#vaguely based on a tweet i saw a while back

[venture4treasure]

“And if you leave me. Rest assured, it would kill me.”

Words: 1881

Premise: Yandere!Venture kills someone and you catch them. You respond in an atypical way. 

Warnings: Minor character death, Blood, Unhealthy relationship, Irresponsible use of prescription medication, Mental breakdown, Obsession 

“Venture~”, your voice sing-songs from outside your shared home. 

Venture freezes at the sound of your voice, you weren’t supposed to be back home tonight. They glance at the blood drying on the floor, mind racing on how to keep you from seeing it. 

You’re too quick to open the door, ecstatic about getting out of work early despite your scheduled overnight shift. The sight in front of you makes you freeze. Your kitchen floor has splatters of blood and streaks from where you can only assume a corpse was dragged. Your mind immediately jumps to the worst and you tighten your grip around the handle of the door.

“Venture?” You call out hesitantly, “if this is a joke, it’s sick and I mean that in a bad way”, you add when there’s no answer. 

After several beats of silence, you pull out your phone, prepare to leave and call the police. Your attempt is interrupted when the door is forcefully torn from your grip and slammed shut behind you. You feel yourself shoved against the door. You shut your eyes and duck your head from the impact. Your hands are pinned above you and your phone is pulled away. 

You anticipate something, anything to happen to you, but when nothing happens. You hesitantly open your eyes and look up. And you don’t know what feels worse, opening your door to a crime scene or seeing who the perpetrator is. 

“Sloan…” you manage to choke out. 

So many questions race in your mind – why did you, who did you… But the desperation and fright in their eyes sobers you. In your forced rationality, you observe that their hand is warm on your wrists, their grip means no harm. 

“I-”

You cut them off by pushing them away, they stumble a couple of steps back, looking at you with wide eyes. 

“Don’t say anything. We’re cleaning this up. Right now. Go get some hydrogen peroxide and gloves. And change into something you can throw away,” you force the words out, “do not say anything that makes me any more complicit”. 

Venture is stunned at your reaction. They’re slow to follow your instructions, prompting you to ask more, “no bleach, that’ll only make things messier. We’ll refloor all of this tomorrow anyway. Do you have animal blood?”  

They shake their head, and you shoo them off to get what you told them to as you step around the kitchen to assess what needs to be done. You’re careful to avoid making the mess worse by tracking any more blood around. The mess is bad, it is a lot of blood, and it makes you think someone must've bled out. Part of you wonders if any of it is Venture’s, you hope not. You shake yourself, you don’t want to dwell on the thoughts of why it’s so bad. Your only task at hand is to clean it up, you remind yourself. 

After double-checking you won’t trail any mess around the house, you take your own advice and go to get changed into some clothes you won’t miss. You also force yourself to take two extra pills for your anxiety – double your prescription – to keep yourself grounded. 

You meet Venture in the kitchen again and help set up several trash bags. You instruct them to help you soak up the bulk of the blood in towels and throw it away. When it’s done, you show them how to clean up the rest of the blood and explain to them how hydrogen peroxide will destroy the traceable genetic material. You try to explain everything you can if only to fill the silence and to keep your mind busy. When the reality sets in a little more, you feel sick talking – you were quite literally talking about how to get away with murder. You put on a playlist to help with the silence instead.

Venture doesn’t say anything when you talk. And definitely doesn’t say anything when you stop. They’ve never seen you act like this, they never would have thought this would be a possible outcome. They’re scared anything they say will make you react poorly, so they choose to maintain the current equilibrium you’ve set. 

Eventually, when everything looks clean and normal you finally give the okay to take a break. 

“You should shower and sleep,” you say, going through the motions of brewing some instant coffee. You wanted the caffeine and you probably weren’t going to sleep anyway. 

“I promise I’m not planning to do anything while you sleep. But you’re going to help me with moving flooring tomorrow and you’re going to need the rest,” you insist, tapping your hand on their shoulder. 

Your contact makes them startle. They want to hold you and tell you how much they love you. They want to explain how this was for you. They were only doing what was best for you. They wanted to tell you how they knew you’d never see it that way and that’s why you were never meant to see them do this. But instead, they swallow the bitter reality and do as you say. If you were willing to help them this much, then they should keep their complaints to themselves. 

You note that Venture is resting on the couch in the living room, and for a moment it does cross your mind that if you wanted to call for help, now would be the time. Any other time, Venture easily overpowers you. But it’s also the first time calling the authorities has crossed your mind since you came home. The idea makes you nervous and you turn your phone face down on the counter as if to reject the possibility of doing that. You finish your coffee and start another pot of water before heading up to shower and change. 

You spend the rest of the night until morning, re-scrubbing the floor and cleaning anything you can. You know that you don’t have to at this point, you’re fairly confident you got everything done the first time around, but you needed to do something to stave off the looming anxiety. Your body aches from being on the floor and cleaning so much, but you just take an ibuprofen and ignore it. 

Venture, thankfully, wakes by themselves and saves you the mental distress of figuring out how to approach them. They follow you around for a bit like a lost puppy and it makes it really hard for you to not embrace them – but you know if you do, you’ll break and you can’t afford that. 

The drive to and back from the store is relatively uneventful. You explained the plan, and Venture did as told. The whole time you could feel them look at you for some reaction, but you ignored it. 

The two of you spent the rest of the day tearing up the floor and replacing it. It was mostly Venture and you helped where you could, you didn’t have the strength to match theirs on a good day, much less when you’ve pulled an all-nighter and barely eaten anything. 

The project is done by late afternoon. You were hoping to finish by noon, but at least it’s over now – and you probably didn’t contribute too much anyway. 

You take a long shower and pick something comfortable to wear. When you are done, you call out for Venture to do the same. Who, like everything else you’ve said these past two days, follows.

You collapse on the couch, and the give of the cushions is a relief your aching body needs. The thought of taking some more ibuprofen crosses your mind, but the idea that you’d have to get up deters you greatly. 

Venture eventually finishes their shower and slowly creeps into the living room as if to not scare you. They settle on the carpeted floor some distance in front of you. They’re looking at you the whole time, there’s a desperate desire in their eyes. Both of you can feel how fragile the atmosphere is. If you had any energy left to spare, you’d notice how uncomfortable it was that your constantly chattering partner had been silent for almost a whole day, not a single joke shared. Instead, you take note of how their usually fluffy hair is soaking wet, and barely dry. 

To your body’s protest, you force yourself off the couch to close the distance. You pull your towel off your shoulders and drape it over Venture’s head. You use it to dry their hair, gently patting their hair and running your hand through clumps you’re afraid will tangle. Venture lets you do this, all but melting into your touch. Their breaths are slow and relaxed for the first time since you got home. You take more time and care than needed to dry their hair, but the action just felt so domestic and right. And you couldn’t let the feeling go.

When you’re done, you take your time folding the towel neatly, taking care to not maintain eye contact with Venture. They stare at you with a sadness that you know would break your heart if you acknowledged it. 

“Let me explain-”

“Sloan,” they flinch at their real name being used and the sternness of your voice, “I have done so much for you, please do not repay me by saddling me with information that makes me any more guilty than I already am”. 

Your head is still dipped in a way where you won’t meet their eyes, you wring your hands together anxiously, unsure what to say. 

Venture saves you from the silence, “okay,” they pause, “do you want anything? Tea or food… dessert?” And darkly, they consider their options of drugging you and getting you away from here. Maybe to some place where they could do everything best for you. 

You shake your head. 

“Do you hate me?” Venture’s voice cracks at the end, they’re not ready for the possibility of being rejected.

“No- never,” you exclaim in shock, looking up at them for the first time, “I trust your judgment. I trust you. Because I love you”. You confess, stomping down the part of your brain that tries to add ‘a little too much’.

Venture lets out a breath they were holding and almost collapses in relief. Thank god. You still love them. It’s okay, everything is fine as long as you are theirs. 

“Do you need some space,” Venture tentatively offers, they don’t really want to leave, but they want to do something right by you. 

“No,” you choke out, “no, please don’t leave”.

You reach out to wrap your arms around their neck and pull yourself against them, they hesitantly return the embrace, holding you tighter when you don't react negatively to their touch. 

“I think my meds are wearing off,” you’re breathing hard, “it’s all too much to think about. And everything hurts”.

Venture comfortingly traces shapes on your back, letting you cry into their neck as sobs wrack your form and you dig your nails into their back to anchor yourself.

“Don’t go, don’t go, please don’t leave me alone,” you beg.

Venture leans their head against you and pulls you into their lap to hold you closer. 

“I’ll never leave you, mi vida”. 

Author’s Note: I saw some yandere Venture art and fics here. It inspired me to write about Venture killing someone because of their significant other – be it out of jealousy, possessiveness, or defense. 

This probably doesn’t fall under the typical yandere type stories, but I still consider it yandere because I think in the end, Venture doesn’t regret killing for you, they regret getting caught by you. 

For it’s worth, Venture probably orders you your favourite takeout and drink when you start to wake up so you can have something nice to eat since you haven’t eaten in over a day. 

I don’t think I’ll mention this always, but it should be obvious that both the reader and Venture here are not sound of mind. 

Quote is from Oleander by Mother Mother. Oleander is a toxic plant, it is sometimes used to symbolize desire, destiny, everlasting love, and caution.

[saynomorefic]

Check out my fics! <3

One shots

Did you give yourself away again? / 7k words / Teen

She tilted her head back and laughed at something Wille said, her hand brushing against his arm as she did it. Simon vaguely assigned her to a group of girls that he’d heard whisper in the sidelines as they walked past. Part of him wanted to walk right up to them, inserting himself and staking his claim. His stomach twisted into knots.

From @CaramelPenguin's prompt for the YR Prompt Meme:

Wilhelm and Simon are in an established relationship in Hillerska, though Simon is hiding the true impacts of online hate from everyone. It doesn't help that somebody else seems to be flirting with Wille...a lot...

All the rules to this game I bend / 1.2k / Mature

A tweet about Simon and Wille's hands goes viral, Wille overthinks as per usual, and Simon (as per usual) makes it better.

Written for Day 25: Hands, Wille's Month 2024.

Like birds do, I need to fly south / 2.2k words / NR

Wille vacays with the family, and Simon is his attractive bartender

Erik and Silvia thought it would be a nice gesture to invite Wille along for the summer holiday, but it was very much the opposite. While he enjoyed lounging on the beach lazily, perhaps liked waking up early to do laps in a crystal blue pool, and having breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared for him, there was one small part that was decidedly torturous, and his name was Simon.

Written for Day 24 of the Wille's Month 2024 event on Tumblr.

Falling for you / 1.7k / NR

Wille hits his head, Simon comes to his rescue, and Marcus is very annoyed with it all.

Or the Nurse!Simon Fainting!Wille AU that Tumblr asked for.

Based on true events.

WIPs

You Kill Me (AU) / Explicit / 32k

Oil heir Wille, Music student Simon.

Simon was no idiot, either. He felt it when he would walk into practice (often late, with Felice in tow), Wille’s eyes burning the back of his neck. But really, it was nothing. There were no stalled conversations in the hallway, no real exchange. Simon had his head in the music; Wille, in his ass.

Nothing, except for the night before the concert, where Wille stumbled into Felice’s parents’ kitchen, drunk out of his mind, muttering an “oh, it’s you,” and colliding into Simon, making him catch the both of them on the edge of the counter. He still remembered the electricity in his body that slipped around when he saw the corners of Wille’s mouth go wide, his eyes glinting in the blue light.

Or, Wille turns up in Stockholm after moving back to America for years, and Simon still doesn't know what to do about him.

I wont treat you like you're oh so typical / 9k / Teen

Through the years, when Wille and Simon were feeling overwhelmed by the world around them, they would hold each others' hands carefully and squeeze three times. It's okay. I'm here. And I care.

Or, girl!Wille and girl!Simon are best friends who (not so) slowly fall for each other.

Let's take this overboard / 9.8k / Mature

Through bribery and a string of bad luck, Simon ended his school semester with nothing to do except an invitation to spend the summer on a yacht with Sara’s culinary school boyfriend, a crew of upper echelons Swedish strangers, and a very hot boy Simon has (accidentally) seen naked.

Or: the Mediterranean Yacht AU

[writinginfinite]

imagine part vii

imagine: form a mental image or a concept

plot: you didn’t know what you were getting into when you turned your hobby into an actual career on f1. based on Lewis’ “imagine” tweet.

