#// okay this one I used more the concept of it than the actual sentence but asjoasjoçasas

[thegaissilent]

for: @thisshadeofred prompt: I'm going to take good care of you, don't you worry.

Galinda didn't actually expect for Elphie to still be awake when she barges in their room, tears streaming down her face as she closes the door behind herself and leans against it, breathing hard. She had tried to be as silent as possible, in case her roommate was still asleep, but instead, finds Elphie with the lights on and face buried in a book.

Or at least, it would be, had she not been staring at her in shock.

"E-Elphie..." She forces a smile. "Hi. Still awake, huh?"

[okay-babe]

Headcannons ~ Alastor with a reader who has a contract with Valentino...

tags: alastor x fem! reader, established relationship (in the final third of the post), cam star! reader, possessive! alastor, valentino sucks (as usual), mild angst, mild nsfw note: okay so I got an ask wanting to know my thoughts on Alastor with a reader who used to be in a contract with Valentino and has to interact with him, but I misread it as Alastor with a reader who is currently in a contract with Valentino and has to interact with him lol, so here's this! (The actual request should be fulfilled soon, my bad anon!).

♱. At first, Alastor definitely thought you were more than just a little foolish for having made a deal with an overlord like Valentino (bro does not understand the concept of victim blaming).

♱. In his mind, the moth is so blatantly rancid that it just doesn't make any sense for anyone to ever think otherwise, even for a moment.

♱. But then, as he gets to know you better, he starts to see things a little bit differently.

♱. "This is gonna sound stupid..."

♱. You told him one day while speaking on the topic of the overlord who owned your soul, a rare occurrence indeed due to the stigma your contract seemed to carry.

♱. "But honestly, Val was the first person down here to actually make me feel like I was... I dunno... attractive?"

♱. You groaned at the end of your sentence, burying your head in your hands,

♱. "I just... I didn't recognize myself anymore, the person in the mirror wasn't me, y'know? It's like one second I was a human, and the next I was, well, this!"

♱. You exclaimed, gesturing to yourself all the while.

♱. "In a way, his absolutely ridiculous insistence that he could make me into a star made me realize that just because I looked a little different didn't mean I looked bad..."

♱. You trailed off, hands stuffed into your pockets as you looked into the distance,

♱. "And then when I learned about everything he had to offer? I mean how could I have possibly said no? It felt like a win-win back then, or at least something close to it. He promised that no one would touch me, that all he needed was my pretty face and a camera."

♱. You looked toward your then friend with a sigh, a tired smile plastered upon your face,

♱. "I guess he kept that part of the bargain, huh? I just never really thought he would end up being so... awful."

♱. You cringed at the end of your statement, eyes going glassy for a few moments before you suddenly clapped your hands together, standing up abruptly immediately afterward.

♱. "Haha, anyways, you have to have like a thousand contracts right? There's gotta be some good stories there."

♱. As you urged him to speak further on his own experiences, Alastor couldn't help but reconsider his previous thoughts regarding your deal.

♱. Perhaps you weren't as foolish as he had initially thought.

♱. Honestly though, as time goes on and your friendship develops even further, Valentino's contract with you really doesn't end up being that pressing of a topic.

♱. Most of the time, any thoughts regarding the overlord go unsaid, and your business with him is considered yours and yours alone.

♱. That is, until you miss a photo shoot for Slayboy magazine (sorry) and the moth turns up at the hotel, clearly pissed off.

♱. So pissed off in fact, that he had neglected to consider the fact that it wouldn't necessarily be you who responded to his incessant banging...

♱. With a wide grin and an almost obnoxious flourish, the radio demon opened the door, leaning slightly on his staff as he regarded the moth with an amused hum.

♱. "Oh my, the vice demon himself here to visit our humble hotel? Why, to what do I owe the displeasure?!"

♱. He exclaimed, watching as the man's eye twitched slightly in response.

♱. "Where is she?!"

♱. He growled, moving to stalk past Alastor only to be stopped at the pressure of the overlord's microphone against his chest,

♱. "Ah ah ah,"

♱. He tutted,

♱. "You most certainly do not want to do that."

♱. His voice held a hint of warning to it, and a great deal of amusement, his eyes full of malice as he spoke.

♱. Valentino glared,

♱. "Fuck off you corny old bitch, this doesn't concern you."

♱. In response, Alastor simply chuckled, his bones popping and muscles splitting as he slowly began to grow in size, in no mood for the other demon's antics.

♱. "Oh but that's where you're wrong, you insufferable wretch."

♱. He said with an earsplitting grin,

♱. "Anything that involves my most esteemed employee very much does concern me."

♱. In reaction to the sight before him, Valentino snarled, but took a step backward nonetheless, not quite stupid enough to pick a fight with the radio demon on his own.

♱. "Ugh, fine!"

♱. He shouted,

♱. "But you tell that fucking whore to be on site in thirty or I'll find a way to kill her twice!"

♱. And with that, he was turning back toward his limo, ignoring the loud radio static that sounded from behind as he did so.

♱. Of course though, that was just about the only time that Valentino ever got away with ordering you around in front of Alastor, because soon enough, your friendship began to bloom into an extremely unexpected romance.

♱. And after that?

♱. Well, Alastor became a lot less tolerant of the idea that something like your soul belonged to someone else.

♱. He was constantly glaring daggers at the moth demon nearly every time he saw him, be it at an overlord meeting, or even the photo shoots you had in studios outside of the V's gaudy looking headquarters (he might love you, but starting a war with Vox by hanging around in that tower definitely wouldn't be a very smart move).

♱. Makes a show of helping you undress at each and every shoot that he does go to though, neatly folding your clothing for you before pressing a gentle kiss to your head.

♱. "Go on then, my dear."

♱. He would purr,

♱. "I'll just be here enjoying the view if you need me." (He's so corny).

♱. Absolutely despises the fact that your deal forces you to show your body the way that you do in front of a camera. Like not a fan at all.

♱. He doesn't really judge you for it knowing why you ended up making your deal in the first place, but he has absolutely killed an obscene number of sinners and hellborn fools that he witnessed viewing your content in public.

♱. "Al, they're not doing any harm!"

♱. You commented one day after the particularly gruesome murder of a random sinner, arms crossed.

♱. "Oh, on the contrary, darling,"

♱. He'd purred with a wide and unsettling grin,

♱. "I'm afraid they were looking a bit too intently at what's mine."

♱. Yeah you didn't argue too much after that.

♱. (Not like it would ever do you any good to anyway).

♱. Whether or not he actually tries to find you a way out of your contract though, is really entirely up to you in the grand scheme of things.

♱. He certainly isn't fond of it, the idea of another man owning you and all...

♱. But in the end he'll get over it if you really want him to... Just give him a few hundred years or so...

♱. (Yeah unless you can give him like a thousand spectacular reasons not to, he's going to try to find a way to get you out of that deal with Valentino).

♱. Still, in the meantime, he definitely makes your shoots feel a little bit less daunting (although if Val makes one more comment about how lucrative a photo set with you and the radio demon would be, you're worried Al might actually kill the guy).

[vigilskeep]

I appreciate how Spire knows and uses our pronouns, number one ally Spite (well Ghilan'nain uses romanced Taash’s correct pronouns too which I find so funny when they could’ve just framed the sentence differently, “I’m an eldritch horror bent on world domination but I’m not a transphobe what the fuck”)

i think spite is having a kind of objectively hysterical experience with gender here, in that... okay so if you believe mary kirby’s bluesky word of god then spite has no concept of what it looks like, or appearances at all. we are seeing it as lucanis’ mind perceives it, which is as what lucanis thinks he himself looks like (always in armour, never relaxed). and i rlly believe spite only gets he/himmed in veilguard because lucanis projects his appearance onto it and then makes the straightforward if a bit limiting assumption that something that looks like him is a he. this happens a lot to spirits e.g. justice gets automatically he/himmed because he ends up in kristoff and anders’ bodies, despite not having had much choice in either matter and canonically expressing curiosity about the new perspective being in a “female body” might offer. you could make the argument that spirits become what they’re believed to be and probably are affected by these interactions, but it’s more complicated than that, spirits do have individuality, and i think it would be obviously quite lame and bad if the form they end up in, and others’ thoughtless assumptions about it, defined everything

i don’t think spite objects to being he/himmed but i also don’t think that means spite necessarily has a gender. it just doesn’t have an opinion here. i’m not convinced spite knows what gender is. (i think we constantly need to lower our expectations on everything spite is actually aware of. i mentioned this before but i cannot express this enough: it doesn’t know why it and lucanis need to have skin.) all of which goes to say, in response to your ask, that i really don’t think spite is even capable of misgendering someone when it does not understand the situation here and is likely borrowing directly from what it probably thinks are the completely fucking arbitrary rules in lucanis’ head rather than comprehending any of this at all

(this is part of why i have made a habit of using it/its for spite even though i think he/him is generally used in the game. i think that’s more interesting in terms of exploring what spirits are, plus just easier to differentiate from lucanis while writing, plus i genuinely do not believe it’s invested in any of this. or at least i think it has not yet figured out enough to be invested in any of this. maybe it could do! spite is such a baby spirit with so much room to grow as it develops a place for itself in the mortal world. rook lucanis spite gender discussion is very funny and sweet conceptually to me, especially because i do not think lucanis has really thought about this either.)

i don’t know who ghilan’nain even gets her news on rook’s paramour from. but she’s up to date! i don’t think it’s that surprising though, i don’t know why ghilan’nain would be transphobic. there’s no reason to assume ancient elven society was like that afaik. i mean, they came directly from, and were led by, spirits who crafted their own bodies the way they wanted them. you couldn’t really describe any of the evanuris as cis exactly?

[bnhaobservation]

When Heroes need protecting who will be there to protect them?

As I was re-reading chapter 429 this sentence ‘When Heroes need protecting who will be there to protect them?’ came up again and, like usual, it never failed to annoy me.

It’s of course a personal reaction and you might disagree, you might love it, but if it’s okay, I’d like to discuss a bit of why this sentence never fails to irk me for how redundant it feels. If you love it instead, feel free to skip this post.

