#just. i do think it plays a factor in people not even getting curious

[snapscube]

I FINISHED TURNABOUT BIG TOP! Which means here is my updated autopsy report ranking for cases and characters!

Both have actually shifted around quite a bit so you may find it an interesting update. I'll explain some of my current thoughts on the new placements as well as my thoughts on 2-3 in general below a break if ur curious.

Okay so first thing let's just address the elephant in the room: We have an all new category on the character ranking!! One that I sure wish I didn't have to include but unfortunately Big Top made some... very Interesting decisions with specific characters. It would be one thing if this content was featured and then addressed, but it was particularly off-putting and frustrating to me that everything was played entirely straight?? So yeah. New lowest of the low category for a couple freaks who are actively courting a 16 year old!!!! yayyyyyy

OTHERWISE, I do have to say.... I was really pleasantly surprised at 2-3 as a case. I can say now I completely understand people having a distaste for it especially in regards to the unsavory age gaps, but literally..... almost everything else in this case was well put together and generally on-par with the quality of the rest of the series? As an overall package I actually still find Turnabout Samurai infinitely more dull. Like, maybe it's just because the lead-up to actually playing it was so uniquely frustrating for me and forcibly lowered my expectations by a ton, but there was so much good shit in Big Top. Maya, in particular, is in top form during this case. She is so fucking funny. I loved almost every word that came out of her mouth and it really solidified her top spot in the character ranking for me at present. But past that, I think the second half of this case is EXTREMELY strong compared to its opening half. I'll admit during the first trial section I was getting kinda tired with it and finding it hard to care given how much I just do not root for Max, so I had tentatively placed it at bottom of C tier. But then once von Karma arrives in the investigation section and then Acro's storyline enters the equation I really think it finds its footing. I actually found the last few scenes of the trial very emotionally effective, especially Acro's breakdown at the witness stand and mentioning how he couldn't follow through with taking his own life to escape his crime due to his desire to see his brother wake up. Like... I legitimately teared up.

And FURTHERMORE.... von Karma. Oh my god. I don't know if I'm picking up on anything here, nor do I want to know until I maybe see it for myself, but something about her conduct in the final trial really spoke to me. I feel like a surface read makes it apparent that she's just as frustrated as she is because she's losing the case to Wright again, and I do think that's a huge factor still to her reaction... but I don't know, I felt something else with her. Particularly when it came to her reaction towards Acro's attempted murder of Regina. I felt like she came across as PARTICULARLY disgusted towards that revelation and towards her own client in a way that subtly humanized her and had me just CHUCKLING AND CHORTLING in evil anticipation towards potential character arcs. I really hope I've grasped onto something here because... I love her so much. I love the idea that in spite of her reputation we're still gonna get to see this spark of humanity light up. AHHHHH.

Okay. Anyway. In summary:

I understand why people have a distaste for Big Top now, but it does not change the fact that I desperately wish I had been given the chance to experience the story myself going into it without that baggage. It genuinely did not help my experience in the slightest to just have that cloud of expectation over it and it is generally irritating that I couldn't even bring up that I was playing it without people jokingly apologizing to me or telling me that I wouldn't be able to handle it or whatever. Really not a great vibe.

As a case, it has a couple MAJOR, GLARING points of discomfort but I'm still really glad I gave it a chance and was able to find a lot of good in it anyway. It inspired me to unfortunately lower some of my other rankings because this is what I kind of consider a more middle-of-the-road quality for the series now. Solid B tier. I have played much worse.

Maya Fey is a god damn treasure.

As for some of the other character shifts, particularly in relation to some of the characters who got bumped from S to A rank, that's less because I decided I like them less now than I did when I first ranked them and more that I decided my initial interpretation of my feelings was incongruent in some cases. Like, for example I LOVE Mia I really do she's great, but in no way at this current time is she on the same level as Maya or Lana for me. So I just needed to adjust the ratios a bit.

Anyway, I'll be back eventually with posts about the next case and the last one of AA2! :3 I hear it's pretttyyy long but pretttyyy damn GOOD. Can't wait.

[wonwoonlight]

take a chance / jeon wonwoo

Wonwoo x Reader // 1.7k words // nothing but fluff lol they're idiots

a/n: if you cant tell im absolutely insane abt this wonwoo. 100000% self indulgent and 100% not proofread as always ehe <3 v lowkey inspired also by niki - take a chance with me

He drives me crazy, it's so beyond me

How he'd look at me dead in the eye and stay unaware

Niki - Take A Chance with Me

[☆]

Wonwoo has never really been interested in romance.

When he was six and his friends started talking about girls were icky, he couldn't have cared enough to even think about girls in particular.

When he was fourteen and his close cousin who was practically his big brother told him about his first girlfriend, Wonwoo had simply nodded and congratulated him because the older guy looked like he was waiting for it even though he didn't get what's there to congratulate.

When he was seventeen and another cousin got married, he thought a little about what it'd be like to commit yourself for the rest of your life to another person.

Anyhow, now he's twenty seven and still pretty much free from the dating experience.

He just simply couldn't be bothered to try nor was he even curious enough to try.

There's too much risk. Too much things to do. Too many factors to think about. It's too complicated and Wonwoo has never been a fan of complicated.

Sure, the older he gets the more he understands about the attraction and whatnot. But the few dates that he has been on (which he could count with his two hands) was entirely due to his friends setting up with someone and his inability to say no the second time even though he did reject their so-called-help the first time around.

They eventually get the hint and stop setting Wonwoo up on a blind date.

He never sees romance as a necessity and he doesn't feel the need to have a partner, what is there more to say?

“I lost the floor 12 Abyss again.” You pout, half tempted to throw away the joystick in your hands. “I'm never playing this game again, I'm telling you.”

Wonwoo chuckles and tells you to move as he slides next to you, taking the joystick away and getting ready to restart your game.

“You just suck at this.” He teases, not minding your glare because he's way too used to it at this point. “And you say that everytime but here you are, still playing.”

“Shut up.” You pout, both impressed and unimpressed at the way he easily goes through the stages.

“Done.” He grins, all nine shining stars looking back at you.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don't.”

“I do!” You take back the joystick from him and close the window. “You don't even play this game! This is bullshit!”

He laughs under his breath and ruffles your hair, saying something about how he can't help being good at it.

You like that side of Wonwoo, as you often tell him, because people have always said that Wonwoo is quiet–that he doesn't talk a lot and it could be awkward being left alone with him.

And whilst it's not entirely untrue and you've been there too, you also know that Wonwoo is much more than his lack of words.

Wonwoo talks a lot once he's comfortable. You just need to be very patient and understanding about his silence before he gets there.

You… have been plenty patient, amongst other things.

You're patient enough to get where you are even though you've never imagined you'd get here.

Here, meaning being close enough with Wonwoo for him to be comfortable with you that he doesn't mind inviting you over to his place with no other companies.

Here, meaning being close enough with Wonwoo for him to not mind the fact that you like him and not act weird about it.

Here, meaning being close with Wonwoo despite the fact that you've confessed to him about your feelings but you're still here in his place, right next to him with not a single air of awkwardness between you two.

Turning off the Playstation, you settle on Wonwoo's sofa and decide to scroll through Instagram instead. You sigh, catching his attention, and when he asks you what's wrong, you simply shake your head no.

“What are you sighing about this time?”

This is something that people don't know about Wonwoo either: he prods when it comes to people he cares about.

Granted, he does it exactly three times to see if the other party would relent by then. He does that because that's how he is, he once tells you, because he rarely opens up at the first question but eventually cracks on the third time. That, by the third question, he's already had enough time to consider whether or not he really wants to talk about it.

“Nothing important.” You try to reassure him. “Just silly stuff.”

Wonwoo looks at you pointedly, but you simply smile and turn back to your phone, which he supposes means you don't feel like bringing it up just yet.

He closes his book and puts it on the coffee table, leaning closer to you to see what you're up to.

You wonder if Wonwoo knows what his action means to your poor, poor heart. If he's aware that, as much you said you're cool despite your confession, you still have romantic attractions towards him and confessing doesn't mean you're no longer affected by anything and everything he does.

After watching you go through your phone for a bit, it is quite easy for Wonwoo to realize what might be the core of your problem.

“You're thinking about why you're single again, aren't you?”

Your fingers freeze and so does your entire body, and Wonwoo would've laughed at how surprised you look right now, but he knows you're actually bothered by this problem from time to time though he doesn't exactly understand why.

And for someone who's observative and quite sensitive when it comes to things around him, Wonwoo can be a bit dense, still.

On what kind of universe does he think this topic would be okay to talk about with someone who literally confessed to you and somewhat got rejected though not explicitly?

“I don't want to talk about it.” You whine despite the fast beating of your heart. You honestly don't think you have it in you to talk about this with Wonwoo. At least not just yet.

“Why?”

You look at him, incredulous. “You know why.”

“Because you like me?”

You shrug, not wanting to deny it.

“Can I ask you something?” He asks, voice very gentle and careful.

“What?”

“I'm sorry if this sounds insensitive.” You press your lips together as he starts. At least, he has the conscience to know that. “But… what is it about being in a relationship that appeals so much to you?”

You pause before you answer, wondering what to say. “Do you want me to actually answer that?”

“If you don't mind answering.”

Wonwoo wonders if he makes you uncomfortable by asking such question. But if there's anyone he can ask about this, it can only be you. No one else would answer it in a way that he would understand. No one else would give him the sincerity that you'd give in your answer.

He feels bad knowing you like him and still asking you like this. But he supposes you're both close enough for that discussion, that he doesn't want to let your feelings get in the way of your precious friendship.

Perhaps he's selfish, but he doesn't want to be too conscious when it comes to your relationship with him despite everything.

“I guess it's just the fact that someone's always there for you.” You start, not looking at him even though his gaze is locked at you. “That there's this person who… you can tell everything to, from your secrets to what you feel like eating today. That when you want to do something, you can always run to them first before wondering if anyone else is available. That–”

“But that's already how we are?” He cuts you off.

You stare at him wide-eyed, wondering if it's some kind of prank even though you know he's not that kind of person.

��That's already what I do with you.” He says one more time–more firm and somewhat determined with a hint of confusion. “Why do you think you're in my place so often?”