Friday May 6, 2022

care to expound upon that?

After missing the Australian and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix because of illness, it was great to be back, especially at the first-ever Miami Grand Prix. You questioned if it was the stress of your new career, especially after the SA Grand Prix, or the fear of failure creeping back in. The fear was so bad that you opted out of your one chance to be on television. You lied telling the production you were unwell when you were 100% healthy. Four days later, you actually get ill. You didn't believe too much in karma, but it felt like it at that moment. One thing is for sure, you were grateful you didn't tell anyone about your opportunity to be on television. Being relegated back to watching from the sidelines isn't what you wanted to do again, so you vowed to take care of yourself and try not to lie again. All you could do was hope that you'd be given another opportunity, but deep down, you doubted. 

You told your viewers and followers you wouldn't be at previous races because you were recovering, so there would be no live updates or videos, but they'd still get the articles. You tried to keep the reason for your absence vague because you didn't want to be perceived as weak, as if you couldn't keep up with the others. Most were messages of support, but still there were a few who tried to speculate about your absence. It took you some time to learn that you don't owe anyone an explanation. 

You were kind of grateful the Emilia Grand Prix wasn't too eventful racing-wise, because the "jewelry ban" seemed to be the trending topic of the whole weekend. Along with people calling Lewis "washed" because he missed Q2. You wanted to scream at your television when commentary or others refused to acknowledge he was essentially ending his season to do experimental setups on his car, not his teammate. He was sacrificing his season for the development of the team. Statistically, the greatest driver of all time in F1 was a Black man. Lewis, being the face of this sport, wasn't what they wanted, and seeing him struggle brought them joy. You tried putting that context in your tweets and articles, but there was no changing the ones who prayed for this moment. They had an agenda, you did not. You weren't one to praise the FIA, F1, or other teams because you feared losing credentials if you did not. Making it this far would not change you because from day one, you vowed to call out bullshit when you saw it. 

//

"Wow" was all you could think as you entered the Miami Grand Prix Paddock. You didn't know if it was because you'd been away for a while or the number of celebrities walking past you, but the energy was indescribable. An unrecognizable voice calling your name brought you out of your daze. They introduced themselves and once again used your name. "Hi, I don't think I am familiar with you. Can I help you with anything?" is what you said to the stranger in front of you who was wearing multiple media lanyards fitted with an earpiece.

"We were in correspondence previously, via email, about you being a guest on the show Monday, following the Grand Prix. It looks like you are better and we want to know if you will join us this Monday to talk about Miami. Would you be interested?" You froze in place, wanting to be anywhere but there. "Well, there's no backing out this time," you thought. You told them to give you one second as you checked your empty calendar, acting as if you were busy. "Looks like I am free. You still have my contact information, so you can send me the details on what I need to do or read?"

"Is this your correct contact information?" As he flashed you his iPad with all your details. "Yes," you said as you verified all the information. He typed in some more information than asked, "I just sent you an email with the details for tomorrow. Can you check your email quickly and verify that you received it? There is no need to respond right now. " You debated for a second to lie again that you your phone had died but it wasn't worth it. You couldn't run away and hide forever. "Yes, got it. I'll read over it tonight and send back whatever is needed." The man nodded in agreement, thanked you for your time, and walked away. I'm screwed, was all you could think as you continued your walk back to the media center. Your whole mood did a 180º, and you needed to get back in the right mindset to do your job. You had less than an hour before the first group of drivers' press conferences began. 

You watched as the first group of drivers walked in: Pierre, Alex, Checo, Lance, and Lewis. It took everything out of you not to let out an audible gasp when Lewis stepped into the media center. You looked around the room to see if anyone else had noticed, and the shocked looks on their faces told you they did. Wearing his signature black Mercedes team shirt, he walked in with items no one could ignore. Jewelry, lots of jewelry. Three watches, rings on every finger, pearl necklaces, earrings. You looked Lewis up and down wondering if there was more, remembering he said he had a piercing he "couldn't remove." "Oh, he's got jokes", is what you thought while getting your laptop and notes together as the drivers' conference was about to begin.

You looked up and noticed Lewis tilting his head and smirking in your direction. It was as if he was stifling laughter. You looked around the room to find out what was funny just to see all eyes were on you. You were beyond confused and turned around too, hoping to see what everyone was looking at. All that was behind you was the exit. You didn't want to turn around, but a voice caused you to. 

"Care to expound upon that? 'The jokes' I have?" Lewis said into his microphone, still smirking. A mic was suddenly in your face and a realization hit you. "Oh shit, I said that aloud?" This time actually saying it to yourself. Lewis sat in his chair with his head down, trying to hold in a laugh, but failed miserably. Your body language told him you were flustered and didn't mean to say that to him.

You took a deep breath, trying to remember the questions you had, but to no avail. "First, my apologies. I didn't mean to say that. I love the pearls by the way. Second, I hope you're well" you said, trying to use kindness and jokes to backpedal. "Um, I guess I'll ask you, 'Is this the beautiful jewelry, a response to the FIA regarding their now hard enforcement of drivers and jewelry? Do you feel as if it's directly mainly towards you?'" You sat down and passed the mic back quickly, wanting to become invisible. You'd be the first to ask for a copy of the transcript because you blanked out after asking your question. The day could not end quickly enough for you.

You were about to pack up to head to your hotel but pulled out your phone to take a video of the media room after conferences were done. You wanted to give your followers a quick behind-the-scenes scoop, something you had previously wanted years ago. As you were recording, a conversation caught your ear, causing you to put your phone down. "Who is that girl?" "What organization does she work for?" You looked out the corner of your eyes to see daggers being thrown your way. Yep, they're talking about me. The embarrassment you felt earlier now turned into annoyance because you were being disrespected. 

"Hi, if you want to know about me, all you have to do is ask. No need to go stir-crazy trying to figure it out." with a little smile. The shocked faces turned your way because they realized you had caught them. "Well, since you heard us, who are you? Who do you work for?" You didn't appreciate the tone in their voice or the glares they were giving you. "First, I will not tolerate this disrespect. I greeted myself to you all with respect, so I expect the same thing. I know you do it with each other, so why am I not given the same courtesy?" They scoffed and walked away. The last thing you heard was another voice saying, "We earn respect here, so when you're ready to talk to us, then come over." A few months ago, this situation would have made you recoil and leave, but you didn't give in. Even though you previously planned to call it a night, you unpacked your items and sat back down. They weren't getting the luxury of even thinking they ran you off.

You're finishing up writing an article about Friday's festivities and made it go live before leaving. You felt so accomplished and wanted to reward yourself with sleep. Before you left, you scrolled through your camera roll to see if you captured the video of the media center you planned on recording before that ordeal went down. "It should be like a ten-second clip. Why is this one over a two minutes?" is what you thought as you searched your camera roll. You clicked on the video expecting to crop it, when you heard familiar voices in the background. You never stopped recording, and you ended up catching the whole dispute from earlier.

You sat back down, trying so hard to hold in your laugh because you couldn't believe your luck. Being paranoid, you emailed the video to yourself and saved it in other locations because you felt one day you would need to use it. Not for blackmail, but to explain what you dealt with in your short time in this new career. No one would believe your word alone, so you needed some intangible evidence.

When you made it back to your hotel and did your nightly routine, you wanted to do nothing but sleep when you got into bed. You grabbed your phone and saw a reminder you set: "Sign the paperwork". You scrolled through your email until you found the subject line "Media Availability 9 May 2022". There were multiple attachments of legal and consent documents that required your digital signature. The legal language left your head spinning because that was out of your expertise. You googled the terminology and still didn't comprehend it all. You just hoped you weren't signing your life away when you sent the documents back. You just wanted to sleep and could care about that later.

As you were placing your phone on the charger, you remembered you didn't send out a tweet that your new article. When you logged onto Twitter, your mentions were tremendously higher than normal. It was nothing but GIFs and videos of Lewis laughing at your awkward interaction. You were just grateful the camera didn't capture your reactions. Your mentions read "Oh she's back!" "The only woman in the media who can make Lewis laugh like that" "Looks like you're well!" "Welcome back, thanks, for the laugh"

The tweets put you at peace, what you needed at that exact moment. You sent out a tweet "Yes, I'm back and well. This isn't how I planned my first weekend back to go, but things happen. Happy I made you all laugh. Also, a new article about Friday in Miami is live. As usual, link in my bio." You avoided using Lewis' name, so as not to start up any more negative reactions. You worked so hard the past month to have those cease.

You were about to close the app when a tweet from a familiar face caught your eye. The account belonged to a reporter you dealt with earlier that night. "To the new and old media members, remember, respect is not a given. You must work for respect. Don't let a lanyard inflate your ego." The replies were filled with people speculating about who or what the tweet was about. And other reporters replying, "Just because you get a pass doesn't give you respect."

You were so annoyed and felt defeated until you remembered the video. You quote retweeted the reporter saying: "I know this is about our situation from a few hours ago in the media center. I was respectful to you all, even after hearing the disrespectful comments made about me. Hopefully next time we can discuss this like adults and not subtweet as if we are teenagers. Have a great night." You also included the video because you knew you wouldn't be believed based on your words alone. You were over being nice, but you knew the game you were playing.

You watched for years as Lewis had to deal with being the only Black man in the paddock and wondered how he did it. They threw crap his way, but he kept moving and succeeding. Today, it finally hit you because you were experiencing it. You weren't comparing the severity of his experiences with yours, but understanding it clearer because it's now happening to you. You had no friends in the paddock. It was officially just business to you. Whatever crap they threw your way, you'd keep moving and succeeding.

You were finally calling it a night. You'd worry about the reaction in the morning.

As you went to lock your phone, you got a notification: "Lewis Hamilton liked your tweet." 

// parts

author's note: i know it's been a minute. i went back and forward with this part. i've added and subtracted details, still feel like i could have done more. hopefully it was worth the wait. send me your thought.

[which-star]

Hey! I saw your infographic about where to start reading Silk. I was wondering why not TASM 2014 comics?

Hello, anon! I'm so glad you saw my infographic, I did leave it vague in the image so I understand why someone would be curious!

Oooh boy, buckle up because Dan Slott (the creator of Silk) apologized himself for needlessly sexualizing her, if that gives you an idea of how bad it was. I screenshotted the original tweets because Twitter isn't in a user-friendly state right now below.

Essentially, Silk was introduced to be bitten by the same spider as Peter Parker, which is all fine and good until we get to the part where it meant they were so attracted to each other's 'pheromones' that they... couldn't keep their hands off each other. Yeah. Literally someone in the comic described them as "dogs in heat" and "urge to mate" was another descriptor used by Peter himself.

(TASM 2014 issues #7 and #9)

Genuinely I don't know how to explain just how much how weird that is. It's just bad writing -- obviously a cop out to have a new love interest for Peter, but not wanting to put in any work to make it work past "they were bitten by the same spider so they're meant to be." It was poorly received by fans back then; it's poorly received now. I honestly didn't think we'd get an apology for it, but I guess seven years late is better than never.

To touch upon the harmful Asian stereotypes, East Asian women have been fetishized and sexualized so much under the Western gaze that having a Korean-American woman being compelled to fuck the white male main character is... not helping things, to say the least. There's a moment where she's weirdly possessive over Peter, and it's just hard to read. Also, her original suit was bad. Like really really bad. I don't know why people still draw her in it.

(TASM 2014 #5 and #10)

I hope this explains why people tend to ignore her intro and why I recommend starting with her solos! Her first solo run sets a really good foundational base for her character and loses that whole pheromones thing entirely. It gives you a great impression of Silk while TASM will just leave you frustrated and you really don't need much prior context going head-on into it. I think that without the fatal-attraction part pre-solo the other things that happen are fun, but I wouldn't wish the bad stuff on anyone, if that makes sense. Thanks for the ask!

[bigjimbopickens]

For me personally, I won't be watching Kevin's stuff for a while to come. It is less about him though and more about the community he's brought to him, a community that now thinks he is one of them. A community that will likely stick around now as well. I don't remember reading anything in his apology regarding the vitriol he allowed to spread (though turning the comments off was the right thing to do), and I'm still soured by the lack of response to you regarding the p*** claims.

In any case I'm heavily disappointed. I love Kevin. He's the only YouTuber I have any merch from. And while I saw this coming I'm anguished. It sucks.

