#that it would be worthwhile to take the time to explain how they got there

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

🤐🫣🫣

[3liza]

I agree that the pushback against White Woman Paranoia About Men is warranted but

I also see a lot of posts by men and people who situationally may never experience this, about how being wary of men as a class is delusional due to the actual crime statistics being basically negligible compared to, for example, being hit by a car or getting into a car accident. and what this kind of post doesn't acknowledge is that there are lot of ways to have an exceptionally bad experience caused by strange men in public that have nothing to do with anything that is classified as criminal, bodily harm, and specifically any behavior that would actually be worthwhile to report, making it unknown to the statistics. the guy who followed me for two blocks one night and then brushed by my back and said "don't fall" very pointedly as I was standing on a freeway overpass wasn't doing anything illegal and certainly nothing any cop would do anything about if I "reported" it (lmao) but yeah that is an unpleasant experience I remember vividly and would like to avoid in future. one example of many, obviously, I'm not making a whole post about a single experience

it is absolutely the case that the only rapes and most of the physical assaults I've experienced have been from men known to me socially or intimately, but until I got a large dog, going outside was about 60% likely to involve being harassed. which is a lot more than I have been hit by cars (zero times)

being harassed is extremely unpleasant regardless of its likelihood to progress to physical assault. sometimes it can be so unpleasant it affects our daily lives, and a single incident of harassment can impact a person's mental health. the expectation of ongoing harassment does this moreso, it creates a continual expectation of being pursued, questioned, and then having to deal with someone getting angry at you when you don't accede to their demands. in any context this is unpleasant. people who do not experience sexual harassment in their daily lives may be able to empathize with this experience if they were ever bullied as children. people chasing you around, calling you names, creating unpleasant confrontations for no reason, and then the next day you have to get up and go do it again. people change schools, quit jobs and move out of shared living situations to avoid this kind of stress, it's reasonable to develop an aversion to it. it's reasonable to develop reactivity and hypervigilance as well. verbal and social harassment without any physical assault is more than enough to cause a trauma response.

it's also just inconvenient. even if you are not menaced or belittled or traumatized by an episode of harassment, having to Manage a Harassment Situation in the grocery store or post office when you're just trying to get an errand done is a massive waste of time. a lot of women have to plan for extra time during errands or travel to account for getting out of situations like that.

a LOT of the paranoia about men from women that you can read everywhere in the culture is based not in a fear of getting physically harmed or killed, but simply avoiding more harassment.

I think a lot of women have defaulted to explaining this desire to avoid men and avoid being alone with men, or explaining their suspicion of men, as fear of physical harm, because that's the only way people who don't get harassed are able to take it seriously. but it's completely reasonable to want to avoid being annoyed, bothered, harassed, questioned, inconvenienced, interrupted, or to have someone just be rude to you, completely apart from the actual percentage likelihood that they are a serial killer. even the act of telling these men politely that you can't talk right now, aren't interested, have to go, have a boyfriend, whatever, is annoying and often escalates into a confrontation or to the man being angry at you or insulting you. we can agree that getting into a verbal argument for no reason on the street is a negative experience. it can be annoying and unsettling without being a threat to life and limb. and no this isn't a "i have bad social skills and can't handle normal human interactions" thing, it's not a social interaction required by common decency or manners or basic function, it's someone putting you into a bad situation for no reason and then getting mad at you when you decline to entertain them. the harassers are the ones being rude. it is a violation of the social contract to catcall someone. it's just annoying and I want to avoid it. most women want to avoid it, and behave accordingly.

no terfs on this post. everything I just said about being bothered by strangers applies double (at least) to the experiences of most trans women

women aren't the only people who get harassed by strangers either, but it is overwhelmingly an issue experienced by women, and people who are perceived as feminine or as women.

it's also not just men who do the harassing, but again, it is overwhelmingly men who are doing it.

some women experience no harassment or very little of this harassment and won't identify with this post. that's true and real, but doesn't make it not true that a very very large percentage of women, maybe even most women, have experienced this. no experience is universal

[priceinjection]

Body Shots Pt.2

The long awaited part two, I kinda got carried away with this one... Please enjoy :)

●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●

Pt.1 | Pt.2 |

CW: Drinking (duh), Simon lends you to Gaz (consensually), semi-public sex, mutual masturbation

The second time you suggested body shots was in a crowded and busy bar, Simon’s favorite. 

One of Simon’s hands rested on your thigh while the other held his glass. The team had just come back from assignment and they were celebrating Gaz for something he had done. It wasn’t entirely explained to you, all you knew was what Simon told you “We’re celebratin’ Garrick and he requested your presence Dove…wear somethin’ low cut… ‘e likes the view.” So you put on your lowest cut top (it was practically a bralette, no bra needed), your favorite mini skirt, and happily accompanied him to the bar. You were keenly aware of the way Gaz couldn’t stop staring at your chest, it was like you were the only worthwhile thing to look at. You gave Simon a kiss on the cheek and told him you were going to grab another drink from the bar, you did your best to slide out of the booth with grace and tried not to smile at the fact that you knew they were all watching your ass as you moved. When you came back Johnny was the first to notice what you were carrying to the table: a shot glass filled  with a chilled amber liquid. He nudged Gaz with the least amount of subtlety you’ve ever seen him exhibit. You rolled your eyes with a smile “get up Johnny, this isn’t for you.” As soon as he stood up you took his place on the booth next to Gaz and he took the spot you had previously occupied. 

You gently placed the glass on the table while you got yourself situated. You adjusted your top just a little bit, noticing Simon giving you a smirk when he realized how Gaz would be taking this shot. You could practically hear Gaz’s heart beating out of his chest when took his hand and placed each one on either side of your chest, encouraging a tight hold to keep them together. He gave you the slightest look of confusion at the action “we’re celebrating you aren’t we?” You have to suppress a laugh when you see Gaz look over to Simon, terrified that your boyfriend would look like he was going to kill him. All he got was a ‘go ahead’ gesture which was all the two of you needed. All eyes were on you as you grabbed the shot glass and carefully poured the liquid onto your chest, watching it pool between your tits. With only a second of hesitation Gaz dipped his head down and began to messily slurp the liquid best he could, the feeling of his lips and tongue against your skin sent chills down your spine. Somewhere to the side you hear Johnny whining followed by a thud and “shut it Mactavish, you’ll get your turn” When Gaz had drunk up the shot and sat back up properly he looked crazed, like he wanted to pounce on you right then and there. You and Simon shared a knowing glance like it was an unspoken conversation between you two, him telling you exactly what to do without even saying a word. 

You stepped out of the booth and reached for Gaz’s hand “c’mon.” Your smile was sweet and unassuming when he took your hand and stood up with you. You leaned up for a moment to place a kiss on Gaz’s lips, the taste of liquor still prevalent “let’s go celebrate you.” As you pulled a stunned Gaz behind you Simon had to practically restrain a whining Johnny from getting up and following the pair of you. “S’not fair! Come on L.T.” Simon did not give him a response, just handed him a beer the way you’d give milk to a child to placate it. You should have noticed Price's eyes practically burning holes into you, it was the same way he stared the first time when you licked salt off of your boyfriend. It was a look that told you that you were walking a dangerous line, a look that told you the second he had the chance he was going to eat you alive. Unfortunately for you, you didn’t notice the look at all.

The whining Scotsman was barely registering in your brain as you walked away and pulled Gaz into the bathroom with you. He made sure the lock was done properly, couldn’t have anyone coming in to stop the fun. You didn’t even have to tell him what to do, Gaz was already planting sloppy kisses along your chest and desperately trying to pull your top off, or to the side, or something, anything to give him better access to the tits he’d been staring at and fantasizing about all night. His attempts were messy and uncoordinated, almost feral. “Careful, you’ll rip it” you uttered with a breathy laugh, trying not to lose your composure totally just yet. “Don’t care” Gaz’s voice was muffled, seeing as his mouth was in a similar spot that it had been when he had taken the shot. In an attempt to make sure the man didn’t rip your favorite shirt to shreds you pushed him back slightly to slide it off over your head. As soon as he had unlimited access you could feel Gaz’s mouth latch to one of your nipples, tongue and teeth playing rough with the sensitive flesh. The sensation caused a whimper to escape from your lips.

It wasn’t long before the man was grinding his hips against you like a dog in heat, desperation evident in his unsteady jerking movements. In an attempt to help him out you reached your hand down to palm him over his jeans, trying to give him any sort of assistance that you could. One of Gaz’s hands was immediately on yours, guiding you to undo the zipper to his jeans and pulling his pants and boxers down just enough to let his aching cock spring free. His lips moved to yours while you reached down to take him into your hand properly, in reaction he let out a soft groan into your mouth and gently pushed your back against the wall. Gaz rutted into your hand in an attempt to match your movements, you made special care to gather as much of the pre-cum leaking from his tip as you could to use as makeshift lube. You leaned your head back against the wall as Gaz’s lips moved from yours to your jaw, then down to your neck and chest. As if in perfect sync with his lips you could feel his hand move down to push your skirt up, exposing your cunt leaking through the thin fabric of your thong. His fingers pushed the flimsy fabric to the side to dip his fingers between your folds, he dragged his down wet fingers up to circle your clit, sending a rush up pleasure through your body. 

Gaz’s lips refused to give up, kissing and sucking at your neck and chest, offering the occasional bite to your soft skin that was sure to leave a mark. He pulled back for only a moment to watch the way your mouth hung up in whiney breaths as he rubbed your sensitive nub. You watch his face contort into a smirk and before you could process the implications you could feel his finger pressing into your hole, it wasn’t the biggest stretch you’d ever had of course but you were so worked up at this point your eyes practically rolled back into your head. “Oh fuck…well ain’t that just the prettiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen…” after a moment he slowly work a second finger into you and your hands movement faltered. Gaz’s free hand was quickly over yours and he was helping you get him off “oh come on pretty thing, don’t give up on me now” he cooed softly. Once he was satisfied with your return to properly getting him off Gaz’s mouth moved back up to your chest his tongue circling and playing with one nipple while his hand played with the other. You could feel him all over you, in any spot you could be sensitive he was there, it was dizzying and overwhelming in the most delicious way. 

