#I bet there are people just learning about it getting stolen

[tumblebin]

People need to stop being so cocky about what they think is common knowledge.

If you talk to anyone outside your circle of personal interest they would probably think the Mona Lisa was painted on canvas. Movies have constantly portrayed false facts due to poor research or aesthetics.

HELL the Mona Lisa in Ever After was rolled up in a tube carrier by Da Vinci if that isn't a clue to how movies are more about aesthetics than facts (I mean movies try to be more factual since the internet but if it would improve the plot or visual effect they will still bend or break facts to get what they want)

-Prop from the stage show of Ever After

Reasons the Mona Lisa isn't on wood from a film perspective could be that wood burning isn't as visually interesting as burning canvas, wood burns slower making it feel less dramatic.

Or just not fact checking because nobody thought to question what material the Mona Lisa was painted on. Canvas sounded right in their minds and they just went on with the production.

Also, narratively the real Mona Lisa had to be completely destroyed and lost to the world for it to be Helen's victory. Because nobody would remember the guy who destroyed a fake Mona Lisa, it would be a story for a while but forgotten after the next 20 or so until brought up as some funny party trivia. People only care about the real authentic thing, not a copy.

Personal thought : If there was a chance for some of the Mona Lisa to survive it would give Miles some leeway since some of the cultural icon survived. Yes, I said leeway because people are like that. Not the French Government. They would definitely sue Miles for breach of contract because that shutdown button was definitely done behind their backs but in public opinion. Another narrative theme of the movie was public reputation and I can already imagine the Twitter feud of Mona Lisa fans (or Anti-Miles ppl) vs Miles Stans who are saying they like the half-burned Mona Lisa more since it makes it look cooler. We've all seen people stand by YouTubers/celebrities/influencers for morally worse things than a ruined painting.

Again it would have to be the complete destruction of the Mona Lisa for it to ruin his reputation.

[msfcatlover]

Thinking back to that one post about how every batkid needs to pick a persona they get to swear in. I would like to expand it.

Dick swears all the time, but he does it in other languages. He picks a language for each persona to swear in and sticks to it. He did still do his whole “Aw, fiddlesticks!” routine as Robin, mainly just to watch everyone’s faces when he did it. (But everyone remembers the time Robin’s leg was broken and he just screamed “FUCK!” so loud that the entire battlefield turned around in shock.)

Jason knew that thanks to classism, people would assume he swore even if he didn’t. So like, why bother restraining it any more than he absolutely had to? As Robin, he didn’t swear even when he really wanted to, though sometimes he slipped up when caught off-guard or when chatting with someone who knows him in both identities. (On one very memorable occasion, Robin got so mad he actually shoved his fist into his own mouth to muffle the screaming rant of obscenity he needed to express.)

(As the Red Hood, Jason doesn’t really give a fuck, but he still falls back into his old habit of cleaning up his language when in costume. It’s very funny to hear him say something like, “Well, golly! You’ve gotta be shitting me.”)

Tim Drake is a proper young man who doesn’t swear, even when he’s hurt (he has totally stolen that biting-my-fist move from Jason.) Robin swears like a fuckin’ sailor all day every day, to the point where not a single goddamn hero in the entire caped community that has ever worked even adjacent to him has not heard, “Ask me if I fucking give a shit,” muttered under Robin’s breath directly into the com line when someone tries to correct him on something. He will switch languages to insult you in the one you best understand, too. His friends have a running bet about how many of those languages Robin actually speaks, versus how many he just learned how to cuss people out in (when asked, Robin just smirks and says, “How fucking many do you [always a swear from a different language, usually one they haven’t heard before] think?”)

Damian mostly sticks with old-timey faux-Shakespearean insults, mainly because it’s very funny when adults can’t figure out what to punish him for when he sasses them. As Robin, Damian likes using animals in place of swears, and just telling people to go fuck themselves—it keeps them on their toes.

Steph does not fuckin’ care.

Duke canonically swears both in & out of costume, and I love that for him.

[azullumi]

“there’s so many fishes in the sea but i never learned how to swim” ; aventurine

summary — a guide to pining presented by yours truly, aventurine.

pairing — aventurine (w/ gender-neutral reader)

tags — fluff, secret pining but like aventurine can be too obvious, not proofread, 0.8k ; headcanons

tagging — @toorurs (sorry boo i forgot to tag 😭)

note — i know i could have done better with this one, my brain wasn’t just working and im also on a trip. this is day 6 and 7 of writing for him until i get him !!

Aventurine yearns for connection yet he erects tall walls of self-preservation, fearing vulnerability, attachment, and betrayals (the shadow of his fear of losing someone dear to him all over again will haunt and follow his steps). He’s always distant, seemingly detached to the people around him like a leaf that never touches the ground as the wind carries it away; his only drive for relationships is due to mutual-benefit or a give-and-take situation. So what happens to him when he falls and yearns for someone?

Love is violence, he knows that but his eyes would stumble after your shadow and he wonders what it feels like to live in it. He’ll lie under your gaze and he’ll dream what it feels like to be seen, what it feels like to be loved by you. He will seek ways to be close to you but not close enough that you’ll know the rhythm of his heart spells out the letters of your name. In each moment of longing, it is all tinged with a taste of bitterness as this yearning, though desired, is a precarious precipice—everything will crumble and fall once he speaks about it.

So he settles with stolen looks with wishful thinking that you’ll cast a glance at his direction, he settles with the small things at first before he begins to become selfish—he’ll make up reasons just to see and talk to you, think of excuses just so he could linger a little longer in your presence. He’ll make up games and initiates bets where he knows he’ll always win but would let himself lose anyways; winning or losing didn’t matter to him in those moments with you.

“Go ahead, guess.”

You fell into a deep thought, staring at the two hands balled into fist that are in front of you. Your eyebrows were scrunched, trying to listen to the voice of your instinct but everything was silent inside your head.

“Take your time. After all, whoever loses has to follow what the winner wants.” Aventurine spoke and you could discern the hint of amusement in his tone as he watched you fall into some sort of predicament—all you had to do was to choose which one of his hands was the coin in. It was just one of the simple games you’ll play with him every time you see each other. Come to think of it, his visits to your department have been quite frequent despite having no particular business, official or not.

“Shh. I’m thinking.” You answer, lifting your index finger to your mouth in a hush gesture. It took you a few moments of silence and thoughtful humming before you pointed at his left hand, “That one.”

But he opens his left hand to show nothing on his palm, his right hand revealing the coin at the same time, and you are hit with a wave of disappointment. A chuckle slips past his lips and you just sighed—there was nothing you could do but to admit defeat. “Well then, what do you want me to do?”

Aventurine, without a single second of hesitation, answered. “Let me take you out to dinner.”

The thing is you could have laid yourself bare to him, you could tell him all of the sins that taint your skin, the words left unspoken in your mouth, the growing mold in your lungs. He’ll see the rot and will choose to stay, he’ll see the cobwebs and dusty bookshelves, and he’ll love you still, he’ll see the torn wallpapers and ruined floors and he’ll still adore you (he’ll find you where you are most ruined and he will love you there).

(His hand would gently tug and hold at the cuffs of your sleeves, letting the warmth and closeness of his touch linger in hopes that you’ll see him in the sun that holds you gently.)

Many people claim that they love you but do they adore you the same way as he does? Would they cross bridges for you when he’ll swim oceans just to see the way your eyes catch the light? Would they traverse the stars just to listen to the sound of your laughter? 

(He’ll see the dirt in your hands and will help you wash it off when others would simply walk away.)

He’ll think of you as he laid in his bed, satin sheets all wrinkled and messy as his pillows scattered around his form, and he wondered how nice it would be to have your things among his. to have the smell of your perfume mixed with his, to have you in his arms before he sleeps (he has dreams of his dreams and you’re always in it).

All this yearning, longing, and adoration will turn into a sword that will make him bleed the more he holds on to it and you’ll stay in his thoughts as the blood will run dry on his being. He simply hopes he crosses your mind once in a while so that he won’t feel pathetic for thinking of you all the time.

© azullumi — do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor translate any of my works.

[loquora]

I'd like to take a couple of minutes to talk about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) and their terrible, very bad, no good stance on genAI (generative artificial intelligence) and why I won't be writing anything for this challenge again.

I'm very aware that I am an active and vocal genAI hater. But I am willing and open to hear about positive and useful things LLMs (large language models) can do. There are valid scientific uses for the technology and some really fascinating medical and academic breakthroughs that come from LLMs. But the use of genAI in creative writing context is complete bullshit.