- also an autistic trans man

When I said I wouldn’t talk about this anymore I lied I wanna respond to this. I am contributing more to the convo with this though.

I feel the same way as I’m sure many others do too. And I’m glad you brought up the previous bs that happened just 2 or so months prior to all this because I was going to but felt like it wasn’t necessary as the post was already long enough.

For those unaware, in November 2022 Kevin posted a sims 4 video where he recreated the original sims 4 cult, which the fandom mimicked in a way. He changed the rules in that one to ban werewolves, which was interpreted as “ban furries.”

I made a joke response to it using the fursuit I made of werewolf Jim Pickens and people took it wayyyy too seriously. I was harassed quite a bit for that because people take what Kevin says too seriously. And of course I was called a p*do over it too. That situation scared off a-lot of people from the community but my naive self thought that was as bad as it gets and wanted to fix it. I believed it was my fault. So I organized a raid to bring the positivity back and it worked. Until Kevin fucked it up again 2 months later. I’m not organizing another. I’m not fixing his community again, he broke it and I had no involvement this time.

I sorta let that one slide when really I shouldn’t have because it was just one user who was really causing an issue for me. And it also wasn’t Kevin’s fault that guy had issues. I heard that Kevin did vaguely mention it on stream but I didn’t catch it because I was flying that day. Coincidentally he did post his “I almost quit in 2022” video on the day of the raid, which I came across again and said half-jokingly “You should’ve.”

There is another situation similar that happened to me back in April 2021 that is somewhat related as well. It was during the first NoPixel stream when I did fanart of Grognak and people started getting mad over their pronouns in my replies. So out of spite me and another artist drew them with the non binary pride flag and people became horribly transphobic towards us. Other artists joined us and the mods banned whoever was being transphobic in the replies. So transphobia has always been an issue in the community unfortunately, I just didn’t realize it was that fucking bad.

I joined the community shortly after the pandemic started when the Tomodachi Life series had started and I wish we could go back to those days. It was so much fun. Kevin never does videos anymore about his characters and when he does they’re more challenge-based rather than lore/character focused. That’s a big reason why his sims series fell off so hard. Jim went from being this evil idiot yet genius cult leader to asexually reproducing 100 babies. With the last sims 4 video being one that started a fight in his community I have no idea how he’s going to continue it. I don’t even know if he’s aware of what happened to me. I know he saw the fursuit, he liked the tweet I made about it.

Oh man another long post. Damn I ramble a lot. But I think it needs to be said regardless. I have got to be the user of the community who got fucked over the most amount of times simply for existing haha. I am the embodiment of what the community seems to hate. Thankfully two other communities have already welcomed me so I don’t have to rely on this one as much anymore. I’m still thankful for all the good it’s done for me but I’ve never been in a fandom more toxic than the Call Me Kevin community.

I hope you’re also doing well, anonymous stranger.

[childofaura]

I’m just geniunely curious tho and I don’t want to sound insensitive or bring up bad memories by accident but…

What did Alejandro Saab do that make you dislike him?

No no no, it's not insensitive or anything at all; I've honestly always been vague about it so I really don't blame anyone for wondering why I'm not a fan of him anymore. The sad thing is that I lean more towards being disappointed in him rather than loathing him like Monica Rial or Chris Sabat. So I'll break everything down, but strap into your seats because there's a LOT of context and stuff I have to explain.

But also let me clarify first: I honestly hope people don't feel like they need to stop liking an actor just based on someone else's opinions. I have a very close friend who usually watches English dubs and loves Chris's work as All Might, and if I ever had an opportunity I'd honestly swallow my pride and get in line to get something of hers autographed. So I want other people to know I hold nothing against them liking an actor or their performance, regardless of how I feel.

So to get to the beginning of it, a few years ago there was the whole drama with actors stepping down from roles (or being demanded to step down from roles in some cases) like Cleveland from Family Guy, or Apu from The Simpsons, etc, for not matching the race of the characters they've played. I know it'll stir up some discourse, but I personally believe ANYONE should play ANYONE based on the merits of their voice fitting the character. This is regardless of age, gender, and (the big one) race. Because voice acting was revolutionary in the sense that it does NOT matter what you look like, it matters what you SOUND like. So I honestly don't care about the race or gender or WHATEVER of an actor. Just as long as they sound GOOD.

During this drama, people were using examples of actors playing outside their physical appearance and one of them was Phil Lamarr. And unfortunately, Phil Lamarr went on a mini-tirade on Twitter telling people not to use him as an example of him playing white characters because it wasn't the same (while being not-so-oddly quiet about the fact that he played a Japanese man (Samurai Jack) and a man strongly based in South American culture (Kotal Kahn)), and to "get my fucking name out of your mouth". At which to this tweet, I saw Alejandro Saab tweet in response, "Preach!" Nothing super scandalous or even dickish. That was all he said.

But it was SUPER hypocritical. Because barely even a month earlier, Alejandro Saab released a video on how he was cast to play Leon in the Pokemon anime and how excited he was, which I think was great and I was happy for him! But then here he was, coming in and trying to pretend like he agreed that white actors shouldn't be playing characters of other races.

So I kind of confronted him on that (And sorry, I censored my Twitter because honestly I don't like having a lot of followers on Twitter, I just have it to see my friend's artwork):

My intention wasn't to pull some kind of "gotcha" on him or gain some kind of clout, but I really wanted him to understand why agreeing with that mentality would just come back to bite him, and a bunch of other actors in the same boat, in the asses.

And unfortunately I only have my tweets, not his, because maybe thirty minutes after I posted that to him, he deleted his tweet. And I didn't want that, either, but after that whole thing happened, I was just incredibly disappointed with him. Again, since he deleted his tweet, I absolutely understand people taking this whole thing with a grain of salt because all I have are MY tweets. But again, it wasn't like he said some horrible thing, it was just hypocritical of him to be cheering for an opinion that should have also applied to him.

So yeah, I kind of ended up losing a lot of respect for him. I still think he's a great and talented actor, but I take that opinion of voice acting (Play whoever you fit as) VERY seriously. I apologize for the big wall of text and I understand it's an issue a lot of people will probably disagree with me for.

[alphawave-writes]

Ao3 Ask Game

Thanks @changethecircumstances It's been a while since I've done one of these ask games (BTW I am always down to do more if people send them my way)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 80

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,073,622.

That's...that's 13k er story roughly.

That's a lot.

3. What fandoms do you write for? The fandoms I've written for are varied but are almost exclusively video game fandoms. Currently I write for Alan Wake/Control (despite only playing Control) and Overwatch, but before that I was writing for the Yakuza/Like a Dragon/Ryu ga Gotoku fandom, Detroit: Become Human, Apex Legends and Dynasty Warriors.

4. Top five fics by kudos Oh god, I'll go in order.

DPD (Detroit: Become Human: Reed900) — What started as my riff on Brooklyn99 romance comedy mixed with police procedural became this beast about trying to make a difference and belonging. My most popular by like DOUBLE second place.

Pain and Pleasure (Disco Elysium: Harry/Kim) — It's an NSFW fic about consensual choking. Fun fact, I had NOT played the game at this point nor do I even OWN it, I just saw bits of a walkthrough and no one had written about the obvious kink so I took it upon my mortal hands. You're welcome

Sparks fly (Disco Elysium: Harry/Kim) — Fun story: so remember last paragraph where I said I hadn't played the game? I won't reveal why but I got gifted a copy of Disco Elysium by a kind then-stranger and I had to pay back with 10K words worth of smut on a niche kink. It was fun though, I do still love this fic.

Drinking games (Detroit: Become Human: FOUND FAMILY PLATONIC HankCon) — My first DBH fic. I showed this one to my dad because I figured the story was cute and not romantic and comedic enough that he would enjoy it. Then he thought Connor was a literal child, and then a child robot, and that Hank was an abusive dad.

Safe to say after having that fic misinterpreted so badly motivated me to try and make my stories relatively standalone (and also never show even my SFW stuff, because it's one thing if family don't like or get what you write but it is ANOTHER thing when they completely misinterpret it LOL)

Experimental design (Sonic movie: Stobotnik) — Abandoned but not forgotten. I had big plans for it exploring Stone's origins,

5. Do you respond to comments? Usually. Sometimes I forget and sometimes I worry about spamming people with 'Thank yous' when I can't think of anything else to say, especially on repeat commentors, but in general yes

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Depends on your definition of angst. If you want a sad cry angst where literally everybody dies, that will have to be my Harry/Kim fic Despite everything. If you want angst in a more messed up horrible sense, that'll be my recent Zaneling fic CONFIDENTIAL: Burning and drowning. I don't typically write angst endings though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Aside from the smut? I think that will have to be the everyone reunites and is a family together ending for my Sigrold fic, Evil actions and good intentions.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Never directly, and almost never directly. Apart from one instance where a very particular shipper made a vague post suggesting I was orientalist (despite BEING HALF-ASIAN MYSELF) everyone seems to like my works! Which is nice, I hope it means my stories are good.

9. Do you write smut? A fair bit, but it is admittedly not easy for me to write. When I do, it's never PWP. At the very least, I like to play on the buildup, the foreplay if you will. Set the scene. It's easier to say I write plot with porn LOL

10. Craziest crossover? I never actually write crossovers, but one unfinished WIP I had based on a tweet was going to be Austin Powers x Bayonetta, which basically had Austin Powers replace Luka. This was before Bayo 3, so I was gonna play it semi-serious and have Austin Powers be revealed to be a Lumen Sage himself. Play it like Austin Power 3 kinda.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. Hopefully never happened. Most likely never happened since I tend to write for either obscure ships or obscure fandoms.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? A few times, always with permission which is nice.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? The only time I think I co-wrote a fanfic specifically it wasn't quite a co-write since the other person did a normal fanfic and I did a TWINE TEXT ADVENTURE. I'm just crazy like that.

14. All time favourite ship? I think by just sheer amount of time and energy put in, at this stage it's Sigrold (Sigma x Dr Harold Winston for the uninitiated). Maybe it's because Dr Harold Winston has changed so much he's basically my glorified OC, maybe I like old men yaoi where at least one of them is a scientist, maybe it's the fact I'm currently writing an original novel that features two characters that are essentially OC-fied versions of Sigma and Harold. Whatever the reason, they just have a grip on me that I'll never let go of.

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The aforementioned Experimental design. I had quite a few plans for it, but I think Disco Elysium kinda took over the brain and I could only focus on one fandom at a time. While I still love the Stobotnik ship, I don't think I'll have the motivation to finish this fic.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think personality and tone are my strengths. I like to inject a bit of humour into conversations and add some of my own original flair into all my works, but I also try to put the character's personality into the internal narration even when it's 3rd person. Last thing I want is for my work to be mistaken for the writing style of another.

I also try and play with the tone where I can, have it be fun and then tense. I hope I'm funny in some of my writings.

I've also been told by some people from non-English speaking backgrounds that my writing style is easy to read? That one, I cannot claim to be the authority on, but I hope people like it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Spellchecks and grammar checks, for one. If I had beta readers I might be able to catch it but alas I don't, so any errors I make often goes unnoticed. I also have a bad habit of repeating words within paragraphs. It annoys me when I see them and it annoys me when I read it.

As for my stylistic stuff, I like my run-on sentences. I can't help it, it has to go on and on and on.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Coming from a multicultural background, I don't mind dialogue in another language. I usually try and keep the raw original sentence or phrase, and either use context narration or worst case leave a footnote as to what it translates to.

19. First fandom you wrote in? Dynasty Warriors of all things. My longest fic by far is in that fandom. I liked Liu Shan, nobody else did, so I had to take matters into my own hands. Is it any good? Probably not, but you have to look at your old stuff and be amazed at how far one has come since then. Also I might wanna revisit that fanfic for an original piece, who knows?

20. Favorite fic you've written? God where do I begin? For my recent works, I have to say my Zaneling masterpiece Kill your Darlings since it's got a little bit of everything and it sets up a nice little AU I've been currently chipping away at. I was in a frenzy, I planned everything out and aside from minor changes I got almost everything written as I planned. A first for me!

On the more somber side, in Disco Elysium I'd say Ghost within nightmares as a character exploration of Kim Kitsuragi and Harrier du Bois (and in the game's style too).

NSFW-wise, it's a toss up between the Disco Elysium Sparks fly and the Overwatch Not my fault for different reasons. Mostly because I feel like I played with some unconventional kinks in a fun way.

