#Ela writes

[ela-arts]

"From the instant you woke up in a dark room surrounded by flowers and no memories you had only one surety: that you had to get to Great Britain. Once you reached that goal you earned a few more in the form of unwelcome gifts: a mask that told you your name and face were not welcome and a mentor who filled you with a sense of loathing that you could be assured would not dissipate easily.

Lastly, and this one was quite new, you were sure the man across the street from you was familiar."

Some MDRyuu in honor of ryuubowlweek

[visenyaism]

Kind of related to your literacy post

Do you know of any resources to help improve literacy as an adult?

I like reading, and I read a lot, and I'm fine with basic comprehension, I understand the story being told. But I struggle with the more in-depth stuff. Themes and symbolism, that kind of thing.

I understand what they are, and in school, I usually understood how a certain theme or symbol was relevant to a story after it was explained, but I've never understood how to find those things for myself.

Okay so this is not my field of expertise, so anyone feel to correct me. I did notice kind of the same thing with myself after undergrad where I wasn’t reading as much, and I realized I actually had to work at it to stay at the level I was. Based on that here’s my best shot at advice:

The number one thing that helps me keep those skills sharp is just like regular and consistent practice. I am super busy and not always great at this, but i still try really hard to pick a book to read for fun and read a few times a week. Great before bed i sleep so much better.

I also think consistently writing about what you read can be SO helpful. I love to annotate! Just like questions, comments, lines I think are cool, motifs I keep noticing, whatever I see that I want to remember and think about more. Sometimes I’ll also do a quick paragraph in a notebook or on here or on my notes app that’s just like “I noticed X thing a lot and I think it’s really interesting. Why is it important or interesting to me?”

Talking about what you’re reading can also be super fun, book clubs are cool. Local libraries are awesome for building communities like that.

Shaking up what kinds of things you read can also be really fun! If you’re having some trouble picking out all the things in analyzing what’s happening in a novel, try a movie, or a play, or a short story, or something nonfiction, or something at a YA/HS level. Practice is practice!

Analysis isn’t a scavenger hunt. There’s not like one secret correct answer about what the theme is or what the symbols are and do hidden in the text for you to find. You have to give yourself grace and avoid feeling embarrassed if it’s hard. It feels like making stuff up a lot. That doesn’t mean you’re bad at it. A lot of the time, starting out looks like asking yourself “What did I notice happening? What seemed important? What might this be about?” And then you make up answers to the questions using the text as a guide.

Really prioritize having fun with it and being willing to try stuff out and write stuff down even if it never sees the light of day.

[ivvyela]

imagine with me, if you will, a nwh potential fix-it involving none other than the multiverse saving duo deadpool and wolverine.

i know, i know - but please, let me cook.

wade and logan now jump across timelines to "fix" things aka travel the multiverse for funsies and deal with the consequences later and somehow end up in a universe where peter parker doesn't exist, but spider-man does. and wade, blessed with the power of "i know this for the plot", immediately knows that is bull. shit. and sure enough, they find one very depressed, very lonely, and very jaded peter parker.

after much annoyance, light stalking, and following spider-man while he's on patrol, they get peter to spill how he ended up in this situation. and after hearing everything, logan breaks the silence with a simple, yet effective: "shit, kid. that... shit."

"yeah, well... now you know, so you can, like, leave me alone."

"nope, not gonna happen." wade shakes his head and tactfully ignores logan's imploring look of what-the-fuck-are-you-getting-us-into-now "i take my job as marvel jesus very, very seriously, so frankly, this is my job to fix your sorry little life, buddy. and if flat-out telling them you exist didn't work, then - "

"oh, i actually... i never told them."

"...come again?"

"i tried to tell them, but i couldn't. so..."

"i'm sorry... your best friend and girlfriend were crying, telling you to come find them and remind them of you, and you chose not to?"

"they're happy and safe without me! i wasn't going to ruin - "

"oh my god. you sweet, self sacrificial, idiot spider-baby. okay! we can fix this! we're no tony stark, but consider us your pseudo daddies for the time being, kid. let's get you your life back."

which is how one very emotional and determined deadpool, followed by a stoic, nonchalant wolverine (who, in all honesty, probably should be completely against this, but once wade commits to something, he can't be talked out of it, and the sooner he gets his fix from this the sooner he can go home, so fuck it we ball), end up in a certain cafe, all up in a poor barista and her friend's face with a cut-out yearbook photo of some kid, yelling "LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT THIS BOY! HE'S SO LONELY! LIKE A SMALL, FORLORN, VICTORIAN CHILD! REMEMBER HIM, GODDAMMIT!"