Come with me for the breakdown.

The first part of their statement:

NaNoWriMo has made it clear they are not just tolerating genAI in their month long writing challenge, but that those of us who don't are 'classist' and 'ableist' because we don't.

The post was later amended with a list of reasons why they make each of those claims. We'll start from the top.

GenAI uses the technology in a way that is morally, ethically and environmentally bankrupt. See, all LLMs have to train on something. When you're using it to, say, detect cancers you can feed it images of cancer scans so that it builds up a dataset of what those look like to predict future scans. But when you want to generate text, images and video you have to feed it text, images and video. Those things came from people, actual people and actual artists who overwhelmingly did not agree to train anything with their work and can no longer wrest their work from the machine now that it's been stolen from them.

It also isn't 'intelligent' at all, considering it has that word in the name. Think of genAI like an alien learning our language with absolutely no frame of reference for what it's learning. It can predict that the letters "w-e" and "c-a-n" often come after the letters "y-e-s" because the phrase "yes we can" will come up often in training data, it's a common phrase. But it doesn't actually understand what any of those words MEAN. Just that they often follow one another so that when prompted it will, statistically, try put those letters and words together again.

So when it comes to actually writing or responding to prompts what you're getting is the most likely outcome based on a massive amount of data input. It is not actually giving you feedback on what your writing looks like, it's giving you the most statistically possible response based on input. It's fake feedback, a thousand other feedbacks crammed together and extruded into a goo that looks and sounds like feedback but is actually meaningless. ChatGPT doesn't understand your writing sample anymore than a phone tree understands your anger and desperation when you continue to say "OPERATOR" as clearly as you can to try to get through to a real human. Both understand you input a word and will output based on that, but context, emotions, cultural mores etc. are all beyond it.

This is why AI is so absurdly shitty at things like math, counting letters in words and identifying words that start with the same letter. It's mashing together a million math problem answers betting on the likelihood that statistically someone has already answered that question enough times in the training data that it can spit the correct answer out at you.

TLDR: If you're using genAI to get feedback on your writing you're not actually getting feedback on your writing at all, but the most statistically probable set of words that relate to feedback. So right off the bat the idea that genAI is going to help you be a better writer is just flat wrong. It doesn't know how to write, it doesn't even know how many Rs are in the word 'strawberry'.

Second point has the same issues as the first:

I actually agree with them on the point that if your brain doesn't handle certain writer activities well it's perfectly okay to use an outside source for help with it. GenAI isn't actually helping you be a better writer, though; it can't. It doesn't understand anything you write nor can it provide meaningful feedback when it's just spitting out statistically probably words to you based on your input. So while the point here is actually good on the surface, the solution of using genAI to help people who have trouble with certain aspects of writing is still not correct.

The final point:

Again, this is a very good point... if it wasn't being made in conjunction with a defense of generative AI WHICH DOES NOT HELP OR SOLVE THIS ISSUE. In fact, because of the known issues of bias in how genAI LLMs are built they can make issues for marginalized writers worse.

I genuinely have no idea how this very true paragraph about people who are routinely pushed out of traditional writing spaces is helped by genAI. Their entire point thus far seems to be that genAI is a 'cheap' alternative to some traditional writing aids but considering genAI doesn't work like that it's all dead in the water as far as I'm concerned.

If NaNoWriMo was actually concerned with solving these access issues to things they consider critical to writing in general, why not offer a place for real people to read and critique one another on their platform? There are myriad other technological solutions that don't cost huge amounts of water AND actually help aspiring writers!

All of this to say that you should write for yourself, write what you enjoy and get better the same way generations of people before you have: by reading other people's work, talking to and exchanging time with other authors and writing and rewriting in your own words until you're satisfied.

Wasting water asking genAI to do things for you that would make you a better writer to do yourself or with trusted allies is just that, a waste.

[leclerc-s]

suffering since forever

series masterlist

natalia ruiz praying for all of you because at least i like my third wheel

arthur leclerc that's because joris has been stuck with you two since before you were couple

fernando alonso you can say it, since before they were sleeping together.

carlos sainz it's not like joris has a choice.

lewis hamilton and the rest of you do?

max jones-verstappen we don't. we do it subconsciously.

daphne jones-ricciardo like that makes it any better max.

rhys jones i bet it hurt when jorris got that wag of the year trophy and you didn't.

natalia ruiz who let the child speak?

isabella perez she says that because she's hurt.

natalia ruiz i'm not hurt by the 12 year old.

rhys jones I'M 15!!

lance stroll yet you act like you're 12

rhys jones i know your ass isn't talking esteban ocon anyone ever tell you that you're scary? rhys jones never to my face.

zoya torres joris doesn't deserve this heat. let's talk about freya's 3rd wheeling habit.

freya vettel shut your trap torres.

alex albon days like this make me glad that george and carmen love to go on double dates so we don't get stuck with any of you.

george russell and that's because i don't want to get stuck with them.

dulce perez fuck you guys we're delights.

pato o'ward i can't believe i ever thought you people were cool.

daniel jones-ricciardo WE'RE COOL!!

pato o'ward the only cool thing about you is your wife.

penelope trevino REAL!!

gael perez i think pato almost shit his pants when he learned daphne was in this group chat.

pato o'ward IT'S DAPHNE FUCKING JONES, WEY! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT FREAK OUT?

daniel jones-ricciardo *jones-ricciardo!!

pato o'ward i couldn't care less bitchiardo! i will forever pray for your downfall so i can marry your wife instead.

isabella perez he's so real for that. HURRY UP RICCIARDO THE REST OF US ARE WAITING!!

daniel jones-ricciardo if i ever die let if be known that one of you bitches was behind my death.

daphne jones-ricciardo you people are unbelievable.

natalia ruiz i'll be first in line. i've been waiting for his downfall for the longest time.

daniel jones-ricciardo

this is all your fault.

whatever it is you think i did i swear it was arthur.

charles what did you do?

nothing! what’s wrong amour?

i have a baby screaming for 'unca jo' bring him back now.

ma cherie, i wish i could but i have a race.

okay? send joris and you stay in china.

we only need unca jo, notre petite étoile doesn't need her papa. (our little star)

i know that was a joke but it still hurt. don't tell me that!

you still have a few years left until she's a teenager.

ne pouvons-nous pas avoir cette conversation? je ne suis pas prêt pour ça (can we not have this conversation? i'm not ready for that)

seriously charles ask joris to call me, even zoya's music isn't helping.

i'll tell him to call. just come to china.

i will hop on the first flight to china, do not joke about that.

max said he's sending the jet to pick you up.

god bless sophie for her son.

not jos?

never that man.

natalia_ruiz posted new stories

unseen photo of baby jewel and her 'unca jo' 📸 - zoya because my fiancé and daughter have been stolen by his best friend. and another unseen photo but this time it's pre-baby jewel, joris has been a third wheel since day 1!

taglist: @burningcupcakefire @arkhammaid @applopie @sunflower-golden-vol6 @lorarri @bb-swift @thewannabewriter @mypage-myfandoms @stopeatread @hobiismyhopeu @lilsiz @alessioayla @niniluvsainz @au-ghosttype @six-call @justtprachisblog @nichmeddar @landonorizzz @unluckyyoshi @cool-ultra-nerd @kami10471633 @1nt3rnetgf @fernandoswarcrimes @arieltwvdtohamflash @brekkers-whore @natcha888 @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @georgeparisole @dan3avocado @nikfigueiredo @namgification @jensonsonlybutton @weekendlusting @trouble-sistar @lesliiieeeee @leclercsluv @33-81 @theseus-jpg @sarah-thatstings-ann @minmira95 @casperlikej @formulaonebuff @hopenshaw @ijustgomessitupx @hwalllllllelujah @doodlehunz @prongsvault

¡leclerc-s speaks! this one is a more wholesome one but it's still got it's sense of humor. can you tell i'm still watching greys?

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Wait, wait. So. Carlisle is a doctor, right? But. Human Carlisle was a preacher's son. Not a doctor. And. I'm just realizing, I'm sure the books say something about this but I must have glossed over it. Carlisle... as a vampire... learned to be a doctor. Before meeting the Volturi even???

This man just. walks into idk 18th century med school. and is like "Don't mind me I'm definitely not afflicted with a strange condition, let's just learn from these cadavers"

Do you think he did a residency??? Young Carlisle, eating rats in the sewers by night, understudy at some hospital by day. Germ theory wasn't even a thing then! Oh my god I bet he killed people by mistake from infection due to unsanitary hands. Do you think he realizes??

