler/tumblr OG, it would be my honor to shower you in cute kindness… or whatever about it. ☺️

🦵🏽💪🏻👁️🫦🦶🏿👂🏼👃🦷👅🍑👌🏾🖖🏿👀

THE DETAILS:

📸 you lovelys can send your photos via my ASK BOX include a 4 digit number for reference. These photos will never be seen by ANYONE else and will be deleted at the end of each stream.

👅 send your VENMO payment on PRIVATE with your tumblr name, your 4 digit code you included in your PHOTO ASK, AND your pseudonym (if you’d like to use one)

😜 PHOTOS AND VENMOS ACCEPTED WHILE LIVE STREAM IS STREAMING ONLY! Please folks I can’t wake up everyday to a mix match quilt work of bodies… although… almost a dream of mine 😅😂 bodies = fine expensive art on this page

🖼️ everybodies bodies are to be respected at the very least and loved at the very most. You decide what feels or is right for your body. A fact that slaps. It’s all yours. We are all trapped on this rock, hurtling through space, on a cosmic journey through this particular life time collectively and the body your currently in is the personal spaceship 🚀 that being said, WE NEED TO KEEP THE CHAT RESPECTFUL. There are no bad bodies period. That’s it. The end. Full stop. I’ll be looking for moderators, but for now… it’s just a small, almost blind, anemic, sensitive, crybaby, soft girl stupid running this blog and live stream so bare with me and KEEP THE CHAT CHILL. Obviously we are going to make jokes and laugh because bodies are weird and crazy like wtf cells and shit 👀 but keep it lowkey. Thanks.

💵 I ONLY use VENMO. I’m still deciding on how this will work and I’m a noob with boobs. Please just stick to one form of payment. I cannot accept … NFTbitten coins. Thanks.

🧍🏻‍♂️🧍🏾‍♀️🧍🏼I will be looking to start a discord if you’re interested add me on tumblr and message me! idk wtf we finna do in there but someone mentioned it once 😂

[rudhira]

So, maybe this is a weird thing to post but it got too long to send in an ask oops.

I saw Nikki's 4t2 Hair Defaults post earlier this week and only now had time to check it out for real, and... whew there is a lot!

First of all, I think the documentation is incredibly thorough and impressive. It's a lot, sure, but there really isn't any getting around that if you want to download bulk hair defaults and also know what it is you're getting. Having clear, unique previews for every hair and also listing information about it is very helpful, and putting all of that together takes... a lot of time.

Second, and this is more personal preference, is that I love seeing all the hats. A lot of hat hairs get replaced with regular hairs, which is sometimes a shame if you like Maxis match stuff, because it changes the vibe. I especially like the Base Game hat hairs, the hats chosen fit the original hairstyles very well and it's a good choice to spice it up by combining the same hat with different hairs.

And third, the way the files themselves are made is very efficient, reusing the same resources to keep unique textures to a minimum. All in all, not counting the clothes and add-ons, there are 1 788 textures. That may seem like a lot, but considering that there are 485 files and hairs generally have at least five textures, you'd expect closer to 2 500 textures. Not having to go through hundreds of extra textures is probably saving a lot of people from pink soup.

Personally, this isn't for me, since I don't like clay hairs and also change my mind too much to get anything from a bulk default, but there's no denying that this is pretty much required for anyone wanting to replace literally all the hairs to fit their aesthetic, with no hassle. This is also the most cohesive set of defaults I've ever seen.

Now, this ended up being more of a public review rather than a personal message to Nikki by virtue of being a post, but, well, thanks and well done. I do know how much work goes into creating defaults like that, and it's no easy task. What you've posted is unlike anything I've seen anyone do before.

And finally, some of my favourite hairs from the post:

uuhairbeanie - it sure does what it's supposed to

amhairhathumanstatue - he gets to still look like a statue!!

amhairhatmascotknightopen_redplate - I have never considered how much the feathers in the helmet could be interpreted as a mohawk and now I can't unsee it

auhairhatsafari - another great use of hats

Mrs Claus Hair - just very cute

ufhairpgchoppy - this hair was the best possible choice for this default

[athemarina]

writeblr comeback!! (for real this time!!)

hello (again), marina here! i am back from another long break, and this time i am determined to rejoin the writeblr community properly, because i really truly missed it here!

it's been a couple months since i've been here, and there have been a couple of changes in my life and to the way i want to run this blog, so i thought i'd give an update to anyone who might still remember me and maybe get to know some new writers! <3

who am i?

i am marina/mina, 27, from austria. i've been on writeblr for quite some time now, but had to take a break due to work and uni being really demanding, and also my personal life kinda falling apart lol. but i've realised once more that writing is one of the things that give my life meaning and stability, and i want and need to reconnect with it.

i work full-time and am still finishing up my degree, so i'm quite a busy bee. nevertheless, with uni summer break just around the corner, i want to spend more time writing and finding inspiration here!

some random interests of mine: philosophy, linguistics, the beauty of greece, musicals, folk songs and folklore, horses, and formula 1. what a list.

what do i write?

