#mindreading ad

[everyonesfavoritenotetaker]

What's your relationship with Lemon? Friends? Acquaintances? ....Something else?

You can't see it, but they slightly raise an eyebrow at the last comment.

"Oh, Lemon-? Were pretty close, I'd say. We're neighbors, actually!"

I don't think close is a strong enough word to describe it. They literally visit each other's apartments on a near daily basis, whether it be Lemon seeking some sort of emotional support or Broccoli just wanting to chat.

"He's quite jittery and quick to panic- But I don't mind. I try my best not to scare him too much."

...

"Speaking of Lemon, I've got to clean this place up-"

Tonight is movie night. Which means Lemon would be there any minute now, considering their apartments are literally a 30 second walk away from each other. And yes. They're gonna watch The Princess Bride for the 58th time. Not that Lemon would mind the mess any- Broccoli just likes to keep it looking nice whenever anyone comes over.

[tobuzzu]

A suit of armor masquerading as formal wear, designed for parties and social events.

The bioluminescent cloth is made using firefly silk, a form of firesilk that can be safely worn without risk of burning. To give it its blue coloration, the firefly silk is dyed with pigment processed from Moon Globe flowers, changing the orange shine of the fabric into a vivid gradient of blues and purples, reminiscent to that of the moon globe.

A weave of deactivated blaze and firefly silk is used for the rest of the garment. Though having lost their glow, they still retain their fire retardant properties, serving as a decent guard against fire-breath. Gold silk is then woven over to stylize the cloth.

Meteoric iron is used to forge the helmet. The Ripples of blues and purples are the result of the traces amounts of sky fire added to the alloy, the purpose being to protect the wearer from prying mindreaders.

(I headcanon that the length of time firesilk can burn for depends on the type, with sun silk burning for only several hours or days, blaze silk for several months, firefly silk burning for several years, and goldsilk forever, because gold never erodes.)

[derpyjackarts]

I went back and tried design more Undertale characters for the Asriel Crownbearer AU. === (Edit: these descriptions were added back in after the first posting)

Sans & Papyrus

The skeleton brothers are merchants in Anura.

They sell hot dogs(not good), spaghetti(not good), and miscellaneous items you can find in a convenience store(don't ask how).

Sans deliberately doesn't join ANY cult in the Lands of the Old Faith while Papyrus is tempted to join Asriel's cult.

For some reason, the Crown cannot mindread Sans and Papyrus. However, Asriel doesn't really need mindread to mindread Papyrus.

Like the original, Papyrus becomes good friends(mutuals at least) with Asriel and admires Undyne.

Muffet

She is a follower of Shamura and a high-ranked enforcer.

After Alphys left and joined Asriel, Muffet hated her and deemed her a traitor.

Monster Kid

They followed Undyne to the cult as she recused them from the Bishops' cultists during a holy quest.

Just like the original, they admired Undyne more than the king(Asriel in this case).

Temmie

Temmies lives in Temmie Village.

Temmies worship Temmie.

Temmie is Temmie.

Temmie is Life.

Temmie please put down the knife.

Saladpants (Burgerpants/Pizzapants)

He works as a waiter at Rakshasa's restaurant.

Everyone at the restaurant kept calling him "Saladpants" as he always served them the restaurant's top-selling dish "Beetroot Salad". (Rakashasa's dishes were shown in Jalala's Journal)

Napstablook

They were a demon by a demonic summoning.

They forgot who and why were summoned

They have been wandering around the lands for quite some time.

Enforcer Guardian 01 & Enforcer Guardian 02 (Royal Guard 01 & Royal Guard 02)

These two men are enforcers of the Old Faith.

Just like the original, EG01 has a HUGE crush on EG02.

Don't worry, these lovers won't die. They ended up joining Asriel, probably mostly because of Undyne.

[drvscarlett]

About You Pt 14

Sebastian Vettel x Webber!Reader

Summary: Everyone knows about the history of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But there's a well kept story within the paddock about Sebastian Vettel and another Webber. This is that story.

A/N: we do not condone cheating in this household, that is all. enjoy!

About You Series

2013, Yas Marina Circuit

Jenson values his rest which is why lights were off as soon as it hits 8pm. Everyone knows that this was his schedule during the race weekend so why the hell is someone knocking at his door at 10:40 in the evening. He was about to shout and give this person a screaming but all the irritation disappeared when he saw Y/N at the door.

She was disheveled, an uncommon sight to him. As far as Jenson remembered, Y/N always try to make an effort to look as if she is well-composed even when the whole Multi 21 incident was happening last year. Jenson swears he remembered how she looked happy and excited when they parted ways earlier. What the fuck happened in a matter of hours?

“Jesus Christ, Y/N what is going on” Jenson was immediately awake.

He checked her for bruises fearing that someone laid a hand on her. To his relief there weren’t any. The puffy red eyes were a point of concern because there were only so little things that could make her cry like that.

“Can I stay here? I don’t know where else to go”she finally spoke.

“Of course, get in”

Jenson shuffled to make way for her inside. He was careless to let her stand in the hallway for so long but he didn't miss the implication of her sentence. Why would she say that she has nowhere to go if Sebastian is always there for her? Jenson has witnessed it several times how the Red Bull driver would drop anything to take care of her.

A thought crossed Jenson's mind but that would be impossible. He knew Sebastian would never break up with Y/N, the man would rather get run over by a car than lose her.

“I can prepare you a cup of tea. You should change to some clothes, I have some of our team kit in my closet that may fit you”Jenson suggested.

Y/N sits on the floor of the hotel blankly with tears streaming down her face. It was a scene that tugged the heart of Jenson deeply. If he could do anything to take that pain away then he would.

“C'mon Y/N, lets get you out of this clothes. You take a quick shower then lets talk” Jenson encourages.

The girl was running on autopilot and Jenson was scared. This was the first time that he encountered Y/N to be in this type of state. He has the idea to message if which one of the idiots in Red Bull fought again but he thought it would be best to hear it out from Y/N herself.

When Y/N stepped out of the shower with dry clothes, Jenson was already done with the tea. He led Y/N to sit on one of the couches and Jenson took a sit next to her. It was a few minutes of silence as they sip their tea until Jenson finally caved in.

“Talk to me, whats happening”Jenson begged.

Y/N's deadpanned expression turned to face Jenson. She seems to struggle which one she would tell first or how will she narrate the story. Jenson holds her hand as a form of comfort.

“I went to dinner with Hanna”Y/N found her voice

Jenson tried to recall any Hanna that he knew about. His face scrunched up in his heavy thinking and Y/N noticed that.

“Its Sebastian’s childhood friend”Y/N added.

“Oh its that blonde one right?”Jenson remembered “She used to be here for a few races“

There was silence again from the female Webber. It was frustrating Jenson and he wished he could just mindread the thoughts going on in her head.

“Turns out she is pregnant”she sighs.

Jenson's face contorted to one with confusion. Why would it matter if Sebastian's childhood friend is pregnant? What does it have to do with anything that's happening? Unless...

“No shit, are you fucking serious?" Jenson puts one and one together

It felt like he was being pranked right now and any second the camera crews will get out of their hiding. He wanted everything to be a one big joke but the room remained silent and tears continue to stream down her face.

Jenson wanted to get up and give that Vettel a piece of his mind but he stopped as he looked at Y/N. Leaving her on her own is not the best decision so he just enveloped her in a hug.