Now, if I'm not wrong the manga started making this question around the end of the Paranormal Liberation War arc. Yes, it started making it in a time in which story also wonder what is a Hero, if it’s someone to whom people look up and count on or someone who suffers in silence.

Now… the whole ‘suffer in silence’ is tied to the Japanese idea that enduring is an heroic virtue, which is why it gets tossed into the discussion. Shouto is the family Hero because, according to Rei, he is the one who suffered the most among the Todorokis yet he endured it, he didn’t hate her (or Enji) and even called her ‘mom’, and now he’s making friends at U.A. high and saving his other family members.

No one else in the family could endure abuse like Shouto, Rei snapped, Enji fell prey to rage, Touya became a Villain, Natsuo hates his father as for Fuyumi… actually I would say she endured too but I guess Rei believed she didn’t suffer enough so she’s no hero.

Now that we got out of the way this Japanese concept, let’s go back to the original question. Who helps Heroes when they need protecting?

Let’s pick the most famous Hero ever, All Might.

Who helps him?

Let’s make a list.

We’ve Gran Torino, who not only fight at his side but is always willing to hear him out and to support him.

We’ve his sidekick, Nighteye, who not only helped him with paperwork but also wanted to protect him. Even when they parted ways because Nighteye disagreed with All Might, he continued to look out for him and it’s just All Might who avoided him.

We’ve the police, Tsukauchi is his best friend, he also does paperwork for him, supports him, sits next to him when he’s in hospital.

We’ve the people at U.A. high, Nezu offers him a job, suggests him to search for a heir among his students, Recovery Girl heals him and counsel him on the best way to train Midoriya. When he’ll make friend with Eraser Head the latter will also sit next to him, hear him out, support him.

We’ve other Heroes, during his first battle against AFO even Enji came to help All Might and tried to encourage him his own horrid way.

We’ve his protégée, Midoriya, who gets himself into deadly matches to save him, who, once he hears his fate might be to die horribly, wants to change said fate.

We've his students, it's Bakugou who will rush to save him when he fights AFO a second time.

We’ve the people he inspired, like Star and Stripe who challenges her own government to support him.

We've David Shield, who's willing to commit crimes to help him when he learns he's losing his strength.

We've Melissa Shield who creates for him the suit he used to fight AFO.

All Might often decides to suffer in silence but he’s surrounded by people wanting to help him. He doesn’t have to suffer in silence, they’re all around him, willing to help.

What about a less beloved hero like Endeavor?

He has his family who, despite having been abused by him, after Touya’s revelation still decides to support him.

We have his sidekicks who thinks the fact he worked hard as a Hero matters more than the fact he abused his family.

We’ve the other Heroes, like Hawks and Best Jeanist who decide to side with him and cooperate with him.

We’ve his driver, Kurumada-san, who remains loyal to him.

We've his interns, Midoriya will defend him when Touya will reveal the truth.

Actually, even if we see little of them, he'll still have some fans who will still support him.

What about a Hero in training?

We see many of them have their own families to support them, Midoriya has Inko, Ochako has her parents.

They’ve their homeroom teacher, Eraser Head is always there to help them.

They’ve the Heroes they interned under, who’re there to support them (see Best Jeanist with Bakugou, Gran Torino with Midoriya, Nighteye with Togata, Fat Gum with Amajiki).

They’ve the rest of their class, as class A always support its members and class B seems to be the same.

They’ve the people they helped, Kouta and the giant woman were fast to support Midoriya.

They’ve other Heroes, who’re willing to help them.

Asui also seem to have a friend from middle school willing to support her.

The police also protected and supported them, when Shouto, Iida and Midoriya got themselves in trouble in Hosu the chief of the police went to them and protected them.

Long story short, for Heroes and Heroes in training there’s a huge support network.

Hell even someone who's just a student at U.A. high like Shinsou, who’s not in the Hero course gets helped out to reach the Hero course and is supported by his classmates.

And if they can’t really stand the situation… well, Heroes can decide to drop the job. They aren’t forced to remain in it. They're paid a lot of money and, if they saved said money, they can just quit without problems, possibly without even needing to rush to find another job to support themselves.

Ultimately, in this manga, Heroes deciding to suffer in silence on their own isn’t something they’re forced to do, but their own choice, a choice that’s often thwarted by the people who care about them, as they're there to support them.

Honestly, the only Hero I can remember was left to suffer alone was Lady Nagant, and that’s because what she was doing wasn’t Heroic and so she couldn’t talk about it… and possibly she was kept isolated for that same reason by the Hero commission and denied the possibility to opt out.

All the other Heroes are shown to have a strong support network or the option to sign out.

Wondering who’ll save them when they DECIDE to bottle up their misery (as they’ve the option to share it) feels like a redundant question, not something I’ve to worry about because the story made beyond clear there’s plenty of people willing to save them.

For me, a more poignant question would have been ‘who’ll save Twice once he’s kicked out of his job?’

Not his family, not his colleagues, not the police, not the Heroes, not his boss. He was supposed to endure in silence the life of the homeless on his own.

‘Who’ll save Himiko when she can’t bear it any longer?’

Not her family, not her classmates, not the police, not the Heroes, not her teacher, not her crush. She was supposed to endure in silence the fact she had different urges from the rest of the people and kept it hidden.

‘Who’ll save Touya when he’s breaking?’

Not his family, not his Hero father, not the police, not his classmates, not his teacher. He was supposed to endure in silence how no one cared about him and his dreams.

‘Who’ll save Spinner when he’s targeted by racism?’

No one. He was just expected to endure in silence closed in his own room as the people in his city didn’t want him to get out of it.

‘Who’ll save Tenko when his father is abusing him? When he’s wandering through the city?’

Tenko’s family made an half backed and way too late effort to save him from Kotarou’s abuse, but for the most part Tenko was expected to endure. After they died he had no one and was expected to endure being homeless at five.

In short what I wanted the manga to ask me was:

‘When abused people need protecting, who will be there to protect them?’

For basically 429 chapters, Heroes focus on Villains, they wouldn’t protect someone who’s miserable for reasons that aren’t Villain related. They aren’t meant to save abused people unless they’re threatened by a Villain. It’s not their job and they don't wonder about it.

There’s no support network for people who’re abused, suffering in silence for them is not an option, it’s what they’re forced to do because no one cares. They can’t ‘opt out’ of that life, it’s all they have, they’re trapped.

So in the end they break, become the perfect targets for Villains like AFO, or decide to attack society as they start to see it as an enemy and turn into Villains… and ironically this gives them a support group in form of other Villains.

And once they’re Villains… all that Hero wants to do with them is to put them in jail.

Yes, in the very last chapters we see some kids are kind of changing the game.

Uraraka (who’s implied to be a special case) wanted to give Himiko her blood after she had put her in jail, and Midoriya (another special case) went to see Spinner to tell him Tomura’s last words and let him rage and mourn but that was it.

In the end the story doesn’t really address what to do with people once they turn Villains because they broke.

We’ve Uraraka making a support group for little kids in form of the Quirk counseling program and Shouji making a support group for Heteromorphs in form of him solving conflict peacefully, and it kind of implied that Midoriya’s example would turn common people into nice people that would now support each other… but the focus is on helping people BEFORE they’ll turn into Villains. The story never truly address a way to help Villains to turn back into decent people after jailing them.

The story specifically mention Tartarus as a place where human rights are violated which fits with how Japanese prisons are in real life. Amnesty International has documented cases where prisoners in Japan suffered from systematic cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and are at high risk of being subjected to abusive forms of punishment like having been beaten severely by prison guards for minor infractions of prison rules, detained in solitary confinement for long periods, restrained in leather belts and handcuffs, and held in special cells as a punishment.

Horikoshi tossed this in his own story like a fact… but then never addressed it further than that, actually he even had Lady Nagant prefer remaining in jail.

That’s why Tomura, Touya and Himiko had to die in the story, because in the end their other option was to be tossed in a jail and have their human right violated until they would be executed.

There would be no salvation for them anyway, it was too late, all the support groups Class A kids created are for people who hasn’t yet turned into a Villain, not for Villains who could be redeemed.

I find kind of sad that I’m asked more than once to worry about who’ll support Heroes when it’s clear they’ve a large support group in the story, but I’m not asked to worry about who didn’t have a support group, about who was left on his own, and that saving them was tackled only in the last chapters, mostly in a fairytalesque way and that it still didn’t regard whose who weren’t saved prior to turn Villains.

It’s possible it’s, of course, just me… but I really needed to give voice to those feelings. Feel free to disagree and please, forgive me if I’ve bored you.

[querenciasturniolo]

so glad ur reqs are back open, it's been too long

anyways, idea where chris goes on a blind date one of his brothers set up for him and just has the time of his life with this girl, eventually leading to them sharing a kiss at the end of the night

nonsense ⮕ c.s.

word count: 1.5k

warnings: swearing, chris’ pov, frustration, fluff, a smooch (i’m not sorry for being corny), like one use of y/n

summary: request

a/n: agreed, it’s been WAY too long. i’m obsessed with this concept, thank you so much for sending it in 🫶🏻

p.s. this is my all time favorite picture of chris. he just looks so fucking pretty i cab’t handle it

everything written is completely fictional. the people i write for are written with characteristics and mannerisms that i made for them, this is in no way depicting what would actually happen in real life.

“And you’re sure about this?” Chris said into the speaker, the sigh on the other end of the phone had him rolling his eyes.

“Yes, Chris. I’m sure about this, could you just trust me for once?”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Matt’s attitude this entire conversation had him on his last nerve.

“Okay fine, I’ll just let you know how it goes.” He grumbled, hanging up the phone and sliding it in his pocket.

If he were being honest, he really hated Matt right now. Okay, he didn’t hate him, but he wasn’t too happy with him in the slightest. Matt set him up on this date, and if it weren’t for both of his brothers shoving him out the door and into his Uber, he wouldn’t be in this restaurant waiting for you.

Chris decided that the moment he saw you, he was going to let you down easy. Maybe tell you he wasn’t ready to go on a date with someone he didn’t know. Matt had shown him a picture of you, and vouched for your greatness the entire time Nick was throwing outfits in his face for him to try on. If he was honest, Nick and Matt were more enthused about this blind date than he was.

