#think. that should be all the tags (see: incoherent rambling). really like your stuff and have been meaning to draw something for you for

[peridots-pixiwolf]

[Start ID. A drawing of @mieczmaszyna 's character Izzy. In the words of its creator, Izzy is a humanoid robot with a white chassis, oval head, black headset, square green glasses, claws, and a tail resembling a cable plug. Ai wears a cowboy hat, vest decorated by a star and bottle cap, pants with tassels, spurred boots, and a red bandanna. He's viewed from the side, kicking up one leg and holding both arms out in front of itself to shoot finger guns, looking excited and rather jaunty. The background is a dull yellow-green, muddied by the warm reddish tone of the drawing, and in paler green are the words "BANG BANG!!" by ais arms. End ID]

robot cowboy!!!

[odetothestars]

Once again a very incoherent, not spell checked, all over the place ramble that might not make any sense (lmk if I need to clarify something)

But I think this one is kinda important? At least, it is to me. Before you decide how you feel about this, do me a favour and at least try to actually read/digest it first!

Something I think desperately needs to happen within multiple fandoms is working through your internalized misogyny…because people on this app are a little too comfortable stereotyping, belittling, sexualizing, devaluing, and just generally disrespecting women or fem presenting people. It’s usually pretty subtle, but the micro aggressions are definitely there.

I see fics where the only time female characters are mentioned is if they pipe in to say something snarky or when male characters are talking about their appearance/desire to sleep with them.

The example of misogyny that I see the most often is in mlm ship writing where one of the characters tagged as fem!x and that character is very often portrayed/described as:

- “Emotional, dramatic, whiny, clingy, soft, delicate, fragile”

- They’re dependent, usually being provided for by someone else

- They’re the subordinate/“beta” in a relationship

- They’re “helpless” and need protecting

- They’re interested shallow things (appearance, money, class, etc.)

- They have an “attitude”

- Their hobbies consist of baking, shopping, decorating

- They’re looked at like a trophy, something pretty to win and own

- There’s a strong emphasis of their appearance (slender, rosy cheeks, sharp features) and sexuality especially

I’m sure many of you have read at least one fic tagged as fem!*insert male chatacter name here* and this is the character description you were shown, no?

Before you yell at me, there is nothing inherently wrong about that characterization! It’s completely fine to live your life that way, it’s okay to be into superficial things, it’s okay to want to be protected, it’s okay to have someone provide for you, etc. Slay however you want!

My problem is that this characterization is NOT A TRUE REFLECTION OF WHAT FEMININITY IS. The issue isn’t in these traits themselves, I have some of those traits myself, the problem is using these traits to prove that a character is more feminine. It’s so stereotypical, surface level, and old-fashioned, and reduces the beauty of being feminine to a caricature. Whether you like it or not, whether you mean it or not, this is misogyny. Feminine people/characters can be strong, brave, intelligent, hardworking, independent. Being feminine is something that I’m very proud of, and I hate seeing it be reduced to something it isn’t. This is deeper than just not personally liking the way a character is written. This is misogyny.

Not to mention the super masc x super fem characterization is super heteronormative and also a stereotype in itself but I digress.

I’m not telling anyone they need to drop these kinds of characterizations, I’m just saying you should probably take a good minute to reflect on your motives and how you really feel think about femininity deep down. Is it something you truly views as inferior? Why? Do you want to change that? What are some ways can you?

Don’t even get me started on the literal abuse of fem characters in fics and novels. Yes, there are pieces of fiction where masc characters are victims, which is horrifying, I just see it the most often against fem characters. It’s absolutely disgusting that people are romanticizing and glorifying abuse of anyone, but that’s a topic for another time.

I typically subscribe to “don’t like don’t read” unless we’re talking about stuff the is genuinely offensive or harmful to an entire group of people. If I see an au, ship, plot, or general writing style I don’t particularly like, I will simply swipe passed and move on with my day (you should to). But when fics are written with any kind of internal bias (misogyny, homophobia *including heteronormativity*, transphobia, racism, etc.) behind them or have elements of glorified abuse, there is a genuine issue and I’m not just gonna scroll and pretend that it isn’t super fucked up, because it is. It’s fucked up! Touch grass and breath fresh air PLEASE.

Sure, I can’t stop anyone from writing or reading what they want, they’re free to do so, but that means they are also free to deal with criticisms of it.

If this upset anyone, I genuinely am very sorry, it wasn’t be intention to offend you. Unpacking things like internalized bias can be really difficult, but I think it’s important to have conversations like this so we can learn and grow from each other. Feel free to share you thoughts, try to be respectful if you can:)

*Tags are not a direct call out to any ship or fandom. I have seen this in multiple different fandoms with multiple different ships. This is just a primarily HP blog, hence why tags are HP*

[rhxpleys]

a ramble on rhea's reign

i have been ruminating on rhea's booking recently, but recent events on raw, plus a bit of news from fightful, has really got me thinking and well. i think rhea's reign is going to be LONG.

totally incoherent thoughts are below lol

so. she has been sparsley used in a wrestling capacity--especially post backlash--falling primarily into a manager role, which for people like me who really love to see her wrestle, is annoying as hell... but i digress. her insistent interference with dom's matches in particular works in a narrative capacity--because it ultimately shows that dom cannot get a win without her. she is frequently involved in the mens side of things by proxy of being apart of TJD, and whilst it was fun for a while, people are really starting to get annoyed by it--myself included. but ultimately, it keeps her name in people's mouths and she is on tv every single week. the numbers she pulls on social media are excellent, she gets great crowd reactions, has some of the best selling merch--like, the girl is ooooover.

(i do wish that they would pull the trigger on some intergender stuff with her--because rhea has been vocal about wanting to make history--and she has experience with it from RCW... but anyway.)

i have wondered, for a while, what the deal was here? but given some recent bits of info from fightful it's becoming a bit clearer. it seems that rhea is minimising her time spent in the women's division so that the scene outside of the title can flourish--and that seems pretty obvious now that becky/zoey/trish, is The women's story on Raw. The women's tag stuff on RAW has especially gotten a lot more time recently... and i would say that a lot of that is to do with rhea happily taking the backseat and only really being invloved with TJD stuff.

She is seemingly unconcerned with is going on with her own creative which is fairly honourable (also, A Choice imo)... and given how much Rhea is liked backstage, how often other women want to work with her, how often she is put over by other talent, how that comment about her allowing her opponents to get more offense in would-be squashes, how often she appears all over RAW? Yeah, doesn't surprise me how she has opted for this atm--she's too fucking nice, and tbh, a consumate professional. (during the royal rumble, rhea bumped and sold like a maniac for every woman who got in the ring...... it is really a wonder she's in the position she is? nope) BUT... does it piss me off that she is being used in this way? oh yeah. but after becky ripped her a new one the other evening in a delicious promo, i don't envision it being like this for much longer (i hope). becky (theoretically) getting into her head about being a 'main event sidepiece', and how she isn't worthy of the title, and then in a promo from the week prior she gets sort-of put down by raquel... like, my goodness, finally, a bit of set-up for some stuff down the line? crazy.

rhea, the "dominant" champion actually having to prove herself to would be competitors is an interesting narrative, given that she is THE division heel? fun, her character work in TJD has been great--lets do more. ...and then rhea, despite being the champ, is not being treated as the main-eventer in her own faction--and i think bringing up a bit of bitterness on her end would be a good idea.

(and oh my god... when she or dom eventually turn on one another? sgdhjjddjdjddk) people are blaming this on her knee and saying that she should be stripped of the title (LOL)... which i think is kind of hilarious and disingenuous given that nattie has been deadlifted into a riptide all over the house show circuit, and that she can just casually pick up damian's big ass. you cannot do that shit if your knee is absolutely fucked. girl has been working with these injuries since she was a teen by the looks of it, and well, it hasn't stopped her yet.

but ultimately... i think this is going to be a slow burn reign. and given that we are three months in and rhea has done nothing but piss people off, it can only improve. they're not throwing the women's roster at her to beatdown, because who is she going to wrestle for the next 'x' amount of months if everyone is already beaten. they're only lightly teasing her feuds with raquel and becky, and they're reaaaaaally dragging out this nattie feud. competitors need to be built, and RAW, despite what certain IWC members say, has plenty of women who can go toe-to-toe with rhea--and best believe, rhea can--AND WILL--go out of her way to make her smaller opponents look credible.

Candice, Indi, Zoey, Piper, Tegan, will all make great opponents, but there needs to be some investment in them, and we have actually seen this with Zoey in particular. Becky and Raquel (and maybe Trish) are currently the big two (three)... but i am also hoping for Beth Phoenix to turn up again--and that is a match that Rhea is on record wanting quite badly.

(i am also expecting some roster jiggery at some stage because the Smackdown side is absolutely crammed with all the upper-card gals...)

anyway, they aren't firing on all cylinders yet--because this is going to be a long reign imo. they aren't exhausting all the feuds right off the bat, because there is a real risk of burnout if it all goes a bit too fast.

right, that's all i got. this is too fucking long already.