“I don’t know Jenson, its so fucked up” Y/N’s voice was faltering as she tries to stop her tears “Was everything just a lie? All those times he was wooing me and now I found out he has a fucking kid with somebody?”

Y/N wiped her tears and she let out a fake laughter. All the emotions are going haywire now.

“Hanna is 6 months along… It ties up around the time of the Spain GP, just before my fucking birthday”Y/N explained.

The scenes were starting to connect with each other. He remembered the earlier conversation with Sebastian about the big mistake he did. He should have seen this coming and punched Sebastian.

“That fucking twat”he mutters.

“I don’t know what to fucking do Jenson, I don’t know what to think anymore”

“Just talk to me, I’m listening”

But frankly, Jenson’s thoughts were filled with regrets. It shatters Jenson because this was the only thing he begged Sebastian, he begged him to take care of Y/N and Sebastian cannot even follow simple directions. If he knew that this is how things would have ended up between the two of them then he should have just tried his best to woo Y/N.

He felt so useless with everything, and he could just only be a comforting shoulder for Y/N.

“She begged me Jenson. She asked if I could talk to Sebastian because the kid needs a father” Y/N narrated “How can I live with that memory in my head that if I allowed myself to be happy then I’m depriving a kid of their father. And Jenson, I love Sebastian. I really love him”

Jenson could feel his heart silently shatter by that confirmation. With everything said and done, Y/N loves Sebastian. It was the reason why she felt so hurt by the whole thing because she loved him. He wanted to ask which God decided to play a cruel joke on him. Having to see the girl he loves the most crying over a man who didn't deserve her when he was there all along and could treat her better.

2013, Circuit of The Americas

Sebastian arrived at the circuit earlier than usual. He has been feeling a bit tense the past few days. Ever since Abu Dhabi, Y/N seems to be avoiding him. She didn't reply to her text messages, she flied out early, and she seems to not be present in the garage during the races. Some may say that it was just all a coincidence and that maybe Y/N was just busy but something was bugging Sebastian about the situation.

So he was hellbent to find some answers today. He headed out to the McLaren garage to talk to Jenson or even try to talk to Y/N.

Some McLaren staffs were preparing the car and they pointed at hush whispers to see the Red Bull driver in their garage.

"Hi goodmorning. Can anyone point me to where Y/N or Jenson is, I just have to speak to any of them and its really important" Sebastian greeted.

The staffs look at each other seemingly wary about his request. Little did Sebastian know but Jenson had a lengthy message before their arrival at COTA that Sebastian Vettel should not be allowed to speak with anyone in McLaren especially to Y/N.

"Did anyone not hear me? I'm asking where is Y/N or Jen-"

"What do you need me for?"Jenson appeared as if on cue.

Sebastian let out a sigh of relief upon seeing his friend. He was about to give him a hug but then Jenson's face seems to be filled with irritation.

"Are you okay? You look mad?" Sebastian pointed out.

"Mad? I'm mad?"Jenson fakes a laughter "Oh I am extremely happy Sebastian. I am fucking ecstatic"

"Seriously what's going on, why are you acting weird?"

Something about what Sebastian said pushed Jenson to the edge. The next thing he knows, Jenson was tackling him and they were engaged in a physical altercation. The McLaren employees were quick on their feet to seperate the two of them but Jenson was still lunging to get a punch towards Sebastian.

It was a good thing that there was no media around at this time or else this would have been a huge scandal. Only the employees of the team are present in the garages so this could be contained.

"What the fuck is your problem?"Sebastian roared.

"You're the fucking problem"Jenson shouts back "You are a fucking piece of shit"

The McLaren staffs tried to subdue Jenson but he seems to be adamant to get out of their hold. Sebastian could see in his peripheral view that some of the Red Bull staffs are running to get their driver out.

"We fucking know Sebastian, we know what you did"

And the color suddenly leaves Sebastian's body. His mind running a million thoughts, how the fuck did Jenson know? He stood there frozen unable to defend himself because he knows it was just right for Jenson to punch him. Hell, he deserves worse.

"What did you do Sebastian?"Britta wondered "Are you hurt Seb? Do you want to file a complaint?"

Sebastian shakes his head "Let's just go and leave".

"Yeah and stay the fuck away"Jenson warns.

Some McLaren employees were begging Jenson to stop and think of his rash actions' consequences. They may have physically restrained Jenson but his eyes followed Sebastian as if it was shooting daggers. Sebastian cannot shake the feeling of it even in the comforts of the Red Bull motorhome.

There were lots of things that Sebastian wanted to say. He wanted to tell Jenson that it was an accident and he had too much to drink which is why it happened. He wanted to ask how did he find out and who is the we that he is talking about.

His heart drops upon realizing the weird behavior of Y/N the past few days. Oh fucking shit, she knows.

2013, Autódromo José Carlos Pace

It was the morning before the free practice. The sun was still rising but Y/N managed to find herself early in the garage. Everything was still a bit empty, a big contrast to how the place would be packed in a few hours. With plenty of time to kill, she decided to take a walk around the track.

There was an empty feeling that there was no one by her side. She was so used over the years that there was always a driver by her side. It may be Mark discussing about the family and some kids he is mentoring. It can be Jenson who is busy winking and waving at the fans. And of course, Sebastian, the one who talks her ear off about the winners and the iconic scenes around the track.It feels a bit lonely to walk the tracks by herself.

In light of the recent events, she has been a bit lonely. Sebastian was someone she was ignoring for the obvious reasons. Jenson is someone she talks to for work duties but other than that he is on timeout after his outrage in COTA. Mark is also off the table because she might end up crying and Mark ends up doing something stupid such as crashing Sebastian on purpose.

Seb <3: Please let me talk to you. Seb<3: It’s the end of the season and I don’t want us to go to our winter break with this heaviness on our shoulder. Seb <3: Just please let me explain. Let’s talk about this

The same kind of messages have been circulating ever since the COTA incident. There was not a day that goes by that Sebastian is messaging her asking if they could talk about things. She has to hand it to him that he doesn't give up even if she was radio silent.

What's bugging her is how everyday she is itching to go talk to him. A side of her knows that whatever he has to tell her will never justify the whole thing. Sebastian still hid the truth about sleeping with someone and he betrayed the trust they shared. However, there was a part screaming inside of her to hear him out. It was honestly frustrating to end up in this position that it got her falling apart.

Funny how the mere thought of him causes tears to fall from her eyes and still she wanted to see him. Its so fucking stupid.

She hurriedly tried to find a towel or handkerchief because when she cries it was far from pretty sight with the tears and the snot. There were people coming around the track so it would be pretty bad if anyone sees her. God, she would hate herself to be pictured by the media and have to explain why she is crying to Mark.

"Here, you need this" A hand suddenly extended to her offering a handkerchief.

The first that she did was wipe her eyes to clear her vision and then blow her nose to help her breathe again. Y/N looked up and she was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Jules, oh my god this is quite embarrassing. I'm sorry you have to see me like this"Y/N fuzzes “I am seriously not like this always”

The last time that she met Jules by her own was in Monaco. She remembered how she was also upset and confused during that time. It seems like its becoming a habit that Jules sees her when she is feeling down.

"Oh no, nothing to be sorry about"Jules assured

“You always carry a handkerchief or do you have a dora backpack that carries everything you need?”Y/N tried to joke around.

Jules let out a soft chuckle clearly understanding the reference.