“I… I– I don't know? You're… bored? And I happen to be free?” You stutter a little, not used to the way he's staring at you.

“I am bored.” He agrees, things suddenly crystal clear in his eyes. “But I'm bored because I don't have you around. And I want you here. That's why I asked all the time if you're available.”

You open your lips to say something–anything, but nothing comes out because your heartbeat is ringing throughout your body right up to your ears.

“You're the only person I send those posts about places I want to visit because I want to visit with you. I don't send them to anyone else. I don't even like going out all that much.”

“I… I don't understand?”

“Are we in a relationship?” He asks rather bluntly, mixing all your feelings together with one single question.

“Wonwoo, I don't think this is how you should go around it–”

“Have we been dating all this time?” He asks one more time, not even seemingly nervous about it.

He looks at you like he's expecting an answer, but how are you supposed to answer that? You've simply been happy that you get to spend time with him. You didn't think for one second that he might be into you despite all the time he asks you to accompany him somewhere and all the time you're alone in his place.

“I've been too oblivious, haven't I?” He concludes by himself, your silence doesn't deter him at all.

He reaches for your cheek, and if he notices how warm your face is, he doesn't mention it. But he caresses the apple of your cheek as he looks at you with the gentlest reflection you've ever seen in his eyes.

“I'm sorry it took me too long.” He whispers, and you bite your lip so hard to hide your smile because you don't want to be too happy before anything's decided. You're not sure what he's trying to say, your head is spinning with thoughts and your heart is beating at an erratic rhythm. “Do you mind… letting me learn a bit more?”

“About what?” You whisper back.

“Being a good boyfriend?” He smiles when you do too, feeling warmth all over his chest at how shy you seem to be. “You know I've never done this before, right? Let me take a chance with you?

You finally let yourself grin at this, no longer able to control the happiness blooming within you at whatever this might mean.

And as you lean your face more into his palm, Wonwoo thinks he's ready to take all the risks that might come together with whatever the future has in store as long as he has you by his side.

[transmascissues]

every time i scroll through twitter, i start taking screenshots of the anti-transmasculinity i come across before eventually giving up because it’s so overwhelmingly constant right now that i have no idea where to even begin talking about it.

i’ve seen less people talking about a cis mom selling instructions for the DIY conversion therapy she used on her trans son for $1200 than i have people just endlessly shitting on trans men for the crime of existing in the trans community. do you get how fucked up that is? do you see why i’m at a loss at this point? how do we convince the world to stop abusing and traumatizing us if our own community would rather spend its time berating us than caring about how many of our parents are willing to drop thousands on their efforts to beat the transness out of us?

i honestly wish i had the skills and resources to properly study whatever the fuck has been going on lately. like, is all this just because we’ve gotten louder? is that what this is — a bunch of assholes who were hiding in our community, counting on trans men&mascs to stay easy for them to ignore, who can’t stand the fact that more of us are being outspoken about our experiences? is there some other factor playing into it? it’s the kind of thing that gets me curious, and i want to look deeper into it and really understand it.

but man, as curious as i am on an intellectual level, it sure is hard to think clearly enough about it to do that kind of work. like how do you read someone saying (and yes, this is a direct quote) “everything that improves the lives of trans men is paid for by making the lives of trans women worse” and not just want to throw your phone into the nearest volcano?

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

I apologize in advance, but the brainworms did a heckin screech and I felt the need to share the chaos.

Imagine, if you will, that our Creator let's it slip that they've interacted with other worlds before reaching Teyvat. (Played other video games) Imagine having to explain that in these other worlds, they may or may not have been interested in the denizens of those realms...sometimes in the romantic sense, which led to wedding bells and/or children.

Cue the uproar from the Genshin cast. The Creator, Blessed Maker of All...you have courted others? Have been married?? You have had children??? Their image of you being pure and untouchable, blown apart into tiny little pieces of confetti. 🎉

Though many loathe to admit it, they are curious...who are these people, what are they like? Is there a common factor in your selection of spouses? You would only pick the very best of a realm to choose as a potential partner, surely another being of creation...or perhaps a demigod?

It leads to the proverbial red string board getting made, the Archons trying to find out who is your most likely pick from their regions. It's all for your safety, your Benevolence! If you insist on having a partner, they must find the perfect match for you! You deserve only the best of the best, after all.

Bonus points if the Creator was a fan of games like the Harvest Moon/Rune Factory series. They're gonna need to make a list of all their partners, there are so many options to choose from. >>_>>

I'll admit I never played any of those games so I skimmed through the harvest moon wiki and chose one of the bachelors and chose some other game characters lol. Plus a game for all of you, guess the characters.

Though I do think that the reader having children before causes a bit of whiplash because it's totally unexpected, mostly because there were no records of you taking spouses or kids, even knowing you ‘have’ (play) other worlds is a surprise that causes a bit of a crisis. Either way here are some head cannons.

“I must admit, your grace is awfully attached to Qiqi” Zhongli hums as he blows on his white tea, a small cloud of steam leaving.

Qiqi doesn't pay him much mind, her head coddled under your chin like a little puppy, between her hands there is a small bird plushie “Well, I must admit she does kind of remind me of one of my little ones” Your hand softly pats her head, a few strands of hair moving as you do.

He stills as you spoke, eyes fixated on his cup “your… little ones?”

“Mhm?” Without looking up from the braid you were giving to the little girl you just nod “yep, she is quite soft spoken like Milenoe”

“... I wasn't aware your grace had sired children” there was never any mentions about holy spawns or spouses taken by you in any manuscript he got his hands on.

“Well, I never chose a couple from this world, so there wouldn't be any descendants” the comment slips airly from your lips as Qiqi slides off your lap towards baizhu who had finished checking the books from your bookshelf. “Do you want to see her? She started elementary school a few weeks ago” without waiting for an answer a screen appears displaying a tall man with black hair and horns standing regally behind you and a child with emerald eyes and horns.

“She looks rather shy”

You hum nodding “she is as shy as her father when he was her age. There aren't many children her age she can play with so she was pretty lonely her first 50 years”

“50 years?”

“her dad is a slow maturing species” so it should be 10 times the life expectancy than humans. Not that long for him but certainly longer than usual.

•°•°•

“It's a wonder to see how you manage to get Klee to change her mind about going fish blasting,” albedo scribbles some data half mindedly as he watches you hover next to Klee, who showed you a new drawings every few minutes “she is so stubborn even with Alice”

“Well I do have experience with headstrong children, Pardine is as focused on her goal as her father” one of your hands fall on her blonde hair, bright but still darker than Pardine’s almost champagne blonde and her red eyes polar opposite to her icy ones, a carbon copy to her dad. Even if your genetics rarely showed up on any of your kids it was uncanny how similar she looked to her dad and aunts “but I will admit she does annoy many guards asking to train her”

Albedo just laughs it off, listing the few loose characteristics of one of her spouses. Venti has been annoying him about his nation almost getting no information so he hopes a few spare tidbits and Klee’s rough drawing of a blond blue eyed man with a big shield works for whatever weird thing the archons have going on.

•°•°•

“Your Grace has married before?!” Ayaka gasps as you take a stroll around the nature surrounding her home. Her hand had swiftly unfolded her fan in front of her face.

“Mhm, I don't know why people get so surprised, after all it would be weirder if I spent so much time somewhere but took no lovers” you laugh at her slightly seeing her slightly flustered “it's almost a tradition at this point, to wed someone from each world. Want to see some family portraits?” She nods fervently looking at the tablet like thing that appeared on your hands, first a white haired cowboy like man is kneeling on the ground holding a baby by the armpits surrounded by three wolves ,seemingly playing with an older child, by the time the next imagine passes Ayaka is almost hanging by your shoulder, asking things about the siblings and begging to see more photos of your babies.

“And who did you take from teyvat?” Ayaka looks up sweetly at you, she has always held you in high regard and now that you are in Inazuma she can't help but get giddy thinking about how you decided to spend the stay in her state and most of your time with her.

Feigning surprise you tap your chin with your index finger “now that I think about it I didn't choose anyone yet... maybe it's about time”

“Then that means you could pick my brother!” She wraps her hand around your own, smiling as if she got the best idea ever “I could even call you older sibling!... If you wanted so of course”

“Big brother you remember how you told me you would find me a proper bachelor”

“If this is about wanting me to rush it won't work”

“It's not about it, I found you someone”

“Fine, as you please, need I remind you my standards are quite high”

“It's their grace!... Why are you choking on your tea!?”

•°•°•

“There isn't one damned coincidence…” Raiden slaps her head against the table with the rough drawings and some information about them “a king, a captain, a cowboy, a damned sorcerer…”

“Maybe there isn't supposed to be a coincidence” Nahida guesses “maybe they just look for someone who catches their eye”

“It doesn't help out as much as you think it does” the tsaritsa crosses her legs and leans against the back of the chair “if we are doing people with very clear characteristics maybe Ajax could fit nicely? Redheads aren't very common”

“Mhm, maybe but don't they have a liking for smart men? Then Alhaitham would be closer to their past couples”

“Well if we are going by that logic they should like the geo archon, as one of them has dragonic features” the tsaritsa side eyes Zhongli from the other side of the table.

Sighing deeply Furina, who came in place of Neuvillette, chimes in “It is their decision who they want to marry and even if they wanted to!”

"obviously you would be so calm, after all they are very close with your iudex. Don't get so cocky, I heard the commissioner Ayato is interested in the idea"

[serejae]

margaret

myung jaehyun x doodler!reader

syno; a pencil lead you to him now

a/n ; uncapitalization is intended, some kissing, inspired on our beloved summer besides the exes factor lol :-), enjoy

it was a late night, jaehyun wasn’t home yet and you couldn’t quite fall asleep yet. so you decided to kill two birds with one stone. ever since you were young you had a hobby of drawing, it was normal for you to get asked from people to draw them. unfortunately for them your drawings don’t focus on people but rather sights. as you organized your old drawings you came across a dusty folder hidden all the way in the back of your shelf, curious to see what it is you grab it and clear the dust off. the cover of the folder doesn’t go unnoticed with masking tape messily on it with the words “DO NOT OPEN. YOURE CRAZY.” written on top. you laugh to yourself slighty and take the risk going against your past self. when opening the folder a tiny pencil falls out and all the memories suddenly flash back. picking up the pencil, you immediately sit down and go through the folder.