And. And. And. Medicine was a whole different bag of bones back then. The cadavers were often stolen! Sometimes by the teaching doctors! Somehow I can't see this son of a preacher-man digging up graves, but he had to have tacitly condoned it.

What even is this man? I mean we know he's big no judgement with the vampires killing humans, but by god he really doesn't judge anyone does he???

(Any early-Doctorage meta thoughts you have would be appreciated!)

@therealvinelle has a great post that covers pretty much everything you're asking

Oh, anon, the books said a lot about this. I think the movies briefly mentioned it but it wasn't that important to them so they kind of skipped it.

It's to the point where there's not much meta to be had, we pretty much get the whole story.

But yes, Carlisle starts out as a vampire hunting priest, and this does not go well for him. He then has a terrible time trying to kill himself only to find he could eat animals, goes to Volterra, yada yada, then leaves.

So yes, the medical career was pointedly after the Volturi (though Meyer keeps her timeline weird and vague about when Carlisle was with the Volturi and how long, but it seems he showed up there within a few decades of turning if that and left a few decades later)

We learn than Carlisle afterwards pursued a number of things in university, enrolling himself, trying to decide what he wanted to actually do with his life (among these apparently was music I believe) but he eventually settled on medicine.

Carlisle predates doing residencies and just slinks in at modern medicine as we recognize it in the western world (he would have just been starting/been after we decided "actually, we need to cut up bodies to study anatomy"). So yes, there were a lot of things people thought they knew at the time and did that Carlisle would have been caught up in to then learn "oh fuck" later.

That said, we're told canonically that Carlisle often goes back to university to make sure he's up to date with the field, so he's not telling you that your humors are out of whack if you visit him.

But yes, he's a weird dude.

[an-au-blog]

Thinking how jester!Buggy in the royalty au is literally that one meme that's like:

Mohji (angrily): Fuck the king!

Buggy: Yeah, fuck the King!

Buggy a few days later: Hey, guess who I hooked u with last night?

Mohji: Who?

Buggy: King Shanks.

Mohji: What?!

Buggy: You said fuck the- ... you didn't mean literally

Mohji: No, I didn't mean literally!

And it is so funny to me... So here's an elaboration of that :)

Buggy doesn't automatically jump in the sheets with the king. He's not that big of a moron. But after word spread that the king only laughed at the jester's jokes a wave of new preformers of various kinds started piling up at the castle's front gate to get the chance of winning the king's favor.

In the beginning the king maybe entertained the idea. But he soon realized that none of them had that raw honesty. None of them were as unfiltered, they all did it to get on his good side. They didn't mean any of it... They just weren't Buggy.

At some point he makes his people find the jester who performed that night. Word spread that the king personally requested him. So his fellow thievs encourage him to get close to the king so he can snuggle them in. "Think about how much more we can sneak out" they told him. So he decided to give it a shot. He already had quite a bit of luck the first time - he kept his head, he kept the stolen goods, he even made an impression on the king enough to be invited again.

So he goes. He tries to get himself a castle tour to scout out the terrain, but the guards escorting him weren't that naive. Still, they couldn't kick him out, after all the king insisted for him particularly.

Once he started "performing" for king Shanks, Buggy couldn't help but notice that the king's eyes seemed glued on him. At first he was worried it was because Shanks was suspicious of him. After all, with every visit, Buggy had been sneaking things out to sell on the black market. But then he realized, it wasn't staring as much as it was tracing his moves. His eyes would linger on him for a bit longer than seemed normal. Maybe it was his ego thinking he could be found attractive by a desired man like the king... But then again, the king would often stop the performance just to chat with him. He would offer him food, wine, parting gifts... Even when Buggy asked for him to show him around the castle, Shanks was eager to comply.

So to test out his theory, Buggy decided to make a bit of a risky move. He asked his friend Alvida to help him. She was a professional dancer, who knew exactly how to charm anyone. In fact that was how they became friends - she would distracted men while Buggy passed by and pickpocketed them.

When the time was right, Buggy bet it all. Vabanque - if it works they'd come out rich, if it didn't - they'd be food for the vultures by sunrise.

It started off as usual, which was followed with an invitation to dinner. After that, as the servants were serving the dessert Buggy played his cards. "I was actually hoping to try a new trick I learned. It's a shame I have to leave soon." If he was correct, his men had already infiltrate the first gates.

Shanks's eyes sparked. "By all means! Stay all night if you need, I must see it now!" His laugh sounded like thunder through the room.

Buggy huffed "Oh, my king," my king... Shanks had always loved that phrase. Buggy tried to test out all the titles he could to see which made him more inclined to say yes - milord, sire, king Shanks... but calling him my king, that was at the top of the list. Maybe it was the possessiveness, maybe it was the ego rub, in any case, Buggy didn't use it often - careful not to wear it out. "I cannot perform like this, it is unseemly."

Shanks raised a questioning eyebrow "Whatever could you mean?"

This was it. He couldn't fuck it up. If his men hadn't gotten in the main part of the castle by now there would be no way this would work. "I am much too shy to perform in front of all your guards and maids." He fluttered his eywlashes and tilted his head away ever so slightly "I couldn't possibly bare the shame of anyone other than you witnessing it..." As a selling point he shifted his eyes back to Shanks and averted them again like a flustered maiden.

Shanks bought it. Not only did he buy it - he was excited by the thought, intrigued, eager to please.

"Well, of we were alone-"

The king didn't even wait for the end of the sentence, he gestured to the main guard. "Clear the room."

He looked at Buggy for approval. Buggy shook his head 'no'.

"You know, clear the whole floor."

Buggy shook his head again.

"Make it the upper floor and lower floor as well."

Buggy was pleased. As soon as they all left, the jester started performing the "trick" Alvida taught him. "It's a dance" he said, approaching the king - he was taken aback, but not quite unpleased.

Buggy had promised his men time a bit before sunrise. He just hoped the king wouldn't kick him out before that. He soon finds that his worries are for not because the King was absolutely enchanted by every sway, every step, every flick of his wrist. And of course the jester was embarrassed, but he would become filthy rich and could go into hiding after that.

He approached the king, dancing closer with the intention to make him concentrate on him more but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The king looked away, unpleased. At one point he leaned into his palm, massaging his templates as if on the verge of a migraine. "Buggy..." he tried to say but the clown was too occupied in his thoughts of how can I grab his attention again. "Buggy." Still not stopping.

"Buggy stop. Just... stop. You don't have to do this."

"What do you mean, my king?"

"Don't... stop, I can hear the clanking of gold from three doors down. At least spear me the humiliation of insulting my intelligence." The king seemed sullen. "Take what you want and leave. I'd hate to force you to do such things against your will."

Buggy was speechless for multiple reasons. And since he didn't know how to filter his thoughts he decided ro spit them out. "First and foremost - you, milord have incredible hearing. It's inhumane might I say," his words seemed of praise but his tone contradicted. "Secondly, I am offended you imply that I would serve myself for a mere pocketful of gold! Whatever I do, I do by my own volition!"

"It is not your own volition if you feel no other choice."

"Oh, I had other choices! Nevertheless, thirdly - I am in shock that you assumed I would sleep with you for money. I am not a common whore that would toss himself at any man with money!"

"Only a man of royal blood, with money..." Shanks huffed. It was an ill-timed joke that did more damage than it should have.

"Excuse me?" Buggy was angry. "If you think I couldn't have robbed you blind all the times I've been here until now, then you are the drunk fool the rest of the kingdoms think of you."

"I know you could have. I know you've been taking less and less. That's why I wondered what your goal was. That's why I was hoping..." he couldn't say his thoughts out loud. He couldn't, or he really would be a fool.

Buggy's blood boiled. There was something about this king, this man that made him have a mix of emotions that he couldn't quite discern. He did what he did best - act upon them. He marched with an angry step to where Shanks was sitting, put up a leg on the empty armrest, grabbed both sides of his face and kissed him. It was angry and cold but then Shanks realized what was going on and melted into it - passionate and warm. When he broke the kiss, Buggy whispered "I'm doing this because I want this. And unlike you, I don't bottle up whatever's pent up."

(this got too long and it's late so imma just postit now ig)

[the-s1lly-corner]

Telling them you love them for the first time

Some tooth rotting fluff to make up for the angst last night!!