i have put all of my previous wip on hold because i had no time to work on them at all the last few months. right now i am in the worldbuilding phase of a new fantasy story (it takes some elements from children of the king but will go in quite a different direction! there's robots in it now!!) i want to take working on this new wip really really slow though. i've spent the last couple months feeling horribly burnt out and don't want to push myself around so much anymore. so while a proper intro post will have to wait for a bit, i'll still share some of the stuff that's floating around in my head and can't wait to get to know other people's wips again!!

i want to try my hand at writing poetry and flash fiction! it's not something i've dabbled with a lot in the past, but i really want to expand my horizons!

i have read quite a lot this year and would like to share some reviews / media analysis as well!

things i love to write and read....

all kinds of fantasy, anything that includes vampires, grief and healing and not-healing from it, characters who make all the wrong choices, questions of identity, queerness, and love.

if any of that vibes with you, let's be friends pls!!

i'd love to be part of the community again, and i love talking about reading / writing / just about anything so pls never hesitate to send me a message if you wanna chat <3 i also love to do tag and ask games, but it might take me a while to get to it!

thank you for reading, and thank you all for being such a lovely community here! i'm back babyyyy

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Lilia Vanrouge Halloween Personal Story: Part 1

"I shall scare the pants off of you"

Part 1 (Part 2)

[Interior Hallway]

Ace: The Halloween Steering Committee members were meeting somewhere in one of these classrooms, right?

Ace: I got told to come submit an application for the magic we're planning on using for our effects, but…

Ace: Man, Riddle-ryōchō's so impatient, Cater-senpai woulda been back at the dorm soon enough if he had just waited a bit longer.

Sebek: SILVER!!! YOU STILL PLAN ON SLEEPING!?!

Ace: Hm? That loud voice is…

Ace: Yup, just like I thought, Sebek… Oh, and Silver-senpai. Heeey, what are you guys doing here?

Sebek: Hmph… Ace.

Sebek: There are some decorations we want the Young Master and Lilia-sama review, for their approval. We are waiting for the meeting to end.

Ace: Can't you just shoot them a text or something, askin' 'em to let you know when they're done with the meeting?

Ace: That way you don't have to be waiting around here for the meeting to end.

Sebek: How dare you suggest I would use a phone to contact either of them!? I would never be able to do something so impertinent!!!!!

Ace: Uh-huh. Well, don't know how impertinent it is, but I guess we're stuck waiting here together until the meeting is over.

[clamor, clamor]

Ace/Silver/Sebek: …

Silver: Zzz…

Sebek: SILVER! DON'T LEAN AGAINST ME!!!!

Silver: Ah! Apologies.

Ace: Sebek, dude, your voice is way too loud. They're having a meeting in there, so you gotta turn your volume down.

Sebek: Urgh… True, I certainly cannot bother the young master in the course of his duties.

Ace: And he's probably falling asleep 'cause you guys're just standing there, yeah?

Ace: If you're gonna shout at him every time to stay awake, then why don't you tell a cool story or two instead?

Sebek: A cool story, hm. Well, now that you mention it, last night, my liege…

Ace: There it is, "my liege." Yeah, no talking about a topic that's only exciting to you.

Sebek: Why?! He is a topic that should excite anyone!

Ace: Oh hey, here's an idea. Don't you have any interesting tidbits of Halloween in Briar Valley?

Sebek: Halloween doesn't differ much between countries, does it?

Silver: Actually… From what I've heard from my father, Halloween celebrations can differ greatly among countries and cultures.

Silver: The other day, Azul explained how Halloween was celebrated in the Coral Sea, and it is vastly different from both how Briar Valley and this school celebrates it.

Sebek: Wha― Is that true!? …A-Ahem! Then I suppose I can speak a little bit on the matter!

Sebek: In Briar Valley, we carve our lanterns out of wood. I don't believe the purpose changes much from the ones made from pumpkins…

Ace: Cool, what else?

Silver: Also… When the moon is directly overhead in the night sky, scarecrows are set alight in the castle square, and everyone dances around them in costume.

Ace: I see. Kinda feels like a midnight costume dance party.

Sebek: It is not that sort of frivolous affair. It is a festival for ghosts where evil spirits run rampant!

Sebek: …When I think back to that one Halloween 10 years ago, it sends shivers down my spine…

Ace: C'mon～ You're TOTALLY just exaggerating now.

Sebek: THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION!!!!!!

Sebek: YOU CAN ONLY SAY SUCH THINGS BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!!

Silver: He's right… It's just as Sebek says. Halloween in Briar Valley is… truly terrifying…

Ace: Eeh? If even Silver-senpai is saying that, then…

[door creaks open]

Lilia: Sebek, Silver, sorry to keep you waiting. We could hear your voice from inside.

Malleus: I do not mind you waiting for us, but be a little quieter while the meeting is in session.

Sebek: M-My apologies…

Cater: Oh? Hey, Ace-chan's here too. What's up?

Ace: Riddle-ryōchō told me to bring these docs to you, so I came. Here you go.

Ace: And then, I was bored while waiting around for ya, so I asked them about Halloween in Briar Valley…

Ace: But then Sebek got all emotional, and was like, "There is nothing more terrifying!" or whatever.