[sneezefiction]

midnight murmurs

Iwaizumi x Reader - Scenario

a/n: Iwaizumi rattles off some late-night thoughts to you while you’re “sleeping.” little does he know your eyes may not be open, but your ears are still catching quite a few of his one-sided conversations.

warnings: some language

wc: 1.5k

dedicated to: @star-puff, because your Iwaizumi fluff had me riding a high for like 2 whole days & we all need him in our lives

---

Incoherent whispering. Soft, short rambles. Maybe he was sleep-talking?

At least that’s what you thought when you first heard Iwaizumi’s voice over the gentle hum of the ceiling fan and against the muted song of the cicadas buzzing outside of the bedroom window.

But as the nights passed, you began to hone in on the contents of Iwaizumi’s mumbling.

His words were… pointed. Holding an air of quiet confidence and trickling ever so gently into your ear like a lullaby. Sometimes it had to do with his day. Other times it was about how cute you’d looked that morning, still fast asleep while he was getting dressed for work.

But whatever the topic is, you’ve grown used to the conversations that he’s been having with the back of your head.

And here you are again. Lying stiff as a twig by Iwaizumi’s side and listening intently to his voice.

“I wish you’d heard what Shittykawa did today…” He rasps softly.

“...Even though he’s all the way in Argentina, literally surrounded by beaches and resorts, he still hardly takes a day off. That dumbass sprained his ankle and kept practicing for another hour.” Iwaizumi sighed, his thumb barely skimming the surface of your forearm.

If you’d actually been asleep (like he’d thought you were), you’re sure you wouldn’t have felt the brush of his fingertips. It was too delicate. Too careful.

Honestly, you’re just glad he still holds you this tenderly. Especially late at night when you’d least expect his affection. After all, you’ve not had a chance to cuddle with him in a while.

Iwaizumi had been getting home later every single day for the past few weeks and for good reason. He felt obligated to stay with Japan’s national team into the darker hours of the night as the Olympic games approached. And you admire his dedication. You’re so proud of him for chasing after his passions and it would never dawn on you to undermine his career by holding your relationship with him over his head.

But this usually meant that, by the time he cracked the bedroom door open, you two would only have a few moments to share some words and a quick kiss before tucking under the covers. You, of course, missed his voice. And he longed to hear yours.

However, as you closed your tired eyes, Iwaizumi’s would remain wide open, body and mind relentlessly processing through another intense day. You’ve never said a word to him about his shifting and deep sighs, worried that he might feel guilty for keeping you awake with him. Yet still, you feel Iwaizumi’s exhaustion in the way his weary arm drapes around your waist. There’s a tautness, a sort of tension, there.

So you do your best to remain completely still in his hold, hoping that your outward calm would bring him some inward peace. That your steady breath might lull him into a state of rest. That you could be the anchor to his rocking boat, like he’d always been for you when your life got windy and overwhelming. But even with your best, silent efforts, he stayed alert and somewhat unsteady.

That’s when the whispery words would start… and you soon came to the realization that he was talking to you.

You hear the rustle of his hair as he runs a firm hand through it. A small smile adorns your lips as he continues his line of thought, Iwaizumi’s breath wafting across the back of your neck.

“Y/n, he’s such an idiot and he won’t listen to me anymore… maybe I’ll get you to text him tomorrow. You’re so good for him and… maybe a little nicer than I am.” Iwaizumi admits.

There’s a pause and you wonder if that’s it. If that’s the end of his dialogue for the night… but there’s more this time.

“And, God y/n, I missed you today.”

The confession shakes you. Your chest tightens as you try to take it all in.

You’re pretty sure you weren’t supposed to hear that.

Those words were reserved for the most... intimate of moments. For trembling tears or reunions after long distances or maybe hot, heavy kisses after a frustrating day. But, as a general rule, you hardly ever heard those tender remarks out of the blue. After all, Iwaizumi is a man of actions and not so much a lover of words.

So this is new, to say the least. You’re dumbstruck. Your heart is beating far faster than it should be - especially since you’ve been dating him for over a year now.

However, it wasn’t just the words that stunned you. His tone was different too. Where there usually would be, there wasn’t an ounce of embarrassment in Iwaizumi’s voice. It wasn’t rushed; not bashful or heated like some of his past devotions and confessions had seemed.

Tonight’s Iwaizumi is perfectly sincere. No, not just sincere. Fond. 

Fond and maybe a tad wistful. Vocal inflection isn’t exactly Iwa’s forte, at least not when it came to sweet words in passing. So this is a historical moment in your book.

Thus, you let your cheeks burn a little longer and shut your eyes a little tighter in order to hear his next words.

“And I miss your voice.” He adds, tone dropping into what seems like… longing.

Iwaizumi pulls you a little closer into his bare chest, the rise and fall breath now pushing up against your own back. He’s really pushing it now.

It feels wrong listening into a conversation when the words are meant for you, but at the same time they aren’t. Who wouldn’t be conflicted? He had clearly trusted that your closed eyes and barely moving figure meant you were deeply asleep. That you couldn’t possibly hear a word he was saying.

I mean you had to say something, right?

So you inhale quietly, preparing to insert yourself into the one-sided discussion.

“...I wish you’d said something sooner, Iwa.”

You almost startle yourself with your own voice, the once soft atmosphere of the moonlit room, turning frigid.

Iwaizumi’s whole body goes stiff, arms frozen in place. He holds his breath and the gentle tickling of air on your neck pauses with it.

You shift your head to look back at him, his eyes already peering into your own. He was red. Beet red. Enough so that you could see it in the dim light of the room. You could practically feel the heat radiating off of his neck and arms, embarrassment flooding through every inch of his body.

“How… how long have you been listening to me?” Iwaizumi whispers, voice wavering almost as though he doesn’t want to hear your answer.

You blink.

Should you only tell him about tonight?

Or would it be better to let him know that he hasn’t had a single midnight conversation this week that you hadn’t listened in on?

You opt for honesty, knowing that he would probably be able to tell if you were lying anyways.

“Everything from this past… week?” You say shyly, slinking away from him, but one of Iwaizumi’s strong arms holds you in place.

His head falls back to his pillow and the other arm covers his eyes. As many times as he’d slipped up in front of you, he’d really done it this time. You must think he’s so strange. Why was he always doing stuff like this? Of course you would hear him.

I should’ve just kept my damn mouth shut, Iwaizumi thinks, his body still being flamed by an internal furnace from all the other embarrassing things he now remembers rattling off to you in your ‘sleeping’ state.

“But I liked listening to you.” You cut in quickly, sensing his discomfort and attempting to smooth it over with gentle words.

“And we… don’t get to talk much lately. So I- I just didn’t want to say anything because… I like the sound of your voice. You’re actually very soothing, Iwa.” You’re still sleepy, so the words come out choppily... but considering the circumstances, it wasn’t the worst recovery.

If it weren’t for the blushing male in front of you, you would probably feel just as flustered by the whole situation. But somehow, you kept your cool, too focused on calming Iwaizumi down in his flushed state.

“...Y/n?”

“Yes?” You breathe out.

“Just… just come here already.” He takes his hand away from his burning face and turns toward you.

You’re immediately pulled snug against him, your front meeting his chest, legs twining around his toned ones. Iwaizumi has a hand behind your neck tucking you into the crook of his neck as he hides his face from you, chin resting softly atop your head.

“I’ll call Oikawa tomorrow.” You joke, breaking the tension.

“It’s shittykawa.” He corrects. “And please forget about everything I said.” His tone dropping, turning sour.

A humored sigh leaves your lips.

He feels your mouth smiling faintly against his collar bone, which only sends him further into this embarrassed affection for you.

You were really something.

Never making him feel bad for running late hours. Letting him crawl into bed with you way past midnight when you could easily demand more time from him. Listening to his rambles, some more crass than others, consciously without judgement.

He’d found a treasure in you. A golden, shimmering treasure that didn’t need light to be seen. You shone even under the pale, underwhelming moonlight that peered through the window blinds.

So Iwaizumi finds himself pressing a few soft kisses onto your forehead. You plant a couple lingering ones on his neck in return and he squeezes you even closer into him.

And just as the two of you begin to drift off, you decide to top the night off with a cherry of sorts.

“Iwa?”

“Yes, y/n?” His voice at a whisper, once again.

“I’ve missed you too.”

---

Do Not Repost

tags: @cherryonigiri, @yams046, @miss-rin, @shou-kunn, @senkuwu-chan, @super-noya, @stcrryskies, @holaaaf, @sugacookiies, @vintgicals, @moonlightaangel, @kit-tea, @theworldupthere, @sugasugawarau, @randomesk-yuku, @ideshine, @macaronnv, @anseoo, @aprettyfruit, @bbakougo, @bloom-uwu, @spikertrash, @iguessimastannow

(comment, dm, or send an ask to be added to my general tag list - blogs in bold could not be tagged)

[overanalysingfandoms]

Jonathan Stroud's newest book, The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne arrived today.

