#now I have to actually finish it broken heart emoji but

[acaciapines]

just finished the sketch for my scary dndads animatic. i am so very normal about this podcast (<- lying)

[harfanfare]

Idia drabble, fluff, lots of couple banter

Your wishlist containing released games is empty.

In the next several minutes after saving a title to one, you can expect a notification that the game is getting downloaded, and a mere seconds after that—several messages from your boyfriend.

“thought u would never play it lol”

“weren't you supposed to be studying??”

He sends a meme degrading your hierarchy of values as if he were any better. It is followed by a request.

“stream it to me when you play it”

And you do, after thanking him yet chiding him for wasting too much money on you without a second thought. His reply was a string of emojis and guarantee that he is doing it all for himself, because “educating you on the topic of latest games is his duty” and he cares about “the boyfriend points”.

“I hope my love’o’meter for u was broken by all that pampering lmao”

“waiting for my cg to load up…”

[NAME]: “not enough affection points”

“damn”

“i need a walkthroughyt to this route”

Idia has you join a voice channel, with you sharing your screen. Playing a game in a separate dorm is a whole different experience than having him beside you, with his hands almost trembling to grab your controller if you couldn’t get past a certain level.

He would always wait for you to ask him for help, though. Then he could let the feeling of self-satisfaction sink in as he easily guided your character to another enemy to slash.

If he only has you on the voice chat, you might be able to finish the game almost fully by yourself.

You can hear the soft sound of his keyboard as he plays something as well. He divides his attention between you and his entertainment, and he throws in commentary to your playthrough, teasing you when you can’t find a secret key to the special gate, bullying you when you find the puzzles too hard, or when you pick the wrong dialogue option.

At some point, you might try to (playfully) mute his microphone, but you can only have eight seconds of silence before he hacks into the options.

“No need to be jealous of my gaming knowledge,” he exclaims, and you know he has that big stupid grin on his face. You huff, and he hums. “But if you want me to help, all you need to do is just ask.”

“I want to go through this game myself!”

“Okay, sure. But you know you have already missed the opportunity for the best ending, no?” He laughs. “That’s what you get for muting me, kitten.”

No need to spoil the ending just to get back at me, you’d love to say, but you learned that the shy boy who couldn’t hold your gaze several months ago is actually a big tease. You must’ve grown too much on him, as he would have continued the bickering even if you showed up in his room. No social anxiety towards you—that’s a bit of a shame, he was cute when you first started dating.

…Well, Idia you know now is a cutie as well, even if he can be very annoying sometimes.

“Enough. I’m going to play my otome games, bye.”

You log out, and shut the stream, chuckling all the time. A funny feeling tingled your heart, like always when you won (or have you?) in banter in Idia: your heart is warm enough to probably melt through the ribcage, but a subtle alarm rings in your head. Idia will probably take revenge for this.

He must already be in distress. He doesn’t like you playing otome games alone, as if you could have ever preferred a 2D boy over Idia. The thought makes you laugh.

You plop on your bed, unlocking your phone and tapping an icon of the name game you’ve installed. Although playing it with Idia would have been funnier, you are going to play him just out of spite.

…And after that, you will send him a wall of text about those handsome characters, because he needs to be updated on your current obsessions.

The title screen appears before everything crashes and the screen goes black. Several messages in neon-blue futuristic font colour appear one by one.

An error has occurred.

Caught exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):

File “characters”, line 46, in script

File “stats”, line 153, in script

File “story”, line 665, in script

File “achievements”, line 411, in log.1

File “backup_data”, line 139, in log

To continue:

“[Name]-san. Please come to our dorm. My brother is moping (so he won’t be finishing his project anytime soon, which is, really bad) and I would appreciate you having mercy on him.

Once you come, I will restore your data! It’s a promise :>

— ORTHO”

…Damn those Shrouds.

[1d1195]

Love and Dryer Sheets IV

Read the rest here: Love and Dryer Sheets

~4.2k words

Warnings: emotional cheating, pining, angst, maybe some fluff if you squint

Now I know I have a heart…because it’s breaking.

Ava texted Harry to let him know she made it to the restaurant. She even apologized about the thing with her keys. There was even a heart emoji. Harry was spending the time she was out, face down on the sofa, trying not to scream. But it felt like he needed to. In fact, it felt like he needed to lay face down in traffic but obviously he couldn’t actually do that.

Harry’s conscience decided now was the time to give up on him. Maybe the little voice thought Harry was just simply too stupid to deal with right now. What was he even supposed to do? The voice in his head all but told him exactly what would happen. It tried to warn him. It was completely, totally Harry’s fault for fucking up so. Very. Badly.

Harry sat up about ten minutes before Ava was set to be home. He made a list on his phone of things he needed to do; there was no order to the list as the last item was probably most important…but his already broken, stupid mind didn’t have it in him to put it first, out in the open like that.

-Work portfolio -Gemma b-day present -Laundry -Tell Ava -Tell...

He didn’t want to finish the last sentence.

What were his options? 

He could tell Ava. But that ensured a blowout fight. They would probably break up. Would Ava leave? Technically Harry found this place. Naturally, she complained how her fifteen-minute commute to work was brutal every couple months (usually around holidays when the traffic would amplify to thirty minutes—not that she ever left a moment earlier to account for the time differential) and made sure to tell Harry that she didn’t like living here. 

But…Harry didn’t like the idea of breaking up. It felt like he was losing. Everyone had sympathetic eyes for him when Ava made him mad–especially in public. There goes the poor sap that can’t get out of a bad relationship. But it wasn’t bad. At least…it wasn’t always bad. Harry had to stay for a reason right?

What are those reasons? The voice of Harry’s heart was turning into his second conscience but almost entirely for the benefit of Harry’s happiness.

The sympathetic eyes would soon become I-told-you-so-eyes. That was the last thing Harry wanted. 

Maybe he needed to call Gemma. Gemma was like a compass. She always knew what to do to help her little brother and this might be the stupidest thing he had ever done. But he didn’t need to call her. He knew exactly what she would say. It’s not fair to you or Ava to be in a relationship that makes you both so unhappy. Gemma would be kind. She probably wouldn’t even say I told you so just to be nice.

But he would know.

He cheated. Plain as day. There was no if ands or buts. There was no way to deny it. No taking it back. He messed up.

But the little voice in charge of his heart wasn’t going down without a fight. This is a good thing. It insisted. You want to break up with Ava. You haven’t been happy in a while! Sunshine. You need Sunshine.

But Harry, now taking over for his conscience that abandoned him on the elevator ride back to their place, knew that it was easier said than done. It was way more complicated. Perhaps most importantly, it was so irreconcilably stupid on his part that despite how much he needed some sunshine in his life, he did it the very worst way possible.

Because even though what he did to Ava was despicable, the thought of hurting that sweet girl in the laundry room hurt his fragile heart even more.

*

Harry could hardly sleep beside Ava. He tossed and turned for the better part of the night. By the time six in the morning rolled around he was completely exhausted and restless. If he got four hours’ worth of sleep, he was lucky. It was Saturday. He wanted to sleep in. If he slept in, he wouldn’t have to deal with the shitty situation he got himself into for a while longer.

But instead, his restless mind was punishing his stupid behavior by making him wallow in it. Making him wake up at six in the morning on a Saturday so he could recognize his stupid, stupid mistake.

“Harry?” Ava sounded sleepy of course. “Y’okay, baby?” She asked.

Harry felt the warmth of her kind voice seeping through his whole body. Especially with the name baby on her lips.

Shit.

“M’fine, love,” he lied.

“S’early,” she slurred tiredly.

“Can’t sleep,” he shrugged, starting to roll out of bed. “I’ll go to the other room,” he mumbled. She frowned and Harry couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked when she wasn’t at his throat for every little thing. Her concern made him warm over a little more. The guilt he felt ached a little more.

“Okay,” she sighed. “Hope you feel better,” she murmured. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. It was like he was on autopilot. As if he had done it thousands of times before. It was moments like this, the quiet, gentle ones, that made him believe in the reasoning behind staying in a relationship that drove him crazy most days.

Moments like that made him understand he had to tell his laundry partner the bad news.

*

Ava wasn’t stupid.

She had a degree, a job, and two eyes that told her Harry was happy. Happier than he had seemed in a really long time.

Of course, his happiness didn’t involve her.

And that made her mad.

She wasn’t quite sure what had changed about Harry specifically; why he got so happy so suddenly. As far as she knew he went to work and came home. But with the way they argued and how irritated she felt just looking at Harry some days, she knew something was off in his demeanor.

It wasn’t that she wanted Harry to be unhappy. It was more of the fact that she was unhappy. Ava knew very well that misery loved company. Seeing him happy set off some kind of switch in her head that Harry was in fact her boyfriend and they were supposed to be happy. Seeing him get joy from something else, especially when she wasn’t part of it, irked her more than the way Harry snapped his gum while they watched TV or how he left socks outside the laundry basket and forgot to put the toilet seat down (consistently) late at night.

Harry was a wonderful boyfriend. He always had been from the moment they started dating. Her mom even teased him saying he was too good for Ava. Ava didn’t see it that way. Ava enjoyed her personality and herself and didn’t think anything needed to change. She didn’t see anything wrong with the way she behaved or acted—as her mom put it. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, and how she wanted.

Right now, she wanted Harry right where he was.

“Do you feel better now?” She asked him as she entered the sitting room.

“Yeah, a bit,” he nodded. “I’ll try t’nap later,” he shrugged as he continued reading the book in his hands without looking up.

She pressed a hand to his forehead. He wasn’t warm. He seemed fine. For a moment she gazed in his eyes and noted how green they looked. There was no denying Harry was beautiful—even though the constant fighting made her irritable with him. It was a face she fell in love with because he was so pretty. Soft skin, gentle smile, deep dimples. He was simply dreamy. Someone would have to be blind not to fall in love with him.

Part of her thought someone had fallen in love with him because of the way he looked so happy after the many months of the mutual feeling of misery that flooded their apartment. That simply wouldn’t do. 

It wouldn’t take much, she knew it. Harry was a romantic. A few gentle smiles, a bat of her eyelashes, and some light touches and Harry would be putty in her hands again.

His lips parted slightly like this was the first time he had seen her in ages. He didn’t know how to speak. It was so unlike her to worry about him even a little these days. In fact, it was so shocking, he thought he was transported to the laundry room and the gentle touch was coming from the girl that made his heart skip a beat and had the little voice in his head shouting to be heard.

“You don’t feel feverish or look very sick.”

Harry knew he wasn’t feverish. He knew he wasn’t sick either. Maybe lovesick. But that wasn’t something he could tell Ava.

Or maybe it should have been the exact time he told her.

“I can get you medicine if you want while I’m out,” she said softly.

“Oh...uh...thanks, love. That would be good, thank you,” the words felt weird in his mouth, he hadn’t thanked Ava for anything in ages. What was there to thank her for? Hours of worrying and fighting? “You’re going out?”

“Yeah...laundry at mom’s,” she reminded him.

“I could do your laundry y’know,” he offered quietly. He noted the way the slopes of Ava’s face curved so beautifully when she wasn’t scowling at him for the littlest of things. She was a beautiful girl. No question about it.

“I don’t like the way the washers make the clothes smell,” she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

It was as if a shadow cast over her at the very moment she spoke. A backhanded comment for sure—whether she meant it or not, knowing full-well that Harry washed all his clothes in the apartment washers. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Right,” he murmured. “Well, tell her I said hello,” he returned to his book.

