#this is actually pretty long compared to what I usually write so I cut it a little bit short

[ataleofcrowns]

Chapter 12 Progress [08/APR]

Hey gang, I've started posting updates on my Patreon now that I'm actually making some damn progress on this chapter, so I figured to cross-post the latest update here as well. These are usually for members only but it's been sooo long, the ones I'm posting in April are all going to be for free 🙏🏼

This progress report focuses on a specific section of what I'm working on regarding CH12 and, more specifically, Kham.

About Kham

This one is turning out to be a bigger branching route than I expected. For those not in the know, I described in my dev sneak peek from last month how the opening scene of CH12 will involve the Crown dealing (or not dealing?) with Kham. It will be a bit of a culmination of all the choices you've made regarding Kham so far: did you inform her of the assassins in CH5, did you decide to trust her/were you honest with her in CH6, and did you choose to ask her to mediate for you in CH10?

Particularly that last decision will lead to the biggest difference in scenery: if you asked for Kham's help, you will get a scene at the palace involving her and the peri trader. If you decided not to ask her, however, the story will instead see you investigating the peri trader personally.

Initially, these were both two very clear branching paths with two very clear-cut consequences, but I decided it made more sense to offer additional variation. Choosing not to ask for her help with the peri trader will NOT lock you out of being able to ally with her... but the circumstances of it will be quite different compared to a player who has trusted Kham from the start and asked for her help.

You can, of course, decide not to ally with her on either branch as well, if you don't think she can be trusted. In which case, you should be prepared to make an enemy out of her: there's no fence-sitting on this one, and there won't be any chances to make an ally of her later on in the story. Similarly, if she turns out to be untrustworthy, and you make an ally out of her now, there won't be any takebacksies later... so you might end up stabbed in the back.

This is your one and only shot, so choose wisely.

About D and X

I'm currently working on the branch of the Crown dealing with the peri trader without Kham's involvement, and it's a pretty fun variation. There are some undercover detective vibes going on, and it's nice to write a scene set in the city as opposed to the palace for some variety. Though I've also dabbled in the route with Kham's help, and the Crown really flexes their royal authority in that one. Can go no wrong with either option in terms of entertainment, imo!

What's also been fun to explore further is how the main LI's subplot is starting to affect things in the story. I do have to note that for the branching sequence with the Kham choice, there's a bit of a spotlight on D and X since those two were gone for a whole chapter, so they get to spend some special time with the Crown in the first half of CH12. But R and A will be back for the rest of it!

I'll give you some D and X route crumbs this week since I've been chipping away at that one first, and hopefully I'll also have some on R and A next time:

For people who aren't on D's route, they'll get to find out something special about D that D romancers became privy to in CH11. It doesn't change much for the Crown on those routes, just some D lore you may enjoy and an opportunity to grow your friendship further.

As for D romancers, you all may or may not get a potentially devastating sequence depending on how your Crown handled their little court scene in CH11. If you managed to protect D, then all the better, but if you couldn't stamp out the court's protests... well, let's just say your Crown is going to have to be the one to inform D of any bad news.

Plus there's that damned letter to worry about. I'm sure that won't become any kind of problem at all.

For people who aren't on X's route, things are peachy! Honestly, all of the drama that happens for X romancers is not a big deal for everyone else, since X's romance with the Crown is the thing that causes them to act out. X friendship players are coasting in that regard, you just enjoy seeing X get to be their usual menace self.

For people who are romancing X, people on their low route might start noticing something different about them. Their actions in the high and low romances will be the exact same, but the vibes on the low route will be off, to say the least. You can still recover to a high route! But it will require having to pierce through that mask X is so fond of wearing...

High romancers: kick back, relax, and enjoy your upcoming romance content guilt-free LMAO

That was it for this week!! I wish I could give you an estimated release window, but I've been wrestling with this chapter, and I'm frankly deeply afraid I won't be able to finish it before summer rolls in 💀

Please keep your local struggling writer in your thoughts and prayers, and as always thank you for your patience and support 🙏🏼

[cinnamonest]

Lena thank you for the spanking bit, has to be one of fav kinks ever because it just... fits every single yan regardless of who they are??? Kinda like a "universal" thing, just top notch. Do you think we could ever get headcanons for it?

Thank you for this anon, you're absolutely correct it is a top-tier kink

Also I've been wanting to write more about god-era Morax so thank you for the opportunity to do so, I rambled way more about him than the others here sorry lol

As for those who fit the kink best imo I’m going with Childe, Diluc, Ayato and Morax

//major spanking kink material (obviously) but gets kinda bad in severity/intensity, also mentions of hair-pulling, biting, throat fucking, anal, two cocks for Morax again (as always 👌)

--------

Childe is probably the best one here to end up at the mercy of here for once, for the sake of your poor ass at least.

Not that it isn't still awful and painful — he’s a sadist at heart and just adores making you squeal and cry. What at least makes it comparatively at least bearable is that he tends to use his hand — although that does make it more personable, more humiliating.

He tells you, though, exactly what he intends to do. You're being such a little brat today… come over here…

He doesn't even seem angry, but rather excited. He's all smiley and cooing in a way that feels so utterly humiliating and degrading.

Oh, but please do run. Please, please make it so much more fun for him, run away and try to hide. There's virtually nothing in the world that turns him on as much as either a game of chasing you or hunting you down wherever you're hiding. The fact that you're that scared of getting your ass beaten is kind of cute, actually. Are you that sensitive to pain, or is it more protecting your pride that gives you so much resistance? Not that he's complaining or anything.

He'll even give you a very wide opportunity to run, make sure you have plenty of avenues to do so. His heart rate begins to go up seeing the look of realization in your eyes when you spot an opening to run off, and he'll give you a minute or two of a head start. It doesn't take him long to find you nonetheless, hauling you up over his shoulders and carrying you back to your room with obvious excitement, like a predator dragging squealing, still-living prey back to its den for its inevitable fate.

That being said, doing that will make it worse for you — at that point you probably do deserve a belt at least, you know? Regardless of the instrument of choice though, he keeps you bent over his knee — he can feel your squirming more that way, and he can grind his hard-on into your stomach as you thrash around and squeal. Each strike still lands on bare skin, but rather than having your lower half naked, he likes to sometimes move the hold on your back and grasp at the waistband of your panties instead, jerking them up to wedge between your cheeks, effectively holding you in place and baring your skin at the same time.

He's so mean about it, taunts you that same voice you hate so much—

Aw, are you actually crying? Maybe I'll stop if you beg for something else…

There's no set number or standard of how much you'll be punished for any particular offense, which can be more torturous than anything. At least if you were given a number, you'd know how much more you had to endure. Instead, you just lurch and squeal each time his hand or the leather comes down... you kick your legs and thrash about, to no avail. In fact, you're pretty sure it just makes him hornier, you feel his cock twitch and his breathing grow more ragged the louder you cry out, and his hand on your back forces you down harder.

He’s actually totally shameless about getting off to it, too, so you can’t use that against him.

God, you're so cute when you cry like that... squeal louder for me...

The only real upside is that it's usually abruptly cut off at some point once he's too aroused by it to continue, and needs to just bury himself into your holes. You get slid off his lap onto the couch or bed, barely getting any time to recover — still sniffling and whimpering— before being contorted to whatever position he wants and rammed into without warning… thus for once, him being perpetually horny and having virtually no self-control actually becomes a positive. It still doesn't help, though, that the sex makes his hips smack against your sore ass with each thrust, but crying out about that only makes him go harder.

You know it could be much much worse — he makes sure to remind you that he could easily keep going until you completely break down, but he's so nice and you should be grateful for that — but you're still sore, and it leaves a pinkish-reddish tint under your natural flesh tone — something he likes to point out to you later, groping at your ass and laughing when you jolt at the sting. Your nose wrinkled with your expression of disgust as you jerk your head away from him, and you mutter under your breath.

Bastard...

And then, you squeal and lurch forward as one more harsh smack lands on your backside. You try to ignore the chuckling that follows as your eyes well up with embarrassed tears, and you bury your face beneath the covers of the bed.

-------

Diluc’s punishments are awful in terms of pain, but thankfully they're over fairly quickly because it's largely an act of momentary fury and irritation, and once he gets that anger out of his system, the punishment will be over, too.

He's still very intimidating about it, and it doesn't help that it's always a sort of spontaneous thing he decides on in the heat of the moment — thus you see the exact moment you know you've crossed a line, but also know (or at least, quickly learn) that there's nothing you can say or do at that point that will get you out of being punished. His eyes narrow and his voice lowers and he tells you to get over here in a voice that makes you feel like your heart just stopped, and your stomach feels as if it twists into a knot when you see the confirmation of your dread when he takes his belt off.

Running is not advisable — it's not like you'll succeed, and you'll just make him more mad. He's rough with how he handles you, dragging you by your clothes and hair over to bed, counter, or the back of a couch, forcing your head down.

How bad any one particular spanking is varies a lot depending on how mad you've succeeded in making him. He's not merciful at all, so he hits with force based on the level of his frustration. Thus, your attitude is important — you can technically commit a lesser offense, but if you keep backtalking and being bratty and fighting it, you'll likely get a worse punishment than you would for a worse offense for which you were apologetic and submitted to punishment easily.

What does change with the severity of your offense is that if what you didn't isn't so bad, you can keep your clothes on, but for particularly egregious transgressions, even in spite of the heat of the moment, unfortunately, he doesn't forget to pull your clothes up or down and off to make sure you're bared first.

He virtually always uses a belt, much to your dismay, and prefers to bend you over various surfaces since he can strike harder that way. It’s painful, you always end up in tears quickly, begging and pleading and spilling apologies for whatever you did, but he never has any mercy on you.

Much like you can’t get out of it to begin with, there’s also nothing you can do that will make it end any sooner than he feels like it. Over and over, grumbling with each strike about how you’re such a brat, how you can’t just behave, how it’s your own fault, until your flesh is reddened and burning badly enough that even when it’s over, all you can do is slump forward and cry.

If he went really hard on you, he might feel a little bad afterwards, getting you a wet cloth to soothe the burn… but he’ll still remind you that you wouldn’t be lying there all shivering and sobbing if you just learned to behave yourself properly.

For him, it’s more of an actual punishment first and foremost and not really an intentionally erotic thing, at first he’s too mad to think much about the eroticism of it… but seeing you lying there sniffling with your butt so heavily marked and welting, admittedly he does quickly get hard… and he’ll get incredibly flustered and embarrassed if you accuse him of getting off to it.

But be careful — push him too much on that matter, and such antagonism might be grounds for a round two on your already-stinging ass.

-------

Ayato’s punishments are particularly unpleasant, but the thing is that if you're in that situation, you deliberately chose it. Because he's gracious enough that you get a lot of warnings before reaching that point.

If you're being bratty, temperamental, rude, or whatever other behavior he doesn't like, you get a certain look first. The standard half-lidded eyes, unpleased expression, the universal ‘stop that right now’ glare. Maybe a passive aggressive comment if he can slide one into conversation.

If that fails — in other words, if you keep being a brat regardless, deliberately ignoring his warnings — you then get a verbal warning. He'll address you directly if it's just the two of you, but gods forbid you’re digging your own grave by misbehaving in front of others, he waits for a moment where everyone else's attention is on something else before pulling you close in a faux gesture of affection (with a grip harsh enough to ensure you get the message but not enough to alert anyone else in the room to his quiet fury), lowering his voice, whispering directly into your ear.

We’re going to have a talk about your behavior when this is over. Do you understand?

You know by now what a "talk" actually means, and hearing the words makes you stiffen and swallow. Granted, by the time it reaches the point that you've been that bad, you won't escape without at least a few swats, but if you persist, you'll just make it much worse. All you can do is nod your head and wait in dreadful anticipation.