“Chris?”

Chris looked up from his hands with furrowed brows, his mind going completely blank when his eyes met yours. You looked better in person, and because of it, his nerves skyrocketed.

Wow.

You frowned. “What?” You asked, Chris’ cheeks flushed red at the realization that he’d said that out loud.

“Nothing, um. Hi, yeah. I’m Chris. You’re Y/n?” He stood from his chair as you nodded and awkwardly stuck out his hand. You looked down at his hand with an amused look and met his eyes again as you tentatively shook it.

Jesus, this is already going well.

“How do you know Matt?” Chris asked, pulling your chair out for you and pushing it in once you sat.

“Wow, a gentleman.” You teased, smiling at Chris from across the table as he sat back down. You shrugged and reached for the glass of water in front of him. He watched your movements like a hawk as you took a sip from his glass and sat it back down. “Oh you know, it’s LA. Everyone knows everyone.” You said, Chris raising an eyebrow and nodding his head. “I’m kidding.” You said with a grin. “I’m a friend of Madi’s. Matt came to pick Nick up one night when all three of us were hanging out, and he sparked up a conversation.”

Chris nodded, the pressure in his chest relieving a bit when he realized at least one of his brothers knew you more than just your name and face.

“Sorry about the blind date thing, I don’t even know why they thought it’d be a good idea.” Chris said humorlessly, his brows furrowing when seeing your expression drop.

“This is a blind date?” You whispered, Chris’ stomach dropping as he fumbled over his words to apologize. Before a single, coherent sentence could leave his lips, a smile broke out across your face and you covered your mouth with your hand.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry. I was trying to break the tension, bad joke, that’s my fault.” You said, covering your amused laugh with a cough. Chris chuckled nervously and nodded.

“Of course, yeah.” He mumbled, taking a sip of his water and looking around the restaurant awkwardly.

You cleared your throat, his eyes immediately flickering to your incredulous stare.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know that right? I can text Matt and say that this was a bad idea.” You said.

It almost relaxed him a bit to know that you were willing to end the date to make him more comfortable, and instead of doing what he’d planned on in the first place, he shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just a little nervous.”

It was obvious that he was nervous, why the hell would he say that? Maybe he should just cancel this date, go home, and tell Matt that if he ever had another person to set him up with, to not bother.

“I am, too.” You said, catching his attention. He frowned and tilted his head to the side.

“Why are you nervous?” He asked, a soft scoff coming from your lips.

“I’m on a date with a guy I’ve never met at the advice of his brothers that I barely know, you could be a murderer, Chris.” You said. Chris rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You really think I could be a murderer when I’m sweating fucking bullets just trying to figure out what to say to you?” He asked.

You nodded your head. “You could be sweating because you’re worried about getting caught.” You said. Chris snorted and grinned down at his lap. “There we go, I knew I could get you to smile.”

Chris looked up at you then, your own smile beaming as you scanned his face. He squared his shoulders and set his gaze on you. “How about we start over?” He asked. Your smile grew impossibly wider and you nodded. He cleared his throat dramatically. “Hi, I’m Chris. I’m not a murderer, and I’d like to get to know you.”

You rolled your eyes and sighed. “Hi, I’m Y/n. I’m glad you’re not a murderer, and that was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly, the both of you laughing and joking and flirting, much to Chris’ surprise, like you’d been doing it your whole life. It wasn’t until the two of you were walking towards your car that he realized this date was over, and he really didn’t want it to be.

“I had fun.” He said, his voice coming out soft as you dug through your bag for your keys. You met his eyes and smiled shyly.

“So did I.” You replied, dropping your hands to your sides and looking around the empty parking lot.

Chris wanted to ask if you would like to go out again, maybe at a more casual location that wouldn’t have both of your nerves going crazy, but before he could, you met his eyes again.

“Do you want a ride home?” You asked. Chris scoffed.

“Now who sounds like a murderer?”

You rolled your eyes and bit your lip to contain your smile. “It’s a yes or no question, you ass. The offer expires soon, you better think fast.” You teased, reaching for the door handle as Chris shook his head and walked towards the passenger seat.

“My brothers have my location, so don’t get any ideas.”

The drive to his house consisted of the two of you chattering over the music he insisted on playing, much to your disdain. But as much as you complained about how it all sounded the same to you, he couldn’t help but notice the soreness of his cheeks from smiling so much.

“Well.” You started, putting the car in park and turning to face him. “Home sweet home.”

He glanced out the window at the house, disappointment clouding his mood as he nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you around.” He said. You mumbled a goodbye as he stepped out of the car. He had barely heard the door latch before he scoffed and ripped the car door back open. He climbed into the passenger seat and leaned over the console, his face inches from your shocked one.

“Do you want to go out again sometime?” He asked, his breath fanning across your face. You nodded slowly and blinked up at him. He grinned down at you, his eyes flickering to your lips before he nodded. “Good.”

His lips were pressed to yours before he could even register what he was doing, his entire body feeling as though it was igniting in flames. You were hesitant at first, but sooner rather than later you were sinking into it and humming against his lips. He pulled away and smiled softly at you.

“I’ll text you.” He mumbled. You nodded again, your eyes dazed as you watched him step out of the car and shut the door.

He was grinning the entire walk to the house, and even when he stepped into the living room. Matt and Nick were sitting on the couch, trying their best to look like they were there for any other reason than to ask him how it went. Matt saw his face first, and his smirk was smug.

“I told you you’d have a good time.” He said. Chris rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that night.

“Yeah, yeah. I need her number off of one of you. Preferably, like, now.” He said, never stopping his movements as he made his way down the stairs to his bedroom. His phone vibrated in his pocket as he dropped down onto his bed. Good, one of them sent him your contact information.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the notification without even reading it, a grin spreading across his face at the contents of the message.

now, what was that nonsense about you texting me?

tags: @strniolo , @toyourloves , @ssturniolo , @jellybeanbby , @thetriplets3 , @mxriverse , @stvrni0lo , @gabbylovesreading , @dwntwn-strnlo , @tylerscreat0r , @lvrsparadise , @angelcake-222 , @20nugs , @obsessivencrazy , @lollibumblebee , @stargirlv0id , @idontexistman , @emssturniolo

[burningcheese-merchant]

When Burning Spice was introduced a lot of people made comparison with Capsaicin, and even thought they were related. You have any thoughts on that?

I do, and you're all probably going to be very disappointed lol

Not only do I NOT vibe with the idea that they're related, I'm actually really annoyed that it's as popular as it is lol. It doesn't even make sense. Burning Spice was in prison for thousands of years; when, where and how did he have a kid? At what point in time did this occur? Capsaicin is a young man. A regular mortal, outside of his "Spice Overlord" thing. I ask you all again: when? Where? How? WHY? Has anyone ever actually thought this through?

"ThEy LoOk SiMiLaR" okay, and? So fucking what? Neither of them own the concept of "long hair" or "muscles" or "sharp teeth". Pitaya has those too, and he has an arguably more substantial connection to Capsaicin because they're actually from the same fucking area. Happenstance. Lots of characters in this game have similar attributes, that doesn't necessarily mean anything

"ThEy'Re BoTh SpIcY" Refer to point A. Do you all think all the nut-based cookies are related, too? That's the logic you might as well be operating on. Correlation is not causation

"Blah blah both go 2 jail" you know how many characters in this wack-ass phone game count as felons, bro? How many of them SHOULD count as felons lol? The Cookie Run universe might as well be one giant Alcatraz with all the shit these little affronts to God get up to every day, I ain't making them all each other's relatives because of it

They're the wrong ages for them to be family. Burning Spice was serving a life sentence since long before Capsaicin was even thought of, he literally got out after the guy was already a grown ass man. They're not even from the same fucking CONTINENT! Capsaicin has probably never even HEARD of Beast-Yeast! Even that little comic the CRK Twitter account posted makes fun of all this shit!!! The Wild Spices mistake Cap for Spice from behind, and then get confused when he turns around because THEY VERY CLEARLY DO NOT KNOW WHO HE IS AND HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE! Wouldn't an army know if their general had a son, even if it was only mentioned in passing? Wouldn't THIS army have a vested interest in having their general's son around if he existed, and stop at nothing to bring him home should he vanish, to gain favor with Spice and because of how powerful Capsaicin is and how useful he could be to them?

I wouldn't be so bent out of shape about all this if it wasn't LITERALLY FUCKING EVERYWHERE!!! I cannot enjoy any content of Burning Spice OR Capsaicin without having to endure a fucking barrage of "hurr durr father and son" posts!!! I just want to ogle my hot, sexy, deliciously evil spice man BY HIM-FUCKING-SELF in peace, I never asked to have to hear the exact fucking same "hi son I came back with the milk" joke over and over and over again

I know I sound like a massive dick right now and I'm truly sorry. You are more than welcome to think of these two as related in some way if you wish. I am not your mother, nor your leader, nor your god, I'm just some cringe loser on the internet. Enjoy this game and its characters in whatever way you choose. I even actually like a good bit of the father/son art, a lot of it is cute and funny. I'm able and willing to say that with complete sincerity.

I just wish I didn't have to feel like it's being forced on me. That is one of the biggest issues I have with this fandom: how oppressive it often feels. You MUST ship this particular pairing, you MUST headcanon these characters as family, you MUST take this one-off joke that was clearly just a goddamn joke and preach it 24/7/365 like it's the gospel truth that Devsis themselves wrote on stone tablets and delivered from the top of Mount Sinai. And then when someone doesn't want to do that, everyone else descends upon them like a plague of fucking locusts. I actually saw a Dad Spice + Son Cap post on here with the person who made it saying something like "ok since everyone agrees that these two are family [...]" and I just got so fucking irritated. No, actually, not everyone agrees. Not everyone agrees on a lot of the fanon that's shoved down the entire community's throats on a regular basis. PLEASE stop acting like they do. I still remember when people would get flat-out harassed for not acting like Herb is Sea Fairy's son (old ass drama lol).