You were getting close, and Gaz could tell. His fingers curled up and stroked that spongy spot that made you a little crazy, his thumb now added to the pleasure however, circling your clit in time with the thrust of his fingers. You could feel the coil tightening and just begging to snap, your hips betraying you by grinding into his hand in desperate unsteady movement. His teeth grazed against your nipple, biting down a little harshly. You moved your own hand in increasingly intense movements the closer you got. “Fuck, fuck Gaz im gonna…” he leaned down and kissed you softly “go ‘head pretty girl, cum for me. Wanna feel you fall apart on my fingers.” You didn’t need much more encouragement than that before you did just that, Gaz continued to move his fingers to help you ride out your orgasm. “There you go…that’s it, such a good girl f’me” Your breathing was staggering as you attempted to calm yourself down and continue your hands movement, wanting to get him off as well. You watched Gaz pull his fingers out of you and immediately place them in his mouth, his tongue swirling around your fingers with an obscene moan. 

Before you could process what was happening Gaz was pushing you down to your knees “wanna cum on those perfect fuckin tits pretty girl.” His hand overlapped yours and the two of you jerked him off together, moans and whines slipping through the man's lips as his hips thrusted against your hands. You leaned up the best you could to put your mouth around his tip, letting your tongue swirl around it and giving him plenty of attention. That seemed to be the man's tipping point because your head was quickly being yanked back as hot white ropes of cum shot out of his cock onto your chest. When he was finished you both sat there for a moment, catching your breath and attempting to calm yourselves down. 

Once you had both settled Gaz lifted you off of your knees and into the bathroom counter. You watched as he grabbed a paper towel and wet it with warm water. “Sorry for makin’ such a mess, you just…christ you’re fuckin stunnin’ you know that” You let out a small laugh as he gently wiped his cum off of your chest, taking care to be soft with you, it felt nice letting him take care of you like this. Once he was Satisfied Gaz took a moment to step back and examine you “think Ghost is gonna kill me when he sees these hickeys?” The statement was accompanied by a laugh that he tried to play off as casual, but you could hear the slight anxiety behind it. Your boyfriend’s possessive nature was never really a secret and you both knew that. “Not sure he would have let us disappear like this is he wasn’t expecting a few hickeys you know?” Gaz helped you put your shirt back on and readjust your skirt, you could feel yourself dripping down your thighs a little.

When the two of you finally wandered back to the table you were met with an incredibly drunk Johnny, leaning fully against your boyfriend and ranting about something with such a thick accent there was no way any of you could understand him. He jumped up at the sight of you “aye! Bonnie lass, whensit gonna be mahturn with ya right stunning self eh?” The slurred words made you laugh and place a soft kiss on his cheek “I dunno Johnny, gonna have to take that one up with the boss” you say, gesturing to Simon who was staring you down with such an intensity that made you squirm. Johnny moved so you could sit down next to your boyfriend, he moved on to pestering Gaz to tell him about what exactly happened in the bathroom with you two. Simon’s arm was around you the second you were by his side and he was placing a kiss to your jaw “have fun love?” His voice was low, clearly wanting to keep the conversation between you two “I did, and so did your boy” your response made him laugh “I can tell, he left quite a few marks on ya dove. Gonna have to leave a few of my own when we get home don’t you think?” Your response came in the form of a gentle kiss to his lips and a soft “we can do whatever you want when we get home Si” 

The five of you continued to drink and celebrate, Johnny and Gaz getting more boisterous the more they drank which provided you and Simon with plenty of entertainment. Your eyes did a scan of the group: Simon was watching the two clowns across the table from you two, Johnny and Gaz were talking about something borderline incomprehensible that only the two of them seemed to understand. Your heart skipped a beat when you turned slightly to face Price. Your eyes locked and you saw a dark intensity swirl in his eyes, helooked hungry. Like the only thing he wanted in that moment was to bend you over the table and let everyone watch him fuck you to tears. He was jealous. He wanted his turn just as much as Johnny did. Something in your gut told you that when he did he might just break you. You went to turn your head away when you suddenly felt Simon's hand grasp your jaw, keeping you in place, keeping you staring at price. Your eyes glanced up at your boyfriend the best they could, his own expression matching Price’s. Your Stomach twisted in knots when you realized: Price was going to break you, and Simon was going to happily let him.

You couldn’t help but feel excited. 

[ms-demeanor]

Knowledge Fight anon again - thank you for the list and recs! I look forwatd to checking them out. I was excited to see there's a West Wing podcast because I enjoyed that show, but yourself and the hosts hate it so maybe not for me lmao. Though I will still give the first episode a listen - very curious to understand why our feeligns about the show differ so vastly. And if you -want- to rant about why you hate TWW - feel free! I'm genuinely curious - I'm European, have never lived in the US, so for me it was one of the biggest tools of learning how US politics work, which made it absolutely fascinating to watch.

Anyways! I'll be looking at the other podcasts as well, they all seem very interesting, and the common-denominator format you describe them having does jive with me. Thanks again!

My very republican father and sister very much wish that all democrats would act like the democrats in the west wing. It's touted as a point of honor and a great example of compromise when Democrat Jed Bartlett appoints a republican justice to the Supreme court, any time there's an environmentalist or a union supporter on the show they're painted as extreme and uncompromising, in the later seasons the Jimmy Smitts character is running as a democrat on a pro-school-vouchers, anti-tenure/union (so anti-public school, basically) platform, the show as a whole is against entitlements (free college especially is something the ostensible dems in the show aren't even interested in enough to lament).

Idk at a certain point it gets frustrating to see anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-healthcare republicans being praised as the mature compromisers in the room with complicated motivations and good points when every time a leftist protest shows up it's a warehouse full of people without enough message discipline to talk to to cameras without erupting into a shouting match and getting brushed off as whiny babies by toby zigler.

"Oh, we need CJ to look a little loopy, let's have her agree with these cartographers who are pointing out that the mercator projection privileges the global north." "Oh we need to present something that's a ridiculous waste of money, how about a wildlife crossing that would prevent keystone species injuries in an area of urban incursion, that's bullshit that we shouldn't spend money on." "Oh, we want to explain why big pharma can't provide free HIV meds to african nations in 2003, let's suggest that it wouldn't matter even if they did because *Africans don't have clocks and can't take meds 12 hours apart.*" "this hollywood producer is pushing too hard for gay marriage in 2007, let's lecture him about how you need to slow down and respect the process instead of being an activist about it"

There's this interview with Aaron Sorkin where he's saying "America used to be the world's heroes, when my dad was a soldier people would say 'thank god, the Americans are here' and they don't say that anymore and it's because of Donald Trump" - Sorkin totally ignores US imperialism and the way that people in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan wouldn't say 'thank god, the americans are here' to an extent that is genuinely startling, and that shows up in the show. At one point in the show president bartlett okays the assassination of a foreign leader and says 'today we enter the league of ordinary nations' as though the US hasn't backed coups or assassination around the world, as though the CIA isn't a thing, as though Henry Kissinger isn't a thing, and it's *bizarre* from a show that is supposed to be politically aware.

I'm actually super hesitant to recommend the west wing thing to general audiences because i don't always agree with the hosts or their guests but as an analysis of the surprisingly right-leaning politics of the show it's a worthwhile listen.

It's honestly something i could rant about for way too long because I had early warning signs about it. My sister *loves* this show and its politics. She's got a "my president is Jed Bartlett" sticker that she keeps next to her signed copy of one of Ann Coulter's books. If my sister thinks your liberal character is reasonable and level headed and has good policy positions, your liberal character isn't all that liberal.

The show is steeped in American exceptionalism and imperialist apologia but it's got a tearjerker soundtrack and maybe the best and most charming cast ever assembled so you ignore it when CJ wants to brush off constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure or cruel and unusual punishment (she's a huge fan of cops and intelligence agencies and not a fan of oversight) or when she shits on affirmative action (she believes her father lost his dream job to a less qualified candidate who was selected due to minority status, and that that job loss led to his mental decline - CJ Craig thinks that DEI hiring practices killed her father) because Allison Janney is an incredibly talented and charismatic actress who is elevating the hell out of her character.

But, you know, it would be kind of fucked up if a Democrat president's chief of staff was cheerfully on-record about the fact that she thinks intelligence agencies are more effective when nobody knows what they're doing so we should leave them to their own devices.

Thank you for the opportunity to rant i cannot fucking stand this show and i kind of want to do an episode-by-episode breakdown of various flavors of bullshit but there are much better things to do with my time so i don't but it's nice to have a chance to yell about the stuff that makes me crazy off the top of my head.

That said: if you want a podcast that is less vitriolic but does actually get into how parts of the US political system work, check out 5 to 4, which is a podcast by 3 lefty lawyers talking about Supreme Court decisions. It's great!

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Hello!!!

I love your works, would be able to do a suegiku x gn!reader?

I adored your headcanons and would love to see jouno and Tecchou interact with the reader based on your writing

Tysm!! <3

Interactions between you, Saigiku Jouno and Tetchou Suehiro

Self-Aware! Saigiku Jouno x GN! Reader x Self-Aware! Tetchou Suehiro

Description: Some general headcannons about relationship between you three.

Warning: OOC, English is my second language. Some slight spoilers.

_______

💧🌸 At first, there would be some tension between you, Jouno and Tetchy. Not only because of the "Fictional characters turn out to be real,l and they heard everything I think about them, and they are aware about fandom" factor. This tension almost exclusively came from the Hunting Dogs duo.

💧🌸 Hunting Dogs, Sigma and Bram did appear later, than other characters, it's a fact. And, after they gained self-awareness and joined the rest of the Cast, the inner nervousness appeared. They are afraid, that you won't have a good opinion about them. They don't have too many scenes for you to form a 'stable' opinion. Moreover, most of them, except Sigma, "hurt" your established favorite characters. Yes, they could flood your Mayoi Account with cards and presents, but it will be just a part of a casual app game. Not something from the cannon. They will remain nervous until they get to the Real World.

💧🌸 So first interactions between you, Tetchou and Jouno were awkward. You weren't sure, how to interact with anyone from BSD Cast, too nervous of saying something wrong, and Hunting Dogs duo were dreadfully waiting for a moment you lash out at them for hunting ADA (and, in case of Jouno, arresting Dazai).

💧🌸 It will take some time. Small steps. At first, all of you will have small talks during dinners, discussing your days or last news. Then you will start hanging out (joining Hunting Dogs' morning training). At the end, when you three felt comfortable in confessing your fears to each other, you three will become closer.

