#I just like mocking the tone of those posts sometimes

[frownyalfred]

just letting y’all know, there’s some freaks on here who ship *checks notes* Batman and Superman together. so. you know. watch out for that.

[anundyingfidelity]

AFFECTION — Soldier Boy

Summary: During a mission, Soldier Boy receives a hug from you unexpectedly. He likes it.

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x female supe!reader.

Word count: 0.9k

Warnings: canon violence and language, reader is kinda hurted, descriptions of blood and stuff, AU where Ben is working with the team on missions (which is what should've happened on the show btw), Soldier Boy being Soldier Boy lmao, Ben and reader are totally opposites and I live for that. Based on this post.

Note: soooo I'm still making some arrangements to my Soldier Boy long fic and instead I have this short drabble in the meantime. Hope you enjoy it hehe.

the boys/jackles tags: @k-slla

(if anyone would like to be added to my tags just tell me^^)

☕ if you like my writing, support me with a ko-fi !

GEN MASTERLIST!

You groanned, feeling the hard wall hit against your back. It was hard to believe but you thought probably you wouldn't go out of this alive. Your body ached and not even your strenght could stop this guy.

Fucking Butcher, why did you have to follow him to suicide again? Just a couple of cunts, he said. But he forgot to mention they had a weird improved dosis of V injected.

You fell to the ground as the man walked towards you. He was extremely tall and well-buff. No sense the Compound V on his system made him better, or at least that's what he thought. He was tossed to the ground by your side, and you crawled to the corner of the small room.

The distance was not enough to let you run away. You stayed there, watching Soldier Boy's big frame over the man. He used his shield, beting him to death and destroying his face and neck during the process. You were so damn sure his loud groans of pain would remain on your mind at least for a couple of days.

"Fucking pussy," the old man said, wipping some blood off his face. He got on his feet ungracefully and grabbed his shield back. He turned to look at you, still sitting on the floor. "You okay?"

You nodded. "Yeah."

He held you a bloody hand, which you took to stand up. There was an akward silence as you and Ben left the small room, you followed him around the dirty basement, filled with lifeless bodies and fluids on the ground, to meet with Butcher and Hughie.

"Guess those were all," Butcher announced.

"I have the remaining dosis," you took the tube from the pocket of your pants and showed them with a smile on your face. "Was the last one."

"Excellent," Butcher grabbed it and tossed it to Hughie, who saved the tube on a bag.

"We made it out, huh," you mumbled.

"Well, we're still down here, so," Hughie shrugged and three pairs of eyes narrowed at him. "What?"

"Just think positively, for once," you pleaded with a fake sharp tone. "Isn't that hard, y'know."

Ben rolled his eyes.

"We're on a fucking shithole, the kid's right. Let's go now before any of you fuck this up," he ordered and passed by between Butcher and Hughie, hitting his shoulder intentionally in the process.

You quickly followed behind his long soldier strides. "Wait!"

Soldier Boy scoffed and closed his eyes slowly only to open them again. You stood on his way with a big smile and wide eyes. Bruises and blood adorned your face and neck, your clothes were also splattered with dry blood and dirt after killing those clandestine stupid supes on an undercover mission at night, and still you acted like nothing had happened. He stood in place, with Hughie and Butcher standing behind expecting what the fuck you'd be doing this time. Sometimes he thought you were so fucking annoying.

"The fuck you want?"

You opened your lips to say something but nothing came out. Once you closed them, you beamed again and closed the distance between him and you. You wrapped your arms around his strong waist and rested your grubby check against his chest. He tensed visibly under your hug and after a moment you pulled away, your hands behind your back with a shy smile. Hughie and Butcher were clearly holding back a good laugh. They knew better not to mock Soldier Boy, not yet though.

Ben blinked a couple of times, trying to process what happened.

"What the fuck was that?"

You giggled. "Affection."

He wrinkled his nose. "Disgusting."

You gasped and faked sadness on your voice. "Why? I was just saying 'thank you for saving my ass'."

"It's fucking nothing," he rolled his eyes and started to walk again to guide the team outside, with the other two men with playful smirks on their faces following behind.