Shorter hcs cuz I'm EEPY, apologies for any OOC stuff <\3

Slenderman;

Hes good at reading you, so he already knew that you held at least some considerable amount of affection for him

And sometimes, inside your head, he'd tell you how much he adored you... but either of you ever said the L word

You'd think that an ancient forest cryptid would be prepared for such a word, and yet..

when you first said it, he visibly froze. For the first time since you've met him, he seemed to be.... lost

He didnt say anything, but that wasnt out of character. . He hardly spoke, even in your head

After a moment of processing, his body eased, and he simply. Pulled you close, with his tentacles. Still not saying a word

It was a rather bizarre experience, actually, especially considering he began to cacoon you in his tendrils

Definitely one that needs to get used to it, but doesnt seem to take it negatively

Please hes still learning human romance

Splendorman;

Unlike his brother, Splendor has a better grasp of what human romance is like, what with him mingling with people all the time

Hes much more vocal, too, so when you finally say the three words..

He squeals after processing what you said, before giggling, and beginning to bounce on his heels

He doesnt care if hes being... embarrassing? Hyper? Giddy?

Hes over the moon, scoops you up if he knows you'd be comfortable with it-

-boundaries are important!

Hes giddy for the rest of the day

No

Hes giddy for the rest of the week

Also admits he loves you as well, probably says it everyday at least once tbh

Laughing Jack;

Comically stops in the middle of whatever he was doing; even if he has to break the laws of physics (clown logic)

Eyes you for a minutes

Snorts

"Aww! I love ya too toots!" Stretches his arm over, likely across the room, to lightly pap your cheek before snapping his arm back into place

Easily one of the most chill about it

But you can see a new pep in his step afterwards and his giggling seems to ramp up

Sorry his is so short but I really think this is all Jack would react with 😭😭

Eyeless Jack;

Given how I usually write for him, you can bet that his reaction will be...

Well he just doesnt expect it, ever. He truly thinks that hes unlovable, given that whole "hey I'm turning into a man eating monster" thing

So when you say it, hes stunned for a few seconds like slender was. Dead quiet for another couple of seconds

Rather than holding you, though, he just asks why

I mean you could have gone out with anyone, you could have left and never came back; he was certain you would eventually

But this..

Complicates with his current doubts..

He'll ask you if you meant it, too

Despite the... initial response, with the denial, his behavior around you seems to become more relaxed

Let's loose, really

Well not totally; it's a process!

He'll ask you for reassurance a fair number of times

Masky;

Masky already shows wordless affections a lot

From cheesy gifts like flowers and (stolen) treats

To..

Sitting at the foot of your bed watching you sleep at night

Hey hes protecting you!

Realizing that I kinda write him like a stray cat

Gives you birds and rats every morning/j

No but back on track, you two are already fairly affectionate to one another in your own quirky ways

He'll never say the words verbally, as I personally hc he doesn't talk (if he does, its RARE), but he'll sure as hell express it in his own ways

He doesn't seem phased when you say it

You mean to tell him that anytime you reciprocated his kind gestures that wasnt you letting him know you love him?

You notice his gift giving seems to pick up

Otherwise, nothing seems to change

.....he does seem more open to physical affection.... more likely to hold and cuddle you..... that totally isnt related...... totally......

Hoodie;

Very similar to masky but his way of affection is more.... not watching you sleep

He was already open to physical affection, he cant seem to keep his hands off you

Now that just be my way of writing brian bleeding into how I write hoodie

Which

Considering they're kinda... the same person(?), it makes sense that some mannerisms would overlap

His back straightens up and he seems to.. brighten up when you say it though

He points to himself, and you repeat the phrase

He'll sign it back, and the two of you just

Carry on

Very anticlimactic, but I also feel its realistic in a way; you both already love each other and know it, saying it out loud doesnt really change a thing if its already a clear truth; at least for Hoodie

[archiveikemen]

'Doting Love Holic' Collection Event

William Rex

I do not own any of the Ikemen Series content being uploaded on this blog, everything belongs to CYBIRD. Please support them by playing their games and buying stories. Not 100% accurate, expect mistakes.

read this before interacting with my posts

thank you @otomefiend for providing the story because i couldn't get it in time 🤭

// I'm having some problems with attaching photos, so I'll add them later. //

-

Roger: That’s unfortunate, the young lady lost.

Kate: Ugh…

Alfons: You need more practice with poker, Kate.

I sighed in exasperation with poker cards in hand.

Roger and Alfons invited me to play poker with them after dinner, and I lost three rounds consecutively.

Kate: I’m just unlucky… next time I’ll…

Alfons: Fufu, you don’t need luck for poker.

Alfons: Once you reach the point in the game where your win or loss is to be decided, as long as you have a strong enough attitude that makes your opponent feel hopeless, you’ll win.

William: What was the bet?

Kate: Will…!

I instinctively straightened my back when I heard the voice that would always make my body temperature rise, and saw my lover standing there dressed in a casual shirt.

Kate: … Did you bathe?

William: Yeah. … Fufu, this is a bad hand of cards.

William: At times like this, you must know whether it’s a win or loss.

Will rested his hand on my chair and looked over my shoulder at the cards in my hand.

Kate: …

The faint smell of Will’s skin tickled my nose, making my heart race.

(Will fresh out of the bath… not good for my heart.)

Roger: Unfortunately, we didn’t bet on anything.

William: Hmm, that’s rare. Playing a game without a prize.

A drop of water fell from the edge of Will’s silver hair onto his neck and trickled down onto his collarbone.

As if invited to, my gaze couldn't help but follow the droplet…

Alfons: That’s a very perverted gaze, Kate.

Kate: Huh?

William: Hm?

The moment my eyes met Will’s, the tips of my ears instantly turned hot.

(I- I…)

(W- Was it so obvious that even the people around me noticed…!?)

I was embarrassed to the core, hurriedly shaking my head in denial.

Kate: Absolutely not, I certainly did not have such a look in my eyes…!

Thanks to being led on by Alfons’, the strange excuse I blurted out made my face turn even redder and hotter.

William: Hmm? 😏

Will placed his hand on the backrest of my chair and narrowed his eyes cheekily.

William: I don’t mind you looking at me with an obscene gaze.

Kate: Huh…

William: Am I mistaken? That’s too bad.

My mind turned blank.

My face was getting hotter and hotter, but I couldn't say a word.

Will gazed lovingly at me as I was at a loss for words, and then smiled.

William: … Actually, I think that what my little robin needs to learn more is how to keep a poker face.

William: So that she won’t show this lovely facial expression on the outside.

Kate: Nn…?

When I snapped back to my senses, my lips were stolen in a kiss.

Before I could even feel surprised, his tongue slipped into my mouth and our tongues tangled together.

Alfons: My, my.

Roger: You’re showing off.

(Doing this in front of the two of them…)

I hurriedly tried to pull away, but my face was caught between two hands.

(Will…?)

Kate: Nn… mmph…

The forceful yet sweet enough to make me drown in pleasure kiss threw my emotions into disarray.

(Why is he doing this…)

(... Could it be—)

A few days ago, Will and I watched a play together.

In order to prevent his lover from attracting other men, one of the characters drowned her in endless love.

And it led to an intense and passionate scene.

At that moment, really, at only that very moment… I thought about what if Will did that to me—

That thought caused a sweet aching in my heart.

(Back then… did he notice…?)

Will’s eyes opened slightly, as if he had heard what was in my mind. And he smiled bewitchingly as our lips met again.

Kate: Nn… nn…

(This is so embarrassing, I’m going crazy.)

(Still…)

(... What should I do… I’m so happy.)

His sweet kiss and gaze gradually melted away all the rationality left in me.

Will eventually let go of me and slowly traced my lips with his thumb.

Kate: … Haa…

A sweet sigh escaped my lips, and my shame returned.

(Oh no, I… I got too absorbed in the kiss—)

My face was so hot that I couldn't bring myself to look up, I didn't want to see the looks on Alfons and Roger’s faces at all.

William: Pardon my interruption in the middle of your game.

William: While I’m interrupting, can I steal her away?

Alfons: … I have yet to reach the level of foolishness that I’d say no after witnessing such a loving gesture between the two of you.

Roger: I fold (surrender) too.

William: That’s wonderful. Let’s go, Kate.

…

Kate: Will…

William: … Hm?

I was full of lust for Will, even the people around me could see that.

My body melted and turned limp under his caresses.

Kate: That kiss just now… was it for my sake?