“Would have loved that Dora bag but”Jules shared“its actually my old man told me that I should always carry one so that I can lend it to someone crying or needing to use it to blow their nose”

“That’s very specific and I feel targeted by those statements”

He just held up his hand high in surrender with a smile. It was a joy to have Jules presence because it lifted her spirits even for a moment.

“Wanna walk with me?”Y/N wondered.

“Sure”

Small conversation were shared between the two of them as they walk. Jules gave an update about Charles, who Y/N notes to be ranking up in his career. The conversation was a distraction for Y/N but Jules can't help but notice the disposition of the girl a while ago.

"I don't mean to pry but you seem to have a lot going on in your mind"Jules pointed out "Maybe you could talk to me about it"

Y/N musters a small smile "That bad huh?"

"We can sit down at the side of the track if you like so you can tell me what's going on"Jules offered.

"There's nothing going on"

But she knows her voice is weak and it betrays her. Even, she was unconvinced by the sentence she just uttered. There was clearly a lot going on.

Skepticism was apparent in Jules' face however he nods his head in understanding. He knows that if Y/N doesn't want to talk about it then he won't force her to talk about it. He continues walking with her and Y/N appreciates that.

"But can I ask you a hypothetical question?" Y/N quizzed.

"Go on"

There were a lot of tell-tale signs that Y/N was nervous with the way she was fiddling with her necklace and how she avoids eye contact. Jules turned to her and stopped. He put his hands on Y/N's shoulders to keep her from shaking.

"Hey, you don't have to say anything if you aren't ready to talk about it"Jules assured "Don't stress on it"

"But I need help" there was the cry of distress.

"Okay then lay out the hypothetical situation"Jules encouraged.

"Okay hypothetically speaking, what does it mean if you got a girl pregnant and that girl is not your girlfriend. And still you want to talk and explain to your girlfriend. Do you still love your girlfriend? Why do you want to talk to your girlfriend?"

Jules seems bewildered by the whole story as he seems to curse in french under his breath. He just couldn't fathom how Y/N has been placed in such a deep shit situation.

"Please tell me you are not pregnant" Jules begged.

"I AM NOT!"

"You're not cheating?"

"For the record, this is a hypothetical situation"Y/N reminded "But to answer your question, im not cheating"

A sigh of relief escaped Jules as one of his hands massaged the temple on his head to relieve the incoming headache. He didn't want to ask anything anymore and he will just treat it as air quotes hypothetical.

"First of all, hypothetical or not, it is wrong to cheat on your partner. It should have never happened in the first place if a person truly loves their partner"Jules cleared.

An immediate frown graced Y/N's face as it confirms her earlier thoughts.

"However, there may be a reason as to why it happened. I have heard how some people had done it because they were drunk and did not know what they were doing. Others are actual serial cheaters who has done this several times. There are certain degrees of the crime and I think the next course of action should take it into account"Jules reasoned out.

Y/N remembered how Hanna mentioned that this just happened one time. It was just an extremely unfortunate situation that Sebastian knocked her up that one time they slept together. Jules explanation made valid points.

"If its one time?"

"Why not go talk about it and maybe they could work on it"Jules replied.

It was quite funny to even hear that suggestion. She never could have seen herself getting over the cheating incident so how could they work on it?

"Will things ever work with something as big as cheating?"Y/N questioned.

The driver just nods, "Yeah when you love someone. You can look past their biggest mistakes and flaws because you love them. Its why people tell us love makes us stupid at some point"

Love truly makes us stupid, a fitting sentence to embody Y/N right now.

"I think the best course of action is to hear what he has to say. If this is a one time thing then maybe you can forgive him and then you two can work this out. Or maybe you can take your time and not forgive him. Whatever works for you"Jules added.

"This is all a hypothetical situation remember"Y/N reminded.

A laughter comes out of Jules and he nods his head in agreement.

"Of course Y/N, everything is all hypothetical"

The two continued with their walk without a hitch. People are starting to enter and they made a good decision to head back to their respective garages.

"And this is my stop, thanks for a wonderful morning Jules"Y/N hugged Jules in front of the McLaren garage.

"Not a problem, you were a joy to walk with"

"Really even with the crying and all my hypothetical questions?"Y/N joked

"Yeah even then"Jules agreed " and I hope you aren't too troubled anymore next time we meet"

"I'll return your handkerchief then maybe you're the one needing it next time around"

The two waved goodbye to each other. Y/N reached out for her phone and she started to type. Her head was a bit clear now and maybe the talk with Jules gave her a bit of braveness to do this.

Y/N: Okay. I'll hear you out one time. Meet me after the race. You set the place.

[t00thpasteface]

looked up a simpsons clip on youtube that i knew was referencing another tv show because i heard the same reference in something else and wanted to know what the show was called because i couldn't exactly google an instrumental riff. huge shoutout to the guy who commented on the simpsons clip with just the word "Dragnet." and nothing else. others may downvote you for adding absolutely nothing of substance to the conversation, but i seriously owe you one, you fucking mindreader

[olderthannetfic]

I just got a comment saying I should have tagged for dom/sub undertones and I'm a little confused. In canon, this guy always bosses his wife around re: doing shit that's healthy for her - napping, drinking water, remembering to eat more than once a day, getting more than 3 hours of sleep - and she lovingly calls him "Boss Man" as a nickname because of it. On some occasions where she's gone more than a day without eating he'll swipe her phone and order her to eat before she gets it back, something she always seems to find endearing. There's a lot of 'I didn't mean to worry you', 'you're worth worrying about, now here's your favorite homemade walnut bread' stuff, all there in canon, just lifted from canon and transplanted into my fic.

Is this dom/sub stuff? I'm aroace so I've never been in a relationship, but I assumed "take care of yourself" "I will but I will call you a silly nickname over it" was regular relationship stuff. Or is it that the frequency of it makes it dom/sub stuff, and I'm just not grasping that because my neurodivergency is making me not read the social cues correctly? I was only recently diagnosed but this has been a problem for a long time, the whole line between normal and abnormal behavior, so I thought I'd ask you. You're much more well-read than I am and know a lot more about shipping dynamics and how they're tagged. I feel like you're an expert whose opinion carries a lot of conclusions-informed-by-knowledge and so your take could help me figure this out.

People who are doms or subs or write them, if you have a guide on this stuff, that'd be cool, too. I want to educate myself more so I know if I should tag something. After all, I can't get my story to people who want to read it if it doesn't show up in the tags they're searching for. Readers aren't mindreaders. It's on me to make sure they can get ahold of the things they're looking for. I just need to work around my own ADHD-addled brain to do it.

--

I think this is the usual pattern of demanding silly tags that would only make sense in that reader's own bookmarks.

Yes, caretaking and food control of various kinds can be a part of BDSM. No, your description of canon does not make it sound like this has obvious undertones.

Readers are going to have different interpretations. It's possible that other readers would agree with this one. I have my doubts. I suspect they're projecting. But sure, maybe other people would think there was some of that vibe.

However, if you did not intend the fic to read this way, I would not add the tag. This is not what the fic is about.

--

As for what this kind of thing can look like when it is intended as a dom/sub activity, the movie Secretary has a bunch of examples. She calls him on the phone to tell him what her family's dinner looks like that night; he gives her instructions about which things she can eat how much of. The way she acts while making that phone call makes it clear it's an exciting game to her. Another time, he tells her she's not allowed to cut herself anymore: he will provide what she needs.

Even if the characters are being playful, just nagging someone to do basic self care doesn't really come across as this. It's more charged when it's an intentional power exchange thing.