As soon as the company you had leaves, you try to slowly back away, looking for an opening to run, but he has you grabbed by your clothes or hair and is dragging you off before you can even try. The total silence on his end as he drags you over to your room only serves to amplify your dread, and thereby your little whimpering protests.

The primary thing that will make it that much worse is what he uses to punish you, because from the day he brought you home, he anticipated a need for discipline at some point, and thus had a whipping cane custom-made just for you. One of those thin wooden canes designed for no other purpose than infliction of pain and punishment, which he leaves sitting out in your bedroom at all times, making sure it's always within sight as a subtle threat, a reminder of his power over you and that your behaviors have consequences.

He doesn’t raise his voice, doesn’t get heated, yet somehow that makes it so much worse. He’s perfectly calm as he holds you down on his lap, a hand wrapped into and grasping your clothes on your back to ensure you’re not going anywhere with each sharp pain on your bare skin. He’s very disciplinarian about it, ensuring to emphasize the reason and intention of the punishment itself—

Remember that you had every option of avoiding this. This is only the consequence you deserve. Do you realize that?

You nod and whimper and try to apologize, but it doesn’t make each swat any lighter. He’s rather harsh about the severity too, the degree of pain, duration, number of swats and outright humiliation often feel disproportionate to what is in your opinion a mild offense, although you know better than to voice that thought.

You beg, sure, you cry and whimper and say you'll take any other punishment, but it goes in one ear and out the other, your words have no effect, and while his voice has that characteristic gentleness to it, he's still cold and firm in his reply, if he even gives you one.

You're not getting out of this. Hold still.

He does take care of you afterwards, so lovingly and gently it makes you angry. He reminds you again that it wouldn't have to happen if you behaved, that you have no one but yourself to blame, all while kissing your crying face, holding you close and gently massaging the newly formed welts.

He also likes to make you gauge how many lashes you deserve beforehand, often making the total number a certain multiple of how many times you mouthed off or did something against your rules. And of course, whenever there's a fixed number, he makes you count.

Listening to your voice grow more and more shaky and begin to crack, your speech becoming slurred with sobs and oh, how precious is the sudden panic in your voice when you realize you've lost count. The way you tense and start begging and whimpering when he replies—

I suppose we'll have to start over...

-------

Morax’s punishments are always by far the worst.

That's largely because there's a maddening element of psychological torment involved. It's slow, drawn out, the dread and anticipation are almost worse than the punishment itself. He actually employs a variety of corporeal punishments, each of which make your stomach churn just to think about, but unfortunately, putting you over his knee and beating your ass until there's a deep red hue to your skin is a personal favorite of his.

What makes his style of discipline so unbearable is that you’ll be punished for literally anything. There is no possible offense, no rule to be broken, that won’t earn corporeal punishment of some kind, most usually on your poor ass. You get a very clear set of rules, rules you’re expected to know and obey from day one. Countless little rules, so many of them meticulous and pointless. Things you must do, things you must not do, and rigid standards for your attitudes and behaviors.

Each and every violation is its own offense — not to mention, things like lying when asked about what you did, objecting to punishments, even talking back or trying to defend yourself when accused count as individual offenses too. Sometimes you don’t even realize you’ve broken a rule until he tells you you’re going to be punished for it, and any protest or whining counts as another offense.

Really, you’re lucky if you can go a few days in a row fully able to sit without any stinging pain, and it’s not uncommon for you to earn back-to-back punishments one day after another. You know for a fact that your record of days in a row without ending up laying in bed, whimpering and crying and clutching your backside in pain is a single digit number.

Sometimes, if it’s severe enough, you’ll get put over his knee right then and there, but he’ll also tally up the small offenses and, at the end of the day, punish you cumulatively for every small offense you’ve made, because he can’t allow even the slightest offense to go unpunished.

It’s not limited to things you do in his presence either, because he has ways of finding out everything you do.

Every day that you can't accompany him, he has an established routine for when he returns. Firstly, of course, you're supposed to greet him when he comes in (any attempts to be petulant by giving him silent treatment or hiding away will result in further punishments), but then, as he sits you down, holds you close, he asks you the same question.

Have you done anything you should not have today?

It's a torturous question.

On one hand, you could have very well been very well-behaved, in which case you can answer honestly with at least some confidence (although even then, part of you hesitates thinking maybe you committed some offense unintentionally).

But when you haven't been well-behaved and you know it — that's what's torturous.

It's a gamble. He asks every single day, so him asking itself is not a dead giveaway that he knows what you did. If he doesn't know — well, you might be able to lie and get away with it. Inversely, how unfortunate would it be if you told him, and it turned out he didn't know, and then you had to suffer when you could have gotten away with it?

On the flip side, if he does know — well, you'll soon be squealing like a stuck pig regardless, but things are much, much worse if you try to lie. You would know — you've taken that gamble a few times now and lost.

He seems to have ways of finding out everything — you only lied when you were absolutely confident, thinking there was no way anyone saw the thing you did, only for your stomach to lurch when you feel the soft stroking against your thigh stop, and are met with a low voice—

…Is that so?

And the tone, the way he says it, you immediately know you've messed up.

Of course, you could hypothetically keep denying it, but entrenching yourself further in a lie is, by that point, the worst decision you could make — you would know, you tried that once and you couldn't sit down normally for over a week. The best thing to do now is to confess… you won’t get any mercy or a lighter punishment, but you’ll avoid the additional punishment you’d get for doing anything else.

But even then, he can’t even give you the decency of forcing your body to bend and getting it over with. It has to be drawn out, torturing you to the greatest degree possible — sometimes, he does this by delaying it, telling you he has something else to do first, leaving you to sit around and wait in anticipation for an hour or more. If an offense is bad enough, one session might not even be enough, and you're told that you'll get another one tomorrow, adding to your dread.

But most of the time, the torment comes from forcing your own participation. He keeps you firmly in his lap, reaching down to grope at the flesh where your butt meets your thighs.

What do you think you deserve to have happen to you?

Another test, a question for which you’ll only receive something worse in addition to whatever will happen already if answered incorrectly. There’s only one right answer—

…Y-you should... punish me...

On the bright side, he’s genuinely pleased once you start learning well enough to know what the right answer is.

You’re stood up, guided over to the drawers, hands firmly on your shoulders to ensure you don’t get any ideas about running. You hate that one drawer, it makes your stomach churn just to look at. He has a damn collection for you— leather straps, whipping canes, paddles with holes in them just to hurt that much more. He tells you to pick one.

That, too, is a test— you know which ones hurt more. You're supposed to gauge what you deserve based on the severity of your offense, and he'll be that much more displeased if you go too lightly on yourself, and will consequently be more forceful, which you do not want. Eventually, you manage to make your choice, biting your lip, pointing with a shaky hand, tensing as his hand runs motions that would be soothing in any other context up and down your thigh, pausing to grasp at the fleshy part of your backside.

Then you're led back— sometimes to face the wall or bend over a counter, but most often he prefers to keep you over his lap. Not that you'll be forced down either— not unless you make that necessary, which of course, you do not want. Unless you want it to be that much worse, you follow the commands— pull your robes up, the waistband of any underwear down, bare your skin (always, no matter how mild the offense), lay down on your stomach, put your hands behind your back so he can grasp your wrists.

And even then, even then you have to be tormented further.

Now, what did you do to deserve this?

You recall to the best of your ability, hoping you didn't forget anything, lest you be accused of trying to be deceitful in hopes of escaping consequences, which will add another tally to the list.

It’s painful. It always is. You've reached a point where your resolve to not cry and squeal is defeated pretty early. You used to try your best not to for the sake of your pride, but you know by now that it will go on long enough that your tears and crying out are inevitable.

He manages to somehow be so stoic and calm and yet somehow so, so cruel about it.

Does it hurt?

Your shoulders quiver with little sobs, you go tense as he gropes and kneads at the raw flesh.

Y-yes, it hurts, it hurts so bad, please no more, please—

You cut off with a high-pitched cry as the stinging pain strikes again. And again. And again. It's always so much, so unfair compared to the weight of whatever you did. That slight pinkish undertone isn't quite satisfying enough either, he never stops until there's a deep, deep red tone to your flesh.

If you've been especially bad, you may have to count… but he actually tends to prefer not giving you a set number. You're more fearful that way, uncertain of how much more you have to endure.

You're certain he gets off on the pain for one thing, the sound of your cries and the way you jolt and squirm, but the humiliation is worse than the pain itself, for you. He knows that, revels in it. He's told you before—

You're such a prideful little thing… that will certainly need to be fixed.

Repetitive subjection to something so inherently humiliating and vulnerable, and being made to break down, any semblance of toughness and dignity being torn away at his hands, is a way of slowly breaking down your pride. You know that, it makes you so angry, but you can't help but let that vulnerability be exposed every time, to act in such a way that ensures he knows how badly it humiliates you.

Your go limp with exhaustion when it finally stops.

What have you learned?

You can barely speak, voice hoarse from the strain of your cries and speech muffled by sniffles and sobs.

I'm sorry… I won't do it again…

And then, he has the audacity to be so, so sweet to you. Looking down at your tear-streaked face, smiling— no, smirking, a belittling, amused expression— leaning down to kiss your forehead.

Poor thing.

Kneading at the sore flesh in spite of how the touch makes you wince. As if it isn't his fault, as if he had any mercy on you the whole time you were begging for it to stop.

It only makes you angrier. More than once now, you've earned a second round for how you reacted to his undeserved kindness. So ungrateful.

It's never a solitary punishment either, always coupled with something else, always something equally humiliating and discomforting, if not painful. You know he gets off to it, because the second punishment is almost always a direct sex act of some kind.

You'll take his cocks down your throat, grabbing your skull and fucking your face without any restraint, forcing you to swallow every last drop of seed, even forcing your head down to lick up whatever you spill off the floor. Your saliva just provides the lube to force you to bed and fuck you until you can't even stand, and all the while his hips bounce off your poor ass, each movement stinging against the sensitive flesh. He'll bite your flesh, unnaturally sharp teeth even piercing you skin, leaving you covered in marks. If he's feeling really, really mean, you don't even get the semblance of pleasure of it ramming into your poor sore, raw pussy— you'll take both cocks into your tight little ass instead, a stretch that makes you squeal and thrash and cry. Your legs kick and you lurch forward, desperate to pull yourself off, but you're jerked back with a growl as he slams into you, completely bottoming out. Eventually, you give in as the stretching pain ebbs away and trying to take whatever pleasure you can from the faint stimulation to spots of pleasure through the walls of flesh. But the act is utterly humiliating nonetheless, your hole left twitching and gaping for hours as cum leaks out and onto your skin. You can't even sit for days, both your poor asshole and backside sore and tender.

Your embarrassment and resentment builds. You loathe him for it, feel so humiliated and angry at yourself and how deeply you dread the punishments that it makes you nauseous.

And thus, in one particular incident, fed up and filled with spite, you made the greatest mistake of your entire time trapped with him— you decided to run, seeing that for once you had an opening to do so.

A stupid choice, really. You don't get far. Not even a full ten steps.

You know immediately that you have severely, sincerely fucked up. The sheer harshness with which you're grabbed, the back of your clothes grasped and twisted with unprecedented force, the draconic growl to his voice that makes your blood run cold.

Oh, dearest, you have no idea how badly you've just stepped out of line.

His other hand latches onto your throat.

You're going to be sleeping on your stomach for quite some time, won't you?

The statement alone makes tears well in your eyes, any bitter pride quickly crushed. You shake your head profusely, start begging for forgiveness, but you know in your heart that it's far too late for that… it still doesn't stop you from whimpering and apologizing as you're dragged back down the hall, no doubt to one of the worst punishments you've endured yet.

[xxmrs-waynexx]

Gloss & Glasses: Chapter One (940 words)

Pairing: Clark Kent x reader

Warnings: none for this chapter

___

The people wanted to know. That’s what you told yourself as you walked through Arkham Asylum. You were being escorted by two armed guards and trying not to make eye contact with anyone in the cells. You had heard of Gotham’s crazies but you’d never come face to face with any. But the criminals around you weren’t who you were worried about. 