She nodded silently. 

Returning down the hall, Harry thought it was awfully mature of her to ignore the eyeroll. It was an instinct and he knew he shouldn’t have, but it was hard to feel—

“The eye roll was unnecessary.”

Here we go. “Ava, y’know I do m’laundry down there. Y’basically said I smell.”

She returned the very same eye roll dropping the laundry bag at her feet. “Harry, I didn’t say that.”

“Y’may as well have,” he grumbled.

“It’s too early to argue.”

“M-hmm.”

She would be better later. It would take a lot of active reminders to not fight with him. Sighing, she headed out the door.

For a fleeting moment, she was Ava, the girl he loved and had dated for so long. The little bit of kindness she showed didn’t deserve Harry’s infidelity. It was all his fault and Ava wasn’t that bad.

So, Harry made his way to the laundry room, knowing he would find her there because it was Saturday morning, and it was her favorite time to do laundry—before anyone else was there.

Except Harry. She seemed to make every exception for Harry.

He hoped she would make one this time too.

*

“Hey munchkin,” she smiled sweetly as Harry got down to the laundry room. He didn’t tell Ava. He knew he should have. Of course, he should have. But there was something about the sunshine that lived in the laundry room that made his brain short circuit. There was something in the air that made him lose all train of thought. All rationality escaped him when he thought about this girl obsessed with The Wizard of Oz.

But it was a mistake on his part. He didn’t tell Ava. Especially after her kindness this morning. The kind of kindness that made him love her—like when they first started dating. Why didn’t he go after her?

“I have t’tell y’something,” Harry said. He looked exhausted. His eyes were red rimmed. His face paled as he spoke.

She frowned. “Uh...okay?”

They weren’t a couple. They weren’t even...anything. Maybe she could say they were friends. Harry owed her no explanations for anything. Maybe kissing was a bad idea. It would ruin their friendship. Or maybe it was worse…

He closed his eyes. “I have t’jus’ say it, Sunshine. But y’have t’let me explain.”

She felt totally rattled. It was obviously a mistake. Completely. Thank God they didn’t have sex in her apartment. Thank God he asked about the picture frame; that they spent nearly an hour talking about music, books, and recipes.

Thank God, they stopped. It was so obvious he regretted it. Was she a bad kisser? Maybe she could convince Niall to help her out. Niall had a lot more practice than she did. No, there was no way Niall would help her with something like that. He would get all grossed out. He would probably lie and tease her and say she was a terrible kisser regardless. Or maybe he–

“I have a girlfriend,” he whispered.

The words hung in the air for a moment in suspended animation. It was like the clocks had stopped ticking, the world stopped turning, the washing machines stopped spinning.

If she was attached to a machine, her brain would show zero activity.

No.

She felt her stomach turn violently and felt her whole body tingle with heat. Part of her thought she was going to throw up.

No, no, no, the voice in her head shouted. No. He’s supposed to be mine!

But there was no reason for her to think like that. Harry wasn’t hers. This was just proof of what she already knew back when she felt that connection to him so instantaneously. She knew he was too good to be true. Her voice stopped working. She wanted to cry but she didn’t want to do that in front of Harry. If she was going to have a breakdown, she couldn’t do it here. She left all her stuff and bolted past Harry, taking the steps two at a time to get away from him without even a word.

He hurried after her. “Kitten,” he cooed gently. She shook her head and continued running for the elevator, grateful it was there, open, when she got there. She rapidly pressed the button to shut the door, but Harry had much longer legs and trapped himself inside the small space before it closed the pair of them in. She turned to the back of the lift and pressed her forehead to the cool metal. “Kitten,” he tried again.

“No,” she sniffled. “No, you can’t call me that.”

“Sunshine, y’supposed t’let me explain.”

“Explain what exactly, Harry?”

He grabbed her arm. Immediately, she yanked it away from him with a shake of her head. “No, you can’t touch me.”

He ran a hand over his face, and she exited quickly as soon as the door was barely open enough to fit her through the space. Naturally, he followed her. “Please let me explain.”

She wheeled around so quickly Harry nearly bumped into her. “Explain what?” She whispered. If there was any more volume in her voice, she would lose complete control. She would cry. She would sob. She would lose any sense of herself because even though she was mad at Harry and how she had foolishly kissed him without knowing she was ruining some poor girl’s relationship because of their kiss...

She was selfishly thinking about how unfair it was that she couldn’t have him.

“Love.”

“Harry. Stop calling me names.”

Closing his eyes, Harry thought he might explode. This was so unfair. He was breaking her heart. All he wanted was to hold it in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?!” She gasped. “I...I don’t...I don’t even know what to say to you,” the tears were about to spill over her lash line. She couldn’t hold the emotions she was feeling much longer.

He dropped his gaze to the floor. He didn’t want to watch her cry. It felt private. Plus, it made him feel guilty that he was the cause. “If it means...anything. M’relationship isn't...good a lot of the time.”

She glared at him and his horrible betrayal. Of her trust. Of her belief in him. In hurting her reputation. “That’s not a reas—”

He put his hands up defensively. “I know, love. I know. S’not an excuse. M’jus’ trying t’give y’details. M’sorry. S’my fault. All my fault,” he promised. Harry felt like he would start crying if she did. “S’nothing...you didn’t do anything wrong,” he promised her. It was a little comforting that he seemed to know what she was feeling and maybe part of her was grateful that he knew she would feel so down on herself about it. “I lead you on. I made the mistake.”

It felt like Harry had taken a steak knife and stabbed it right through her heart with the word mistake coming from his mouth. She thought he would say it when he first entered the laundry room. But it felt so much worse hearing it out loud. Knowing truly why it was a mistake.

“I don’t think we should be around each other… for a while.”

Harry deflated, his face paling. “Love,” he whispered. “I know I messed up...I know...that...” he rubbed his hand on the back of his head. “I want to be friends.”

She wanted that too. She wanted more than that. “Sometimes we don’t get what we want, Harry,” she whispered quietly. “I’m sorry too.”

He deserved this. He didn’t even want to hear the I told you so his conscience was probably singing and dancing in the back of his mind. If he could focus on anything other than the terribly sad girl, and how his heart was breaking at the thought of not chatting with her over laundry. This hurt worse than any fight he had with Ava by a long shot.

That seemed like damning proof more than anything.

“Okay,” he murmured taking in her expression one more time. He wished it was happy. Somehow, some way. He wished he hadn’t broken her heart like this—even if her heart wasn’t his to break. He didn’t want the last time he saw her for a while, was her feeling sad and upset. But it was his fault. Completely. There was no question about it. “M’sorry, love,” he whispered.

She nodded. “Me too, Harry.”

God, he wanted her to call him munchkin. He wanted it to be okay. More than okay. He wanted it to be...different. If only he hadn’t fought with Ava. He would have told her. Telling Ava first meant that she would have screamed and yelled and left.

Harry could rationally explain the situation to the girl before him. Explain that it was bad. He wouldn’t get tongue tied. He wouldn’t get his ideas mixed up. He wouldn’t mess this up as well the way he messed up everything else.

“See you around...I guess...” he mumbled and backed toward the elevator.

“Bye, Harry,” she whispered as the elevator slid close.

*

She had to get her laundry but the idea of going down to that room made her nauseous. Once alone in the comfort of her apartment, she released the sobs she didn’t want Harry to see. There were so many things she needed to think about; she needed a list. A list of things to do. She typed them into her phone.

- Laundry - Pay bills - File paperwork - Harry’s…

It hurt to think about the end of that little chore. Taking deep breaths she closed her eyes and ignored the feeling of more tears that she wanted to fall.

Of course, he had a girlfriend. He was gorgeous, funny, sweet…why would he be single?

As much as she hated herself for hurting his relationship with someone else, she couldn’t help but think about how he mentioned his relationship was bad. The thought made her…sad. She couldn’t help it. The idea that someone as sweet as Harry was in a bad relationship wasn’t…fair. In school, she did rounds of different counseling methods and practices to see which ones she liked best. If she didn’t have her current job, she would strongly consider relationship therapy of some kind. The complexity of staying in a relationship that didn’t make sense was hard to navigate for anyone. She couldn’t imagine the stress and anxiety that Harry was going through on his own. Part of her wanted to recommend a therapist for him despite how he had changed her heart in the last hour.

I wouldn’t let our relationship be bad. She thought to herself.

Shut up. She whispered to the voice that was getting independent thought.

This was horrible.

The thoughts rolled through her head so quickly, she didn’t know what to deal with first. Laundry usually calmed her mind but she thought if she went down there she might go crazy. It wouldn’t be calming knowing they kissed in the very spot they had chatted for the last few months while Harry knowingly had a girlfriend. While they shared secrets, banter, recipes, and all things that people who flirt share.

She hated him.

No you don’t. The voice in her head sounded like it was rolling it’s eyes if it were capable.

But I want to hate him. She responded.

You don’t want to hate him either, you idiot.

Fortunately her phone rang with Niall’s picture taking up her screen. Good. Niall would ground her, help her.

“Hey princess,” he said softly.

That didn’t sound good. With an even heavier heart she swiped the tears away from her eyes, took a deep breath and frowned. “Oh, Ni, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“I…” he sighed. “You know how I was helping with the new office for those two weeks?”

Her heart dropped. She already knew. Part of her wished she didn't even finish the conversation. She knew where it was going. Lay on the heartache. The theme for the day. “Yeah…”

“They…can’t find anyone competent to run it.”

She closed her eyes. She couldn’t tell Niall. Not now. He had his own stuff to deal with and adding to his stress was the last thing she wanted to do. “So you’re competent now?” She asked lightly.

He chuckled softly, grateful that she could make him feel better. “Feels like the worst thing, darling.”

“How long?” It was the most important question. How long would she be without her best friend? How long would they be thousands and thousands of miles and plane rides away from each other? How long would he be gone? How long would she have to hide the horrible thing she did? The horrible thing Harry did? Niall would threaten to kill him. For hurting her heart. She knew it in her bones.

The silence was deafening. He didn’t want to say it. It was going to kill her.

“Just say it, Ni.”

“A year,” he whispered quietly. “Longer if they can’t find someone.”

Fortunately, she was already so heartbroken it was easy to combine her sadness of Harry and Niall together without Niall suspecting a thing. There was so much devastation in her head and heart in such a short amount of time. “A year?” She whispered.

“I’m sorry, princess.”

“What about…the missus?”

She listened to Niall’s deep sigh. “I haven’t told her yet…she can work from anywhere…so I’m hopeful. I wanted to tell you first.”

Her heart fluttered with so much love for her best friend. He told her first. She couldn’t tell him about Harry or the kiss. He would worry and change his career all for her and that wasn’t fair.

She already hurt one relationship today. She wouldn’t hurt another.

She needed a trip to the Emerald City like never before. She had to be brave and strong for him. It felt like she needed courage and a brain for not seeing so many obvious signs before. “Now I know I have a heart…because it’s breaking,” she whispered, quoting the Tin Man. She was going to need a heart too.

He chuckled. “Well m’gonna call every day,” he promised.

She nodded. “You better,” she sniffled and giggled. “When do you leave?”

“Next week.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. This was a good distraction. At least for a little while. “Well, we better make the most of it,” she whispered.