It's more like... hmm... if you and a friend agreed to LARP as characters for a day. Even if you were acting fairly normal and doing things you'd often do anyway, there would be this added extra vibe to it that someone who knew you well could probably detect.

It's not so much about the specific behaviors: it's about the extra meaning those people ascribe to them. If it doesn't seem like the canon characters think of this caretaking any specific way and you, as the fic author, don't see it that way, then I don't think it will generally read as a dom/sub thing to most readers.

[idliketobeatree]

prompt: mindreading

pairing: crystal/niko (heavily implied, but can be read as one-sided pining if that's your jam), ficlet, 700~ words, T

———

"Wait, you want me to read your mind? You're not scared of someone taking a peek into that brain of yours?"

Maybe it's because of her own peculiar experiences with... not exactly unwanted, but genuinely huge mistakes of wanted guests in her head. But Crystal cannot fathom the idea to voluntarily make anyone privy to your thoughts, on a whim. She's done it enough for other people, sure; usually under the disguise of a case and protected by the motives, but she still had a preference of simply talking to people, hoping for the best that they would disclose the necessary information. Her budding empathy clashes somewhat with her psychic powers. There was a time she vaguely remembers, where she wouldn't bat an eye at using them for her advantage, even if it meant stepping on a few heads. Well. Not anymore.

It made something in her chest feel noble; a sensation she was not used to.

With great power comes great responsibility, et cetera, right?

Nevertheless, the casual allowance of Niko to make herself comfy in her brain, with no specific time slot seems intimate down to a T. Something you would allow under very specific circumstances, preferably after thorough discussion with the subject. A life or death situation, perhaps. It would be reserved for the closest bunch of people, unless your poor judgement decided to omit the jarring red flags and said, you know what, my scarlet matches your ruby.

There are choices you cannot go back from, as she is painfully aware.

In her lap, Niko brushes two fingers along Crystal's knuckles, from where she is cradling her palm. It feels strangely precious, encased in the softness of the other girl's hand. Crystal's gaze glides over to the intricate rings matching the long, beautiful pastel nails, decorated with small pearls and tiny ribbons. The touch brings dual sensations: there are the pads, soft like a cat's and similar to it, the sharper points of the nails leave blunt dents on the top of her palm. She belately realises, I wouldn't mind if you pressed harder. Make me feel it.

Crystal's gaze snaps back upwards, guiltily. She almost regrets it. The way Nico's face twists into a shy smile, Crystal feels the touch spark through her hand and race towards the chest like a livewire, a pulsing need. "I have nothing to hide from you."

"That's not true. Everyone has secrets they want to keep," she protests weakly.

"I promise to keep it G-rated," Niko laughs, and Crystal is lightheaded from it, glad she is already sitting down, because hey, did she just—

"Crystal. You need to see the bird."

Before she can cut it short, Niko lifts the hand she so generously cradled up to her forehead— in a mimicry of the main guy from— uh, was it the X-Men movies? Like she believed touching the temples while mindreading was essential to the process. Crystal's powerless against the flutter of her eyelashes when she's trying to focus and relax at once, the slightest of frowns gracing her forehead.

Her fingers are being gripped harder, determined. She wants to keep her there.

Crystal debates on whether it would work anyway, because how could she think about some stupid bird, when Niko is right there? An open, well-loved paperback, ready to fill you with strange images of her own design.

She gets hit with a memory like a pop-up ad, but without the surge of overwhelm and annoyance, the part where she's prying open inside smoother than anticipated.

The sight comes with a filter of pure admiration and some childlike wonder. The edges of the vision are swimming in bright, peak summer hues, teal sky and rich green bushes with pinkish yellow sparkling in the heat. Niko must have watched the scene from a sidewalk, and she had to be pretty close to see so clearly. The crow inside the memory drops a walnut from its beak right before a car drives over it, cracking open the hard shell, and the bird dives precisely half a second later, catching the remains of the nut in mid-air. Show off, Crystal snickers to herself. Surprisingly, she finds a familiar, amused chuckle reverbating around her temple. It's strange enough that Crystal gets thrown out of the vision far too quickly. She pushes the need to stay, down.

Niko cracks open one eye, apparently much too excited to keep going. "Did you see that? Did you see?"

"Uh. Yeah. I did." It's a tiny shock, to come out of the vision. "That was..."

Unexpected. Amazing. If I saw the world through your eyes, I wouldn't think it's genuine shit all the time.

"...nice."

[whumpshaped]

what would bite look like?

oh look i can still write! sorry that this is the one i come back to ambac with

masterlist bingo card

tw vampire whumper, mind control, very suggestive themes, dubcon drugging, dubcon bloodsucking from the inner thigh, dubcon kisses, conditioning, manipulation

Beck wasn't surprised when Helle pushed him onto the bed, nor when they climbed on top of him, nuzzling against his neck. They had been quite affectionate lately, and he didn't mind one bit — sometimes he wished they'd be... even more affectionate.

His thoughts were a confusing, tangled mess most of the time, and he didn't want to be alone for long enough to make sense of them.

What was surprising however was when Helle pulled away without biting, sliding down his body until they could untie the drawstring of his sweatpants. That... was definitely more affectionate than usual. A tad bit too far, even to Beck's enthralled mind, and he grabbed onto Helle's wrist with an alarmed look.

"Master...?"

Helle stopped and gave him a reassuring smile. "Nothing to worry about, dear. I shall have nothing but your blood, as usual."

A new wave of magic crashed into him, making him release his hold and even stealing his breath for a brief moment. Of course there was nothing to worry about. He never had anything to worry about when Helle was around. "Yes, Master," he mumbled, unbothered by the sensation of his pants being pulled off and tossed aside.

"Good boy," they purred before hooking a hand under his knee and gently guiding him to slide his leg up, until his inner thigh was completely exposed. Ah. Of course. That made sense.

But rationalising it didn't stop his heart from racing when Helle lay down on their stomach and pressed their lips against the sensitive skin. Beck had never had a single person be so close to him, especially not in this way — but there was no resisting the amount of magic that was already in his system. He wasn't afraid or uncomfortable. It was... something else.

"M-Master–"

"Mhm?" They gently kissed his thigh before looking up at him, clearly pleased with what they were seeing. "What is it, darling?"

What was it? He couldn't think when Helle was looking at him like that. It made him squirm, which only prompted them to slide an arm under his leg and pin him down by the hip, locking him in place as they kissed him again. He couldn't think. He couldn't get a word out.

"I'm afraid I am not a mindreader yet," they murmured. "You will have to use your clever little words. You can do that for me, yes?"

"N-no, I–" He cut himself off with a gasp when Helle sucked a hickey into the soft flesh, gripping the sheets like he thought he would fall otherwise. With how dizzy he felt, it wasn't an outrageous fear. "I can't– I c-can't–"

"What a sensitive body you have... I am not the first one touching you, am I?"

Beck swallowed, his face flushing even more. He turned his head in an attempt to hide just how mortified he was, but the pillow couldn't keep out the sound of Helle's low chuckle.

"Oh, that is precious. But you have nothing to fear — it is merely another feeding."

It was not merely another feeding. No other feeding had ever included the vampire's hot breath against his thigh, fangs scraping the surface of it and making him shiver. He mustered up the courage to glance down at them again, to urge them to just get those fangs inside him so the venom would take all these unnecessary doubts away, but the sight was too much to bear.

Thankfully, he didn't need to beg for it. Helle gave him one last dirty grin before they bit down, and all his remaining thoughts turned to dust.