Last week, you paced your father’s office venting to him about how boring your magazine seemed. You were running out of shocking fashion trends and celebrity scandals to report on. So, as your heels clicked back and forth and you reapplied your lipgloss anxiously for the third time, your father sighed.

“Why don’t you try reporting on crime? And real important events?” He suggested, as he always did. Perry White was so proud when his daughter told him she was going to college for journalism. However, after she graduated, and showed no interest in newspapers, crime, or anything of the sort, he was very disappointed.

“What billionaires are up to is important. The people wanna know. And besides-” you were cut off by one of your dad’s reporters.

He poked his head in, “Harley Quinn’s been arrested again. Sent to Arkham.”

“Bill, if you have to say again in a tone like that, do you really think it’s news?” Perry looked at him, unamused.

Bill said nothing, simply nodded, and stepped out again. 

“What were you saying?” your dad brought his attention back to you.

“I just had an idea…”

—

So, here you were, sitting across the glass from the infamous Harley Quinn. She sat criss-cross on the ground on her side of the glass and smiled eerily at you.

“I love all the pink,” she told you, motioning to your outfit. You could most commonly be seen wearing pink and/or preppy clothes. Though your father worked for everything your family had, you very much dressed in the old money style mixed with a bit of Mean Girls. You’ve even been compared to Elle Woods. 

You smiled back at her, though yours was much less ‘I’m-going-to-kill-you’ and more genuine. “Thank you. Mind if I record?” You showed her your audio recorder. 

Harley tightened her pigtails one by one and grinned, “Go for it, kiddo. I gotta say… No one’s ever come here to ask me about my style before.”

As you hit record, you chuckled, “Yeah, and I think that is so unfair. I mean, come on, you even made your jumpsuit look cute. You’ve got to be one of the top three best-dressed criminals.”

—

After an hour of chatting, the interview turned into a casual conversation. You’d actually gotten to know Harley Quinn and the evolution of her costumes pretty well. And after another hour, you were ready to write up a whole two-pager all about her and her style. 

“Thank you so much for the interview. I promise I’ll get you a copy- I’m allowed to do that, right?” you stood, looking back at one of the guards who had escorted you. He gave a simple nod and that was enough.

“Ah! I’m so excited! Thank you for the girl talk. It’s been too long since anyone tried to talk to me like a person,” Harley also stood, walking backward to sit on her bed.

—

The day you returned to Metropolis was a Sunday. You silently cursed yourself for telling your dad you’d be in the office Monday. Though you didn’t work for him, he did let you take up office space at the Daily Planet and use his software (as well as your own, of course) all for free. 

Out of habit, before bed, you looked out your window to see if you could catch a glimpse of Superman. He was a new hero in Metropolis and you, along with most cityfolk, were very eager to see what he could do. 

With no sign of him this time around, you decided to start up your skincare. The routine you had was incredible. You knew you had an addiction to buying creams, face masks, and new things to keep yourself looking good, but who cared? Your skin was clear, and your heart was happy.

As soon as you put on the same mask you usually wear to bed, you heard car alarms down below your apartment. Rushing to grab your camera, you raced to your back porch and looked down. You fumbled with the camera, trying your best to capture what you could see. Of course it would fall ten stories down.

“No!” You tried to grab it but it was just out of your reach.

Then, the exact thing you were trying to photograph flew your camera up to you. “Drop something, miss?” he had a kind and very handsome voice. It was deep and confident.

“Suh- Suh- Suh-” You slowly took your camera from his hand while he hovered just above the ground.

“Hi, I’m Superman.”

—

The next day, you rushed into work eager to tell your father who you met. But when you walked into (more barged into) his office, he had a young man with glasses sitting at the desk.

“Oh, Clark, this is (Y/N), my daughter. Her office is that obnoxiously decorated one next door. (Y/N), this is Clark, my newest reporter.”

As the two of you were introduced, you couldn’t help but feel he seemed familiar to you somehow.

He politely waved at you with an awkward and shy smile, “Hi, there. Good to meet you.” His voice had a sweetness to it, and a midwestern accent. However, he looked at you like he already knew you.

[hearthotchner]

i’ll change for you

— aaron hotchner

@my-mummy-dust

tw; death, suicide, death of a child, lots of crying, aaron is a meanie, child abuse, then, the usual criminal minds stuff

notes: this took so long to write 🤧😭 but i really do like it. also, i have no idea how the criminal minds writers write this kinda stuff, i felt so horrible for what i wrote about the victim ☹️

word count: 3.2k

tension in the precinct was so thick, it could be cut with a knife; no one dared to speak, not with the stakes this high. you all just put your heads down, hoping to make sense of this mess of a case.

in the beginning, it seemed pretty simple. but, then the case began to drag on, with the unsub taking a longer dormancy period between each kill, leaving you and your team like sitting ducks.

you profiled this — he was arrogant, cocky. he knew that anything and everything that happened, was in his control; you hated to admit it but, right now, it was true.

as the minutes went on, aaron was becoming more agitated. it was obvious this case stuck with him more than others, they were children, innocent, defenceless, children; of course everyone felt that way about cases involving kids, but you knew that it was different for parents. and, as much as you wanted to, you refrained from trying comfort him, knowing he wanted to be left alone.

he had all the giveaways: the way his brows were furrowed, the scowl plastered on his face, how his whole body was tense, with his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.

“i don’t get it. you said he was young, out of control, so why’s he taking a longer time between each kill? shouldn’t it be the other way around?” the deputy asked.

rossi spoke up, “yeah, it should be. these kinds of unsubs are always conflicting themselves in their profiles, it’s strange, but rare.” reaching for a few photos of the crime scenes, he continued, “look. you see all these? spilled milk, broken plate, unfinished homework.” he pointed at each picture where it was present, “he’s recreating something, that probably happened in his own childhood, and now he’s projecting it onto them, he sees himself in them, and feels he’s obligated to punish them.”

derek, fiddling with the pen in his hands, spoke next, “the trigger may have been something to do with a parent, and something as simple as seeing the first victim getting told off in a public place, like a park or mall, would prompt him to break into their home, and ‘punish’ the kid.” he shrugged.

“killing the parents is simply to ensure he doesn’t have his fantasy ruined, which is why they’re shot with a single bullet, through the skull.”

spencer takes over, “all these examples show how he is in control. however, his lack of control is displayed in the actual kill of the child. it reflects how, internally, he’s losing it.” he spoke with his hands too, raising them closer to his chest, at the world ‘internal’ “with each and every murder, it becomes more brutal, he beats them even after he knows they’re dead. it’s actually a huge escalation we see compared to the first, where he strangles the victim.”

“but why take the child this time? all the others were killed in their own homes. what makes matt different?”

“that’s what we’re trying to figure out.” rossi sighed.

all heads snapped to the front of the room, when the door was abruptly opened, revealing the officer who was slightly out of breath, “i think we got something. someone’s called the tip line, asking for you guys.”

—

“this is ssa aaron hotchner, with the behavioural analysis unit.”

the plan was to get him on the phone long enough for penelope to track him, and humanise the victim in his eyes, an ounce of empathy could save that boys life.

clattering and yelling could be heard from the other end of the line, shouts of “tell them!” repeated, over the loud sobs that escaped the child.

you couldn’t listen to this anymore, but you had to.

he was relentless, hurling insults toward him, and all you could do was sit there and listen.

looking over at your boyfriend, you saw him take in a deep breath, composing himself, before talking, “matthew’s just a kid, he doesn’t know why he’s there, or, why you’re mad at him.”

“oh yeah? he’s a spoiled brat, that’s what he is, and he fucking knows it! mom’s not here to save you is she?”

aaron tried to reason, “don’t do this. you’re doing the same thing to him, what they did to you, shouldn’t you be putting an end to this cycle? just bring matthew home, we can help you.”

sobs and begs for forgiveness grew louder over the line, “shut up!” you didn’t know who it was directed at, nor did you care. undoubtedly, it was the loud bang of a gun that filled the room, right before the phone was cut.

aaron sucked in a breath, hands beginning to shake slightly.

“penelope, tell me you got something.” morgan asked with desperation.

“yeah- i, uh, yes. it was a burner cell, pinged off of these three towers. i’ve already sent it to your phones.” her voice wavering.

“mom?” you whispered.

“what?”

“he said mom. garcia, could you check if matthew’s mother had any other children, around 20 to 25 years ago?” you hoped to god you were getting somewhere with this, if you weren’t, you doubted you’d catch this guy.

“o-okay.” there was a pause, as she typed, “yes. a son. eric watts. born in 1990, when elizabeth was only 16. he was put into the foster system, the day he was born.” she paused again. “his foster parents, brian and martha crawford, weren’t so kind, during his time with them: constant visits to the hospital, with broken bones, concussions — blamed it on fights, but, it wasn’t backed up. although, his school reported seeing bruising around his neck when he was younger once, but nobody ever did anything.”

“can you check if there’s a property, that has any significance to him? maybe, his old foster home? he’d need somewhere secluded.”

“um, yes! there’s a small ranch house in brian crawford’s name, just a few miles off the west tower, sending the co-ordinates now.”

wasting no time, the team quickly threw their vests on and piled into the two SUV’s — police units following closely behind.

climbing into the passenger side, you said, “this is probably his endgame. there’s no other reason why he’d change his plans, by taking matt to a secondary location, and have the courage to call — those insults were personal.”

“yeah. he’s jealous. upset. why did my mom give me away, but her new kid gets to live a happy and loving life, one i should’ve had. i don’t think it’s gonna be easy taking him alive.” rossi replied from the drivers seat, turning on the sirens.

—

when you turned the cars in, the lights and sirens switched off, so he wouldn’t know you’d be coming.

slamming the car door shut, you rushed to the front of the house, heart practically jumping out of your chest.

morgan kicked the door down, immediately turning to the left, while you went straight ahead, and JJ taking the right.

a series of hopeless ‘clear!’s was heard through your earpiece.

faint yells that were barely present before, got louder and louder, as you inched toward a white door. “i got him. in the basement.” you announced into the mic on your collar.

wrapping your hand around the cold metal, you swung the door open, gun aimed straight ahead, and quickly ran down the stairs, that creaked under you.

“eric watts! FBI! let the boy go.” aaron was stood right next to you, gun also aimed at the man.

“don’t! get away! i’ll kill him!” he was panicking, scrambling to drag matthew up by the collar of his shirt, holding the loaded revolver to the side of his head.

“eric. you don’t want to do this.” you spoke carefully, your aim not faltering. “we know what happened. your mom.. she was only a kid when she had you, she didn’t know any better, than to do what she did.”

“she let me suffer!” he cried out. “she lived her life happily, knowing i was out there, and she did nothing!” his hand began to tighten around the boy’s neck. “all those years! all those years, and she didn’t come! she got to play house with her perfect little family!” he spat, “while i was forced into that living hell she put me in!”

“killing these children isn’t going to fix it eric. they did nothing wrong, just like you didn’t. you need to stop this, so nobody else gets hurt.” it was working, you could see how his hold began to loosen. “let him go.”

a wave of visible emotion flew through him, as he looked down. horror, shock, disbelief, and, realisation, written all over his face. it looked like he had just woken up from a nightmare.

then, his whole body began to tremble, eyes brimming with tears, when he lifted the gun, to his own head.

a loud bang followed immediately after.

—

matthew was in bad shape.

aaron had carried his limp body to the EMT’s — praying he wasn’t too late. he needed to make sure he was okay, that he’d make it home back to his mom.

sometimes, his vision would change, at a glance, he saw his own son in his arms: all battered and bruised. it was an image that would haunt him for days.

“is- is he gonna be okay?” he croaked out.