Cater: Oooh, so Briar Valley's Halloween's that scary?

Cater: I hear that life in Briar Valley basically revolves around magic… Does that mean you guys put up all your decorations with magic, too?

Malleus: Indeed. A majority of the decorations are made with magic, yes. As for how terrifying it is, well, I would say that may differ on the person.

Ace: Seeee, so you guys are just scaredy-cats, huh?

Sebek: No, that's not true…!

Lilia: Kufufu. Regardless of whether Sebek is a "scaredy-cat" or not…

Lilia: It certainly is true that Halloween celebrations in Briar Valley are very different from here on campus.

Cater: Oooh, really? You know, your boy Cay-kun here really likes scary stories! Tell me some, Lilia-chan ♪

Lilia: Right. Well, let me thoroughly regale you some tales, as a knowledgeable ambassador of Briar Valley!

Part 1 (Part 2)

Requested by Anonymous.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Not going to reblog it in order to respond, but lets talk about piracy, specifically of books.

It's a fraught discussion. Many people take the black/white stance on it. I personally do not pirate, because I know the cost to authors. If piracy had been a thing in the xtian cult I grew up in, I probably would have. We were an hour away from the closest library. It wasn't safe for me to read the queer books I needed.

I've been poor enough (am now) where I can't afford books. I've been far enough away from a library that it wasn't a viable option. My library really doesn't have the books I want to read. I've requested them, but they haven't shown up. Some countries don't even have libraries. Some people can't read the works they want to because of external pressures.

There's more to it than good/bad.

Firstly, the most likely person to pirate a book is a cis, white, western male who makes 70k or more/year. That's just sheer entitlement and yes, it's wrong. Period.

But what about the poor people, the queer people who don't dare check out the queer books they need? What about, what about, what about... I get it. I really really do.

I'm an author whose books are pirated a lot. If I had a nickel/5 cents for every copy of my work that's been pirated, I wouldn't be edging on homelessness right now.

Some truths.

1. Most authors aren't wealthy. Most aren't even financially stable. Like any industry, there's the golden show ponies that make ridiculous amounts of money. Then there's the rest of us, who, if we're lucky, make 10k a year on our books. (I never have.)

2. It takes anywhere between 8 weeks of ridiculously long days to actual years to write a book. And these are niche, hard to acquire skills. Not everyone can write. I think almost anyone can learn how to write well, but it’s not inborn, and most people don't dedicate themselves to it. These are skills we've had to learn. So a person who pirates is also taking that from the author too.

3. Writing isn't easy. It's blood, sweat, tears, and so much time away from the people who love us to make that book. If there's no reward for us in it, why would we continue publishing? I wrote for myself far longer than I have for publication. People tell me I'm a great writer. If there's nothing in it for me beyond the joy of writing, why should I add the extra work of making my stories publishable? And there's sooooo much extra work and hours that go into that.

4. Piracy reduces the chance that that author can keep writing. It really does. We have to eat and pay bills like anyone else. Every single piece of great art we, as a species, have comes from people who had a place to live, money for supplies, and both time and energy to create. If you're living in poverty, like me, it can be nigh impossible to create. So you're taking that too. If you love an author's work, you're making it less likely they can either finish the series you've pirated books from, or even write at all.

5. Boycotting Amazon doesn't hurt Amazon, but it sure as hell hurts authors.

6. If you are in a position where piracy is your only option... email the author, their publicist, or their publisher and request a review e-copy. We'll usually send it in hopes of a review. It's likely to be cleaner and more readable than any pirated copy. Plus, it's legal.

7. If you have to pirate, at least have the basic decency to do something for the author in return. That can be a lot of things. Leaving a review at any site you can access that accepts reviews is probably one of the best. Reviews really do sell books for us. Good or bad reviews, it doesn't matter. Obviously, positive is better, but even a negative review can prevent another negative review by warning people of things they might not enjoy in the work.

Send them an email if you loved it. Writing is a lonely profession, and fan mail has absolutely kept me writing on hard days. It means a lot to get positive fan mail. (I've never even heard of an author who has asked where you got the book.)

Drop a dollar into their Kofi if you can. Or become a patron. Especially if you can afford it and love our work, you can help us keep writing that way too. If my patron were filled to the point where I could afford to write more, I could be easily getting 3 books out a year vs the 1 every couple of years I'm currently managing to do. And my books are free for my patrons.

Fan art can also be a nice thing to receive.

Important! Talk about our books with anyone who might possibly be interested (if it's safe for you to do so) word of mouth is still the best advertising there is. Mention them on your social media too.

8. Piracy is very far away from a victimless crime. You are (whatever your reasons) harming the author who wrote the book. Even if you weren't going to buy it, you're still encouraging people to rip the books and make them available illicitly.

9. I did mention most of us will send a copy out to those who ask for one, right? Especially if we're indie with little to no marketing budget. We're hoping you'll review it, but there aren't any reviews police. Most authors who are decent people will just send it and hope. (I've been harassed for reviewing a book before, so I'd be remiss if I didn't say there wasn't a risk of the author asking you about the review. It's considered incredibly rude to do so in publishing circles, but there's still some authors who will. Use a throw away email.)