And I can't forget the fic that started it all, the Liu Shan/Xingcai Dynasty Warriors fanfic A marriage written in the stars. Definitely have to revisit it one day in the future.

I tag anyone who sees this to do it if you haven't already

[geekynichelle]

So, I saw this tweet, and it started a conversation about the appeal of Harley Quinn, and I wrote this because I was possessed. It’s long so I put it below the cut. All opinions are my own.

Is Harleen Quinzel overrated? Honestly, I don’t know. Nor do I really care. Plenty of people love characters that others find overdone, and that shouldn’t have any bearing on whether or not they are liked on a personal level. You could equally say that Loki or Deadpool are overrated, and while I do believe race plays a role in why all three of these chaos agents are popular, gender is obviously why more people are vocal about finding Harley played out. 

Getting that out of the way, let’s dive into the nitty gritty. What the hell is appealing about this clown to a Black, queer and neurodivergent woman? To start I want to bring into play the idea that what Black women do and don’t enjoy is often put in a narrow box. Growing up I knew my mother liked action movies (even more so than my step-dad- huzzah for breaking gender stereotypes), and in her own words the reason for that is that she likes to see “people who deserve it get their ass kicked”. In our real life, society rarely dishes out justice for Black people the way we deserve, and while the action genre is made up of mostly white dudes, who is good and who is bad are clear cut, and we can always root for someone who punches out racists and misogynists. As a result I should have been less surprised that my mother would like Deadpool, but it still amuses me to this day. 

Deadpool, in his sequel film, has a moment when he with no hesitation shoots a man who he knows to be a child abuser, because unlike a traditional heroic figure there’s no question in his mind that that was the right thing to do. Whether this would be good in the real world or not is irrelevant because the catharsis comes from the fact that to Deadpool the child harmed mattered way more than anything other factors in that scenario. 

This is the appeal of those types of characters in general. Translating this to Harley Quinn in that way is easy. Evil deeds aside, her initial/general backstory is that she was a doctor (of psychology) that fresh out of grad school was sent to talk to the Joker, who in turn manipulated her compassion and convinced her to free him/join him. In the 90s animated series, which is where she first appears, the episode Mad Love shows us that not only was Harley taken advantage of, but also that she is extremely capable on her own. Batman point blank tells the Joker (after he’s hit her/tossed her out a window) that Harley is the only person that’s come that close to killing him. The Joker (who was initially going to leave her for good) realizes that he’s unleashed someone arguably better than him into the world, and like any abuser decides to get back on her good side to maintain control over her chaos rather than let her realize her worth. 

The new animated series dedicated just to Quinn, explores that notion further, and at some point during the second season sees Harley realize that she isn’t a hero or a villain, but rather a reactionary. She seems to have a soft spot for other abuse victims and in the series draws the line at over excessive killing, especially of innocent people. Ivy even states that while Harley is a criminal she is (at least in Ivy’s eyes) a good person. She has after all genuinely helped Ivy, and on occasion has helped save the day of her own free will. 

Obviously, like with any comic book character, how she is characterized depends on the writer, but it’s fair to say based on the media I’ve personally consumed putting Harley in a morality box is a wasted effort. What makes her special is that she resides in those grey areas. As I mentioned earlier her ability to reside there and remain popular of course relates to her whiteness, however I do think it’s important to remember that Harley Quinn is also Jewish and is therefore not a complete stranger to concepts of oppression. She is also in recent years officially considered Bisexual, and while all Batman villains are vaguely mental ill, she does fill up that category as well. 

I came across a tweet earlier today that suggested her whiteness is why many of her fans have turned her into a girlboss and downplayed her violence. I can certainly see where that person was coming from, but on a personal note, based on the above information that is certainly not the case for me. I know that I would enjoy Harley just as much (if not more) if she was a non-white woman, and that her violence and moral ambiguity are apart of what makes her a fun character. I’d never downplay her evil deeds. Granted, what I consider canon has a lot to do with the stories I’ve consumed (i.e I’ve never read anything about her involvement in the Jason Todd storyline therefore to me it doesn’t really exist), but ultimately Harley is no girlboss. She is a mess, and to quote Marie Kondo, “I love mess.” 

To put this further in perspective, when I was a kid I didn’t even know Bisexuality was a thing, but I did know that I liked when Harley and Ivy were together, and now as an adult who is out, seeing them officially canon affected me a bit more than I thought it would. They might not be good people, but I don’t think representation needs to always be about being squeaky clean. And ultimately that’s the rub isn’t it? Harley isn’t exactly like me and I’m not exactly like her, but she represents a level of chaos that yeah, as a marginalized person I’m not allowed to express. She can be a good person, but she can also be extremely outrageous. She shows that being the victim of abuse isn’t about how smart you are and that it can happen to anyone. She also shows that you can leave that behind and get stronger mentally and physically. In the case of the new animated series she does this without motherhood/babies thrust upon her, but through good friends who love her. 

Why Harley Quinn? Well, for me my current answer is because she’s complex. If you asked me as a child though, I’d probably say it’s because she was goofy and fun, and I wanted better for her than the Joker. Either way she’s currently being written by a Black, Disabled, Queer writer and as a long time fan, I absolutely look forward to the nuisances that’ll be added to the character as a result.

[lululawrence]

Wordplay 5.0 Reflections

I dunno what else to call it lmao it doesn't sound right to call this a meme, but whatever it is, here we are! lol @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed came up with these questions after @wordplayfics wrapped up last year and I love them so i'm gonna use them for this year as well.

I'm going to start out with listing the prompts and linking the fics i wrote for each one for everyone's reference, though I'll be linking them again through the answers as well. I'm also putting all the questions and answers beneath a read more because, as usual, I rambled lmao Alright! Here we go!

Struggle: I Said It Wrong, But I Meant It Right Reduce: I Love This Feeling (But I Hate This Part) Divide: He Carries The Key Rise: Thou, Sun, Art Half As Happy Sketch: I Heard You Talking

How did you come up with your ideas for the fics? Can you take us through your process after first receiving the prompt?

I don't know that I have a set way I come up with my fic ideas for Wordplay. It all depends on the prompt and what fic ideas I've got on my "to write list" that might fit that prompt. If nothing on my to write list fits or can be tweaked for a prompt, then I just go through my prompts tag until something strikes me for it, or I just ruminate on the different ways the word can be used and see if something comes up.

So, when I did the random word generator for the first prompt and "struggle" was the word that came up, I immediately thought of "struggle bus". lolllll and when I went looking through my to write list, I saw the girl Payneshaw fic I wanted to write and I was like omgggggg Nick ABSOLUTELY is riding the struggle bus the ENTIRE FUCKING TIME and I knew that was my fic for the week. lmaoooo and there you have it.

What is your favorite fic you wrote for Wordplay this year?

oooohhhh this one is HARD AND MEAN lmaoooo i forgot this was a question asked. okay legitimately i cannot choose a favorite because i'm actually stupidly proud and happy with all of the fics i wrote this year.

If you’ve participated in previous years of Wordplay, what has been your favorite prompt from all years you participated in?

WELP. as the creator of this challenge, i've participated in all 5 years which means there've been 25 prompts i've written. lolllll and honestly i think my favorite prompt is STILL from the first year. it was "bloodsucker". like, how great of a prompt is that???

What was the shortest fic you wrote this year? The longest?

the shortest one this year was... I Said It Wrong, But I Meant It Right at 4381 words.

the longest one was... I Heard You Talking at 10580 words.

What fic of yours surprised you?

i think all of them surprised me in some way. that's part of the joy of writing fics, isn't it? lollll but i think the one that surprised me the most was Thou, Sun, Art Half As Happy. it was a last minute change (i'll elaborate in the answer to the next question haha) and it was a VERY different direction than i had planned. it was all based off of a photo i saw on tumblr, and there was no prompt with the photo. i got to just take in the basic idea of the sticker being placed on a bridge overlooking the city and what might make that spot a good kissing spot.

now, as an ace who doesn't actually ENJOY kissing, i... didn't think about the fact that i would be writing a lot of it. lollll i actually have a super hard time writing kisses and trying to make them varied while also relaying the emotional intimacy of the moment, and then add on top of that the fact that once i started writing the fic, both harry and louis let me know pretty much as soon as words started getting written that they were both genderqueer and that worked differently for each of them, so harry would use they/them pronouns and louis would use he/him still, it just made things more interesting. and the way the fic developed??? like, i had a very vague idea of what would happen in the fic. so the way it actually came about all surprised me.

long answer short, from the very start, this fic surprised me and i was just along for the ride. it was a BLAST and i sure do love it, even if it does have the second lowest hits of all the fics i wrote this year haha

Were there any prompts you struggled to find an idea for?

STRUGGLED HAHAHA sorry. just funny since struggle was a prompt this year. ANYWAY. the prompt i had the hardest time with was defo rise. i've had this fic idea ever since greg james tweeted with shawn mendes months ago about how shawn basically forgot his interview with greg on the breakfast show, so greg had to last minute wing a LOT OF AIR TIME AND SHOW CONTENT and he did a great job, but it brought about some funny content... anyway. that made me wanna write a triad a/b/o fic where greg is louis and harry's beta. rise was going to be used in a lot of different ways through the fic, as well. because breakfast show requires greg to rise from bed early, he gets a rise out of harry and louis with his behavior and overt flirtations with shawn, they have to rise above their jealousy, etc etc etc. i was VERY EXCITED.

except i only had three days i was able to write every week this summer, and those were really really difficult to get. if i wanted to write on tuesday or thursday, i was often curling up with my laptop in a dark room with some caffeine and candles burning to soothe me after the insanity that is my life atm, and write for as long as i could before my brain stopped functioning, which was often only around 30 min. but see, that particularly week was the worst part of my son's 18 month sleep regression, which meant instead of him sleeping and letting me write, i was driving him around or trying to rock him back to sleep or letting him play in an attempt to tire him out etc etc etc and by friday morning i had to admit to myself there was no way i could write that a/b/o fic in my one guaranteed evening to write every week (saturday, btw). so i was suddenly left with around 36 hours to find a new fic idea and develop it enough to be able to write it in one evening.

as i said in the answer to the first question, i usually go to my prompts tag to see what might inspire me with this prompt word in mind, but for this one that wasn't the first place i went. i tried looking at more definitions even though i'd done that earlier and nothing was inspiring me. so i then spoke to several friends and was still having a hard time finding any ideas that felt like something i would enjoy writing and could do so quickly.

by saturday morning, knowing i had less than 12 hours to figure out what i was writing so i could actually WRITE IT in only like 2-3 hours of writing time, i finally sat down and scrolled through my prompts tag. once i did, i saw the photo for the "good kissing spot", and i immediately thought of sunrise. so i ran with it. but i wanted to make it stylinshaw, so how would i work that in, etc etc etc. it was just very fast and very difficult trying to figure out how i would structure it so it could be a fun meet cute kind of fic, but also work into them actually building a meaningful connection etc and... well. it was a lot. haha so yeah, it was just a hard time overall that week, but i'm super proud of it in the end.

Were there any prompts you had an idea for but ended up writing something different? If so, what made you choose to change what you wrote? Do you think you’ll ever write your original idea at a later date?

HA okay well i already answered most of this above, but for the last part of this question, yes i will absolutely write my original idea at a later date. the whole reason i decided not to do it wasn't because i couldn't turn it into a fic that could be written in that one writing session, but because i had hopes for what that fic would be, and i didn't want to shorten and condense it enough to do that. i didn't want to have to lessen the dreams i have for that fic in my head, so i decided i would just put it back on my to write list and save it for later. who knows when, but that fic will absolutely get written.

What do you think was the most difficult as well as the easiest part about the Wordplay Challenge?

most difficult was 100% finding the time to write. that was insanely hard for me all summer, but by the time wordplay was going, things at home had ramped up to being very overwhelming regarding the demands on me and my time, and what i had been doing to carve out some time for myself and writing wasn't working anymore, so i had to adjust even more with the understanding that i was working on a really strict timeline too. so yeah. just finding the time was absolutely the hardest part for me.

easiest part was the actual writing. these fics really flowed from me, outside of the pack fic, that one was actually pretty difficult to make sure i was getting the dynamics exactly the way i wanted to have them turn out, but even with that aspect, it still was like it flowed from me most of the time. these fics really just took over and i was along for the ride. it was a blast.