Beck threw his head back against the pillow with a sharp gasp, and suddenly he was very grateful that the vampire was holding him in place. His exhale turned into a high-pitched, broken whimper, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. The venom flowing into his body was pure bliss in liquid form, and everything else only added to the experience.

He didn't realise he was crying until the tears became distracting enough to notice, and even then, he didn't exactly know why. It was all so overwhelming, he couldn't keep himself from sobbing. Helle pulled back and licked the wounds closed, leaving him panting and incoherent, staring up at the ceiling without a single thing in his head.

"Aw, did I make you cry?" they cooed. "I had no idea you would hate it so much." Beck shook his head frantically, because no, no, he didn't hate it. He didn't hate it at all. "Hm? What was that?"

"I– p-please–"

"Please what, dear?"

"P-please more."

~

taglist: @whumpsday @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @delicateprincepaper @whumppmuhw @florissimps @nicolepascaline @oliversrarebooks @thecyrulik @pirefyrelight @there-will-always-be-blood @pigeonwhumps @echo-goes-mmm @whumpycries @morning-star-whump @d-cs @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @tauntedoctopuses @blueyellow8green @typewrittenfangs @whumpsoda @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @auroragehenna @whumpedydump

[sapphim]

I keep wondering why there's so many DA2 armors, weapons and assets in DAI. Was it easier to add things they had already created - in another engine - into the new game or were they intending to have the DA2 crew actually show up (given half the plot of DAI was for DA2's cut quest). I know you're not a mind reader but I was wondering if you ever had any thoughts about this.

So I am neither an expert nor as you say a mindreader. But it's my understanding that's just kind of the nature of large scale development. There's a period after launch where your game is in support mode for patches and DLC but you're also getting started on the next project right away. And having many people working on many things in parallel there will be many such cases where team A can't start on thing 2 until they get thing 1 from team B; you have to finalize the script before you finalize the voiceover before you finalize the cutscenes, etc. So it makes sense that development would be staggered.

It also makes sense to just, make things you can use? Even if you're not working on the yearly FIFA release there's no sense in not using good assets if you have them. Time not spent replacing those assets can be spent on making something else, and now you've got more assets. (And not for nothing but Inquisition was very much sold on the basis of "wow look at the scale! much large! so world! crafting system!" lol)

And they got smart about this when they started work on Inq. Origins and DA2 share the same engine architecture but they changed the proportions of their body models (sometimes drastically) and they added additional bones to their face rig. DA2 to Inq, while they had to transition to an entirely new engine, you know what didn't change? All that model stuff I mentioned. So even with having to convert your work over for the new materials—and, you know, slapping on some tchotchkes bc you're allowed a higher poly count—it's still a big time save, as modders who have done conversions can directly attest. And again this is time that can now be spent idk sculpting Bull's fat tits or whatever.

Also DA2 is really the first time we see where the visual identity of Dragon Age started to form. The visual language of Origins was... derivative. A faux medieval nothingburger. 00s era brown. Most of the stuff that we think of as comprising the "look" of Dragon Age as a whole really didn't start appearing until DA2. Did the Dalish look Dalish in Origins? Did the Wardens look like Wardens? It's been an ongoing process to make Dragon Age look like something instead of nothing (god bless).

Even without getting down into the weeds of Inq being the sequel they originally planned during the development of Origins, and questions about what their state of development was when they got the word to sunset the game and scrap that DLC, and the pivot to Inq. Like whatever they were thinking throughout working on 2 and whether or not they were also thinking ahead to Inq throughout and whether or not that influenced any of their development decisions on 2 particularly toward its end of life... Yeah, it's just pragmatic. And pragmatism is the thing that gets games out the door.

[lesbianbeeliker]

yippee next part of bg3 x wof

planning to make minthara, halsin, and minsc next (I need help with minsc pls I haven't actually unlocked him in my game yet (act 3 makes me sad im procrastinating it) I need help with ideas for him; had an idea of making him a mudwing also and maybe a sib to jaheria?)

extra notes

(Water) Gale

presents mostly seawing, his only nightwing traits are his mind reading teardrop scale and stars on his wings

did not face much discrimination for being a hybrid since he was mostly raised away from the nightwings and seawings by his parents and others isolated from the other tribes

strong mindreading and future sight since he was hatched away from the nightwing island

Wind (storm) (Wyll)

originally lived as a scavenger in a city that was being attacked by a couple skywings

made a deal with a mysterious animus that appeared in order to save his home, turned him into a dragon

was able to fight them off as a dragon

went from a well known dragon slayer to a dragon himself, angst material

ran away from his home after his father kicked him out for becoming a dragon

also forced to do his patrons bidding still

was originally just named Wind but added Windstorm to sound more dragon-like

Jaguar (Jaheria)

sib to minsc (maybe?)

idk what else to say, old mudwing warrior

[somewhereinthewoodsalone]

Been trying to research for Blood Moon NightWings (one of my Wings of Fire ocs, Starseeker, is a Blood Moon NightWing) , so I'm adding my own headcanons:

-If a NightWing is hatched under one or more blood moons they get the following abilities:

-Foresight usually warns them about darker events in the future

-Their mindreading abilities are better than NightWings born under regular moons

-Mindreaders can project their thoughts onto other dragons

-They can sometimes see glimpses of a dragon's past if they are making physical contact with said dragon

-Blood Moon NightWings are more prone to having anxiety or being introverted

-The teardrop scales by their eyes are red instead of silver

-They have dark red underscales

-Eyes are usually any shade of red

-Star scales under wings are also usually red

-Horns are never straight; always have a curve of some sort

-The more bloodmoons they were hatched under, the stronger their powers

[miupow]

WAIT lia. what about you and cici’s recent vampire jjun thought, playing cat and mouse throughout his castle but mixed with ashlee’s telepathy ..?? talking to you through ur brain and touching you without even being near you to freak you out .?

HIII HP... you are insane actually why do i want to write this now why do i want to add this to my growing pile of wips why is your brain so large why--

@wolfytae-exe

idk about adding telepathy beomgyu's ability to touch via mindlink but i'm SO invested in mindreader mental communicator vampire jjun now.. talking nasty and teasing poor reader as she runs and hides from him :( finally gets you alone to "have dinner" with him but he's just spitting dirty in your mind from across the dining room table, blinking at you with an evil grin like he's doing nothing at all.. insanity actually hp

[should-have-been-at-the-club]

Round 1 Match 24: Should Have Been At The Club Tournament

Propaganda below the cut.

Propaganda for Moonwatcher:

(Note: Moonwatcher's propaganda is split into two due to Tumblr's character limit. The second part will be added in a reblog.)

(TW: Child Neglect, Manipulation, and Murder.)

Moonwatcher has been physically neglected for days on end since the day that she was born by her mother, Secretkeeper. So much so that she literally had to hunt for her own food as a young child within the rainforest. Which is a potentially dangerous environment to live in, due to it having many dangers and hazards within it, like quicksands, poisonous frogs, anacondas, crocodiles, jaguars, etc. within it. And when she was no longer being physically neglected within the rainforest, the closest dragons that she had to live by is her own tribe that hates her for living in a different and healthier environment than them.

And when Moon is being dropped into the school that she’s now going to attend, it’s revealed that Secretkeeper isn’t that great of a mother towards Moon and negative impacts Moon before she joins the school. Because Secretkeeper is shown to be ignorant to and/or not understand why her daughter is so anxious (For some reason, despite her being the one to neglect her daughter, and Secretkeeper knowing that Moon’s tribe, the NightWings, are awful towards her and Moon.)