“M’glad you have Harry,” he said. Like a knife to the chest. “You can’t replace me with him, though.”

“Never,” she promised. She had to tell him something. “I…actually have some news on that front,” she sniffed.

“Oh princess,” he said, hearing the crack in her voice. “What happened?”

“He has a girlfriend,” she croaked.

“Oh, darling,” he cooed.

“I knew it was too good to be true,” she shrugged.

“M’sorry, still. I was…I mean…I still think he’s your soulmate. What kind of person quotes The Wizard of Oz like a lunatic?”

She smiled through her tears and nodded. “Yeah…”

“Let me talk to the missus. We’ll do dinner, yeah?”

“Please.”

“See you later, princess.”

What a twister of a day.

-

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[aleksanderscult]

Hello, I started following your blog pretty recently and I agree with most of what you think. I felt so confused when I finished the books and came on tumblr to see everyone hailing malina as the perfect relationship and I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one who disliked him.

I wanted to ask you something, im not sure if I saw this on this blog, but someone said that zoya is an example of toxic feminism in YA fantasy. Which checked out to me, but it also felt that bardugo added misogyny, feminism and toxic feminism in the SaB series.

Misogyny since alina had to face sloot-shaming in every book (almost entirely by Malyen ugh 😒). I felt that she really tried and suceeded to be feminist with genya, since she actually stood up for herself and had many facets to her personality. She also wasn't an important character just because of her beauty or anything super superficial. Genya IS a strong female character, and she wasn't 'broken' by the king, despite the foul things he did.

But zoya.. my god, I really wanted to like her, but I just couldn't. She is mean and hot headed to the point where I really don't see any redeeming factors to her. I always liked 'mean girl character who isnt as shallow as she seems' in fantasy novels, but she didnt exactly have a redemption arc either. If the darkling had warned her about expanding the fold in the first book, she would have fought for him. I think she isnt a strong female character, but just a girl who is a bully and decided to help mc since the antagonist hurt her specifically. She doesnt even think of the other casualties of novokribirsk. I think the 'break nikolais heart, I'll comfort him and make a magnificent queen' part was a joke, but still....

Please excuse my yapping. I haven't read crooked kingdom and nikolais duology, so I don't know if the characters had any developement since then, so please ignore any innacuracies of this text pertaining to that. Do you have any thoughts on this?

(Do you allow emoji annons? If so, can I be 🎀 annon?)

(Of course I do! You can use any emoji you want and ribbons remind me of coquettish things 😍)

Genya in S&B was my favorite version of her. She was traumatised by the King's abuse, that's true. But she wasn't solely that.

(Here's a meta about that version of her that I once did)

She was very brave, vengeful, intelligent, politically aware, had a sense of humor and was kind. There were different aspects to her personality and wasn't solely "the victim" as many fans of the Grishaverse like to portray her. But in Nikolai's duology Bardugo either forgot how to write complex situations within a court or just doesn't know how to (or it doesn't suit her 🙃).

She threw all the blame to the Darkling (as if he was entirely at fault for her sexually abuse), forgot that Grisha were serfs meant to please and serve the royal family (hence why the Darkling gave her to the Queen) and also forgot how it was the Queen who withdrew her protection and allowed her husband to abuse her. Also, a slight amnesia to how Genya herself decided to stay and take revenge. Essentially, the character became Leigh's mouthpiece to remind the reader that the Darkling is a heartless motherfucker that is undeserving of redemption. How banal.

Now about Zoya. Zoya is the typical female character that we encounter in media nowadays. A girlboss that kicks ass, is rude, has no sensitivity and threatens everyone. Again, cliché. But Leigh broke her own in-universe laws when she gave Zoya the protagonist's role.

Meaning:

The narrative with Alina as a protagonist: "You can't have feelings for your enemy!! You can't be independent! You need to depend on your toxic, childhood friend and...what is this? Power?? You took three amplifiers?? WELL SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR POWERS THAT KEEP YOU HEALTHY AND STRONG!!"

The narrative with Zoya as a protagonist: "Take the amplifiers, take the power to turn into a dragon, let's also have a Saint in your head giving you advice and guess?!? You just got promoted into a Queen and soon enough you will marry the love of your life!! Kudos!!"

That's basically what happened.

It would be an amazing end if only:

- Otkazat'sya didn't hate the Grisha's guts.

- Zoya had the qualities of a leader and a Queen instead of being handed the throne on a silver plate from an illegitimate son who failed in his job.

- The author didn't break her own rules just to prove and show how "awesome" her protagonists are.

- The same author didn't copy paste the storyline of Daenerys Targaryen into Zoya's (somehow she needed to appear cool and sympathetic)

- Half of the fandom didn't hate the primary protagonists now than they ever did before.

So basically Leigh infuriated the fandom even more about Alina's fate when she gave Zoya everything.

And about your question if the characters had any development in the later books after the trilogy. I've got some bad news, my friend. 🥲

[everlastlady]

Hello 👋 thanks for the follow so I've been reading lots of amazing Striker fics and stumbled upon yours will it be okay if I request a Striker x Target Reader ( Female)

Summary: Striker fails once again to assassin Stolas and takes a swing in a bar, gets a call from a different royal business it can be your oc or a random name that they're target is the Reader but Striker seems to be interested in this one because the reader doesn't tolerate or fall for Striker's actions. Like a cat and mouse game between them until the reader develops feelings for him and actually let's Striker take her in but Striker on the other hand does something else turns behinds the royals back and goes on the run saving the reader. In the end he's alone until he stumbles with her again but makes him smile instead of fighting he smile because it's been long enough that he had to run away from many places they both hold hands and hug.

Hope it's not too long and you can always decline. Keep up the good work and thank you ❤️

It's not to long but I believe I made this story long because I had to much fun writing it. So I hope you enjoy it, I'm going write a part 2 because that's how much I enjoyed writing it so this was a long write because the original is 5109 words.

Characters: Striker, Rosemary (oc), & Damien (oc)

┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅༻☕༺┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅

Striker X Reader Part One: Runaways

“ Thanks, Doc. “ Striker said as he watched Rosemary finish patching him up. “ No problem. But you need to be careful. For a highly trained assassin you sure do get roughed up. “ Rosemary said, while letting out a soft chuckle. Striker stared at the stitches then let out a low hiss. “ Those little vermin are good but not as good as me. “ Striker said, smirking. Rosemary set her chart down and walked over as she stared at Striker. Striker looked at her and Rosemary raised her hand and flicked him in the forehead. “ Ow! What the fuck was that for. “ Striker said, covering his face and mumbling. “ That is what will happen if you pop those stitches again. Anyway, in time to pay up I need to close up and leave. “ Rosemary smiled as her plant-like tail swung. '' Fine here you go. “ Striker handed the plant demon woman the money and got off the bed. “ Don’t worry I won’t pop them. I’ll try to take it easy. “ Striker said, while watching Rosemary count the money. '' For someone who helps assassins and criminals like me. You sure have no worries when it comes to relationships so are you going to tell me who this special someone is. “ Striker said, as he had seen Rosemary’s phone and saw an unknown number send a green and blue heart emoji. Rosemary grabbed her phone with her tail and placed the phone in her purse. “ None of your business. But yes my work is dangerous but I can still balance what my partner calls a work life balance. Anyway now shoo I’m already going to be late for the date they had planned and remember don’t pop those stitches or I’m going to pop your head. “ Rosemary shoved Striker outside the door and closed it. Striker stood there for a moment and looked at the door. He let out a chuckle. “ Have fun darlin’. “ Striker walked towards the pole where Bombproof was and got on top of his horse. “ I’ll get a drink and find some hotel to kick back in. “ Striker hit Bombproof with his tail as the two rode to the saloon called the Broken Jaw, a place for criminals, assassins, hitmen, and just the worst of the worst. Striker got off of Bombproof. “ I’ll be quick buddy. “ Striker pets Bombproof on the nose and walked inside of the bar. He didn’t care if people stared at him. Striker had a reputation around this bar and it was you can look but if you touch, you are getting shot and Striker had a pretty big head count here.

“ Damien, how are you and can I get my usual ? “ Striker said, as he sat down and grunted a bit, still feeling tired and beaten up from earlier. The sleep demon nodded his head and made Striker his drink as he let out a yawn. “ You look pretty fucked up what happened? “ Damien asked while he took the money from Striker. “ I don’t really wanna go into details. But at least I won’t have to deal with the blue blood and those vermin for a while. “ Striker took a sip from his drink while Damien chuckled. Striker’s phone started to ring as he grabbed his tail. “ Hello? Listen I can’t take a job right now, I’m pretty beat up right now and my doctor recommended I- wait you’ll pay me how much? Well why didn’t you say so. Alright just send me the picture of the target and I’ll kill them for you and deliver their head. “ Striker placed his phone back in his pocket as Damien looked at Striker. “ Sounds like a good job. “ Damien said, while cleaning the glass. “ Good? No, this man is offering more than that screeching bitch. This money could help me finish rebuilding the ranch and maybe even take a vacation. “ Striker chuckled and took a sip from his drink. “ I know the doc will kill me if I pop my stitches but she’ll get paid a lot and I’ll give you a big tip too Damien. “ Striker grinned. “ That would be nice you’re the only one who tips me, I used to have another guy but you shot him. “ Damien said, while pouring Striker another drink. “ He should have kept my mother’s name out of his mouth. “ Striker mumbled and sipped on the drink. “ But here you go. I should go and rest up, I’ll need to prepare since I’ll be killing this target. “ Striker felt his phone buzz and looked at the picture, he smirked and showed Damien the picture. “ This is the target? Ha! I might as well just track them today and shoot them dead in the face.

Striker laughed to himself as he handed Damien some money. His lavender claws reached out and grabbed the money. “ Have a nice night Striker. “ Damien smiled. As Striker got up and left, he glanced at the picture of you. You were his target, he assumed that he could easily use his charms on you and then kill you since the client named Devon wanted your head. He literally wanted your head. “ Maybe I could use the money to get some new weapons, let’s head home buddy, we gotta rest up because we have a big job tomorrow. “ Striker jumped back on Bombproof as he rode off with Bombproof towards a hotel. “ This one doesn’t look too bad, let’s go find somewhere to put ya. “ Striker ended up putting Bombproof somewhere nice and cozy. Striker stepped into the hotel and looked around. It was your average hotel, nothing too fancy or run down. He was sure that he would get a goodnight sleep. He walked up to the front desk and signed some papers so that he could have a room. He paid for his room and grabbed the key. He tilted his hat at the desk clerk and walked away. Striker heads to his hotel room and unlocked the door. He walked inside and looked around the room and laughed. “ Great! No piss stains or puke stains in the carpet. “ Striker walked over to the bed and looked at the bed. “ Hopefully no bed bugs. Alright time to shower, clean my weapons, and rest. I wonder what blade (Y/N) would like against their neck. “ Striker chuckled and walked away to take a shower but was careful because he did not want Rosemary to flick him in the head. Those long black nails made him shiver. After finishing up his shower. Striker dried off and changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and sat down on the bed. While he looked at the different blades he had. “ This one is pretty. “ Striker smirked and decided to go with a simple hunting blade. He put away his weapon and reached over - he switched off the light and as soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep. The next morning, Striker was up and went to go get breakfast. He wanted to have enough energy when he got you. Striker stepped into the diner and sat down, he picked up the menu and scanned through it. “ Hello, there my name is (Y/N) . What can I get you? “ Striker’s eyes widened and he set down the menu, his eyes looked up and he saw you. He did his best to contain his excitement. “ I’ll take a black coffee and maybe if you ~ “ He shot you a wink. “ A coffee it is. “ You said, with a blank expression and walked away. Striker sat there like a goldfish with his mouth open.