Needless to say I have already finished it lol,

So if you haven't had a chance to read TOSAB yet please don't read the rest of this post, there are spoilers

I have zero idea how to do read more, soooo sorry for clogging up your tags?

I'll probably do a more in-depth review later but here are some of my thoughts after literally just finishing the book 5 minutes ago:

I want to adopt Albert

I really loved the book

Stroud's worldbuilding, as always, was absolutely on point, I felt as though it was a completely different world but also the same, it was *chefs kiss* beautiful

I immediately loved Scarlett, she kind of has aspect of both Lucy and Lockwood with Lucy's harshness, attitude, boldness and people skills and Lockwoods calculations, timings, finesse and charm

It took me a while to warm up to Albert but by the middle of the book I absolutely adored him, he kind of reminded me of a mix of Bobby Vernon and Danny Skinner with his way of addressing people, lack of good timing and wit etc.

The villian was amazing, during the final scene I kept putting the book down to just process all of her lines and squeal at how cool she is, she really gave me Marissa Fittes vibes and Big M (as the skull would say) is one of my favourite characters, so needless to say, although I've already said it and I'm sure I'll say it again, I loved her. And I'm really intrigued about what's going to happen next with the plot

I know I keep making references to Lockwood & Co but it's only because I really can't help comparing them and I really liked the characters personalities and how familiar I felt with them because of reading Lockwood &Co

I also absolutely adored Scarlett and Albert's relationship with Joe and just Joe and Ettie as characters, they were really well done and I got a strong feel for how loyal Joe is and how much he loves Ettie, as well as how Ettie might struggle in the future being mute, it really gave us an insight to how the laws around deficiencies affect normal people on a personal level without shoving it in our faces and to do that at the same time as giving a more to the side character good motivation and depth was pure genius

Scarlett saying 'Thomas' in the final fight gives me the same vibes as Lockwood saying he thought Lucy was 'someone else' (meaning Jessica) so maybe we could have another dead sibling on out hands? I don't know, but I'm very curious and excited about it

I love how the people in the 'free lands' were portrayed through the book, at the start being spoken of as perfect and saviours while at the end being seen as cowardly and not much better than the others, while I started to see it coming by the middle, it was definitely a great pay off when it happened and fit in really well narratively

I think the Tainted were really creepy, during the descriptions of them, I couldn't help but grimace a bit, I found them to almost be as scary as the Fetch from The Hollow Boy was and the way that Albert described one of them as being just a normal girl his age when he saw into it's mind really freaked me out, I can not wait to see what's going to happen with them, there's definitely tonnes of potential there, especially with how they came to be

Talking about how things came to be, I must admit that I'm very intrigued by the 'Great Cataclysm', what it was and how it came to be

I literally couldn't not think about Chat Noir whenever this was mentioned lol, so I have come up with a very crack, doesn't explain anything, non-canon, completely for my own self indulgence, theory that this all took place during Chat Blanc when he cataclysmed like the entirety of France and destroyed the moon and stuff. The theory makes no sense, but that's what my, very twisted, way too fandom centric, mind came up with

Getting back on track, I also absolutely adored how the dynamic between Scarlett and Albert evolved, at the start feeling really rocky and less fun to read, with neither of them really trusting the other and both, especially Scarlett, feeling like they could snap at any second to a really comfortable dynamic that (yes, another Lockwood & Co reference, I can't help myself) that really reminded me of Lockwood and Lucy's dynamic during the final books at some points

Overall I loved it and am really sad that it will probably take what will feel like forever for another one to come out, probably shouldn't have read it all in 4 hours, but Oh well, I can just keep rereading it over and over again until another one comes out, just like all my other favourite books

If you made it this far then WOW, thank you for reading my nonsense rambling, I appreciate that, I literally just typed out my, probably very incoherent, thoughts out as I thought them

I have not proof read this so if there are mistakes then, whoops?

TLDR; TOSAB is an amazing book by a wonderful author and you should all go read it

Also if someone could explain to me how to do the whole 'read more' thing that would be super helpful because I have no idea how to do it and don't want to keep clogging up tags with these super long posts XD

[alexandrablake]

about the blog!

please interact with this to tell me you read this!

thems sure some words, huh?

   ➵ i am a multi-multi-multi-shipper, like i have at some point (with a couple exceptions) probably shipped most couples (exhibit a: emily with...everyone)

   ➵ i don’t like labels! 

   ➵ i have a very, very poor memory. i tend to remember tiny, inconsequential things, and not big events

   ➵ i have a very strong habit of mimicking people i like, so if you see me suddenly pick up something (ie keysmash or an emoji i’m abusing) it’s probably from that! feel free to send me an ask and i’ll tell you who!

   ➵ i tend to call you guys terms of endearment. could be any of the following and more: mi amor, my love, babe, bub, babes, love, etc etc. if it makes you uncomfortable, tell me to stop!

 ➵ i like hanging out on y’all’s blogs because i like y’all. if i ever make you uncomfortable in any way or do something that i missed in the rules of your blog, just tell me and i will amend myself!

   ➵ techically i’m multifandom, but the majority of it will be criminal minds, 911 (lone star or normal), or law and order: svu.

other fandoms i talk about: mcu, veronica mars, harry potter (barely), taylor swift, percy jackson (on the occasion), b99, the good place, wonder woman, and more that i probably am forgetting.

 ➵ occasionally, you might see me incoherently babbling about something (most recently it was carrie underwood). feel free to fuel my fire or just ignore me. i’ll be back to normal in a bit.

    ➵ i operate on est, but really that doesn’t mean anything, i here at all hours and no hours. 

    ➵my name is pronounced “ee-vuh” but at this point i will probably respond to any variation of it

    ➵ i talk a lot. like a lot a lot. i don’t really talk to people irl, and as a result of this i developed this ramble-y style talk which is fun ! it extended to the internet which means that something i could say in six words is said in six paragraphs.

    ➵ although i personally ship most things, i know a lot of people don’t! therefore any ship thing will be tagged accordingly (ie with the ship name). i don’t really talk about most ships if not in reblogs (w/ the exception of morcia) so you should be safe from untagged rambles

   ➵ i bounce very quickly between things. this includes (but is not limited to): themes, projects, writing, my imposter syndrome, school work. one moment it is all i can think about, the next i simply could not be bothered to think about the thing.

     ➵ this is a safe space. hate will not be tolerated towards anyone. you want attention by getting blocked, come to me, baby, i gotchu.

    ➵ we don’t do racism, transphobia, antisemitism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, ableism, or anything like that similar here. 

    ➵ i’d rather you keep it sfw

    ➵ if you don’t think criminal minds, or any other show like it, is copaganda and shouldn’t be treated as such, read this post and if you are still iffy on the matter please come talk to me and i will tell you about this.

now, in no way am i trying to take away from your likes! you cannot choose hyperfixations, but you still need to see when something is at fault with it.

    ➵ asks and anon is on! please send me stuff, i love talking, i just don’t initiate because i have mad amounts of anxiety 🧍‍♀️

    ➵ pms are open, but i am very slow to getting to these/ don't even get the notification for it in the first place, so take that into consideration!

     ➵i cross-post to my ao3 so there’s nothing there that’s not here, but it’s normally formatted better if you want to check that out. i may(???) be posting some multi stuff there but probably not 

   ➵ i don’t do well with great big blocks of text (this is ironic), my brain just kinda >>>>> over it and i just read the beginning and end. you can either bold important stuff, italicize it, break it up, anything. the main thing here is needing something to catch my eyes on.

    ➵ i am getting increasingly worse at reading tone in writing, so as a curtesy, if you see something that could be misinterpreted another way, if you could use tone indicators, i’d thank you!!

    ➵ tone indicators:

  /nbh, /gen = nobody here, just a general statement

➵ i try to be as kind and as accepting as possible, but i am pretty privileged. if anything i say is offensive in any way, please! tell me!!

[probably-writing-x]

Truth tells.

"You're what?!" You can't stop the words that escape your lips as you jump forward in the seat with sheer excitement.

"Shhhh!" Aaliyah widens her eyes, flicking to glance over her shoulder before focusing back on you, "Please, please don't say anything,"

With the pleading in her tone, it's impossible to say no.

"You're not going to tell him?" You frown, scratching at the back of your neck, "Aaliyah, honey, I never lie to-"

She stops you before you continue, "I know. But I really like this guy and I don't want Shawn to ruin anything by being too..."

"Too Shawn," You roll your eyes, "I get it,"

Currently, you were sat opposite your near enough sister in law as she confessed to you that she'd been asked on a date. And, now, she was begging you to help her out.

"I just need you to make up a reason why you can drop me off and then he can drive me home, okay?" She sighs, her eyes far too innocent for you to say anything to object.