“we don’t know, agent, he’s in critical condition.” they replied, shooting him a look of sympathy.

after telling them that elizabeth watts would be on her way to the hospital, aaron asked if he could ride in the ambulance with him. he needed assurance. closure.

—

“i’m sorry, sir. but we lost him shortly after he arrived.”

he felt like breaking down, falling to his knees, when he heard those words leave the nurse. but, all he managed to do was nod, with a solemn look on his face.

aaron didn’t have it in him to go to matthew’s room, to say goodbye — if he did, he may never rest easy again.

on his way to the car, he pulled out a little photo of jack he had in his wallet. seeing his son, always brought him comfort, made all his troubles go away, just for a moment. a small smile creeped up onto the fathers face, when he realised he’d be home to that ray of sunshine, in a couple hours.

—

aaron barely slept that night.

when he wasn’t seeing matt in the corners of his vision, he’d be visited by him in his dreams. the boy would cry, tiny hands gripping onto his shirt, demanding for an answer as to why aaron couldn’t save him; all he could do was let “i’m sorry” fall from his lips over and over again. why wasn’t he fast enough?

—

when morning came, you decided you had given aaron enough time. he was struggling. you couldn’t stand to leave him alone any longer, it wasn’t good for him.

in the short time people interacted with him, he’d get progressively more irritated — he was a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off.

you noticed, along with everyone else, how he’d stare off into the distance, face turned white, his usual blank expression laced with fear and guilt.

“aaron.” you spoke, breaking him out of his trance, “i know you’d prefer to be left alone right now, but i really don’t think you should be. are you okay?” he stared at you. “i think you should take some time off, you’re tired, and you’re stressed. maybe we could make dinner together? to get your mind off of it?” bringing your hand to rest on his, “and we can talk.”

“did you really just ask me that?” he whispered, gaze unmoving, “four kids, seven parents, and an unsub dead. multiple family members for me to answer to, for me to tell that i couldn’t save any of their children. and all you can think about is making dinner?” his brows furrowed in anger and confusion.

“what?” you asked, “aaron, you know i didn’t mean it like that.”

“then what did you mean it like? tell me.”

“i just wanted to help you-”

“well you can’t! stop trying to act like more than what you are, (y/n)! these people are dead, they can’t come back, and you want me to brush that off?!” voice becoming harsher with every word he spoke.

your vision began to blur at the edges, and your throat began to close up, “more than what i am?” you asked. “and what am i to you, aaron?”

“nothing.” he replied coldly.

having nothing left to say, you turned, not wanting him to see the tears that rolled down your cheeks, and walked away.

he didn’t do anything to stop you.

you knew this would happen, knew you’d be the one who’d be at the receiving end of his anger — what you didn’t know, was that he’d reveal the truth of what your relationship really meant to him.

it dawned on you then, that maybe his promises of love were empty. instead, they were used as a mere tool to keep you around, to fill the absence of a partner in his life.

—

it had been three days, since you got back from the case — you and aaron hadn’t spoke. he was withdrawn, barely coming out of his office unless it was necessary, but you saw how red his eyes were, from crying or tiredness, you didn’t know.

you were torn. one part of you longed to go over to him, do anything just to get that look of despair off his face; another part of you wanted to avoid him like the plague. he hurt you, used you — yet you didn’t understand why you were still so drawn to him.

—

there was rowdiness in the bullpen, everyone deep in a debate about how one should cut their sandwiches, until a voice broke through, “(y/n). may i speak with you?”

of course now he wanted to speak, you internally rolled your eyes, genuinely appalled at how he’s handling this, as you walked up the stairs to his office.

“what did you want to talk about, sir?”

the title stung more than he’d like to admit, “don’t. don’t call me that.”

“then what do you want me call you?”

his words were quiet, almost pleading, “my name.”

“i don’t think that’s appropriate, hotch.”

“(y/n), please-”

“listen, if this isn’t about work, then we have nothing to talk about.” you headed toward the door, leaving him alone again.

this time, you missed the way his hand reached out for yours.

you made a beeline for the bathroom, ignoring the teams concerned looks, as you wiped the tears beginning to fall down your cheeks.

you didn’t know why you were crying, it was only the sight of him that seemed to bring all those emotions rushing back, you couldn’t help it, as the dam finally broke.

a moment after, you felt yourself being pulled into an embrace, the person rubbing their hand up and down your back, until you calmed down.

“what happened?” it was emily.

“nothing,” you sniffed, “it’s fine.”

“did hotch say something? you weren’t in his office long.”

“no, can you just get my stuff please? i’ll finish the rest of my work at home.” you sighed, wiping your eyes.

she nodded, giving you a soft look, “yeah, sure, i’ll drive you.”

she told you to wait by the elevator, whilst she gathered your things, and told hotch where she’d be going.

—

“thanks, emily, you didn’t have to do this.” you set your bags down.

“it’s alright, just get some sleep, okay?”

you wanted nothing more. so, when she left, you collapsed on the couch, turning something on the tv as background noise, as you fell asleep.

—

it wasn’t soon after, when you were woken by firm knocking on the front door. rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you sluggishly made your way over, the sound becoming louder, and desperate. you didn’t even bother checking through the peephole, which was why you were visibly shocked, when met with the sight of aaron there.

“please hear me out.” he begged, speaking before you did, “i won’t bother you again, if you do. please, just listen.”

you moved aside, letting him in.

“i’m sorry. i’m so sorry, (y/n).” his voice completely different, compared to the last time you spoke with him — something that was so harsh, was now soft.

he was so unlike himself: hair disheveled, with raw emotion painted on his face — he wasn’t ssa hotchner, bau unit chief, anymore, he was aaron, and he was afraid. “i wish i knew why i said that, i really do, because it was far from the truth. i shouldn’t have said it, i know that, and i should’ve gone to you straight away when i did,” his long fingers twitched, itching to hold you, “and explained to you that it wasn’t your fault, you were just trying to help.”

with every word, you struggled to hold yourself together, because the look on his face broke your heart. the urge to be close to him became unbearable — so, you gave in. wrapping your arms around his body, and resting your head on his chest, the rapid beating of his heart, and scent of his cologne soothing you.

“i didn’t want you to be alone.” you whispered, voice breaking.

you were a sensitive soul, and aaron knew that, which was why he had never raised his voice at you, prior to that day.

“please don’t cry, it’s all i’ve been making you do these days.” he spoke, wiping the tears that you didn’t even know were falling.

“it hurt hearing you say that. i thought- i thought you’d been lying to me, this whole time.”

“i wasn’t. i’m sorry i made you think that.”

looking up, he tried to hold back his own tears. “i’m scared, (y/n)..” he breathed, “ever since that day, he’s been there, always asking me why i couldn’t save him, what am i supposed to say to that?”

you lead him to the couch, sat him down, and let him hold you, as he continued, “and i can’t tell the difference, between him and jack.”

then, he told you how he saw jack as the one in his arms that day. and how, one night, he was putting his son to bed, and the vision of matt flashed for a moment.

knowing it calmed him, you ran your fingers through his soft hair, as he cried.

“you need help, aaron. this job, it’s taking a toll on you. if you carry on like this, you’re going to lose yourself — you already are.” you wove your fingers with his, “but, you can’t be helped if you don’t want it, you know that, don’t you?” he nodded. “jack’s spring break is coming up.” you mentioned, “you should take those days off, it’ll be good for both of you. and, i’ll start looking for some therapists too, alright?”

he kissed your cheek, “okay.”

“if that doesn’t work, then we’ll find something else, and we’ll keep doing it again until we find something.”

it was silent after that. eventually, the two of you moved so that you were laying on his chest; you thought aaron had fallen asleep if he hadn’t mumbled, “you’re too good to me, i don’t deserve you, angel. i’d be so lost without you.”

“don’t say that. you’d find your way around, you always do — i’m just giving you a little shove.” you smiled.

[kimi-twstheadcanons]

Falling Asleep in their Class

(Featuring Sam)

-Headcanon

Pronouns: They/them

Note: Platonic friendships here! I’m tired from all nighters for assignments and I got new classes a while ago so I thought I’d write this for fun. I literally got called out in math by my teacher for dozing off. She wasn’t mean about it tho. :)

He’s offended. Are his classes simply too boring for you? Or do you just not care about these very important lessons? Either way, he finds it very insulting that you had the audacity to show up in his classroom just to sleep and not pay attention

He’s aware that his classes are more active compared to most other classes run by Mr. Trein, so others tend to stay awake

But you? You’re usually more up and focused compared to the others. He had assumed it’s because your learning things that you wouldn’t have learned in your world. Now that you’re falling asleep, are his lessons not as exciting for you anymore?

“Hold it right there, Pup. I need to have a word with you. Ace, Deuce, Grim, you three are excused.” He’d stop you before you walk out the door

Welp, you’re dead

“Pup, you’ve been falling sleep recently. You’re notes have been sloppy and you’ve been participating less than usual.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Crewel, but the Headmaster has me running around and doing jobs for him across campus. Then Grim broke something in the Octavinelle again so I had to work to fix it because I can’t afford to pay for it and-“

“Stop!” He cuts you off. You were expecting a scolding and held your head low

“The Octavinelle incident; I can understand. But you’re telling me that Crowley has been sending you out to do his jobs? That’s ridiculous! I can’t believe he’d have you do that while you’re doing so much already!” He raged

“Oh, you simply must get more sleep, pup. If you keep doing this late night routine you’ll ruin that pretty face of yours. On top of that, it’s not good for your health. Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” He said sympathetically

You were surprised. You thought he’d be mad at you for making excuses. But instead he immediately believed you and took your side

He ended up letting you take your time to catch up on assignments and offered to help you with anything you need that may keep you up at night. He, of course, knows you have to magic. You have him as your homeroom teacher after all

He sees how hard you work and he just wants to help as much as he can since you have so much on your shoulders already

You got your sleep schedule back and now you’re doing better in class. You’re back to your normal self and that’s all he ever wanted. From now on you ask for his help more often if you know it affects you and he puts up no fuss

He won’t tell you, but he’s only doing so more than he needs to because you’re his favorite pup- erm…student

He’s actually pretty surprised. He hadn’t expected you of all people to fall asleep to his history lessons. You had seemed so invested when you got to NRC, he thought you’d at least last until next year

But then he started to realize that you dozing off wasn’t patterned like the others. While others tended to stay awake during interesting or new topics, you fell asleep all throughout and even for your favorite topics

That’s when he realized that you would even walk into the room tired and you had eye bags under your eyes. He wondered what could possibly keep you up so long or what would stress out your mind enough to keep you up

“Halt, (L/n). I’d like to have a word with you.”

You thought for sure you were dead

“Don’t think I haven’t taken notice of you dozing off. Care to explain your reasoning as to why?”

“I’m so sorry I’ve been sleeping through class this week, Mr. Trein! Headmaster Crowley gave me jobs and errands to run. He gave me time limits with those as well. Then something happened with Grim so I had to help with that. Then I had a late study session with Kalim and Jamil. But I was working late at the Mostro Lounge for some extra cash and-“

“Enough! Enough, I’ve heard enough.”

Oh, you are definitely sure you are dead

“I cannot believe the Headmaster would put so much on your shoulders! How irresponsible of him to not take into account that you aren’t like the other students and require much more time and attention?”

Huh?

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything. Including the extra cash. I don’t want you hanging around those Octavinelle students more than you already do. From now on if there is any issue that will halt your ability to learn please come to me. Understood?”