-

it was almost 2 years ago. you were sketching in a cafe when you got distracted by your phone that you didn’t notice one of your pencils falling out of your pencil case. someone suddenly diverts your attention away from your phone. looking up you see the most (not even exaggerated) mesmerizing man, his lips turn up slight and he clears his throat “sorry for bothering you, but your pencil fell” he said with a slight blush on his face and reddish ears. you laugh slightly and thank him expecting that to be the end of your conversation but to your suprise he paused for a second thinking about what to say

“are you here alone?”

the wise answer wouldve been no, i mean you dont even know the guy

“yeah”

“can i sit?”

-

while reminiscing the moment you played with the pencil, the pencil was special, not only because it lead you to jaehyun but the steps it took to realize you loved him.

there were 2 drawings of jaehyun. the only drawings you ever drew of a person

-

drawing 1 .

its been 2 weeks since you met jaehyun. you both had been talking regularly and you hated it: not because you disliked him or anything but rather the opposite. you found yourself developing a

crush. :-/

as you sat at your table shaking your good pencil between your fingers staring at the blank paper that seems to be staring at you back. thats when you started imagining eyes, nose, lips, a face on the paper but not just anyones face. it was myung jaehyun’s. you never had the urge or willingness to draw a person but something inside your soul was telling you to. trying to push the thoughts back you starting thinking to yourself

“i don’t even remember his face accurately”

“its been 2 weeks pfft”

*ding*

pausing at the notification you flip your phone over and the screen illuminates.

myung jae !

**ONE NOTIFICATION **

“if your not too busy do you wanna ft?:p”

fuck.

before replying back (a obvious yes) you scramble your desk for the pencil he had handed you that day. the pencil was tiny, you kept it because you kept forgetting to throw it away but once you find it you reply with a

“sure”

cant seem too desperate right?

and as he calls you and the screens connect, your met with a familiar face and start doodling. focusing on his voice and you drew, you looked up every so often studying his face.

after finishing you date the corner and shove it in the back of your drawer.

-

drawing 2 .

your crazy.

its been 9 months since you first met jaehyun and it takes every muscle in you to not draw him. you can’t feed into your delusional or into the thought that you might have a crush on him. at this point its more then a stupid crush. you would say you just really really really like jaehyun but you guys werent even dating yet and thats the problem.

everyday for these past 9 months the two of you have become incredibly close, might i add a little too close.

all you could think about was him and normally in situations like this you would draw things you like to get your mind off of whatever you were stressed about which sadly wouldn’t work in this situation

as he was what you like and all you could think about.

after a hour on debating (3 minutes) you sigh and open your camera roll, opening the album “mjae<{3” your favorite photo of him, one you didnt even know you took but there was something different about the photo

his eyes.

theres no way he couldnt feel the same about you, right?

shut up.

you stopped the thoughts and started doodling, sketching all the details on his face. youve memorized his face probably more then your own now that you think about it.

adding the finishing touches and dating it, you back away from the paper and stare at it

how does he have you wrapped around his finger so well?

grabbing your phones you search variations of questions into google

“why cant i stop thinking of a guy”

“how to know if you like a guy”

“does my crush like me????” you made sure to find one made bv a guy to insure accuracy.

unfortunately the answers didnt help you

they all lead back to love

and thats when you realized

you don’t really like myung jaehyun

your inloveeeeeeee with myung jaehyun.

jumping onto your bed you scream into your pillow and go into a rage. scrambling around your room you find a folder, empty everything inside, get tape from your desk and aggressively put the tape on there. taking your marker you write “DO NOT OPEN. YOUR CRAZY.” you stuffed the current drawing in there as well dug in your drawer for the previous one. once inside you grab the pencil that started it all and put it inside too. then shoving it to the back of your shelf.

-

a year after meeting jaehyun thats when he finally asked you to be his partner, he had asked to meet in the same cafe you 2 had met. you arrived on time while jaehyun was a bit late, you didnt mind too much though. while waiting you scrolled on your phone when you suddenly heard a voice

“excuse me?

i think you dropped this.”

you look up confused and see a bouquet of flowers with a sticky note attached to it

“be my partner? (plz)” as well a silly drawing of you and jaehyun as cat and dog. looking up you see his familiar face that has a reddish tint

“of course.”

-

you hear the door open snapping you out of your thoughts

“baby? im home!”

“at my desk jae”

you hear him shuffe his way to your desk and kisses you on the head before looking at your desk

“oh look! its the pencil i gave back to you when we first met, you still have it?” he laughed, his eyes shift over to the two drawings on the table of no other then, him.

“woah…”

he said as he picked up the drawings seeing the dated marks

“these are amazing babe, but i thought you didnt draw people?”

you look down at the pencil and smile

oh you couldn’t wait to tell him the storied behind the drawings

you looked up at the sticky note on your wall before opening your mouth

“funny story…”

[puppyplayhouse]

sorry if you have been asked this before but i feel like you would have the best opinions on this!! what kind of canine hybrids do you think skz would match well with? (the idea of either of the aussies with a dingo hybrid ☹️ adorable)

I'm going family Canidae over just dogs! Give it some pizzazz. I don't think this turned out as much as "what they'd like most" as it is what I think would be good for them!

Chan: Poodle!

Poodles are highly intelligent, sporty, and in my experience, simultaneously eager to learn yet stubborn. I think a poodle hybrid would match Chan well because there are shared interests there (soccer, swimming!) But they'd have a sense of pride and independence that could challenge him a bit and I think he'd enjoy that factor. Poodles also tend to have bursts of clinginess, and he'd love that! I also selfishly think that learning to take care of his hybrids curly hair would teach him to love his own, and he needs that.

Minho: Raccoon!

Raccoons are curious and intelligent but are also introverted and would enjoy quietly observing what Minho was doing. I think he'd also really enjoy cooking for a raccoon hybrid because they'd always be very enthusiastic about their food, and he'd get a lot of validation from that. Raccoons can also be aggressive, so I picture Minho's hybrid as one that is very weary of strangers and takes a while to warm up to them, which Minho could probably relate to.

Changbin: Leonberger!!

Large, loyal, strong, and confident! A Leonberger dog hybrid would have no trouble matching Changbins energy and they're even temper and tendency to be very playful would balance Changbins bursts of frustration because they wouldn't pay it any mind, often completely ignoring his bad moods to avoid encouraging them. They easily challenge him in the gym, and I think they'd also become a bit of a safety net for him at times. Dynamic duo type.

Hyunjin: Bush dog!

Bush dogs are compulsively sociable and have no set hierarchy in groups, so Hyunjin would get an outgoing yet attached hybrid who treats everyone the same regardless of status and he loves that. His hybrid would be by his side at all times and loves to insert themselves in conversations, which gives Hyunjin an easy out when he starts feeling drained or overwhelmed. A bush dog hybrid would be happy to sit by him while he painted or wrote, only demanding some form of physical contact, which could be as simple as their knees touching.

Han: Maned Wolf

The maned wolf is shy, distinctive and usually solitary. I think this is something Hannie could benefit from because they bring a sense of calm and predictability to his life that really does wonders for his constantly racing mind. This hybrid would really love sitting and listening to him play songs on his guitar and would be really interested in the way his mind works without ever being pushy about it and I think they would have a deep connection whilst both being very independent of one another.

Felix: Dingo

Dingos are intelligent and affectionate, yet very individualistic and cautious. I think they'd end up being a bit of a Sunshine Protector in the sense that Felix wants to see the best in people and isn't always aware of their intentions, whilst his dingo hybrid is always cautious and looking out for what is truly in Lixxies best interest. They can match his need to feel loved without becoming absorbed in their owner and still maintain a very deep bond with him! They can also be quite playful at times, and he'd enjoy that in small bursts.

Seungmin: Dhole!!!

Dholes are very social within their packs and tend to have a dominance based hierarchy and I think this hybrid would match Seungmin well because he benefits from having a leader who can guide and still be flexible and fluid in their interactions. I think Seungmin would find comfort and stability in his dhole hybrid and they'd be able to match his goofy antics with ease.

Jeongin: Coyote

Coyotes are tricksters, and each has very unique personalities! I picture Jeongins coyote hybrid being very bossy and adventures, and they'd be both a fun challenge and a partner in chaos to Jeongin. He'd enjoy trying to put them in their place almost as much as he'd life their eagerness for any pranks he wanted to plan, and they're always up for a 2am adventure when he can't sleep!

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

I read your post about not letting kudos and hits upset us. I try to think this way but I'm curious about something else. I've written many fanfics for my fandom and they're all "flop". I don't mind that honestly. But then some writers have written only one fic about the ship I do and and it gets hundreds of kudos. How do some writers achieve that when I'm doing the same and it doesn't get the same response. What else can I do?