10. Sign up for Netgalley and Edelweiss. These are sites where publishers put books up for requests for reviews. You request the book, (for free unless something has changed recently) then, if you get it, you're supposed to review it. But again, there's no review police. (Please do review if you can.)

11. If you do have access to a library, you can ask them to order it. A lot of the time they will. And libraries have to pay the author/publisher to license the work, so we get paid by libraries too. You're helping an author by using a library, not harming them.

12. Lastly, check your entitlement. The world we currently live in doesn't value art (and writing is art) enough to pay a living wage for it. If you want art, someone has to pay us to do it, because otherwise we can't pay the power bill. Or any other bills. Writing shouldn't be the sole province of the wealthy and well off. Yet, I've seen so many writers stop writing because they just can't afford to. I'm there right now. If you want a world where authors can afford to give our work away for free, start voting for things like social programs and UBI. So that we can create art without worrying about the bills.

I'll probably think of more later, but those are the basics.

Don't bother arguing with me. You know it's wrong to pirate. It's, as noted, something that some people need to do because of poverty or lack of access or, or, or. Unless it's a disability issue, just wanting the e-copy vs the paper copy your library has isn't enough of an excuse. You can email the author or get it legally from a reviewing site. And if you're one of the well off folks who pirate? Fuck you. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.

You do not have the right to steal from authors for any reason, much less your convenience. Talk about privilege and entitlement.

There are extenuating circumstances, and there are also non-piracy ways to get books.

[harukadrawsthings]

Hello there, Haruka, it’s me again. Got some story making questions for you if you don’t mind.

1)Is it hard to keep the character’s personalities/qualities from the show and incorporate them into your stories? How do you do it? Are there any notes or guidelines you follow?

2)Going back to one of my previously asked questions, about using your characters in my stories, do you mind if I make any crossovers involving anyone of your created characters?

3)When I have a story or an art piece involving any of your characters involved, before I publish it to the public, can I send it to you for a review? I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Hello, again!

The Ash Ketchum arc is over 1200 episodes long plus 23 movies and spin-off content so there's a countless amount of characters that we've seen and it's impossible to remember all of them. I often double-check character profiles on Bulbapedia or even rewatch clips or episodes if necessary whenever I want to clear some doubts. I can take notes too, such as a character's catchphrase or body language they convey when they either feel awkward or shy for example. Both for my OCs and AU versions of canon characters have written notes of their personality traits that can be consulted in my Toyhouse page; it's even helpful for me since Soul(mate)s begun to dive on depth and how consistency matters to me, or else I would have potentially forgotten about certain details!

As long I'm credited about the corresponding characters it should be ok (And I really mean it because unfortunately it has happened in the past not being credited despite of my request). Please let me know when it's done for I can check it out, I'll be curious to read!

Yeah, absolutely, I thank for the thought!

[im-a-matt-girl]

"Valentine"

It's Valentine's Day today, and people all over the school are sending each other Valentine grams. That's when people pay a dollar to pass a flower to another student at the school, and you have the option to tell the recipient who the flower is from. Some people send themselves anonymous flowers, and some just naturally get a lot of flowers from other people. Your brother Chris falls into the latter category.

No one ever sends you flowers, despite you being the most beautiful boy I've ever seen in my life. But this is not by accident; it's by your own design. I once overheard you say to a friend, "If I ever find out someone sent me a flower in the middle of class, I will never speak to that person again."

To most people, that might sound harsh. But I know why you said it. You are, by nature, a very shy and introverted person. You remind me a lot of myself. In fact, although I've admired you from afar for over a year now, I've never said more than two words to you at a time.

I don't get flowers on Valentine's Day - or any day, for that matter. I'm not very pretty, so I don't have any admirers. I try my best to blend in with my style and mannerisms, so that no unnecessary attention is drawn on me. It works, but at what cost? How do I get your attention?

Suddenly, an idea comes to my mind. I go up to the desk where the flowers are sold, and I am greeted by one of the volunteers working there.

"Hi!" she says to me in a cheerful voice. "Would you like to send a Valentine gram?"

"Yes, please," I tell her quietly.

"How many?" she asks me.

"Just one," I answer. I really, really hope my idea works.

Later that day, in class with you, there is a knock on the classroom door. The girl I bought the Valentine gram from enters, and starts calling out names to hand flowers to them. I see you slink down further and further into your chair with every name that's called. I know that you're hoping you won't hear your name.

The fifth and final name she calls is mine. I raise my hand, and everyone turns their head to look at me as she hands me a red rose. I feel my cheeks turn as bright as the flower. You were right: it is embarrassing. I can't even choke out a "Thank you" to her.

I steal a quick glance at you as she leaves the classroom, and you have a puzzled look on your face. I feel my smile falter. Did it work? Did I get your attention?

I hear the girl sitting behind me whisper, "I wonder who it's from…"

My smile comes right back, and I turn to her and say, "Oh, it's anonymous. There's no note with it." I look back over at you, and you look down at the floor pensively before turning back to face the teacher.