…well that was an unexpected response. But you nod and quietly agree nonetheless. You didn’t have the energy to retaliate so you just agreed. He excused you for the rest of the day saying he will tell explain you situation to the other classes. He also gave you more time to finish assignments for you to get more rest

He then proceeded to send Crowley a very detailed message complaining that he should stop putting so many responsibilities on you since you’ve already got so much on your plate. He also told Crowley that is he’s going to have you run around and least pay you a decent amount of money to live off of instead of having you work for at the Mostro Lounge for extra cash. He was livid to say the least

He’s mad! But slightly impressed? Out of all the rookies he teaches, your one of the ones he actually admires. You don’t have any magic, you’re not even from that world, and you have never even seen a flying broom in person your first day there so your achievements in his class were very astonishing

Even on days we’re you were least active, you never actually fell sleep, however. That was new to him

He didn’t notice anything was wrong because he was keeping his eyes on another student. He found out you had fallen asleep when your broom had drifted off and slowly bumped into him…with you sleeping on it!

Again, he’s impressed. But so mad that you thought it was appropriate for you to be slacking off!

He was prepared to yell at you to wake you up, but a closer look on your face showed that you weren’t just sleeping from boredom; you were exhausted. Like you had dark eye bags type of exhausted

That’s when he decided to shake your shoulder to wake you up. Not hard but just enough for you to feel it. If you fell asleep mid air and began drifting off, he wasn’t sure how much you could sleep through at this point. He wouldn’t be surprised if you had slept through the whole class adrift on your broom

Luckily him shaking your shoulder did the trick. You blinked and looked around, only to jump up and fall off your broom when you realized you where in front of your teacher

“(L/N)! What’s going on with you? You know how I feel about slackers!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Vargas. I didn’t get enough sleep the past few days because I’ve been catching up on assignments for other classes.”

“So you spend you time sleeping in my class instead?”

“NO NO! I don’t mean to, I promise. I’ve just been running around for the headmaster and doing side jobs for extra cash. That’s why I’ve been working late for assignments! I’ve been trying to catch up.” You explain as best you can.

Vargas pauses and thinks for a moment. You, in your mind, come to the conclusion that you are in big trouble

“Go to the nurses office. Take a nap, go to your next class after the bell, and email me when/if you have to make up your missing work outs.”

…what now?

You take a moment to process what he just said. That was nowhere near the reaction you thought you’d get. Nevertheless you follow it anyway

Unlike the others Vargas isn’t on Crowley’s butt about it but he does have some complaints. He’d appreciate if Crowley wouldn’t drive his students to exhaustion before their PE classes, that’s all

(You may or may not also secretly be his favorite but he doesn’t really think about it much)

He literally caught you taking a nap outside his shop. You weren’t working for him today or anything. He just needed to make a trip to the main building and saw that you had fallen asleep in front of his shop. He’s impressed at how you’re so comfortable around his Mystery Shop

He approaches you carefully and gently wakes you up by shaking your shoulder. It took a minute but he eventually got you to open your eyes

You jolt awake after realizing where you were and what you were doing. You felt embarrassed but also concerned as how you thought that was a good idea

Sam wasn’t stressing over it. In fact, he just giggled and helped you up from the ground. He couldn’t help but wonder why you fell asleep in such an odd area

“Hey there, Little Imp! How’d you end up sleeping out here? You must have been pretty exhausted for you to doze off under my tree here.”

“Sorry, Sam, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I guess I just dozed off thinking this was a good spot. …now I see it wasn’t.”

Sam just smiles and gently laughs it all off to show you’re not in any sort of trouble

“It’s alright, Little Imp. What made you so tired in the first place, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’ve just been running around doing a lot recently. Working at the Mostro Lounge to get extra change, helping Ace and Deuce study late, cleaning up the whole dorm, not to mention I’ve been running errands for the Headmaster for a whole week.”

Sam paused at that last bit. Everything else made sense but that last part got him thinking

“You’ve been running around for the headmaster? He doesn’t pay you?”

“He does! …just not enough to keep food on the table for more than 3 days a week. I use what he gives me to buy Grim his tuna.”

“And that’s why you’ve been working at the Mostro Lounge? Wow, that’s dedication. Let me guess; you fell asleep while waiting for me to get back so you can continue those errands he gave you?”

You nod

“Well, come with me then. I’ll get you what you need. And I’ll give you some food for you and Grim too. On the house.”

“Oh no, Sam! I can pay don’t worry about it!”

“No no, I insist. I’ll also get my friends on the other side to talk to Crowley for you. Now come on in, before it gets cold!”

Then ever since that chat Sam has been leaving small baskets of food on your door step every time you needed it. You’re not sure how he knows each time but you’re thankful nonetheless. And if you insist he allows you to work at the shop too.

You’re not sure how he did it but whatever he did got Crowley to pay you more. You’re grateful for him being such a good friend. He also allows you to fall asleep under the tree in front of his Mystery Shop any time you want

[ptn-imagines]

Anything with nsfw with Cassia x fem reader? We were talking about voice kink but what about scent kink? Pwetty pwease

So... I'm not sure if this is entirely what you meant when you said scent kink, but it's my best interpretation of it.

Also, I should warn, I try my best to fill requests while keeping in line with the characters, so this may not be as... well, tender as some of my other NSFW imagines. If you would like me to write more official, proper, in-a-relationship NSFW headcanons with Cassia, feel free to ask!

NSFW below the cut, as well as a whole lot of Cassia being herself (obsessive over fragrances).

Cassia x fem Reader with scent kink

Even after several months of education and treatment in the Bureau, Cassia is nowhere near ready enough for a real relationship. Her worldview is just too deeply distorted to be easily remedied. It's a pity, but maybe someday…

However, one thing Cassia can grasp, and shockingly well at that, is sex. In fact, it seems to have become something essential to her, much as a human needs oxygen. You didn’t really understand why that was until the first time she approached you.

Cassia is usually a person of absolute, ethereal beauty. That made her pale, ashen-faced complexion on that day all the more shocking to you – you’d never seen her like this before.

Of course, that didn't compare to the shock you felt when she asked for sex. With you. Something about your fragrance? You didn't really get it, but Cassia seemed to be earnest in her request and she was pretty, even in her current state… What did you have to lose?

Cassia dragged you off to some broom closet the second you said yes and fell on you with all the intensity of a ravening beast. She seemed desperate, pupils blown wide, pretty much tearing your clothes off you…

Which made you all the more confused when she suddenly stilled. You noted she was trembling as she leaned forward, taking a long sniff of the junction where your neck and collarbone met.

“Your fragrance is… divine,” Cassia whispered, her breath hot against your neck. “So rich… and vibrant… but it still lingers… Mm, I… need you… Need your fragrance…”

The lighting in the broom closet was terrible, but even so you could still see the fierce blush crawling up her pale skin. So sickly before, now she seemed revitalized all of a sudden. You were too stunned to do much other than stand there as Cassia drank in another long inhale of your scent. Briefly, you wondered if this was what Cassia's idea of sex was…

Until Cassia fell to her knees, and placed her mouth on you. It couldn't be comfortable in this cramped space, but the perfumer didn't seem to notice; her tongue works your folds like a god. You'd wonder how Cassia got this skilled if you weren't too busy trying to not alert the whole Bureau to what was going on by your lewd moans and cries.

(Regardless, the answer would be that you were not the first person Cassia had pleasured, and desperation was a fine motivator to reach perfection.)

She'll clean every last drop of your arousal diligently, and when it becomes clear there is no more, she'll abruptly stand up to leave. Your bleary mind half-notes she doesn’t swallow. Even if you offer to pleasure her in return, she'll decline and quickly depart.

The next time you see Cassia, she's vibrant and full of life, and the perfume she's wearing is familiar to you, but it takes you a moment to place why…

When you do realize where you know the scent from, you turn as red as Cabernet's hair. How had she managed to extract a perfume from the arousal she'd licked off you?!

Cassia notices you and approaches, asking what you think of her new scent– which is named after you, dispelling any last doubt of the “primary ingredient.”

Still, once the shock wears off, a deeper part of your mind supplies that thought that Cassia wearing the scent of your arousal is… kind of hot? Really hot, actually, if the fact you're already getting aroused again by the thought of it is any indication…

So when Cassia asks for sex again, you figure: What harm could one more time do?

Of course it isn't one more time. Cassia's addicted to your scent, and you're addicted to that feeling that crawls down your spine and lights a fire in the pit of your stomach (and between your legs) when she wears your scent.

This little thing the two of you have… You don't know when it will end. But you hope it isn't anytime soon.

[conntingency]

hey friends, i'm kay! i'm excited to write with everyone here. i have the bae canon - bae jiyul, gremlin of the forest. i've got some info under the cut about him if you want a quick read type of situation. though you can check out his profile + about page for additional info as well. hit me with a like if you want to plot (prob on discord is easier?? bc of the shadowbanning,,,,) and we can think up something fun. 😎

his family is in relatively good standing within the town, but he's kind of the black sheep and largely off-putting. he was born pretty late compared to his brother and was absolutely not planned.

didn't really help himself out by being like, one of those sickly runt children. he has asthma, will Usually have his inhaler on him. was kind of a weird kid too, he probably bit people in kindergarten.

considered himself Incredibly close to jeongbin, and considering he wasn't that level of close with a lot of people his death hit him hard (even if he wasn't actually the best of people/friends). instead of drifting away from the woods, he just became obsessed with it. spends a lot of time out there drawing and wandering around hoping to re-find the cabin or the weird rumor-ghost of jeongbin.

he does have like Constant nightmares though. his sleep schedule is whack. he's a freelance graphic designer so it mostly works out schedule wise even if he doesn't make a lot of money doing it.

if he were a dnd character he would have a negative 3 charisma stat. just not great at coming across as confident and put together and the opposite of weird. he also gets attached Way too easily if you let him. he's like one of those people that decide they're your best friend after you hang out at the bar together once. like bro, chill.

bad at regulating emotions in general. tends to kind of swallow everything down until it eventually bubbles up in something large that likely doesn't match the situation.

also not great with boundaries!!!! we could all see it coming.

his family is pretty religious and he used to be but isn't so much anymore. his parents aren't please about it, but let's be real here, they aren't pleased about most of his life choices, so does it matter?

kind of a mess and largely ambition-less. he kinds of just...does what he wants at any given moment. isn't really focused about getting a better job or bettering himself or creating a good reputation in the town. he mostly just cares about the woods and gets kinda anxious if he's away from it for too long (why he moved back, even though his stint away at a university was a better time for him socially tbqh).

okay yeah i think that's kind of the highlight reel along with the linked pages!! i'm open to plotting with everyone. ik he's a weird lil pariah type so no worries if you want a hate plot, i love them as well. and i'm forever looking for someone to punch him in the face (it would be funny, don't pretend it wouldn't be funny).