🌸 It's on you and Jouno not to let Tetchou go to the kitchen unsupervised. Yes, he can eat whatever he wants, but, sometimes, he wants to share food he made with others. And not everyone can refuse. So, no sole trips to the kitchen for you, Tetchou.

💧 Jouno became an expert in Real World Music. He found liking in wearing headphones and listening to whatever he could find in the web. Quite often you and him can be found snuggling under the blanket, listening music/audiobooks/podcasts.

🌸 Tetchou decided to protect you from in-person scamming attempts. His glare can make scammers reconsider their actions. In some cases, they would even confess their crimes.

💧Jouno wants to try all existing hobbies. During the weekend, he and you (and, sometimes, someone else) will try to do different things. He tried knitting, sewing, painting, sculpture, gardening and aren't planning to stop.

🌸 Tetchou, after he learned about what would happen, if they gained self-awareness later (a.k.a. his fight with Kenji), felt guilty and decided to apologize to you and Kenji. There were no hard feelings between you three, so, you at the end you three decided to hang out together.

💧Jouno got into trouble with Bram and Kunikida after the chapter with him scaring Aya was released. You had to hide him in your room. At the end, everyone calmed down, but, sometimes, Bram and Kunikida gave Jouno heavy glares.

🌸💧 Tetchou tried to create a training regiment for you. However, he can't understand, that there is difference between normal people and super soldier. Jouno is making sure that Tetchou is keeping in mind the difference, while training with you.

🌸💧 Jouno and Tetchou start liking trashy comedies and over the top action movies. They like discussing them while watching. Their comments make it a worthwhile experience.

🌸💧 These two are terrible with understanding modern memes. So you often have to explain them slang.

🌸 When you are sad, Tetchou will be more of a "talk to me" guy. He will listen to your problems, offering advices or just singing you praises.

💧 When you are sad, Jouno will keep you company, not saying a word. He might start trash-talking about people who upset you.

💧🌸 They are polar opposites. But, they have something in common. They like you and want to be close to you.

[ripplespate]

Chelley fanfics worth a read

Do you have a Blue Sky shaped hole in your heart after finishing the fic? Maybe you're struggling to branch out from the mainstream, most popular fics of these two and want some diversity from multiple writers? This blog post will keep you occupied from feeling that despair once again! I will refrain from advertising my own fics in this and focus solely on fics other than Blue Sky or any branching out from that story line, meaning no All That Never Glittered or How to Tame Your Fear despite how adorable those are! Here's how this is going to work:

Each fic will be hyperlinked and assigned a rating from 1-5 stars. This isn't indicative of any judgement of the writer themselves, just my own bias of how much I was invested in comparison to others. I will also take the time to try and place them in order of most recommended first, but I do in general recommend them all!

I'll assign a few emojis to tag certain things in each fic, like 🟧 to mean incomplete for the time being, I may update this later

I may update this if necessary but I feel like I've read a majority of chelley fanfics there are out there, but if anyone else would recommend something the comments are open for that too!

Okay lets begin:

After Aperture (and it's sequel) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beautifully written and a series of realistic vignettes for a life after the main events. It's an android Wheatley fic, with a sweet relationship/friendship between the two and I can't stress enough how amazing it is.

Sing, Nightingale ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

Yes, it's unfinished. No it's not a waste of time to read just because of that. It's a worthwhile investment of time, is moderate length, and fleshes out human Wheatley's past from before Aperture as well as giving him something to offer Chell, that being singing lessons to bring her voice back.

Lay the Past ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Very cute fic, although can feel a little ooc at times. Essentially, Chell finds a battered and badly injured test subject who escaped the facility, and it's going to take him a bit of courage to explain who he is once again.

I Loved You First ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you need a good (or bad?) cry and hate yourself so much, read this one. It's short but it doesn't need many words to crumble your resolve, and I didn't even cry in any of these other fics I've read. This one got me badly.

Pieces ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Very cute but also a bit angsty fic (with a happy ending). It's a human Wheatley one and has some very sweet moments too. Sometimes feels a bit out of character for some of them, but thats often the case in general when exploring fictional characters in new settings.

Previous Lives ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

It spends a lot of it's time hashing out Wheatley's past from before Aperture, and thats pretty much the whole fic but the author writes him so well in these scenes, as well as Chell's gradual process to forgive him. They don't meet in this fic where it ends, but it's very well written.

Science, Science, do as You Will ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is inspired by another work of fiction in it's story, but you don't need to have read it to understand this or love it. My goodness, even though it's quite far removed from the reality of the main game, it's written so well. It's Wheatley having an existential and identity crisis, the novel.

Step by Step ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

I read this a little while ago and saved it to reread at some point because I did thoroughly enjoy it, but I can't say I recall too much from it. What I did really like though was how it fleshes out human Wheatley's discovery of the outside world through small steps while they both get ready to get back on their feet and survive, together this time.

He Never Really Left ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

A short but good read if you're in the mood for some one sided/in denial Chell. I adore how her thought process for android Wheatley is written, it's so amusing. It's got a bit of some dubious consent in one chapter but it's sfw really.

Band-Aid ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's kind of out of character and diverges from the cannon when it gets to GLaDOS, but it's a lovely short read that blends Half Life elements and Portal together, as well as exploring their complicated relationship, raising questions of whether they're in love out of emotional dependence or choice.

Target Aquired ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

This is a long fic to commit to, especially with how it's left off, but if you're into cannon divergence and action/adventure, this fic goes about giving Wheatley a chance to redeem himself rather than float endlessly in space.

Everyday, Since Leaving ⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

A cute one with a moderate length, basically Chell escapes and wakes someone up from stasis to be a little less lonely, but it seems like introductions will be the first thing on their agenda.

Tabula Rasa ⭐⭐⭐

This is definitely a cute fic, and although it does things fairly similar to a lot of other post Aperture fics, it's quite well written and elaborates on their relationship in a very raw and realistic way. I do quite like it, it's just not the first I'd recommend- much like some other fics here.

Come Downstairs and Say Hello ⭐⭐⭐

Now, this one can depend on the person. Myself, I adore the writing of this author, and the action and storyline is quite engaging, although I guess I'm not the biggest fan of the age gap between Wheatley and Chell from before Aperture, although given their extrodinary circumstances of meeting once again, it's as if they never really knew each other anyway, so I guess it's not the worst. They seem to like each other before their back story is revealed, so I think it's still worth a read.

Tell Me ⭐⭐⭐

This is sweet, he tried to hide his identity from Chell after she finds him at the edge of her property. It's got forgiving Chell, human Wheatley, and some fluff throughout.

Not Quite Tangled ⭐⭐⭐

Now this is just adorable to read, it's an AU where they're essentially in the storyline of Tangled, and mirrors the plot of the movie with the Portal characters. A really feel good, on the shorter side kind of read.

The Amazing Alliance of Aperture Science ⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

An interesting post Aperture fic for the direction it takes, although it sometimes feels very tangential to the cannon story. Chell and Wheatley essentially escape, but they aren't ever truly free from that place, even on the outside. This would be higher if it were finished, and it lacks a lot of chelley content, but it's still good!

Testing the Waters ⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

This one was cute, it's fleshing out their lives from before and after the main events and switches from the two each chapter. Unfortunately, it's not done which is a shame!

Timeless ⭐⭐⭐ 🟧

Very cute fic, I'd rank it higher if it had more written, but it's left at a bit of an awkward spot. Essentially, Chell is tasked to go back in time for all of their sakes and stop Wheatley from becoming a robot. She meets an old friend along the way too.

It's not the most thought through list and ranking, it's kind of hard when you're trying to recommend all these really good fics, but this is my own ranking personally!

[otomehonyaku]

Diabolik Lovers More,More Blood Vol. 12 Ruki ☽ 7Net/Stellaworth Tokuten CD ☽ Monopolising Her

Original title: 彼が貴女を独り占めするCD Voiced by Sakurai Takahiro English translation by @otomehonyaku Click here for the audio (kindly provided by @karleksmumskladdkaka!)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or post my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I took a little break from translating this past week but I'm back at it again ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡ Thank you to @otomeheroines for suggesting this tokuten to me! It was pretty cute and now I know the Japanese words for stuff like 'chlorine' and 'limescale' lol

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

00:00 Hey. I’m coming in. You still aren’t ready? If we don’t start soon, we won't be done in time. Hurry up.

[You’re surprised.]

I’m shocked. Don’t you know what day it is today? I told you well in advance. It’s our once-in-a-month big cleaning day. Though I assume you could tell by the mop and dust cloth I’m holding. You sure are thickheaded. Anyway, I bought a new mop. Our previous one was getting pretty old, and I got this one on sale for quite the bargain.

[Ruki shows you the mop.]

It’s pretty suitable, don’t you think?

[You mope a little.]

What’s that? I can’t hear you. Alright, well, you know the plan now. Hurry up with your preparations and follow me. I left Yuma and the others in charge of the groceries. The two of us will do the cleaning.

[You feel that it’s a daunting task.]

It’s not that big of a deal, is it? It’ll be alright if we do it together. Well then, let’s start with the kitchen.

01:22 [Ruki is scrubbing something.]

Great, the grease is coming off quite nicely.  I’ll take care of the ventilation fan, you do the sink.

[The two of you clean side by side.]

You’re a dimwit most of the time, but you do come in handy with simple tasks like this. I don’t even have to order you around. I see no harm in you lending me a hand, I’ll give you that.

[You ask him whether you still have enough cleaning supplies.]

Yeah, I restocked the citric acid and baking soda.  They’re on the bottom shelf, so use whatever you need. Just make sure to ventilate the room when you use chlorine detergent. And don’t forget to use latex gloves, too.

[You make a face.]

What’s that face for? You look like you have something to say.

[You tell him he’s a professional.]

That’s all?  Those are the absolute basics when it comes to cleaning. I’m not asking for your praise. But… you could say I’ve got the fundamentals down. Citric acid works well against limescale. Baking soda is good against grease stains. And neutral detergent is good for a lot of things, too. Chlorine, however, could react with other products and release toxic gases.  So you should avoid it coming in contact with acidic liquids at all costs. You would think this is just common sense.

[You’re getting frustrated.]