Say what you will about me, I'm just one person and you can block me or whatever dumb tags I use for my dumb shit. There is NOWHERE I can go to avoid this. Twitter? Plagued. Tumblr? Plagued. Even fucking reddit is on this nonsense (only in my personal opinion). But that's what I get for acknowledging Reddit in any capacity lol

I shall once again sincerely apologize for my harsh tone here, I am not attacking you personally or anyone who headcanons these two as relatives. I am just generally, profoundly frustrated and I need to get it out. I appreciate you taking the time to ask me an honest question, I hope you can forgive me for my painfully honest answer

[personal-progress-dropout]

The Rainbow Sheep III

I have complicated relationship with my gender.

Like many people who grew up in the church, I was raised with a strict concept of gender—there were men and there were women. Gender was determined in the pre-existence, and the gender you were assigned at birth was the gender you got. Trangenderism was, at best, a form of envy or self-hatred, and at worst, an act of rebellion against God. I wouldn’t hear the words nonbinary or intersex until I was a teenager.

Despite this, my parents were pretty easy-going about gender expression. My brother was allowed to dress up in my princess costumes when we were kids and I could buy clothes from the boy’s section without comment. There were some catches, of course—I was expected to wear a dress or skirt for formal occasions, and I’m not sure they’d ever be okay with my brother wearing anything ‘feminine’ once he was old enough to be a deacon. (He isn’t interested presenting himself as anything other than a cis guy, so I’ve never had the chance to see my hypothesis put to the test.) There was always a framed copy of The Family Proclamation hanging in our house. We had firm convictions about gender, so I never questioned my identity as a woman.

Like most things in my life, that changed when I moved out for college. I discovered a lot of things about myself—I was autistic and ADHD, I had seasonal depression, I would actually rather be a librarian than a teacher, and unlike what I had previously claimed to people, I was much more into women than I was to men, and I fall somewhere on the aroace spectrum. Above all, I discovered that my relationship with my AGAB was far more nebulous than I had assumed as a child.

I never had gender dysphoria, which I thought was an essential part of being trans or nonbinary. I was perfectly satisfied with being a woman, although the casual sexism I’d face was frustrating. And then I heard about ‘gender euphoria.’ I realized that I found joy in experimenting with gender, swinging between androgyny and femininity. I played around with pronouns, and found that being referred to as ‘they’ made me just as happy and comfortable as ‘she.’ (I’m rather indifferent to ‘he’.) When I discovered the term ‘demigirl’, I thought, “Yes, this is me.” I’ve since upgraded to ‘demiwoman’, and occasionally refer to myself as nonbinary.

I think it’s basically a rite of passage to have a gender/sexuality crisis when you’re religious and LGBTQ+. Much like the years after I figured out I was queer, I have moments where I worry that I’m actually just a cis woman who’s so empathetic to her trans and nonbinary friends that she’s fooled herself into thinking she’s demigender. Which is stupid, but nobody has ever claimed that anxiety follows rational thought.

Anyways, I wanted to share a spiritual experience I had lately: after the craziness that is Christmas and navigating through family drama, I had a chance to reflect. I was going over my imposter syndrome and how my gender identity is supposed to fit in with God’s great plan when I had a thought:

You are my daughter, my son, my child.

I wasn’t in the temple or in sacrament meeting. I was in my aunt’s spare room, lying on a crappy couch and staring up at a cat tree. And I still felt the assurance that Heavenly Father sees me. This doesn’t answer any of my questions about church policy or doctrine regarding gender identity, but it gave me hope. People may not think we have a place in the church, that we have to keep our mouths shut and fall in line in order to be in good standing with God. I reject that—there is a place for us, both in the church and in the eternal family. One day we’ll know more, and have a greater understanding, but for now, that one sentence of acknowledgement was enough.

[weirdkpopgirl]

Waiting | Dream Reaction #13

Reaction: when their gf wants to save sex for marriage

Genre: Um mostly fluff

Warnings: slightly suggestive, making out in Jeno's, and mentions of sex (but nothing graphic at all)

Word Count: ~2.9k

Author's Note: I feel like it's been so long since I wrote a Dream reaction. The following scenario was a request sent by someone. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about doing it because I know this concept isn't that popular today. However, it is a personal value I hold and I'm not trying to impose it on those who have different opinions. But it is something I've always secretly wanted to write about. So here you go, I hope you like it ^ ^

~ ~ ~

mark

After being under the weather for weeks now, Mark thought it was time to get you checked up. That was how you found yourself sitting in a pristine white room on a Monday morning. You scanned the room anxiously, nervously drumming your fingers against the chair’s armrest. However, the nerves you were feeling calmed down a little when Mark placed his hand on top of yours.

Finally the door creaked open, and the doctor exchanged polite greetings with the two of you. Taking a seat at her computer, the doctor ran through the customary procedure of inquiring about your symptoms and any recent changes in lifestyle.

“Have you two been sexually active recently?” the doctor asked, causing a slight shift in the atmosphere. 

Heat instantly rose to your cheeks as you turned to your boyfriend with a surprised glance. 

“Oh—no, we haven’t even…” Your voice trailed off, almost as if you were too flustered to finish your sentence.

The doctor nodded understandingly and moved on to the next question. Once the check-up was finished, she just advised you to get some more rest and take some time off work to recover.

Back in the car, you and Mark burst into awkward laughter, finding humor in the unexpected nature of that encounter.

“I was so embarrassed,” you cried, covering your face, “I thought I was going to die back there.”

Mark laughed along, “Yeah me too. I don’t know why I was so surprised when she asked us that.”

A brief silence hung in the air as Mark steadied his hand on the wheel, and you gazed out of the car window. Although you believed you handled the situation reasonably, some more serious thoughts lingered in your mind. Even though it’s only been a few months since you two started dating, the doctor’s question made you realize that you hadn’t discussed the subject before.

“Speaking of though,” you said, broaching the topic cautiously. “I actually want to save sex for marriage.”

You were already bracing yourself for a negative reaction when Mark didn’t respond right away. But then he shrugged nonchalantly and said, “Okay.”

“Really?” You stared at him wide-eyed. “You’re okay with it?”

Mark nodded thoughtfully, “I mean, I can’t say it’s going to be easy. But if waiting is important to you, then it’s important to me too.”

A wave of relief washed over you, comforted now that this conversation went a lot smoother than you had anticipated. 

“Thank you, I really appreciate that,” you said, a smile lighting up your face.

Mark reached over to squeeze your hand. “No problem, babe.”

In his mind, it really wasn’t a big deal. He definitely planned on marrying you someday, so he saw it as something to look forward to in your future together.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

renjun 

He was the only one to actually bring up the subject first. Although it wasn’t something he had greatly dwelled on beforehand. After being together for a few months, your relationship had proven to be relatively stable. However when it came to physical intimacy, the two of you never progressed beyond making out. While Renjun wasn’t particularly bothered by it, a sense of curiosity lingered in his thoughts.

One evening as you both walked back to your place after a date, he decided to bring it up. “(Y/n), can I ask you something?” he asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Curious as to what this was about, you nodded. “Sure. What is it?”

“I just…I was wondering when we’re going to have sex?” He scratched his head, as the words awkwardly tumbled from his lips. You observed his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and you could also feel your own face warming up coincidentally.

You knew this conversation was inevitable, and you’ve spent a decent amount of time preparing what you would say if it came up. Despite the mental preparation, you were a little wary of what Renjun’s response might be.

“I’m glad you brought that up,” you said, attempting to mask the nervousness in your tone. “The thing is, I want to wait until marriage for sex. I hope that’s okay with you.”

To your surprise, his response came quickly as he nodded in understanding. “That’s no problem for me. I'm happy to wait for you,” he assured.

“I know people might think we’re crazy,” you continued with a sense of unease in your voice.

Before you could finish your thought, Renjun stopped walking to cup your face with his hands. “I don’t care what people think. Our connection and the boundaries we set are more important than anyone else’s opinions,” he said assertively. “I respect your decision, and I’m here with you no matter what.”

As his words sank in, a grateful smile formed on your lips. Sighing, you leaned in to place a sweet peck on his lips. 

“What did I ever do to deserve you?”

Renjun chuckled and affectionately patted your head. “Cutie.”

His hands intertwined once more, and the two of you resumed walking back to your apartment. The both of you felt a lot better now that the topic had been addressed.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

jeno

The evening started out normal, really. You were having a movie date in his apartment, which was a regular occurrence for homebodies like yourselves. Yet, an almost suffocating tension lingered in the air, subtly bringing the two of you closer.

Before you could blink, blankets were tossed aside and you found yourself lying on your back as Jeno’s lips devoured yours in a series of passionate kisses. His hands found their way to your waist, and yours wrapped around his neck, drawing him nearer. The room was filled with a soft hum of your chemistry, creating a moment that seemed to make time freeze.

Your conscience started to come back as you felt Jeno’s hands begin to roam your body. Although a part of you didn’t want to stop, you placed a hand on your boyfriend’s chest and gently pulled away. Jeno glanced at you with a puzzled expression. 

Sighing, you sat up. “I’m sorry…it’s just…there’s something I think we should talk about.”

You hated seeing Jeno’s face flicker with confusion. But he nodded for you to continue.

“If…if it’s okay with you, I want to wait until we’re married to have sex,” you admitted, your gaze unwavering. 

Jeno’s eyebrows furrowed in surprise, and it took a bit to process your words before responding. “Oh, okay,” he said in an understanding tone.

You looked at him, searching for any sign of disappointment or frustration. “You’re not upset about it?”

Jeno shook his head, as if it were obvious. “There’s no rush, baby. And I would never want to pressure you into doing something you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thank you for understanding,” you expressed, eyes softening with gratitude. You had expected a different reaction from him, fearing that he might feel restricted. But his kind words put you at ease.

Jeno returned your smile, brushing a strand of hair away from your face. “But we can still make out, right?” 

The mischievous sparkle in his eyes made you laugh. “Of course we can,” you chuckled, pulling him down with you.

That was all Jeno needed to hear before his lips were on yours again. The chemistry from before was quickly reignited, and the two of you savored the intimacy of the moment.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

haechan

The two of you were just cuddling in his bedroom, after he had convinced you to take a break from studying. Nestled comfortably in his arms, he traced lazy circles on your back, creating a soothing rhythm to accompany the moment. You snuggled against him happily, enjoying this peaceful moment with your boyfriend.