"Ben!" you quickly caught his pace to stand by his side. "Thank you, okay? Probably you don't like physical contact but I do. And this is how I show others that I care about them and that I'm thankful. I also give hugs because I like them and–"

"Shh!" Ben raised his hand, suddenly stopping his tracks by the end of the stairs that'd lead you outside. He turned and looked at you with that grumpy face of his. "I said you're welcome, sweetheart. Now we need to go, you can talk to me about your hugs shit later."

He pointed to Hughie and Butcher. "Now, you, cocksuckers, go up."

Butcher grinned, going first. "Sure, cap."

"You shut up," Soldier Boy warned, Hughie gulped and nodded, and made his way up on the stairs.

You stood there, with a smile on your lips. Always that fucking, idiotic, stupid smile, even after hard missions like the one you just had. It was like if you were the only one who didn't seem scared of him or anything else. Sure, you were a supe and a smart asset on the team. But still, a very peculiar lady through his eyes.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Once Butcher and Hughie were out of sight he finally talked.

"Do it again."

"Excuse me?"

"The stupid hug, do it again."

You raised your eyebrows, eyes bright as you realized his request. "Really?!"

"God, woman. Do I need to fucking repeat my—?"

His words were cut by your strong hug. You crashed against his frame so hard he lost balance for a bit. He was certainly surprised by how warm your hug it actually felt. You angled your eyes to see his face.

"Thanks!"

You let him go and got up the stairs. He barely curved his lips at how happy you climbed them. Yeah, well he actually liked your stupid hugs.

soldier boy / reader

[itz-mfkn-de]

\\ALWAYS YOU//. M.R

warnings— OOC MATTHEO, Im a sucker for toxic boys but I made him extra sweet in his one idk why, uhhh not many tbh, cussing, kissing, smoking, that’s all I think.

summary— Mattheo was your best friend, always had been, but was the title of ‘friend’ enough?

-my first work for Mattheo! I will eventually get a master list going once I get more comfertable posting on here. This is a repost of one of my works on wattpad, just with some tweaks bc that work was olldddd-

You sat against mattheos 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 out of his dorm window.

"You know, some times, I'm worried for you. You just stare at things, it's weird." He snickered  as he took a drag from his cigarette.

You looked at him and scoffed, "Sometimes I'm worried about your lungs, you're bound to get some type of problem with all that's smoking you do." You half-joked, glancing at him.

He rolled his eyes, tilting his head up and blew the smoke out of his mouth.

"Seriously Mattheo, that stuff is absolute horse-shit for your body." You stated, accompanying your words with a sharp glare.

"I don't do it that often, just when I'm stressed." He muttered, taking his feet off of his desk and turning his body to face you.

"What happened to the whole 'I don't give a fuck about anything or anybody but myself' thing?" You said, mocking him to the best of your abilities.

"First of all I don't fucking sound like that," he laughed and squinted at you "second, just stressed about life, nothing in particular." 

You softly chuckled at his reaction. His eyes broke from yours, looking at some papers on his desk. Your eyes, however, never left his frame. You could stare at him for eternity, everything about his face seemed so perfect, almost as if it were meant to be admired.

You soon realized your staring and quickly averted your gaze towards the window again.

"You gonna go to the Yule ball this year?" You broke the silence, you knew Mattheo hated those things, he hated having to be around a shit ton of people and act like he enjoyed their company.

"Probably not." His demeanor changed, his tone became short, almost snappy.

"Oh, I'm probably just gonna go with Becca." You mumbled, knowing that if no guy was to ask you, Becca had your back.

"Hm." He nearly laughed at your remark.

"What? What's so funny?" You asked, looking back at him, his back still facing you.

"Just surprised you aren't going with a random slytherin guy or something." He answered, but the way he had said it has a strange undertone that you weren't sure how to feel about.

"Well I mean I don't know, I haven't been asked yet." You stated truthfully.

"Ah, I see." He murmured, soon after taking another drag of his cigarette.

You felt tension building in the room, suffocating tension. You weighed your options out, but you decided it would be better to give Mattheo some space, for what you were unsure of.

"Well, Becca and Emma told me they wanted to go dress shopping earlier so I think I'm gonna head over there so we can solidify our plans." You announced while picking up your books and putting them in your bag. 