02:50 Stop complaining so much. I don’t remember the first time I heard these things, but I learned a lot about cleaning from a women’s magazine.  It had an article on year-end cleaning.

[You ask him why he would read a women’s magazine.]

Don’t misunderstand. I ran out of books to read, so I ended up getting it for the sake of it. I was desperate for just about any printed text. But come to think of now, it was pretty informative. It’s not so bad to learn things you can apply directly in your daily life. Besides, the magazine was a worthwhile read.  The articles it had on making dishes out of leftover vegetables were interesting as well.

[You tell him he reminds you of a housewife.]

03:30 Watch your mouth when you speak to your master. What about me makes you think of a housewife?

[You tell him you meant it as a compliment.]

Heh. And that would be a compliment how, exactly? Explain it in a way that satisfies me.

[You tell him his future wife must be happy that Ruki is so good at housework.]

Oh… you are so naive. Where did you get that idea from? That if I got married, my wife would be the happiest on the planet? You’re thinking in extremes. Let’s say that I would become someone’s husband.  If I did all the housework, that would certainly make my wife’s life much easier. But then again, that’s not all there is to happiness, is there? If my wife simply left all of the housework to me, she would spiral into depravity herself. She wouldn’t be able to live without me. Then again, there’s a certain charm in keeping a pet beyond its useful life (1), but unfortunately, I refuse to take someone like that as my wife.

[You wonder whether that statement includes you.]

Well, no, that’s out of the question. I don’t think you’re that dependent on me. We divide the housework equally and we both benefit from it. That’s not bad, is it?

04:55 Why are we even talking about this? Leave the talk about our futures for now. Come on, let’s put those hands to work again.

[You continue cleaning.]

[To himself] Good grief, that was uncalled for. But a future with her… If I’d be permitted to share my life with her, and the two of us could support one another, that would not be so bad either.

[You ask him what he was saying.]

No, it’s nothing–don’t mention it (2). After I finish the ventilation fan, I’ll get to work cleaning the bathroom. You do the living room. Let’s get this done before the others come home.

05:42 The bathroom is all done. How’s it going here?

[You tell him it’s going well, but…]

Hey, what are you doing on that ladder?

[You tell him you’re cleaning the shelves.]

Right, I can see that you’re wiping off the shelves, but that’s not what I mean.  I’m asking you what on Earth you think you’re doing. Knowing you, it’s no question that you’ll slip and fall from such a height. I’ve told you before to refrain from these kinds of things. Hurry up and get down from there.

[You quickly climb down.]

Wait, slowly! Haste will only–

[Lo and behold, you fall off the ladder. Ruki swoops in and catches you.]

Gosh, I didn’t think you would be that predictable. You actually fell. Or was this just a ploy for me to come save you?

[You apologise.]

Don’t just apologise. Learn from your mistakes, at least. Leave it. I’ll do it.

[Your face falls.]

If you’re going to pout, you should have just behaved in the first place. It would be a terrible misunderstanding if you thought I was angry. I know full well what a dimwit you are. You can’t anger me so easily. If you got hurt and I would have to take care of you, though, I would have even more on my plate. For example, if you broke a bone, that would make it difficult to move when I feed on you. Just keep that in mind. Next time, I’ll let you know if I need your help.

07:20 Why are you smiling like that? It’s creeping me out.

[You tell Ruki that he’s kind.]

Huh. You must be completely infatuated if you take those words for kindness. Though I was aware of that already, of course. If you can still move, go and sweep the hallway.  I’ll make tea when we’re done. I made an apple pie this morning, so we can have some of that, too.

[You’re excited.]

You shameful creature. To let yourself be lured in by food like that... You have to put in the work first, got it?

08:07 Looks like we finished right on time. Azusa contacted me and said they've just finished grocery shopping, too. The three of them must be pretty exhausted right about now. There were quite a lot of items on the shopping list I gave them. It had a month’s worth of daily necessities on it. Body soap, kitchen paper, laundry detergent, things like that. You can save quite a lot of money if you shop during the sales at the end of the month. Did you think I’d miss out on that? Well, it seems we’ve taken care of most of our chores now. We’ve restocked our daily necessities and the mansion is squeaky-clean. Feels good when everything goes according to plan.

[Ruki takes a sip of his tea.]

09:04 Besides, it’s nice to see the living room spotless. It’s as if the tea even tastes better because of it.

[Ruki puts down his cup, motioning towards the apple pie.]

Hurry up and take a bite.  Ah, but if you don’t want any, I won’t force you to eat it.   I’m sure Kou would appreciate the extra serving.

[You quickly start eating.]

Heh. Don’t choke on it. You know what’ll happen if you ruin my good mood. Or do you? You look like a hamster in a pet shop window with your mouth stuffed like that. (3)

[Ruki stands up and comes closer to you.]

Maybe I should start calling you that from now on instead of Livestock. Your mouth is covered in crumbs. No manners, huh?

[Ruki runs his fingers over your mouth. You’re surprised and drop your fork.]

10:02 Why are you so surprised? I only brushed away the crumbs. It makes me want to discipline you, really, but I’ll let you off easy this time. You worked hard today. I appreciate it. However, it would be a shame if the floor got dirty when we’ve only just cleaned it. I’ll feed you.

[Ruki breaks off a piece with the fork and holds it out to you. You try to refuse.]

You have no right to refuse. As your master, I want to reward you for your efforts. Be thankful and accept it.

[You take the bite.]

[To himself] If I could marry her (4) in the future, I wonder if our days together will be just as peaceful as this one. Livestock is quite the handful, but if we could live together quietly, just the two of us… that does not seem so bad.

飼（か）い殺（ごろ）し : Lit. ‘to keep and kill (a pet),’ meaning to keep a domestic animal beyond its useful life or keeping a person on the payroll without utilising their skills

Not a translation note but the way he talks in this drama CD fucking kills me, this man is secretly such a tsundere (and a clean freak. I love)

In Japanese these past few lines sounded really suggestive so I hope that vibe carried across…

 契（ちぎ）りを交（か）わす: Lit. ‘to exchange (wedding) vows.’ I just briefly want to mention that 契り is also a euphemism for having sexual relations even though he… obviously doesn’t mean it that way in this context but do with that knowledge as you will hehe

[maryangelex]

Dark But Sweet

Maintenance Guy! Simon "Ghost" Riley x Reader AU

Summary: You just moved into a new apartment and facing the struggles of opting for cheap rent. But your building's maintenance guy, Simon, is making it worthwhile.

Warnings/Tags: 18+ content ahead, all fluff, crushing, shy Simon Riley, American writing British content.

A/N: Y'all I live in the US so I have no idea how apartment buildings work in the UK, or anything for that matter, please don't crucify me. But anyways...hope you guys enjoy blue-collar Simon fics as much as I do!!

Your new apartment was the best option out of the other ones you had viewed in the past six months of searching. "New" was a very liberal term to use for it, labeling it as "new" as in "freshly moved into". Otherwise, you would have used words like "shabby", "cheap", and "at least liveable" to describe it. It had been a few weeks since you had moved in; the place was still filled with boxes to unpack, but you had tried to make it look as organized and cozy as possible to give yourself a sense of home and some motivation to live in it.

This morning, you woke up and rose from your newly assembled bed. As you walked out of your room and into the hallway connecting to the bathroom, you felt the wet sensation of a puddle of water on your bare feet. Your eyes had still not adjusted fully to being awake, all you sensed were the soles of your feet saturated in the mysterious puddle of water. Confused and half asleep, you followed the water flow to find it was emanating from your bathroom, and when you opened the door you saw the water flowing freely from the pipes under your sink. The realization jolted you awake.

"Great! Just fan-fucking-tastic!" you said to yourself throwing your hands in the air. You stomped to your room, slipping on the wet floor a few times which made your anger seethe even more. You grabbed your phone and dialed your landlord; she was already on your most recent contacts from having to pester the older woman with complaint after complaint.

"Mornin', Karen, it's me again," you said with an exasperated sigh, "Do ya know any plumbers 'round here, by any chance?"

The woman started off by inquiring what had happened that made you need a plumber, you followed by explaining to her how one of the pipes in your bathroom sink must've come loose.

"Oh, hon, let me just call Simon for ya, he's the maintenance guy for the building."

Maintenance guy, great, so he's the guy that hefty fee goes to, you thought. At least you wouldn't have to pay extra for the plumber. Why couldn't your friends have been plumbers so you could snag a deal from them?!

"Right, and is he any good?" you asked.

"Oh, he's lovely! He'll be there soon, he lives on the first floor! Gotta go now, hon, let me know if ya need anything but also please take it easy, bye-bye now!" she said in one breath, hanging up before even finishing, seemingly being at her limit with the gripes this lease was bringing you, and bringing her as a result.

You sighed as you pocketed your phone. You made your way to the closet in your kitchen that held your mop and bucket, clipping your hair up as you got ready to start your day off by mopping up the water coating almost your entire apartment by this point.

It had been about half an hour, maybe more, since you started mopping, still in your pajamas and bedhead barely held by your clip. A film of sweat was coating your body from your labor, plus the fact that the air conditioning in your apartment was turned off, something you read on the internet.

The whole time you mumbled to yourself, scolding yourself about picking such a cheap apartment, that a few bucks wouldn't have hurt, that you should've picked up another job to afford something better, and that this stupid "Simon" guy better be worth that maintenance fee.

Your mumbling and ruminating was interrupted by two knocks on the door. You put your mop in the bucket near you, your floors were slippery but at least they were no longer flooded, at least outside of the bathroom area. You made your way to your front door, knowing you looked a mess, but who cares? Certainly not you, since you expected an average maintenance guy to show up; middle-aged, stubby, probably balding, and with jeans at half his crack.

But once you opened the door, you were greeted by the complete opposite of that description.

A very tall man stood at your doorstep. Your eyes trailed up his body, craning your neck back to look at his face. He had choppy, dirty blonde hair covered by a backward black cap and rich coffee-colored hooded eyes. His outfit was extremely casual; bleach-washed gray jeans and a charcoal, loose-fit shirt that did his visibly muscular build no justice.

You were gawking at the man, like a deer in headlights as you stood there holding the door open, practically drooling.

"Um...I--..." you stuttered "S-sorry, can I, um, help you?"