Secretkeeper also assumes that Moonwatcher feels “terrible” and is “miserable”, (solely) because of the fact that Moon has physic powers. Secretkeeper is also mentioned to care more about Moon’s reputation amongst other dragons, without even considering Moon’s comfortability living and being around them. Which is also shown by Secretkeeper telling Moon to hide her physic powers in a negative “Mom of an autistic child^TM” type of way. For example: “I know being [autistic] is terrible, but if you keep it secret, you can still have a normal life. No one needs to know that you’re not a normal dragon. Understand?” - Moon Rising, Graphic Novel, Page 10. * the words “a mindreader” is substituted with the word autistic. Which can also be shown by Secretkeeper possibly putting her worries onto Moon by telling and/or implying to Moon that, no matter what, she shouldn’t tell her powers to anyone, or else they’ll reject or hate (and maybe even want to kill you) if she tells them about her powers.

Which honestly isn’t a great thing for Moon - who’s already a anxious and traumatized dragon - to hear from her mother, in order for her to have bonds with others at school. Which is shown to negatively impact Moon, to the point that she literally didn’t tell a literal murder plot within her school to other - and tried to figure it out herself - out of fear of her powers, and also resulted in her to unintentionally be more easily manipulated by a certain someone.

Speaking of that certain someone, Moon has also been manipulated by a 2,006 year old dragon, Darkstalker, while she was attending the school. With possibly some of the ways that Darkstalker did so is by “loveboming” Moonwatcher by stating that her powers are a gift and talking with her, and also stating stuff to Moon in attempts to isolate her away from other that she’s befriending in order for Moon to only be with Darkstalker.

Propaganda for Nobara Kugisaki:

She should be out living her life enjoying herself instead of being walloped around by evil sorcerers and getting extremely physically harmed! She's only a high school student! She's badass but she deserves to have fun!

[hannigramislife]

#7 Scene from my Random Mdzs Fanfiction

Prompt: What if 3zun reincarnated in modern au?

Added touch: This written with the context of Xicheng happening post-canon.

Scene: After Lan Xichen ran away from Nie MIngjue and Jin Guangyao, unable to face either of them with the emotional turmoil that has taken over him, Lan Xichen goes to the one place - the one person - that has always meant safety and comfort: Jiang Cheng.

When Jiang Cheng opened the door at eight pm on a Friday night, he didn’t know what he expected - considering he hadn’t ordered in nor were either of his siblings supposed to drop by - but it certainly wasn’t Lan Xichen, waiting outside with his eyes downcast.

“What?” Jiang Cheng said eloquently, stumped by the presence of the elder. 

Lan Xichen looked up, and wow, Jiang Cheng didn’t know the Lan was capable of such a devastating expression, but here he was, fidgeting in front of Jiang Cheng and looking like a kicked puppy. 

“Wanyin,” he greeted, breathing his name out like he had just run a marathon. “I’m sorry for dropping by unannounced. May I come in?” Wordlessly, Jiang Cheng stepped aside, mulling on the familiar way the elder had referred him, while Lan Xichen walked in easily, no placating smile or hesitance in his steps as he sat in Jiang Cheng’s living room. 

“Is everything alright?” Jiang Cheng asked immediately, assuming something must have gone terribly wrong. Why else would his brother’s boyfriend’s older brother show up randomly? Jiang Cheng is counting on a death announcement. Or at least, somebody was arrested.

That made more sense; Wei Wuxian would definitely get himself arrested and Lan Wangji was too in love not to stop him. 

Lan Xichen opened his mouth as if to answer, then his eyes found Jiang Cheng’s and he stopped.

He didn’t know why, but Jiang Cheng had a funny feeling that something was wrong with that gaze. It was almost intimate, Lan Xichen’s eyes were searching, eyebrows furrowed and dark brown orbs pleading with Jiang Cheng for- For what? What was Lan Xichen looking to find? The intensity of the emotions behind his stare made Jiang Cheng uncomfortable, and a familiar feeling of inadequacy  came over him when Lan Xichen’s face fell, looking sadder than when he came in. 

“I-I’m sorry,” he repeated, getting up. “I don’t know what came over me. I apologize for disturbing you.”

And that was not even fair- Lan Xichen showed up out of the blue, clearly wanting something from him, and what, now he was going to leave all disappointed? How the fuck was Jiang Cheng supposed to know what was going on?

When Lan Xichen made towards the door again, Jiang Cheng scowled, hand shooting to grab lan Xichen’s arm, halting him. “What the fuck, you’re just going to leave?” He asked incredulously, glaring at lan Xichen’s surprised face. “Listen, I’m not a mindreader. If something is wrong, you’re going to have to tell me, okay? You came here for some reason, so it’s officially my business now, so spill.”

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen were not friends. Hell, he didn’t even know the elder very well. There was a polite distance between them, where they would acknowledge each other in public, but had never even exchanged phone numbers. However, Lan Xichen was clearly in distress, and he came to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t ignore that.  Surprisingly, Lan Xichen started laughing. 

It was a hearty laugh; low chuckling as Lan Xichen shook his head, almost in disbelief, before looking up to smile at Jian Cheng’s confused face. 

“Of course,” he said, seemingly to himself. “You’ve never seen a problem you didn’t try to fix, huh, Wanyin?”

Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure quite what to say to that. “I-I guess, yes.” Slowly, he released Lan Xichen’s arm, feeling awkward. “So are you gonna sit, or…?” Once again, Jiang Cheng moved out of the way so Lan Xichen could sit. Because Jiang Yanli hadn’t raised a disrespectful bitch, Jiang Cheng offered Lan Xichen food and drinks, even if the elder, as expected, politely declined. Still, Jiang Cheng disappeared into the kitchen for a couple of minutes, then came back with two bottles of water and some fruits. 

“There was really no need to bother,” Lan Xichen insisted as Jiang Cheng sat on his right, in the smaller couch at the edge of the table. Jiang Cheng just hummed in a non-committal way, clearly humoring him as he peeled an apple.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Now spit it out. What’s wrong?”

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Lan Xichen said, again, looking down at his knees, face falling as he no doubt remembered whatever had driven him to Jiang Cheng of all people in the first place.

“But you’re upset.” Jiang Cheng said, not looking up from his task.

“I’m not— upset.” Lan Xichen’s declaration was not delivered as strongly as he intended it to be.

“Angry?” Worth a try.

Lan Xichen shook his head mutely

“You’re sad then.”

And ah, the way Lan Xichen’s eyes misted over, mouth clenched tight as he looked straight forward, still as a statue, told Jiang Cheng that he’d hit the nail on the head.

The elder didn’t speak.

Jiang Cheng studied Lan Xichen’s face. “Do you always do this?”

Lan Xichen gave a short chuckle. “Do what? Show up at people’s houses unannounced?”

“Well, that, too, but I meant this—,” Jiang Cheng waved the hand holding the knife in the air, indicating Lan Xichen. “—looking like a martyr while talking about whatever’s bothering you.”

Surprisingly, those words seemed to hit Lan Xichen harder than Jiang Cheng had expected. The man’s jaw dropped slightly, eyebrows furrowed like he was contemplating something particularly puzzling. 