"Alright, but we need to leave soon if you want to be there on time," You nod, "Go! Go get ready!"

She lets out an involuntary squeal before hurrying upstairs to get ready for the big night. You let out a deep exhale and already begin to feel the guilt set in about lying to your boyfriend.

"Hey beautiful," The familiar voice begins as he walks into the lounge of his family home, "Should we get going soon?"

Before you can reply, Shawn's arms wrap around your shoulders from behind, his tall form dropping so his head could rest beside yours.

"I was actually thinking I'd meet you back home," You say, hands instinctively reaching up so you could run your fingers through his hair, "I wanted to take Aaliyah to see about that dress for her birthday and they're selling out pretty fast so-"

Shawn hums and turns his head so that his lips ghost your cheek, "You're so sweet, darling,"

You chuckle and shake your head, feeling the lump already form in your throat from lying to those irresistible eyes.

"I'll see you back at ours then," He mumbles and presses soft kisses to your jaw, "Don't leave me alone for too long," He jokes, nuzzling his nose into the crook of your neck.

"Of course not, babe," You turn and catch his lips against yours before hopping up from the couch, "I'll go see if she's ready to go,"

~~~

Despite the guilt from your lack of truth to Shawn, the plan had gone relatively smoothly. You'd dropped Aaliyah off at the restaurant and made sure the boy was there for her, thankful when you saw the beaming smile on his face as soon as she walked close.

And now, you were walking up the driveway to the house you shared with Shawn.

"Hey honey, I'm back," You call as the front door shuts behind you, "They didn't have the dress but we've seen a few nice ones so there are still options,"

Oh god, could this lie be over already?

You can see Shawn in the kitchen but he doesn't respond.

"Did you ask your parents about giving us a lift to the airport? I know it's still a few weeks away bu-" You continue to ramble but stop when you realise your boyfriend hasn't even glanced up from his phone since you'd walked in, "Babe?"

You couldn't remember the last time you'd come home and Shawn hadn't instinctively welcomed you with a kiss. In fact, it was like a rule in your relationship that he did so.

"Are you alright?" You let your brows fall to a frown.

Your instant reaction was one of worry, of course.

"Hmm?" He glances up, eyes partially void of their normal warmth, "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine,"

"Okay," You reply with laced caution, "Well, it's the first Friday of the month which means it's rom-com night! You pick the movie and I'll get the snacks,"

"You can choose," Shawn shrugs, standing up and going to walk past you, "I'll watch whatever,"

As he walks past, your lips pucker like you expect him to kiss you but they are met with the harsh touch of empty air instead.

What the fuck was wrong with this kid?!

Nonetheless, you grab the popcorn and opt for a random Netflix romance film, settling down onto the couch beside him to watch it. Normally, Shawn would make grabby hands at you as soon as you walked in and he would engulf you in his hug. Or he would yawn and settle his head over your lap so you could play with his hair and, every so often, dot the brown curls with delicate kisses.

"Are you okay?" You ask instinctively, unable to brush off the worry seeping through you.

"I'm fine," He mumbles and did he just roll his eyes?!

You let your eyes linger on him for a moment longer before forcing them back to the screen and focusing solely on the really shit storyline.

~~~

In the last half of the movie, Shawn stuffs his phone into his pocket and stands up, "I'm going to bed,"

"Shawn what ar-"

"Are you alright locking up?" He interrupts instantly.

You pause and blink once, twice, "Uhh, yeah yeah that's fine,"

Again, you didn't remember the last time that Shawn didn't lock up the house before the two of you went to bed - always having a flare of protectiveness that he couldn't shift.

However, tonight, he nods and makes his way upstairs to the room you shared - leaving you to lock up the house and follow with a deepset worry in your chest about what had happened and where your loving boyfriend had gone.

~~~

Climbing into bed was even worse, as soon as your weight dipped onto the bed, Shawn was quick to shift to face away from you, one arm tucking under the pillow.

"Are you kidding me Shawn?" You sigh, more fed up than worried by now, "First you don't kiss me when I came home, then you sit on your phone all through movie night, you go upstairs before I do and now you're going to bed without talking to me?"

Shawn grunts some sort of incoherent reply.

"You know you were the one that set up these little traditions and now you're pissed so you're acting like it's nothing," You continue, hoping your anger would spark some in him.

"Well maybe I thought not lying was a tradition too but I guess not," Shawn snaps, grabbing his phone from the nightstand and handing it over, shifting himself to sit up in the bed, bringing his knees up.

When you look down at the phone, it was open on a conversation of him and one of his school friends. Specifically, there was a screenshot the friend had sent him. From his little brother. And it was none other than a photo of Aaliyah sat across the table from him - on their date.

"You took her on a date and you lied to me," Shawn mumbles with sadness washing his syllables.

You take a deep sigh before beginning, "Shawn I think there's two parts to this, okay?"

He glances up but not at you.

"I should've told you, I know, because we don't lie to each other and I hated doing it, god knows I'm terrible at lying!" You try to laugh a little, "Remember the time I tried to surprise you on tour for the first time?"

He can't help but faintly smile, "I was on the phone to you for forty one seconds before you told me,"

"So you know I wouldn't want to lie to you," You turn things back to the situation, "But Aaliyah's a teenage girl who got asked on a date and I wanted it to go well for her, is that so bad?"

"You could've told me," He grumbles, "I would've been okay with it," His jaw clenches as he speaks.

"Now you're the one that's lying," You scoff, shifting in the bed so your positioning was identical to his, with inches still between you.

"She's my little sister, I don't want to see her dating some random guy," He states, dragging a hand through his curls, "He could be an asshole,"

"Shawn, when I first started dating you my brother was the same. In fact, I didn't tell him we were dating until everybody else already knew because I knew what he'd be like," You confess, "And, to me, it was ridiculous. Here I was dating this incredible guy and all he could think of was the worst,"

"So you think I'm being selfish? Pathetic?"

"No, I actually think you're completely justified. Because you're her brother. But from her perspective it isn't like that. She's going on a date with a boy she likes and she's scared to let her brother get in the way of that," You explain, "So I had to help her. Because I know what it's like to be in her shoes,"

Shawn swallows and you can tell he feels guilty for how he reacted.

"And, fuck, it was worth it to lie to my brother if it meant I could go on dating you," You laugh, "So maybe it will be worth it for Aaliyah and this guy. And, if not, well, I'll be there to handle that one too,"

You push down his legs and swing yourself round to sit atop his thick thighs, facing his blushing cheeks.

"I'm sorry for overreacting," He nibbles at his lip, "I should've kissed you when you came in and I should've cuddled on the couch and I sh-"

You silence him with a much awaited kiss, cupping his jaw and holding him against your lips as his hands move to pull your waist as close to him as humanly possible.

"You were just being a pouty boy," You mock, pouting your lips and letting out a light chuckle.

He rolls his eyes and kneads your hips in his grasp, "I don't appreciate you enough, you know?"

"Oh, god, I know," You joke with a shake of your head, "But, hey, I couldn't ask for more,"

He hums and kisses you once again, running his hands to slightly south of your hips and moans a little against your mouth, evidently fed up of acting distant.

~~~

Tags: @imarypayne @sunshine112 @bringmethehorizonandpizza @supernatural-girl97 @vibhati123 @butithasntkilledyouyet @faefictions @carisi-sonny @trap-house-homiecide @spiderrpcrker @tommydaspidey @oneblckcoffee @darlingtholland @fanficparker @xxtomxo

[nadunacreates]

NANOWRIMO 2019 • WEEK FOUR

•

WIP: heroes bleed red

THIS WEEK’S WORDCOUNT: 7’054 / 11’669

TOTAL WORDCOUNT: 58’242 / 50’000

•

read on under the cut for some excerpts and other fun stuff.

•

GENERAL RANT:

this week was like the exact opposite of week two. i had such a hard time and really hit that writing slump, hated everything about my story but still forced myself to write at least 500 words a day. i’m not sure if i’ll be able to use a single one of those in the end. i completely lacked the motivation to write this round up, which is why i’m only doing this now, on december 1st and i’m also really just counting that week four and not the last two days. i’ll post a total roundup of the whole month, too, as well as future plans, but i don’t know yet if i’m going to manage to do this today or only tomorrow. anyway, week four was positively shitty all around and thus the following excerpt won’t be great, but… have them anyway.

•

FIRST LINE BIT I WROTE THIS WEEK:

“Sorry,” Kaliope says, and decides to just once in her life fuck it and tell the truth. It’s not it can do much damage, right? She’s not interested in a friendship with Moe, after all, or even getting to know her any more closely than what is strictly necessary for the observation of her enemy. She’ll be keeping an eye on her, as much as possible, and nothing more. It doesn’t matter if Moe likes her or not, whether she thinks of her as a freak or not. Kaliope will not matter more to Moe than any other customer does. So. Truth it is, no matter how bitter it tastes going over her tongue, the regret and fear of rejection just things she doesn’t really feel.