“ H-How… “ He was at a loss for words. How did you not fall for his charm? His targets always fell for his charm but now things were different. Even if he assumed that you were dating or married. His targets always fell for him. You walked over with the coffee and set it down. “ Anything else I can get you? “ You said. “ And don’t say another pick up line, I don’t have time to deal with creeps like you. “ You said, with a soft glare. Striker stared at you and for the first time he was speechless but he should order food. “ Eggs and bacon. “ He said, with a defeated sigh. “ Good. I’ll be back with your meal. “ You gave him a smile and walked off. Striker was captured but your smile. He looked down at the table. He pulled out his phone and glanced at the picture of you. The client who asked him to kill you didn’t say why they wanted you dead. His clients usually didn’t tell him. Why they wanted someone dead and he didn’t care because money was money but he didn’t kill kids that was his one golden rule and he had his reasons. “ Here’s your food hon. “ You set the plate down and Striker tried his best to put his phone away. You raised an eyebrow and shook your head walking away. Wasn’t your business since you usually dealt with weird people. Striker watched you walk away and started poking his food. “ Shit… now I need a new plan. “ And he wasn’t going to cause a scene at this diner. He sat there eating his food and drinking the black coffee. He probably needed a new tactic, maybe he should impress you or compliment you. Striker finished his coffee and food. He watched you walk over with the bill, he took a deep breath and smiled. “ I’m sorry. I was acting like a creep earlier darlin’, I just ain’t ever seen a pretty demon like you in a long time. “ He said, trying to sound sincere. “ It’s not a problem but if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work. “ You said, and turned around but Striker grabbed your hand and placed something in it. “ Here you go, just for you and your wonderful service. “ Striker had given you $40. You looked at him and smiled. “ Thanks, I guess that you aren’t so bad. “ You said, while slipping the money into your pocket.

“ Glad you don’t think of me as a bad man, darlin’ because I’m more than a bad man, I’m a dangerous man. “ Striker said, while smirking and shooting you finger guns. You let out a laugh which made Striker blush, hearing you laugh made him feel all warm inside. “ Hey, I get off work in an hour. Do you want to hangout? I'm kinda new in Hell and have been wanting to hangout with some people. “ You said, smiling at Striker. “ Oh, you’re one of those sinners, interesting I don’t meet much of ya, but sure we can hangout right after you finish up work. “ He said. “ Good, I’m giving you a chance so don’t try anything funny. “ You said, in a stern voice and shot him a wink then walked off. Striker sat there as he felt his heart race. He had never felt this way about someone. He was usually the one making others blush and flustered. But here was dumbfounded on how you could make him feel this way. He was so excited to hangout with you that he forgot that he was supposed to kill you. Striker got up and waited outside. He lit a cigarette and started to smoke. He watched the door open and watched you walk out. “ Howdy. “ Striker said, with a small nod. “ Howdy. “ You said, mimicking his accent. Striker chuckled and shook his head. “ So (Y/N), I hope that I ain’t crossing a line but how did you end up in Hell? It’s always interesting to learn how sinners like you end up in this fucked up place? “ Striker walked with you towards his horse as you explained how you ended up in Hell. “ Wow, that is an interesting tale, do you miss the human world? “ He asked, while helping you on his horse. You snort and laugh. “ No, I like Hell better than the human world but I do miss some of my friends and family. One of my friends who also ended up here told me, I had a nice funeral. That my parents hadn’t changed anything in my room. “ You gave a sorrowful smile. Striker smiled and nodded. “ Family is a nice thing to have, I miss mine but I’ve been doing good on my own. “ Striker also had a sorrowful smile. “ Hold on tight. “ Striker smacked Bombproof’s bum with his tail and the two of you rode off. You held onto Striker as you were impressed by his horse and how he could stay on. Striker had brought you to a beautiful area in the Wrath ring of Hell. The both of you watching the lava flow like a river. “ I come here a lot. It’s beautiful at night. The glow is nice and warm. “ He said and lit another cigarette.

“ Do you want a cigarette? “ He said, looking at you but you shook your head. “ No, I don’t smoke. “ You said, and looked at the lava flowing. Striker nodded as he finished smoking and flicked the cigarette into the lava. “ Do you drink? “ Striker asked. “ Not really. “ You said, while picking up a rock and tossing it into the lava. “ Here, take a sip of this. I brewed it myself. “He handed you his flask. You took and opened it as you took a sip. The liquor was strong but had a smooth taste and it reminded you of your favorite fruit. You took a couple of more sips as Striker let out a chuckle. “ Don’t drink it all too quickly darlin’. “ Striker said. You hand him back the flask and he takes a sip. “ I’ll make sure to bring you a bottle next time we hangout. “ Striker said, as he looked at you. Like he was hoping for you to agree to hangout with him next time. He surely was forgetting that he needed to kill you. “ Sure, you haven’t been acting like a creep and I’m starting to enjoy your company. You also haven’t killed me yet. “ You said, with a smirk. Striker was confused for a second then he remembered but he was still confused for a bit. “ How did you know? “ Striker said. “ You don’t think I know when some rich asshole I used to date is trying to kill me. He always tries to find ways to kill me and I always escape. It’s why I’m saving up enough money so I can get out of this place. Move somewhere far where they can’t find me. “ You said, looking down. “ Their upset because I dumped them. I caught them cheating on me and they kept promising me that they wouldn’t but they kept breaking it. To the point they just told me to deal with it because I’ll always be their special pet, like what the fuck. “ You said. As you clench your fist. Striker wasn’t one to dabble in his client's business or listen to his targets. But hearing now why your ex wanted you dead. Made Striker shake his head, how petty and childish. Striker never really dated but if he was getting cheated on. He would be upset if someone broke up with him. He wouldn’t kill them. “ I’m sorry that he’s making your life a shitty place. And I’m sorry that I’m helping with that. I don’t really ask questions when someone pays me to take someone out. “ Striker said. “ Don’t worry, I understand if I had the same job as you. I’d do the same. But thanks for not killing me or is it too late to say that? “ You glanced up at him.

Striker looked at you and took off his hat, as he held to his chest. He would think for a second was he willing to give up money to have a friendship with you. But this feeling didn’t feel like friendship. He stared off as he placed his hat on your head and walked off. You stood there confused and looked at his horse Bombproof who seemed to also have the same confused look. Striker hadn’t returned for hours and you were laying on Bombproof while gossiping about people from your workplace. Bombproof seemed to understand and would let out little sounds. You both heard footsteps and saw that Striker had returned. You and Bombproof looked up as Striker sat down next to you. “ Let’s run away. “ He said. You sat up confused and looked at Striker. “ What? “ You said., “ Let’s run away, far from here." Striker said.

[love-toxin]

Drooling my friend. This was brilliant. I fucking LOVE it and love seeing them go all guard dog for reader, was just the right amount of sweet 😌 tysm for indulging my request for more of them.

~~~

Eddie with a knife being protective made my brain buzz.

Steve being a sugar daddy, yep, yeahhuh. Fucking tracks, with that little bit of praise.

and then this part right here. killing me in the best way.

"Oh, you don’t even realize. The unexpected sweetness of you remembering such an insignificant detail about him actually makes Steve’s heart jump, feels like it’s the first time in ages since it’s done that. It’s baffling to each of them that you’re more concerned about them, though–and there’s that crack of mercy that forms then, that’s slowly gonna get wider and wider as the two of them realize they don’t just wanna tease you, they want you."

~~~

This made me wonder, aside from being protective, how older bully!Eddie would show he's growing fond of us. If Steve's way is through money and praise.

Wonder if Eddie would have you start wearing something of his all the time - his ring on a chain, bracelet, (or collar, what? who said that.). Feel like he'd want everyone to know who you belong to whether he's around you or not.

(maybe unnecessary but I might throw in a coffin emoji from now on ⚰️ so you know it's me, if that's okay. ._.)

HEHEHE!!! TY!!!! and i think you're absolutely right, older!bully!Eddie would definitely give you something personal to wear around so that everyone can see he's left his mark on you.

a tattoo would be preferable, but you may not be too amiable to that, so the next best thing is something like a necklace or a bracelet or even earrings. i think he'd likely go the collar route just for the sake of humiliating you because he will make it very clear that you are not to take it off, but he makes sure to treat you to a little smidge of praise when he comes into the diner and you serve the two of them while wearing it, because it genuinely makes him so happy to see his baby wearing something he made for you.

however, he's also an acts of service kind of person. your car's having problems? the next day he'll walk into the diner and demand your keys, and then drive it right out of the parking lot to take it to his garage, spending hours doing all the work he can before he comes back to pick you up at the end of your shift. he fixes your broken tail light, changes your oil, replaces your brake pads, and even fills up your gas tank and he doesn't say a damn word about all the free work he just did for you. just tells you to speak up if it starts clunking up again before dropping you and your car off and walking the rest of the way home. he's also one to take on the responsibility of any work needing done around your home, mowing your lawn, even cooking once in a while--but you better not make a big deal out of it, cause you're gonna be sucking him off til your jaw breaks for all this free labour you're getting out of him. that's what he says, anyways, but who knows if he'll even have the energy once he finishes up and drags himself back home.

[papersong]

hello!

i'm invested in your chicago&tokyo fic and would love to hear literally anything you have to say about it! you could give a whole director's cut, a scene you wanted to expand on, or a snippet of ur fav scene rn and i will look at you with heart eyes <33 ur fics bring incredible joy and the way you write just feels absolutely tender and whole and so visual it definitely is something i strive for in my writing as well

i hope you have a good day and thank you for sharing your work! you've worked hard~

hiya~

i have an outline of the next chapter up in my discord server eyeball emoji

Meta thoughts: - I started this fic when I was living in Chicago, in a way it's a little memoir/love(?) letter to my city. maybe ill finish it in tokyo :3 - i wish more fandom portrayals of kyojuro reached beyond his Exuberant! personality to think about his exuberance-as-defense-mechanism/traditional-slash-conservative upbringing/general eccentricity—not just as a fun character quirk, but in thinking about "how did he come to be like this" and "what are the consequences of being such a weirdo in daily life" and "why do ppl like him so much" - kny isn't necessarily a fave anime, i write fic for worlds that are interesting, but I also have to see the opportunity for a story beyond what's already there. an imperfect story often creates room for reader characters to make a difference. - the reader character is probs my most perfect character (not as in mary-sue perfect, or writerly perfection, but as in "this is probs one of the most decent, mature, and moral ppl you will ever meet in fiction or life"). This "perfection" is plot important for [MASSIVE SPOILER] reasons. A theme I'm interested in, in this fic but also in general, is strength and courage and power taking different forms than fantasy but esp anime teaches us to expect. It's not fighting. It's not rushing headfirst into battle. It's not being able to kill and destroy. Strength is planning + leading to victory. Courage is being afraid and angry and broken but making the right choice regardless. Power is building people up and healing and growing despite everything.