“It’s not a bad thing!” Jiang Cheng hurried to salvage the situation, because he and Lan Xichen were in no way familiar enough for Jiang Cheng to just stat throwing words around. “It’s, you know, understandable and all that—“

“No, I— no, you were right, I do- I do that, yeah.” Lan Xichen assured him, whatever had caused him to freeze having passed. “I just— someone also told me that, once. A long time ago. He called it a bad habit.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Jiang Cheng said, slightly relieved, because while he and Lan Xichen weren’t friends, he did feel the need to not upset the other man. It had always been like that; Lan Xichen simply had that presence about himself. 

Lan Xichen snorted; quite elegantly, too. Could someone be elegant while snorting? Was there anything about this man that wasn’t perfect?

Jiang Cheng stared as he wordlessly offered Lan Xichen a slice of apple.

“No bunny slices?” Lan Xichen asked, teasingly, and Jiang Cheng, for some reason, froze.

He had gotten into the habit of slicing apples like bunnies way back when Jin Ling had been a toddler. The boy had seen in a video, and had cried and refused to eat any fruits— or food for that matter— unless he had his bunny slices. Jiang Cheng had taken it as a personal mission to make them just like the boy liked, especially when Jin Ling had proclaimed proudly that his jiujiu’s apple bunnies were ”the bestest ever.”

But it wasn’t weird, right? It’s not like Lan Xichen would know about that. Where would he have even learnt of it? Jiang Cheng doubted that he was a topic of discussion between Wei Wuxian and his boyfriend’s older brother. And even if he had come up in passing conversation, he doubted it was over apple slices.

Plenty of people did it like that.

Shrugging it off, Jiang Cheng snorted, “What are you, my eight year old nephew? Why would you get the bunny apple slices? You get the adult version like everybody else.”

“Won’t Wanyin make an exception for me?” Lan Xichen said, again in a familiar and comfortable voice, as if it was perfectly normal for him to joke with Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng looked at him, thinking. “Depends,” he said slowly, “will bunny apple slices make you stop looking like that?”

Lan Xichen drowned slightly. “Like what?”

“Like somebody broke your heart.”

Lan Xichen was taken aback, smile falling and eyes widened just slightly in surprise. Jiang Cheng cursed under his breath; he wished, for a moment, that he was soft-spoken like his sister, or approachable like his brother. They both knew how to coax people out and make them feel safe and comfortable. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng’s sharp tongue only seemed to cut them open like a knife.

And then they bleed, and Jiang Cheng wonders, not for the first time, why Lan Xichen’s bright idea had been to come to him.

Lan Xichen, for his part, looked thoughtful, like he was contemplating the truth of Jiang Cheng’s assessment. 

“Break my heart…he broke my-?” Lan Xichen repeated quietly, like he hadn’t even considered it, like it hadn’t even been a possibility in his mind that someone had hurt him to that level. 

If there was a universal truth known by all, it was that Lan Xichen was kind. Jiang Cheng felt a twinge of pity, then weirdly enough indignant anger, at whoever had had the heart to hurt this man so.

“Did he break my heart?” Lan Xichen questioned, out loud, almost fearful, and when he turned to look at Jiang Cheng with that searching look again, like he was waiting for Jiang Cheng to tell him how he should feel— 

Jiang Cheng wished he knew. He wished he had the words to tell Lan Xichen what he needed to hear. To help fix him, because the misery coming off of him was suffocating, and Lan Xichen wore it as familiarly as he would a worn-out coat. 

“Sounds like he hurt you pretty bad,” Jiang Cheng said, figuring that was a pretty fair assessment, therefore safe to confirm.

“Oh,” Lan Xichen said. “I wonder when—“ he cut himself off, biting his lip as though to keep the words from spilling out against his will. 

When it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything, Jiang Cheng bit the bullet, and asked, “Do you want to— I dunno, talk about it? Did you have a fight with someone?”

That seemed to have been the right think to ask, as Lan Xichen nodded soundlessly. 

“Was it a lover?” 

Lan Xichen frowned, and only then did Jiang Cheng notice his fists were tightly clutched on his lap, knuckles almost turning white. 

“Was it a friend?” Jiang Cheng said, voice serious, thinking back to his own history with Wei Wuxian. “Friends can break your heart, too, you know?”

Or adopted brothers. Same thing, really.

“I don’t think he meant to,” Lan Xichen finally said, and his eyes were teary again. “He doesn’t— it’s not his fault, he doesn’t understand.”

“Understand what?” Jiang Cheng said patiently, knowing he needed more context, otherwise he was going to have to break out the alcohol to make Lan Xichen talk.

Lan Xichen seemed to struggle to put his thoughts into words. “He— it was my fault, really. I hurt him a lot, I hurt him first, and he d— he left, for awhile. It felt like an eternity. And I didn’t even try to see what was wrong, I didn’t— It took me a long time to realize what had happened. What I’d done. And now, I feel like we have a second chance? I have him back, but we’re not the same people and now—“

Jiang Cheng was horrified to hear Lan Xichen let out a dry sob. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to lose him again.”

Yeah, Jiang Cheng was not equipped to deal with this at all. 

“Alright, you’re gonna be fine, okay?” He said, an automatic response to the elder’s distress, a quick attempt to soothe. “I’m going to go grab something real quick, and then we’ll get you through this, okay?”

Lan Xichen nodded without looking up. “Okay, Wanyin.”

Jiang Cheng pushed the plate of sliced apples towards him, and stayed staring until Lan Xichen reached to grab one. He knew the other likely didn’t have an appetite, but it gave him something to focus on, so. 

Satisfied when he saw Lan Xichen bite a piece, Jiang Cheng went into the kitchen, opening  cabinet above his stove and pulling out a bottle of Camus wine, thought it over, then put it back, reaching for the cognac instead. He knew Lans didn’t like to drink, a wise choice if he took his brother’s boyfriend into consideration, but just in case Lan Xichen couldn’t get through this conversation without alcohol either, Jiang Cheng grabbed two glasses. 

He returned to see Lan Xichen in the same position, head downcast, as if in punishment. 

“Here,” Jiang Cheng said, putting a glass in front of him, and pouring the red liquid in.

Lan Xichen eyed it warily, “I don’t know if I should.”

“Does thinking of your situation make you feel like someone is stabbing you in the guts?” Jiang Cheng asked.

Hesitantly, Lan Xichen nodded. 

“Then you definitely should.”

They both downed a shot like it was water, and Jiang Cheng was impressed with the Lan’s skill; he had half expected him to spit it back out, or take small sips while grimacing, but Lan Xichen drank it in one go, the only sign of the alcohol affecting him being his pursed lips and the slight pink dusting his cheeks. 

“Have you considered walking away?” Jiang Cheng asked after a while, once alcohol had loosened both of their tongues. “You don’t have to stay in a situation where you’re hurting because of others.”

Lan Xichen drank some more, before letting out something resembling a bitter laugh. “I don’t think that’s physically possible.” He said, sounding amused, and if Jiang Cheng was a little more sober, he would have grilled him about his safety. “Walking away from them…would be like walking away from my own heart. I carry them with me.”

Jiang Cheng marveled at the amount of fondness he could detect in Lan Xichen’s words, despite the desperation he said them with. He felt his heart twinge in his chest with a familiar envy, wondering how it would feel to be loved that intensely, to have someone stay despite the pain, or the difficulties, to choose to stay.

“Then they’re fucking lucky,” he said, just a tad angrily. “They should know that. How lucky they are. That you’re staying. Most people would leave.”