I asked in between ragged breaths, and Will remained silent like he was in no rush to answer.

He patted my head affectionately and slowly answered.

William: … That’s right. It was half to satisfy your desires.

(Half…)

(The ones kissing were Will and myself.)

(If it was half for me, then the other half is for—)

My heart ached with anticipation at the thought of getting something “special”.

Kate: And the other half…?

Will narrowed his eyes, seemingly having seen through my anticipation, and spoke slowly.

William: … You’re irresistibly attractive when you're absorbed in a game, and when your emotions change between being happy and upset.

William: That itself is could be a prize for a game.

Kate: Nn…

My head went numb when he teasingly traced his fingers across my body, testing the waters.

William: Therefore… I made a move in order to prevent them from being attracted to you.

William: Just keeping things in control a little.

(...)

It wasn't only to satisfy my desires.

The kiss also contained Will’s desires.

That was enough to suffocate me with happiness.

Kate: … I’m so happy, Will.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

Like a reward, Will touched my sensitive spot with his impatient fingers.

Kate: Ahh, Will…

William: … Mm, also

Wiliam: I loved the way you lusted over me.

William: I only wanted to kiss you.

His words were sweeter than honey.

He planted kisses on my cheek, temple, and ear.

My head was overflowing with so much happiness, it felt like I was drunk on it.

Kate: Will… I…

William: … Hm?

Kate: If it’ll make you kiss me like that…

Kate: I think it's fine even if I never learn how to maintain a poker face…

William: … (surprised)

William: … Pfft, ahaha!

I muttered while feeling lightheaded from the amount of bliss I felt, and Will burst into laughter…

William: I also love how you look when you're following your desires.

He once again pressed his shapely lips against mine in a deep kiss.

This time, the kiss was not meant for anyone else to see—

It was filled with an addictive love.

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 19-22 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

Obligatory ShB spoiler warning.

First off, the two panels that took a silly amount of time just because I wanted to reflect Vivi’s impressions on the city.

Episodes 18, 19, 20 open up with Vivi being concerned with the most pressing matters:

Can’t fight if you ain’t pretty (or got just 1-2 outfits to be pretty in, that won’t do either)

I still really like the panel above, especially their pose. Episodes 19-22 show how they gradually get rid of physical boundaries. They didn’t even touch back when they first met (episode 15).

Vivi’s casual about physical affection with friends, just one of his core things.

Of course Vivi would trust and choose the company of a pixie, a supernatural being, over a (presumably) human who only reinforces Vivi’s worst opinions on humanity at that point in time, concealing himself and swimming in secrets. Get rekt nerd.

At least Vivi isn’t openly hostile, just.. Dismissive? I saw some other WoLs who outright hate Exarch for abducting the Scions and almost getting themselves, the WoL, killed at Ghimlyt Dark. Vivi, however, just wants to be left alone.

Tfw the love of your life is being stolen by your dear friend. Or vice versa? Or both at the same time? Anyway, Vivi and Feo Ul form a new cool kids' club and Exarch isn't invited.

Can't relax in your favorite secluded spot for a godsdamned moment without some pesky dragoon randomly popping out of nowhere.

While I hc Exarch being able to sense living presence around the Tower, imagine doing that 24/7 for every person. I like to think that he learned to filter it out, turn off/on at will. And while he's in a public place, with his glamour up, he doesn't need to upkeep the "radar", he's just chilling and is possibly lost in thoughts, and that's why Vivi startles him.

This scene bears more symbolic meaning than plot importance. And, uh, some foreshadowing? Forelighting? x'D While Vivi doesn’t fall (heh) for his savior, he’ll reflect upon this at a later time.

Vivi’s normally careful and stately. Yes he’s an elf but he do be carryin’ himself like a cat. There’s a lot of control and assertion behind his trademark nonchalant posture. So, NORMALLY, this wouldn’t happen. Maybe he got distracted by the shiny? And where’s Feo Ul?

Exarch, however, the man that chokes on air unprompted, in a moment like this acts before he could think. As some people correctly noted, the old man’s QUICK. The “screentime” stretches out as Vivi’s life almost begins flashing before his eyes, while for Exarch it's gotta be a mere second or two.

I’m extra proud of the colorwork here. As if blood’s gone from Vivi’s face, as if his entire body went cold, but life slowly returns to him, starting with that hand. You bet this’s brimming with subtext.

Exarch uses his left hand over the right, for better friction and probably because he doesn’t like the attention to his right hand.

I like that this panel’s caused confusion, it worked as intended :9 An all too vague dark joke that almost cost Vivi his life. In his head it went like “yeah anyone can fly once, when they’re about to go splat”, but he wasn’t only preoccupied with the jumps, but also didn’t KNOW yet that he HAS TO speak with a fae like almost with a child, or a lawyer. Simplest terms. No ambiguity. EVER. They’ll misinterpret you unwittingly, or on purpose.

And so they did. Or didn’t? Feo Ul’s spent a long time offscreen, but whether they chose not to help, or even gave Vivi a little push, will forever stay a mystery because why not.

Lesson learned.. On both sides.. Hopefully. Also, fret not, Exarch WILL say fuck one day, one day~

Vivi's lucky. Incredibly so. He's aware of it, doesn't see it as anything special, like you don't see anything special in being able to read this. Perhaps jumping up an unknown structure while being accompanied by an exceedingly curious and mischievous creature is risky even for his kind, but Vivi's so used to getting away with so many things that he doesn't stop to consider it for the tiniest moment.

The first genuine exchange of smiles.

Silver lining: now they have better chances at getting along and returning to that world-saving duty.

Update from January 2024: I came back here to tell you something that took me so long to realize about episode 20′s description:

And all he saw was the Light, and then he knew that Death wore white in this world.

I randomly popped off with this prose, which on itself is a cool thing, but now I realize the extra meanings it could take on. Thinking about 5.x and Elidibus has me feeling unwell in the best way. THAT VIVI ALSO WEARS WHITE HERE IS UH. A coincidence. But it also kinda works as the Warrior of Darkness becomes somewhat of a local Reaper in the First, and then, well, then we have that Light corruption arc :3c

Vivi's calm and tender enough for a pixie to trust him with their wings.

Feo Ul ate and drank several times their size, and all that hero talk.. Ugh. Time for a nap.

Drawing this made me yawn at least 3 times. You’re not immune either.

He’s activating his scanners :>

Vivi's definition of nice is "not nagging, begging or preaching, and using bare facts and logic to convince the hero to do the hero thing".

Literally the next page if you’re reading in order :’> Riiiiiiiiight. That hero thing.

We don’t question whether Vivi invited his loveliest branch, or if they invited themselves. The fact is, they’re there and Vivi’s totally cool with it.

Exarch must be watching. And probably foaming at mouth as Feo Ul keeps leading in the race for Vivi’s heart. They don’t only earn the hero’s trust, but get in his bed and, gasp, brush his hair.

Vivi's getting comfy in his role somewhere between a disney princess and Feo Ul’s pet.

A writing-related tangent incoming, but, since you’re here, I assume you’re already somewhat interested in this kinda stuff.

So, there’s the script, the plain text that waits to get illustrated. The screenplay, if you will. I don’t just sit down and draw enough random things to fill a few pages, I approach this as an actual cohesive serialized story.

I changed a good half of this episode when I began storyboarding it. In the initial script from some months ago, Vivi said "I slept so well". Something about this didn't sit right with me. It’s the most basic mistake of telling instead of showing. I asked myself, would he, a person who takes good sleep and dreams for granted, say that out loud? Nah. I removed that bit, and drew him stretching deliciously. He also asked Feo Ul if they guarded his dreams, they smiled vaguely but warmly just like in the finalized version, but then Vivi simply muttered "I could get used to this" and gave them headpats. I decided to elevate this scene by adding this tiny rollercoaster, which brought Feo Ul's greyness to the forefront, and thickly hinted that Vivi doesn't only sleep well, but has nice dreams that he probably starts cherishing after this.

To be fair, this isn’t super important for the main plot, I just wanted to highlight the difference between Vivi and Exarch, the latter being in a hate-hate relationship with sleep. Vivi’s affinity with dreams is a door I like to keep open for the possible future story (talking post-EW events).

Now you know this’s the face they make before going apeshit.

Imagine if this prank didn't exist and instead Vivi simply said "I slept so well, this's so important to me". I’m proud of the writing muscle I’m growing on the fly ;w;

Ardbert's chance to act and feel normal, thwarted in the next few seconds.