I’m afraid I can’t give you a definite answer about what you should do or why this person’s work is more popular, but what I can give you are some advice and, from my experience, some reasons that might explain why other’s works receive more hits and kudos.

start with why other writers’ works are more popular when it’s the same characters, same ship, same fandom. there are various factors at play that might be it;

maybe the person already has large audience base prior to their posting about the fandom you’re in, I know a few authors who already have these sorts of loyal readers that would read any work the authors posted even if they (the readers) were not in that fandom.

maybe someone, anyone, decided share the link to this person’s work on Tumblr or Twitter (X) or any social media platform, and it kind of became viral, thus it drew in lots and lots of readers. it could take just one person, didn’t necessarily have to be the author themself, to share the link among the fandom as a recommendation, or maybe a screenshot of one sentence from the fic that they liked, what happened next is that the replies were filled with people asking for the link.

tags and summary are important factors when people are looking for a fic to read. so maybe this person’s work is tagged with the content people were looking for? maybe their summary grabbed people’s attention or curiosity?

these are just what I can think of over the top of my head.

as for what you can do to gain more readers, I’ve never seen your work so the advice I can give will be a general one; I believe the trick lies in summary, tags as well as the format of one’s work.

when it comes to AO3 (I assume it’s your platform?), tags and summary are the main things people use to determine whether or not they want to click on the fic.

tag your content properly, what characters or pairings it’s about, as well as what the readers will find upon reading your work (you don’t have to spoil it, only the general tags that will give your readers an idea of what they’re in for).

summaries are just as important. there are no “rules” obviously, and I’m not telling you or any writers what to do. though a little advice that I personally take is that you use this little summary section AO3 gives you to do anything to make sure it stands out and that people will see it and want to click on it. that means leave “author’s note” out of the summary section. folks, AO3 summary is the first glimpse into the fic itself that people will see prior to clicking on it, most of the time, people look at the summary to see the author’s writing style and if what’s written, plotwise, grabs their interest. personally, when I see an author use “summary” as a place to write “author’s note”, chances are, I will scroll past that fic as I am interested in what the fic is about, not what the author has to say about their opinion on said fic or their personal life or anything (there’s an author’s note section for that) and if I can’t get a glimpse of what the plot is about or what the author’s writing style is from the summary section, then I won’t click on it, and will look for other fic that can get me interested instead.

moving on to fic format, again, I am not telling anyone what to do here. this is only a suggestion, an advice I’ve learned and want to share: when you write your fic, make sure to use line and paragraph spacing. if your 10k word long fic is one long block of text with no paragraph break, chances are, people will back away from it entirely. also, if it’s two different characters talking with dialogues, don’t put all of their dialogues in one paragraph. for instance, a paragraph for character A’s dialogue, then another separate paragraph for character B’s dialogue and so on.

and I think that’s it for my advice? however, I’ll say this again that the secret to truly enjoying your role as a fanfic writer is that you only focus on yourself. write whatever you want for yourself. it doesn’t matter if this person’s work is more popular, because fanfics and fandoms aren’t a competition. you are your main audience. just have fun creating the stories you want to create for you.

[graceandtheidiotsquad]

Dumb Character Headcanons: Champion Cynthia

I am having brainrot over the queen of sinnoh ok. I love her and her crazy family so much-! I apologize for how random some of these are-some of them I got inspiration from popular ones from, some from AUs i've seen and some I just made up on the fly-Ok, enough rambling-on with the show!

- TOTAL. MOMMA. BEAR. She just-has very motherly, protective vibes and despite being one of the most generally considered TERRIFYING CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES (and I'm mildly scared of her too!) she'd probably take you out for ice cream after battling her to celebrate a job well done, win or lose.

- Speaking of ice cream, I think this is not only a popular hc i agree with but they made it CANON In the anime that she cannot, for the life of her, decide what flavor she wants and will just stand there for 15 minutes weighing all the pros and cons and unintentionally holding up the line. I mean she'll move when she realizes and apologize PROFUSELY but still- ...But would YOU tell her to hurry up and choose?? No, I don't think so.

- Her hair is usually either down most of the time or tied up in a bun. But only for when she needs it-she doesn't care how messy it gets, she just likes being wild I suppose. Sometimes you'll find her literally wrestling one of her pokemon for fun (usually Garchomp) and her hair will be full of leaves and sticks, and not a care in the world! One of her family taught her how to tie her hair back in a bun, and though she adores them-she was quite the pain to get to stand still long enough to even TRY as a child.

- You wouldn't think it, with how classy she is-...buuuuuut she was almost a leash kid. You think she gets this intimidation factor just from being so classy and dramatic alone? No, she can be fucking FERAL when she wants to be. Sometimes the Sinnoh League will have trouble finding her to get her to report to her champion duties as she's gotten distracted and wandered off to explore some ruins somewhere in the region and never told anyone where she was going. 

- She used to and still can climb trees in seconds if left unattended. This has lead to many a heart-attack for her grandmother, watching her little baby Cynthia nearly DIE falling out of said tree, only to be completely unharmed and even LAUGHING at the experience. 

- Actually is a REALLY big fan of the wrestling/battle royale circuit. She can and will burst out singing some of the intros at the top of her lungs, much to the shock of ANYONE in the room with her. 

- She also happy dances and likes to put on music when she works. She loves piano but even she can't resist a good earworm, humming along to it as she runs around the local library or (reluctantly) winds up cooped up inside doing or cleaning up paperwork. This is implied to be canon in a spinoff game (Pokemon Masters EX if you're curious) and I totally agree that she just-cannot be bothered to clean up her office and it's almost CONSTANTLY a mess because she keeps getting distracted by new things to look at or something she hadn't seen in ages (BECAUSE of the mess) like a book and just winds up reading it all day. It's a vicious cycle!

- The reason she loves piano so much is she actually knows how to play, and is VERY Good at it! A very dear member of her family taught her when she was very young and she plays to help remember him-wherever the hell he's wandered off to now. Music connects us just as much as pokemon do, in her mind-so whenever she plays, he's right beside her again-whether physically or not. 

- She has inherited the family 'way too fucking tall' gene and that does NOT help her intimidating appearance sometimes.

- Sometimes casually speaks fluent Latin/Greek just to confuse the shit outta people. Look, she isn't usually spiteful-but even the most graceful and kind people have their limits. The same person who taught her piano taught her it-probably for that express purpose. Also several swear words. (thankfully if she ever swears, it's in said language so hardly anyone will know-)

- She grew up feeling-quite isolated from others her age because of her intense focus on studying history and battling competitively. Mostly the history thing-the battling thing probably didn't help as most kids were likely TERRIFIED of how intense she got. But-...i think that's why she loved that member of her family so much. Finally, someone who understood her...! He'd even given her the egg that would hatch into her Garchomp. (It was SUPPOSED to be a togepi, that wouldn't cause much hassle aside from the occasional accident with metronome-...but NOOOOOO, he decided to let her cause havoc. Her grandma nearly smacked him.)

- Honestly if you told her you were a demon or some supernatural shit she'd probably be more fascinated and barrage you with questions than scared. Or kick ass if you were hostile-DO. NOT. FUCK. WITH THE CHAMPION OF SINNOH.

- She may or may not be guilty of spoiling hers and other people's Pokémon with treats. She can't help it! She has a WEAKNESS for puppy dog eyes, whether it be her own Pokémon, any she's babysitting (she feels like someone who would do that if asked) Or young trainers she's taken a shine to. 

- Wound up with a heavy ass, GIGANTIC hand-me-down backpack from who-knows how many generations ago and yes, she CAN lug it around with ease. She doesn't much for her league job, but it's her go-to when it comes to adventuring or exploring.  - Speaking of the backpack-she often carries her spiritomb outside of its pokeball inside while in particularly rough areas, usually hiding inside its keystone. You never know if you'll need a pokemon for backup and don't have time to reach for one of your pokeball before things get dicey, after all-and the sight of a very angry ghost and dark type pokemon erupting from an ancient backpack is more than enough to send anyone who would likely cause trouble PACKING-looking almost as if something is being summoned right behind her! (She doesn't know why she looks so terrifying that way, but at least it means no one will cause too much trouble)

- An absolute GIRLBOSS for sure-but also very, very soft when it comes to people she loves. She'll gush and gush about her family members-especially younger ones, or trainers she's mentally adopted (and she does this a lot.) as her own 'pack', so to speak. She'll try to tone it down if it makes them uncomfortable but it's so HARD-she feels so blessed to have people who love her for who she is, as strange and beautiful and intimidating and just a little bit odd as she can be that she just HAS to spread word about how amazing they are! (She's like one of those moms who shows off photos of her kids all the time, just not in an annoying way if that makes sense?? At least she tries not to be-but once she starts rambling about them or ANYTHING it is almost impossible to get her to stop!)

- Often makes hand gestures like pointing when she speaks, especially when she gets excited. She often doesn't realize she's doing it half the time-but she always does it when taking pictures. She just-feels like her hands HAVE to be doing something!

- I will not give away the massive spoiler this ties into but she OWNS the song Blood Right by Madame Macabre. JUST-IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS FOR LEGENDS ARCEUS, JUST-BE PREPARED YOU'RE IN FOR A RIDE!

[morlock-holmes]

@poipoipoi-2016 posted this, and I have thoughts that are entirely unrelated to the context it was originally reposted in.

First, I don't like the way it assumes that capability is a sort of set metric, that some workers are just good enough to do O-Ring work and some aren't, because process design and environmental factors will also play a role.

In an uncontroversial environmental design example, I think it's quite likely that even good workers make more mistakes at the end of a 100 hour work week then they do at the end of a 40 hour work week.

So who decided on those 100 hour work weeks?

Second, process design; there's an apocryphal story I heard about nurses plugging IV tubes into the wrong ports, no matter how thoroughly they were trained, until somebody gets the smart idea to redesign the shape of the ports so that you can't plug them in wrong anymore.

I also have a real life example from my brother, who works in safety. His employer was a crucial industry that had to stay open during the pandemic, and so HR came up with a very complicated worker's comp scheme for people who had COVID symptoms and needed to stay home. Part of the policy is that people who stayed home got paid 60% of their salary.

My brother told them, "Hey, a lot of the people covered by this policy are working paycheck to paycheck, and if you tell them that they have to take a 40% pay cut every time they sneeze, they are going to come in to work anyway and pretend to be healthy"

From what he's told me, HR's response was essentially that tweet where the 911 operator says, "He can't kill you, that's illegal!"

So I know a lot of you know math, and I've been thinking a lot about the psychology of certain choices, in particular choices where you have two paths:

In path A, you definitely pay a moderate cost.

In path B, one of two things happen. Most of the time, you pay no cost at all. But occasionally path B creates catastrophically high costs.

I'm curious how people think about situations like that mathematically.

I feel like there's a point at which the moderate cost of path A gets high enough that, when presented with the choice, most people will choose path B, even though the expected cost of constantly choosing path B works out to be much higher.

[blue-rose-soul]

Love ur au!!! You have so many interesting thoughts I just adore reading everything you’ve posted!

You’ve already established that Alastor would have exactly zero interest in any sort of bond with his dearly detested sperm donor but I was curious as to what you thought on whether Lucifer would want a relationship with Alastor? How would he approach that?

Hey, much appreciated! Honestly, with the first post I expected it to be a weird niche AU no one besides me would enjoy. I'm really glad you and others are enjoying it and I'm enjoying you guys' questions!