[azumasoroshi]

guess who just watched summertime rendering (it's really good)

guys what the FUCK

(spoilery-review stuff will be below the cut but tldr: summertime rendering is really good, subverted a lot of my expectations, gorgeous animation, keeps you on your toes and has smart characters and good writing, just try not to cringe too hard at some of the haha boobs/haha panties jokes i swear there's not too many)

okay funny story. i got interested in this anime literally yesterday because one of my favorite channels was analyzing its ending song by chance

and i was like oh it's like anohana but a murder mystery? interesting premise. doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's good, the animation looks pretty at least, but it's 25 episodes and my attention span kinda sucks...

and i see the main girl in a swimsuit and im like alright. the second there's a really weird zoom on her chest im out

(my live thought process pictured below)

and the first shot or so was of the swimsuit girl (ushio) without any weird zooms so i was like okay hey we're in the clear so far

AND THEN

one minute ten seconds. dawg. that actually has to be a record of some sort

and i was 🤏this close to dropping the anime but i really wanted to see the dark horrifying stuff so i continued anyway

like. maybe that's a one off joke. maybe they wont do it again and that was just to get weirdos to be like AYYY and keep watching. maybe there is hope

there was no hope.

but i hung on anyway because right after that was the OP and it looked really interesting mostly because there were no anime visuals at all until the very end

which was. shinpei being a little bit silly. little but quirky. vibing persona 3 style baby baby baby baby baby baby baby

so yeah i decided to keep watching until the end of the first episode despite my apprehension because i just. wanted to see the dark shit go down. uaghhhhhh

and i kept watching EVEN THROUGH the clear insinuation that the mc's adopted sister was in love with him and that the mc was in love with his other adopted sister and the police officer was looking at porn in public and then FINALLY

FINALLY

(major + ending spoilers start here)

they killed my favorite character.

and then they killed the younger sister and then they killed the MAIN CHARACTER AND I WAS LIKE DAWGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

like i was expecting it to be dark but i didnt expect them all to straight up die on screen with blood splatters n everything :sob: wasnt expecting the time loop either

like. you gon have this gorgeous animation just to make the characters' deaths that much more brutal. holy fuck

i realized the other anime this reminded me of. this anime is a anohana x kagerou project crossover. thats fuckin crazy i kinda dig it

people also compare it to re:zero which is fair cuz it has the time travel, the unexpected brutality, the short haired girl who gets rejected in favor of the long haired girl (lmao) i just like kagerou project more

it somehow didnt connect the first time that it wasn't mio and i was like huh i wonder why they suddenly skipped time

and then when this scene rolled around for the second time i literally like. it hit me so fast and i was like FUCK. i was like genuinely terrified help

and then she started stabbing the ever loving shit out of totsumura and i was like oh okay! guess i dont have to wait in suspense for what she'll do at the very least

and then she stabbed shinpei in the throat and i was like OH OKAY

that scene also terrified me cuz like the phone call happening while the killer is nearby is a classic horror trope but like. i dont watch horror usually. that's my worst nightmare

it was on his third death that shinpei really started to shine for me as a protagonist because like. he's smart. notably so! it was really nice because the classic horror starts to fade away at this point and everything becomes a giant chess match

fair enough though cuz bro was like "LMAO NAH I REFUSE TO DIE AGAIN THAT SHIT PAINFUL AS FUCK" (and then repeatedly died a bunch more anyways)

it's interesting that his whole "take a step back" thing is like. a trauma response too. we love dissociation representation lmfao

shinpei was also really quick to adapt to everything and it took a LOT of shit going down to make him finally lose his composure, but he gets back in it and doesnt waste time and it was really refreshing because yknow anime (and the horror genre in general) with its overdramatic clueless protagonists

and also!!

i immediately pegged sou as the loud dumbass yosuke/ryuji type (i love them and their depth, im talking about surface level) best friend who wingmans for shinpei and immediately gets sus of shinpei and gets killed first n shit

but that was my bad like damn sou was a really good character

to be fair this was his first introduction

and the line "I should tell Sou everything" with a shot of the sky is REALLY FUCKING OMINOUS, so i feel like that was a bit of a bait and switch on the author's part lmfao

i stopped taking screenshots around this point so ill just talk about a bunch of parts that stood out to me pff

HIZURU MINAKATA MY BELOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

she's so autistic and so smart and so just. god. i love her

AND RYUUNOSUKE IS BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

i literally wanted to cry seeing him in the ending like dawggggggg he's SO cute id marry him no questions asked

he and hizuru were my favorites along with nezu because badass old man SLAYS

i also surprisingly really liked ushio lmao i thought she'd be like the usual manic pixie dream girl and then just based on her being in a swimsuit but like. she was honestly a joy as a character lmfao

like. her being the biggest powerhouse next to hizuru? did not see that coming, we love a girlboss!! and she's also smart and forward-thinking despite the airheaded vibes so like damn. good character! i really liked what little we got to see of the real ushio interacting with her shadow too, it was a nice bit of character building + it was funny lmao

mio was the only character other than shide that i just straight up did not like lmfaosgkjhsjg the whole "im in love with my stepbrother" was just. fuckin. weird to me from the start and you have no idea how fucking relieved i was that shinpei didn't accept her confession or get with her at the end

of course it's like. not any better that he got with his other stepsister. but like mio was more annoying so it's fine (😭)

she ended up being a damsel in distress who didnt really do anything up until the school fight where she still didnt do much, and with how much ushio emphasized "protect mio" you'd think she' have some sort of plot relevance but nope she just. thought about her brother a lot and confessed after 20 episodes and got rejected and cried

it's like all the buildup to her confession was PURELY to buildup for the ACTUAL confession which was shinpei telling her that he was in love with ushio

which is lame

like jesus her shadow had more plot relevance than her. i literally liked her shadow more than her like ????????

tokiko was a good character though i liked the "i didnt dirty my hands for this" foreshadowing and also her being a lesbian was an unexpected surprise that i liked lmfao she's a fuckin real one for still encouraging mio to be with shinpei despite being madly in love with mio. what the hell was that "i want her to see all of me" line like girl????

shide was a good smart villain, he kinda started getting cheesy typical anime villain by the end but by that point the anime was pretty firmly in the action/strategy genre and relying a lot less on the horror/mystery part so it was alright

i did love the talk he and shinpei had about video games and the FF7 namedrop was hilarious lmfao

it was cool how they had the callback to him being a video game nerd during the first fireworks festival with that 2d 3d king thing

absolutely despise him for what he did to hiruko though like. ew.

i didnt really get why hiruko deadass reverted into this weird lookin baby thing at the end but like haise was cute i liked her

didnt understand how they literally changed history either but i guess the magic eyes are like "fuck time lmao all my homies hate time" so oh well, i guess it works

the ending was really a full on "everybody lives and is happy" type deal but like. i didnt even mind man i was literally ecstatic seeing hizuru's boobs again like holy shit. you know you're watching a weird ass anime when you start crying at the fucking fanservice scenes like ohhhh my god

and like goddammit they deserve happiness

although. i was a bit pissed that they brought ushio back to life. like yeah she deserved to be brought back and yeah i do love her but rip the themes of grief and regret i guess

the show was never really about grief so i get why she was brought back but like ueeeuueueuueuee the whole "i don't want to do anything i'll regret again (including leaving ushio before we had the chance to say goodbye) so i have to keep moving forward" was really good character stuff and hrekjajsghjhsg i guess it paid off at the end???

whatever ill take getting hizuru and ryuunosuke back no matter the narrative costs

anyway yeah really good anime, definitely exceeded my expectations (which were pretty low to be fair though), i did watch all 25 episodes within 24 hours so i might be a little insane

[pizza-games-and-more]

Pizza Tower Headcanons: Sleep

I've been sorting out my sleeping patterns lately, so here's how I imagine the cast are while sleeping

Peppino

Definitely the most cartoonish snorer. Snorts like a wild hog and then lets out the highest "mimimi" when exhaling. All for the best, really, since he can easily be spooked into insomnia.

Gustavo

He absolutely talks in his sleep. It can be funny listening to his sleepy nonsense. When out camping with the others, they heard him mumble some pretty silly things and had to hold in their laughter. Helps that he's a VERY heavy sleeper. Seriously, good luck waking him up.

Brick

Absolutely adorable. Likes to curl up next to Gustavo. Nobody wants to wake him.

Mr. Stick

Mumbles a lot. His bed is so uncomfortable that he legit prefers sleeping on the floor. Or in his chair, which he usually does, while drooling over his ideas for the fifth time thus week. Sometimes, he writes more while half-asleep and wakes up the next morning extremely confused.

Pepperman

Surprisingly, compared to his usual self, his sleep sounds are more of the "soft ASMR breathing" type. To the point people seriously want him to do ASMR. Too bad he's so huge that if one dares sleep next to him, they have to pray to God he doesn't turn over.

The Vigilante

A heavy snorer, but in an oddly calming way. It's not too loud and has such consistency it can actually put YOU to sleep if you listen long enough. Kind of like white noise. He doesn't sleep as much as he should, though. So it's kind of a shame. Also has a harder time sleeping on heavily rainy nights.

The Noise

Well, this guy lives up to his name. His snoring is so unbearably loud only his girlfriend can tolerate it. Speaking of which...

Noisette

She's surprisingly silent in her sleep. But that's the least of her boyfriend's problems. She tosses and turns like a feral animal and has accidentally hit The Noise in the face many times.

Fake Peppino

Well, uh... it sounds like he's... trying to emulate Peppino, but... the way he does it is so strange people legitimately can't describe what they just heard. Also, he sleepwalks. So that's a bonus for alarm.

Pizzahead

His snoring is also cartoonish but in a different way to Peppino's. He's the type to rapidly snore in the most stereotypical way people are legit surprised he's not pretending.

BONUS: OCs under cut (feel free to ignore if you don't care)

Maria

More ASMR breathing, but also a little bit of mumbling. She would never admit this to anyone but Vigi, but she likes to sleep with stuffed animals. Gets embarrassed when people bring up how adorable her sleeping habits are.

Clove

Has to cast a silencing spell on himself when sleeping because he has an awful habit of chanting incantations in his sleep. Almost burned the forest down once doing that. Can't sleep anywhere that isn't rocking, so he has a hammock.

Crevette

Completely silent. She had to train herself not to vocalise at all in her sleep so her vocal chords wouldn't get exhausted. Boy, does she pamper herself when sleeping, though. Eye mask, ASMR playlist, perfect temperature, etc.

Pizzawife

Another sleep-talker, but she tends to say some pretty disturbing things in her sleep, so it's nowhere near as endearing. Also, she once almost strangled Pizzahead hugging him in her sleep by accident, so that doesn't help.

Gustave OS (and Click)

He usually takes about 2 hours to recharge, so sleep isn't really something he does. Again, with Click, it's ambiguous if it's even alive, so...

[rist-ix]

Hey Rist! How've you been? I'm curious. How would you rank Valtor's different voices for the 3 versions(RAI, 4Kids & Nick)? I was looking at S3 of Winx Club (I missed Valtor lol) & I was curious abt his voices for the different versions. So, I watched a bit of S3E5 in all 3 and ranked them from most to least fave. I ranked them: 1) Nick, 2) RAI, 3) 4Kids. Nick's version is so.. so Valtor, 4Kids seems a bit (a lot) too extra, and Rai's version is a bit (just a bit) gruff. What do you think, Rist?

That’s actually pretty much the same as I remember liking them, but my memory has failed me before so I’m editing a crappy little compilation together. And there's really only one scene I could have used for that without losing y’all’s respect. (Fair warning tho the audio trails over scene cuts occasionally so there's some weird jump cuts with sudden noise, but whatever)

From your worst to your best we have:

4Kids Valtor

Ignoring the dollar-store-James-bond music at the beginning, I quite like Valtor's theme here. The ominous cembalo cords remind me of cheesy old fantasy-horror movies and black castles during very dramatic lightning storms, and I honestly feel like the pompous, dramatic 4kids voice fits very well for that. By itself I feel like it’s far too over the top (which is generally 4kids motto), and also my least favorite of the three, but it does have a certain unapologetic arrogance going for it. It might not rank well for me compared to the other ones, but it’s still authentic and fun. Peak gay vampire energy here.

Something I noticed is the pretty big dialogue change here, where he states that he's warning bloom out of an “old, long forgotten curtesy”. I tend to dislike changes from the original script, but honestly? That’s such a cool detail. I feel like that adds a lot to his character pretty early one, no matter if he genuinely means it or is just baiting Bloom.

Rai Valtor (also known as Cinélume)

You are absolutely right, very deep voice. I am looking respectfully 👀👀👀

Compared to 4kids, this Valtor is a lot more subdued. The voice acting is EXCELLENT, the little chuckle he gives when he recounts what people say about him is peak Valtor, pure irony and ridicule. I tend to forget him a lot, if I’m being honest, because he's not as notable as ExtraDramaQueen-4Kids!Valtor, and not as radically different as the Nick version, but he is still very much a very interesting middle ground between them. If I’m being completely honest he's actually my favorite of the three, now that I think about it. His dialogue is closest to the original and I tend to imagine this voice when I write fanfics, and even if you can’t hear it in this example, he's got a really memorable way to speak when he's pitting the Trix against each other or trying to soothe their egos. There's something really manipulative, threatening in his tone sometimes, no matter which lines he gets.