(their efforts result in two confused and scared teens, and getting kicked out of said cafe.)

peter practically begs them to just leave him alone, that this was his choice, and he's fine with it, but both wade and logan know a lie when they hear one. they both know what being alone can do to a person, and peter is just a kid who got dealt the shittiest cards in life and at this point, it just feels wrong to leave him here without trying to do something. and maybe they both have a small soft spot for the teen, so what?

and peter knows both men can see through his broody, teenage angst front he's been putting up since the spell, and he's tried so hard to hate the two of them, get them to hate him so they would leave, but they're not budging, so really, there's no point in trying to push them away, right?

and so, he lets them in. he learns that while logan is stoic and intense and kinda terrifying, he's also someone who just wants to do the right thing for the people he cares about. he's also lost people, and he blames himself, but he's come out on the other side. he would tell peter about his daughter, laura, who wouldn't let him wallow in self pity because she is good, better than he has ever been. he never saw himself as a father, but she's still around, so he must be doing alright.

and at first hearing it would result in a pang in his chest, memories of thai food after walking into a smoke-filled kitchen, assurances that things will work out when everything feels hopeless, a tombstone that can never convey everything she was, but now... it's nice to hear that logan still had someone after losing everyone.

so, peter listens to logan's stories. in return, peter tells logan all about his mom.

and wade was brash and loud and conceded and really, really annoying, but he's... no, that's it. he's all of those things, but in a weird way, it's like all those bad qualities merge together to make him a good guy. and yeah, he can walk away at any point, he has absolutely no obligation to help peter, but he does it anyway.

("nonono, don't you dare make me some selfless hero type, kid. i know for a fact that every deadpool has a peter. i'm doing this for the me in your world."

"you're... huh?"

"bottom line, i'm a selfish bastard. i'm doing this for me, 'kay?")

peter didn't fight it. he's had experience with seemingly self-absorbed, deflecting type heroes.

wade doesn't replace him, not even close, but... still.

maybe peter will never get back what he lost. but, for the first time, peter sees a light at the end of the tunnel. that, maybe, he can stop being just spider-man, and he can start being peter parker again, too.

(and if there's a barista talking to her friend about how it's weird that two guys would show up holding a photo of an odd customer from weeks ago, demanding they remember him, and despite not knowing him she felt something, and her friend couldn't help but agree, well... that's neither here nor there.)

[ch0cocrave]

Ok y'all hear me out-

WESTERN OBJECT SHOW.

^ Takes place in smth like this

its like one of those classic western movies, with a sheriff, some outlaws etc like there could be a rilvary with two separate towns LIKE OMGGG

[ndostairlyrium]

[x]

[xxprettylittletimebombxx]

'Will It Patch Your Broken Wings?'

(For Polin Week 2025 Day 1: hurt/comfort) Rating: T | Word Count: 4,617

SUMMARY:

With one final brush to his bruised cheekbone, Penelope leans in and presses a soft kiss against the injury there, too. Colin swallows hard, breathing her name out with a sort of reverence that makes her own breath catch in her throat. “Are you planning to kiss all of my bruises away?” He rasps. “Perhaps I am. But only if…” “If…?” “Only if you tell me where else it hurts,” she whispers back. -- OR -- Penelope patches Colin up after he gets into a fight defending her honor

EXCERPT:

The part of Penelope’s heart that’s still bruised selfishly wants to hold fast to the stalemate she’s been diligently keeping them locked in. But how can she continue to be cross with Colin Bridgerton at all when he’s pleading with her like this?  When his voice is thick and weighed down by the pain of living with the knowledge of her disappointment? When she’s watched him from the shadows since his return, floating around Mayfair, devoid of all the emotion, and passion, and excitability that he’d had before. Glorious traits and qualities she’s quietly spent nearly all her life adoring, but that Colin had now chosen to conceal behind the carefully crafted armor he’d come back donned in. When he’s been so diligent in ensuring that same armor hasn’t slipped a day since his return, but there’s no denying now that she— plain old Penelope Featherington— is the reason that very same armor is finally starting to fall?

Read it here on AO3!

[bri-cheeses]

| May 7nth | Prompt: Lush | Word Count: 538 | @rosekillermicrofic |

This had always been one of Evan’s favorite times of year, when the snows melted and made way for new plants to spring up. There was simply something magical about it all, about the way the earth was born new again each year. And somehow it resonated with Evan every time it happened.