Fun thought: - Anyone notice Sanemi developing a crush on reader huehuehue, I'm surprised by so many ppl secondary-shipping reader with Hakuji because I see them more as a boss/employee or older/younger sib relationship

Now! What you came for! My plan for the next few chapters below the cut.

MASSIVE SPOILERS:

Hakuji becomes a hashira (on technicalities. sort of.)

Hashira training arc: Hakuji gets to yell at all the hashira (probs offscreen.) he was the only one who's been an actual teacher. also the hashira suck at teaching.

Swordsmith village arc: Tanjiro + co kill Hatengu + Kaigaku. Muichiro lives! Reader gets kidnapped by Kokushibo.

Infinite castle arc: Reader kills Kokushibo by letting Yoriichi posess her. Screws up the infinite castle with her blood. Then, Muzan captures and eats her.

This is not how the story ends, I don't write sad fics, but I do like a cliffhangers so I'll let y'all guess how reader + co finagle their way out of this ufufufufuf

[calamity-aims]

20 questions!

thanks for the tags @gaeasun @saltsanford @purgetrooperfox <3 love you guys

How many works do you have on AO3?

75

What’s your total AO3 word count?

238,592 (ooh I'mma celebrate when I hit a quarter million)

What fandoms do you write for?

mostly Star Wars! I wrote fic for some other fandoms early on but we don't talk about those

What are your top five fics by kudos?

your heartbeat's a countdown - crack fic in which the Jedi know the clones are a trap and try to avoid them at all costs

Necessary - a whumpy Voltron Klance fic I wrote after the first season (before the show went to hell)

their days are darker - in which Wolffe doesn't know how to drop anything and Fox is having the worst two days of his life

the broken-hearted rang their steeple bells - tropey Witcher kinkmeme fill that for some baffling reason has tons of kudos

exploitation, hesitation - short oneshot in which Fox assumes General Kenobi is just like his natborn superior officers and reacts accordingly

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used to reply to every single one (unless it was just emojis) but then I fell off and now I feel bad :( I read them all though! and they are so treasured! one day I will make it through the backlog

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

ooh see despite writing a lot of angst, I almost always write happy endings, so maybe I'll take no gold, I'll take no silver (please read the tags on that one). maybe spit some blood at the camera is pretty sad too, actually

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

all of them!! yayyyy! even if it's not spelled out, I usually resolve things because that's the world I want to live in! every fic is a fix-it fic

Do you get hate on fics?

not really, mostly just people asking when I'm going to finish, although I have seen people complaining that my version of Fox/Corries is banal and overdone which like yeah. I agree. but my brain won't let me move on.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

hell yeah I do! I don't know what "what kind" means - I write characters fucking, never x reader and rarely OCs; and it's usually somewhat kinky because I just can't not

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written a few fusions/AUs - elysium is as far as to is a Gladiator AU, everyone wants a double feature is a Pacific Rim AU, and more human than human is a Bladerunner AU. but I've never done a straight-up crossover, although there are a few bouncing around in my brain (namely, the GAR joins the Decepticons and another where Boromir meets Rex and falls in love)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah I've had real problems with people plagiarizing fics, from lifting whole sections of dialogue to copying really specific scenes

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, but one got a podfic

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

yeah I cowrote hold me like a grudge and sometimes a parrot talks (unfinished) with the fabulous @postapocalyptic-cryptic!

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

oh man. I love Quinlan/Fox to death. but I will admit that I was Stucky trash from the very beginning.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

ooh there's a lot. Mace/Fox fic, sometimes a parrot talks, deaged Corries, chroma...

What are your writing strengths?

hm. I don't know. I think I'm good at characterization and dialogue?

What are your writing weaknesses?

fukcin plot beyond "there is hurt and then there is comfort". and also explaining more about people's emotions, like, I know what they're feeling but I need to tell other people

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I just use google translate, I'm sorry

First fandom you wrote for?

oh boy oh fuck. The first fandom I ever wrote for was Phantom of the Opera when I was in eighth grade. go ahead and laugh

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

uhhh. aaa? um. probably unexplain the unforgivable, but I also really liked how a once and future sun turned out

no pressure tags for @postapocalyptic-cryptic @meerlichtz @milfmisspiggy @catboydogma @jaigeye

[rogerswifesblog-updates]

Vera I'm so sorry you are still shadowbanned! I wish tumblr would get their stuff together.

For the fanfic writer's asks: 1,5,12,25,55,69,71

Hope you have fun answering them <3

Hi, yeah the shadowban is….ugh, annoying. Definitely annoying.

Thank you for the questions!

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

Oh wow…I think I daydream more than I write. I daydream all the time and I’m pretty sure half the stuff that’s in my head I’ve never even started writing. But if I finally start writing then I’m not stopping till it’s done lol

I’ll sit the next few days on a one shot or chapter or whatever and I need to finish it. 😂😂

5. How many wips do you have?  What fandoms/pairings are they for?

Fuck I- I don’t know

Let’s see

The au’s with @jamneuromain “broken bones and broken hearts” ( Steve Rogers x reader) & “together or not at all” (Steve Rogers x reader, Nick Gant x reader, Johnny storm x reader, Jake Jensen x reader) in the second one is a lot ready and there’s also a loooot of smut lol just so y’all know

Then there’s “drownin siren” Steve Rogers x mermaid reader

I’ve planned a sub!mafia!Bucky Barnes x reader one shot

A meet-cute for Stucky!! Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

I have a Lloyd Hansen x reader smut Drabble ( ready to post actually)

Oh Noise pt 3, Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes x Reader smut, which is nearly finished [ pt 1 is here pt 2 here ]

I’m planning a grumpy!roommate!Curtis x reader au :) but haven’t started one this one yet

Oh god there’s also pretty boy pt 2, sub!Steve Rogers x reader smut [ pt 1 is here ]

Omg i still have more; mean!dom!steve Rogers x villain!(sub)reader

Is it weird that I’m already planning my kinktober list? But yeah I’m doing that too

I have also a pt two to the Lance tucker shot “stretch you (out)” that I think I haven’t posted yet?

I’m working on so many things rn fuck I hadn’t noticed until now

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

Sometimes yes, I definitely some background stories and I like planning how every character met or if they had any relationships before with them etc

Definitely also about their family history or school

But I don’t think more than that

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

I love making moodboards hahhahaha

I like writing because of all the possibilities i have!

And also interacting with people. I know many people don’t leave feedback and that’s okay BUT when i finally see Someone comment or reblog something even with just a emoji or gif I’m in heaven. It makes me so so happy to talk about my work or answer questions. Idk, I just love interacting with others. I’d say im really shy in rl and it’s just so much better on tumblr. Here I feel like I found my people and I can be myself:)

55. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics?  Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

“He felt blood rush to his cheeks, making him blush”

I use this often or always the -ing verb form

I feel like there’s also always some kind of misunderstanding? There are definitely a few oneshots and fics with this trope

There was something else I wanted to addd but I forgot what

69. What are your favorite fic at the moment?

Ohhhh I love “in the snow” By @postmodernmulticoloredcloak

71. Do you spend more time reading or writing?

Id say it depends on the day. Sometimes I’m writing all day long and the next day I’m reading all the time:)

Thank you for all these questions!!!!! Love you!!!!!!

[taleasnewastime]

ok so I'm back again (I'm the anon who sent in that ask about ACOTAR and beach read) and you read once upon a broken heart??? omg I loved that book. I've still not read the second one though (bc a friend gave me the biggest spoiler and now I'm processing all the tragedy things). I heard the new book's coming out this year.

i have to read something with romance in it to get interested in it, because I'm not really into anything other than that, unless it's a really really really good book. other than that, my favorite genre would either be a) dark romance or b) fantasy. said friend got me into fantasy books last year, can't get them out of my head now. I've read some of sarah j maas's books, then the cruel prince series (haven't finished), once upon a broken heart, and the invisible life of addie larue.

then there's dark romance books. I've not actually read a lot, but one of the most memorable ones would be the cat and mouse duet ('haunting adeline' and 'hunting adeline'). it's VERY controversial, I really wouldn't recommend u to read it unless you're really into stalker romance. also read trigger warnings before.

my favorite trope? hmm, that's a hard question. honestly, I'd read anything that has a good plot and is interesting. but I noticed I mostly gravitate towards e2l and opposites attract (for some reason)

I read a LOT of angst. i love a good book that can make me cry.

my most anticipated-not-read-yet books? the shatter me series. aaron warner is gonna kill me when i start the series, all of my friends who've read the books say that he is the hottest book bf ever, so that's something I'm mentally preparing myself for. I have so many books on my tbr that I also cannot read the twisted series and also the good girl's guide to murder series.

and at last but not least, my favorite book? I've read so many good books this past year... I have several. so if you're talking about fantasy/magic it'd be the invisible life of addie larue, and rom-com/e2l would be better than the movies. you should read both of these books!!!

I'd love to know more about your book preferences though. what is something that you hate in a character (could be there habits or mindset)? which character owns your heart? what is your opinion on colleen hoover books? favorite author? first book series you've ever read? favorite trope? you haven't yet replied if u have a book bf 👀

(+ if u do emoji anons (idk what u call them really) i could be known as 📚anon, if it's not taken)

I'm sorry for this really long ask but I was excited . have an amazing day and/or a good night's sleep, wherever you are.

Hello! Sorry this has taken a second to answer - I went to Dublin for the weekend :) And again, I love this ask so thanks for coming back!! I've put all my thoughts below the cut.

Gah, I loved Once Upon a Broken Heart. I have heard that people thought the second one was sad ..? so I'm kind of dreading it. Another reason to wait for the third to come out so I can hopefully just power through and get to the (hopefully) happy ending. Just so hard to wait!! I want to know what happens now!!!

I get the need to have romance in a book. I read quite a range of genres but I always fly through romance books. I also love fantasy books - take me away from this horrid world please! But I've not really read any dark romance books. Part of me kind of likes the idea but I'm also not sure it's for me. Guess that's the perk of there being so many different books everyone can pick from.

E2L is a classic!! Alllll the angst. I want the main characters fighting and being forced to be around each other, trying to deny their feelings before they're making out and loving each other. YES!

Ooh I have the shatter me series on my shelf but haven't read either. I also want to read Icebreaker (which I haven't bought yet) and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I haven't got the twisted series on my tbr but I've heard good things about it.

Yes I've read Invisible Life Addie LaRue and I loved it tooooo. I bought a special addition of the hardback just because. I kind of love Luc in some twisted way ... (which is why I think part of me would enjoy dark romance lol). Such a good book though, definitely one of my favourites too. I also love Six of Crows. If you've not read that you'd possibly enjoy.

What I hate in a character? I really hate when people do something I'd never do. Sometimes I can understand when a character does the opposite of what I want them to do, but I hate when they do something I think no one would ever do - struggling to think of examples, but maybe just taking back a guy who's been absolutely crap, or sacking off someone who's only ever been nice. I'm sure there's loads of things I hate, but can't think of anything else now. Tbh I think I struggle more with bad writing over bad characters - though there's probably not much difference between the two.

Gosh, all the tough questions. Character that owns my heart? You've never read Project Hail Mary but there's a character in that called Rocky, who honestly, I'd die for. I'd also die for every character in The House in the Cerulean Sea - again another banger if you've not read, it's not romantic but it's really soft and sweet.

Book bf. This has just come to me from nowhere, but Howl, from Howls Moving Castle. He is essentially like the film Howl if you've ever seen it. But more Welsh. And he's so chaotic and would probably drive me insane with his mess and antics but I'd love him all the same. Who's your book bf?