Jiang Cheng reached for the bottle again, only to have his wrist grasped in a tight grip. Taken aback, he looked at Lan Xichen, only to have his face inches away.

“But not Wanyin,” Lan Xichen surprisingly said, eyes clouded over. “You also never leave. Even when you should. Even when people do nothing to deserve you, but rely on you for everything, you stay. Wanyin is…Wanyin is very loyal.”

“Ah,” Jiang Cheng didn’t know what to say; what could he say to the intense look the elder was giving him. “That’s- neither here or there. This isn’t about me.” 

Lan Xichen frowned, lips parted slightly, and Jiang Cheng felt the warmth of his hold spread all over his body. It was…nice, being so close to Lan Xichen. Unconsciously, Jiang Cheng leaned in a little further, taking a deep breath as Lan Xichen’s fingers curled tighter around his wrist. 

Lan Xichen’s knee bumped the low table, shaking the glasses and both of them jumped away from each other, Lan Xichen letting go of his wrist. Jiang Cheng shot up, wiping his hands on his pants, before he turned around. 

“I- I’m gonna use the bathroom. Be right back,” he said, trying not to stutter. 

“Okay,” he heard Lan Xichen say lowly, and before he left the room, he heard Lan Xichen sigh, and then, loud as a whisper, Jiang Cheng heard— 

“…Why couldn’t it have been you?”

[yukidragon]

Okay another question for the story, What if Jack found out that MC's parents had been invading their privacy (Gaining their grades through forgery, or getting their contacts from their phone without them knowing) and MC knows that Jack can read minds and is strongly against it. How would he feel knowing that them invading their privacy is the reason they are so against him reading their mind. Would he still do it?

That's an excellent question. Hmm...

Given what he mentions in the "yes" route of the demo, Jack does seem aware that he's being shady.

Someday you’ll know why I’m doing this. But for now. Trust me when I say that it’s all for you.

It's not necessarily guilt per say, but that phrasing definitely makes it seem like he knows he's doing something he shouldn't in order to stay with his sunshine. So we know he isn't afraid of crossing lines for the sake of MC and their relationship.

Of course we could already figure that out given the fact that Jack is a yandere and would be willing to kill people to keep MC, but I digress.

I think it's a pretty normal reaction for MC to distrust Jack if they knew that he could read their mind, regardless of any trust issues they may or may not have before that. Mindreading is a pretty deep invasion of trust on a fundamental level after all. Adding in real trauma towards such a violation of one's privacy and identity would no doubt make that distrust worse.

If nothing else, Jack might be feeling guilty in this scene because he can read MC's mind and they don't know. He's keeping a huge secret and and it's a violation of trust. However, he likely feels that he can't give up this ability or just abstain from using it since MC is holding back from depending on him or anyone else. He needs that insider knowledge in order to give them what they need and ensure that he keeps them.

Given that Jack can't do anything MC doesn't want him to do... I imagine that once they learn he can read their mind that most MCs would want him to not have that ability, even if they trust him. Since Jack can't even touch MC unless they consent to it, I doubt he can read their mind if they don't want him to.

I suspect that MC is unknowingly sort of giving Jack permission to read their mind. We all want to be understood by others after all, especially those close to us. This could lead to a feeling that Jack is, well, exploiting for his own gain.

So if Jack doesn't have permission, he would have to figure out other ways to find out what MC needs so he can give it to them... and he would need to earn back their trust, since most likely learning that he can do this will damage their relationship with him.

It's possible Jack does intend to let MC know about his mind reading ability once they are deeply bound by love and trust... or he could be planning to hide the secret. He could even make it seem like he just got the ability later on through lies of omission once they trust him to the point that they'd be fine with that idea, maybe even after he's softened them up on the idea first.

Jack can't and won't do anything his sunshine doesn't want him to do. So if MC doesn't want him to read their mind, he can't, and he won't force them either. Consent is a huge part of his character, and so is him convincing MC to give that consent.

So I imagine Jack would be focused heavily on earning MC's trust with the tools he has available. I mean Sunny Day Jack likely wasn't a character that could read minds, and it's doubtful Joseph had that ability before he died, so it's not like he would be necessarily hindered without it.

What Jack might focus on to earn that trust from MC is helping them take care of toxic influences in their life. What their parents are doing is wrong. He needs to put a stop to it.

Really, Jack might use the point that he's respecting MC's consent while their parents are not as another means of convincing them that he's the only one they need. They asked him to stop doing it and he stopped it. He cares about them and their needs after all. He loves them more than anyone else ever could.

After the parents are taken care of and are no longer an issue for MC - in whatever way that eventually resolves itself - then that's one less thing in his sunshine's life that's muting their beautiful, warm light. It's more reason why Jack would no doubt see himself as a positive factor in their life and why they need him.

Though I'm sure Jack wouldn't want to give up on the option to read MC's mind/feelings if he can help it. It's pretty handy after all, and it likely makes him feel even closer to them. He just has to earn their trust first, show that nothing bad would happen if they just let him in and trust him so very deeply. He can make them happy, happier than anyone after all.

The main priority though is MC and their relationship for Jack. He loves them so much and needs them to love him and never forget him. If he has to give up reading their mind in order for them to trust him, well, small price to pay, I'd imagine.

Of course, in fanfiction we're free to explore the characters and setting in more ways than just what's been hinted at in the demo and other official materials. Don't be afraid to explore things that you find interesting or to interpret the story the way that brings you the most joy. There's a lot of creativity in the fandom that read into this sneaky ghost(?) clown in lots of different ways with the few clues we have so far after all.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[olderthannetfic]

There’s a YouTuber who I used to watch a lot, not so much anymore bc I don’t like that type of content anymore, but he still gets recommended to me and I noticed he put out a let’s play of the new Harry Potter game. Didn’t watch it but I took a glance at his subreddit and the tag on tumblr and of course there is a lot of controversy: I guess the story is that he got a sponsorship from Warner Bros., played the game, ended up turning the comments off because they attracted a lot of gross people, and gave an apology on Reddit because he honestly wasn’t aware that there was discourse surrounding JKR/the HP franchise. If you look at his social media you can tell he’s not really an “online” sort of person (good for him, honestly), and since his PS1 Harry Potter game playthroughs do so well, it struck me as a very genuine and honest apology from someone who just didn’t have any idea about the whole thing. He probably couldn’t take down the video because it was sponsored, so that explains why it’s still up. Some trans fans brought it to his attention, from what I understand.

His apology seems genuinely well-received but some of the responses confused me. First of all, a significant amount of people disbelieved that he could have not known about the JKR controversy, or what the extent of it was, and asked why he didn’t just “look it up”… which strikes me as a very chronically online take. I would say like 99% of the world has no idea Harry Potter is problematic. My family (millennial sibling and boomer parents) absolutely had no idea there was any sort of controversy. Adding onto that, JKR’s terfiness is much more well known than the antisemitism of the game in the mainstream media. I’m aware of both… because I’m a Gen z who spends all my time on fandom tumblr, like all the people I saw complaining about the apology. When you think of this youtuber’s situation in particular: straight, cis guy, Catholic, not American, and most of all ***not online***, what’s not adding up??

I guess I just don’t understand the outrage. Guy makes a mistake, apologizes, great! Why do we hold people to this impossible fucking standard and expect them to be mindreaders? I agree it’s good practice to research your sponsors but when it’s a company like Warner Bros. that you’ve worked with before and people have reacted positively to… idk 🤷‍♀️

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