He thought of these things as he looked around at his surroundings and breathed in deeply, enjoying the beginning of spring. The fresh air smelled of water, infused with a dewy scent left over from this morning, and the grass all around was lush and green.

It matches Barty’s eyes, Evan thought.

The boy in question was down by the edge of the lake, a grin across his features as he splashed Regulus with the cool water.

Evan smiled at the sight, then leaned his head against the tree he was sitting by, feeling content to just sit there with the sun warming his skin.

He had been sitting there for anywhere from a single minute to ten when he heard a rustling noise next to him.

“Shhh,” Barty quietly shushed whoever was with him. Evan knew they were trying to sneak up on him, but frankly he wanted to see how this would play out.

So he kept his eyes closed and waited, making a valiant effort to keep the amused smile off his face.

“Boo!” Hands landed on Evan’s shoulders, heavy and startling. His heart leapt in his chest as his eyes shot open and he took in Barty’s own green eyes pinned on him, entirely too close.

The world faded slightly as they stared at each other. Barty didn’t make any move to retract his hands from Evan’s shoulders, and Evan’s mouth went dry.

Evan licked his lips. He felt shaken all of the sudden and needed to do something, anything in order to break that tension between them.

That’s when Barty’s eyes fell to Evan’s mouth.

A breath hitched in Evan as Barty’s hands slid slightly further down and closer to his chest.

“Bee…” Evan whispered. He didn’t want to break this moment, but they were in public. Besides, Evan was probably just kidding himself, anyways, his cruel brain supplying actions and events that weren’t actually true, that didn’t actually mean anything.

The sound of his own name seemed to bring Barty back to himself. He shook his head like a dog attempting to dry itself, then snatched his hands back as if Evan’s skin was burning him. Evan regretted the absence of his warmth as soon as it was gone.

Barty chuckled awkwardly. “Got you,” he said. His voice wavered only slightly.

Evan laughed, but it sounded false even to his own ears. “That you did,” he said, then clapped a hand on Barty’s shoulder and pushed himself up.

“Anyways, I, uh…” he searched for some excuse, “got to get back to the castle and… study.”

Get it together, Rosier, Evan cursed himself. Really, it was pathetic how one tiny touch from Barty affected him this much.

Barty looked slightly lost. “Yeah. Sure.”

Evan waited for more, but once it became clear that Barty had no more to say, he bent down to pick his bag up, then made his way back to the castle.

[evilkaeya]

@starrynightarchive @ryuvnosuke @minusboy

[littencloud9]

So despite the heaviness in his chest when he forces himself out of bed and to the bathroom, he clocks in for work every day, following after Ranpo. Ranpo doesn’t mention the odd change in behaviour, though Dazai is certain they noticed. When night falls, Ranpo tucks himself into bed, leaving the night light on. He doesn’t wake from nightmares anymore, falling asleep before Dazai can even blink. He always looks so much more peaceful that way. (Dazai catches himself staring more often than not.) - or, in the aftermath, dazai hates himself, floods his dorm, denies his feelings, and learns how to move on.

💚 teen and up, 17.7k, souheki

💙 written for @ryuvnosuke <3

[that-was-anticlimactic]

all of my dreams are in color

His hand is the brush now, his blood the ink. He drags his injury across the canvas, spreading it haphazardly across the weretiger’s scattered limbs.

It stings, not a lot, but enough, and for a moment, Ryuunosuke thinks he feels human again.

Yes, blood is a fine substitute for ink.

[or, akutagawa paints the weretiger and reflects]

🖌2,400 words | akutagawa-centric, sskk🖌

🖌a birthday present for @ryuvnosuke <3🖌

[zukkaoru]

"maybe we shouldn't"

"weren't we dating?"

and a random word: green. for souheki =)

thank youuuu ela <3 starting off with. angst :-)

“Maybe we…shouldn’t,” Dazai whispers, though his hands remain firmly on Ranpo’s shirt. He doesn’t want to pull away, but this also seems a little too far for something that’s just a bit. Typically, he wouldn’t care so much, but—

Something about doing this with Ranpo specifically makes his stomach twist uncomfortably.

“Why not?” Ranpo’s breath is warm against his neck. Dazai wants their lips back on his skin. But also he doesn’t. He wants to be as far away from here as possible. There is no one to watch them here, tucked away on Dazai’s futon in the dorm he half-cleaned for Ranpo’s sake. There’s no reason to perform.