I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan of Colleen Hoover. I've read and didn't actually mind Reminder of Him and It Ends With Us. But I recently read Verity and sorry if you enjoyed it but I really don't understand why people like it, I thought it was awful. I still kind of want to read It starts With Us. Have you read any of her books?

Favourite author atm is possibly Emily Henry, have you read any of her books? The first series I ever read was almost definitely Harry Potter, I remember queueing up at midnight to buy the books. I read quite a few series though, mainly because most fantasy books seem to be series. Are you a fan of series or do you prefer stand alone books?

Please don't apologise for the long ask, unless you don't want to read through my long replies! Honestly love reading what you've put and writing out my responses, so thanks for taking the time to ask :) Hope you're doing well wherever you are!

[ageless-aislynn]

From @mrtobenamedlater​

@ageless-aislynn you like the romance so let’s do 💔💞💋🍆

Ooo, thank you kindly! I haven’t done one of these in a while! 😎👍

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

“Cold” (Eobard Thawne/Killer Frost, The Flash) is one of the very few fics that I’ve done that includes major character deaths and no happy ending. It’s also super short, barely a double drabble, but I was proud to have gotten comments that it still packed a punch.

The real answer, though, is that my heart is broken by the WIPs I don’t think will ever get finished. That truly makes me sad. 😕

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Present day, I find it very rewarding to write for John (aka Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, Halo), no matter the pairing.

I haven’t actually written John/Makee, btw, but I’ve used several of their scenes to make GIFs for “15 Minutes” (John/Reader) so that counts, right? 😁😇 Also, that soft little smile of his MELTS MY HEART. 😍😍😍 I adore this big Spartan Boi SO MUCH.

Overall, though, my comfort character to write for for the past 7 years is Eobard Thawne (The Flash).

“He’s so tall and handsome as hell, he’s so bad but he does it so well...” could’ve been written for these Murder Bois, what can I say? I’ve written for both versions, though Tom Cavanagh’s Eobard has the lion’s share. Weirdly, though, I do feel a definite difference in writing Matt Letscher’s Eobard, so I hope that has come across in the fics he’s starred in.

I’m not sure why my comfort characters, the ones I find it easiest to fall into their voice, are all male. 🤷‍♀️ (I do truly love writing for Kai, for my “15 Minutes” Reader, for Caitlin and Frost, though, so I hope I’ve been able to do them all justice over their respective fics. 🤞😣🤞)

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Loooooove, most definitely! I’ve written a ton of them by now, though I do occasionally like to write established relationships.

First first kiss fics: “Proper Motivation” (part 2 of the Partners In Crime series, I recommend starting with the first fic in the series, “By Any Other” if you’d like to check it out but hey, you do you, and I support you in that, 😉 Caitlin Snow/Eobard Thawne, The Flash) and “Answer Enough” (Kai-125/John-117, Halo). 🤗

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

Oh heck yeah, I do, lol! Most popular in the three fandoms I’ve written the most in would be (all of these are, of course, NSFW 😉) “Balancing Act” (Donna Noble/The Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who), “The Thousandth and the First” (Caitlin Snow/Eobard Thawne, The Flash) and “Side Effects” (John-117/Cortana, John-117/Kai-125, Halo).

Honorable mentions to “Elevated” (Killer Frost/Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher version), The Flash) and “(In)vulnerable” (Eobard Thawne/Reader, The Flash) for being the first extremely explicit fics I wrote, even if they’re not the most popular. 😉 (There would’ve been no “Side Effects” without those two first. 🥵😂😉)

Thanks again for playing along, very appreciated! 😁

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

My Flash Masterlist

My Halo Masterlist

[lilyoffandoms]

🎉 💔 and 🎶 from the Emoji Asks, please!!

Hello there lovely 👋🏾 Thank you for the ask ♥️

What leads you to consider a fic a success?

If I actually finished it 😂

Kidding. Kinda.

If I’m happy with it.

Honestly, it used to be if it got at least fifty notes and even then I’d still be upset that certain people didn’t comment or reblog it. But that was fucking exhausting and I have that up. I even scraped my original tag list to start over and it’s so much smaller and ngl I feel like my fics are appreciated more by a vastly smaller audience than they ever were by that massive one. I cater to me and only me now and that is what I base success on in fandom nowadays.

🎶 answered this one here. But here are a few from my Trystan x Gabriel playlist for ya.

Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

I don’t write sad ones often 😅 It hurts me too much to do. But if I had to pick one from those I did attempt I’d say this one or any of the other Wayhaven LT drabbles I’ve written.

Fanfic writer ask

[crystallineirises]

Emmy 2024 Liveblog

We high, we got snacks, we filled out a physical ballot lets see if i can figure out my mom's tv

heyyyyy a brother for MLK day

I do think about how he marched for me, a black girl, to say "step on me" about white women on the internet *black power fist*

I'm bored already lol

I turned the volume down lower so i can eat my little nosh

Why does the Fox camera never look as good as the other cameras, this has got an American Idol glow on it

I was like "is that Pete Davidson"

MOM

FOLLOWED BY SARAH

CHRISTINA why have not finished Dead To Me oh yeah cause I don't want it to end

ROUND OF APPLAUSE AND TEARS

TWO HITS DISABILITY AND OZEMPIC GO AWF

OH J - no it's not it's comedy

I'm rooting for everybody black actually I'm rooting for everyone this is stacked

AYO GET YR ASS UP HERE

Oooh Padma is looking fine

The energy of this is already better than the whole GG

CAAAAROOOOLLLL

They should just stay standing up

She looks so GOOD and that joke hit PERFECTLY women are better at everything

I don't really know which way this is gonna go

I still need to watch Poker Face I keep forgetting

QUINTAAAAA she looks so sweet

Damn Sarah got that ICE round her neck alright rap star girlfriend

SHERYL LOOKING REGAL

Didn't prepare nothing I love it

I really don't need to annotate the physical ballot and live blog but WHO CARES this is for me

Can these commercials stop the Discord said this is J's category and I know its not gonna be her but what if it *was*

I'm that meme of "Bruh thinks he's on the team" I've been nervous all DAY

Sam Seaborn what's up why are you hosting weird shit

*adds Sopranos to watch list*

Oh they have props money

OMG it's the mom from Rizzoli and Isles!!! OMG HEY

Hoooooo here we go

THESE GAYS

Eighty damn people in this category

GASP if you're gonna lose lose to Jennifer love this for us *CAW*

ALL THE EVIL GAYS

Your arm still broken damn

Someone give us the bleeped version plz but also he nailed that stare

Alan with his rocks and insects speech tho

SARAHHHH LOL TOMGREGS WINNING

DAMN that theme song sounds banging on this soundbar I really should learn how to use this tv

How is Curb still on the air? Not that it's bad, it just seems like it's been a very long time lol

Someone on Discord just said they wondered if they're gonna do a Friends thing for Matthew OH MY HEART in memoriam is gonna be roughhh

I'm not high enough lol

AYEEE EBON

Also that leather jacket is sickkk

I like the lack of commentary as they walk up, can we keep this shit classy

FIRST AD let's shout out the tech TEAMS

BLACKPEOPLEEE

I didn't realize Jeremy was also a small man lol I kinda would have loved for OMITB to win something but it's cool

sweet baby full of LOVE

AMY AND TINA

Smoke break

A pyramid lol

That woman behind him in the navy dress looked hot oh it's in a suburbs kinda way that's a great fucking dress though

OH she's not here? SHE ALWAYS HERE that's how black moms work

BEANS DONT BURN ON THE GRILL

Hannah's face and Kieran's face

BLACK DONT CRACK AND ITS NEVER TOO LATE

This is the blackest show i've ever seen without that many black people nominated

So many babes in this category

MORE BLACK WOMEN BLACK QUEER WOMEN

THIS SPEECH IS GOING OFFFFFFF

AND HER MOM I need to have all the black moms in the audience in a glamour shot together

oh and NOW we are high let's get into it YUH *rock on emoji*

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOW YR NAME

NORM

I love The Bear but I do like when things get spread out a bit? There's so many shows out there

*survivor yell*

YAY FOR THE GAYS AND GWORLS AND KWEENS AND THEYZ

Arsenio looks GOOD

Who is this beautiful woman

ALWAYS SUNNY THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF MY HEART and they look AMAZING

JUNO YOU LOOK SO HOT that hair swoop is STRONG

LOL can we get a full transcript of all bleeped things

shouts to all the negative bank account hoes out here

GREYZ BEBEZ where's Kate Walsh

BARZ

OH GOD GILLIAN i am about to lose it

Just kidding they just threw us off with x files theme that's fucked up

MAD MEN THEME ANOTHER BANGER

NOT THE HUG

*twerk team* also Sarah Snook

omg the boy from 30 rock his face is me

this speech was boring but that shot of J was great

Beef is so good so far but I'm only two episodes in

Not enough people have been chased off the stage honestly

Amy and Tina you look GREAT

ELTON JOHN EGOT GAYS IS WINNING

Ryan is chaotic evil lol but he sure has given us some shit to watch

Secondary Beef sweeeep

That's the thing, you get one good role and then you win all three awards it can get a little boring

you're gonna make it after aaaaaaallllllll

and a HAPPY MLK DAY TO US ALL

Jessica nominated for something in every awards show and every time she's just sitting around being pretty and chill

JOAN AND TARAJI DREAM BLUNT ROTATION

invited everyone you kneewwwooooooowww you would SEE the biggest gift would be from ME and the caaaardd attached would SAY thank U for being a friiiiieeeeeennnddddddEEEEENNDDDDD *dah*

How is there another 50 minutes of this I'm pretty much over it

Also this new show with Diane Lane *gay panic*

not a compilation video of TV lol

WAG THEME

*we ARE welcome*

GOD look at her why am I always in the room with my mother when she's on stage lol

Yay gay people winning again

YES THEY DID BABY TRENT DID HIS THANG

Looking at her titties looking at her nails looking at her ass looking at her dress i am so femme and so gay and also so femme

I love that *this* is why they had the WAG theme that didn't register at first lol

Is RuPaul singing this song in the background wait maybe thats Titus or Billie who IS that lol which black gay is that

What up Sarah Kate that's a very gay outfit lol

Okay we have another 40 minutes though so like...unless we're gonna have Sarah speak for like seventeen minutes

They also keep panning to Jessica Chastain because she just looks beautiful at all times at all angles in all and it doesn't make any sense

LOL they found Bella like quick where's an enby quick, lol panning to Jenna holding a girl's hand

OMG Babette from GG love her guitar jacket that's camp

"Why is this always so fuckin SAD" - crystallineirses on in memoriam segments

LESLIE

PAUL

IRENE

I am gonna CRY how dare they

not the collage like it's top model

I came back to some random dance sequence lol what up Calista

oh LORD it's Kieran's time *MANIFEST*

MY MAN MY MAN MY MAN

SO MUCH KISSING BRIAN WHAT

SHIRTS OFF SHIT

MO GAYS

THE DEEP SIGH

MANIFEST

TEAM SHIV

SHIV BABIES WE DID IT

THIS IS OUR TIME

EMMY WINNERS SARAH AND KIERAN

"MLK allowed me to celebrate a bunch of white people depicting even worse white people" - crystallineirses on the Succession wins

MEN KISSING ON TV

FX IS TIGHT

GO J GO

get your way to him lol

Why are they off screen lol

Not me just watching J and Kieran shuffling around

DAMN Hannah

it's been real yall

Just more hugs for all the boys

MLK IN THE CREDITS

[skribblz]

Fics??????? *very eyes, much emoji*

If sooo I recently just came up with another SenGen scenario-

I feel like Senku would question why Gen walks around barefoot all the time. He did offer some shoes for him one time but Gen declined cause I hc that for him it feels nice to walk around barefoot, and that since they're in the Stone world he has freedom to do so without getting called out, which Senku agrees nevertheless. But he does offer to clean his feet for him cause of how dirty they are sjfjsjfjsjf Gen ur gross /j /lh

and I think u know where this is going heehoo 👀👀👀

hehehehEHEHEH yay sengen ty angel <3

"Don't your feet ever...hurt?"