If you participate again next year, is there anything you’ll do differently? If so, what?

lmao well assuming people still want wordplay to happen again, i'll run it again and very likely will take part. so... with the difficulty i had in finding any time to do anything this summer, i was actually ridiculously stressed when it came to the writing part, but also the modding aspect of it. so i am not sure that i'll run it during the summer again next year. i might have it go during the early fall once school is back in session so i at least have only one child at home instead of three to battle lol so that's one thing i'll hopefully be doing differently.

as for the writing aspect, i don't think so actually. i've done 5 years of this, and i'm having fun with it. haha if i ever find a fic idea i think could work for it, i would consider doing a series for it next year, but it all depends on if there's something i'd like to write that could work for that kind of set up with this challenge.

if you made it this far, thank you for reading!!! xxx

[storiesforallfandoms]

sweet disaster ~ machine gun kelly

word count: 1516

request?: yes!

@livingmybestfictionallife​ “Can I request a Colson fic where he and the reader have grown up together have been best friends since middle school and it's about them realizing they love each other, but based off Dreamers' Sweet Disaster?”

description: after waking up from a crazy night partying, two best friends since middle school reveal their feelings to one another

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol

based on this song

masterlist

My head was pounding and my body was stiff when I woke up. I groaned as I pulled myself to sit up. I realized I had passed out on the floor, so that explained the sore body.

On the floor next to me, Colson was still out cold. He was in just a pair of sweatpants, a normal occurrence when he got trashed. I grabbed a nearby pillow and hit his face. Colson immediately jumped awake, looking around the room in confusion before his eyes landed on me.

“What the fuck (Y/N)?” he asked.

“If I have to be up then so do you,” I retorted, bracing myself before pulling myself to stand.

“Go back to sleep,” he groaned, laying back and using the pillow to cover his face.

“I can’t, I have to vomit.”

Luckily, I didn’t vomit, but my stomach was still churning, so I grabbed a glass of water for my breakfast. I decided to be nice and get one for Colson, too. He’d definitely be super hungover, too.

When I got back to his room, Colson was sat up with his back against the foot of his bed, his hands cradling his stomach. I offered him the glass of water and he gratefully took it.

“Thanks,” he said. “There’s Aspirin in my bedside table.”

I grabbed two tablets for the both of us. I took the Aspirin and a mouthful of water. The minute the cold liquid hit my stomach, I could feel it churning again. I hoped whatever contents were in there would stay put throughout the whole day, but my history with hangovers definitely said otherwise.

I sat next to Colson on the floor as I waited for my stomach to settle again. “What the fuck did we do last night?”

“We got super drunk,” Colson responded. “And super high. I remember sharing an entire blunt.”

I groaned. “God, I’m awful when I’m high. Why would you let me smoke?”

“Cause it’s lame to be high alone.”

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on Colson’s shoulder. The night before came back in flashes and blurs; Colson and I drinking, sitting outside his house to smoke the blunt, playing video games while drunk and high, watching movies, having stupid debates on the movies.

Getting super drunk with Colson was nothing new. Whenever he had time off, we always got together to drink at least once, but last night was different. Last night we got party levels of drunk, as if it weren’t just the two of us hanging out together.

“Do you think either one of us posted anything embarrassing?” I asked. “We were drunk enough for that.’

“Oh man, we should check.”

We took a while to try and locate our phones, and once we did we sat ourselves back on the floor. I went through all my social media and all I found was a picture I had taken at the beginning of the night of Colson playing video games with my legs over his lap.

“This one’s cute,” I said, showing it to him. “But nothing embarrassing. And no embarrassing texts, thank God. I have too many exes on my phone.”

“You should get rid of those,” Colson pointed out. “I don’t have any notifications, so I didn’t post or tweet anything publicly. Let’s check my camera roll to see if there’s any pictures.”

I watched Colson’s face as he scrolled through his phone. I couldn’t hold back my laugh as I saw his face twist in shock at whatever he found. I extended my hand for his phone, trying to take it from him.

“Let me see! What is it?” I asked. Colson held his hand out so that I wouldn’t be able to reach. I pushed against him, trying to grab it from his hand. “Dude, we’ve been best friends for years, whatever it is I’m sure I won’t give a fuck.”

“It’s nothing, leave it alone, (Y/N),” Colson insisted.

What he forgot about me was that I was very stubborn. So, I pretended to let it go, and when Colson let his guard down, I grabbed his phone and took off for the bathroom. Colson raced after me, but I got to the bathroom before he did and locked the door behind me.

“That’s not funny, (Y/N)!” Colson called as he pounded on the door. “Let me in, give me my phone back!”

I sat with my back against the door and unlocked his phone. That was one of Colson’s biggest mistakes: trusting me with his phone password.

The picture he had been looking at popped up on the screen immediately and I audibly gasped. It was a picture of myself and Colson when we were obviously very trashed. I had my arms around his neck and I was kissing him deeply, while one of his hands was under my shirt, pressed firmly against my back and holding me to him.

I stared at the picture for a long time, wondering if that was the extent of what Colson and I had done the night before. My clothes were all on properly, and we didn’t wake up naked. But I really could not remember us doing that at all. It must happened when we had both gotten absolutely black out drunk.

I sat on the floor for a while, just looking at the picture. Why wouldn’t Colson want me to see it? Did he regret it? Did he want me to just forget that it happened? I felt a slight ache in my heart at the thought of this.

I finally pulled myself up off the floor and opened the door. Colson looked down at me with a look of worry on his face. “Did you look at it?”

I nodded. “Yeah...here.”

I passed him his phone back. He took it, hesitantly, still looking at my face.

“Delete it,” I told him. “If the picture causes that much trouble, you can just delete it.”

“Trouble?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“You obviously didn’t want me to see it for a reason. I don’t remember the kiss, I’ll forget the picture exists and you can delete it.”

Colson seemed shocked by my words. “What if I don’t want to delete it?”

I rolled my eye. “You’re not funny, Colson.”

“I’m not trying to be!”

I pushed past him into the room. I tried to remember what I had brought with me that night, but soon remembered that all I had was my clothes, phone, and the booze I brought. I shoved my phone into my pocket and made my way for the front door.

“(Y/N), seriously, what’s going on?” he asked. “Why are you so upset over the picture?”

“Why didn’t you want me to see it?” I asked him. “Are you ashamed that we kissed?”

“No! Of course I’m not ashamed. I was afraid that if you saw the picture, it would make things awkward between us and we’d stop being friends.”

I paused a moment, letting his words sink in. “Oh...well...yeah that makes sense.”

“It does. Why would me being ashamed of it make you this upset?”

I scoffed, trying to play off my real feelings. “No girl wants to be told that someone was ashamed to kiss them.”

Colson shook his head. “There’s more to it than that.”

“Maybe there is, and maybe there’s more to you not wanting me to see the picture.”

We stood in silence for some time. With those vague sentences, there was a lot put out in the air between the two of us. I leaned against the wall behind me and looked up at Colson. My eyes were drawn to his lips and I wondered what it had felt like to kiss him the night before. I really wished I could remember it.

“How long?” I asked him first.

He knew what I meant immediately and responded, “Since middle school.”

My eyes widened and, before I could stop myself, my hand swung out to hit him in the arm. “What?! And you didn’t tell me?”

“Okay, ow,” he said. “And no, I didn’t tell you, because you were my best friend. I didn’t want to lose you so soon after I met you.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve made some move or something. We wouldn’t be in this mess if you had.”

He chuckled at this and I couldn’t help but smile as well. “How long as you felt this way?”

“Also since middle school,” I responded.

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“Because that’s the guy’s job!”

He playfully rolled his eyes at me and took me into his arms. I cuddled into his chest, taking in his familiar scent as he held me.

“So, where do we go from here?” he asked.

“I think that’s up to you,” I told him. “Where do you want to go?”

He looked down at me and smiled. “Out with you, on a proper date.”

I smiled back. “You smooth motherfucker. Let me get sober, we’ll go out together.”

“Deal.”

[sillytorch]

Okay buckle up everyone! I made a tweet thread about this topic but I hate the formatting on Twitter so here we go!!

So the reason why I'm holding very closely to the whole "Neo's illusion of Roman theory" is b/c of a few things

1: Neo's motive is to avenge Roman. She doesn't just miss him. She's even trying to base her identity on him. Her original outfit is based on a cosplay of a female Roman Torchwick Monty's friend SoulFirePhotos made. Like see in the pictures, Neo's original outfit is basically a recolor of that cosplay. From the coat tails, to the corset, to even the necklace.

Her new outfit has even more elements to Roman's outfit. Long jacket with three buttons, long gloves, even the same grey scarf and hat (which I'm starting to think that hat is not a spare, but Roman's actual hat. But I'll explain soon)

She desperately trying to fit in the Roman's shoes (or clothes) Her scarf is assymetrical and haphazardly tied compared to Roman's symmetrical scarf (almost looks like a bowtie)

Even the hat Neo wears is too big for her. In some shots, you can see that where her head meets the hat, there's lots of extra space there.

Almost as if it's a hat meant for someone with a bigger size than her... I wonder who did that hat originally belong too... (Who’s to say, Neo found Roman’s body in the wreckage and found his hat and repaired it/cleaned it up?)

2. Whenever Neo answers someone's question about someone, her response will always be by turning into said someone.

Who's to say that when Neo and Ruby confront each other, Ruby asks "Why are you doing this?" and Neo makes an illusion of Roman as her answer?

We saw Neo make illusions VERY quickly when fighting Cinder and appear right before her.

And Neo looked very fine there until we see the real Neo all dirty and worn, wearing Roman's hat. She did make a wall of an illusion to help Roman escape when we first see her:

3. Miles said in a fan interview when asked about how Roman built his criminal empire "I can't talk about that" but he tries to answer the question with "I like-" and has a pondering look on his face then says "I can't talk about that either. Sorry!"

In a Reddit AMA on December 2nd, Eddy answers someone asking about whether we'll see Roman again.

And while I personally think he's dead, Eddy's answer is kinda both vague and teasing don'tcha think? He KNOWs a lot of people love and wanna know more about Roman.

And with Neo back and the writers being very vague about Roman, there's somethings cooking involving the topic of him. What and when will it be? Who knows? But one thing (hehe one thing...) is for sure, we might learn a bit more about him and Neo at some point.

[writinginfinite]

imagine part iii

imagine: form a mental image or a concept

plot: you didn’t know what you were getting into when you turned your hobby into an actual career on f1. based on Lewis’ “imagine” tweet.

Tuesday March 15, 2022

"they already accepted me, so why not ask?" 

It was the afternoon when you finished packing and cleaning up your apartment because you were leaving for Bahrain later that night. There is a noteworthy time zone difference, so you wanted to get to Bahrain a day early in order to adjust. After all, this was your first race weekend as an accredited journalist and you wanted it all to go smoothly.

You were tired, so you laid on your couch because you had not had a complete night's rest since Saturday after receiving the email. You reflected on the past few days and tried not to get emotional (again).

You did not tell anyone the same day because you wanted to be 100% sure it was not a sick joke. So after some back and forward, it was indeed true. They gave you details on how to retrieve your media pass and also sent in an ID photo. You were grateful you did your hair into butterfly locs the week before so, that was one less thing to worry about. 

Deep down, you wanted to know why they had denied you for the 2021 season so, after having everything set in stone you asked the correspondent why they constantly denied you. You knew the rules were tough because you read the guidelines from cover to cover and met all the qualifications plus some. You thought to yourself, "They already accepted me, so why not ask?" 

You sent in the data traffic from your website, showing how you constantly had written at least 4 days a week for the past few years. You had videos; you were the whole package. There was no reason for them to deny you. 

They tried downplaying your body of work, but you could back up everything. You even kept tabs on other journalists and creators who started around the same time as you while putting in half the work. You worked twice as hard as them because it was just you, not a team. There was a lot of beating around the bush in the correspondence, but when you broke it down and read between the lines, it all made sense. The FIA media and paddock weren't ready for someone like you. 

You were someone who questioned decisions and called for accountability throughout the 2021 season. When you put two and two together, they all had something in common you didn't have. It was something you had no say in when you were born. The color of your skin. You saw the flack of another journalist who works in F1, but she had the racing qualifications; you not so much. You were very vague about your previous career. After all, you didn't need viewers and outsiders questioning your qualifications because your background wasn't in motorsports or journalism. Although it was close enough that you were more than qualified to know what you were talking about. 