"All right," the teacher says. "Let's try to get our focus back on this review for the test on Friday."

After school that day, I see you with your brothers in the hallway. You're all walking to the spot where your mom usually picks you up, and I silently pray that she'll be just a couple of minutes late this time, so I can catch up with you. I watch as Chris runs ahead, and Nick chases after him. You stop and kneel down to tie your shoe.

I walk over to you, my heart pounding so loudly in my chest that I can hear my quickening pulse inside of my ears. I gulp, and approach you, the red rose still in my hand. Part of me wants to turn back before you look up, to run away and say nothing like I've done so many times before. But I don't.

"Happy Valentine's Day," I say softly, nervously, as you stand up again.

You look at me, slightly startled. "Oh… uh… Happy Valentine's Day," you stammer.

"This is for you," I say, holding out the red rose. Again, I avoid direct eye contact with you, lest I faint. I hold my breath as I wait for your response, and I can only hope that I'm not visibly trembling.

"Oh!" you exclaim quietly, looking around to see if anyone else is watching. To both of our relief, most of the students are already outside, waiting for their parents. No one is looking at us. You gingerly take the flower from me. "Thanks," you smile shyly.

I bite my lower lip and shrug. "I know you don't like it when all eyes are on you," I explain. "I'm the same way, so I figured I'd send the flower to myself and take the bullet for you."

You raise your eyebrows and open your mouth in surprise. "That's actually really thoughtful of you," you tell me, holding the flower to your nose. "I really appreciate it."

I feel myself turning bright pink again, and I can't stop smiling.

The next day at school, there is a small-ish piece of ripped paper on my desk. It's folded roughly in half. I wonder if someone accidentally left it there. I decide to look at it before throwing it away. I open it, and there is a pencil sketch of a flower inside. It says, in sloppy handwriting, "Thanks. Happy Valentine's Day."

I stifle a giggle and sit down at my desk. I fold the paper up again and hold it against my face so that you can see that I have it. I glance over at you, and you glance back over at me. Your lips curl up slightly, and your cheeks turn the palest shade of pink, but you say nothing. There is a mutual understanding that this will just be our little secret.

[imhereforscm]

The SCM gods as family members

Disclaimer: Everything below is made purely for fun. I don't mean to insult anyone or assume any person from your family OR ANY FAMILY is a bad person. I also love all of the gods and I'm not trying to drag anyone.

Leon:

• He's the rich aunt.

• He will treat everyone like peasants and will walk around like she's walking on the filthiest floor.

• Glares at any baby at the table for being "classless" and "impure", while her Pomeranian is literally shitting beneath the table as we speak.

• Is so rich, yet she will get you the cheapest hand lotion she can find and will also use it on the way to your house.

Scorpio:

• Emo son that's going through puberty.

• All he wants is to listen to metal and sad songs alone in his room, but NOOOOOO he gotta SOCIALIZE!!

• Will sit at the table with everyone, but will be scrolling on his phone the entire time, because his hormones are already going through enough drama and he doesn't need more.

Teorus:

• The extraverted daughter of the family.

• Has every single social media known to man.

• Will try to take a selfie with the Rich Aunt's Pomeranian and will get a smack.

• Talks loudly on the phone with every one of her friends and trust me...... There are a lot.....

• Will probably run away from the family dinner, because a bestie of hers just broke up with her redder-than-period flag boyfriend and she needs to comfort her.

• Crushing on frat boys.

Dui:

• The sweet grandma every kid loves to visit.

• Has an adorable cottagecore house with a golden retriever, want more?

• Will give the kids all the candies their parents said they can't have and by the end of their visit, she'll send them off with diabetes and a kiss on the forehead, coupled with a pinch on the cheek.

• Doesn't like when the family members fight, so she has a technique.✨

• "My heart... I got upset again..."

• Scares everyone shitless, because everyone loves her, so they comply and for her well being shuts the fuck up.

• She knows of the effect she has on everyone and uses it for peace and greater good.

Huedhaut:

• The academic cousin.

• Was most likely dragged to the family dinner and just trying to be polite with everyone's bullshit, even though what he'd really want is to pull a couple strands so hard, he'd be able to make a wig out of them.

• At some point in your life, your mom asked him to tutor you and now you're sitting there with an aching head, trying to learn one godforsaken history lesson.

• You're not worthy enough to P E E if you don't know what happened on 76 of February at 69:69 am! >:CCC

• The lesson was already confusing enough and he just keeps making it worse.

Ichthys:

• The uncle that was released from jail only a month ago and has probably been or WORKED at a strip club.

• He has met every cop, every inmate and has reviews of all the cells he's INHABITED and jail food he's tasted.

• His mere presence is enough to freak the Emo Son out, but he's the Extraverted Daughter's role model.

• This uncle ACTUALLY causes the Grandma to nearly cancel her subscription to life.

Karno:

• The mom, oh, the poor mom.

• Has to run around and prepare everything, because "GUESTS ARE COMING OVER!!!!!!!! THE HOUSE IS A MESS!!!!!!!!"