He paused, then said with a gruff voice, "Karen sent me." The man looked down at you, his hand carrying a heavy-duty toolbag moved, signaling his purpose for knocking at your door.

Oh, that's Simon, you thought, your face flaring red.

"Right! Come in, sorry!" you laughed nervously, stepping aside to let him come in.

"She said you were having plumbing issues"

"Yes! I-it's the loo, there's water everywhere," you explained leading him to your bathroom, as water was still pooling slowly on the floor from it.

You showed him with a hand pointing at the leaking sink vanity. Simon eyed it, giving you a grunt as a response. He was evidently a man of few words, he simply stepped into the bathroom, dropping his toolbag on the toilet lid, and squatting down. He opened the cabinets of the vanity and examined the pipes; another grunt from him as he diagnosed the issue.

You stood there watching him, not knowing what to do with yourself, especially with his lack of conversation or explanation. As you watched him you fixated on more details on him. You noticed his heavily inked arm, the way the veins on his forearms pulsated as his hands fidgeted with the pipes and the way his face was littered with a few aging scars. You caught yourself gawking at him again.

"S-so what is it?" you asked, snapping yourself out of your trance.

"S'no big deal, just the wrong pieces barely holdin' the pipes together," he explained, almost a mumble. "Might take a while, but nothin' major."

He had a thick Manchester accent and a deep, raspy voice. Even his voice had your checks stained red, and the man was simply talking about plumbing. You nodded at his words with an affirmative hum, as if you knew anything he was talking about.

Suddenly, you became hyperaware of what you were wearing, and what you looked like. You had expected a much less attractive man to be at your home, you hadn't cared to put yourself together. But of course, instead, you had a man like Simon, when you looked the least presentable. Your hair was ratty, your pajamas consisting of stretched-out shorts and an ill-fitting tank top, covered in a mix of sweat and water from mopping. You walked away from him in shame and bee-lined to your room, to at the very least brush your hair and wet-wipe yourself. Now you were thinking about how much sillier you looked fixing yourself for your maintenance guy! Did you think you were living in a cheesy porno or something?

You shook your head and sighed as you looked at yourself in the mirror. When you came back out, you went to your kitchen to look for something to busy yourself with, when suddenly your stomach rumbled. Right, you hadn't eaten all morning. You thought to yourself some tea would be nice, for you and also for Simon, you wanted to be a good host after all.

You turned your electric kettle on and rummaged your cabinets through your tea selection, picking out two packets of Earl Grey. You leaned against the counter as you waited for the water to boil, thinking about how the day had barely started and you were already exhausted, then your mind traveled to thinking about the man in your bathroom, daydreaming about the things you had noted thus far about him.

You were crushing on your maintenance man and you decided to act on it, unabashedly. You briefly walked back to him and asked, "How do you take your tea?" with an awkward smile. Your sudden question startled him a bit, he looked at you and gave you a polite response, saying not to go through the trouble but you insisted.

"Cream, one sugar," he said with. a hint of shyness, giving up on your persistence. Your smile grew and you nodded before running back (slipping) to the kitchen to fix him a cup.

When you came back with two cups in hand, he took the one you reached down to him.

"Thanks, love," he said nonchalantly as he sipped the contents of the mug.

Love, you repeated in your head as your stomach did a flip.

"Sorry, I should've asked which tea you liked, I have a ton to choose from. I just picked out Earl Gray, thought I couldn't go wrong with that," you chuckled nervously bringing the mug against your lips as you leaned by the doorframe, trying to make conversation with him.

"My favorite," he said, looking up at you with the mug still on his lips, taking another sip.

Your face beamed with a big dumb smile, "Is it really?" he nodded in response. "Ya look like an Earl Grey kind of guy!"

Simon chuckled lightly at your comment, "Is that so? What does that look like, exactly?"

You laughed with him, your cheeks pink with a hint of embarrassment and shyness now surging in you, "Oh I don't mean it in a bad way! Just... dunno, dark but sweet maybe?"

A hum rumbled in Simon's throat as he swallowed his tea, putting the mug down beside him and sitting on the floor casually as he looked at you again with those rich dark eyes, the hint of a cocky smirk curled on his lips, "dark but sweet, huh?"

You nodded at him, still smiling. "Just what I've gathered," you said with a shrug.

The two of you were silent for a moment, you noticed how Simon raked his eyes over you momentarily.

"Sorry, I'll leave you to it, then!" you snapped with another awkward laugh as you stumbled back to the kitchen, leaving Simon to return to his work. You were trying your best to withhold the smile tugging at your cheeks but it was impossible, you wanted to squeal like a teenage girl at the way you cheekily flirted with him and made him laugh.

As Simon tinkered in your bathroom, you occupied yourself by unpacking a few boxes with items that belonged in your kitchen and living room. It was already almost noon.

In your peripheral vision, you saw Simon standing outside of the bathroom, drops of sweat covering his forehead as he adjusted his black cap. It was still hot as all hell in your apartment.

"Sorry, love, can I bother you for some water?" he said, taking the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face and neck. You watched hungrily as his shirt rose in his grasp, revealing his lower abdomen; his torso was toned, his v-line protruding from his jeans, decorated with light brown hairs and rivulets of sweat.

Your pupils were blown as your eyes fixated on him, his unintentionally sensual performance. You gulped, heat pooling in between your legs from the sight alone.

Simon looked at you puzzled by your lack of response. You snapped out of it as you moved to fulfill his request "Y-yeah! No problem!"

You handed the man a glass of cold water and he took it from you, gulping it down. As he did so you watched the way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with every gulp. You were staring at him again, today. Your stomach was fluttering and the heat between your legs seethed the more you watched the man. You were pining for him at this point and it was embarrassing how hot and bothered you so easily were.

Simon let out a satisfied sigh as he handed you the glass, thanking you as you took it from him.

"I should be done soon, sorry for the delay, the fucker that put it together did a shit job."

You nodded and told him not to worry as he walked back into the bathroom. If anything, now you were worried he'd be leaving too soon. You enjoyed his company too much already. That's when you had a bright idea of how to keep him just a bit longer.

A few minutes later, Simon walked out of the bathroom with his tools in hand, announcing his conclusion with an "all done." But he was taken aback by the sight of you with a sandwich and a glass of juice in your hand, placing it on the table for him.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be done so soon!" You said feigning innocence; it was almost theatrical, how you looked at him with pleading wide eyes like a puppy begging him to stay and eat.

"You didn't have to," he said quietly, a bit embarrassed by the act but he couldn't help the fact that his stomach rumbled, and it was hard to say no to a face like yours.

You give him a silent invitation to sit and eat by placing your hands on the back of the dining chair. "Please, it's my way of thanking you for today."

And so he gave in once more, sitting down and devouring the meal. You joined him on the nearest seat with your own. The man was famished.

"Your boyfriend's a lucky man," he said between bites, looking up from his food expecting your response, a bit of hope in his eyes maybe?

You scoffed, "Yeah, he'd be lucky if he existed!"

Simon gave you a smirk, which you returned.

"So you live on the first floor?"

"I do, helps tend to people in the building better."

"Good, I'll be needing you around a lot," you said with a relieved sigh; this apartment needed all the help it could get.

"At your service, love," Simon said, tipping his glass to you before finishing it.

You watched him and felt a hint of sadness welling in your chest. You enjoyed Simon's company; he was kind and quiet, as alluring as he was attractive. He stood up from his chair and thanked you for everything, then grabbed his tools and made his way to the door. You accompanied him, showing him out and opening the door for him.

"Thanks again, love," he said lowly, his tone was kind and a bit sultry, "I'm in 1B if you need anythin' else."

"Thank you, Simon," you said with a smile as you watched him nod goodbye and be on his way.

When you closed the door behind you, you leaned against it, finally letting out that squeal you had pent up all day. You giggled to yourself, immediately dashing to get your phone and dialing your best friend.

"You're not gonna believe this!"

A/N: Guys!!! This was too long!!!! Part 2?!?!? I was kicking my feet, twirling my hair and giggling writing this please let me write part 2!!!

[doodoodinklefart]

okAYYYY so ive been planning this au for literally forever and i couldnt get white diamond satoru and black sapphire suguru out of my head... ive seen a couple other hnk x jjk aus floating around but i wanted to take a crack at it!! i'll just explain these three + the setting for now cuz theres a bunch of other shit brewing in my head LOLOL honestly hnk and jjk are pretty different themes-wise i feel so i couldnt rlly help changing a lot abt the world LMAO

in this au its not just a couple gems in the school, there's a bit more of a society and structure outside of it. there are still the three major "clans" though maybe more like major cliffs?? lol?? that the gems are formed in that produce a much higher frequency of strong, high quality gems. i imagine that before the idea of working together (modern jujutsu society) had come about, gems fought to have control of these spots to assure that they would have those to protect them from lunarians (aka curses we're playing a bit fast and loose here). while there were many attempts to merge the clans, the fighting was more a waste of time if anything, so they stayed separate. jujutsu high in this au would probably just be the school, a set of gems that are trained to always be ready to dispatch lunarians and protect tengen (who is the prayer machine here), who has basically been dormant.

and THATS where we get to white diamond. i wanna say while diamonds are p common irl, its rare here for there to be a fully formed diamond lustrous that actually has inclusions. while there have been extremely strong lustrous born from the gojo cliff, white diamond is the first diamond in several centuries, filling a vacancy after others had been taken away to the moon. not only that, he's got special eyes too!! im thinking he can see sunspots from far away, or maybe can tell artificial gems from real ones, like being able to see their inclusions or something. probably both!! either way he has to wear special blackout glasses during the day. his eyes are really reflective so he can work at night too, but that often leaves him restless.

white diamond—in his mind at least—is untouchable, and really it may as well be true. due to the combat training that he's gone through and his hardness of 10, he has never sustained so much as a scratch. he had a tendency to break all of his sparring partners back home, and thus he feels he's hit a brick wall with his training, and that the only things that will come close to putting up a challenge are likely lunarians. he doesn't really care much for weaker gems at this point, and is eager to finally fight lunarians for once. eventually, he is sent off to the school to begin what he would call "actually worthwhile" training.