You are a Black female with no racing background, but a fan who was always wanting to learn. You had the education, determination, and skills but you knew you'd have to work twice as hard and with caution. One wrong move and they could get rid of you quickly and with ease. 

So you kept your feelings to yourself and just responded, "Thank you so much for the feedback. I'll take that into consideration and work on my production and writing." Smirking and laughing the whole time typing that because you knew you were lying through your teeth.

The first people you called were your parents and siblings, then Ashlyn. You told them all but had one condition - don't tell anyone or post until I share it with others. You kept your private and public life separate, almost like two separate entities. You kept your public social media strictly F1 (and other motorsports) related. You never posted your family, friends, outings, relationship status, and so forth on there. That's what your private social media was for, even though you kind of kept your relationship status (nonexistent as it may be) from almost everyone. It was the same answer when they asked, "I'm working on myself and I'm too busy to dedicate myself to someone. " You never thought you'd be the woman whose job took up a lot of her life but that's how the cards played out.

You were watching those close to you get married and have children, but that currently wasn't for you. You heard the occasional "Don't you wish that was you?" "Wouldn't a mini you be so cute?" "Aren't you lonely?" You knew they meant well and didn't take it personally. You were finally in a good place in life because you had everything you dreamt of. 

The sound of your 18:00 (6 pm) alarm woke you up out of your thoughts. It was time for you to call an Uber to get you to the airport. Next stop Bahrain, and this time you weren't entering the gates through the fan entrance. You were an officially accredited member of the media. 

// parts

author's notes: another slow burn, sorry. i wanted to break this up. part iv sunday (or earlier)

[sapphicmsmarvel]

JJ: Booktube

premise: dating jj and being a booktuber. 

masterlist 

Lets ignore the fact that JJ would be fired without a doubt from the FBI if this stuff actually happened and her life would be threatened by criminals.

-She knew that you were really into books. 

-She just didn’t know how much. You two had met through tinder believe it or not, she was sick of being alone at night and didn’t want a fling. Luckily, you felt the same way and you two matched. 

-The team did know that she was on Tinder, but not that she had officially met someone. 

-Reid was sitting at a table on the plane, watching something on his laptop. But then she heard your voice, your upbeat, happy voice. She glanced back to see your bright and beautiful face holding a book. “What’re you watching?” JJ asked. Which grabbed the attention of Emily.

“A video on what books to read if you want to get into ‘young adult’ books.” Reid said, thoroughly focused on the beautiful woman on his screen. 

“She’s pretty.” Emily saw you. 

“She is.” Reid mumbled, blushing. 

“Who’s pretty?” Morgan said, leaning over the back of the seat, “oooh who’s the cute nerdy girl?” 

“A youtuber, and be nice.” JJ said crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it at him. 

“Her shirt literally says ‘Nerdy Bitch’, I think she knows she’s one. She's hot too.” 

-JJ quickly sent a picture of the screen to you. “My teammates think you’re pretty, have to say I agree.” 

“OMG, please tell me you aren’t watching my videos 😭” 

“I am now baby 😉” 

“FUCK.”

She huffed a small laugh at your response, then continued watching with Reid. 

-Little did she know you tweeted to your followers, “THE GIRL I’M DATING IS WATCHING MY YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH HER COWORKERS. PLS KILL ME.” 

-When she came home from that case, she wanted to hear all about your job, which you happily told her and tried to ignore your embarrassment over how she found out. 

-Since then she has been a loyal subbie. 

-You met the team and they were all very shocked that it was you that they were watching on their computer screen. They also all subscribed, and you had to make Rossi and Hotch youtube accounts because they didn’t know how. 

-Your viewers knew of her, knew how you always called her “Rapunzel,” and she always called you, “Flynn” in response. 

-But because you explicitly said you won’t be showing her because she asked you not to, you got hate comments for respecting your girlfriends privacy. 

-When she came over one night, she saw all of the publishing houses boxes on your front step. She knocked on your door because she saw that your car was in the driveway. She got her key out of her pocket and opened your door. Then, she carefully put all the boxes into your foyer, as well as her overnight bag and shut the front door. 

-What she saw next warmed her heart, you had fallen asleep on the couch with a book on your chest. She saw your tripod and camera, she realized you were filming a timelapse for a reading vlog. She remembered you telling her that you were filming one this week. 

-She decided not to turn off the camera, instead, she gently took the book off your chest, placed a bookmark to mark your spot. Then she crawled on top of you. You were laying on your back, she laid her head in the crook of your neck, she giggled as she felt you wake up. You wrapped your arms around her, “hey baby.” You croaked. 

-You felt her whisper against your skin, “you left the camera on, thought I’d give a little show of affection for those subscribers who think I’m a bad girlfriend.” 

You sighed, “please tell me you haven’t been reading the comments.” “No, well, sometimes I do. Garcia sees them and gets mad.”

“So she’s the commenter, TheBlackQueen causing fights on my channel. Gotcha.”

JJ laughed, “oh god, I didn’t know she was doing that.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve been liking her comments, not deleting them.” 

JJ laughed at that, then you continued, “you want me to get up and turn off the camera? It should turn off in…” she didn’t have to open her eyes to know that you were looking at the red light on the camera and the clock on the wall behind it. “Oh jeez, five minutes maybe, it has a 40 minute timer before it automatically turns off.” 

“No,” JJ shook her head, “I really need to just stay here, Y/N.” 

“Okay.” 

-When the video was posted, she saw the comments on it. There was not a negative one, of course there were ones making a comment about why JJ was just showing herself on Y/N’s channel. 

-After that, she was slowly showing herself in your videos more. Handing you something, delivering a package to your little library in your home. 

-She made a lot of appearances in your moving vlogs for your channel because you two moved in together. The kids also made a brief appearance but very vague, you didn’t show their faces. 

-She was memed within your fanbase because of the faces she pulled while you were moving books, and her helping you move them, she was like “????” 

-When she knew she wanted to propose to you, her and Garcia watched a couple of YouTube videos to learn how to use your camera, then they devised a plan to vlog the engagement together. The ring picking, her talking to the camera and introducing herself. “Hey as you can tell I am not Y/N, I’m her girlfriend, as you guys know we’ve been together for some time but I’m gonna propose to her!” She cheered, then the team in the background were like “finally!” and cheering as well. 

Then she broke down the plan to them, “so, we’re gonna go to our favorite greenhouse in D.C. I shot some footage of picking her ring, which I’ll have her insert here,,,,gah I’m no good at this.”  Then she continued, “so we have a friend who’s hiring some professional photography, which is exciting.” She did a lil shimmy, then Prentiss popped in, “hey! This is a friend of theirs and the reason our friend is hiring photographers is because we’re gonna be sobbing too much to take good photos, as well as he’s rich as fuck” 

Everyone laughed at that. 

“And, well, we’re going tonight, so wish me luck!” JJ gave an awkward peace sign to the camera and turned it off. 

-She then handed the camera to Garcia who would hide and record the footage, the photographers that Rossi hired posed as regular ole pedestrians. The others hid in bathrooms, waiting for the text saying that JJ did it. 

-JJ almost spilled the beans that she was nervous on the way over there to you. That would’ve ruined it. 

-Luckily, the part of the greenhouse that you two had your first kiss in was empty. The fairy lights were lit inside, it looked beautiful.

-They had a flower there that the greenhouse called “the wishing lilly.” The owner of the greenhouse says that those lilies bring good luck, he wished on it then his wife was pregnant with twins, then he won the lottery and managed to build the greenhouse into something bigger. 

-Per as tradition, you both closed your eyes to make a wish, but she opened hers and got down on the ground, Garcia quietly followed you guys in with the other photographers.

“Y/N..” she trailed off, you opened your eyes to find her kneeling on the ground, your eyes instantly filled with tears as your hands went up to your mouth. “Y/N, you are the light of my life, the Flynn to my Rapunzel, will you do me the honor and be my wife?”

“Yes!” You nodded and cried. She quickly stood up and pulled you into her arms. 

-Garcia started crying and shaking, “yay!” You looked up to see her there.

“Oh my god, hi, there’s a lot of people in here.” You said seeing the two photographers and Garcia. 

“Rossi hired photographers. And the team is waiting for a text to come in and congratulate us.” JJ laughed and leaned up to kiss your head. 

“Oh god, I look like a mess!” You laughed, yet cried at the same time.

“We both do, baby. Welcome to marriage.” She slid the ring on your finger, just in time for photos to begin. 

-At the end of the video, you made an introduction part for the subbies to meet JJ. Filled with questions and such to know her. Briefly mentioning her sons as well. 

-After you two got engaged, you started filming fiance challenges, (my fiance picks my next read, my fiance tries to guess the plot of books based off their covers). Hell, you two even do some baking and cooking videos. 

-Your marriage blew up on booktube, you two were The Lady Lovers on booktube, as you had been labeled. You both loved that there were so many people resonating with your love. You shared a pre wedding video talking about the insecurities you both had, and a talk about discovering sexuality when you’re in your mid thirties after a divorce from a man and having two kids. And you, someone who’s never been in a serious relationship, giving your advice to people. 

-It was a big video and an emotional one. But it resonated with a lot of people which you both were glad for. 

-Then your wedding video came out and everyone lost their shit. People were sending in love, there was a lot of adorable footage from the wedding, people crying. 

-You even incorporated books into the wedding decor. 

-While your career was quite different then JJ’s, people saw you as a perfect fit. You stayed home all the time, writing, putting videos up, writing reviews and partnering with brands on your channel, you were able to be there for the boys when she couldn’t be. She was all over the country constantly, she made it a point that every night before bed she’d watch one of your videos, and it helped that you sent videos to her of Henry and Michael. 

-You were the calm to her storm, where her life was hectic and constantly on the move, she knew she always had a home waiting for her. 

[its-bound-to-get-loud]

Ashton Irwin is not straight: a masterpost

It’s been a while since I’ve written a masterpost, but I’ve been meaning to get back into it for a while now. Giving a voice to some of my personal ideas is the main reason to start this blog in the first place. I’ve made a similar post about Michael several months ago. I can highly recommend checking that one out as well. This one will probably be a bit shorter than that one, since Michael has been banging on that closet door a ton, while Ashton is a little more subtle.

Before you continue reading, a quick disclaimer. If the idea that Ashton may not be straight makes you uncomfortable. Please do not continue reading. However, if you have an open mind and are willing to entertain other ideas than your own or if you share my ideas (based on the title) you are more than welcome to continue.

Finally, I’m asking you. Please, under no circumstance ever show my posts to any of the guys or people close to them. The posts that I make are meant for fandom discussion only. You can share them with friends, you can talk about them, just do not share them with the guys or the people around them. Also, I will not be publicly speculating about what label (sexuality) the guys may identify as. This is something very personal and it’s up to them to decide how they want to or don’t want to identify as. However, I do believe that at least Ashton, Luke and Michael are not straight. I haven’t completely made up my mind about Calum, but I think there are definitely certain signs that he may not be straight. I’m aware that a lot of people believe in Cashton as a couple. Personally at the moment I’m posting this I do not believe they are (or were) a couple. I understand why people think they are dating, I have seen plenty of Cashton evidence, but nothing has absolutely convinced me so far. They are super cute and I absolutely ship them though, I would love nothing more than to be wrong about this. Now that we have gotten all of that out of the way, let’s get to the reasons I think Ashton is not straight,

I do not have as many reasons for Ashton not being straight as I do for Michael, who has been incredibly vocal about not being straight. Ashton however has thrown a few hints out there and I am receiving them loud and clear. For me the first thing that pointed me towards Ashton not being straight sounds a bit vague. It was his demeanor, the way he acts, the way he carries himself. Ashton is very flamboyant in the way he acts. You know how you see someone you don’t know, but instantly know they’re not straight because of the way they behave? That’s exactly what I see when I look at Ashton. It’s hard to put into words, but if you don’t know what I mean I highly suggest googling the definition of flamboyant, I’d say it fits quite well with Ashton. Now I know this is very much a stereotype and not everyone who is flamboyant is gay* and vice versa, so this doesn’t make what I say a fact (unless Ashton comes out and says he’s not straight, this whole post is speculation). But those stereotypes do exist for a reason, they may not apply to everyone, but they do exist for some.