• The first person at the table to point out—or more accurately scream: "GRANDMA!"

• Downing that entire bottle of alcohol seems just about wonderful by the end of the day for her.

Zyglavis:

• Like wise ol' Krioff once said: He's the nagging mother in law.

• Will walk into the house and the first thing she'll do is run her finger over a random surface and then inspect her fingertip for any dust and being suspicious in the lack of it.

• The grandma kids are not excited to see.

• If you don't fully sanitise yourself, before stepping into her house, it doesn't matter how old you are. She doesn't give a shit if you're 14, 30 or 2. She can and she WILL shove a hand sanitizer up your ass, while wearing plastic gloves.

• Exclusively listens to classical music and *BOMBASTIC SIDE EYES™* any teenager that listens to any other genre.

• Is probably mother of 3 or more children, but for some reason is still really disgusted in the mere idea of changing her grandchild's diapers.

• You ask if there's candy and she gives you a hard af dark chocolate that has a bunch of white spots on it. And it's not white chocolate.......

• "Back in MY days-"

Aigonorus:

• The grandpa that never moves.

• He just lays there, sleeping.

• The most active anyone's ever seen him, is when the kids accidentally kicked a ball in his face and his head turned forcibly 90 perfect degrees.

• And then his head didn't turn around again and everyone present believed he died on the spot.

• Also had hearing problems and Alzheimer, so he constantly forgets his own age and when you calculate it and try to remind him, he can't hear you and when he finally hears you, he doesn't remember what he asked and everything just goes in a loop.

Krioff:

• The uncle that can fix everything except his eating habits.

• If he has an engineering degree? What kinda question is that???.............. Of course he doesn't.

• He learnt everything out of experience.

• If he tries to play with you, he'll probably just leave you hanging from a tree and tell you to play "surviving in the jungle".

• Definitely the family member who survives the zombie apocalypse.

• Breathes exclusively to be of Sweet Grandma's service.

• He'll help everyone, really, but you're still not GRANDMA.

Tauxolouve:

• The uncle that brings a new girlfriend in every family dinner and the Extraverted Daughter has all of their Instagrams.

• If you need flirting advice, he's there. ;)

• You once asked your mom which side of the family he's from. Your mom's or your dad's. And your mother couldn't remember, so she started asking everyone.

• Turns out no one remembers how you're related to him or if he just accidentally adapted into the family, but he's a cool guy, so everyone just lets him stay.

Partheno:

• The coolest godmother.

• Gets the best gifts.

• Will also give you flirting advice.

• Will basically kidnap you from your parents to take you on vacation and if you ask, she already has over ten suitors for you.

• Or she just manipulates your parents into allowing you to go with her.

• Has HIGH AF alcohol tolerance.

• Shamelessly talks about the most unhinged things and they're all sexual somehow.

• The person that looks like she could own a strip club, but oddly enough and much to everyone's surprise, she doesn't.

[khutao]

. solitude .

. zhongli x reader . college au . fluff + hurt/comfort . 1.5k words .

Although we as humans are constantly surrounded by millions of our kind, it’s still a commonality to feel like the only one in a given space. I’ve existed in a vacuum my whole life, with no one around me willing to give me comfort and company. I suppose I shouldn’t take for granted the people around me who do talk to me, but conversations always feel fleeting and superficial. It feels teasing in a way, like I don’t have little enough to complain that I have nothing, but not possessing enough to feel fulfilled by any interactions I have with people.

I’ve always felt a little different.

University exacerbated this. Seeing people always in a group or a duo, and wishing so longingly that I had that. Someone, anyone, who wanted to be by my side. Even if it was just one person. But human connection still hadn’t made sense by the time I was university age. Perhaps this was my destiny forever. I had begun to accept it as so: eating, studying, walking around, and going out by myself. Reaching out to others with no answer again and again began to wear me down to the point where it wasn’t worth trying anymore. So I drifted through life, traveling on a journey without a destination or purpose.

I sat square in the middle of my class in morning periods. I had geology in the mornings every Tuesday and Thursday, a class to fill some requirements everyone needs before they graduate. Sort of a nothing class. It didn’t mean anything of value to me, but I did enjoy attending for one specific reason: The boy who sat two rows ahead of me.

His name was Zhongli, and he was extraordinarily smart and handsome. He had rich, dark hair and the most vibrant amber eyes I’ve ever seen. His voice was deep and enchanting, and gripped my heart every time it graced my ears. Zhongli was everything anyone could desire in a man, and everyone knew it. That’s why I never spoke to him. Ordinary people were above me, so who knows the kind of pain I would feel if I dared to speak to someone who was not only objectively desirable and special, but someone I personally was growing parasocially fond of. I couldn’t help it. Even hermits develop crushes.

So to say I was surprised when he approached me to join a class group chat would be quite the understatement.

Zhongli explained that it was created by someone else to help everyone study, and hopefully create a group out of everyone willing to support each other. I agreed to join, the idea actually sounded quite smart.