"Bye Mattheo." You said while walking out of his dorm, expecting a response.

You shut the door when you got nothing, you mind raced with the possibilities on what could've caused mattheos strange behavior.

Maybe he'd just had an off day? No that couldnt have been it, he was fine moments before his attitude took a turn. 

Perhaps he was just having mood swings, you wouldn't be surprised with all the trash he puts in his body.

You stuck with that story and walked back to your dorm, which was on the other side of the slytherin tower. 

You reached it, setting your things down, then quickly turned around and nearly raced to your friends dorm.

The second you reached it, You waisted no time to jump on her bed, causing her to jump. 

"Yes, of course you can come into my room unannounced and lay on my bed." Becca said sarcastically. She had been digging through her closet in an attempt to find a dress. 

"Sorry, I just need to vent." You said while propping yourself up on your elbows.

"Go ahead." She sighed and laid her body weight 

"Okay so, there's this guy. He's like my best friend, but.."

She raised her eyes brows, signaling you to continue.

"But I want us to be more, or atleast I see him as more than a friend. I just feel like no matter how hard I try I can't get him to open up, he just.. won't."  You groaned.

"And everytime I get this sliver of hope that I've made progress, he just completely shuts down, leaving me in the dark confused and a little bit heartbroken!" You borderline screamed, your face shoved into her mattress.

"Okay, uh, let's calm down. If he's not showing any signs of being interested maybe you should just, move on- well attempt to at least." Becca stated ,rubbing your back.

You shut your eyes, truly taking in your friends words.  “hey Yknow what will make you feel better?” She nearly jumped with excitement. “Going to look for a dress in town.”

You knew she only had good intentions but the words kept echoing through your head. The thought of keeping Mattheo as a friend hurt, but it seemed to be all you could do at this point without ruining your friendship.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe you needed to accept Mattheo 

was just a friend.

-

All you could think about was the Yule ball. Over the next few weeks the days flew by, the anticipation growing larger with each one passing.

Of course you had been asked by some sweet guy from the Ravenclaw house, and, taking Becca's advice, you said yes.

There was nothing wrong with him, he just..he wasn't him.

You had decided to get ready alone, slipping into a beautiful green dress you and Becca had picked out. You finished your hair and makeup, looking into your vanity mirror.

You felt beautiful.

You smiled softly at how well you had dolled yourself up.

Glancing up at the clock, you rushed out of your dorm room, realizing it was the time you and your date had agreed to meet at the entrance by. 

You walked gracefully through the halls, a large smile adorning your face. Your heels tapped softly against the ground. You neared the entrance, your breath becoming shallow from the nerves. 

Then you saw Becca, she was wearing a beautiful Maroon dress. She looked absolutely breath taking.

"Hey!— oh my gosh." Becca looked at you, her jaw dropping. 

"You look stunning! Like some type of goddess...." She said barely above a whisper.

"Becca! Stop, you can't be talking, I forgot how to breathe the moment I saw you." You hugged her.

You were about to continue praising her and her beauty, but before you could comment you heard someone call your name.

"Y/n..wow.." he said, just loud enough for you to hear.

You turned around to see your date, who was wearing a very clean red and black suit. 

"Oh my gosh hi! Sorry for being a tad late, I lost track of time while getting ready!" You made your way next to your date, not before Becca gave you a sly smile and a push, leaving to go with her specimen she had chose for the night 

"It's okay.., you look amazing." He had said, taking your arm into his. He began to lead you into the ballroom.

"Thank you, I must say, you cleaned up nice." You smiled sweetly at him.

You and him entered the large room full of people, everything was elegant and royal, not a single speck of dust on anything.

You looked around the large room as your date led you down the stairs, you couldn't lie, you felt like a princess. The beautiful architecture of the room, complimented by your stunning dress, felt like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Once you had made it to the bottom of the staircase, you excused yourself away from your date in an attempt to go find Becca again. 

You stumbled past groups of people, many of them were couples having a romantic moment. 

You tried your best not to run into anybody, you dodged dancing bodies and nearly jogged across the dance floor.

You almost missed him.

You almost walked right by him.

You almost could've saved yourself the heartbreak.