“(Y/n),” he spoke suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.

You glanced up in response. “Hm?”

He stared at you momentarily, tenderly brushing a lock of hair behind your ear. You were curious as to what he had to say, you found it hard to read his expression.

“Have you ever thought about…you know, when you want to have sex?” he asked, deciding it was best to just be straightforward. 

Your cheeks flushed slightly, caught off guard by his question. “Um…well I think I want to wait until marriage,” you admitted.

Biting your lip, you searched Haechan’s expression. The corner of his lips curled into a teasing smile. “In that case, will you, (L/n) (Y/n), marry me?” he asked dramatically.

“Lee Haechan, don’t joke about that,” you scolded, smacking him on the shoulder. The boy laughed, and pulled you closer to him. 

“Okay, okay I’m sorry,” he apologized, giving you a quick kiss on your forehead. “We’ll take things at your pace, baby. You don’t need to worry.”

You murmured a thank you, relaxing into his arms once more. As playful as Haechan was, you were grateful for his understanding. There really wasn’t much to worry about when you were with him.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

jaemin

The gentle glow of the candles sitting on the coffee table created a warm and inviting atmosphere in Jaemin’s living room. You sat snugly on the couch with his cats, waiting for your boyfriend to come back from the kitchen. Although you appeared calm on the outside, as you ran your fingers through Luna’s soft white fur, your mind buzzed with anxious thoughts. You wanted to have a serious conversation with him tonight, but you were a bit apprehensive about it.

Your heart began to race as Jaemin reentered the room, carrying two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. It only took a single glance for him to detect your unease. Placing the cups on the coffee table, he took your hand in his and offered a comforting smile.

“Is there something on your mind, love?” he asked with such tenderness that it almost made you feel guilty.

Exhaling briefly, you tried to return his smile. “Yeah, there’s actually something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”

Jaemin’s eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and concern. “I’m listening,” he replied, reaching over to gently scratch under Luna’s chin.

You took another deep breath, gathering your thoughts. “It’s just that we’ve been together for quite some time now, and I know you’ve probably thought about this. But I want to share with you that I’d like for us to save sex for marriage.”

There was a brief moment of silence as Jaemin absorbed your words. Afraid of a negative reaction, you started to back yourself up.

“It’s just that I’ve never done it before, and waiting until I’m married has always been important to me,” you continued, going on a slight tangent. “It has nothing to do with you or an attempt to restrict you.”

The warm smile Jaemin gave you felt like a game changer. He lightly squeezed your hand, his eyes reflecting nothing but understanding. “You don’t have to worry, Princess. I understand completely, and I agree it’s best to wait too.”

Instantly relief began to wash over you. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” he nodded, his smile unwavering. “I want our first time to be something we both cherish. And when we’re both ready to take that step, I promise it will be a special moment for both of us.”

His eyes gleamed with a sincerity that made you want to burst into tears. Suddenly, you questioned why you were so nervous in the first place. Every action of Jaemin’s was out of love and kindness from the depths of his heart.

“You’re so sweet,” you murmured, cupping his face with your hands. “I wish all men could be as understanding and caring as you.”

Jaemin’s gaze softened more, and he leaned in to leave a lingering kiss on your lips. “You give me too much credit, princess. As your boyfriend, it’s my job to ensure you always feel respected and loved.”

“Stop it, you’re going to make me cry,” you exclaimed, using your hand to fan your eyes.

He chuckled in response and pulled you closer to cuddle. As you remained in his embrace with his cats nestled around you, you realized how lucky you were to have Jaemin by your side. 

��︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

chenle

You had been avoiding the subject for as long as possible, mostly because it was a little awkward for you. This was your first serious relationship, and you were sure Chenle’s thought about it before. But he was waiting for you to say something first.

Then came an evening where the two of you were watching a movie at his place. You didn’t exactly plan on talking to him about it that day. It kind of just slipped out.

Neither of you had a specific preference for what to watch, so Chenle randomly selected something on Netflix. However, halfway into the film, a provocative scene began to unfold. A knot tightened in your stomach, and within five seconds, you averted your gaze. Chenle chuckled nervously beside you, wisely opting to change the movie.

Even though something new was being played on the screen, you found yourself making occasional sideway glances toward Chenle. The realization struck that you had been putting off this topic for so long, and the nagging feeling inside you knew it would keep bothering you if you didn’t address it now.

Before your nerves could get the better of you, a heavy exhale escaped you. “Chenle, there’s something I want to talk about.”

His eyebrows raised slightly in concern, sensing the apprehensiveness in your voice. “What’s up?” he asked.

The movie’s ambiance served as a backdrop to your hesitancy. But determined not to chicken out, you closed your eyes and blurted out, “I want to wait until marriage for sex!”

You opened your eyes to see Chenle’s face swiftly transition from a surprised expression to a more composed one. For some reason he thought you were going to break up with him or something. So when he processed your words, in his head he was like “oh, that was it?”

“Okay, that’s cool,” he said, figuring that was all and leaned back on the couch.

His nonchalant response left you looking at him in disbelief. “You’re not upset at all?”

“No, why would I be?” he chuckled, playfully nudging you. “Sex isn’t everything. If waiting until marriage is important to you, then I’m on board with that.”

The way his eyes reflected genuine sincerity, gave you more reassurance. “Gosh, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” you exhaled.

He grinned, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. He couldn’t resist teasing you a little.

“Well what can I say? You’re dating a great man.”

You rolled your eyes, earning a laugh from him as he pulled you closer. Secretly, you had to agree that Zhong Chenle was indeed a great man.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

jisung

It really wasn’t a big deal to him. But he did think about it from time to time. The both of you were somewhat new to being in a relationship. However, after being together for a few months, Jisung thought the two of you should’ve had sex by now. 

He was almost afraid to ask, because the two of you had never directly discussed sex before. But the desire to know your thoughts was becoming overwhelming, and Jisung knew that he’d explode if he didn’t bring up the subject.

As you lounged together in your living room, Jisung absentmindedly fiddled with the drawstrings of his hoodie. Occasionally he stole glances at you, who was scrolling through social media posts on your phone. He almost choked when you said something.

“Is there something on your mind, Jisungie?” you asked, without even looking up from your phone. It was as if you could sense he had something to say, solely by his body language. You had to hold back from smiling in amusement as his eyes widened in surprise.

The boy beside you laughed nervously as he sat up a bit straighter. “I—um want to talk about us. You know in terms of…”

“Sex?” you finished his sentence, throwing him off even more. 

Jisung looked at you with a perplexed expression. “Are you a magician? How did you know that was what I wanted to talk about?”

“I don’t know, lucky guess?” you chuckled, casting your phone aside. “It’s also something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about too.”

“Really?!”

You nodded, flattening your hands across the blanket on your lap. “I know we’ve never discussed it before, but I think it’s best to be transparent with you. Is that okay?”

 “Of course,” Jisung answered right away. “I want you to be honest with me, Jagi.”

Lowering your gaze, you took a deep breath before confessing, “Well, um—I want to wait until marriage for, you know, sex.”

It took a moment for you to gather the courage to look at Jisung again. When you did, you were met with an almost relieved expression.

“You know what? I think that’s a great idea,” Jisung said, assuringly. “We can just take our time, with no rush.”

You smiled in response, “I’m glad we’re on the same page then.”

Jisung’s shoulders visibly relaxed and he sank back into the couch. “Ugh, I feel so much better now that we’ve talked about it,” he said, covering his eyes.

Shaking your head with a laugh, you observed the boy in amusement.

“You’re such a dork,” you murmured, snuggling against his hoodie. Jisung smiled and snaked his arm around to hug you.

Jisung was genuinely relieved that you were both honest about your feelings of intimacy. In fact, he felt like having this conversation brought you even closer. Although you were both young, he felt secure knowing your relationship was built on a sense of connection and trust.

‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿︵‿୨✧୧‿︵‿

[wufflesvetinari]

hi!! okay so i really loved that one fanfic you wrote (3:16) way back when, it's honestly one of my favorite fanfics ever but I have a question for you!! I've honestly adored your writing style and techniques and I was wondering: what is your writing process? Not just plot wise (although yes that!) but also prose-wise? because honestly, the first thing that drew me into your fic was how FUCKING good your prose was and I was just in absolute awe reading what you had written, and it sort of started me on a journey to improve my own prose and make it sound nice.

so uh yeah!! what is your writing process and if you have any advice for how you write so beautifully (Not just prose wise!! plot and character wise too haha) or just like. writing advice in general, i am ALL ears <3

oh this is so incredibly sweet, thank you!!!

i've tried to marshal some thoughts...tbh i am always envious of effective writing that is UNLIKE mine, so there are lots of ways to go about this. (and also i am just Some Guy.)

i'll focus on prose things i think about during writing/revision b/c otherwise we will be here all night...but imo some of this overlaps with effective pacing, character, etc.

Prose is character – some writing is “voicier” than other writing is, living closer in a character’s POV.  but in most cases, if you are in any way in a character’s head, your prose is part of their characterization. dick grayson will use different words and notice different details than damian will. being intentional about a character’s voice has the nice iterative effect of strengthening their characterization, which then makes your prose more confident as you understand their voice, and on and on it goes

Allow “workmanlike” phrases – sometimes cliché exists for a reason; you don’t actually need every sentence to be a poem. in fact, you NEED simple writing to string together your powerhouse lines without turning it all into purple prose/losing the reader/ruining the pacing.

Examine “workmanlike” phrases – that being said, another failure mode is RELYING on these phrases instead of digging for something more interesting now and then. i might write the phrase “a chill went down her spine” – ok this is fine, but I’ve read this sentence 15,000 times in my life and seeing it in my own document should be a trigger to slow down and decide if there’s a more specific or vivid description that conveys character or mood or theme better. or is just prettier lmao. i think to myself: how does it feel to be scared? what is a physical reaction that’s REAL that i have experienced, and am not just taking from a list in my head called “Descriptions Of Being Scared That Writers Use”?