But it is a close call with your number 1.

Nick Valtor

(First of all, Bloom's voice is somehow stealing the show for me here. In the beginning she really sounds like she's scared, in pain, and she's got that rough edge to her tone when she's angry. I don’t usually bother with the nick dub, but damn. Maybe I should.)

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this Valtor is easily the most refined of the three. More subdued, like the Rai version, but not as deep as either of the previous two. It sometimes reminds me of Macaque from The Monkey Kid, and that’s a huge compliment. This Valtor has a quiet, insidious danger to him that is subtle yet very present. He says “I'll do what needs to be done” and you don’t doubt it for a second. There's that weird blend of lighthearted indifference in his voice which makes him distinct from the others, and it helps to emphasize that he's completely different from Darkar and the Trix: he analyzes and understands his enemies in a way that basically guarantees him victory, no matter the opponent. I wouldn’t say I like it more than the Rai Valtor — this one could use a little more drama and pomp — but he's objectively the highest quality here.

But what’s this?

It’s GermanDub!Valtor with a steel chair!!!

Shut up I’m totally right about this one the god of voice acting told me so

I am not taking criticism!

My boy my king my one true love, it’s the slightly raspy, cutting and incredibly heinous voice of my childhood dub! He may be speaking a bit faster to fit all those long german words into such a short shot, but he pulls it off MAGNIFICENTLY. Similar to Nick's it’s not as deep as I’d imagine from seeing his face, but he has a harshness to his words that does not speak of subtle threat but of open hostility, clad in polite words. He's here for a fight, no matter with whom, and while he may not get that on this day he leaves no doubt that eventually, he'll wipe the floor with them. His voice influenced me a lot during Sparked, even if I didn’t really imagine it when he had dialogue. Just the character of it is such a vibe, this slightly impatient thirst for violence he somehow manages to pour into his long game.

10/10.

[pianocat939]

Hey Celina-

So I've been wanting to start a writing blog myself and I have a vague idea on what I wanna write about. But I don't know how to exactly write it...

I was wondering, how does your writing process go? What do you do in longer pieces specifically?

I'm a hellfire of a writer and I find it absolutely hilarious that people want advice from me, but I'm more than honoured to give you my burnt pasta advice-

Ok first things first- give yourself like a minute to think of a big idea-

Like nothing too specific- for example not a whole sentence explaining the plot or character, rather just a few words: Ex. Evil Queen.

From there I like to jot down the words onto the document/platform I'm working on and start typing out random sentences that come to mind.

This can be both starting the story or fleshing out the character. That way, you don't have to be stuck on thinking of writing a specific topic.

Now there's one thing I like to point out in particularly how I write. I like to stick with my initial image of the character HEAVILY. I don't know if people notice this, but I keep a common theme with most of characters from when I first wrote them. [Unless if it's an AU of some sort]. Ex. personality traits, background, etc.

From there I usually end up building an outline of the plot.

Now my teachers have always said to keep your outline like a few words long, but I like keeping my bullet points detailed. So my points end up being a few sentences each, considering I'm writing the plot.

You don't need to write your outline in a grammatically correct method nor does it have to be pretty. Like my outlines are honestly like "This mf dies by accidentally tripping and tumbling down the hill like a wheel of cheese." It's easier for me to keep track of my thoughts and often times I can add a funny thing from those said sentences.

This is the part where I start to slack off compared to other writers.

I'm sure most writers actually proofread their work and ask for peer review, but I don't lmao. (Honestly, primarily because I don't write long pieces as much)

I would suggest those, but at the same time I don't do them aha...

Anyway, once you finish your outline, give a brisk run through and cut out anything you think is unneeded or unclear. Remember, writing beautiful is easy, it's the clarity that's hard. In my case I think it's very true since I sometimes use big words.

Then you actually write your draft-

USE THE THESAURUS. I don't know how many times I've needed to say that to people. I always put a lot of synonyms for my adjectives. It gives a lot of colour.

Then carefully read your paragraphs so you can cut out anything you don't need or makes it difficult to keep clear.

I do the last few changes [adding/removing, more fancy words]

And then bam-

Finished.

(Sorry if this was messy lmao. But hey, this is how I truly write)

- Celina

[lemony-snickers]

welcome back, anon. your ask is very long & mentioned an ao3 author by name who i'm not sure would want to be associated with my blog, so i've taken screenshots of the ask and blocked the author & title out. ask & answer below the cut. (text id in alts as usual.)

anon, i'm sorry, but it's too early for this. some bullet points:

your ask was not motivational, it was pretty mean (or, perhaps, "blunt and negative," to use your phrasing). and while you are entitled to your opinion of me, whatever that is, i also don't understand why you would want to follow someone you find that annoying.

if you are genuinely trying to help in future, an example of someone essentially telling me the same thing in a more motivational way is the ask i received from super-kame-love yesterday which identified the same problem and also provided a resource to try and combat it. you'll note from their ask they never called me names or used demeaning language. if you're trying to be helpful, this is a better blueprint.

to be clear: those screenshots i included in my reply yesterday are not of negative comments sent to me by someone else. they are of posts i made on a private side blog on tuesday after receiving your first comment & the comment someone else (i assume someone else, anyway) sent me accusing me of sending your ask to myself for attention, which, when combined with your ask about how nagging & attention-seeking i am, made me feel like total & utter garbage. like everyone in the world felt the same way about me & hated me for it.

i use that sideblog as a vent space and you have no idea how fucking dark it gets there. i don't need anyone to leave me negative comments because anything even remotely unkind you or anyone else thinks about me, i guarantee i have already thought of & told myself a thousand times over in much crueler language. i seem sad all the time? yeah, i am sad all the time, i suffer from crippling depression & anxiety which ruins my life & i am in treatment for.

you keep repeating how much more popular smut is. you do know that i write smut, right? that the whole reason i started this blog was to write & publish smut? maybe i don't write the kind of smut you like, but i do write it.

and while sure tiktok can be used to promote fanfic (i mean, i guess? idk.), most of the people i am comparing myself to do not, so you can stop telling me about tiktok. i don't use it and i have no interest in it.

if you think i'm just "sad to gain attention," then maybe you shouldn't follow me. it doesn't seem like you enjoy following me very much if you feel the need to send these long asks about all the things i am doing wrong. i'm sorry to have confused you with the screenshots, but i am pretty uninterested in cointinuing this dialogue if i am honest.

the fact is, what you see of me as lemony-snickers is only one tiny fragment of my life. a vague citrus-shaped snippet. when you call people names (and yeah, calling me a nagging girlfriend counts, i think), it has repercussions. i'm an actual person with actual feelings that were actually hurt by what you sent. it would have hurt regardless, but it had a huge & negative impact not only on that particular day, but spiraling through the rest of my week, because of things happening in my life that you didn't see.

and lastly, anon, if you aren't leaving comments or supporting creators that you enjoy by reblogging their work, you are part of the problem. and to tell someone to stop being sad about interactions when you specifically make the choice not to interact is pretty tone deaf, honestly.

[dwarvenbash]

Something a little niche today, the Touro heavy Mech and Buckmaster light Mech from Brigador!

These neat little killing machines actually come packaged with a few weapon options, allowing you to mix and match a bit, which is very true to the original game's spirit.

Especially fell in love with the Touro even more as I was putting it together, it's a very cute little lump of pewter that is quite satisfying to hold.

If you've never heard of Brigador before and are curious, more info about that and these little guys under the cut!

For the accurate Brigador experience, it's best to keep reading while listening to this track on loop:

Now, although those are miniatures up there, Brigador is a video game rather than one of the table top variety. While that may be a distasteful prospect to some, I can assure you it is still quite fun, as evidenced by this screenshot:

There are like fifty levels and I've beaten (nearly) all of them with every loadout, evidence of me doing as such with the really hard ones have been conveniently omitted in this screenshot however.

The game uses these awesome old-school 3D prerendered sprites for everything, which really scratches my nostalgic itch for that old Diablo/Starcraft look (or any 90s RTS for that matter). Here's how the Touro and Buckmaster look in game!

They're somehow even cuter...

The excellent art direction coupled with some really solid writing made Brigador a staple game for me. Whenever I have a couple minutes to kill and I'm at my computer, I'll usually just boot up Brigador and try to clear some challenge I've been working on. It's a very relaxing habit, despite the tone of the game which is actually quite grim! (Hopefully this doesn't reflect on me badly...)

Anyway, enough about videogames, we're here to to discuss miniatures!

Now while I am still very pleased that the developers of Brigador decided to release their own pewter miniatures based on designs from the game, I must warn you, my dear reader, that these sculpts may have some pretty gnarly flash and mold line issues. I can't say anything for sure, because all the pieces on my Buckmaster were free of residue and too much flash, but both of the Touros I picked up still had enough mold release where they needed a wash, and their chassis pieces had pretty big chunks of flash. I had picked up two to convert one into a Corvid mech (I can't decide between a Sweetheart or a Fatshoe) anyway though so it isn't that big a deal. The Touros were the first models they released, so I'm sure they've worked out the kinks at this point.

All that being said, I still had a good time putting these guys together and I'm very excited to paint them up in their proper NEP livery. I think I'll put them on Battletech hex bases since theyre about the right size and could work as stand-ins for some underdog Inner Sphere mecha, perhaps.

Funnily enough, these miniatures are also technically 1:144 scale, which is exactly the same scale as a Gundam High Grade model kit! Here they are next to a 1:144 scale Pilot to give you a sense of how big they would be in real life:

Something very satisfying about being able to do this with miniatures. I wish Battletech played this nice with regards to scale...

....aaand now compared to a Mobile Suit:

Makes you realize how ridiculously huge Mobile Suits are, huh?

One shot from the Touro's Abbot could probably still blow that poor Leo up, though...

Thanks for reading this far! This one has been especially indulgent, but it's always fun to talk about something underrated in the hopes more people will check it out.

Going forward on here, I'm considering making more "short-form" posts (yes, it is possible) with more quick updates on what I'm working on. Most miniatures probably won't necessitate an entire screed to accompany them either, believe it or not. I'll still be writing up long ones like these though; I have a long, long list of opinions and diatribes and I am desperately trying to spare my loved ones from being subjected to them. Most importantly, though, it's fun to write about this stuff. :P

[bloodybloob]

(God au) Can we have a moment of pre-scrambled Wild moment with his brothers (Since pre-scrambled is pre-calamity Wild)? Then they compare the two personalities in the present and the Chain doesn’t really care since they know Wild a little better now due to actually being able to see emotions on his face

So sorry this one took such a long time to get to! 2022 has been the worst year so far and for whatever reason I felt I couldn’t write this ask.

—

“Come on Wild!”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Nope.”

“Pretty please!”

“The answer is going to be no Rulie.”

Hyrule put on a pouty face, glaring at his brother. Wild was so boring. Not always, if he was given the opportunity to do something stupid then he’d do it, but if it was anything outside of the rules the older gods had set, then it was a lost cause.

“Can’t you live a little Wild? A blue, magical, horse-owl creature that has powerful sway over plants and animals? How can you not be interested?! Can’t you disregard the other’s orders just this once?” Hyrule was practically begging at this point, he desperately wanted to know what this creature was and what it did. Besides, it fell under their domains, why should their older brothers have any say on the matter?

Despite everything, Wild shook his head no. “The rest said it could be dangerous for us, we stay put.”

Hyrule groaned. “We’re literally immortal Wild! Even if it meant harm there is no creature that can actually hurt us, nothing but ourselves.”

“It may mess with our-“

“Our domains and or powers, blah blah blah. You sound like Time, Wild, that isn’t a good thing, sounding like Time.” Hyrule interrupted.

Wild let a small smile grace his usually neutral expression. “Someone’s got to be responsible when he isn’t around.”