Gen tilts his head, a grin starting to spread across his face, "Aww are you worried about me, Senku-chan?"

"Just answer the question, damn mentalist." The scientist scoffs, earning a giggle.

"Of course it hurts if I step on something sharp," he replies, poking the other on the cheek, "but otherwise, nope! It's kinda like a nice little massage!"

"Don't tell me you have cuts on your feet." Senku starts, ready to go off on a whole tangent. "Someone like you knows how deadly infections can be, especially-"

"Especially in the Stone World, blah blah." Gen imitates, smirking as he received a glare from the other. "It's not that hard to say that you care, you stubborn thing."

Senku glared harder, pink faintly dusted across his cheeks since he couldn't honestly refute that statement. "You're just a-"

"Useful ally, I know, I know." The magician sighs dramatically, "Just another person to exploit."

Suddenly, a rough hand grabs onto his arm, pulling him out of his performance. His single audience member drags Gen along, who honestly doesn't mind. It did give him more chances to annoy the younger man.

"Fine, allow me to repay you for all the work you've done, as well as prevent your feet from falling off later. It's ten billion percent efficient."

"Ooh, where are you taking me, Dr. Ishigami? And please be gentle."

Senku groans, rolling his eyes. "Ew, shut up."

This was way too much fun.

It doesn't take long for Gen to realize that they were heading toward a nearby creek; all those trips to collect flowers for his tricks gave him decent knowledge of the land. Senku leads him down to the side of the water and allows Gen to roll up his the bottoms of his pants before obediently stepping in.

"It's cold!" He whines immediately.

"Deal with it, you big baby." Senku snickers at the mentalist's discomfort, letting this go on for awhile more. "Alright come on, get over here." He sits. "Give me your foot."

Gen backpedals a bit, trying not to fall into the freezing water. He’d prefer not to be soaking wet after all. Senku’s words did surprise him though, and he voices his concerns with a titter. "W-what? Who would've thought you were into stuff like this, Senku-chan!"

"Don't make it sound weird, I'm just cleaning your feet for you."

"I can do that myself-"

"You're the one who says how caring I am. So let me show how much I care." The scientist deadpans. He didn't understand why Gen was being so reluctant, unless there was actually a reason he didn't want his feet touched? Was he trying to hide an injury?

He frowns at Gen, offering his hand expectantly. The other shifts nervously, slowly sitting down on the grassy bank before placing his right heel onto the hand.

Senku immediately starts inspecting, taking note of the (thankfully) shallow scratches. Though when he starts prodding around for anything broken, Gen jolts and his face scrunches up all weird.

"Sorry, does this hurt?"

"No, no. I'm fine." The magician squeaks, willing himself to stay still as Senku shrugs, continuing his lighting poking and tracing.

After what seemed like ages, the sensations stop and Gen breathes a sigh of relief. He hears the bag rustle and Senku pulls out a bar of soap and dunks it into the water a few times. And without warning, he starts scrubbing the surface of Gen's sole.

And Gen squeals, instinctively yanking his foot out of the scientist's loose grasp.

"Oh yeah, you have some scratches so it might sting a little, but I thought you could take it?"

"A little too late for a warning don't you think!?"

"Just let me finish. It's your fault for not wearing shoes in the first place."

"And that's my choice!" Gen cries, trying to crawl away.

"And I'd rather not become the stone world's first amputator so you're just gonna have to bear with it." Senku remarks, snatching up the foot with a firmer grip.

"No means no!"

"Can you not?"

“Can you noEEE- NAahahaha!” The mentalist cackles as the scrubbing begins again. Although he noted that Senku was a bit gentler this time, it didn’t really help with his predicament. Gen’s back hits the grass as he clutches his stomach, desperately tugging at his trapped foot while the giggles fall endlessly from his mouth.

The scientist quickly puts two and two together, finally realizing why Gen was so reluctant to have his feet cleaned. It also explains the constipated looks he got during his inspection. "Huh, you're ticklish.” Senku says, mostly to himself. He watches the other squirm with great interest, cataloging each moment Gen twisted his head, face cherry red and mouth decorated with the cutest smile. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

"Behehecause it's- hAHahaha! Embahaharrassing! Nonononohoho!"

“I guess so.” Senku throws out casually, opting to dig his fingers into the magician’s toes. And Gen goes berserk, hands thumping the ground as he throws his head back, bright laughter filling the sky. He even almost kicks Senku in the face.

Senku, however, found this whole ordeal rather fascinating. He is very amused to find out how such a simple action could prompt such a large reaction. All that smooth-talking and witty remarks, turning into dorky, uncontrollable giggling. “Y’know, I think I like this side of you better, mentalist. Way more easier to deal with.”

And Gen wants to protest and argue and rebuke, but how could he? Nothing but chortles would come out; the ticklish sensations from his foot overloaded his brain, causing him to flail around madly.

The scientist decides that this is enough for now, dropping the foot back into the river. And Gen doesn’t complain this time, chest heaving grateful breaths. Each exhale produces a string of residual giggles, making Senku’s heart flutter just a tiny bit. Gen didn’t need to know that, he determines.

“Thahahat....was so...cruel.” 

Senku shrugs in response, “Again, your fault for not wearing shoes.” 

Gen ponders for a moment, was pushing Senku’s buttons right now really worth it? Sitting up slowly, he looks at the younger man through half-lidded eyes. “Well if you continue to give me special treatment...maybe I won’t ever put on a pair of shoes~” 

“That is extremely illogical and you know it.” 

“Maybe I think it’s nice having you touch me like this.” He really couldn’t help himself. Gen smiles flirtatiously, expecting to be met with wide crimson eyes and an equally crimson face. 

But instead, Senku smirks back, eyes not wide, but calculating. He’s not skillful enough to hide the tint of pink dusting his cheeks though.

“Yeah? I’ll touch you more if you’d like.” 

“Ooooh, how dirty~” 

"Hand over the other foot, mentalist." Senku's grin morphs into something more sinister.

Gen’s jaw drops, a look of betrayal spreads across his face. Asshole. He grits his teeth and then presses his lips into a thin smile, "...Please be gentle?"

[nishisun]

DORM BUDDIES

27. arguing with roommates kinda suck

DORM BUDDIES MASTERLIST

You walk back into your decorated room and tsukishima was still seated on your bed, his phone in his hand and had the blanket covered around him, making himself more comfortable.

“wanna watch a movie?” he casually asks, in which you give him a pleasant smile and nod as you lay down next to him comfortably on your bed.

“I saw this really cool movie that’s out on Netflix and I was like ‘holy shit, y/n would love this movie!’” You laugh gaily at how talkative tsukishima had progressively become, you don’t say anything or look at him either. He carefully looks at you, as you’re facing down fidgeting with your fingers, still maintaining a small smile on your face, but tsukishima frowns and moves closer to you on the bed to give you a hug.

“tsukishima...” you say, he’s still hugging you, his face buried in the crook of your neck and you can’t help but smile gently at how open he’s gotten to you.

“hmm?” is all he says. You unanimously decide to hug him back, and your head is placed on top of his and you give him a quick kiss on his head which makes him hug you tighter.

“this is so unlike you.” you chuckle, his face is still buried in your neck, but you can feel him smile just a bit. “is everything okay?”

“I should be asking you that,” he mumbles. “you’re not talking to me like you always do.” he pauses thoughtfully and tightens the secure hold he has on you and then sighs. “ever since that fair you’ve been distant and I feel like it’s because of what me and kuroo said. You don’t even send me good morning text anymore with those weird ass emojis.” You widen your eyes a bit and then sigh, realizing keenly that you being distant has caused tsukishima to worry and a slight guilt rising within you.

“tsukishima, I’m so sorry, that’s not why. I’m sorry for making you feel that way.” you massage his back as your head remained on top of his. “I’ve been going through some stupid shit. It’s nothing really.”

“really, what’s wrong?” he instantly looks at you, the direct eye contact makes you blush and look away.

‘it’s nothing important”

“you’re lying.”

“oh yeah? How do you know?" you challenge, tsukshima puts his head down and sighs, then looks back at you.

“I just know you, y/n. Now, tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Well, it’s nothing, tsukishima.” you gently tap his nose lightly and giggle.

“kei,” tsukishima mumbles.

what?”

“you can call me kei.” he intentionally tries to conceal his face due to the blush that’s rising and you can’t help hit to squeal at tsukishima’s cuteness. He was so big and tall, but such a softie.

“AWW KEI,” you say, “someone has a crush on me!” you tease, and he just scoffs in response.

“I do not,” he retorts.

“do too,”

“do not.”

“well, I think you do.”

“maybe I do,” tsukishima shrugs and you look down at him in genuine shock, “I like you y/n. A lot actually.” he doesn’t say anything after that, neither do you, you’re still trying to process how random this was, how easy it was for him to candidly confess to you. You genuinely liked tsukishima as well, a lot, actually. You’ve consistently played it off a jokingly flirting so you wouldn’t get your heart broken by your roommate.

“I like you too, kei.” he looked up at you and smiled gently, you mirrored his actions and stared at each other for a while until your phone went off again, signaling that you received at text.

“hold on, I’m gonna set my phone on do not disturb.” you say, as you reach for your phone on the bedside you frown at the name that pops up.

Sugawara.

Again? Seriously, what does he want?

“who is it?” tsukishima humbly asks, readjusting himself on your bed.

“uh, nobody important.” you say, carefully putting your phone down but tsukishima looks at you in confusion.

“y/n, seriously?” tsukishima scoffs.

“what? I said no one special. Can we just watch this movie in peace?”

“I don’t want to watch a movie with you anymore.” tsukishima pouts, moving away from you and sitting himself correct on your bed and crossing his arms.

“kei, don’t be like that-“

“and I take back what I said about you calling me kei.”

“okay, now you’re being petty.” you chuckle, but tsukishima doesn’t laugh, still having a serious look on his face. You groan and move closer to him and lay your head on his lap while looking up to him but he instantly looks the opposing direction. “do you really want to know?”

“yes.”

“it was sugawara.” you mumble.

“oh,” is all tsukishima says, he shifts his leg so that you’re no longer laying on him and sits up properly.

“but it’s not like that, I promise.” you reassure him.

“then what is it like, y/n?" he scoffs, “you’re still talking to your ex. It seems to me that you still like him.”

“I don’t, he just wants to talk that’s it. The only time I’ve seen his since after our break up was the fair and that was on accident.”

“Then why don’t you just ignore him,” he reasonably asks, you don’t reply to that, you don’t know what to say. Why don’t you just ignore him?