* I’m using gay as an umbrella term here, I don’t mean to imply he is only into guys. Simply that he is not straight.

“Girl and/or boy”

The following moment of the guys explaining what Don’t Stop is about can be interpreted in many ways. It starts with Luke saying the song is about a girl at a party, that everyone wants to take home to “hang out” with. Then after some further talk at 0:53 Ashton says “It’s just about a girl who everyone wants at a party basically. And/or boy”. Now this can be interpreted as a girl seeing a boy at a party who she likes. It could be a general statement that some boys aren’t (just) interested in girls, but (also) in boys and he’s trying to be inclusive. Which is not out of character for Ashton I’d say. It could also be a little more personal. Maybe meaning that he might not (just) be interested in girls. Personally I think it might be a combination, it’s a blanket statement that leaves plenty of room for plausible deniability, should there ever be a need for further explanation.

“I don’t wanna tug any of ya”

The fact that nobody is talking about this at all is at least surprising. I get that the interview is a few years old, but even in the comments I don’t see anything about it. At 2:19 the interviewer asks them who would win in a tug of war competition between 1D and 5SOS. After some back and forth talk, their answer nears an ending, but not before Ashton jokes “I don’t wanna tug any of ya” at 2:36 and letting out an adorable giggle. Michael doesn’t seem to take notice of what Ashton is saying. However Luke and Calum definitely get it. Now if there was any doubt about what Ashton would mean by tug. Just take a look at the Urban Dictionary. So Ashton jokes he doesn’t want to tug any of his bandmates. Does that mean he would like to tug someone else perhaps? This may have been a simple teenage joke and nothing else, but I think it’s important to at least take notice of.

“It’s not a guy”

This moment is honestly iconic, I don’t know what else to say. In this video they get asked some random stuff such as “first band you saw live” and in this case “favorite hometown spot”. 20 seconds into this video and Ashton does a shout out to Frankie’s in Sydney. Which is all fine, but what follows is where it really gets interesting. He says “spent way too much time in you”. This could just be a bit of unfortunate phrasing, sometimes our brain to mouth filter works in weird ways. Then Luke feels the need to add “it’s a rock bar”. This smells like damage control to me. They could have just laughed it off and made it into a joke. I mean, Ashton says a lot of ridiculous stuff at times, so this wouldn’t even be that much out of character. Ashton however must’ve felt defiant that day, because he decides to add fuel to the fire by saying “it’s not a guy”. Then he smirks while looking off camera. He is well aware of what he’s saying and I 100% believe he saw an opportunity and took it. Also a special shout out to Calum’s face after Ashton said “it’s not a guy”. Also, the fact that he says guy and not girl is something to take notice of. Now in all truthfulness, if he’d said girl it would have sounded rather gross and I probably would have to scold him myself. But I’d say Frankie is an androgynous name that doesn’t stereotypically belong to any specific gender.

“Boys, boys, boys”

5SOS reads thirst tweets is iconic as a whole, but one of my favorite moments is “boys, boys, boys”. It starts with Ashton reading the tweet, followed by Luke going “you can’t say boys like that”. Ashton being Ashton doesn’t like being told what to do, so he decided to be extra and repeat himself a couple of times. Now this may just be Ashton being defiant. But there is an extra added layer to what he says and how he says it. The way he says it is just so flamboyant, the way he stares into the camera he knows what he’s saying.

“If Walls Could Talk”

There is a reason I called my blog its-bound-to-get-loud and the reason is obviously this song. The moment I realized what the lyrics to this song were I had to look them up, cause it sounded a lot like a closeting song to me. After reading the lyrics that thought was solidified in my brain. I have written an extensive analysis of the whole song together with R. If you want to know more about our interpretation of the song, read our analysis here.

This has been my masterpost about Ashton not being straight. As always, this post is speculation based on my personal opinions. I hope it brought some new ideas to people who maybe didn’t think of this before. I’d love to hear your reaction if you have read this. You don’t have to agree with me, as long as we can have a friendly conversation about our differences I’d say we’re good. If you liked this post, please reblog it so other can read it as well. Tumblr absolutely sucks in getting my posts to show up in the search results and I don’t have a ton of followers either. So any reblogs are very welcome. A big thank you @full-of-lonely-people​ and @ashtons-ass for proofreading this for me. Your effort is very much appreciated!

[zyanmalik989]

Insurance Agency SEO - Search Engine Optimization and Long Tail Keywords

Over the past year I embarked upon a series of SEO experiments. I tested several techniques using numerous keyword phrases to determine how fast I could make a website rise in the organic search engine results (the non advertisement results listed in a Google, Yahoo or Bing search). My primary tests focused on the insurance agency market, and I selected a dozen long-tail keyword phrases germane  백링크 to this  market. When I began this experiment, my website ranked very low, in some cases as low as page 10 on Google, in other cases my website was simply unranked. My goal was to determine how quickly a small company website could rise in the search rankings for selected long-tail keywords. Google was the key search engine which I analyzed, though I also tracked results for Yahoo and Bing.

As with all SEO projects, organizations should begin with a keyword analysis, to determine which phrases are deemed most valuable and which keyword phrases have less competition. Long-tail keywords are multiword word phrases which and more specific than a simple broad based single or double word keyword. For example, "California Truck Insurance" would be a good example of a long-tail keyword phrase, whereas "Transportation" would be a much broader keyword. "Insurance Agency Leads" would be another long-tail example while "Insurance" is another broad and vague keyword. Interestingly enough, these techniques seem to work whether you are a business selling to insurance agencies, or an insurance agency selling to businesses.

Some of the long-tail keyword phrases I chose included:

· Insurance Agency Leads

· Trucking Agency Leads

· Trucking Agency Marketing

The optimization techniques for improved organic search rankings are fairly extensive. I utilized both on page and off page optimization techniques. The on page techniques included the modification of:

· Page Title

· Description

· Keywords

· H1-H4 Tags

· Alt Image Tags

· Keyword Density

· Blog Integration

· Dynamic Content (content which continually changes on your site - like webinars, newsletters or industry updates)

There were many additional on page optimizations used, but the changes noted above are of critical importance. Off page optimization included article directory posting, directory submissions, link building, blog distribution, and social media marketing. There is almost no limit to the amount of content which can be generated outside of your website, but you have to start somewhere and then continue to invest in your content development. Though it may seem obvious, all of the off page optimization requires a link back to your website. More links is one of the many elements the search engines use when deciding which web sites to display in their organic search listings. As noted above, off page optimization includes link building which is achieved through blogging, tweeting, posting on YouTube and Flickr, article directory posting, social media marketing, and directory submissions to mention a few of the many ways to get your website URL noticed.

The progression for these keywords was both interesting and rapid. After executing the SEO techniques listed below, my website jumped from a very low rank, perhaps Google page ten, climbing to page three within 30 days. From day 30 to day 60 I saw my rank change in many cases to page two. And in month three, my website was on Google page one. In fact, as of this writing my website is ranked Google page one for all of these long-tail keywords, and actually appear as the #1 entry for most of them. The optimization was done predominately for Google, though the results were sometimes impressive for Yahoo, and occasionally Bing. Clearly each engine uses significantly different methods for their rankings, but in this case, with Google as my primary target, I measured the results based on that specific engine. Some of these terms are highly focused, with a few hundred searches per year; other keyword phrases we selected are searched thousands or tens of thousands of times per year. There are many nuances to insurance agency SEO, for example, it's much easier to achieve a high ranking for a search phrase that is only searched a few hundred or a few thousand times a year, as opposed to 100,000 times per year.

These days, it's all about content, much of which can be done by yourself, though I don't want to minimize the importance of the keyword density and Meta on your website. If you lack the experience to do all of these techniques on your own, you can outsource all or part of your SEO efforts to a reputable vendor, and when and if ready, bring it back in house.

[jae-writes-fanfiction]

Caviar and Cigarettes

Ashton x Reader  -  Collab Masterlist - 3763 Words - Part 1 of 1

Notes: this was written as part of a collab event as a gift for @mermaidcashton using a mix of their different suggested tropes but specifically ‘waking up in vegas.’ I hope you enjoy it ❤️ also I’ve never been to a casino I’m sorry this is 100% based off of what I know from TV

Warnings: mentions of alcohol/alcohol consumption, people are on a plane which could be scary, light nsfw content, some swearing.

- - -

The overhead compartments creaked as the plane rushed down the runway headed for liftoff. The sensation always sent a shiver down your spine and caused knots to grow in your stomach.

You hated flying and had everyone been back in LA instead of visiting the UK on a press tour, you would’ve opted to drive to Las Vegas from home and meet the boys there. Unfortunately for you, being their one-person PR/Social Media Management team placed you behind the scenes for the entire junket. And now, it placed you in the window seat of a plane preparing to hurtle dangerously through the sky- although your friendship with the bride-to-be was partly at fault.

Next to you, Ashton rolled his eyes as you gripped the armrest tightly. Across the aisle he watched Michael and Crystal giggle at something, and just ahead of them he could see Callum and Luke watching a movie on one of their phones.

He loved his friends and was beyond happy for Michael and Crystal but each of their small smiles and soft looks felt stifling and Ashton found himself wishing things could just be like when they were younger. Everything felt easier then, it was much more fun going on trips, there was less pressure to do or say the right thing or post the right statuses. They were just four friends making music. Now, everything was different including you.

You silenced your phone and offered Ashton a consolatory smile. “I know you’d rather be across the aisle,” you said glancing over at the others, “but let’s try to be friendly it’s a long flight.” There was a slight edge to your tone and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You’re right dollface,” Ashton bit back, “I’d much rather be seated with my friends. Not our social media manager.”

You felt a warmth spread across your face as you tried to think of a smart response. Ashton has always been the most aloof of the four when you joined the behind the scenes team yet every conversation with him turned sour.

When you didn’t respond Ashton decided to keep going. “I mean I offense but how the hell are any of us supposed to relax when you’re here hovering around? This is supposed to be a party! A vacation! But you make it look like work.”

“That’s right Ash,” you said icily, “because I am working. I have to make sure none of you do anything stupid while you’re ‘having fun and letting loose’.”

And there you go, Ashton thought, like always making everything else difficult. Why couldn’t you just be agreeable?

“Besides,” you said interrupting his thoughts, “the last thing the group needs is more dating drama. Your last stint did enough damage.”

There. You said it, after weeks of thinking it you actually said it. You didn’t blame him for how the breakup went and for a while you were proud at how little attention Ashton gave to the fan speculation. But then he deleted all their pictures together and made a few (now long deleted) vague tweets that sent the fan base into a deadly spiral that spewed death threats at his ex and caused you more than enough sleepless nights.

You felt a little guilty when he didn’t respond with another jape- but who did he think he was anyway? Sure he was attractive but he couldn’t get away with everything. Not this time. Not after you had to stage and arrange posts for him every time he swapped partners.

You huffed and slipped your headphones in. There was no hope for pleasant conversation, and you had no desire to fill the time with mobile games. The audiobook claimed to calm and soothe the overworked professional with meditation and organization tips. Compared to the $350 plane fare the $25 download seemed like a reasonable and informative way to fill the ten-hour flight.

By the halfway mark you’d been proven wrong on both accounts. The narrator’s lilting accent was distracting in all the wrong ways, and the information sounded like every motivational speaker ever; all hype and no substance. Twice you felt your eyes drifting closed and twice you managed to snap yourself out of it. The third time however you didn’t snap back awake as your head lolled to the side.

The brush of your hair against his shoulder alerted Ashton to the situation. He chuckled lightly under his breath, for a moment you were at peace. For a moment you were someone he didn’t know, someone he might’ve liked to know better.

But moments don’t last forever, Ashton knew this to be true and before long the light jostling of the plane woke you up. You blinked slowly trying to adjust to the lights and grimaced as Ashton came into focus. The intensity of his gaze puzzled you. Was there something on your face? The expression was unconscious, but Ashton saw it flicker across your face and that stung. Not even away more than a minute and you were already getting to him.

Uninterested in having another quiet row like a soon-to-be-divorced couple, he quickly looked away leaving you once again to choose between silence and the droning audiobook as the plane crossed the Atlantic and then the entirety of the North American continent.

The sun had already set when the descent started. Outside you could see the world swathed in swatches of brilliant color and dazzling shapes against the horizon. It felt like your heart skipped a beat. The Vegas strip was everything you’d expected. The hotel itself looked like a work of abstract art, it’s glass elevators sparkling under the desert sunset.