black sapphire, on the other hand, was born practically from nowhere, in a unremarkable place with little more than himself and a few other older gems that were around to help shape him. with a hardness of 9, he was the strongest among them and—after his first dangerous encounter with lunarians—he realized he had an obligation to protect the rest of them. his strength often leaves him feelings alienated, as he normally ends up working alone for fear of other being taken away. i wanna figure out how to incorporate his ct better but for now ill just keep thinking about it. for now, it was probably his strength that got his scouted and sent to the school.

boulder opal, or just opal, is in training as a doctor at the school, and shows extreme promise. her lax attitude reveals none of her medical prowess, especially when it comes to gems with missing pieces. she has a particularly good eye for finding missing shards, or finding pieces that she can replace missing shards with. there's nothing she can do if their inclusions reject the replacement, however. maybe she has a way of resonating with the other's inclusions to speed healing up on bigger points of damage?? idk ill figure it out

ANYWAYYY this is getting super long so i'll end this shortly BUT!!! basically, white diamond, with black sapphire (who he calls saph), and opal are all training under yaga sensei (idk what kind of gem he would be yet LOL). diamond, at first, sees opal and saph as weak, but quickly realizes they have their own feats. saph in particular is the first lustrous that has ever made sparring fun, because while he's less durable his combat skills make up for it tenfold. maybe black sapphire is the first to ever leave a break on white diamond who knows... opal is probably always having to put the two back together. theyve never lost to a lunarian before, and have certainly never come close to being taken to the moon. these two are the strongest together, and each finally feel like they have a place to belong.

alsooo..... they do get a mission to escort a "star plasma vessel" of sorts. tengen slowly erodes over the years and needs a compatible lustrous to replace their missing pieces. boleite (riko) happens to be that gem, and diamond and saph need to escort her.... lmaoaoao now i have to design riko, toji and kuroi...

[yawping-poets-society]

i was meant for the stage by the decemberists is so neil perry coded y'all don't even understand

you might not know this song so allow me to explain...

"i was meant for the stage / i was meant for the curtain / i was meant to tread these boards / of this much i am certain"

you can't tell me that's not how he felt about acting. neil definitely thought he was destined to be an actor, especially once he actually got on stage. already this song is perfect for him. but wait IT GETS BETTER

skip a couple lines and we get to THIS:

"mother, please be proud / father, be forgiving / ever though you told me, 'son, you'll never make a living' "

chat. folks. my friends. do i even need to explain this one.

really? you're sure? alright, alright, i'll do it...

when neil says "i was good, i was really good," i've always interpreted that to be him reaching for some form of validation or recognition from his mother (among other things which are not the point of this post), since his father wasn't giving it to him. he knows he was good, and he wishes someone in his family would recognize that.

the last monologue in midsummer (if we shadows have offended...) is shot in such a way that we see neil giving it directly to mr. perry as a final plea for forgiveness. the line "gentles, do not reprehend: / if you pardon, we will mend" is a particular standout. mr. perry also pretty much says acting is not a worthwhile pursuit, and neil should give it up and become a doctor (a real career).

"from the floorboards to the flies / here i was fated to reside / and as i take my final bow / was there ever any doubt?"

i would argue that the last time neil truly felt alive was on stage. in that way, he resides in the theater, and really, was there any doubt that he would be spectacular?

"and as the spotlights fade away / and you're escorted through the foyer / you will resume your callow ways / but i was meant for the stage"

mr. perry wasn't impacted at all by neil's performance. he goes right back to treating neil terribly, as he always has. but that doesn't change the fact that neil was really good.

that he was meant for the stage.

[shinystealingbirb]

This is a bit of a rant, but I wonder what Ratio's opinion on people who are in majors they don't want to be is.

Like, the people who clearly want to be studying one thing, but through one reason or another, are in a different major/professor.

From a teacher standpoint, I imagine it sucks to watch the life leave a kid's eyes every time they look at their worksheet, and it must be annoying if they turn their stuff in late because they were working on something else or just not paying attention.

I know that ratio puts an emphasis on not only wanting to be in that specific class, but actively participating and listening. Failure to do either of these gets you kicked out. i wonder if he would toss people from his class without a second look, or if he would take the time to consider why someone who fought to be in his class so clearly doesn't want to be there? if they're still taking notes, still somehow scoring decently, but its so obviously half-hearted, like they've resigned themselves to this, would he transfer them? Let them stay? kick them out entirely?

im certain he'd just toss them out, but they'd be better in the long run, and anotehr slot would open in the class for someone who wanted to be there. but i wonder what he himself thinks about those types of people. if he pities them for not being able to follow their own ppath, or finds himself disgusted that they turn away knowledge in favor of some other course. or if he considers this class itself, for these people, to be a roadblock in their own pursuit of knowledge. Does he consider what they want, if they're still in college, still trying to study, but forced to be in that major, to still be a pursuit of knowledge? i wonder how far his idea of "knowledge" spreads, if its purely math and phyiscs and medical and philosophy, or it if extends to art and writing and drama. if people want to learn to create expression, is that still knowledge to him? or is it the act of learning he finds so important, that as long as they are not closing their minds off and accepting what they know as fact so solid that nothing else can pass through it, then they are learning and willing to understand?

(honestly, i like the last one. it would explain why Ratio likes Stelle so much. She's got no education, but she's willing to question most things and think critically instead of accepting things as solid fact, and I think he appreciates that.)

i wonder all of this because college has been rough for me so far, and sometimes considering it from a more intelligent and higher perspective than my own helps me see a bigger picture, if there is one. If i am still learning, even if i am struggling, even if its not where i want to be, is it pitiful or embarassing? and could it still be cosnidered a worthwhile pursuit?

[aheathen-conceivably]

At first, Josephine had tried the best she knew how; but she swiftly realized that she knew nothing of this life. Zelda and Giorgio spent nearly every moment from sun-up to sun down tilling, planting and attempting to harness water. They had tried to explain the basics of their attempts, but any time she tried to help she could see that they spent more time guiding her than actually working, and the moment she got out of their way their work went noticeably faster.

Yet it wasn’t just farming. Everything about this life was more difficult than she could have imagined, beyond anything her mother and her life had ever prepared her for. Foodstuffs only came in the most basic ingredients, electricity was sparse when it worked at all, and they were in a constant struggle to conserve water and fend off drought.

She felt like everything she did was in someone’s way, or that it would need to be redone by someone else as soon as she finished; even worse, she often found that she had no idea where to begin, and she would have to ask Zelda and Giorgio for help, taking them away from their work as their words of guidance began to sound more and more belittling to her ears.

So she decided that she couldn’t stay on the farm any longer, pretending to be something that she wasn’t and muddying everyone else’s attempts to make their lives better. She had to do something to contribute, to make herself feel worthwhile and valuable again. 

As she put on her clothes from New Orleans and her mother’s jewelry she could feel herself coming alive again, settling into the trappings that made her feel like who she was, and who she wanted to be. She would find something, anything that would make her fit in in this foreign place.

But her attempts didn’t last long. She walked the streets to whispers, some of them about their own doomed situations, others about the well dressed stranger who had the gall to walk their town rouged and powdered. A city slicker, a foreigner, a threat in turbulent times.

I read about girls like that. In town from the route to peddle themselves and move on, can you believe it? It’s a shame, really, but I mean look at her, what else would you expect?

She would try to smile at them, to form some sort of social circle, some beneficial connections like those she had known in New Orleans, but then their sneers only intensified and made it clear that no amount of charm would make her welcome among them. 

Again and again, they turned down her friendliness, they whispered about her in front of her face. Only she wished that was all, she wished that it was only about her. It was nothing that she hadn’t heard before, nothing that hadn’t been whispered about her back in New Orleans. No, it was the whispers that had nothing to do with her that hurt the most.

I simply don’t know how we’re going to feed the children. Then with another one on the way. We’re doomed, truly. I don’t know what to do. 

My sister lost her farm, up in Oklahoma. Her husband said he was off to California for work but it’s been months. I told her he isn’t coming home but she’ll starve if he doesn’t.

You should have seen them, sick like it was tuberculosis, but no, it’s the dust. It will kill them, I’m sure of it, in their lungs that way. But it’s death there or death in California. What of it? What can we do?

Whispers. More whispers. The intel that she didn’t want, the information she had most feared. For years she had scoffed at Giorgio’s predictions. I’m telling you, Jo. My father’s even moving the business. It’s going to be ugly. We have to do something, anything. We need a plan. 

Nonsense. There was too much fun to be had, too much music and too much life. But now she didn’t even need to hear the whispers to know it had come true. The line of beggars and unemployed seemed endless, and as she walked by them she realized that she was but a few steps from where they were. Because the whispers were right, she was a fallen woman, one of many who now hovered around the shopfronts like ghosts. Women with no skills other than their smiles and their charms, women doomed to repeat their pasts as the world crumbled around them.

She knew that they were right, the whispers. She didn’t belong here, and she never would. But there was nowhere left to go.

Previous / Next

[gyusimp]

°•Sweet Dreams•° (Thanks for 500 Followers!)

🛐 Warnings: NSFW | Minors DNI! | Modern AU | Fem Reader | Fingering | Fem Oral | Somnophilia | Masturbation | Adult Toys | Read at your own risk but avoid hate | Enjoy!

Gyutaro was in the living room, he usually had a hard time falling asleep so to respect your bedtime he would just let you sleep peacefully upstairs in his room while he looked at his phone on the sofa so as not to bother you with the light from the device in his hands.

The boy with blue eyes surrounded by dark circles, saw a couple of episodes of his favorite series but one scene left him uneasy. It is nothing new for the protagonists of this type of series to do a hot scene between passionate kisses but in the end nothing explicit enough and that was the problem for Gyutaro so he sent the series application to hell and looked for something different on the internet, something he was very used to seeing.

After flipping through several videos and finding something worthwhile, he decided to go back with you upstairs but there was a problem. He thought watching some of these videos would help him relax but it really only made the bulge under his pants harder.

Gyutaro slowly entered the room after closing the door behind him. He looked towards the window and noticed that there was a full moon, that explained the lighting inside the room. For a moment he thought you were still awake but when he saw you asleep on the bed his heart beat faster than ever. He approached you without making any kind of noise, not even the slightest sigh that could wake you up despite the fact that you were fortunately a somewhat heavy sleeper. You were lying in Gyutaro's bed on your back, between the messy sheets after having thrown them off you because of the heat. The moonlight that stuck to your body made all your curves stand out from the shadows under your clothes. Your arms were extended along the mattress, one of your legs was stretched out on the bed and the other was flexed on the mattress, forming a type of number 4. Your boyfriend couldn't help but act without thinking before the force that his member exerted between his legs so he climbed on the bed carefully to start inspecting you.