The fucking thesaurus lmao – do not find/replace willy-nilly obviously BUT if the only word you can think of is Not Exactly The Right Word Dammit then the fucking thesaurus is a perfectly valid brainstorming tool to get closer to what you are trying to say. even if u don’t find the right word, it’s often a jumping-off point to a better way to approach the sentence

Note your “is”es – ok this is the annoying one. imo this really strengthened my writing but i hated it so so much. when revising, find any instance of “is/was/seems.” (ex: “He seems impatient, and there’s a pile of paperwork sitting in front of him.”) There’s nothing WRONG with that sentence, but it’s worth checking to see if it’s an opportunity for a more active one that gives more character detail (“He taps impatiently on a pile of paperwork.” there. done.)

Condense – ok look at that example again. i phrased things more actively but i ALSO condensed two concepts (He seems impatient + there is paperwork) into a sharper sentence that ALSO tells us a bit about how this character acts when stressed. imo you can accidentally find really interesting prose this way, in addition to improving pacing.

Vary sentence structure – that being said, sometimes the way to go is a beautiful run-on, so long as that sentence has intention packed into it! if you are writing long lovely flowing sentences, it’s going to hit hard if you drop the emotional reveal in a short, choppy, standalone one. or if your sentences shorten as the mood of the scene changes, or or or.

Use detail to let a scene breathe – personally, i never want to write the phrase “there was a pregnant pause” or “there was a brief silence” if i can help it. this is personal preference, but i think the principle stands: you can instead control your reader’s sense of timing, create an implied pause, by giving detail in the right place. the reverse is why it bothers me when a conversation is interspersed with paragraphs of introspection lmao: in my head i’m wondering why pov is taking so long to respond

Use repetition – oh my god this is my cheat code. if you are really proud of a beautiful, distinctive phrase you wrote? use it again!!! make it a callback at an important moment!!! make it thematic!! do it on purpose. trust me it’s cool

Get out of their head – ok here’s an experiment. take a concept (“Dick is scared”) and tell yourself that you have to express this, but you CAN’T describe anything about Dick himself in order to do it. you can use the way the crumbling buildings of gotham loom above him, or the weather, or the way people react to him—but you cannot say a word about his actions or thoughts or feelings. chances are, you’ve now created some interesting prose getting at the concept abstractly. cool! use that, and also go and add the direct feelings back in if it makes sense to do so

"Unconscious" writing - uhh ok this one is weird, but sometimes for a VERY early draft—like, when I am staring down the blank page—I will stop…trying to write a story? I will instead begin to write, uh…poetry about what is happening in the story? Just, impressions, details, stream-of-consciousness…this will all have to be cleaned up and made linear later. but for now, go nuts. and usually it gives me a) some workable, pretty prose and b) an entry point into what i am trying to say so i can go back and write the “real version”

Dissect!! Good!!! Writing!!! - i'm sorry, this one is so boring. but if there's a writer who really WORKS for you, read very slowly and break down what's so effective about it on a prose level. i do this with ursula le guin. also, do this with poetry!!! which poems slam you to the ground and take your lunch money? how?

i know you also asked abt plot and character but i've already written so much lmao plz forgive me. i am not a big craft book person but i did enjoy refuse to be done and a swim in a pond in the rain. i also try to collect tips i find in this tag!

[seeingteacupsindragons]

After doing a little hunting myself, what's going around is Sherlock's section in this: https://jumpsq.shueisha.co.jp/rensai/moriarty/

Hey, Hyper, have I told you I love you this week?

(Yes)

Okay! The entire sentence is a long one and most people are probably fixating on the first part before the first comma, but I'm gonna give you the whole thing:

ウィリアムに対して友情以上の絆を感じ、犯罪卿を支え、共に消息不明になるも、ロンドンに帰還する。

ウィリアム: William.

に対して: Towards, against, regarding, contrast. I think here it would be "towards"

友情: Friendship/fellowship/comradeship/etc. This is often used to describe William's relationship with his crew. Returning to his comrades, etc.

以上: Over and above, beyond.

の: Ties that "beyond" bit to the next bit "絆"

絆: Bond/relationship/connection.

を: Indicates the relationship is the subject of the following verb, which is...

感じ: Feel/Experience.

So this part of the long sentence is, "Feels toward/for William a connection beyond friendship."

That doesn't actually mean it's romantic; there is a whole Thing in Japanese culture about "More than friends, less than lovers," which is a phrase I hate for a lot of reasons but usually falls into the weirdly intense shonen/BL lite/QPR situationship. It's kind of "This is my most important person, but not my lover."

Anyway, that's not actually mentioned here, but it is a thing in Japan.

The rest of the sentence!

犯罪卿: Lord of Crime

を: This means the same thing here that it did above. It connects sentence objects to their verbs.

支え: Now, this, I find interesting. It defines as both "To check/hold at bay" and "defend/support/prop up." It seems to ride the line somewhere in the concept of Protecting something by stopping an invasion/intrusion.

共に: Together

消息不明: Lost/MIA

に: Regarding, referring to, towards.

なる: Became

も: Also

So adding all of this up, we have, "Feeling toward William a bond beyond friendship, supported the lord of crime and together went missing,"

ロンドン: London:

に: To. Same as above. But here it just means "to"

帰還する: To return.

So all of that added up is,

"Feels for William a connection beyond friendship, protected the Lord of Crime and went missing together, and now returned to London.

It's very gay, but it's not gay gay.

[under-lore]

Toby Fox once made a post saying that he didn't want to sell merch of Chara because it would trivialize what they meant in game and the message they carry, do you have any idea what he could have meant by this?

Well, obviously this topic is inherently speculative so take it with a grain of salt, but there still exists some room to try and analyse it nonetheless.

Here is the post in question :

First, he uses "i" in the first sentence, and then "Because".

This immediately tells us that Toby Fox personally is the one that is opposing merchandise of Chara being made, and that all the things which will come afterwards are about what he was intending to do with them as a character in Undertale and why that makes the idea of Chara merch bothersome to him.

This isn't the only time Toby has shown to be picky about Chara-related content. For example, he has only openly promoted fan content containing Chara once since the game was released (and they were not the main focus of it) whilst the rest of the cast is seen quite often.

In general, Toby is quite dodgy when it comes to the first fallen human as a character. Sometimes even acting as if they didn't exist.

But as the mail also repeats, that isn't because Toby doesn't care about Chara, but rather because he does care about their character. Like how Toby actually went ahead and personally intervened to change Chara's Tarot card (Along with removing the Gaster one entirely), even if those weren't even official merch anyways. He does care about how they're being portrayed at least.

Okay, so next is our main puzzle piece.

The reason why he doesn't want Chara merch is because Toby considers that merchandise of Chara would have to portray them in a way that does not allow to properly represent what Chara stands for in-game, and thus fail to convey the message that they were intended to carry.

To rephrase this, he considers that if he were to make Chara merch, then "merch Chara" would be incapable of portraying correctly what he actually intended "in-game Chara" to be, and thus miss out on a significant portion of their character & what could be taken from it.

So he would rather not have merch at all rather than to have merch that misses the point of who "in-game" Chara was intended to be.

Since the only direct hint we have about this is that what Toby meant couldn't have been portrayed with merch properly, then the only way to obtain more insight into what he meant exactly is to go about it the other way and to ask which pieces of Chara's character merch could have portrayed and work backwards.

A prime example of what could have been done for Chara merch would be content similar to the Tarot card mentioned earlier.

As that card shows, it is far from difficult to make designs that capture most of the concepts and themes that are explicit-genocide-route-dialogue-specific & are said by or associated to the character.

To cite only a few that can be seen from this card, life & death & killing, power, demonic parallels, the number 9, the absolute, statistics, consequences, souls, knives, nothingness,...

(Side note : The person who made the Tarot card actually did not even know about the name "Chara" at the time, they weren't really a fan of the game and mostly went along with their first impression of the genocide route & the fanon of the time.)

Aside from perhaps their relationship with the player, there is frankly nothing about the direct Chara appearance at the end of genocide & the heavily Chara influenced flavor text of the end of the route that cannot be easily shown through merch. (Just look at all the fan content over the years)

And considering the way Toby acts merch-wise with Frisk and with Kris respectively, we can be pretty confident that their relationship with the player is not the reason that Chara merch is being blocked either.

So with that, we can be pretty much sure that what he meant wasn't about the explicit-genocide-route-only parts of in-game Chara.

Aside from the genocide route, the only other direct appearances of Chara are that of pre-death Chara. Between their fall into the underground and their death after the failure of the plan.

While we don't have clear cut examples like the Tarot card here, we do still run into the same problems.

The game implies a lot of things about pre-death Chara in many different ways. But all of those details or personality traits are either not much of a problem to portray or are also shared with other characters who do have merch made of them, meaning they can't be it either. (Its usually Undyne)

Not to mention that, when it comes to pre-death Chara, the game itself does show us some sepia artworks of Chara & The Dreemurrs. Like this one for example :

If properly representing those character traits of pre-death Chara was truly what this was all about, then why not simply make merch out of a colored version of that image if nothing else ?

It's in the game, right ? So surely it can't possibly be misrepresenting the game...

A trivialisation means to downplay something or to reduce it to something simpler.

If both pre-death Chara and genocide route-Chara & what the game shows about them could be represented with merch like any other character, but that Toby considers that doing so would still be missing out on an important part of Chara's character & their message, then the only conclusion would seem to be that Toby is not refering to any of the direct appearances of Chara in the game at all, but rather to another seemingly very important side of Chara that isn't shown directly in-game, and couldn't be through merch either.

While those could still be accurate in theory by themselves, making merch of Chara like this sepia art or the Tarot card would still be trivializing them in Toby's mind in the sense that it would be limiting Chara to only those things, and thus exclude that core part of their character from "merch Chara". Something that Toby refuses to do.

So our situation would seem to be : There is more to Chara than just what we are told about pre-death Chara and genocide route Chara. However, this part of Chara's character cannot be properly shown with merch yet is too important to ignore in Toby's mind.

There is one last thing we can say about what this part might be, though.