-

yeah, kaliope, keep telling yourself that. so it runs out i’m really bad at writing consistent characterisations and not turning everything into an angst fest. also this is somewhat towards the end of my main characters’ first interaction as civilians, and it’s definitely one of those things that will drastically change in the second draft, if i ever make it that far.

 •

LAST LINE I WROTE THIS WEEK:

Amethyst likes these days, when she’s got enough brainpower and energy left to place these kinds of mind games, think about all the possible consequences to her actions. When she’s not just left playing catch up and trying not to die.

-

amethyst is moe’s hero identity, in case i’ve forgotten to mention this before. which i probably have, knowing me. it’s a bad line of an even worse scene and it’s most likely to get cut, heh

•

AN UNEXPECTED REVELATION THAT HAPPENED:

apparently both moe and kaliope are bad at making friends (or at least feel that way). so both their co-workers decide to friendship-match-make them. which is so not how i planned this whole thing to go, but oh well. now at least i get to write them texting and having moe be oblivious that kaliope is that annoying villain that she likes to complain to her about. identity porn is my jam, even though i feel like i’m really bad at writing it and also i’m giving out spoilers here like warm bread or however that saying goes. although i doubt that anyone is even reading this, or that i might ever get to the point where these things count as actual spoilers because i feel like i’m never going to be able to finish this. one of the reasons is the other “unexpected” revelation, with a lot of emphasis on unexpected, because by now i should really know myself better:

this story will not be done in 50k. is not done in 50k. i barely reached the middle of the first act now, although my outline is patchwork at best. which means that i think this story is going to be at least 175k, which would mean writing more than 1000 words every day until the end of february, sooo. gonna be playing the long game here. which means, in turn, that i’m probably going to be posting about this wip for a long time to come. if anyone wants to opt out of the tag list, feel free to do so, because i feel like my incoherent ramblings are not the most aesthetic things to read, or whatever. but also if you’d like to cheer me up, please do so. i need it ^^°

- the following excerpt is the second part of this match making thingy, happens very soon after the first lines of this week’s writing -

“What are you trying to do?” Moe asks then, and there’s so much suspicion in her voice that Kaliope can basically hear it dripping off of it. She did mention that Farren could get into strange moods, though, so maybe this is just one of their great ideas that Kaliope and Moe will have to wait out.

Maybe not, though, because Emerson suddenly clears their throat, moves down the bench to sit close at Kaliope’s side, and then they slip her own phone back into her hand. Kaliope startles, first, and then she glares. “Where did you get that? Why did you get that?” How didn’t I notice?, most importantly, because what kind of super villain is she if she doesn’t even notice her own phone getting stolen?

“You put it down on the table in front of you,” Emerson explains, calmly, as though this is something entirely rational. “I know you don’t have a code. I just put in Moe’s phone number, don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about— why the fuck would you do that?”

“You need more friends,” Emerson and Farren both say at the same time, because apparently Farren is trying to explain the same thing happening to Moe. It’s making Kaliope feel a little better, to be honest, that even the Great Hero Amethyst didn’t notice that her phone got stolen, that as an actual hero she should be able to prevent that kind of thing, let alone let it happen to herself.

“And Moe is the perfect choice, seriously. You don’t have to do anything but come here a few times a week and let her talk to you during her break.”

“What in all hells? Why are you trying to take our lives in your hands like that? We’re actual grown adults—”

“—and certainly older and more mature than you, Farren,” Moe puts in, and—

“—and certainly older and more mature than you,” Kaliope repeats, “and we don’t need you to friend-match-make us.”

“We were getting there on our own,” Moe puts in, and—

“We were getting there on our own,” Kaliope repeats. “Wait, what? No, we were not!”

“See?” Farren says, probably to Emerson, considering their conversational tone of voice. “I told you they wouldn’t get around to it by themselves. We did a good thing, there, and you don’t have to feel guilty.”

“Oh no,” Kaliope says, “you have to feel very guilty. Keep on right doing that. I’m done with you, you little traitor.” And Kaliope doesn’t even know herself if she’s joking or not, because she does mean it, a little, and at the same time she doesn’t, there’s just— something that she feels, something curling low in her belly and squeezing tight around her chest, something she doesn’t have a name for, something she doesn’t want to find a name for.

It’s an unfamiliar kind of feeling, and she doesn’t particularly like it, wouldn’t want to have it repeated.

•

RANDOM CHARACTER FACTS I DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE:

there are way too many side characters that suddenly got way too much screen time and importance to the whole story. and it seems like i can’t stop making new ones.

there’s the owner of the garage where moe has her second job at, for example. he turned out to be lenny’s grandfather (lenny is one of moe’s best friends from her high school time and it was basically their death that triggered her whole “i’m going to be a superhero now” thing and yeah. it’s probably time i make some proper character introductions. maybe that’ll help me get my motivation back.) and that’s big. also he apparently knows that moe is the hero amethyst? although i’m pretty sure that i mentioned in one of the first scenes that absolutely no one knows about her being amethyst. seriously, this is going to take so so much work to edit.

but yeah, another new character is the wind, apparently, and that’s going to change so much? but also make a lot of the things make more sense?

also there are like four cops or “hero liaisons” as i call them for some reason, and somehow they get to have a lot of impact as well??

look, i have zero control over anything in this story, i’m just glad to get any words out at all and maybe do some world building and character development while i’m at it.

•

SOME LINES THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE, SOMEWHAT:

Moe doesn’t know if she’ll be able to sleep now. […].

She wants to. She wants to get to. No Amethyst, not today.

(And yet, she turns on the radio, puts it on her nightstand, lets the static trickle on and hopes it won’t get interrupted, won’t turn into voices asking for backup to go up against a villain.)

(And yet, she puts her suit on the free space next to the radio, ready to be slipped into at a moment’s notice.)

(And yet, she’ll be ready to leave at that same moment’s notice, no matter the time of day or night.)

•

and that was the last roundup! i’m kinda glad it’s over, save for the total roundup now, because i’m really bad at picking out interesting stuff and not rambling too much and actually stick to a posting schedule and everything else, basically. i hope that at least some of you liked these posts, but well, even if you didn’t, it still helped me reflect on the week and see that i actually managed to get some things done, and yeah, not everything is bad and a lot of it is fixable. much more fixable than an empty page would be, at least, so! and i won nano early, that’s worth something, right?

[cutesuki--bakugou]

Ancient Soul

Time Travel, Quirkless, Feudal Japan AU

“Your soul does not belong here.” Those were words you never thought that you would hear. Now, thrown into the past in feudal Japan, you must find a way to survive, all while struggling to avoid the growing feelings for one hot-headed war general. War, romance, death and love drive you forward, to find the place where your soul truly belongs.

Bakugou Katsuki x Fem!Reader

Want to start from be beginning? Check the Ancient Soul tag. New chapters released every Wednesday as long as schedule permits.

Genre: Romance / Angst Story Rating: Explicit | Adult Themes, Sex, Death, Depictions of Violence, Alcohol

Chapter 1:  Hey, Hey, It’s Haunted, You Know?!

Chapter Rating: No Warnings Apply Words: 3367

The sound of your blaring alarm from your phone was something that you hated with every fiber of your being. It was a horrible, annoying ringing that would be more at home in some B-rated SiFi movie, but it was the only thing on your phone loud enough to rip you out of sleep. So, with a loud groan into your pillow, you reached across and snatched the device from its resting place, attempting to press the ‘dismiss’ button three times before you were successful. Once it was off, you only took a quick glance at the time, only to further confirm that it was indeed six in the morning.

It was no one's fault but your own that you were so exhausted. You had stayed up late with your friends, shamelessly ditching homework for some voice chat and video game fun. Yes, you knew you had to be up early and that your eight o’clock class was brutal, but you felt like you had deserved that little break. Your life the past few years had been nothing but grinding away at school work, barely even having a social life that didn’t involve the occasional trip to a karaoke bar. That is also how they talked you into skipping class today to come on a little trip with them to some… haunted shrine.

A mixture of exhaustion and the desperate need for companionship had prompted you to agree, and so you all busied yourselves by scaring the wits out of each other on some horror game. You had all planned to meet up at ten, so you had wanted to get a little more sleep. But again, you had crashed the instant you lied your head on your pillow, thus completely forgetting to turn off your alarm. Now what? Should you attempt to go back to sleep and possibly end up sleeping through your meetup time? Or maybe getting up and taking a nice, long shower would be good for you.

You did neither at the moment, beginning to scroll through your social media alerts on your phone that you had been ignoring. Even your friends there seemed… distant from you. You hadn’t made an update or post on anything in a couple of weeks, so overwhelmed with school work that you could hardly even breathe. Just the thought that you were going to skip class today was making you nauseous, so in an attempt to avoid the thought, you rolled over to face the wall and began searching your destination on your phone.