Gyutaro looked at the clothes you were wearing, he knew you weren't wearing a bra because you always took it off to sleep so that was starting to turn him on, he looked at your hips and waist, leaving his gaze fixed on your baggy little shorts. A part of the fabric was rising right in the middle of your legs due to the position you were in, Gyutaro's restless fingers did not hesitate for half a second to move the fabric of your crotch to the side to see your panties but he got a nice surprise. You weren't wearing underwear and the moment Gyutaro pushed your shorts aside he found your naked pussy under the cloth. Can you imagine how hard he was now? You had no idea.

Gyutaro carefully took the elastic of your shorts and slowly slid them down your skin, trying not to let the fabric touch you so you wouldn't wake up until he managed to slide the fabric over your knees, ankles and remove it from you completely to throw it anywhere on the ground.

You didn't even sigh, you were fast asleep. Your legs stayed in the same position as before and since one of them was bent, that caused your labia to part slightly, exposing your naked femininity without any barrier to Gyutaro's leering and needy gaze on you. He loved seeing you like this, asleep, almost naked and vulnerable in his presence, he could do whatever he wanted at this moment where you rested so weakly and carelessly and that turned him on more and more. Imagining taking your body with some kind of "ban" while you slept made his dick ache more and more. Gyutaro crouched down like a prowling cat and grabbed your knees and thighs, parting your legs and spreading them wide for a perfect view of your cunt spreading the same way for him. Seeing your soft little lips parting exposing your wet folds drove him crazy. He moved right into your center and let his hot breath hit you, inhaling your scent making him moan silently until he couldn't resist anymore and almost involuntarily made his tongue trace a line from bottom to top over your slit.

Then again and again, Gyutaro licked your slit like it was fucking ice cream and then you woke up. You felt a wet sensation between your legs and when you traveled down, you found your boyfriend with his head between your legs, your shorts not even on and his hot tongue caressing the folds of your vagina. Gyutaro wasn't surprised to see that you woke up, he was too horny to do it so he just smiled at you playfully and continued to do his job without any care. You weren't bothered at all by what Gyutaro was doing, actually, it had turned you on to think about what kind of things he dared to do while you were sleeping. He even took your clothes off and you didn't notice and you liked that. You settled in better and leaned your weight on your arms on the bed to better open your legs and make it easier for Gyutaro to pass inside of you. Now that you were awake, he no longer had to bother limiting his movements or moans to prevent you from waking up. It felt so good, you couldn't help but close your eyes and tilt your head back with every lick Gyutaro showered on your pussy.

I-i love it...mmhh, i love when you make me feel like a whore, aahh!" Tú gemiste.

Gyutaro opened his mouth and sucked your core, his tongue caressed your clit and ran through every space of your skin between your folds causing the most obscenely wet sounds with each sucking and licking your pussy, Gyutaro loved your taste, he loved having the most concentrated part of your essence in his mouth...he wish he could have more of your juices.

Gyutaro was blinded by lust and pleasure until he remembered a small gift he had bought for you a few weeks ago. Your eyes were closed so it was a bit annoying when you felt your pussy grow cold from the absence of Gyutaro's mouth on you. You saw him looking for something in the closet, what the fuck was he doing? Gyutaro took an item out of a bag and walked back to the bed, positioning himself where he was a few minutes ago, handing the item over to you. Gyutaro had seen this in some porn videos and for a long time he wanted to try it with you but he just never got the courage to propose it to you.

In your hands was a normal size vibrator, very feminine and in your favorite color. You looked at him a little doubtfully, if there were his fingers and his cock then what use would this be?

"A vibrator? I-I...I've never used one before..."

"No object? Are you serious? Don't play with me, and what do you masturbate with when you need to then?"

"W-well, I don't know, I just use my fingers or rub myself against the bed or some pillows anyway. I mean, I've never used any toys before...have you?"

"And what do you think I get by with when you're working all day?"

That confession caught you off guard. You were flattered knowing that Gyutaro touched himself thinking of you when you were away from him.

You didn't want to ruin your boyfriend's plans, besides, you always found it a bit interesting to try some toys like this. The reason you never bought one was out of fear of hurting yourself by doing something stupid for the first time, but if Gyutaro was here then you felt safer. Gyutaro expected you to turn it on but you just looked at the vibrator in your hands in wonder trying to hide in the deepest corner all your inexperience in this kind of thing.

"Don't be pathetic, honey." Gyutaro said, as he turned on the vibrator and set it up for you, handing it over to you. "Medium is okay?"

"I guess so, it's my first time after all...now what?"

"I don't know, comb your hair with it maybe?" He teased you, laughing a little. "Damn, put it in your vagina."

"I know, I'm not stupid! I mean if this is put in any specific way."

"I don't know You're a very creative girl, aren't you? Just put it where it feels good." Gyutaro was starting to get desperate, he wanted to continue but he kept looking at you until you started.

"Aren't you going to continue?" you asked, nervous. You didn't want him to see you at this awkward moment.

"Not until you start. Do you think I bought you this to entertain you?" Gyutaro got dangerously close to your ear. "I want to see my woman masturbating." He said, licking your earlobe, playing with your earring.

Chills ran down your entire spine, the faster you started the less embarrassed you would be in front of him and you didn't want to give him the opportunity to make fun of you. Besides, all your embarrassment always disappeared when you were aroused so there wouldn't be a problem. You spread your legs again and positioned the vibrator however felt best in the middle of your pussy, playing with your vagina until you found a sweet spot that made you arch your back and moan. The device gave a different sensation to your pussy, it moved and pumped inside your folds making you rub against it while Gyutaro watched you almost without blinking, touching you in front of him.

"Aaahh, Gyu...this is very good! AAH!"

Gyutaro just smiled, settled between your legs and continued sucking all over your pussy. His idea was to get you as wet as possible and that's how it turned out. Your pussy moved and rubbed against the vibrator in your hand, causing you to get more and more wet and all your juices to slide right into Gyutaro's mouth, sucking you and eating you whole making his nose wet between your folds as well.

"F-fuck..a-aahh! Yeah, I like it when you fuck me like that Gyu...my pussy is all yours...keep it up."

You had gotten used to the new gift that your boyfriend gave you very quickly, but then Gyutaro took it out of your vagina and snatched it from your hands without saying anything to you, you looked at him confused and a little irritated, but then you saw that the part you were using and it had been soaked in your juices, he took it straight to his mouth to lick it in front of your eyes and then throw it on the bed. "Aren't you going to give it back to me?" He shook his head, mocking you with his eyes. "Then continue here, continue Gyutaro, lick my pussy!" You said, pouting.

Gyutaro obeyed you and while his tongue ran through your vagina, he inserted two of his fingers into your hole making it splash while you moaned and yelled his name, clinging to the sheets, spreading your legs for him to fuck you well. You turned face down and stretched out one leg while bending the other on the mattress after Gyutaro took off your shirt once and for all and then buried his face between your legs to lick  and suck every part of your vagina, playing with your sore and sensitive clitoris on his tongue.

A lot of time passed and you didn't change your position, your legs began to hurt as well as your bent knees but Gyutaro had no intention of stopping and you didn't want to get a cramp either.

"G-Gyutaro..."

"Hmm?" He groaned in response.

"My legs...they hurt, it hurts a lot to be in the same position, do you think we could change for a while?"

It took you a bit of time to find a really comfortable position for both of you as you unconsciously ended up bending your legs and that really hurt, until Gyutaro started to lose his patience.

"Just hold the fuck still! Let me finish fucking you!" He yelled, upset and desperate, you wouldn't let him cum in peace.

Gyutaro pulled your arm and stood you up until you were in front of the desk in his room, with one arm he got rid of everything that was on it and completely undressed himself.

He tossed you face-first onto the desk and pressed up behind you to rub his hard, bare member in between and under your ass to slide into your hole until he was slowly inside. Your legs no longer hurt when you stood up, so you let him fuck you and each time you both got closer to your orgasms. Gyutaro held you by the waist, then he pressed, massaged and played with your tits before leaving one of his hands on your nipples and lowering the other to slip his long fingers into the middle of your folds making you feel extra pleasure, accelerating your cum.

"Hhmm...ah-aahh!! M-my vagina, it's very sensitive Gyutaro...I'm gonna cum, I'm gonna cum already-aahh!" You whined.

You felt yourself tighten around Gyutaro and how his thrusts became firmer and faster hitting your clit and weak spot over and over again until you felt a warm, thick sensation explode inside of you from behind, which made you cum immediately stretching your toes on the cold ground.

You felt Gyutaro's semen fill you and spill out of you along with yours, dripping on the floor, sliding down your thighs and legs making a wet mess on the floor and on your sweaty bodies. Gyutaro came out of you making you gasp after overstimulating you, leaving your sensitive hole empty and your clit with an intense burning sensation after cumming. He took you by the waist in an unprepared way and sat you on the desk to kiss you passionately and slowly but also tired.

You vaguely felt your own taste in his mouth and took his face in your hands while he picked you up and laid you down on the cold sheets of the bed in this hectic night. You saw the clock and you mentally cursed knowing how hard it would be to get up to go to work early tomorrow, but nothing was worth more than a moment next to Gyutaro where he ripped off your clothes and he focused on making you his once again. Little by little you closed your eyes again until you fell asleep after feeling his arm around your waist, gathering your both naked bodies under the sheets.

[atlitudes]

I'm Cataloging Every Occurrence of the Piano in Malevolent in a Spreadsheet for Leitmotif Analysis. No, I'm Not Kidding.

As the title of this post reads, I've spent the last few weeks listening to every episode of Malevolent and logging every time the piano is heard (both within the story and as background score), to analyze the data for leitmotif/music based theory-crafting. I originally was planning on getting through the entire series before posting anything, but I am very quickly realizing that this is going to take me a while, and I start a new semester in two weeks, so there is a high likelihood I will not finish before I get too busy to chug through as many episodes a day as I am now. I'm on episode 16/44 and I've already logged 137 instances of piano music. I'm not even halfway done. And this is all I've been doing for the past multiple days. For this reason, I've decided to post the link to the spreadsheet before finishing.