“Ha! You think you could live up to the old man?”

“In the future? Maybe.”

“In your dreams!”

“Guess I’ll keep dreaming then.”

“Good gracious, please please please-“ Hyrule repeated the word like a mantra, chanting it in whispers to himself whilst he held Wild’s hand in his tightly.

Wild’s muscles spasmed, the soft sheets of the bed twisting to his movement. A high pitched sound of distress sounded out from Wild’s cracked lips as his teeth dug painfully into them.

“Is- please don’t tell me this is how mortals feel when- this is awful, terrible.” They were supposed to be among the stars, doing everything, together, forever. It couldn’t just… it can’t just cut off like this, right?

“I’d do anything to trade places with you right now Wild, I would, if I could I would.” Hyrule felt his chest tighten as his brother keened lowly at his voice, confusion lacing the edges of it.

The magic god knew the others had left them, wreaking as much havoc as they possible could, no doubt. Hyrule, normally when consumed by this much rage, would be out there with them, tearing apart mortals limb by limb; however, Wild… he couldn’t leave his side, not now. For all they knew, his magic could be the only thing sustaining him, at least his physical form. Not even Time knew what would happen if Wild reached a point where he had to retreat into a non-physical state.

“Don’t worry- don’t worry, please. It’ll be all alright, I promise, hang in there.” Wild merely groaned in response and shifting in Hyrule’s vague direction, crying out as the movement caused his burns to sizzle deeper into his flesh.

There was nothing to worry about, it was fine, it was fine. They had never not been fine. And that wouldn’t start now… right?

Hyrule wished he hadn’t taken those days he spent with Wild for granted, those times when it was just the two of them alone, playfully arguing about one thing or another. Back then, he wanted Wild to stop being so logical in his arguments, so that maybe then Hyrule could win one for once, the closest he ever got being a tie. He regrets his once need to see Wild bare some sort of emotion on his expressionless face. And he misses that cool composure his brother once held, it never failed to calm him down.

Now? None of those things had stayed.

“Ruuuuuullllieeee! Where’s my ladle?” Wild hopped down onto the grass beside Hyrule, childish want in his tone.

“Wild?! You’re not supposed to be down here without someone else!” Hyrule hissed as he stood from his hunched form over the butterfly shaped flowers he had taken interest in.

“Well… you’re here.” Wild pointed out, unhelpfully.

“You know very well that I don’t count.”

“You don’t? Ah shoot, must’ve forgotten the rules again. Back to my main point- do you know where my ladle is? The light one with the flower patterns, I think… Four made it? I need it right now and can’t find it.” Wild huffed.

Hyrule smiled. “Did you check the pantry? Wind still doesn’t understand how the kitchen works and will stick things wherever.”

Wild stared down for a moment, before smacking his head with the palm of his hand. “Darn, yeah, I remember that. He did that last time I lost it too, didn’t he? Thanks Rules!” Then the god was gone, a canopy of roots enveloping him into the earth.

Hyrule missed the old Wild, he missed him with his whole heart, but he didn’t dislike the new one. It wasn’t the same, it would never be the same, but nothing had never wavered his love for him, not then and not ever.

Once he turned to look back at the flowers that had caught his attention, Hyrule found they had been, quite literally, uprooted by Wild’s messy exit.

“Ah-“ Hyrule said dumbly.

—

Hmhmmffff, I want more people talking about Hyrule and Wild just in general, such a dastardly duo those two! (Link to au here).

[mamamittens]

Well, I've been pondering something for a bit now so I'll just jump right into it!

Obnoxiously self indulgent OC nonsense under the cut

So, obviously, one of the things you need to consider for writing romance is the why.

Why are these two (or more) in love?

Love is a hard thing to hold onto and in real life, rarely has a clear, singular answer. It's a fluid emotion that shifts constantly, which is why we have a very wide range of things that represent, compare to, and explain love beyond the clinical, chemical reactions. To love is a uniquely powerful experience, something that literally triggers a series of chemical reactions inside of you with no conscious input. So the why of it all is a very big and complicated question that few answer in its entirety.

Think "He makes me laugh" from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It's obviously more than that but also... Isn't. For a woman like Jessica, that simple truth moves her to love the arguably very silly man that is Roger Rabbit.

Now, there are usually two approaches to this situation.

All at once or over time. First sight or after many nights. For certain characters one of these doesn't make sense.

Typically, love at first sight is believable in characters that are impulsive but self assured. They're wild enough that a single moment is all they need to just know and self aware enough to identify it without doubting themselves.

Over time is usually seen in characters who are a bit more serious but withdrawn. Even if they actually fall in love at first sight they'll deny it until the emotion is so overwhelming they can't ignore it a moment longer. Maybe they have a lot of self doubt or are so introspective they get lost in the weeds. These types of characters look before leaping even if they know it's the only option.

So, naturally, if I want to write a low-key romance, I need to decide where they are on this spectrum.

For Thatch, I'm fairly confident that he's not quite a "fall in love at first sight" kinda guy. Sure, he's quick to identify interest and make a preliminary gauge of what kind of interest he has, but he's not so naive or foolish to settle his heart so quickly. He's a good judge of character though, so it's not far behind if the chemistry is there. Gentleman enough to not be aggressive unless given a clear indication of interest.

Nikia on the other hand, would take a while to get there. Unwilling and unable to admit the depth of emotion involved for quite some time. Used to drifting out of people's lives, she'd likely ignore any interest at first, certain that it'll be moot soon enough. Or that it wouldn't be returned and is therefore useless to pursue.

So where the internal conflict between them would arise is in these two approaches to love. After all, I don't plan for there to even be a confession until after Marineford for extra angst lol

Thatch doesn't fall in love with Nikia at first sight. He sees her, thinks "damn that's a pretty lady" but it's only when he crashes at her place for like, a week that it really happens. I'm thinking he comes back from foraging for local ingredients and she makes him a hot drink and forces him to warm up before cooking. Settling a suspiciously warm blanket on his shoulders with a smile and he's just... Struck. It's a soft, quiet moment where he sees beneath the cool professionalism, feral barn cat attitude, and sees genuine care. She didn't have to, but she thought about him. His comfort. To the point that she gave him the blanket she was using before he came in and got a new one for herself from the cold closet storage. Her favorite, in fact, clear from how worn and soft it was and smelled like her so much his own shirt smells like she wore it for a day after close contact for barely an hour.

Nikia falls in love along the way. Grows fond after a trying week of cohabitating with another person for the first time in a very long time. Finds herself looking forward to his calls to the point that she predicts the times he calls and ensures she's in the lodge for them, even if it means taking patrol a little later or putting off her bedtime a bit longer than usual. Noticing how elated she is after his calls and thinking about their conversations well into the next week. And when she realizes it, she quietly puts it in a box, unwilling to pop the cozy bubble she's in. She can't ask him to stay and she doesn't think it's fair to expect commitment when he'll be gone for so long. So she stays friends and hopes if he does find someone, they can keep up with him and make him happy.

Between the two of them, Thatch is the one that likely suspects returned feelings first. After all, if she actually hated him, she wouldn't answer his calls. If she wasn't fond of him, she wouldn't be willing to talk for well over an hour about anything and everything. But this isn't something you bring up over a phone/snail call. This is an in person kind of conversation.

So it's the second time they're meeting in person (uh, second visit to her island, the second meeting is at her lodge where he's a bit of a menace and realizes his feelings while she settles from feral barn cat to real fondness). Or rather, the second visit is when he realizes that she almost certainly has feelings but doesn't recognize it. He's seen enough forlorn lovers to recognize longing and love in a glance and it genuinely throws him when he figures it out. So, naturally, he's stuck in an awkward position of trying to figure out how to encourage her to face those feelings so he can return them without being an ass.

It's obvious to him, after all, that she's never felt like this before.

But it's also not very fair to her if he reveals his emotions because what kind of a first relationship is it when he has to leave for likely another year until his crew makes the rounds back? Most have a few flings closer to home and he can't give her that kind of commitment at the moment. Setting aside the issue that he's a pirate, a Yonko Pirate at that.

He can't force her to confess, but he also can't expect her to want to act on those feelings and spend most of the year totally alone, waiting for his calls. Hoping that he comes back or even makes it out alive of his arguably very dangerous career as a pirate.

Sure, some couples make that choice, but they're not usually grown adults already and one of them in a relationship for the first time. One of them constantly socializing with new people while the other sees maybe less than a hundred people over the course of a year, most of those she's related to.

So he has to leave it for her to decide if she's ready to make the leap, knowing all the issues they'll face right out of the gate, or try and pursue a less troubled relationship. Without the pressure of knowing for sure that he's willing to try, because it's easy for him to say that since he's the one with the more dangerous profession (that he knows of, he doesn't know the 'hunting' license doesn't apply to just animals). He's not the one who'd have to wait for a sign she's still alive. And if anything happens, she's more likely to catch the consequences of their relationship. Socially or otherwise, even on the Grand Line on an island not beholden to the WG.

He's got the least to lose for trying and he knows it.

So he leaves it alone, still calling every week or so because he is still in love, until the plot catches up.

Then they both get to see how seriously Nikia takes her feelings and commitment to his memory when everyone else fails to take the shot when they had the chance.

Sorry not sorry Ace and Whitebeard. If you wanted Teach dead for good, you shouldn't have even bothered squaring up. Just put him down like he deserves.

[cocolacola]

I say Seras's stuff is underdeveloped in Hellsing Ultimate because Hirano had been distraught over gonzo's portrayal of her and hadn't gone into as much depth in his own work because he development "had already been done" with gonzo.

It's why I prefer gonzo seras..? (I actually prefer Seras over Alucard in gonzo) because there is more time and drawn out investment to her development. Expressing her coming to terms with her role as a vampire beyond the bloodlust and sexualized portrayal ultimate does.

Now I love Seras, don't get me wrong. But there is a degree of truth to saying she lacks the same canonical love/respect that characters like Alucard has. It feels rushed, thrown togeather and driven by fan appeal rather than character growth.

(I hope I phrased that right, I'm writing this out while half asleep. words are hard...)

I'd say you absolutely phrased this correctly, in my opinion. there's nothing wrong with preferring what was done with her character in gonzo, i prefer elements of her from that series over the ultimate canon to some degree.

(putting a cut here because my response gets pretty long)

something that gonzo 100% does correctly is steer more away from the weird sexualization stuff. this may be shallow of me, but I think that could be one of the reasons Hirano wasn't happy with what they did with her. i think the way that Ultimate (specifically the earlier episodes) handled her was incredibly disrespectful. there's so many unnecessary things that just... didn't need to be there. i will make another post about that someday. i definitely think she can become overshadowed by alucard because of these things, which is why i think these conversations are especially important.

I do, however, think there is a difference between underdeveloped and underexplored. Seras' arc has a clear-cut purpose in the manga and Ultimate canon, but the nuances of it are much more subtle and not explicitly shown. she's more dependent on the other characters to explain and cultivate her situation (such as alucard defending her when walter asks why she was turned, and pip and integra offering their blood at different points in the series)

The reason I usually take issue with people saying Seras doesn't have enough development is because they usually are die-hard fans of other characters with the same amount of issues as her. she goes through an arc just like everyone else. to say there's no substance there is sort of just showing the way people stopped paying attention as soon as Alucard got on the boat and the show started focusing on other characters.

Im not here to say Hirano wrote her perfectly because he didnt. I have a lot of problems with how Hellsing is written. but to say that out of all of the characters that Seras is the one with no development?? it seems like a stretch to me.

when it comes to other people in this fandom, i dont think it's fair to use the "she didn't do anything" argument to simply toss her out of any discussion about the show. that's mostly what im against, so this is actually a breath of fresh air to me. there's so many interesting things to talk about in comparing her development in gonzo vs ultimate.

your point was 100% made and this was great to think about. and as always, thanks for the ask!!!!