Shōshitsu Shrine, or The Vanishing Shrine, just a few hours drive outside of Kyoto where you were currently attending university. How dumb, you thought, scrolling through the numerous stories and claims of supernatural happenings in this place. Why would they want to go to this place knowing all the weird stuff that has happened? I swear, if something happens I’ll never forgive them. I bet Mirio wants to do this just to get some type of footage!

With a heavy sigh, you let your phone fall out of your hands onto the bed beside you, figuring that scaring yourself before you even got there wasn’t a good idea. You knew that there was going to be a constant conversation about all of this on the drive, so getting all worked up about it was pointless. Tamaki may be able to keep the conversation away from that stuff just because he’s as nervous as I am… Though Nejire will most likely not be able to stop, I think she’s the most excited just because it’s something new.

Dreading the thought, you finally dragged yourself out of bed, giving a hefty sigh as you stretched. Aching bones gave way and popped, giving relief to your basically mangled body. Sitting in a chair in front of a computer playing games all night has a tendency to do that to you, but again, you had no one to blame but yourself. Just as you couldn’t blame anyone else for your phone slipping from your hand and nearly landing right on your foot, making you curse out and jump back a bit to avoid it. “Damn it. Clumsy.”

Gathering your clothing for the day, you sheepishly shuffled into your bathroom, giving your [fur color] cat a soft pat on the head as you passed its favorite sleeping spot. “Good morning, kitty.” You were greeted with a fluttering meow in response, bringing a smile to your lips as you shut the bathroom door behind you. Purposefully avoiding looking at yourself in the mirror, you set your clothing down on the edge of the vanity countertop to begin your regular shower routine.

It went by in a blur, your exhausted mind struggling to keep hold of your surroundings, and by the time you exited the bathroom nearly forty-five minutes had passed. Normally, a shower would have you feeling refreshed, but all it had done was make you want to crawl back into bed. You refused to do so, knowing that you couldn’t bail on this trip, and laying back into bed would ruin it all. So, for the two and a half hours that you had to spare, you first busied yourself with a bit of cleaning up and piddling about online.

When you finally descended the steps to your apartment, you couldn’t help but give a small shiver, finding that it was quite a bit cooler than normal for summer. The puffy, dark grey clouds in the distance were obviously the reason, and you hoped that during the drive, you would outrun the rain. One, because you didn’t have an umbrella or jacket with you, and the thought of going back up three flights of stairs to get those items wasn’t exactly exciting. Before you could truly make your decision, a car pulled up beside your building, honking excitedly at you.

“Hey, hey, [f/n]!” Nejire called from out of the back window, waving you down excitedly. “Hurry! We have to get there fast, it’s going to rain, you know! Can you tell?”

“Did you guys bring umbrellas and things?” You asked after hurriedly approaching the car, sliding into the backseat beside your nearly bouncing friend. Her long periwinkle hair was tied into a braid over her left shoulder and she was dressed for hiking, which you were… not. “Oh no, are we going to hike?! I didn’t know that!”

“Oh, yes!” Nejire watched you closely as you buckled in. “There are a lot of stairs and woods around there, you know, and they don’t take care of it.”

“Ah don’t worry about it, [f/n]. I checked it’s not really hiking, just a lot of stairs.” Mirio piped in from the driver's seat, giving you a comforting glance of his always present smile. “And we have enough umbrellas!”

“That’s not true, Mirio, we only have two! See!” Nejire picked up one from the floorboard next to her feet. “And mine is small! Do you think two people could fit under here? Hm?”

You couldn’t help but release a small squeak of surprise as the umbrella suddenly opened, nearly smacking you right in the face. “Oh geez, Nejire, close it! We can test that when we are out of the car.”

“It’s bad luck to open umbrellas inside,” Tamaki spoke softly from the front, nearly incoherent behind Neiire’s rambling on about how cute her umbrella is. “And Mirio can’t see to drive.”

Nejire gave an airy laugh, finally closing the umbrella. “What?! You can’t get bad luck from opening an umbrella inside a car! That’s just inside a building. Oh, oh, it would be really bad luck to open it in the shrine! Should we try?”

You gave a small shake of your head, pulling out your phone to hopefully distract your mind from the conversation you knew was about to start. “Can we even get inside of the shrine?”

“No,” Mirio gave a small shake of his head. “I mean, sure, if you really tried to I bet we could. But we were just going to look.”

“And not desecrate or be disrespectful. That place is no joke, someone vanished from there just last week.” Tamaki shifted a bit in the front passenger seat, looking back at you over his shoulder. “Did you hear about that?”

“Yeah, yeah, did you hear! Some older man, he just… poof!” Nejire did an exploding hand gesture along with her description, before clapping her hands once loudly. “But, as long as you don’t go there alone, it’s fine! Staying together is how you stay safe! And ignore the foxes!”

“Foxes?” You looked at your friend curiously, watching her hair bob as she nodded energetically. “I didn’t know there were foxes there.”

“Mhmm! I did a lot of research on this, you know, I bet I could tell stories the entire drive!”

I bet you could. You gave a tired sigh, rubbing your cheek as you lied your head back on the headrest of the seat. The feeling and sound of the car driving down the highway was comforting, and you could have sworn that even Nejire’s excited voice was lulling you to sleep. Just as soon as you closed your eyes, you were suddenly jerked awake by the feeling of the car coming to a stop. A familiar, heavy grogginess and a sour taste in your mouth told you that you had fallen asleep, though you were surprised to find that you were right at the entrance to the shrine.

The stairway was marked with a crumbling torii, the dark wood decayed and worn from the abuse of time. It was ominous, a clear sign that this particular shrine was not worthy of upkeep for one reason or another. There were no warning signs, but there were remnants of proof that a team of police had been here recently to conduct a search for the missing elderly man.

With a heavy intake of breath, you forced yourself to exit the car, taking a moment to adjust your t-shirt. Being up higher in the mountains, the air was cool and refreshing, though there were the sounds of a nearby road. It was comforting to be able to still have some grip on civilization, knowing that if something happened, you could find help easily.

“Wow, it’s so creepy! Look, even the trees are growing away from the torii!” Nejire pointed up towards the trees as she made her way close to the entrance. “I wonder why that is! Hey, Mirio, do you know? Hm?” She patted her friend's shoulder eagerly as he came to stand beside her, which he ignored in favor of crossing his arms over his chest.

“I have no idea! C’mon, let’s go!”

With that, he began to make his way up the steps with Nejire following close behind, though she did take a moment to stop and curiously touch the wood of the torii. With a heavy sigh, you were about to make your way up with them, though you noticed that there was a particular person who had not yet gotten out of the car. Coming to stand beside it, you leaned over to curiously peer inside, immediately recognizing the worried furrow of Tamaki’s brow. “Hey, are you okay?”

He gave a quick shake of his head, only giving you a quick glance before back down at his phone he was clutching tightly in his hands. “I think I’ll stay down here for… for a while. Go on up before you lose them.”

“Are you sure? I can hang out with you until you’re ready.”

“N-No, I’ll be ready in… In a little while. You can go.”

You gave him a small, comforting smile before moving away from the car, starting towards the stairs. “Just text me if you need me to come back!” If he answered, you didn’t hear it, trying to focus on the uneven, cracked stone steps. That’s all you would need is to fall down who knows how many stairs just because you didn’t see that one particular crack. The further up you went, the more you felt like the trees were closing in on you, darkening your surroundings and bringing a further chill to your skin.

Just as Nejire had said, it was creepy. It was so damn creepy, in fact, that you almost felt the urge to fly back down the stairs and hide in the car with Tamaki. It was almost as if there were eyes on you, watching your every move. You could only imagine chancing a quick glance up, only to be met with the glare of a ghoul that would steal you away. Perhaps they were behind you right now, so close that the wind on your nape could easily be the breath of a forlorn spirit. Shivering from the thought, you quickly made your way up the stairs, focusing only on the thought of your destination and not the cold feeling of clammy hands on your arms.

You were panting heavily by the time you reached the top of the stairs, but you didn’t dare stop until Nejire and Mirio were in your sights. Leaning over and propping yourself up on your knees, you struggled to catch your breath, barely able to hear Nejire calling your name behind the pounding in your ears.

“[f/n]! Did you get scared? Huh? Why are you so tired? Look at this shrine, it’s so much smaller than it looks online! Oh! It has bugs!”

Recovering, you stood back up, starting to make your way towards them as you tried to restrain your heavy breaths. “Wow, it is a lot smaller and… not anywhere near as creepy as the way up here.”

“You were creeped out on the way up here? I thought it was pretty! Oh, oh, Mirio take a picture of me with this statue!” Nejire seemed quite uninterested in what you had gone through, but the fact that they hadn’t noticed the odd energy made you feel even more uneasy. Deciding to just brush it off, you began to wander a bit, observing the crumbling ancient shrine. As you made your way over to the left side, you had to hop up over a fallen beam, careful not to trip as your sandal shifted unevenly beneath your step.