If you're familiar with Malevolent, and just how much music is in it, you might be asking, "OP, are you utterly fucking insane?" And well, dear reader, the answer to that is probably yes, but while you might call it madness, I call it love. So, before getting into the meat of things, I wanted to explain why I even decided to do this. Spoilers ahead for Malevolent (obvious, but yeah). If you don't give a single shit about why I did this and want to get straight to the sheet, scroll to the bottom for the link.

So. About 2 weeks ago I finished my first listen-through of Malevolent. One thing about the most recent episodes struck me as very very significant: John and Arthur's "collective force" being titled as the Dies Irae.

Now, a full-bodied explanation of why I find this so important and the possible implications will come at a later date, but long story short, the Dies Irae is a very significant piece of musical literature-- it is, perhaps, the most commonly quoted leitmotif of the past 800 years, and it symbolizes death. So, understandably, the Themes of this kinda sent me down a spiral.

But the Dies Irae being mentioned in such a way also got me thinking: music is a pretty integral part of Malevolent. So, is the Dies Irae quoted anywhere in its soundtrack? I suddenly got very very excited at this prospect, particularly if it might be in Faroe's Song, because well... god that would hurt lol. I scoured the available songs on the bandcamp aaaaand... no luck (as far as I can tell). Regardless, even if the Dies Irae wasn't a part of the soundtrack, I became curious about what kind of leitmotifs were in the podcast, and what they might mean. And so, the spreadsheet was born.

I explain this in the User Guide part of the sheet (please read it before going through the rest btw), but I only track the piano parts of the podcast. The reason for this is two-fold:

First, score wise, piano is very easy for me to pick apart, and I don't see a lot of significance in the suspenseful string music for horror moments (though I don't deny there might be something to it, I simply won't be able to find it.) To me, the piano is also significantly more important than the strings because it's a notable part of the story-- Arthur and his relation to the instrument is a key part of the plot, and multiple of the piano compositions are made by him. For this reason, I found tracking the piano in the podcast worthwhile.

Second, I also don't touch any of the non-original radio tracks in the podcast (i.e. You Call It Madness (I Call It Love)) because this video by The Final Fantasmagorie already does an excellent job of covering them (please check it out!!), and I felt it would be redundant, especially considering the astronomical amount of ground I already have to cover. If these tracks start being featured as leitmotifs in the piano music then... well, I might change my mind, but so far, no dice.

If I noticed a non-piano piece of music (such as the wraith humming in Ep3) that I haven't found any analysis of whatsoever, I also noted it just so there was some record. Other than that, just piano tracks.

Explanations and disclaimers out of the way, here is the link to the spreadsheet. I might open it up to comments and/or editors at some point, but for now, it's just available to viewers. Once again, please read the disclaimer and user guide before the rest of the sheets.

Thanks for reading, I know this was a very long post, and I appreciate it if you've beared with me! Enjoy!

[acourtofthought]

I am not a writer. Occasionally I'll have a flash of inspiration (in regards to fanfiction) and come up with something I feel is decent enough to share on my blog in regards to Elucien but I've got no illusions that I've got any sort of skill or talent. Sarah is a writer. A talented, multi-millionaire one with a huge following. That means she can do Elucien's story justice in a way I will never have the ability to. It means that despite all current odds against them, despite Elain's supposed disinterest in him, all it would take is a single paragraph for her to explain all of that away: "I didn't want to want you this much because I've lost everything else I ever desired and losing you would be something I would not survive. I knew it the moment I let you get a little too close, the second I felt what it would be like to love you so like a coward I hid."

"I had given my heart to someone else but the moment I met your gaze you stole my soul and I hated you for it because it meant I would only ever have half myself to give to Graysen. You turned my promise into him into a lie without having spoken a single word."

"You saw too much from the start and it frightened me. To have someone see me so clearly for the first time when I'd lived my whole life where they never really looked. You saw too much and what if you saw that I was as shallow and empty as the rest believed? Where my one dream would be that someone could know me and see the truth of me and not think as the others did but if you looked inside and found nothing worthwhile than my dream would be lost. So I avoided you because I couldn't take that chance, I couldn't risk finding out the truth." "I was not raised to think these things, I was told it was not appropriate behavior for a lady. Looking at you though? Being close to your scent? I lost my sense of self. I had no idea who I had become, this person who had those sorts of thoughts, one who could barely restrain themself and it was too much. I had already changed so drastically after the Cauldron with being made fae and I needed to hold on to the part of me that felt familiar. I needed to keep my distance from you because I couldn't handle everything rearranging so soon after. You had me feeling out of control in a world where I had so little left so I ran from our bond, I ran from you."

Again, I am not a writer. So if I can think of a few possible things that Elain could say that would explain the reason for her behavior around Lucien, then imagine how many angsty, emotional, tearful confessions she could come up with? The way she's written bonds, they are so deep that marriage is insignificant and that means Elain's feelings for Lucien would never be so simple as "I'm just not interested." The bond and the feelings it has brought about in Elain is a chance for Sarah to really delve into the layers of her character, to bring out emotions that she (and others who experienced a mating bond) would have never felt otherwise. I look forward to seeing the complexities of her feelings in her book. I look forward to further exploring this thing that has caused Elain to behave out of character. Where she's consistently kind to everyone yet ignores her mate. Where she typically hides her deepest thoughts yet shared them with a virtual stranger the first time they met. Where she stares at Lucien on multiple occasions but we never know exactly what she's thinking. Where she does not thank him for his gifts yet refuses to part with them. The deepest of emotions lie within Elain and Lucien and their bond together and I can't wait to read all about them.

[devotee-of-apollomes]

“What do you think would happen if we had two suns?”, the trickster asked the question without intending to delve too deeply into the subject, just with the aim of filling the silence.

Apollo let out a sigh. “Hermes, I'm pretty sure you know how catastrophic the consequences would be. You're not stupid.” The God of Light curled his index finger around one of the messenger's curls. "But well, considering you've already gotten into the subject, I'll indulge you a little.”

“Hypothetically speaking, if we had two suns, everything we know and exist would change drastically”, Apollo explained as he continued to curl more fingers around Hermes' curls. “First of all, temperatures would reach absurd levels, and depending on the position they would be in, either Gaea would be extremely hot or cold.”

Apollo began to draw imaginary lines on one of the trickster's cheeks using his free hand. “Days would be much brighter and longer, nights would be shorter or perhaps would not exist at all. Vegetation would change to suit the circumstances as would animals.”

He lightly pinched the skin on Hermes' cheek, not intending to hurt. “Besides, we would have a lot more work to do if something like that happened.”

The messenger was quiet for a few seconds, only letting out a 'hm' after hearing Apollo's words. "Sounds boring to me", was his response when he finished processing the information.

“Is that really your only answer after I took the time to explain all the details?”, the God of Healing questioned as he finally untangled his fingers tied in the trickster's curls.

“Well, I may have asked the question, but I didn't mean to take it seriously", Hermes replied in a calm and relaxed tone of voice. “I just did it to kill the silence"

Apollo let out another sigh. "You're incorrigible.”

“I know that”, the messenger chuckled lightly.

Apollo hugged Hermes tightly, allowing the trickster's back to be pressed against his front. He rested his chin on top of the younger god's hair, feeling the skin rub against it. The God of Light closed his eyes and let tranquility take over the environment.

While Apollo took the time to rest his mind, Hermes simply couldn't sit still on his lap. He felt the Thief God take his hands and join them with his, using his thumbs to trail paths over the warm skin. Hermes looked, touched, inspected, did everything except stand still.

He began to move, perhaps trying to find a more comfortable position. Apollo didn't pay much attention, keeping his eyes closed while his chin had to follow the movement of the trickster's head.

It was only after much stubbornness and interruption of peace that he finally opened his eyes, coming face to face with Hermes now turned towards him.

“What are you doing?", Apollo asked without showing much emotion, trying to maintain the facade of calm that he had (or thought he had) created.

“Trying to use my time to do something really fun and worthwhile”, Hermes replied with a smug smile on his face, his thighs gripping Apollo's waist. “Come on now, I'm booored! Please keep me entertained!”

Apollo's eyes unconsciously roamed over Hermes' face and body, perhaps lingering longer than they should have. “What happened to 'let's go to the open field just to talk and enjoy each other's presence’?”

The messenger pouted at him upon hearing the reply. “That was before, I had enough time to change my mind", his left hand gently trailed across Apollo's chest, his right arm wrapping around his neck to keep them incredibly close. “What do you say? Wanna do it?”

The God of Healing felt a faint blush creep onto his face, his pupils focused on the Thief God's lips, the heat increasing as the seconds passed. 

He felt dizzy…

His lips parted slightly, ready to say something, but somewhere along the way, the words got lost in his throat. He couldn't think straight when their bodies were so close.

"Don't worry, let me take care of everything…”, Hermes whispered, his voice soft and with tones of not very disguised lust. “I'll save you the trouble of thinking and acting... Well, at least for now", he said with a hearty laugh.

Hermes' fingers trailed across Apollo's chest again, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He brought his lips closer to play with the line of his jaw, pressing against the skin, kissing it, tasting it a little.

He opened his mouth slightly and his teeth were exposed, making contact with Apollo's flesh. Hermes began to bite gently, not so hard as to leave a mark, but enough to send shivers down the God of Light's spine.

Apollo's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, his breathing becoming heated and ragged as he failed to resist the trickster's charms.

And Hermes could not help but feel proud as he saw the effects of his ministrations.

A few minutes passed, and Hermes felt a pair of palms on his back, which caught his attention and made his eyes shift their focus to Apollo's face.

The God of Healing was completely red, his ears and neck adorned with a reddish hue of color. His eyes were half-closed, and the heat emanating from him was enough to make the Thief God feel suffocated by his clothes. They had both started to sweat and drops were appearing on their skin.

"It seems to have gotten a little warm in here, don't you think?" Hermes joked about the rising temperature, his face and body feeling the effects of it.

“You're terrible", the words came out of Apollo's mouth without bringing any firmness, the victory already visible for both parties.

“I just know which of your buttons to push", Hermes retorted, still keeping that same smug smile plastered on his face. His lips came closer and his breath fanned against Apollo's ear. “It’s time for you to give me what I want”