Toby seems quite insistant on the fact that this particular part of them was absolutely key to understanding what was Chara's role as a character in the game, and to understanding the message that he was trying to convey through this character.

A character's role & message can be conveyed through their story, through their actions, and through their mentality.

As we've seen earlier that this part of Chara was not an explicit appearance, the "actions" part is either minor enough to miss, or absent.

So it would seem we can be somewhat confident that this piece of Chara's character that Toby is worried about also either adds more implicit parts to Chara's story or gives important insight on their mentality (or both).

That would make Toby's core reason for not wanting to make merch of Chara be less about Chara's character itself and more about what the player is to understand from the way he constructed their character, which would match up with his words about it being "something that cannot be bought in a store", too.

Anddd... As far as purely impartial analysis goes, i think that's pretty much all that you can deduce, unless i've forgotten about something.

If you want my personal opinion on it, though, i would have to say that using NarraChara theory would be a really elegant way to fill up all those blanks.

Considering that the theory, if true, would constitute 90% of Chara's character & be absolutely crucial to understanding the character's mentality and the way they think or behave in different situations or routes, that would certainly make it key to understanding Toby's intent with the character relative to their message or what they would stand for.

I can also hardly see plausible alternatives. Considering that pre-fall Chara and post-game Chara are pretty dry wells in that regard and genocide Chara's words about when they were "brought back to life", the only moments left timeline-wise for this key part of Chara's character to happen would be during neutral/pacifist routes or during the part of the genocide route that weren't already brought up earlier. That would make it seem like a pretty natural answer.

But more importantly, anything to do with the NarraChara part of their character (if the theory was intended) literally couldn't be properly represented through merch.

Because, unlike the common fanon portrayal of it which exists for that same reason, NarraChara according to in-game flavor text wouldn't be a ghostly figure floating around Frisk, but rather a foreign entity sharing their body and their mind. Which is a crucial part to both how NarraChara would work in-world and to the morality-wise implications of it.

Of course, that didn't prevent some fans from sweeping that under the rug anyways, even though it misses one of the most important points of the character they're trying to represent.

That might just be why Toby would rather just not.

How would you make merch of that ? You would just be making merch of Frisk instead... Let alone portraying correctly such a complex character. It just wouldn't work. This is a pretty common problem for media with bodysharing characters, those mechanics and all the implications that follow genuinely just cannot be "sold in stores."

They are a purely psychological experience.

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Okay so this one is a bit into super-AU(/modern???) territory, but I was deep into a rabbit hole on space (I like black holes and pulsars a lot :D) when I had a great thought:

Us as an astronaut + space (entity??) Legacy

Admittedly I don't know much about astronauts beyond the training that they have to go through to be able to go to space, but I do think it'd be cool to just, like, see Legacy on the moon or something.

~ The anon who wanted Kaveh but didn't want Baizhu or Ganyu Ooooo what if the Abyss was, like, one of those theoretical other sides of a black hole? People like making theories about black holes, and I really like the ones about parallel universes and wormholes so- P.S. I might talk more about this concept/idea later to be honest, because I really Love Space :D

OHHHH I LIKE THIS ONE I LOVE FLUFFY COSMIC MOTH!!!

you didn't train with the intention of meeting an interstellar void being, you mostly wanted to explore new horizons, go places few have ever been before and see the infinite sky as a place rather than a backdrop of your world. to your delight, you received all that and more. far, FAR more than you were expecting. you catch your first glimpse out of the corner of your eye, just a subtle whisp of something like stardust. the clicks are next, faint, echoing croons and hums following you, and for a dreadful few minutes you think your suit must be malfunctioning somehow, a quick death sentence. but everything looks fine- perfect, actually- and you find the answer when you finally look up and behind you, a confused scrunch between your brows

what you can only describe as a galactical beast hovers before you, and your jaw drops. tall, floating off the ground, adorned in glittering lights and stars with ethereal wings and twin horns spiraling towards the heavens. it mimics you, tilting its head and letting out a soft cooing sound. that explains the noises you were hearing, at least. the creature reaches for you slowly, and its claws are as cold as ice even through the heavy material. but it seems to delight in mere touch, moving behind you, then to the side, the other one. at the end the peculiar, terrifying, beautiful monster bumps its head against your helmet, and you want nothing more than to sink into its cradling embrace and remain there forever. alas, you only have a fraction of eternity, but it's enough to receive gentle purrs and nuzzles and stray bits of stardust that feel like nothing and everything at once

for he calls himself Foul Legacy, and he wishes to visit you at nighttime

[writing-for-life]

He Hears the Sound of Her Wings…

When Death Equals Solace

This meta started out as part of an exploration of Dream’s relationship with his siblings (and what we learn from their very first appearances) that’s been languishing in my drafts for ages. But since we’re discussing “The Sound of Her Wings” in our community at the moment, I just decided to pull these bits up now (maybe also better to write about the siblings individually than in one novel-length meta 🙈). So here goes…

Dream’s relationship to his sister is undoubtedly special. He is closest to her—but what does that actually tell us?

When she shows up for the first time in issue 8 (“The Sound of Her Wings”), we see Dream desolate, seeking purpose beyond his function. And seeking purpose beyond his function is what's at the root of the deep schism between being Morpheus and being Dream (I am fully aware they are one and the same at this point, but bear with me): Morpheus wants something that is real, but Dream is the unreal.

When we read/watch “The Sound of Her Wings”, we tend to focus on that she helps him remember what his function is, and what it means to be what he is. All of that is true. But while she reminds him of what he his, and why, she ignores his deep longing for something else—a personhood, if you will. That's neither a What nor a Why—that's a Who. And I don't blame her, purely because of what she is. Her function already defines something real: Life and death. You can’t get any more real than that. But Dream is the unreal.

And Dream's meeting with his sister in “The Sound of Her Wings” reminds him of his function and purpose, true. But that isn’t solely helpful—it’s also painful. Because his main takeaway, in a nutshell, is actually this (more about that in a sec):

If we remember that the Endless are concepts, it’s is near impossible to read “The Sound of her Wings” as anything other than it is in the narrative arc: Of all the siblings, Dream is closest to Death. There’s meaning in that sentence. He perceives what she has to offer as a gift. He finds solace in her. This is abundantly clear when he recites the following (I’m still sad we didn’t get to hear it in the show to be honest):

Death is before me today: Like the home that a man longs to see, after years spent as a captive.

Recited by Morpheus, who just escaped captivity 😩

And it would be easy to still revert to thinking, “Ah well, she just reminded him of his responsibilities and his purpose, and that he’ll be okay.” But if you look at these panels…

It’s near OOC for Morpheus to say that his responsibilities can wait. But he does it here, and it becomes so clear that there’s another epiphany in there. A solace was found. In Death. Who is his sister but also always, always her function. I personally believe (and people are free to disagree of course) this is the very moment he knows, in his heart of hearts, that his only way out is D/death. And that’s something peaceful for him, not something he is afraid of.

Has he already, perhaps subconsciously, laid a few traps for himself well before that? Yes, for instance in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Has he already learned certain lessons beforehand? Yes, in Dream Hunters. But I believe the difference is that the way out becomes crystal clear to him here, and that from this point onwards, the traps become fully baited, and he can't (or won’t) back out anymore because his sense of responsibility made him paint himself into a corner (consciously or subconsciously—I'd hazard a guess it's all the same to him anyway). And we all know this one…

Even in his last moments, he never forgets about his responsibilities. But the responsibilities he only talked about a few panels before can wait. For once. And it’s very hard to know what a stickler for responsibilities Dream is and not find that significant. We are reading a return to what matters, finding new purpose and hence saying “responsibilities can wait” into these scenes because on the surface, it makes sense. Because we are human. And Dream becomes more human in his outlook as the story progresses (and that’s not without consequence).

Ultimately however, the Endless are concepts, and all dreams ultimately die—either because they are fulfilled, hence stop being unreal, or because they cannot be fulfilled and are either given up on or turn into something else. And all of these messages are central to The Sandman.

Dream loves Death, the darkness lifts from his soul when he is with her, and from this moment onwards, the sound of her wings is the solace he turns to. And that’s both beautiful and heavy…

[goodluckclove]

Hey. Stop scrolling for a second.

You scroll through writeblr a lot, don't you? I get why. Lots of fun people, interesting concepts and prompts. But maybe you haven't taken that jump from collecting resources on writing to actually writing.

Once again, I get it. It's daunting if you've never done it before. I've been doing it for a while and I genuinely can't think too hard about the act itself as it happens or else I get all sweaty and confused. I flopped spectacularly at a game of Scrabble tonight because I just ran out of words to think of and I'm in the middle of my 13th novel. Writing to me is like side-eyeing the sun - but that's besides the point.

What I mean is that you should do it. That idea that you think could be, might be, maybe has potential. More than that, I think you should do it right now. Right now.

Ooh but Clove, it's one AM and I have to do open heart surgery tomorrow. Cool. Write three sentences and go to sleep, then see if you want to do more after you get your license revoked.

But what if it's not good? Okay. What if it isn't? But what if it isn't, and it GETS good later? Or what if it isn't, but then later in the story you find a way to make those three initial sentences make sense? Three sentences isn't a story, unless you're Ernest Hemingway or a Haiku Man. Moving on.

Clove, where do I start? Honestly if you've never finished a project, or really never wrote anything at all, maybe just start at the point that sounds the most interesting in your head. To find the process that works for you takes work and experience so maybe for now you get dessert for dinner.

But I don't have an outline/character sheet/world map/mood board/playlist/ECT! Cool. Maybe that's an issue. Maybe it isn't. There's only one way to find out.

But it's hard! It's hard at first and then it gets easier. It's a muscle. You work at it consistently and you'll get to a point where you struggle to remember what it was like to not know how to write.

But it's painful! Hah yeah. That's kind of the more honest issue, isn't it. It's easier to think that your idea WOULD BE GREAT rather than face the fact that you might not be able to MAKE IT GREAT. That fear isn't based in reality, though. People like different things. You might write a work that you're displeased with in one aspect and find that it's changed someone else's life for a completely different reason.

What if I'm not a good writer? I struggle with this a lot and I've been published. It doesn't really go away even when people cry at your work and heap praise on it. But if you like to do it, if you would still be doing it even if there was no end promise of fame and success, you should do it.