But no you saw it—him with some random Hufflepuff girl. 

The way he whispered in her ear, the way she giggled a little too sweetly, everything. 

It all made you wanna cry—or throw up, which one that would be you weren't quite sure about yet. 

"Y/n?" Theodore came beside you and patted your back.

"Theo-Theodore, I thought Mattheo wasn't coming to the dance?" You struggled to get your words out as your eyes darted between the scene before you and Theodore. 

"Oh—uh yeah, he wasn't gonna originally, but some girl asked him and I guess he took a liking to her because usually he just brushes everyone off." Theo answered.

"Oh, I see, I just came to say hello. I'll be on my way now." Before Theodore could argue with your strange behavior you turned your back and walked as quickly as you could back to were your date was. 

You abandoned the idea of going to find Becca, you couldn't accidentally run into Mattheo and his.. friend again.

Instead you decided that distracting yourself with your date would be the best thing for your heart at the moment.

"Hey, sorry , I just saw a friend and got distracted." You said, out of breath.

"Oh. Don't even sweat it, I'm just glad you didn't run away and not come back." He joked, dragging you towards the dance floor. You couldn't help but laugh at his bubbly personality. It was a nice change of speed.

"I hope you like to dance." His hands fell onto your hips, yours made their way to his shoulders.

"I actually hate it." You smiled at him. 

"How unfortunate." Your smile grew when he matched your energy. You nearly forgot what you had seen a couple moments ago.

But alas, you didn't.

You could feel your chest tightening up, the tears bordering you waterline. Just thinking about him touching that girl in any way made you want to breakdown.

"Ex.—excuse me." You tried to excuse yourself as politely as you could. 

You didn't want your date too see you like this, vulnerable, heartbroken.

You urgently walked towards any door in your line of sight. When you finally found one, you ran through it. 

You just couldn't escape him, no matter how hard you tried. He was at every single corner you turned.

You nearly groaned when you saw him propped up over the balcony, smoking of course. 

He hasn't seemed to notice you, still looking out at the stars. 

You couldn't do it anymore, you couldn't spend one more fucking second acting like you weren't in love with him. 

The sad part was you'd rather be his friend than him hate you and be nothing at all. As long as he thought about you, you'd be okay. 

That's what you had been telling yourself, but you couldn't hold onto that lie anymore. 

"Mattheo." You croaked out behind him.

His head shot to the side, looking you dead in the eyes. 

"Angel… what're you doing out here."  He looked back out to the stars, unable to make eye contact. 

"I can't do it anymore."  You said shakily.

He turned his full body around this time, his eyes a dark brown. He blew the smoke out of his mouth, the wind pushing it in the opposite direction.

"I can't keep pretending I don't feel this way.., do you know how hard it was to watch you talk to that girl?" You nearly cried out.

"All the girls you fuck with and then bring them to shit like this, I cant keep lying to myself —wishing that it was me instead of her."

You were on the brink of gasping for air, your head pounded. You couldn't believe you had suppressed these emotions for so long. Every single time you went to Mattheo's dorm, you could barely restrain yourself from kissing him. 

Before you could continue on with your speech 

Mattheo had forced you against the wall. 

His lips met yours in a harsh collision. In an almost immediate reaction, your body responded to his actions, kissing him back with just as much need and hurry.

"You don't get to fucking do that."  He pulled back from your lips, still making sure to keep his face mere inches from yours.

"Every single day, I'd sit there and watch you talk to this new guy, I couldn't do shit about it— I wouldn't let myself do shit about it."

“I knew you deserved so much better than some lousy asshole like me, angel.” His hand held a firm grip on your hips, his other still had its place on the stone wall. 

"It took everything in me not to punch that fucker in the face when I saw him look at you, but I knew you wouldn't want that." You melted beneath his gaze.

His kisses trailed down your jawline.

"During second year, when I went to the dance, I saw you there with Draco, I nearly killed him right after. I couldn't bear to see you with anyone other than myself.. so I wouldn't go, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it so I never went to another ball again." He gently caressed your cheek with his thumb.

"Until this year." He mumbled softly in between the kisses he was leaving on your neck.

He brought his face back up to yours, his eyes stormy and clouded with something darker than just simple need.