Late dinner reservations had been made for the five of them, and you took the opportunity to settle into your room, eat an entire room service pizza, and take a nap. They would be out on the hotel’s casino floor for the rest of the night and you were more than happy to join them.

By the time you put yourself together and got there, the house was in full swing. The music was loud, the people louder. You noticed Ashton first at a roulette table surrounded by other beautiful people. You turned to walk away and look for Crystal when he noticed you.

You smiled thinly and made your way over to him, you had to. Anything else would’ve been seen as rude and that was a problem you didn’t want to deal with.

You lightly touched his shoulder to let him know you were there and glanced over the table. He hasn’t lost anything but wasn’t winning either. Ashton froze at your touch, the innocuous gesture sent a shock through his body, and at that moment something changed.

The dealer called for bets to be placed for the new round as you settled in next to Ashton. The dark jacket paired well with the retro red shirt he wore and you had trouble looking away.

“You look-“ Ashton started but couldn’t finish the sentence, his wide eyes glanced over your body for one of the first times seeing it outside of business wear. The metallic accents caught in the low light and cast an ethereal glow over you that kept drawing his focus.

You flushed, “thanks...you do too.” The sentiment felt heavy despite the normalcy of the exchange and you quickly accepted a glass of something from a roaming waiter to loosen your tongue.

You glanced back over the table and turned to Ashton with a conspiratorial grin. You leaned in to whisper and Ashton felt your hot breath on his neck.

“Always bet on black,” you offered while biting your lip as he laughed lightly. Everyone said that everyone knew that was a rookie move. But for the moment it seemed like the best advice and you were shocked when he did it.

Not as shocked as you were when he won.

Ashton turned and looked at you, amazed.

“Ash that was so lucky!” You gushed openly and your genuine smile pulled at his heart.

“Maybe it’s just you,” he said softly, the honest edge to his voice surprising you. You laughed awkwardly trying to play off the sentimentality of the words but they kept playing over in your mind.

“I think the happy couple ran away for a little bit,” he offered quickly moving on, “but I think we ought to go celebrate.”

You nodded, “well since I did help you win, I suppose you could buy me a drink.”

Ashton grinned back and quickly gathered his winnings before wrapping an arm around your waist and leading you towards the lounge. You could smell his cologne as you walked and you weren’t sure if it was that or his hand on your hip that kept distracting you from whatever he was saying.

The hazy lounge atmosphere was almost as intoxicating as the cocktails that Ashton kept ordering for the two of you. The liquor burned in all the best ways and a soft sweet taste lingered on your lips. You felt warm and giddy, and surprisingly happy to have been spending this time with Ashton.

At some point, his arm wrapped around your shoulders and you laughed at one of his jokes. Had he been sober the sound might’ve broken his heart, like most secret things do if they’ve been dreamed about before.

You turned to say something but stopped with the words dead on arrival. Ashton was closer than you had realized while talking, your faces just inches apart. The red hue of the lights flashed across his features and seemed to show how truly beautiful he was.

For a moment the closeness lingered, and you could feel a tense stiffness in the arm around you, and electricity where his hand curled around your bare shoulder. Unconsciously you felt your face tilt up towards his, and Ashton felt the same desire to close the gap.

What am I doing, you thought trying to blink out of it, I technically work for him I can’t kiss him! Besides he doesn’t even tolerate me normally.

Ashton froze, unable to tear himself away from you, the soft tint of the lights exaggerated the shadows on your face and kept drawing his eyes back to your lips. His hand on your shoulder itched to run up to tangle in the hair at the back of your neck and pull you against him.

She doesn’t even want to be here, he thought suddenly, why the hell would she want to kiss me on top of that?

But somewhere in the back of his mind Ashton knew you were struggling over something similar. He knew you were at least tempted, otherwise you would’ve moved.

A scantily clad cocktail waitress interrupted the moment and sent you both back to looking away. Your stomach felt uneasy from the tension and you drank quietly for a while contemplating your next move. You needed to say something funny, something light to keep this good energy going.

“Look at the bartender,” you said, “can you imagine him working anywhere else?” Your joke was directed at a thin sort of person who without a doubt had the Vegas aesthetic down to a T.

Ashton felt his heart drop, couldn’t you say something nice? Did you always have to be so critical of everyone?

“That’s typical,” he mumbled into his drunk.

“What do you mean it’s typical?”

“You, princess. Always having some shallow thing to say,” he took a long drink draining the glass before turning back to your shocked face.

This had been a bad idea, you knew he had some problem with you but it had been enough.

Refusing to cause a scene on the crowded floor you swiftly stood. “It was just a joke,” you hissed through a clenched jaw before walking towards the lobby and elevators that would whisk you back to the safety of your room.

“Hey come back!” Ashton tossed money into the table and quickly darted after you, slipping into the elevator at the last second.

“We were having a good time,” he said defensively, “stop being such a spoilsport.”

“A good time? Sure, it’s all fun and games for you. Didn’t you ever stop to think that maybe something is majorly wrong when you can’t go twenty minutes without insulting me?”

“It wasn’t an insult it was a comment.”

You laughed openly, “oh that’s rich Ash. A comment.”

The doors slid open on your floor and you quickly turned heel and left. You heard his footfalls behind you and it took everything in you to resist slamming your door before he could enter the room. You angrily kicked your shoes off sending them in varying directions that you didn’t care to fix.

Ashton felt his palms get sweaty and his mouth dry. He didn’t want to keep watching you walk away anymore. “Can’t we just talk about this like friends?”

“Friends?” You felt your heart get all twisty at the words, “we’ve never been friends Ashton.”

When he didn’t respond you continued, crossing your arms in front of your chest as if the pressure would keep you still and safe.

“I used to think we could’ve been. When we first met I thought: now there’s the one- attractive and smart and mature. But all you’ve ever done is play games, spew pretensions, and hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” he said lamely taking a step closer to you.

“You don’t hate me? Oh that’s right you just hate the way I dress, and joke, and talk...” You met his gaze with a challenge and in another first of the night, he accepted.

Ashton looked at you with a fondness he had never expressed out loud and a gentleness that’s translated in how he took your hand in his and pulled you against him.

“I don’t hate you at all,” he said softly cupping your cheek with his other hand, “I hate that when you’re here you’re always working, I hate that you can’t ever just be with us, I hate that I miss you when you don’t answer a text, and I absolutely loathe that when you do it’s because you have to talk to me.” Because I want to talk to you, he thought unable to form the words in the mouth.

You suddenly felt very small pressed against him and you knew he could see the heat rising in your face.

“Professional was just easier,” you whispered unable to look him in the eyes, “because I don’t hate you either. For a long time I hated having to orchestrate and present people with you-“ because they weren’t me, you thought unable to say the words out loud.

His thumb softly traced the slant of your cheekbones as you hesitantly looked back into his eyes, and unlike in the lounge you did resist the urge to close the space between you, and neither did he.

The kiss was soft and filled with the emotion of everything not said, like all first kisses should be.

“I don’t hate you at all,” he whispered whilst placing kisses to the sides of your face, “not even a little bit, not even at all.” As your lips let a second time you both felt how surely the sentiment was quite the opposite and had been for quite some time.

Ashton was the only thought in your mind, and the only word on your lips as the kisses grew sloppier and needy. He tasted like cherry syrup from the cocktails and you wanted more.

A little disoriented from the alcohol you haphazardly walked backward pulling Ashton with you until you felt the edge of the mattress press against your calves. In a fit of giggles, you both tumbled back onto the bed.

You had never seen him smile like this before, his whole face seemed brighter and you knew instantly he was thinking the same things too. You moved in a flurry of hands and touches that struggled through the haze to remove clothes.

You straddled him to slide the jacket from his shoulders and fumbled with the buttons on his shirt until that too was discarded. Your hands trembled as they skated across his chest, and you felt him shiver as they were replaced with your lips. You slid down his body leading trails of kisses that stopped just above his belt buckle. The way it caught the light sent a delicious shiver down your spine and you tucked that thought away for another time.

Deftly you slipped the belt off before working on the slacks. You slowed and groaned softly upon revealing a dark red pair of lace pants under his trousers.

“Sweetheart,” you cooed teasingly as you repositioned yourself between his legs, “you should’ve led with this.” His hoarse laugh stifled into moans as you traced the lace with your tongue. Your eye wandered to the glittering bottle of champagne on the nightstand and between it and the heady look on Ashton’s face, you knew it was going to be a good night.

The next morning which really ended up being the next afternoon- you were pleased to wake up curled and tangled around a very naked Ashton. The pounding headache and dry mouth were a direct contrast.

You were thankful the curtains were still closed as the moderate darkness seemed to help the monster out hangover you were now feeling. You shifted slightly and were surprised to notice you weren’t entirely naked. You were wearing a t-shirt you didn’t remember owning. The words looked like gibberish but you gathered it was from the hotel’s gift shop.

The discovery prompted you to look around the room and you noticed something. Ashton’s fancy clothes and delightful red panties were joined by a pair of his jeans, another shirt, and an extra pair of your bottoms as well.

There were papers strewn on the nightstand and a shopping bag near the door that you didn’t remember buying. The cool air stung your bare legs and prompted you to curl back into Ashton who lazily smiled and kissed your temple as you rejoined him.

“G’morning darlin’,” he said through a yawn making you giggle.

“Do you remember going back out last night?”

Ashton shook his head but before he could say anything his ringtone cut through the silence and roused a chorus of pained groans from both of you.

He scrambled to answer it and you noticed the empty bottle of champagne on the other side of the bed, and what looked like a sacked minibar’s worth of trash with it.

I am never drinking again, you thought as the ringing subsided and your head began to throb.

“Michael wants us for brunch,” Ashton said tossing his phone back to the cluttered nightstand. You groaned at the thought of food and hoped it would be greasy enough to cut through the drunk brain fog.

You had to swing by Ashton’s room for him to get dressed making it a little later than anticipated when you finally got to the lobby. Crystal and Michael were sharing a love seat and as you both exited the elevator they erupted into raucous laughter and cheers that reverberated pain through your head.

“Aw fuck,” you hissed rubbing a hand on your temple. Ashton had an arm around your waist which kept yours from stumbling.

“Oh come on I expected a little more life after last night,” Michael called with a grin.

“I didn’t think Mikey was serious,” Crystal said, “do you have the papers on you?”

On top of them, Luke chimed in, “I got the whole crying jag on video it’ll make a hell of an update when we get back.”

You and Ashton shared a confused look and silently looked to Callum for help. He was drinking a delightful looking mimosa and sighed putting it down.

“I don’t think they remember,” he started before getting cut off.

“Awe no way! Look at them, they’re the picture of romantic bliss,” Michael taunted with a laugh.

You sighed, “come on now guys I know it’s a little odd for us to hook up but enough with the jokes.”

“Hook up?” Luke laughed, “that’s not what Elvis would have to say about it.”

You were trying not to get frustrated but it was hard. “Luke, what in the hell does Elvis have to do with anything?”

Callum cut in before the others could keep hounding you.

“Promise me you won’t freak out?”

You nodded and felt Ashton do the same.

“Alright,” Callum started slowly leaving time to gauge reactions as he spoke, “Luke and I got a call last night around 4:30, one of you were crying about how you ruined mike’s moment when you were too out of it to explain we came down here to meet you...”

As he spoke flashes of memories seemed to play in your mind. You almost remembered dialing the phone inside who to talk to, but certain you didn’t want to upset anyone.

“Apparently you’d just come in from one of those 24-hour chapels and we’re worried Mike and Crystal would be upset you stole the show.”

“Why would we go to a church?” Ashton asked slowly. Neither you nor Ashton were specifically interested in that sort of thing. Yet as he asked it you remembered stumbling through the lobby looking for something new to wear.

Your mind reeled trying to fit together pieces that you weren’t sure went to the same puzzle. You ran a hand through your hair a small ring on your hand catching in the light. You recognized it immediately as Ashton’s. Something borrowed, you thought unsure of why that mattered.

Callum shook his head as Michael dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“You dumbasses, you got married!”

You and Ashton quickly looked at each other and then back at the others and then back at each other trying to process this whirlwind of information.

The moment lingered longer than Michael found funny and without much else said you were whisked by the other happy couple off for brunch and out into a world where nothing would ever be the same.