I do think Lucifer would want to try forming a relationship with his long lost son (that feels so weird to type, imagine how weird it would be for Lucifer to say the phrase aloud, lol). From what we've seen of him, he seems like a loving and sweet man who adores his family, even if he's not always the best at expressing that love. I think if he found out he had a kid out there, no matter who that kid was, he'd want to form some kind of relationship with them. Of course, Alastor being Alastor complicates things quite a bit.

They didn't exactly make a great first impression on one another, on top of which Lucifer harbors a lot of guilt for leaving Nicaise to raise a child alone, and Alastor to grow up without a father. Especially when he learns what happened to Nicaise later. Lucifer thinks it's his fault Alastor is the way he is, which... kinda sorta fair? Alastor definitely had an unstable childhood which certainly played a part in Alastor growing to become an unstable adult. That being said, ultimately there were a lot of outside factors contributing to that instability, and at the end of the day, Alastor's choices were his own.

I go with the 'Dexter-like moral code' interpretation of Alastor's murder targets. But I also think there was a fair amount of disproportionate retribution. A man who beats his wife definitely deserves to get beat back and then divorced, but not butchered like an animal. Granted, the culture being what it was at the time, it's doubtful Alastor's targets would have faced any other kind of retribution than what he gave them.

All this to say that Alastor feels perfectly justified in the horrible things he's done, and Lucifer blames himself for Alastor becoming this warped, vengeful person.

Lucifer's attempts to get close to Alastor are horribly, painfully awkward. Remember how he answered Charlie's phone call with, "Heeeeeeeey, bitch!"

Yeah.

He tries, he really does, but a lot of the times Alastor just shuts him down before he can even open his mouth. So he tries going to Charlie for help.

"Ooooof, see, here's the thing, dad... I want to help, I really do! But I'm trying to do this thing where I'm more respectful of other people's boundaries. I mean, I'd love to see you and Alastor getting along! But if he doesn't want to talk with you, I'm not going to force it? As long as you guys aren't fighting? I'm sorry."

And that's as far as Lucifer gets with Charlie. So he tries talking to Niffty and Husk, the two people in the hotel who know Alastor best. Niffty is... sweet, but not entirely helpful. Husk gives what advice he can, but he's got his own chip on his shoulder regarding Alastor, understandably.

"Look, Alastor's a mean son of a bitch who lives to make my life more of a hell than it already is. He's fucked in the head. Always has been. You might as well cut your losses."

That's disheartening to say the least.

I do want there to be a happy-ish end where reconciliation happens. But it would take a loooooooot of time and patience on Lucifer's part. Especially with Alastor making an active effort not to get close with anyone at the hotel.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hi there! Hope this is the right place to ask this. Something I've been thinking about is how best to handle something like the bodyswap trope when race is a factor, in terms of how such a plotline would be written/address that factor. I was thinking about what it would be like for my OCs (who are both good friends, one white, one Black, and they're both guys) if they had to live each other's lives for a little bit in a bodyswap situation. But I'm also just curious for any thoughts you might have on the trope in general and how it might be applied across a broad range of contexts.

Race would be, of course, just one of many factors depending on the characters involved and their specific circumstances.

This is not for a specific story I'm writing, more just me thinking casually about various scenarios my OCs might potentially be in, this just being one of them.

Regarding the specifics of my OCs' situations... I had been focusing on the other aspects of their circumstances apart from race, when I realised something: my white OC would react badly (much more than my Black OC) to the bodyswap for reasons unrelated to race (he would react very badly to absolutely any kind of bodyswap with anyone), but I think it would be reasonable for my Black OC to suspect that racism may be a larger factor in my white OC's reaction than it actually is. They've been good friends for quite some time, they treat each other with respect, but people can still have dormant and unexamined racism (and my white OC isn't any kind of perfect paragon when it comes to race, it would just be realistic for him to be imperfect on the subject too). I think it would be reasonable for my Black OC to be a bit upset at the potential implications of his friend's reaction and try to call him out on it. But... I'm not sure how I would best approach something like that (like, it doesn't need to be a huge deal, it can be brought up, addressed, and moved on from) or whether I should even be attempting to approach something like that. But I guess, if there were a story involving this, I do wonder how it could/should be handled.

My white OC wouldn't be offended if they were called on potential racist motivations for their (over)reaction to a bodyswap, more just taken by surprise and awkward, since as far as they're consciously aware it wasn't about race.

There are more factors involved/more information I could provide, but this is already quite long, and I'm not sure if it's something you'd be interested in commenting on at all or getting into in the first place. There is another element at play that adds important context, and I could send another (much shorter) ask detailing it, but if it's not really something you're interested in getting into that much, if at all, then that's all good. Thank you, really appreciate your blog. <3

I had to think about this one for a bit, bc it made me uncomfortable. Not you, but the scenario itself. I'm gonna try my best to explain why.

So first, I'm sure you've seen Get Out ? Or at least heard of it? You sound worried about your white character "being more upset" with the switch, and I wanna know what he's going through bc frankly I'm far more horrified for your Black one 😅 now I'm assuming this scenario isn't as... horror movie as Get Out , but what you gotta understand is that some white person simply white-personing in my Black body could at worse get me killed. There's an entire other set of societal rules that I have to play by, that someone white in my physical body simply would not be able to do upon the switch without prior awareness and practice. The thought truly like... upsets me 😭 So it's definitely important that they have that conversation!! It is not in any way shape or form dismissible!

That segues into my next point, which is: how good/safe is their friendship really, if they've never had a discussion about race? Because you say they were never consciously aware of it being about it. I've asked this question before and upset a few people, but it really is worth asking yourselves. How many of your Black peers have actually had deeper conversations about this topic with you- have they brought it up, what about, how was your response? Because if your characters haven't discussed race after "quite some time" of friendship, there's always been a certain barrier between them. A line that they didn't cross. So if they haven't had that conversation before, it's damn sure gonna come up during a body switch with a white person, and they would see a more honest, direct side of their Black peer that they've not seen.

You said that they'd accept the feedback, so... Idk. I don't know how to describe to you in life "what would be said", so much as that if it goes well and not defensively, your relationship is now more trustworthy bc we recognize you See Us, you See the difference in how our existences are affected despite our shared interests and space. I feel far safer around a white friend I can openly discuss race with. So if you want to make this conversation "easier", they need to already have that level of relationship. The white character can't be "shocked" that the Black character pointed something out to him, the Black character shouldn't have to quietly suspect- they should be close enough to say "hey dude, it looks like you're being racist".

Like unless this occurrence is happening in a universe where race "doesn't matter", it's going to matter EXTREMELY. Even if they're young and don't quite have the language, the world around them will react to their behavior. it might even be worth a plotline in and of itself, a challenge to their relationship bc if you can't even take care of my Black body, if you think you're gonna put me in danger... Nah. That's violating.

This might have been a lot, it's just the question got me thinking. I hope it helped.

[getvalentined]

Hey, long time lurker with a brand new account here! i was just reading an earlier ask you answered about why Vincent didn’t stop Hojo and Lucrecia and (of course) Sephiroth, but there’s also something that bugs me that I’m not sure has been addressed in canon or fanon. I like Vin and Veld as work besties in the 1970s and they’re also a ship of mine. Yet I’m not quite sure how to factor in how Vincent gets shot during his time at the Nibelheim Manor, is presumed dead, and Veld doesn’t even go to investigate until Before Crisis, when he finds Vincent in the coffin and tells him he’ll come back another time. I guess an answer I could come up with for myself was that someone higher up than Veld forbade him from looking into Nibelheim for all those years but I’m curious what your thoughts would be? :)

My take on this is actually very specific and headcanon heavy, since there isn't a lot of information on that whole time period—much less information specific to Veld—but I'll give as comprehensive a breakdown as I can!

Things we know specific to Vincent and Veld's situation:

Veld was Vincent's partner in the Turks

Veld did not know Vincent was dead

Detailed explanations on the certainty of both of these are under the cut, but they go into linguistics and translation disputes and context cues that will absolutely get us both lost in the weeds if I go into them here.

Other things that are moderately relevant to this explanation:

All victims of the Kalm fire were taken to Nibelheim for processing by R&D, including both Veld and Felicia (source: BC chapter 13)

In spite of being processed in the same location and even being utilized in the same experiment as Felicia, Veld didn't know that she survived, so it's very possible to hide people in there (source: BC chapter 13)

Veld did not know that Hojo had anything to do with Vincent's disappearance (source: BC chapter 19)

At the time that Vincent disappeared, Gast was still in control of R&D (source: OG FF7)

The Turks know absolutely nothing about the contents of the room in which Vincent is sealed (source: BC chapter 19)

Veld has multiple lines in BC that make it clear he's intimately familiar with the Manor, talking about how it still has a dark atmosphere and how unpleasant the place is. He also seems genuinely concerned when the Player Turk reveals that they were in there getting rid of old research materials on Tseng's order, although I think that's more because he didn't want his newer Turks finding out about what had happened to him if at all avoidable. (It was not avoidable.)

That familiarity with the facility, on its face, makes it really weird that Veld didn't know anything about what happened to Vincent. The only obvious way to reconcile this with him never finding Vincent (aside from the cop-out of "it's just bad writing") is that Veld chose not to look for him, he chose not to question his disappearance, he chose to forget him and let him fade into obscurity. This sounds really bad!

My take actually plays into this concept, and it while it could still be slightly damning for Veld, it's really just as much of a tragedy as anything else in that whole situation: Veld did look, but he started looking way too late.

In my headcanon universe, Vincent and Veld were together prior to the mission in Nibelheim. They broke up not long before Vincent left (the assignment itself is partially to blame for this, but that's long headcanon rambling I will save for another time), and the assignment was long-term enough that Vincent's reports were expected weekly for the first month, then monthly for the proceeding three months, and then quarterly after that. The assignment was slated to last roughly a year and a half, but could have gone up to three years according to Gast's estimations based on his previous efforts and the term of Project G.

But Veld had literally broken up with Vincent right before he left for this assignment, so he wasn't surprised when Vincent only sent two weekly reports, one monthly report, and then dropped into quarterlies from there. The reports themselves were still comprehensive, although Veld got the distinct feeling that Vincent was getting a little emotionally involved in the assignment—not that Veld could blame him, Vincent was requested for this assignment because Gast knew Grimoire, so Vincent was probably having a rough time being in close quarters with people who were so fond of his dead father. Still, the distance would be good for him. Let him get his head on straight.