"What'd he say to you? What did he call you?" Mattheo asked with a dark shimmer in his eyes, one you were hoping was just from the moon.

You swallowed harshly, you hadn't realized how dry your mouth truly was. 

"He just said I looked nice—" 

"Nice? You look fucking ravishing. I've never met a girl as beautiful as you, never once in my life seen a girl who could compare anywhere near you...That's why I call you angel you know...,because even if an angel walked by, my eyes would still be glued on you."

His gentle voice tickled your ears, and your cheeks warmed up beneath him.

"You are my angel."

He kissed you again, only this time it was more gentle. His lips held no rush, they were soft and comforting. 

You were the one to pull back this time, smiling sweetly up at him. He pulled you from against the wall, leaving the two of you in the center of the balcony, under the sparkling stars.

"I can't believe we've been friends all these years, and neither of us made a move."

He spun you around under the moon light, the beautiful sky knocking the breath out of you.

"Hey matty..?”You whispered once he had began to hold you in his arms gently.

"Yes angel?" He matched your tone, the sweet nickname you gave him made his chest tighten up.

"I love you." You closed your eyes, shutting them slowly.

"I love you... I always thought I'd never be the type to say that so freely, guess I just needed to meet the right person." He swayed the two of you lightly, finding a rhythm in the midnight winds. 

"Of course it's you... 

It's always been you."

[inmaki2]

luxiems reaction to a partner that’s loud in bed

req . pairing : luxiem x f!reader .

smut mdni . 2k est wc .

warnings : mocking in mystas . pull out method in lucas . uhh it’s just filth

posting b4 i sleep.. sry for taking so long with this im a slow writer + kpop blog shit LMAO

- mysta rias

your sounds are a one way ticket to shooting this man’s ego through the roof.

whenever he gets to be on top, mysta thrives in the fact that he can make you feel so good, to the point where volume has no consequence in your poor fucked out brain. of course, this doesn’t mean your boyfriend won’t be a little mean about it — it’s just how he is.

“uh, uh,” mocking the tone of your choked up sounds, mysta can’t help but snicker while his hips slam into yours. “so—“ he’s cut off when your walls squeeze him even tighter, “shit, such cute fuckin’ noises. my dick’s that good, huh slut?”

you don’t even have the strength to vocalize your embarrassment from the cruel imitation, much too preoccupied gripping the sheets for dear life. not to mention the pathetic string of drool falling from the corner of your swollen lips; open mouth allowing more squeals to escape with every thrust while the grip on your thighs tighten.

his pace never relents, even when your walls are practically suffocating him. “c-cum, please pl— ah! please, wanna cum, mysta,” you beg, voice cracking desperately.

the pleads coming from your sore throat only encourage the male to go rougher, one sleek finger rushing down to circle your puffed clit while the others lie sternly across your pelvis, harsh pressure preventing any attempts to squirm away while massaging the bulge his length leaves on your lower tummy in the process.

with you nearly spasming beneath him, mysta smiles wider. “hold it, kay? keep moaning my name louder n’ i’ll consider. let everyone know who’s fucking you this good.”

- shu yamino

it’s like a game for him — what can he do to make you even louder? theres no point in whining either, you can whimper and beg all you want, but your nerd of a boyfriend is rather strict in bed no matter how much he loves your pleas.

shu has your back pressed to his toned chest, a muscly bicep ensuring you’re immobilized by mimicking a seat belt across your waist. his free hand plunges two skillful fingers into your hole, purposely avoiding your clit for nothing but the fun of it.

even so, perhaps it’s the way he abuses that gummy spot so easily, or maybe the sloppy sounds coming from his mouth as he sucks on your shoulder — whatever it is, you simply can’t hold in your cries.

“want.. want your cock now, shu. please pl—!” a slap to your cunt along with the emptiness of his fingers’ absence has you crying out, and it takes everything in your boyfriend’s power to not groan as your ass rubs right on his bulge.

biting into your shoulder, shu tuts in disappointment. “this isn’t enough?” he lazily drags his pointer through your folds, huffing. “i thought you were my good girl.“

“i am, i am your—“ you’re cut off with another slap, yelping in a mix of delicious pleasure and pain while juices flow out from the contact.