Suddenly, a flickering of light caught your eye, pulling your gaze down along the wall of the shrine. There, a small wooden box sat, with a picture, flickering white candles, and white flowers. Curious, you stepped closer and squatted down beside it, finding that the picture was of an elderly gentleman. Instantly, you felt your skin crawl, knowing that it must have been the man who had vanished just recently. The fact that the candles were lit meant that someone had just recently come up here to grieve, and you immediately felt like an asshole for showing up just to gawk at a place that housed so much suffering.

Just as you were about to stand, it began to rain, just a light drizzle. After peering up at the darkening sky, you turned your focus back to the tiny altar in front of you, feeling a twinge of sadness as the candles were put out by the rain. Placing your palms together in front of your chest, you bowed your head and gave a quiet prayer for the man’s soul, before standing to find your friends to hopefully avoid a similar fate.

“Mirio! It’s raining! We forgot the umbrellas and Tamaki!”

“He’ll come up when he’s ready, and it’s just a little- ah, okay, it’s raining hard.”

“C’ mon, let’s go get the umbrellas, quick! Besides, you’re the only one who can get Tamaki to come up, too!”

It was then that you heard the footsteps of them rushing down the stairs, joined in by the loud rush of rain on stone. Feeling panic bubble within you, you were quick to try and rush back to the pillar you climbed over before. “W-wait, hey, don’t leave me up- WAH!”

The pillar, aged with mold, became slick in the rain, and your foot slipped out from under you the instant you tried to push yourself up. You landed hard on your backside, the pain making you hiss out and lay down in defeat. “O-Ow… Damn sandals!”

For a moment, you just laid there, hips pulsing in pain and the rain falling on your face. You could have almost admitted that it was… peaceful, to lay there like that. All peace was jolted from you, however, as there was a rustling in the brush beside you, making your eyes instantly flash open and heart race violently. You were frozen in your spot, and yet the rustling grew closer. You could just imagine a ghoul crawling towards you out of the darkness, body contorted and blood dripping from whatever hole could possibly be the most terrifying.

Damn stupid haunted shrine! I swear I am never going anywhere haunted ever aga-... A fox?

You found yourself face to face with a fox as it came to stand over you, peering down into your [e/c] eyes as if it were a human. Cautiously, you shifted yourself to the side and sat up, breathing heavily from your momentary terror.

“A-a fox… out in the rain. At a haunted shrine. I must have hit my head and passed out or something…” You adjusted your sitting position to sit on your knees, resting your hands on your thighs as you leaned over a bit to look down at the fox. Its gaze never left your face, watching you so intently that you figured it must have been scared. Though, it didn’t have a frightened body posture, nor was it snarling in any way. The orange and dark brown fur that covered the animal was oddly dry looking, even with the pouring rain, but you couldn’t really say you had ever seen a wet fox before.

“Uhm…” You felt a bit stupid for even thinking it, but you had an unending urge to just… talk to it. “How’s it going… foxy?” As if in response, the animal’s left ear gave a twitch, bringing you to notice that it was missing quite a large chunk out of it as if it had been bitten by something. Plausible, of course, since it was a wild animal. What you still couldn’t get over was the way it looked at you, as if it could truly understand you or even… read your mind? It was so bizarre, so intimidating that you were beginning to feel a bit sick to your stomach. “I… Maybe you should go.”

“No. You are the one that does not belong here.”

The wispy voice that filled your mind startled you so badly that you were suddenly frozen with fear, gaping down at the fox as you struggled to comprehend what was happening. D-did it just talk to me?! Did I just imagine that? What the hell--

“You are not imagining anything.” Again, the voice came to your mind as the fox stood from it’s seated position, taking a few delicate steps towards you. It was then that your flight responses kicked in and you backed away, quickly finding that you were pressed up against the stone wall of the shrine.

Breathing heavily, you cowered as far back as you possibly could. “G-get away! I don’t care if this is some hallucination from falling or if it’s real, you need to get away!”

The fox did not move from its spot, though its tail did sway a bit. “It is not a hallucination. But, I am not the one that needs to leave.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave. I’ve obviously gone insane.” Your voice trembled as you spoke, feeling your entire body shaking as you began to stand. “I’m gone! I’m out of here forever.”

“You misunderstand me, [f/n].”

Again, you found your body frozen, fearful gaze locked on the fox as it stared up at you. You couldn’t move an inch, not as it approached you and not even as a wicked grin crept across its lips, revealing human-like teeth.

“It is your soul that does not belong.”

[diabolik-lovers-box]

How the Next two Months are Gonna go Down

Sooo for the past like ever I have been kinda scared of making decisions (it’s a long and personal backstory that I don’t really feel comfortable sharing so please try to understand). It was something that caused me a lot of stress and despair, it was a bad part of me, for sure. But recently, I’ve been working on it. I’m going to an emotional support group for the first time on Thursday. I’ve thought about getting an emotional support dog (something that I really benefited from as a child, but unfortunatley, she has moved on to her next life) but I probably won’t cause I can’t afford it right now. Anyways, I’m rambling, the point is: I’m really working on it so I hope you all see improvements in me as well—this place has always been a great suport for me :)

Now, I love running this blog, but something I always struggled with was making planning decisions. When will I have time for this? But if I do that, I won’t be able to write that? Is this even good enough? Is this what they wanted? All those questions were always ones that I spent hours thinking about. I felt like nothing was the right choice and everything I did made people unhappy. Nonetheless, I know it’s something that I need to improve on and get my mentality to a more positive state.

So, I’m learning to make decisions on my own. I know I’m going to mess up here and there so I hope you will all forgive me for those.

Something I’ve really been sitting on is this old 1,000 followers celebration situation which… is a very, very long story on its own. Basically, from the beginning I overestimated my abilities and, well, it’s been a mess ever since.

However! It is now an important part of my mission to improve! I do deeply apologize for it taking so long and being a messy setup from the beginning, but, like I’ve said, I want to improve so please bare with me! 

Now, moving on to the actual announcements I have!

For @your-diabolik-lovers:

things will resume as normal. Asks for this blog are really easy for me to keep up with due to the fact that I can answer them on my phone throughout the day every day so please look forward to a continuous steam of your daily lovers!

For @diabolik-lovers-box: 

HERE WE GO!

So, first things first, if you are a winner of the 1,000 followers lottery (I will tag you bellow so you’re sure to see this!) then please message and/or follow @1000prizes where I will be contacting with all of you and (if you’d like, I can always just message them to you) posting all of your prizes! That is also where I have the schedule for publishing and when you’ll get your much deserved and much awaited prizes! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them!

So, here’s the list of winners that I still need to write pieces for: @alltheanimeimagines, @smolyandere, @reijisama (though we’ve already talked a bit oh! and I think I saw you message me, I’ll be sure to answer that message soon!), @sleepi--boi, @eliphante123, @petitelenz, @i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones, @yukinonshi 

Next, as for the blog’s regular publishing schedule. Well, my box has quite a bit of stuff in it right now so I’m going to close it for now, but it should be open in about a week. I am going to try my very best to post one matchup/some left over compatibility summaries and one prompt response a day, however, I will be prioritizing my winners in the beginning of the upcoming weeks so Mondays, Tuesdays, and (maybe even sometimes) Wednesdays may have to have just incorrect quotes while I focus on finishing their prizes. Please be understanding of that!

If there are any questions from anyone about anything, please feel free to ask them! I want to help!

Okay, I think I covered everything so I’ll shut up now ^^;

Oh! One more thing! I know I haven’t really answered any messages since I got back—sorry, I know a lot of people are trying to get a hold of me ^^;—but don’t worry, I’ll start answering them asap!

Reminder: I just got back from South Korea earlier today so if there’s anything in here that’s incoherent or just doesn’t seem right... I’m very confused so it’s probably just the 12 hour flight wearing off... 

If someone actually read all of this... I love you and you deserve the world, thanks for your time & thanks for listening :)

[alargebear]

Episode 1 Rambles

Since Sunshine season 2 is finally here, and I’ve decided to try and be a bit more active, I’ll be writing up my impressions on every episode along the way. Expect just general thoughts and overall I’m probably going to be pretty positive with all this. I find how I think about the previous episodes can color my expectation, so this’ll be mostly gushing about things I enjoyed with a few of my incoherent thoughts thrown in. Hopefully, I’ll get one of these done each week. Just don’t expect something all that polished because I wrote this as fresh off watching the episode as I could.

Don’t hesitate to message or ask me something if you think I missed something important, want me to expand on something I mentioned, or just want to talk about the show more.

Oh, and these might have a bit of a bias toward Chika. I’ll for sure discuss everything that happens because I love all of Aqours, but I tend to focus on Chika because I love her character. Figured I’d give that bit of warning.

All my season 2 stuff will be tagged with llss2, so if you want to avoid spoilers, that’d be the tag to look out for.