In mid-1977, Vincent's report schedule faltered again. Veld had received one in April, a bit late—because Lucrecia was pregnant and she broke up with Vincent and married Hojo and he didn't know what to do, he didn't have anyone to talk to, but he didn't want Veld to know. One in September, at the very end of the month—because things were getting so bad, Lucrecia was so sick, Hojo was so aggressive, Gast literally didn't care—and in this report, Vincent said that there may be complications with the project that would require company attention, but he would let Veld know in his next report.

That report never arrived, because Hojo shot Vincent on October 24th, 1977.

Veld waited, because there was a schedule, and Vincent had been a bit lax anyway. No big deal.

At the end of December he received a missive from Gast stating that he would require escorted transport back to Midgar for himself and an infant, by no later than the end of January. Nothing from Vincent, but Gast didn't mention anything, so Veld thought nothing of it.

In mid-January, two Turks arrived in Nibelheim to help transport Gast and his team back to Midgar, and Vincent wasn't there. To hear anyone tell it, he hadn't been there for months. While phone lines were shaky so far out, they eventually made it through to Veld, notifying him that Vincent was missing.

They questioned the rest of the team, but their search of the facility was limited without clearance from higher-ups with that kind of sway. Veld could do a full search, he had the security clearance for it, but two lower-ranking Turks could not.

Lucrecia said that she didn't want to talk about it—she felt bad enough already. Hojo said the last time he'd seen Vincent was mid-October, and he'd just thought the boy finally ran off back to his kennel.

Veld questioned Gast when he arrived back in Midgar, finding that he was the most forthcoming and the least useful. Gast stated that he was under the impression that Vincent had returned to Midgar in early November; he'd been out of town for the last two weeks of October for a board meeting back in Midgar, discussing assignments for Project 0, and Vincent was gone when he returned.

All of them were lying.

By the time Veld made it out to Nibelheim to search himself, it was mid-February, and Hojo had moved Vincent into cold storage for the time being. Things were being shuffled around with the onset of Project 0 anyway, samples and subjects and materials being moved in and out, Lucrecia finally being sent back to Midgar for a much-needed postpartum recovery period, Hojo being given temporary control over the facility.

At this point in time, the Turks only had so much power. R&D was swiftly making itself the most indispensable department in the company, and Veld's search of the premises was always one step behind Hojo's relocation of materials. There was almost certainly one point where Vincent was held in a steel containment tank being relocated from the lower lab to the upper or vice-versa, and wheeled right past Veld without him knowing.

Veld, who knew how emotional Vincent could be and had now gotten the whole story of the regrettable whirlwind love affair from Hojo and Lucrecia, came to the conclusion that Vincent had gone AWOL. Could Veld blame him? He had been treating Vincent like crap since their own breakup—he hadn't been communicating, and even though he'd been able to tell that something was wrong, he never even tried to call and ask him about it. He'd been pissed off too, and left Vincent to his own devices...for over a year. On a separate continent. Of course he tried it with Lucrecia. Of course he left when that relationship fell through.

And Vincent was a good Turk, the best in the entire department, so he'd definitely know how to disappear. How to cover his tracks. Specifically how to hide from the current head of the department, who just happened to be his partner.

If Vincent chose to disappear, Veld would never be able to find him; since he never found any evidence of what transpired to lead to his disappearance, Veld could only assume that was what happened.

Almost thirty years later, he was horrified to finally get into that sealed room—the one Hojo said they used to store old furniture and facility staffers' more valuable personal belongings, way back in 1978—and discover that he'd been completely, utterly, devastatingly wrong.

But, once again, Veld had just waited too long to do anything about it.

—

Game content and dialogue sources:

Grimoire Valentine's BC playthrough

Flash PINK's BC script

Evidence that Veld and Vincent were partners:

The Grimoire Valentine BC playthrough translates Veld's line when explaining Vincent's identity as "We were partners a long time ago." I've seen this translation disputed, because the actual word Veld uses is 同僚 (dōryō), which is best translated as "colleague."

To my knowledge (based on obsessive linguistics research because I have a problem, I do not speak Japanese but I will spend hours researching exactly what specific terms mean within the context of a given culture), this implies equal standing within the company in question. Of course, this is in real-world situations, so we can't assume it applies 100% to FF7 canon—luckily, this word is used at one other point in the game, giving us important context on its usage within the department: in chapter 14, when Tseng thinks the Player Turk has been killed in Wutai, Yuffie asks how they know each other and Tseng replies "They're a [colleague]."

Tseng is vice director, meaning they're definitely not equals, so this could imply that this word is used more loosely among the Turks, thereby disproving the partnership between Vincent and Veld. However, since Veld uses the word 部下 (buka, "subordinate") to describe the other Turks in this same chapter, I personally feel that Tseng uses this term very intentionally at this point, and it's meant as an indication of his character. When Tseng thinks the Player Turk is dead, he refers to them as an equal. This is further implied by the fact that in the proceeding scene, when the Player Turk is proven to have survived, they continue to refer to him as Tseng-san, using the standard honorific, while Tseng doesn't use one in return to refer to them. Veld likewise doesn't use an honorific when referring to Tseng, but the other Turks do.

Back to Vincent and Veld's little reunion, though, I feel like Vincent's dialogue completely clarifies the intent: Vincent doesn't use an honorific or a title when referring to Veld. Every other Turk in the game refers to Veld as 主任 (shunin), with or without his name, which translates to "director." Meanwhile, Vincent refers to Veld by his name and his name only, and Veld doesn't refer to Vincent with an honorific either.

In their department, it's clear this isn't something you would do with someone who wasn't on your level. Subordinates get no honorific, sure, but anyone even remotely superior gets one—a practice that holds true well after Veld is gone, as Elena refers to Reno and Rude as "senpai" from her recruitment in 0007 all the way up to her appearance in Advent Children.

If either Vincent or Veld were ranked differently to the other, the lower-ranking one would use an honorific—but they don't. Names only. Add in the fact that they instantly recognized each other after almost thirty years, and the level of familiarity is undeniable.

Those men were partners, a long time ago.

Evidence that Veld didn't know Vincent was dead:

Upon finding Vincent in 2006, he isn't shocked to find him alive—instead, he refers to Vincent having "disappeared," specifically using the phrase 姿を消し (sugata o keshi), to describe what he knows to have happened. To my knowledge, this is an entirely neutral phrase with no implication of death or malfeasance, particularly within the context of Veld's dialogue, which makes it explicitly clear that whatever happened to Vincent, Veld did not believe it killed him.

His next line is something along the lines of "Did Hojo do this to you?" which I find equally important; he very quickly adjusts his assumptions based on the situation and what Vincent looks like, moving immediately away from the concept of a mysterious disappearance to something much more sinister, but he doesn't seem to have thought of that possibility prior to this point.

[yandere-sins]

hihi !! just wanted to say i love your work and i think the polls are such a fun idea ! just curious - what's ur personal opinion on yans who cheat/are unfaithful? do you think that's possible? or does the yan part negate that?

Oh, we are back at the very fine lines, but thank you for reading and participating in the polls! I'm glad you enjoy them so much ^-^

I think it is a bit dependant on what everyone sees as cheating—emotional, sexual, etc. I personally don't believe in yan's cheating (which makes poly yandere quite an interesting subject to figure out ^^' And you can up the difficulty by letting the poly yan have other yan partners who are also poly and then also have a one or more darlings each. Or like when I write about the gods for example, some have multiple darlings and I use their godliness as a loophole as to why some gods can focus on a couple darlings, lol!) but I can see how they could use cheating to reach their goals and at that point, it's less about "cheating" as a hurt-factor but the way they do it.

Examples:

Yan still can't have their darling so they sleep with other people, perhaps even pretending those people are their darling -> It's not cheating per se, but they are basically cheating themselves and their devotion/obsession

Yan kidnaps darlings best friends and proceeds to cheat with them in front of darling as a punishment -> They obviously cheated, but the darling will be less hurt by the cheating as from seeing their friend suffer and having to watch that

Yan thinks that if they go out and sleep with darling's friends/family/co-worker to spite them, it will hurt Darling, but it backfires spectacularily -> Yan cheated, but Darling isn't really affected by it, are they?

Ways I do see it could be used for:

Yan has long pretended to be in love with their 'darling' and has always thought it should feel this way and it must fulfill them but then they meet the REAL darling and their world is turned upside down -> It's cheating and honestly even if the focus shifts, I could imagine that in some scenarios the yan still is unwilling to let go of the OG darling even if they never really loved them before. But now that they have their real darling they have so much love to give so why not keep the OG as well? It's a bit hard to equal out the obsession in this scenario but it's possible

If the yan is savvy and realizes the darling uses their affection and body to gain something from them, they could take someone else and cheat on the darling just to put them back in their place and make them upset about losing the yan's attention ("It's not a big deal, right?"). Of course they haven't and never will, but the yan enjoys their darling squeaming and trying to come up with a new plan. -> The yan would cheat though not out of affection for someone so it's nothing emotionally binding, they just do it to get a rise out of their darling and to maybe make them more compliant and behave better. Only works if the darling needs the yandere to "continue liking them" (if they have debt or need something only the yan can give them like idk their life energy? Like a Succubus/Incubus-Demon-Contract for example?) and isn't too aware that there's nothing they could do that would actually make the yandere turn away from them. (This works well for the poly yans too because they can just play their darlings against each other and get double the love and attention from them) Sometimes delulu is not the solulu.

Darling is the cheater (like in the poll!) and the yan is all too happy to be the sidepiece until they get too greedy and want it all (BIL in this case) -> Will probably make the yan more clingy in the longrun once they realize that darling could swap them out easily one day.

Either waaaaaay, not my favorite trope. I am sure you can make it work in some regard (even writing about failing to leave an impression on the darling is interesting to explore) but from a writing standpoint it can be a hassle and you might end up over-justifying yourself if you are not careful. Then again, if you are too careful, you might over-justify yourself too, it's tricky :')

[ukbella]

Storm Chasers Interview with Gabby Williams

STORM CHASERS W/ JEFF BROWN

Q: Could you talk about why you decided to come back to the WNBA this season and also how you're feeling physically?