When I entered, I found out there was already plans made to get together and review later that day. Albedo, Alhaitham, Ningguang, and a few others were going to be there. Jesus, there’s more attractive people in this class than I thought, was the first idea that crossed my mind. Against everything I would’ve done in any other circumstance, I typed “I’ll be there too! I’m a little confused about some of this.”

When I got to the table, I was a little flustered by the whole ordeal. Never did I imagine I’d be out with others organically. It felt nice, even if it was foreign. We cracked jokes, we complained about the professor, we reviewed everything the group didn’t know. I couldn’t help but smile, and I couldn’t help but steal glances at Zhongli every now and then, and once in awhile, I caught him stealing glances… at me? No way. I dismissed this idea as nothing but arrogance created from the high of hanging out with other people. How conceited could I be to think that he would ever pay attention to someone like me? Jesus Christ.

But the session went on, and he kept sending me signals of some kind. Zhongli would talk directly to me, ask me questions on what I thought, include me in the discussions. He would make the occasional joke to me, and chuckle when I did the same. It was so strange, but it felt good. It felt good to be wanted by another person, even if I was just imagining it.

Once we finished, he initiated further.

“Hey, Y/N… Would you mind giving me your phone number? I’d like to meet up more, just you and me. I have something to talk to you about.”

“Really?” I sputtered, feeling my face and ears heat up. “S-sure! Here!” I took his phone and typed my number in, feeling my limbs go even weaker at the smile on his face.

“Thank you. Shall we meet up here tomorrow? Same time?”

I nodded, still unsure what to say. Everything I’d felt in my life became… voided all of a sudden. Just because one person, one brilliant person, asked for my phone number, and to meet up again.

I rushed to my apartment and fantasized about the day I’d had. Some might’ve thought it was completely and utterly pathetic the situation I was in, replaying a study hangout in my mind, but it ended with Zhongli of all people asking me to meet up with him tomorrow. I grinned as I picked out an outfit, but suddenly stopped. What if it was something bad? What if he wanted me to stay away from him? What if this whole thing was a stupid prank like the ones I’d faced in high school?

The idea made me sad. Really, really sad. So sad in fact that I was starting to actually dread meeting up with Zhongli. He was so kind on the outside, but what if he was just like the others? I didn’t want to be so pessimistic about someone I’d grown so fond of, someone who’d done something for me that no one else had done for me before, but I just couldn’t help it. I got worried.

Nevertheless, I swallowed my fears and marched to my closet the next day. I needed to wear something nice, so I picked out a button-up and some cute shorts to match. That, plus some shoes and a jacket completed the whole outfit (I’d spent a good hour or so researching good outfits online the previous night). I took a deep breath. There was nothing to worry about, right?

Then came the time. I sat at the same table we’d sat at the day before, bouncing my leg uncontrollably as I attempted to calm my nerves. I grappled at my hands and felt the sweat forming. God, I had to get it under control. This was the most embarrassing thing, and Zhongli hadn’t even arrived yet. Get it together…

“Ah, (Y/N).”

“Hey! Zhongli! Hi there-!”

He smiled and sat in front of me, his moves so graceful and smooth, even with the slightest motions. “How has your day been?”

“Fine, mostly. I have classes in the late afternoons, so my mornings are free…”

“Lovely. Most of mine are in the mornings. I prefer them that way. Then my day is complete early on.”

“That’s true! Y-yeah, I like taking my time to prepare for the day. It’s difficult sometimes especially during exams. But yeah.”

Zhongli chuckled. “Should we order something to drink? I have extra money for the week for campus food. I can order something if you’d like.”

“No thanks! I- I mean I appreciate it but I can get it for myself! Thank you though, it’s really nice.”

“I insist. I don’t like wasting money.” Zhongli opened the app on his phone and punched in his order. “What do you like?”

I told him mine, and he placed it. “Lovely. I like a good cup of tea, personally. Any time of the day, there’s nothing better.”

I chuckled, “I suppose,” and relaxed myself. He really was as kind as he appeared in class, and so easy to talk to. The longer we chatted about things that really didn’t matter, the more relaxed I came to be. Things were nice when it was just him and me. It surprised me. I didn’t think I’d ever be so comfortable alone with someone like him.

“Well thank you for joining me today,” he mused, looking at the clock. “It makes me sad but I have to leave now. One of my clubs is starting soon, and you have class.”

“Oh! Oh, right!” I stood up and quickly shoved everything back into my bag. “Hey, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“Yes, I did. Can we meet again next time? I’ll tell you about it then.”

He waved and turned on his heel, elegantly moving out of the cafe and to his class. I felt my cheeks and ears burn again, processing the whole thing.

The next time came and he still “forgot” to tell me. And the next time. And the next time, and the next time, and the time after that. Things started to click for me. Zhongli had confessed he’d always thought I was cute, and he wanted the chance to get to know me. He truly had become as infatuated with me the way I had with him, which… Was something I’d never thought would happen in my lifetime. We were always together from there on out. Laughing, talking, exchanging words of affection. With one person - one wonderful person, my lifetime of solitude had finally been broken. And I never wanted it to return.