Just like last season, the first thing that I’m struck by is just how gorgeous this show is. From the backgrounds, character designs, and animation, Sunshine knocks it out of the park with its art, and never lets up. The scenes by the ocean are stunning when paired with such pretty lighting, characters (Riko and Chika’s scenes especially) just pop when focused, and the backdrops draw you in and enhance each scene in ways few do. This might sound like more praise than it deserves, but it’s rare that I’m reminding myself just how pretty an anime is while watching, that goes double for shows in Love Lives vein, and Sunshine is definitely a show that allows me to get caught up in the beauty of it. The fact that the 3d isn’t so distractingly ugly helps as well(though it can still be a bit jarring).

The parallels between Chika and Riko’s interactions in the first episode of season 1 and this season were an excellent way to show off character growth in a way that didn’t bash you over the head with it. From Riko’s immensely cute impressions of Chika’s monster from season 1 to the meaningful care that Riko brought in a way that would have been impossible if she never met Chika or joined Aqours, we got to see just how far Riko’s come as a character and person. They were scenes that could only happen between Chika and Riko, and I think that’s a testament to how well Sunshine has done in building their relationship from strangers to something truly special.

This ties into the last point, but I think it’s immensely important to point out how vulnerable Chika is willing to make herself around Riko, and the rest of the group as well. A recurring theme for Chika last season was her unwillingness to let anyone else shoulder the burden she thought she had to bear alone as a leader. It’s not until after Aqours failure in Tokyo that Chika finally is willing to let everyone else in, learning that she doesn't need to be some unshakable leader for everyone else to stand on. But, we never got to really see what that meant in the context of her character, because as season 1 went on, we had the third year drama, the prep for love live, and the final show. Not much time was given to show off what was assumed to be growth for Chika as a leader, but we finally get to see it here in season 2. Chika’s vulnerable, scared, and unsure of what all of these new struggles mean, and the fact that she’s willing to share these things with other people is a great sign for her moving forward.

I should preface this point by saying I’m one of the few people that think Dia did get the closure she needed out of all the third year drama by talking to Mari in episode 9, so that might color a few things differently, but I liked the flip of their drama before. It’s not nearly as big a deal, but Kanan and Mari knowing something while Dia’s in the dark is an interesting flip of what happened before with Dia knowing and not being able to bring herself to tell Mari. Kinda liked the bit too where Mari said she couldn’t bring herself to tell Dia for the way it mirrored things before as well.

Speaking of Mari, that girl kind of stole the show. With great lines like “I don’t speak Japanese” and yelling shut up when addressing the entire school, the episode did a good job of reaffirming her as the goof that everyone knows and loves. But man can this girl angst. Watching her come to grips with the fact that her hard work wasn’t enough broke my heart. I also loved that they get on Chika like they did when they broke the news and she said they could save it and what a slap in the face that could be to Mari since she was always trying so hard. It’s not something I expected the show would address, but it certainly reaffirmed the third-year bond with how quick Kanan and Dia were to jump into Mari’s defense (that little “tee-hee” from Mari really got to me). And it’s a great bit showing how Chika just stupidly rushing forward and hoping isn’t always enough. I want Mari to be happy, I guess that's the moral of it all.

Having the group all be okay with losing in the regionals was great. It helps reaffirm the message from the first season that shining as bright as you can was the most important point of their being a school idol. Not having the heavy angst hit them until they realize they actually ran out of time to save the school helped keep the overall message from before intact while setting up the imminent closing of the school and all the problems that would cause. Because everyone was operating under the assumption that they had the rest of the year to get enrolment numbers up, and it’s not until the closing of the open house(?) that they realized things may actually be over. This is when the questions come up of what could have been if they had succeeded instead of getting bumped at only regionals. A bit of a look back at what could have been as they're hit with harsher challenges. 

Something this episode really tried to push at the end was the idea that, if you want a miracle to happen you have to go out and make it happen. A lot of Chika’s internal angst is caught up on what to do, but in the end, with the rest of the group as well, she reaffirms that they do need a miracle to save the school and they’re going to make that miracle happen. They don’t seem to be worried about any of the consequences or fear of failure, their goal of saving the school is a million to one, but they believe they can make it happen. Though it’s not just believing, which is what the original series stressed a lot(Believe in your dreams and all that jazz), Aqours knows that if they want this to happen they need to reach out and take it. No waiting for some magical feather to fall into their lap to help them realize their goal, if the schools going to be saved, they’re going to make it happen with determination and hard-work. It’s a message that I love, and one I hope this season really runs with.

To finish, I guess I should mention the paper airplane and my interpretation of it. It seems to be the new symbol, replacing the white feather I mentioned before. While the feather is something that falls into your lap, seemingly like a manifestation of the group's hopes, dreams, and aspirations, the airplane flew away from Chika. This isn’t something that’ll just come to her if she wants it hard enough, if Chika wants to catch up to it, she’ll have to run hard as she possibly can. It seemed to guide her toward the light, spurring her on a bit. To me, it symbolizes the need to run forward, that Aqours goal won’t be met by waiting around. It’s a goal, something to strive for, and Chika’s going to have to keep running and reaching to grab hold of it. Because if she doesn't, everything they've built won't matter at all.

Oh, and there were some cute moments here and there like always. You and Riko peeking through their hands as Chika did her flip was some of the most thinly-veiled gay they’ve gotten away with (the blushes and expressions really sealed it), the much wanted but short Kanan and Yoshiko interaction, and really just having everyone back on screen in a new story made me so happy that I can’t wait to see more. Overall, a solid base to build off and that’s all I could ask for.

[theticklishpear]

Writer’s Questionnaire Meme

Tagged by @roselinproductions - <3!

Rules: Answer the questions for your work. You can use different works in progress. Don’t hesitate to link your stuff for the curious ones. And tag writer friends to play along!

1) Which scene/paragraph/sentence are you the most proud of?

Quill should have felt sorry for them all; every single person still standing around the docks staring up at the huge mass of rock floating away remained because the city meant something for them. Seeing it leave meant that something was gone. It didn't mean nearly so much for Quill. It wasn't his life down the gutter or anything else so important, but it was adventure. Corduroy Andrews' voice rang in his ears from just hours before: "You'll never be anything more than you are now." Quill wiped his bloody nose on the edge of his sleeve, gave the city one last contemptuous glance, and headed back toward the newspaper stand where he helped the old man day after day. He could always be found there, no matter the weather nor holiday. The words, "See you tomorrow," fell from the lips of their regular customers as easily as rain from the sky, but it made Quill's skin twitch to know they assumed he would be there. Worse yet, they were right.

2) For which work/piece of work do you get comments telling how marvelous it is, while you’re not that enthralled by that piece yourself?

My works don’t get feedback, so I don’t have an answer to this, sorry. OC works just don’t get noticed.

3) Which character highjacked the story they’re in?

In the third book of the Moonwater series, I introduced a little neighborhood-mischief-maker girl. My main characters were new to the country and the city they were in, and every time they thought they knew what they were doing, it would turn out they hadn’t taken some part of the culture or the environment into account, and this little thief girl would almost always be standing somewhere just “off-camera” watching them be less than brilliant, and she’d call insults at them and tell them their plan wasn’t going to work, and eventually, she became rather integral to the plot, where she was really just my personal relief character when I put her in (fully intending to remove her and rework the scenes when the draft was done). Instead, I’ve reworked her character to round her out and make her appearances more meaningful and whatnot. So she’s staying.

4) Which sentence/kind of sentence do you overuse?

The [noun] [verbed], [like an unexpected simile]. (Where the noun is not something that usually verbs at all.)

5) Which work of yours would you be dying to get fan art for?

I would even settle for incoherent expletives or even a, “[Action] is so typical of [character]! Hah!” But fan art, for sure any of the Moonwater Series stuff, core or companion pieces.

6) Which work would you rather forget?

I have a box of old works in my closet and I ask myself every time I move if it’s time to get rid of them, and the answer is always no. Even the angst-ridden poems after the deaths of friends or the long rambling prose poetry written after botched attempts at being cool in public. They are where I came from, reminders of how low I’ve been, barometers for how far I’ve come. I don’t want to forget them. I want to remember, and I want to progress.

7) Do you have a project you never got the nerves/guts to write?

Less a question of nerves/guts--I don’t know what I’m not capable of until I try, after all--and more a question of knowing I didn’t have a story to go with it. The Deerking story, for instance, I haven’t written because I don’t know what the story is yet. I have lots of ideas I haven’t done anything with, but it’s not because I don’t think I can--I don’t have that kind of judgement--but because I don’t know where they belong yet.

8) For which fandom have you written the most? (can be original fic, say if you count in terms of words, chapters or fics)

I’ve never written for fandom, but I have written more than 500,000 words in the Moonwater universe, including an upcoming D&D campaign!

Just tagging: @akiwitch & @ancient-trees this time.