GW: Well, it's been a conversation for a whole year now. The deciding factor was as long as I felt healthy mentally and physically, I would finish the season with Seattle. So to answer your second question, physically, I feel healthy. I feel good. I took about a week mentally after the Olympics. And yeah, I've been in conversations with Noelle, Talisa, and Lisa all summer; just keeping them updated on how I feel. And we all decided that we would talk about it after the Olympics.

Q: The team is in a different spot in the standing from last year. Just how different is it from this season to last season? And does it feel any different or does it feel the same somehow?

GW: It feels the same because this feels like home and it's a system I'm familiar with, a staff I'm familiar with, players I'm familiar with, but it does feel very different. I mean, today was fun. I had fun at practice today, just playing with such intelligent players and great people. Not that, I mean, my teammates were great too in France, but I just, I don't know. I just love the culture we have here. 

Q: I'm just curious when you were shown on the big screen earlier in the season you seemed kind of surprised at the reaction you got from the crowd. Do you know how much the fans here love you?

GW: I don’t know, it was loud. It just surprised me. I wasn't expecting that at all. It really touched me, though. I love the fans here, and I'm glad that they're happy that I'm here, and I think we have a great relationship.

Q: There was some reporting about other teams that were interested in bringing you in. Did you have any conversations, or was it kind of Seattle or bust as far as a return to the WNBA?

GW: Yeah, I'm always open to having conversations, but I was also very open with the teams that I spoke with that I kind of already had like a foot in the door with Seattle and that is a place where I'm comfortable. But it's always good to explore options. But yeah, I wasn't really going anywhere.

Q: What do you think you can bring over the next month here to help the Storm climb in the standings?

GW: Noey just said she's going to use me to kind of plug holes that we have. If we need help at the backup point guard one day. If it's me playing at the three one day. Just like she said be that kind of Swiss Army knife she's calling it the French Army knife now. She's like just be that adaptable player for us and that's kind of what I like to do and it's what I've always done here. So just the same role I think I've had. Q: You've had the option to go, even last year, to a different team. What are some of the things that really pull you to Seattle?

GW: I love our staff. I love my teammates here. First of all, I like how we play and I feel like everyone here has a lot of confidence in me and that helps me a lot. And I think it gives me opportunities to grow here to get better as a player. And, yeah, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So that's why I keep coming back.

Q: What are your overall thoughts on the new practice facility now that you've been able to practice in it?

GW: Yeah, this is amazing. I almost want to just sleep here. This is crazy. And I think it just speaks to the ownership that we have here. They're thinking ahead, they're thinking of things that we haven't even thought of that we might need. Coming from a different franchise where we're playing in like almost a YMCA, sharing a locker room with people who just finished their Pilates class. I just love to see ownership that really cares about their players and their well-being and did this for us.

Q: With the French National team, you guys had a hell of a run in the Olympics. Just how much pride did you have in what you were able to accomplish?

GW: Yeah, it was... We've been building up to it for three years, so I'm happy that, you know, it wasn't exactly the result we wanted. The dream was to get the gold, but I think what we did make a lot of people proud, and I think... I didn't even realize until a few days after the game what kind of impact it had on the country and the people, so...that was an amazing experience. It was amazing to have my family there. All of my family from Paris and the States were there. So just to share that moment with my loved ones was amazing.

Q: I was just wondering how you've been coming from the Olympics to coming back to the WNBA and how that transfer has been?

GW: The first couple of days have been pretty seamless. Yesterday, I just lifted and got an individual in. Today practice went well. Still getting the feel for things, but again, it's a system that I know already. It's players that I know pretty well. And then you add the players that we've added are pretty easy to play with. So yeah, the transition seems fine for now.

Q: It was reported that in order for you to return to the WNBA, you didn't want to be cored by the team that signed you. I'm just kind of wondering how did your relationship with Seattle and the front office play into that decision-making?

GW: I mean, we're very transparent with each other. Right now, we're just going to focus on finishing the season. But I know that no matter what happens, they'll respect what I want. I'll respect what they want. And what I like about this ownership and staff is that we can be 100% transparent with each other. And I trust that.

Q: Just how is your role on the team this year going? How has it changed from the past two years?

GW: I'm coming even later this time, which I didn't think was possible. I'm going to keep pushing it, but no, I'm not. So I'm really like, like I said, just trying to plug in holes. As Noel said, if one day they need me to just kind of be a defensive stopper, I'll do it. If they need me to handle the ball a bit more. So just doing the things that I do normally, I guess, and just using that to kind of plug in where I fit in.

Q: With 12 games left, is it enough for you to get into the groove of things, to figure them out, for them to figure you out?

GW: Well, we already know each other. We already know each other. I don't think there's much figuring out to do. I mean, hopefully. I guess, to answer your question. Isn't that what we all want? But like I said, I already know everyone here. The staff knows me, and then the players that we have added, it's very easy to play with them. So I don't see a problem with that.

Q: Could you elaborate a little bit, you said you like playing with this team, the players, and all that. What do you like? What is it that you like about it?

GW: I love the way that we read and react. I like playing with a kind of high intelligence game, being able to maybe break the play sometimes because there's a read somewhere. And I feel like that's all, that's like what Seattle is known for, is just that kind of offensive fluidity. And on defense, we're just going to keep getting better. We're going to keep getting more athletic. And so I love to play with that kind of pace too.

Q: Without getting too personal, you get to Seattle. What was that like to find a place? And then practice, what was that kind of like, your onboarding?

GW: No, they took care of me here. Ownership took care of me. Shout out to Drew. our manager or director of operations. I was set from the second I touched down here and that's also why I keep coming back to Seattle because they definitely take good care of their players.

Q: You mentioned it was a couple of days after the Olympics before you kind of realized what kind of impact it had in France. What were the experiences that helped you kind of realize that? And what did it mean?

GW: Just like, obviously getting recognized a bit more on the street. But I was expecting people to be upset with me because it was me who like stepped on the line, but every single person that came up to me said ‘Thank you for that game’. You know, you made us, I don't know how to say it in English, like vibrate. But yeah, the fans have just been so supportive in France and it just means a lot that we were able to touch so many people. Everyone saw how hard we worked I think and that's what really touches me.

Q: You mentioned really liking the coaching staff here and we heard when Skylar and Nneka signed here that they really wanted to play for Coach Quinn. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what you like about her or her systems or just why you want to play for her?

GW: Like I said, I love the idea of kind of a read-and-react offense where we just kind of flow into things. Noey has a lot of confidence in me. And I think my progression as a player is thanks a lot to this staff. It took me a while to like kind of get used to having that much freedom, like knowing that I'm allowed to take that shot. I'm allowed to have that drive. I'm allowed to do what I do. And yeah, I think I'm just going to keep getting better as long as I'm with the staff.

Q: What is it that you would like to tell your league leaders as maybe they enter any type of negotiation with the owners? (re: Prioritization)

GW: Well, we know it's a select amount of owners. We know we can guess who those owners are. I could say their names, but I'll be classy. And I think it's, I've said this before, it shouldn't be a blanket rule. I don't understand. I understand the want to have players here, but I think prioritization has to go hand in hand with our money that we're making as well. But yeah, I don't think it should be a blanket rule. I think if a team can handle it, they can handle it. If not, don't sign European players or players who play in Europe. And yeah, America is not the entire world. I know there are some people in a certain place that need to hear that. But yes, America is not the whole world.

Q: A lot of the conversation has been around how you and Jordan Horston are going to operate together. How do you see you two collaborating on the court?

GW: Last year, me coming in, I know they wanted me to kind of just mentor her a little bit as a rookie. We obviously have similar games, so I think I could relate to a lot of what she was going through and that's kind of like the same role I have. I'm Jordan Horson's number one fan and I see so much potential in her. I also see a lot of the same kind of mental blocks that I had. So I try to like just mentor her so that she can progress a lot faster than I did. So currently right now, I think it's going to be how we run. If we get on the court together, I'm going to push because I know that she can get out. I know that she's always in. She moves without the ball very well. And I think our games can kind of complement each other that way. Just playing with pace, playing with movement. And then, of course, on defense, we can be really dynamic.

Q: Going back to the prioritization question, you're playing now with Nneka Ogwumike, Madam President, and there is potentially a new CBA negotiation coming up. Being so close to her now on the same team, how do you feel that you can influence in the negotiations surrounding prioritization?

GW: Well, I don't think it's just me. I think a lot of players have spoken against prioritization So I have trust that our union will try to negotiate that because I've even been talking with players like Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Satou Sabally… I mean, everyone has spoken against this rule. So I don't think I need to say anymore. I think we got it.

Q: And the NWSL Players Association just signed the new CBA themselves and they removed the draft rules. Part of it is because thinking about the internationality of sports, do you think would work with the WNBA or is it a different scenario?

GW: I think it's a different scenario because of our leagues are different like the timing is different so I think also with how we have the NCAA, the timing is fine for basketball.

Q: On the final play in the gold medal game. I thought Marine made a phenomenal, phenomenal pass. Did you guys practice that play?

GW: The last play? With three seconds left? Did we practice that? No, no, we had talked about it after, you know, like what we would have done differently. But I was kind of hot. Like I had hit my last few shots. I knew Marine was going to find me. I just was running too fast, I think. No, she made the perfect pass. I just couldn't slow myself down fast enough. I think I had Napheesa and Kaleah Copper behind me, so I was running as fast as I could. We did not practice that.

Q: Seattle has been playing some really good defense, and you're regarded as a top two-way player in this league. What have you seen from their defense that you've really liked, and what do you hope to contribute to it?

GW: Well, we're very athletic, so we get... We get a lot of tips. What I saw just today and what we even talked about was just kind of like finishing out plays. So just like that extra effort to when we get the tip, now we get the steal and the layup. I think that's what I can kind of help with. But we're going to be so athletic. We're so long. We're going to get a lot of tips. We're going to get a lot of defensive stops. We're going to get a lot of blocks. It's just about like cleaning up around that. And I think that's where I can help.

Q: Off the court, I was wondering if there's anything that you've missed about Seattle, whether it be a favorite food spot or an attraction that you used to go to since the time that you've been here?