What if I'm not a writer at all? I used to ask myself that. There are lots of answers to this question so I can only give my own: you are a writer if you write - past, present or future. If you haven't written in a long time but you're trying to get back to the craft, you are still a writer. You just have to keep trying.

What we do is half-trade, half-religious act, and because of that it is easily one of the weirder passions. I don't really get why people romanticize the field but at the same time I guess it seems pretty magical at times. As a writer, though, our job is to be the proverbial Man Behind the Curtain. You have to know how the magic trick works enough to do it successfully, but you also still have to be amazed. It's weird. I don't know why I do it.

I still do it though.

Write three sentences. Right now. Why not, right? If you send them to me in an ask I'll read them, or you can send them to me at my email address that I posted a few posts back because I'm old enough to know online safety and choose to ignore it. Or just do it for yourself.

Make something. You deserve to be a source of creation.

[goldenfigtree]

Noise Complaint

Summary: AU where Leon Kennedy's first day isn't being attacked by zombies but handling a noise complaint which leads to a... miscommunication on your part

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Fem Reader (no use of y/n)

Warnings: Fluff

A/N: Okay this is Part 1 of a concept that I thought was pretty humorous. part two here! The Porch Swing.

Feel free to let me know what you think :)

The police car door shut abruptly from the force of Office Kennedy’s arm. Hands dropping to his side, he feels the ground pulse a rhythm beneath him. His eyes scanned the area before they planted on the view of a house, neon lights projecting out of it. He let out a sigh of agitation. 

When he told the chief he was ready to go on patrol this wasn’t exactly what he meant. He figured he’d be doing what he signed up for in the first place. Helping people, not telling partygoers to keep their music down. It was definitely given to him because no one else wanted to do it. Give the rookie the dirty work while the other more experienced officers do the real work. That’s definitely what they did. But hey, he had to start somewhere. With a huff of encouragement to himself, he approaches the house, which is practically vibrating with party music and boisterous laughter, and knocks. 

To no avail.

Tightening his lips, he knocks again.

Still nothing.

He holds up his fist to knock on the door one last time until the door suddenly swings open, revealing you. A red cup in your hand and the other hand gripping for dear life on the door knob as you hold your weight against the door. 

“Heyyyy” you slur, a bubbly giggle trailing behind it. lowering his fist, he hesitantly greets you back, 

“Uh.. hi. I’m here because we received a noise complaint for this locat—“ 

“Oohhh” you interrupt, “that’s right, the noise complaint” in a fit of giggles you smile at him mischievously. For what reason, Leon had no idea. But seeing that you were obviously drunk, he just figured you were just saying things, to say things,

“Right” he gingerly responds, narrowing his eyes at your demeanor, “I’m going to have to ask you to turn down the volume a bit” 

“Uh huh” you say mindlessly before grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the chaotic environment,

“Leslie the stripper is here!” 

“The what?!” Leon exclaims. However you don’t hear him over the loud music and drag him through the crowds of people, “I’m not a stripper!” He yells over the music 

“Yeah I know you’re a stripper! You know you’re actually a half hour late!” You yell back, 

“No, I said I’m not a—“ 

“Leslie! There you are!” Once you find a familiar face wearing a bridal sash, you come to a sudden halt, Leon bumping into you in the process with an annoyed groan, “the stripper is here!” You teasingly say in a sing-song voice. 

While you were fully convinced that officer Kennedy was a stripper, her friend panically glanced between you and him, “um, that’s an actual cop” Leslie says sheepishly. You, still drunk and still brutally honest, turn your head to look at him. Your eyelids lower and lift as you shamelessly check him out, 

“Are you sure? He’s too hot to be a cop” the sentence alone makes the hairs on his arms stand up and all the blood in his body rush to his face. With all the patience he has, he takes a deep inhale and leans forward to speak to Leslie,

“There’s been multiple noise complaints about this party so I suggest you put this party to rest or I will” Leon says loud enough for both you and Leslie to hear. Before you could protest, Leslie swings an arm around you and covers your mouth with her hand. 

“We’ll close it down, sorry about the inconvenience” Leslie says apologetically while you try to wriggle free from her grasp. Begrudgingly, Leon moves his way through the crowd until he finally makes it to the door. Relieved to finally be out of the chaos he sits in his police car and leans his head against the headrest, 

“One hell of a first day” he murmurs to himself. 

—

The next morning was less chaotic than the booming music and the overwhelming smell of alcohol of the night prior. However, against his will, he was reminded of last night by his fellow police officers once he walked in, asking how the patrol went. Not wanting to be the laughing stock of the police station as a cherry on top, he failed to mention the part where you called him a stripper. 

Yeah, he still hasn’t gotten over it. 

After a bit of poking fun, he started his work day with paperwork. Although boring, he’d take filling out forms over being mistaken for stripper anyway. He hoped the mindless work would take his mind off of it. Yet, it only made him dwell even further. The thought of it made him aggressively swish and press his pen tip harder on the paper as he signed his signature in one designated box. 

“Hey Rosa” His head snaps up at the sound of a familiar voice. He couldn’t forget that voice even if he tried. Turning he sees you conversing with the receptionist at the front desk,

“Hey how’s it going?” The receptionist greets 

“The usual, just dropping off lunch for Will” you casually say, holding a paper bag in one hand and a pair of sunglasses in the other. Standing up from his desk, he readies himself to confront you once and for all. One foot after the other, he gets closer and closer to the front desk. However, you’re so enthralled in your conversation with the receptionist that you only look up when he clears his throat. You look at him and politely smile, in which Leon doesn’t return, 

“Hi, I’m Officer Kennedy” 

“New recruit? I don’t think I’ve seen you before” Your polite smile soon drops when you notice Leon giving you an incredulous look. All of a sudden, all the things he was going to say to tell you off fell back into his throat. His tongue felt like it was stuck to the top of his mouth, “Are you okay? You don’t look so good” you ask softly, your eyes filled with concern. 

She doesn’t remember anything from last night? Of course she doesn’t remember she was drunk! What was I thinking?

His mind was spinning. Expecting a careless, bigmouthed partygoer, he is instead met with a nice girl with a pretty smile. How the hell was he going to get out of this without looking like a dumbfound idiot?

Clearing his throat he tries his best to calm his nerves, although it was a bit of a dumpster fire in his mind at the moment, “Do you… need something?” He musters to ask. Flashing a sweet smile again, you lift up the paper bag you were holding, 

“My brother works here, just dropping off his lunch. He always forgets it” 

“Ah.. well it was nice to meet you” Leon weakly greets with a shy grin backing away from the receptionist desk slowly to his own desk.

“You too, see you around” 

And with that, he resumes his paperwork, his mind spinning like a tire rolling from its axel. Not sure what to think anymore when it came to you. Was he supposed to act like nothing happened? He didn’t know if he could. Subconsciously shaking his head free from his dwelling he decides that it’s a problem for another day.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Sentence concept (dad Jack):

“Don’t make me tell Dad”

"Oh, fuck.” Axel muttered as he assessed the damage on your newly upgraded G Wagon that you had originally gotten for a push gift for Nova from Jack.

“Dad is going to be so pissed. He literally picked it up for mommy this afternoon.” Autumn replied as she noticed the huge scratch and dent on it.

“I just tapped the barrier! How is it dented!?” Axel exclaimed while throwing his hands up in disbelief.

“Maybe they won't notice?”

“Autumn, please tell me you didn't just say that.”

“Well, you have to come clean because you were the one driving.”

“I….”

“Don't make me tell dad.”

“You play the role of the annoying ass little sister a little too well sometimes.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

The two of them made their way back home and Axel parked your car back in the garage and prayed that you didn't drive it until he was able to talk to Anthony's dad to fix it since he was a mechanic.

When 8 AM hit, Axel heard his father's booming voice and knew he was in trouble.

“AXEL WYATT HARLOW. GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW.”

Axel made his way to the living room to see Jack red in the face and Autumn looking guilty.

‘Sorry big brother.’ She mouthed towards him and all he did was sigh.

“Bye Autumn.” Jack said and she immediately started to protest until he gave her a look.

“Um, I'll be going now.”

“So, you want to explain to me why there is a big dent and a scratch the size of Texas on your mom's G Wagon that I just got upgraded and picked up from the dealer yesterday to surprise her?”

“Umm”

“It's no time for that. And you took your sister and neither of you actually have a license and only a permit? Do you know how dangerous that was?”

“We were coming right back!”

“You can stop with the excuses. You know better than that.”

“I'm sorry.”

“The two of you seriously could have gotten hurt. And then what?”

“Are you going to tell mom?” Axel asked and right on cue, you came in the door.

“Tell me what babes?” You asked and his eyes went wide. You kissed Jack before coming over and hugging Axel as you kissed his cheek. You were back a day early from Atlanta and Axel knew he would be grounded for the rest of his life.

“Uh….”

“Axel and Autumn took your car that I just upgraded for a joy ride last night and dented and scratched it.”

“AXEL!”

“I….”

“With no license. So, Ax along with Autumn is going to use their allowance money every month to get it fixed and I'm not budging. No video games. No going out with your friends and I have to decide if I'll let you play soccer or not.”

“Axel, babe. You understand why we're upset, right?” You asked and all he did was nod.

“You and your sister could have gotten hurt and that is the last thing we want. You not only put yourself in harm's way, but her too.”

“You're her big brother so I expected more from you.” Jack added as Axel was looking down at his feet.

“I know.”

“Ax, we almost lost you when you were a baby so this gave me flashbacks. You cannot do reckless things likw this." Jack quietly said and you simply nodded agreeing with him.

Now, he immediately felt guilty.

“Anytime you want to go out driving, we will take you but this cannot happen again. Cars can be replaced, the two of you can't.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You can go back upstairs.”

That now left the two of you and Jack could tell you were visibly getting upset.

“Baby, I know where your mind is going but they're both okay.” He said as he brought you into a hug.

“I cannot take the thought of something happening to them.”

“I know. But we aren't focusing on that. We’re focusing on the fact that they’re both okay.”