I'm so glad that people are picking up on this!! “Hey man” is Vivi’s way of providing whatever comfort he could. An illusion of normalcy. He’s emotionally intelligent when it matters.

..But he should’ve also considered that Feo Ul can and will ruin the vibe :’>

Another screenwriting thing: this episode lacks an establishing shot, i.e. the obligatory zoomed out view on everyone in the room, but I think this’s a rare case of “less is more”. Along with the light vs shadow, it reinforces the feeling of separation. Vivi and Feo Ul are shown together, interacting, doing cute stuff, while Ardbert’s alone. Sorry not sorry for the hurty :’>

This’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading and paying so much attention! People start to notice and analyze the things I’m weaving in, and it’s the best kinda interaction I as a creator could wish for.

[pikapeppa]

Astarion/Tav: Dull

A little early-Act I bonding between Astarion and a bard-rogue Tav. 🥰 1070 words, SFW!

*************

Astarion sighed loudly.

Tav fell back a step and elbowed him. “What’s the matter now, handsome?” 

“You’re dull,” he complained. “That’s what the matter is.”

She barked out a laugh. “Excuse me? What did I ever do to deserve such an insult?”

“It’s what you won't do that’s the problem,” he said. “You keep on purchasing things from traders at fair prices.”

“So?”

“So,” he drawled, “we were all snatched into that ghastly nautiloid ship with nothing but the clothes and weapons on our backs. And yet you keep throwing gold around like it’s going out of style!”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” she said. “I barter, and I do it well.”

“And did your bartering get you this?” He deftly rolled a gold ring across his fingertips and held it up with a flourish. 

She gasped. “Astarion! Where did you get that?”

“It’s called petty theft, darling,” he said, and he pocketed the ring. “You ought to try your hand at it sometime.”

“Should I, now?” She lifted her hand and scratched her temple in an exaggerated way. 

His eyes widened. She was wearing a gold bangle with an oak-leaf design: one that Astarion distinctly remembered having stolen from that healer-druid’s table back at the Sacred Grove.

He slapped a hand over his coin purse. “What the devil—? How did you—?”

She snickered and took the bangle off. “Don’t try selling theft to a thief, my friend. You’re only preaching to the acolytes.” She slipped the bangle into her pocket. 

“Excuse you, but that’s mine,” he exclaimed.

“Nice try,” she said sweetly. “If you can’t hang onto it, it’s not yours anymore.”

He smirked. She’d won this particular battle of wits, he’d give her that. “Well, now I especially don’t understand. If you’re such an apt little thief, why in the hells do you keep wasting our precious coin on trading with people when you could be fleecing them instead?”

“Because I’m a noble thief now. I save my nimble fingers for those who deserve it.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “What makes you think those people don’t deserve it?” He waved dismissively back in the direction of the Grove.

She raised her eyebrows. “You think that Nettie deserved to be stolen from? The same Nettie who gave us advice on how to get these tadpoles out of our heads?”

He widened his eyes sarcastically. “You mean that same Nettie who was ready to poison you if you hadn’t given her the answer she was looking for?” He tsked. “I’d have liked to see her try such a trick on me. I wouldn’t have gone down without a fight, I promise you that.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. You’re the stabbiest vampire who ever stabbed anyone on the face of Faerûn, I know.”

“And the most beautiful, don’t forget.”

“How could I ever?” she said with a grin. “But my point still stands. I save the thieving for those who deserve it.”

“And my point still stands,” he replied. “You’re very dull, not to mention naïve, if you think there’s anyone out there who hasn’t deserved a good robbing at one point or another.”

She gave him a strange look: a thoughtful look, but one that was rather piercing, too. It gave him an odd squirmy feeling in his belly to have her look at him like this, like a faint and unfamiliar kind of discomfort.

He flicked back a lock of hair. “Stare all you want, darling. Just don’t go wandering into a tree while you do.”

She smiled, then tilted her head shrewdly. “How about this, then, if you think I’m so dull: let’s make a bet.”

“What sort of bet?”

“When we get to the goblin camp, I bet that I can pickpocket more than you can.”

He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “More what? More individual goblins, or more profit?”

“More profit, of course. There’s no way to keep track of how many individuals we each stole from.”

He pressed a hand to his chest. “You mean you don’t trust me to accurately tell you how many of those misbegotten creatures I steal from?”

“Not for a second.”

“Ha!” he exclaimed. “Look at you learning. Good for you.”

She wrinkled her nose at him: a rather charming look on her freckled little nose. “I’m not that naïve, you know.”

“Of course you’re not, my dear.”

She clicked her tongue, then bumped him with her hip. “So? Do we have a bet?”

“That depends,” he said. “What’s the prize for the winner?”

“If I win, then you have to give this bangle back to Nettie and apologize for pilfering it in the first place.”

He groaned. “Ugh, you want me to apologize? You might as well ram a stake through my ribs. It would be less agonizing.”

She grinned. “If you win, on the other hand, I’ll let you bite me every night for a week.”

Now that was interesting — interesting and surprising. He was going to accept the bet regardless since it would make for an amusing diversion, but now with such a sweet prize at the end? And one that Tav was offering so readily, without even a hint of disgust about what he needed? Wanted, he should say, since he didn’t technically need her blood. Though the feeling it gave him to drink from her rather than from some filthy animal was very different and very delectable. 

He shook off the thoughts. Need, want, whatever it was that drove him to imagine the exquisite flutter of Tav’s pulse against his lips: she was offering it without any hesitation, and that alone was… very interesting. And unexpected. And his mouth was already watering for the prize.

“Fine,” he said. “We have a bet. I’ll look forward to having that sweet neck of yours laid bare for me.”

“Will you, now?” she said slyly, and she held out her hand. 

In her palm was a gold ring: the stolen ring Astarion had shown her a mere few minutes ago. 

He gasped. “You wicked thief! Give that back.” He grabbed for it.

She deftly dodged away from him. “Oh, no you don’t. It’s mine now.”

Her face was lit with a gamine grin, and against all odds, he found himself laughing in response. Despite Tav’s faults — her friendliness and her helpfulness and her naïveté, no matter what she claimed — perhaps she wasn’t quite so dull after all. 

[saintsenara]

my kingdom for your thoughts on george weasley/hermione

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i know that there's a rumour that jkr once said that she intended to have fred and hermione get together - which i can find no actual evidence of, and i highly suspect fredmione nation might just have made up - but i personally think that, when it comes to pairing her with one of the twins, george is probably the better bet...

george is certainly the twin that i think it would be easier to be in a long-term relationship [romantic or platonic] with, because he's the one who seems to better at relating to other people.

fred is demonstrably the crueller of the two, in ways which often suggest that he doesn't possess a particularly great capacity for empathy - it's very striking that three of the more disturbing things we learn happened to ron as a child [his teddy bear being turned into a spider; his puffskein being killed when it was used for "bludger practice" - that is, when his pet was beaten to death with a bat; and him being tricked into almost making an unbreakable vow] are attributed to fred, with george implied to be involved, but not to be the ringleader of the scheme.

we see this elsewhere in canon - fred is the person who arranges their bet with ludo bagman, and then the person who takes the lead in their attempts to threaten him into paying them their winnings; fred is the person who takes the lead when they're negotiating prices for stolen goods with mundungus - and i think we can certainly say that, while both twins are clearly broadly equal in terms of certain personality traits [they're both funny, cheeky, irreverent, loyal, creative, clever-but-only-on-their-terms, and so on], george is less domineering and - potentially - more insecure than his brother.

which is to say... he's quite a lot like ron. in a way that fred - since ron lacks his crueller elements - isn't.

and - therefore - he's got the right personality to gel with hermione as she is in canon.

he's clearly going to be able to handle the fact that hermione expresses her affection by meddling and nagging - since this is exactly what his mother is like - and he's also - like ron [and unlike harry] - canonically at ease with the fact that she likes to work through her thoughts and feelings by debating [we see this in goblet of fire - george gets into a debate about house elf rights with hermione, and doesn't take her popping off about him being wrong as something to be offended by]. nor is either twin ever shown to react negatively to hermione's fondness for following rules and working hard at school - they think of her inflexibility as a benign-and-therefore-easy-to-accept, if faintly amusing, character quirk.

hermione, for her part, also sees the twins' rule-breaking and academic laziness as quirks she can accept.