GW: Just being around so much nature. Yeah, I love Seattle. I love the culture here. Just, the food that I eat all the time. Shout out to Sizzle and Crunch. That was the first thing I ordered. I couldn't wait… when I landed. Yeah like the little bars Pikes Place all that stuff. Yeah, I love Seattle.

Notes: Photo and Video Credits to Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography Thanks for all the great support! Please tell other Storm fans about my coverage. This interview was conducted with multiple media members including myself and others from the Seattle Times, ESPN, The Next, Circling Seattle Sports, Cascadia Sports NW, and more. Social Media: Follow my Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)  Follow me on Threads (@WNBAStormChasers) Follow me on BlueSky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)

[juliansjss]

“ WHEN YOU GET BACK ON A SATURDAY NIGHT . . . AND YOUR HEAD IS CAVING IN “ | Faust ! |

Warnings : fem!reader, public sex, p in v, softdom!faust, blowjobs, honestly pretty vanilla if I’m being completely honest. (I do not support the actual person, or the band mayhem, just Valter playing a part.)

admin note : it’s Julian and all I’m saying is I have a new found love and appreciation for Valter, and idk where it came from

___________________

The day had started fairly normal. You and the taller man had got there around six PM, the place was bumping with people. The fair has always been one of your favorite places since you were a child.

Everything from the greasy food, and the spinny rides, you loved it all. It screamed of nostalgia and childhood. You loved it, and you made it abundantly clear. Yet, it was still pretty shocking when Faust came with the idea to go together, as somewhat of a date. It came as a major shock, since that kind of thing didn’t scream him. But it screamed you, and he knew that. It was something you had brung up multiple times since the two had been together.

So that’s how you ended up, a large lemonade cup in one hand and the man’s hand in your other. He however, stuck out like a sore thumb. The man’s dark and moody aesthetic clashing against the bright yellow and pink that was spread across the park.

He rubbed your hand, even if it wasn’t his scene, it made you happy and that’s all that really mattered.

The first ride you got on, was a simple one. The music express, a classic, as Faust said. You agreed. The two of you get in, him on the outside of the ride. As the ride begins, you cuddle on his side as the ride moves you that way anyways. It was a sweet couple of moments, having fun without worry about anything else.

The night went like that on multiple rides, until you found some seats to watch as the sunset and fireworks began to go off. The two of you cuddled into each other, a soft kiss tucked into your head by the man. A happy smile on both of your faces as the night began to calm down.

Most of the children that had been there before, were gone by now. Mostly replaced by older teenagers and adults. It made everything slow down. The two of you felt more comfortable being outright romantic. From kissing to his arm wrapped around you, in a protective embrace. The smile plastered on your face was enough to last for days.

The two of you walked around a little more, playing games as most of the rides were closing down as it hit close to 10:30pm. It was time to go, you knew that.

“Can we get some late dinner?” You said, moving your head to look up at the man, with a curious expression.

“Of course,” he mumbled quietly, “what are you thinking?” He said, looking back down at you.

“There’s a diner about 5 minutes away? Heard they got good burgers” you said, with a soft laugh.

“Sounds great.” He said, returning the soft smile on his face.

The two of you walked to his small car, putting your stuff in the back seat. And drove down to the small diner, there were about 3 other groups of people, which wasn’t all that bad.

The both of you got a small booth, close to the window. The waiter came up to you both, taking your drink order.

A water for him, and a sprite for you. Pretty normal for the both of you. Then once that was brought to the table, the both of you ordered.

The dinner went pretty smooth, the two of you paid and sat up.

“Can you come with me, real quick?” He mumbled against your head softly.

You nodded quickly, a little confused as he dragged you into the family bathroom quickly. That’s when you noticed the strain against the man’s jeans. Oh. That’s what it was.

“That’s so sweet.” You mumbled, staring up at him, “can’t wait to take me until we get home?”

The man shook his head, as he kissed you deep. Lots of tongue. God it was so hot, you couldn’t even lie. The risk factor, his tongue pushing against yours as you flushed against the wall.

His hand, pushed under your thigh and your leg wrapped around his hip, the position reeling with passion and lust. And that’s all that was there.

“Fuck, you’re so hot. You wanna suck me off?” He whispered, he wasn’t the greatest at dirty talk, but that was okay. It didn’t matter when the want pushed through him like none before.

“You know I do.” You said, getting down on knees, shimmying the cardigan off your shoulders, to land at your back and the wall, before taking the straps of the lacey black tank top off your shoulder, pushing them down to let your chest show, moving to unclip the deep burgundy bra off.

A deep primal groan came from deep in his throat as he saw the scene in front of him, grabbing your chin, leaning down to kiss you roughly once again. “Don’t be too loud, got it? Can’t get caught.” He whispered, and you knew it was more for what was bound to happen.

A soft nod came from you, as he began running your hand up and down his cock, a smile plastered on your face as you watched the man above you. His long hair falling in front of his eyes, watching you like a hawk.

You stroked him for a while longer, before leaning down to lick him, softly at first before you began grabbing his thighs to keep yourself grounded as you thrusting him into your mouth, his soft groans and grunts, like your own special music to your ears. You continued thrusting him into your mouth with a big smile, taking it with no fear as he tangled his large hands in your hair.

“Mm, fuck. I’m gonna cum.” He whispered out, his hands tangling in your hair tighter, making you squeak out a moan, you nodded as permission for him to do just that.

And that’s what he did, cumming down your throat with a deep groan, he grabbed your chin roughly and you opened your mouth, showing none of the cum left over. “That’s a good girl.” You smiled as he helped you up.

Maybe it was a bit gross to be on your knees and giving a blowjob in a random diner at 1am, but it wasn’t really the worse place the two of you had fucked, and you knew what you were getting into when the two of you had gotten into a relationship, it was okay.

“Wanna fuck you, baby.” He whispered against your ear, as you began stroking him once again.

“Want you to fuck me.” You said, humming as you continued until you felt him get hard under your touch, didn’t take too long.

“See what you do to me? Get me so worked up, so quick.” He mumbled against your neck, as he began littering it with hickeys bubbling up against the skin. He grabbed his wallet, grabbing a condom from it. The picture of you two, smiling brightly as you kissed, from behind the packaging.

He slid it on as quickly as possible, tossing the wrapping in the trashcan not too far from the two of you. As he pushed himself into you, you let out a soft yelp. It never got old, the slight stretch against him.

“That feels good, stay still for me, pretty girl.” He whispered in your ear, and you listened, how could you not with the sweetly sick tone?

So , you just nodded as he began to thrust slightly into you, not too quick, but not fast enough at the same time. You looked at him and he looked back at you with a knowing look, thrusting into you a bit faster as he brought his hand up to cover your mouth, as he began leaving more hickeys, down your body, stopping at your chest as he took your nipple in his mouth.

The moan you let out could have very well been from a porn, the mumble against his hand. He snapped, still not detaching his mouth from you, but bringing the hand to rub your clip even faster than his thrusts. The some whimpers and groans coming from the bathroom, was quite definitely the reason you heard the kitchen staff becoming increasingly louder as they cleaned up for the night. You would feel bad about it, but for now you were far too concerned with the pleasure between your thighs to give a fuck about what was happening behind that door.

“Fuck, please.. I’m gonna.. cum.” You said breathlessly, mumbled and whiny, as you watched the man in front of you.

“Me too, sweetheart. Cmon, that’s okay.” He mumbled, finally taking his mouth from your boob, taking his hand from your mouth to kiss you deeply.

You moaned into his mouth, as you finished against him. Your heart beating out of your chest as he groaned against you, finishing in the condom.

You both caught your breath as he took himself out of you, and as he threw the condom away.

“I love you.” He whispered, as the two began to clean up.

“I love you too, thank you for the sweet date.” You said, standing on your tippy toes to kiss his cheek.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I just got done with a fic where I missed a tag and I’m trying to figure out how I feel about it. The tag was dyslexic blackbeard/ed. There’s been so much discourse about Ed’s literacy. Which I don’t understand because we’re shown examples of him reading so idk why it’s a thing people think. So I tend to get easily triggered when he’s made to look like he can’t read or has trouble with reading. I know plenty of people have reading issues like dyslexia but to give it to Ed what with all the discourse? I’m curious as to what your thoughts are about this.

Man I honestly just think it really really really depends, y'know? There are two things that I think can be true here at once:

Fiction can reveal a lot about unconscious biases and racism in fandom spaces, and the way Ed's literacy has been discussed and there's so many fics about him having to learn to read even though he's clearly shown reading on screen in s1e5 is a prime example of that

Fanfic is also a great and cathartic way to put characters in situations as a way for the author to express themselves and explore their personal struggles in a safe space

I'm not gonna come out here and say things like "don't write Ed with your specific learning disability." But, at the same time, I think white authors especially really should consider how they write characters of color with relation to things like dyslexia.

The simple fact of the matter is that learning disabilities and neurodivergence are always going to be different when you're not white. Like, I have autism and ADHD and I don't have dyslexia but I have dyscalculia, which is kinda similar (think dyslexia but for numbers). Brown kids with learning disabilities are always going to be on a different playing field and we're going to have a different set of struggles with diagnosis, relationship to our disability, etc. than white kids. For example, Ed's more likely to be undiagnosed, to face disciplinary action in school for things he can't help related to his disability, and be labeled as "defiant" for struggling.

I'm never going to tell someone with ADHD, say, that they shouldn't write Ed as ADHD to explore that, but I do think authors should be mindful of how race factors in here. Like, even though one of my ADHD symptoms can be trouble keeping my space organized, I'm not going to give that to Ed because I worry it would fall too much in line with tropes about brown people being messy or unclean and Ed's always shown to prefer a clean, tidy space in the show.

I don't think, even given the discourse about Ed's literacy, there should be a hard limit here. I don't think we should automatically write off stories where Ed has dyslexia, because I could see them being done amazingly well by authors who have experience with that disability and who have considered how Ed's race will interact with his experiences. A fic where Ed's had to work ten times as hard and now he's a best-selling author, for example? Sign me the hell up!

Tl;dr: it depends? I don't think we should ever say "you CAN'T write about this character with this disability," but I also think that when writing about characters of color with disabilities, there's a responsibility to approach the topic with care, tact, and dignity.