Still, Dazai doesn’t have a good answer to Ranpo’s question.

“Because,” he says, the word clunky on his tongue. He hates not having a lie ready to go for every situation, but Ranpo could see straight through any falsities anyway. “Because this isn’t…”

Because this isn’t real.

It isn’t exactly fake, though, either. Not at this point. It’s sitting precariously on the line between, constantly in danger of tipping over. This would push it off the edge, but Dazai isn’t sure in which direction. He doesn’t want to think about it.

Ranpo exhales slowly. Dazai wants to keep them close—so close they cannot properly look at him, because then they’ll see everything Dazai doesn’t even know how to sort out himself.

But when they pull back, he lets them go.

Their eyes are shut. They appear vaguely conflicted. Dazai wants to run away and never come back.

“You’re right,” they agree, voice strained. “We shouldn’t.”

-

souheki secret exes (except they weren't even trying to keep it a secret)

“You’re such a liar.” Dazai pokes Ranpo’s shoulder, grinning playfully. “Remember that case we did together in Sendai? We went to a bar the first night and you finished your entire drink. So you have found one you like!”

Ranpo throws their head back, groaning. “That was so long ago, how am I meant to remember that? Besides, it was only because you figured out the right mix so I wouldn’t be able to taste the alcohol at all and gave the bartender very specific instructions.”

“Of course I did! I was a very good friend, even back then.”

Ranpo frowns. “Weren’t we dating?”

Dazai hums. He tracks back through his memories, slots the case in Sendai into the timeline chronologically and determines, “Yeah, you’re right. I was a very good boyfriend then!”

Ranpo snorts.

“Hey!” Though, Dazai can’t really protest—he’s a shitty boyfriend and they both know it. But he’s going to play upset about it just for fun.

However, when he turns away to cross his arms and pout, he realizes everyone else in the office is staring at them in silence. Wide eyes, confusion etched across their faces, even Yosano is looking at them with a sour sort of expression.

“What?” he asks.

“What the hell do you mean weren’t we dating?” Yosano demands.

Ranpo waves a hand vaguely. “We dated for a bit about a year after Dazai joined the Agency. I’m pretty sure you knew this.”

“I’m pretty sure I did not!”

Tanizaki raises his head nervously. “I…don’t think— think any of us knew.”

Naomi pokes her head around the corner. “I did! It was super obvious.”

Dazai chuckles to himself. At least he can count on one other person in this office to be observant.

-

green

Dazai fidgets under Ranpo’s gaze, eyes flitting anywhere apart from their face. His fingers drum against his thighs and he squirms in his seat.

Ranpo doesn’t break their stare.

Finally, Dazai whines, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Do you not like it?”

Dazai’s face flushes, albeit only slightly. Still, of course someone as observant as Ranpo is will pick up on it easily, and it’s not a sight Ranpo thinks they’ll be forgetting anytime soon. “No,” Dazai lies. “You…your eyes are too green. It freaks me out.”

Ranpo laughs. Dazai’s cheeks redden even more, but before he can open his mouth to say something else stupid, Ranpo reaches forward and tugs him into a kiss. 

[ela-arts]

Summary: The residents of Baker Street arrive in Japan for their much anticipated visit with guests in tow. Ryuunosuke has some important conversations.

[reveera]

The family of To Light the way.

[theyuniversity]

We use “fewer” for countable nouns:

fewer cats

fewer pens

fewer cars

fewer typos

We use “less” for uncountable/mass nouns:

less air

less water

less money

less milk

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[blue-thief]

it's been so long since i've properly sat down to read a fic im gonna be ill /pos

[bnesszai]

I FINALLY FINISHED ELA DAY FIC. for @ryuvnosuke my beloved. happy late bday. have your boys, sskk, 4.3k. Teen&Up. A 4+1 story told through scars<3

Read it Here!

The weretiger jumps and whips his head away. “It's nothing.” “It doesn't look like a burn.” “It's not.” “Then what?” “What does it matter?” The weretiger is looking at Akutagawa again, fists balled at his side, eyes simmering with anger. The fear is still there. Akutagawa studies him for a moment before standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. He looks out over the water. “Your past doesn't define you.” A deep, staggering breath behind him. “I know.” A pregnant pause. Akutagawa hears his car pull up but before he moves, the weretiger’s voice is carried by the wind, caressing his ear, “Neither does yours.”