[this point about acceptance is a key one, i think. i never vibe with the idea that hermione is intellectually compatible with characters like snape, voldemort and sirius, not because i think she has a lower level of intelligence than them - she doesn't - but because she has a different one (one which is based in the constant retention and repetition of empirical information, whereas snape and voldemort's intellectual expression is based in rejecting disciplinary boundaries and sirius' is based in rejecting the idea of repeating and revising knowledge) and because the men in question would, given what we see of them in canon, treat her way of expressing her intelligence with contempt. but ron and harry are intelligent in very different ways than hermione too, and this is something all three members of the trio understand as a good thing which only serves to strengthen their relationship, because ron and harry treat hermione's intellect with respect and she does the same. her relationship with the twins is similar.]

but with this said... i think there's the potential for some extremely thorny clashes between george and hermione, which take a bit of character wrangling to come through compellingly.

the first is fred's influence when he's alive - particularly since hermione's incredible capacity for loyalty [one of her best traits] comes with the negative that she's often far more willing than either harry or ron to put up with being ill-treated by people she likes or respects [i.e. how she just takes snape's cruelty towards her, because he's clearly a teacher she looks up to from an academic perspective]. i think we have to assume that fred would remain george's priority even if he was in a relationship, and to ask what impact this would have on his partner - especially if george made promises ["we'll hang out tonight"] which he then broke in order to do something nefarious with his brother.

[that is, would hermione remain as chill with the twins' rule-breaking as she is if their rule-breaking happened because her boyfriend treated her with disdain?]

the second is fred's influence after his death. another of hermione's really impressive traits is that she's phenomenally resilient [she's a fifteen-year-old girl who doesn't give a fuck that she's being slandered in a national paper, it's legitimately iconic], but this is accompanied by the negative that she has a canonically low tolerance for moping [hence her belief in order of the phoenix that sirius could get over his depression if he just tried hard enough] and a tendency to want to respond to negative emotions by fixing them [which we see in her determination to get harry to talk about sirius at the start of half-blood prince], rather than just letting them run their course.

this isn't a fault, per se - many people approach grief in this way; it's a coping mechanism - but i think it wouldn't align in the slightest with the way george's grief over fred would manifest itself. and i think this could - without either one of them ever being demonstrably in the wrong - cause some real, real mess in a relationship which might turn it into something properly toxic.

[yellowocaballero]

GAI!! Unironically one of my favorite naruto characters. The idea of young grumpy Obito having forced interactions with Gai, vs Tobi and Gai who probably get along very well (and Tobi probs makes sure that it ends up everyone elses problem), is a very funny visual and contrast. Also, Kakashi meddling to make them interact is SO good! It makes me wonder at what the dynamics were for team 7 pre kannabi bridge. It seems so fun and interesting!!

Gai and Rock Lee are so fundamental to me. They're everything. Most iconic characters. Straight up legendary. Every shonen manga should have the Rock Lee character. Rock Lee genuinely should have been the protagonist of Naruto. Deku should have taken notes.

Part of what makes this AU so compelling to me is how batshit insane Obito's experience is. He genuinely hated Gai. He was the most uppity, pretentious Uchiha you had ever seen. Gai was everything he was taught to disdain, and Gai had picked him out as the ideal to challenge and topple. Kakashi undoubtedly thought that Obito needed to learn to respect people like Gai. Kakashi, the lazy-ass slacker, probably didn't stand out greatly to Gai.

So there's no better 'best friend' for Tobi's cover. Gai's the sort of fun loving and rambunctious person who fits perfectly with Tobi. Now Obito has to hang out with this guy, pretend he thinks he's great, let him beat him in fights, absolutely humiliate himself in front of somebody who he disdained. Obito's grift requires him to begin looking at the world 'underneath the underneath', and I think once he looks underneath Gai's underneath and sees the most morally upright person in Konoha, he's no longer lying when he acts as Gai's best friend.

Team 7 dynamics...

(Text of the excerpt under the cut)

It was a memory. Kakashi and Rin stood before him, standing on a bridge and waiting for Sensei to remember that he had someplace to be. This was how a man who could teleport was always late. If he was with Kushina-neechan he’d forget anything and everything. 

The sun dappled orange and yellow on the slowly churning water beneath them, and Obito was hungry. He had skipped lunch to train again. Obito could hear his stomach growl, feel the pain in his muscles.

“We might as well make the most of this,” Rin told him. She smiled broadly, clapping her hands. “Why don’t we all train together? Maybe we can surprise Sensei with some new jutsu?”

“Maa, count me out.” Kakashi laced his hands behind his head, staring absently up at the clouds. “I wanna take a nap.”

“Lazybones.” Rin sighed and turned to Obito, her smile turning hopeful. “What about you, Obito-kun? I bet you could teach me a really cool jutsu…and maybe I could teach you something too!”

Obito had snorted, crossing his arms. “What’s the point of that? What could a chuunin learn from two genin? Hard pass.”

They didn’t look frustrated. How could they never look frustrated? How did they take him in with a smile, why did they search so hard for his heart? Obito hadn’t had a heart. He hadn’t stolen it yet. 

“Rin-chan has a combat med-nin certification you don’t have. But what could a med-nin teach a combat specialist, eh?” At some point Kakashi had pulled out one of his idiot mystery novels, flipping it open to a random point and reading it avidly. Obito never understood it. What was the point in rereading a mystery novel? You knew the ending already. But Kakashi always said that the ending of the book changed every time he caught another little clue. Stupid. A book didn’t change just because you’re rereading it. “And of course there’s my wisdom.”

“Yeah?” Obito snorted. “Then teach me your wisdom, oh almighty Bakashi. Does that cloud up there look like a bunny? Did the butler do it?”

“Obito-kun, calling him Bakashi isn’t nice -”

“The butler was a red herring.” Kakashi eye-smiled at him above his book. In Obito’s memory, his smile looked a little mischievous. “A true mystery reader always looks underneath the underneath.”

“That’s useless,” Obito said flatly. “Do you have any wisdom that’s useful for a real ninja?”

“What? Oh, no, not at all. Shush, I’m almost at the ending.”

With the Sharingan, the memory may as well be real. It was a memory that only Obito had ever lived. Tobi didn’t have any memories like that. Tobi didn’t think about these things. Tobi didn’t think about anything, honestly.

[kelseytheballerina]

the biggest thing i’m going to struggle with this challenge is the social media break on weekdays… any tips on that?

Well for starters, I just reblogged this post for you with practical tips.

Remember that social media is a very new thing and literally everyone who came before you (and depending on your age, even a part of your life) had life without social media. People entertained themselves, they learned, they traveled, they dressed themselves and discovered their style, they found cool foods they wanted to make, they kept up with current events, they found out about shows and movies they wanted to see, all without social media. And you can too. You are not required to be glued to your phone all day. You are absolutely allowed to log off. There’s no consequences for doing so. Very very very very very few things we find online are truly worth seeing and I can bet you a million dollars right now that you don’t remember even a fraction of the stuff you looked at today. It’s just not important! You’re missing out on nothing.

This is an opportunity for you to experience a full and satisfying life in the real world. So many books to read, pictures to draw, stories to write, clothes to make, workouts to do, daydreams to have, in-person visits to make, albums to listen to, recipes to try, at-home spa days to have, miniature sets to build, candles to make, DIYs to try, journaling to do, repairs to complete, bedrooms to redecorate, local places to visit, and time with family to share. Can all of this be done while also spending time on social media? Yes of course. But many times, we don’t do it because that time gets stolen from us with nothing to show for it.

Just bc these accounts exist doesn’t mean you have to use them. They’re not going anywhere. A few months off will do you so much good.