“Was he the one you went to go text earlier?” he asks wistfully, you could barely even hear him, he was speaking so quietly.

“Yes, but tsukishima you have to understand-“

“do you still like him? or have feelings for him?” by now he’s no longer in your bed, he’s standing up, waiting for you to reply to him.

Did you still have feelings for him? You aren’t certain. You wouldn’t necessarily say no. You were never really over suga, the break was still sort of new, it happened almost a year ago, but the wound was still fresh.

“I don’t know-“

“are you serious? You seriously don’t know? You’re still hung up on your toxic ex? No fucking wonder why your relationships don’t last long.” His sudden change in behavior is not something you’ve seen before, you haven’t even seen him upset before. “he didn’t treat you right y/n, why do you still have feelings for him?

“kei, I don’t know why. can I just finish?” you’re on the verge of tears, and he doesn’t respond he just scoffs and looks away. “thank you. Sugawara was the first person I truly loved. Yes, he was abusive, yes he was manipulative, but I didn’t realize it at the time. And I don’t fucking know why I still feel some way for him, but the fact that you think it’s okay to say shit like that to me isn’t okay. I understand you’re upset with me, but that doesn’t mean you get to talk to me any way you want.” you’re already crying. You’re not even upset, more outraged that tsukishima had to bring your ex’s behavior into the argument. yes, you were aware he wasn’t the best person, but that doesn’t mean he gets to judge you based on your previous relationships.

“I am my own person kei. You don’t get to bring- up my past. My past doesn’t define me.” you’re breaking down and sobbing, you can barely even form a clear sentence and tsukishima is staring in shock as he’s just now realizing how much of an effect his words had on you. You’re breathing hard and holding onto your throat as your anxiety is getting the best of you, instantly reminding you of the dreadful events that would happen when you and suga would argue.

tsukishima’s eyes widen, he rushed over to your trembling state and holds you in his arms.

“y/n, you’re having a panic attack,” he whispers, “i need you to breathe, okay? take a deep breath with me.” he takes a deep breath, you copy his actions the best you can. tsukishima rubs your back to help soothe you, and praises you once you started breathing steadily.

“shit, y/n, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that. I said it out of anger.” He’s still hugging you, still waiting for you to calm down, he waits patiently and feels like shit for letting his anger get the best of him even though that frequently doesn’t happen.

“I’m trying kei. I like you. I really do. I’m sorry for making you upset.” you choke out a sob and tsukishima kisses your temple and strokes your hair softly.

“y/n, please don’t apologize. I’m the one who needs to be apologizing to you. I know your past doesn’t define you as a person and I know that the things sugawara did to you were not okay. I’m so sorry for making you feel like you were a bad person for wanting to talk to him and so sorry for bringing up your past relationships when you obviously weren’t comfortable speaking about it. i know you’re trying. You always have a smile on your face even when you’re hurting. You’re honestly incredible, I don’t know how you do it.” you sniffle in response as tsukishima still is embracing you and he kisses you on the top of your head, which makes your head jolt up and you face him, puffy eyes and all.

“did you just kiss me?” you ask, sniffling again.

“yeah,” he says with mischief, “was that the wrong time or-“

“no, not at all.” you smile, “y’know, for someone who’s basically 2 meters tall, you’re such a softie.”

“am not.” tsukishima mutters.

“are too”

“no”

“yes,” you say, still hugging tsukishima. “but i like this side of you, maybe i should start crying in front of you more.”

“no, i hate seeing you cry.” he burries head in the crook of your neck and kisses it softly then hugs you more tightly.

“hey— are you trying to kill me! let go of me right now tsukishima kei!” he doesn’t listen instead he grumbles and starts littering your face with kisses and you can’t help but blush. “i hate you!”

“but i like you.” he stops and stares at you, you’re blushing and you look away with him, which makes the blond smirk. “what, now you’re suddenly shy?”

“i like you too.”

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[comfyswitcherblanketfort]

My Darling Cat Roommate

lmao this isn’t lambden, as the title may suggest. sorry folks

@stinastar hit me with some feels over and modern roommate au where Geralt just doesn’t know what to do to make Jask feel better and this happened. 

Warnings: We go into some Seasonal Affective Depression stuff here so like be careful with that if it triggers you, jask beats himself up a little, mentioning feeling numb at things that usually bring him joy, i swear in this one. I haven’t changed, dont worry lol

_______________________

Jaskier trudged home from work on Friday, exhausted but relieved he had the next week off. He wolfed down the leftovers Geralt had heated up for him and almost fell asleep on the couch before Geralt hauled him up and walked him into his room, where he promptly fell asleep on top of his duvet in jeans and his shoes. Sometime around when early morning coffee workers were getting up he undressed and snuggled under the warm blankets. 

When he woke to Geralt making a smoothie he was prepared to launch into a full ‘morning people’ rant, only to check his phone and realize it was 2pm. So, maybe he’d needed rest. 

It was still grey enough out that he shrugged and went back to sleep. 

When he woke up again it was dark and the TV was going. He wrapped up in his comforter rather than putting on sweats and shuffled out to the kitchen only because his stomach growled when he tried to roll over.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty!” Geralt called over his shoulder as he floated past with the pasta he’d left in the microwave. 

Jaskier just grunted a small “Thanks,” before he disappeared back into his room. He scrolled through various apps as he ate and rolled back into bed. 

He might have fallen asleep, he might not, but he certainly didn’t get out of bed until his bladder absolutely demanded it on Sunday morning. 

Geralt intercepted him in the hallway before he could make it back to his room, “You feeling okay?”

“Hm? Why?” Jaskier took a moment to respond, staring at Geralt like he’d grown a second head. He knew his hair was probably greasy but he couldn’t look that bad.

“You slept all day yesterday.” Geralt looked like he was diffusing a bomb rather than talk to his roommate, “Did something happen at work?” 

Jaskier just shrugged, “I’m just tired.” And a little numb.

Geralt nodded, “I’m headed to the store. You sure you don’t want me to pick anything up for you?”

“I’m okay, Geralt…” he sighed, slipping past his brick wall of a roommate to slink beneath his blankets once again and make himself as small as possible. 

It was late January and the Seasonal Affective Depression was in full swing. He should have bought that fucking happy light when it was on sale. Should have bought the Vitamin D tablets he saw last week. Should have let Geralt drag him to the gym a little more when he felt the initial dip. Should have blah blah blah. He thought over every little thing he knew would have helped that he just hadn’t done and sighed, pulling his blankets tighter around him. He knew he wasn’t going to do any of it until it got bad enough that his hair would stick to his forehead once he hit this point. Might as well hurry it along so it could be over with. 

Geralt knocked on his door, snapping him out of his mini spiral. He hummed, not even bothering to turn over until he heard the rattle of the doorknob. 

“I know you didn’t want anything, but… uh. I was in the bulk section. Got you the peach things.” Geralt’s voice was lower and softer than usual as he raised the frankly massive bag of peach rings for emphasis before he set them on Jaskier’s desk. 

“Than-” Jaskier coughed when his voice came out raspy and broken, “Thank you.”

Geralt leaned against the doorframe for a moment, a curious frown on his face, “Bake Off is on in an hour if you wanna watch it.”

Jask forced a smile and shrugged, “We’ll see.”

Geralt pursed his lips and nodded, pausing a moment before pushing off the doorframe, “Okay.” 

Jaskier stared at the peach rings for a while after Geralt closed the door. Eventually he compromised with his brain and rolled out of bed onto his knees, waddling a couple of steps until he could reach the rings then launch back to bed. 

Normally he would have almost cried with happiness that Geralt had gotten his favorite treat. He loved it when Geralt did little things for him or thought of him enough to give him something, but he felt rather indifferent as he shoved the twentieth peach ring in his mouth. 

Without warning his door opened just enough for a plate to appear and be gently set on his desk.

Geralt muttered, “For the sugar high…” before his hand disappeared and the door once again shut. 

Jaskier almost smiled when he saw the neatly arranged concentric circles of Totinos Pizza Rolls on the plate. He got to his feet to fetch them this time. 

Around ten that night there was another knock at his door that pulled him from an hour long scroll through tiktok.

“Jask?”

“Yeah?”

Geralt held a big grey bundle in his arms, “Do you- Uh. I thought- weighted blanket?” He held his arms out with a hesitant smile. 

Jaskier sat up, “But don’t you use it to sleep?”

Geralt shrugged, unfolding the bean-filled blanket and laying it over Jaskier’s legs, “I’ll be fine.”

Jaskier stared at the ceiling for a while after he left, confused by Geralt’s suddenly attentive behavior. He would have expected the grouchy man to enjoy the silence that came with his bad days. For how much Geralt complained about his loud music, he certainly wasn’t expecting gifts. 

Geralt left a note in the kitchen Monday morning saying he’d made Jaskier a breakfast sandwich with instructions on how to warm it up without it turning soggy. Jaskier stood in front of the panini press reading and rereading the note as he heated his breakfast like it was in Old English. He ate at the kitchen table this time, annoyed with the crumbs in his bed, and counted up all the little gifts he’d been brought. He could come to only one conclusion.

Geralt was part cat. 

He’d stopped functioning and Geralt kept bringing him mice. 

He smirked and sent him a quick text, “Thanks for the breakfast. 👌 V  good.”

After breakfast, he decided maybe he could change his pajamas, but he stayed tucked under Geralt’s weighted blanket for most of the day. Every now and then Geralt would text him something stupid Eskel or Lambert did, or a meme he found on his break, and every time Jaskier would grin and send back an emoji. Words were out of reach but Geralt frequently only communicated in emojis and one-word sentences. He should get the message.

Jaskier fell asleep around two, really asleep not just the fitful light sleep he’d been having the last couple of days. He was rousted from a dream about a talking panini press by Geralt tripping over a pile of laundry and softly swearing as he tried to right himself without crashing into the bed or Jaskier’s lute. 

“Geralt? Darling, what are you doing?”

Geralt finally caught himself and nearly blinded Jaskier with a smile as he straightened up, “Didn’t mean to wake you.” 

Jaskier sat up and scratched at his hair, “Yes, but doing what?” 

“Oh! Yeah. Uh. I-” Geralt, still grinning, pointed to a small fern in a bright orange clay pot sitting on his windowsill. 

“You got me a plant?”

Geralt was practically beaming when Jaskier glanced back at him. 

“Has anyone ever told you you’re a cat?” 

Geralt snorted, sitting down on the edge of the bed, “You’re feeling better?” 

Jaskier tilted his head, “I think so? What makes you say that?”

“You called me ‘Darling’.” 

A hesitant smile crept on Jaskier’s face. There was an echo of the usual all-consuming warmth spreading in his chest that he usually felt when Geralt smiled at him. He may indeed be feeling a bit better. Come to think of it he actually wanted to shower.

“I taped Bake Off. If you’re feeling up for a trek to the couch,” Geralt offered, forced nonchalance dripping from every word. 

Jask nodded, “Let me shower, then we can finish off the peach rings.” 

Geralt’s smile nearly stopped his heart, a sure sign he was nearing the land of the living again, “I got lasagna on the way home too,” he chirped as he jumped up and made his way to the door. 

“Hey, Darling?” It felt a little forced and goofy saying the pet name like that, but Jaskier just couldn’t help himself, “Thank you.”

Geralt’s smile softened, “Anytime.”