[onelonelystory]

I know a bunch of people are making way more helpful beginner’s guides to tumblr but for anyone who may be making the leap during the Reddit exodus here’s my two cents:

try following friends first. get the hang of how reblogging functions and of all the posting features. if you use desktop add an xkit extension and use their quick reblog. change your header and profile and title from the default. consider not using an unstylized picture of yourself as a profile; anonymity is valued here (though of course, coming from reddit, I’m sure you understand.)

curate your own dash. follow people who post about things you’re interested in, follow friends, follow friends of friends, unfollow anyone at any time if you notice that their posts are not for you. don’t feel obligated to follow certain people just to participate in certain corners of the internet. if they really have so much good shit to say, it’ll probably make its way over to you eventually. the trending and for you pages are kind of useless and serve best as an occasional peek into a funhouse mirror version of the internet you thought you knew.

don’t overuse the add-to-reblog comment feature. if there’s additional commentary you want to share with your audience, that’s what tags are for! it shows up in the poster and previous reblogger’s notifications just the same. somewhere down the line someone might see your tags and decide to append them to the main post. we affectionately refer to this process as “peer review,” because once something has been added to a reblog any further iterations of the post will include that addition so it’s really just a way of saying said commentary adds to the post in a way that is not exclusive to your own audience.

that said if you do feel you have additional context or a necessary perspective to add to a post and you deliberately want to attach it, don’t be afraid to say your piece. people can reblog it or ignore it if they like, that’s their business.

if you disagree with the contents of a post, try not to do a discourse about it. If it seems like well-intended misinformation, you can add a correction with a source, or whatever additional context you feel is necessary for anyone who may not know better. any questions about what the post really means or follow-up is maybe best directed towards op’s ask box, as the narrative of reblog threads can get lost in the notifs tab. don’t be argumentative, don’t make assumptions; this is the internet. nobody on here gets an editor to make sure their words are framed exactly as they intended. if you really feel like being negative take a screenshot of the offending section, redact op’s url and any tagged or visible accounts, and make your own post. we all want to just tear into something from time to time and disagreements are a part of life. but try to avoid unnecessary conflict, it’s neither fun nor productive for any party.

if you see someone being a bigot block them. don’t dunk on them, don’t send them anon hate, don’t argue against them in the reblogs. there’s no algorithm on this site and nothing spreads without people spreading it. the best way to stop vitriol is to disengage.

block anyone. block people for being hateful bigots, block people for being annoying. block people for trying to start discourse on your posts even if you feel bad about it. if you start thinking to yourself wow, my life would be just a little bit better if this person couldn’t see my posts and I couldn’t see theirs, block them. block me for being preachy. block your best friend of six years bc they’re spamming your dash with their untagged spongebob liveblog and then dunk on them in your 20 person discord server.

treasure your mutuals but don’t feel like you have to be following people to be friends. tumblr dms are busted as hell just send someone an ask instead unless it’s that private. the search function does not work. polls are new and we’re all still constructing the etiquette of those together, but so far they’re mostly a vehicle for pitting characters against each other chunin exams style. ignore any part of this post that you don’t want to listen to I am legitimately not the boss of you. make your own truth go crazy drink water have fun.

[sewercreature]

(sending this to your personal as obviously still a matter of importance!) it’s that time of year again… 🎄🎅🎉🎊 no. the highlights of your 2023 media consumption of course! just like last year, i want to know your top 5 films, books, tv shows, songs/albums, pop culture moments if that’s your thing, and as a bonus: any favourite personal moment/achievement in the last year? new to you, new in release, either works! can’t wait to see your response and wishing you a happy new year! 😁🩷

long post under the cut!

MOVIES

letterboxd - ieatdvds

Whiplash: I am a slow person when it comes to watching things when they come out but I did myself a disservice with this one it was an absolutely insane movie the obsession for perfection and unrelenting effort and dedication was unlike i’ve ever seen I was so stressed during this movie lol

The Wailing: One the best horror movie i’ve ever seen I will always recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror it is unmatched the twists are insane!

I’m thinking of ending things: This movie sent me into an existential depression but I absolutely adored it in all of its bleak existential beauty! To quote my own letterboxd review it broaches the question how much of our expectations for life are shaped by the media we consume?

Suspiria: Features one of the most disturbing body horror scenes i’ve ever witnessed; it has become one of my favorite movies. Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Mia Goth perform flawlessly I just love it!

Fire of Love: A very sweet heartbreaking documentary about a married volcanologist couples love for volcanoes and each other I highly recommend!

TV

I didn’t watch a lot of tv this year ;-;

Gen V: Lots of humor, gore, and lore if you love the boys you’ll love this!

The Last Of Us: Do I even need to say anything acting, casting, and the creative liberties just everything was superb couldn’t be happier with the adaptation!

:/

Music

All on repeat throughout 2023 give them a listen!

Accomplishments

2023 was an interesting year for me i did a complete 180 on my life i celebrated a year sober in October(still going strong) and i made the hard decision to end my long term relationship this year is about healing, being a better friend, sibling, and daughter, getting back to feeling alive, and making the most of my life in the way i want to!

thank you imo for your ask sorry it was so late! :)