[whumpshaped]

AMBAC Lore — Humans, and how to stay human

table of contents:

humans' place in the ecosystem

hunters

police

spotting a vampire

what if the vampire spotted you?

blood loss and aftercare

back home

tw unreality, mind control, dubious advice, definitely suggestive nsfw, dubcon biting, second person pov and you're absolutely the whumpee, stalking mention, it's all light-hearted though enjoy

so... humans.

humans' place in the ecosystem

it might be a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but with the first vampire appearing, humans lost their place on top of the pecking order. constantly looking over your shoulder, flinching away from cats in shadows... it's a difficult existence, sometimes. but don't fall victim to the promise of a better life after death! just because you now have to fear your blood and mind being stolen, that doesn't mean life can't be enjoyed!

humans can still do many things, like work day jobs and hand their salary over to the vampire who enthralled them, eat nutritious food to support their body and produce better blood, possibly even get so entangled as to willingly give their life and join their master in immortality– what?

hunters

so, about ways to stay human. hunters aren't really your best bet... i mean, have you ever even seen one in real life? sometimes there's one or two, travelling alone or with another fool, trying to exact revenge or free an enthralled family member... but they rarely ever protect ordinary people, do they? nor are they very successful in clearing out entire vampire dens. not when the vampires of any respectable city will come together in a joint effort to toy with the poor things.

i'd recommend staying away from them altogether. those cross-waving, crossbow-shooting demons will sooner take out your eye than an actual vampire. and you don't want to get mixed up with them, god forbid! if a vampire saw you talking to them, they might just grab you for a chat afterwards to tell you all about why that was a decision they disapprove of. you don't want that, do you?

police

as for the police, well... i'd recommend spending your time better than to try and file a case with them about vampires. they know the pecking order. they're not hunters. sure, they say they're launching a new hunter-training program for the new recruits, but are they really? how many of the officers do you think are enthralled? the one saying that might've been.

plus, they know very well how enticing a bloodbag from the police force is. it's cheap bribe for a vampire, one no officer could refuse, and everybody knows that. they already have a target on their backs, so why would they go looking for trouble?

well, if you decide to file the case anyway, prepare for it to be thrown out. don't say i didn't warn you.

spotting a vampire

now that we've got the useless things out of the way, let's start with the actual guide. first and foremost, you need to learn to spot a vampire. you might think you know exactly how to do that; vampires are so visibly different, whatever could go wrong?

you. you could go so, so wrong. do you really trust your little human eyes? your little human ears? your little human mind? you'd be silly to. how many vampires have you spotted so far? yeah, think on that for a moment. they're there, i promise you — but you just don't know how to look for them, leading you to believe you're safe until there's a pair of fangs in your neck.

so... how do you see through the charm? how do you snap out of enthrallment? how do you spot something perfectly camouflaged? how do you keep yourself safe from something you could never see coming, something that will convince you that you do want those mesmerising, sharp fangs in your pretty neck, sinking deep and making you feel so, so good–

uh, we're working on it. it'll be in the next edition. i'm sure you can figure out something until then, to hold you over!

what if the vampire spotted you?

well, lucky you!

i mean–

you're in a dark alley, and you're suddenly cornered by an eerie presence. or a comforting one, depending on how they feel that day. one way or the other, you realise that a vampire had set their sights on you — too late.

you have a couple options, if... you know, you're not too charmed and enthralled out of your mind to say anything but 'yes, master, i'd love for you to drink'. you can either say yes on your own, or, well... try to say no, i guess?

at this point you're probably pinned against a wall, not entirely against your will, and really, there's little you can actually do. but you can always hope and pray that the vampire who got you isn't feeling that peckish! maybe they could let you go and get another human a bit later, right? unless it's close to dawn, in which case — why are you even out? are you trying to become a last minute snack?

blood loss and aftercare

so... that didn't work out in your favour, did it? i suppose it kind of did, in a way. i'm sure you enjoyed yourself. but now it's time to take care of yourself, so grab that just-in-case-vampire-pick-me-up bar of chocolate you have in your bag, and wash it down with some sweet, sugary tea.

you packed those before leaving the house at night, right? of course you did. i'm sure you're also well-hydrated, since that makes the blood flow easier, and it makes everything nicer for your master–

well, i suppose that's not a requirement.

try not to fall on your way home. you can try to alert other humans around you, but that vampire is probably long gone anyway, so there's really no point. as for asking for help, please refer back to sections 2 and 3 about hunters and the police.

do make sure the vampire closed your wounds and you're not actively bleeding. that's important. if you are bleeding, put a bandaid on it while it stops! if it bruises really badly, you might want to ice it.

back home

you look at yourself in the mirror, admiring the twin wounds on your neck and the deep purple bruise around it. you wonder whether your master liked the blood; whether they followed you home just to see where you live, just to have the option to visit. whether they wanted more. whether they would come knocking.

you're not alone! it's just the lingering effect of the enthrallment, don't even worry about it. but if the vampire does come knocking, remember M.I.N.E.: My home Is Not for you to Enter (unless you ask nicely in which case i might seriously consider it because really that bite was something i can barely put into words and i've been thinking about it ever since so if you really wanted to enter i could invite you in i'm just making sure you know it's not an obligation or anything!)

remember, they can't draw an invitation from you by enthrallment! so make sure to speak up on your own! i mean–

but really. being human does have its perks. how else would you feed your master?

[carrymelikeimcute]

Stop Stealing from Authors

As an author, please please PLEASE do not download 'free' ebooks or listen to 'free audiobooks' on YouTube etc.

Books take work to research and write, and author advances are already incredibly low, without us having to PAY THEM BACK to the publisher because the book isn't earning enough. Authors are already earning far far below the minimum wage per hour of work we put in.

Many ebooks are incredibly cheap already and have regular price drops down to 99p/$0.99, and are FREE using a library app.

Audiobooks likewise can be accessed digitally for FREE via the library.

Authors in countries like my own receive a small amount of money when you access our content via the library. Money which means we can keep writing books. Using the library also gives them visitor numbers and incentivises funding, preventing library closures.

Funding piracy makes the already very hard job of writing as a career even harder and endangers library resources.

'Well then maybe you should get a real job' I have a job, and that job is being an author. It is very entitled to tell authors that we need to essentially have a full time job AND still produce content for you to enjoy for free, at a speed/quality which makes writing also a fulltime job.

As a fulltime author I wrote 3 novels last year, each with 4-5 rounds of edits at different stages in the process. I also edited the two books I wrote the previous year during that time. Hundreds of hours of work. And I have since seen piracy websites making money off of that work.

Saying that piracy 'expands the reach of our books' is as insulting as being 'paid in exposure'. If you want something that someone made, you have to pay them for it. It is not doing someone a favour, to steal from them. And let's be real - how many people are you telling about each book you steal? Are you recommending the piracy site to others in the same breath? Are you just rating on goodreads and counting that as 'payment' for what you stole?

If you want to get a free book and 'expand the reach' - sign up to Netgalley and get free books in exchange for posting reviews.

'But then I can't read all the books I want to read' - Why should you get everything you want? Genuine question. I don't have all the make-up I want, or all the decor I want, but I'm not shoving stuff in my pockets because it's not fair that I don't get to have everything my magpie brain desires. You don't have enough time in your life to read every book anyway. You have to choose.

I bet you also have more than one unread book in your possession, right now. Probably a TBR pile. Why do you need another one for free, when you have books to read? And if you don't want to read those books, you can access every book, via the library.

Authors would even prefer that you buy our books second hand, because at least that 1. is good for the environment as it keeps books out of landfill and 2. benefits charity if you purchase for a charity bookshop/ doesn't benefit pirates. And 3. unlike a stolen ebook, you can donate it again and it will be visible on a shop shelf, attracting new readers.

'You should write because you love it, not for money' I do write because I love it, that's why I spent years learning my craft and working to get published. So I could do this as a job. I even write fanfic on the side as a hobby, and that is VERY different to writing publishable novels for my editor - I get to do all the fun stuff with none of the WORK that my writing job requires.

I don't love being told what setting/theme is 'hot right now' and needs to be in my next novel. Or re-reading my book for the 15th time to look for typos, or spending 4-5 hours every morning writing to meet a crunch deadline and the rest of the day brainstorming the new idea which is due in a week, answering emails and editing. It's my job, not a hobby, and it's not all fun, all the time. No one page edits for the LOVE of it.

'If buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing' - Unlike films/tv, books are still available as physical media you can own forever. They're also less likely to vanish from your ereader because they aren't licenced like a tv show.

'I don't want to support a horrible person but I still want the book' - so...you agree that pirating does nothing for the author? Good. Because that 'spreading awareness stuff' we already covered, is bullshit. But if they're so terrible...why do you want to read something that was invented in their brain, and is likely full of their terrible values/dog whistles? Why not find new authors to support instead of hate reading/continuing to absorb content from people you fundamentally dislike?

Lastly, the argument I routinely see is that 'it's just the same as lending a copy to a friend'. It is not. Firstly because you're putting money into the pockets of those who stole our work, via ad-rev on their sites, whereas lending a book to a friend doesn't result in you making money off of someone else's work. But also, lending the book to ONE person is not the same as making it available to EVERYONE. I just filed a copyright takedown on one of my new books which already had 200+ hits. Unless you plan to lend a physical book to 200+ people, you will not do that same amount of damage as piracy.