“enough,” he spits. “good girls dont complain when they already have two fingers filling them up. they sit there, moan, and take it.” before you can reply, he’s already thrusting back into you, humming in approval when you let out a gutteral sound that can surely be heard outside the room.

“there you go, scream my name when you cum.”

though you can barely think, you use your last bit of strength to mumble out, “do— do i get your dick after?”

this has shu letting out a chuckle even while his fingers are curling into your walls, and you swear you see the tip of his ears turn a shy red. “sure, princess. s’long as you keep those pretty moans up.”

- ike eveland

yes, your boyfriend loves the variety of sounds he can emit from you, but god it stresses him out sometimes.

ike is not up for sharing nor exhibitionism, the mere thought of anyone else hearing or knowing what the two of you are up to has him pausing anxiously, even when the blissful feeling of your thighs suffocating him flourishes. he occasionally wonders how your throat manages such strain, even more so when you nearly howl from the way his lips suck around your most sensitive area.

despite your body weight crushing him, ike manages to pull off for a second to breathe. “no..” you complain, hands rushing to tug him back by the fluffy grey hair tickling your thighs.

“don’t worry, i’ll give you what you want, y/n,” he reassures, pretty face red and sweaty. “but try to stay quiet for me.”

“s’ hard..” almost teasingly, ike’s tongue is swiftly back to licking up your juices, two pale arms hooking around your thighs to ensure you’re fully sitting right on him. his prior request diminishes, in fact, the opposite only occurs.

everytime his tongue pushes into your hole, his nose bumps your clit so perfectly — not to mention the vibration coming from his own sounds against your cunt, hurriedly sending you over the edge. “geez, i say be quiet and you only get louder. bad girl.”

you’ve pretty much tuned him out at this point of your high, which ike catches onto rather quickly. though to your luck, your boyfriend is feeling merciful. “go on— mmh, just cum. as long as you’re ready to get gagged after while i fuck you.”

- vox akuma

well aren’t you just made for this man? being loud himself, vox very much appreciates your openness to matching his volume whether it be intentional or not. his ego is skyrocketing as is, but every time you scream his name, it feels as though something goes off in his brain, resembling a mental pat on the back that has his cock twitching.

“fuuuck, cunt’s squeezing me so damn tight. keep moaning like that, baby.” contradictingly, the man presses your face further into the mattress, plowing his length into you from behind at a dauntingly fast pace. it may sound strange, but vox thinks you look cute suffering underneath him like this.

you aren’t even sure if it’s tears or drool staining the sheets, but the bubbling feeling of embarrassment encourages you to finally purse your lips and stop the erotic noises circling your bedroom.

however, your boyfriend freezes, seemingly accepting this as a challenge.

his hips cease movement almost completely with only the tip poking your entrance, a graceful hand running up your sides as he whispers. “oh? what’s this?” suddenly, you feel yourself being pulled up, two fingers turning your chin to come face-to-face with a sinister sneer. “going quiet on me?”

“milord..” as you attempt to speak, your jaw is forced open wider before a glob of saliva is dropped onto your vulnerable tongue.

“swallow,” vox hisses. you comply seconds later even though your cheeks are burning red, body involuntarily squirming in pathetic attempts to run from the length slowly sheathing back inside. “good girl.”

when he’s an inch or two from bottoming out, he pulls your hips back onto him, ejecting a chocked yelp from your mouth at the feeling of him hitting that gummy spot. vox only laughs in response. “so cute.. thinking you can hide those pretty sounds from me.” an offended tch leaves his lips. “do that again and you’re not cumming tonight, m’kay darling?”

- luca kaneshiro

luca’s main goal in bed is just to please you as much as he can, so being loud does nothing but make him feel pride and act as a sign that he’s doing well — especially now when he’s putting all his strength into making you both reach bliss.

legs wrapped tightly around his waist, you let out a groan as his cock plunges into you harshly, the girth and length making your eyes squeeze shut by the fullness. “please luca..”

he grunts, sweat rolling down his face and onto yours. “what- what are you begging for now?” the blonde moves one hand down to your chest, pinching your nipple playfully.

“harder!”

“harder?” luca parrots, a mischievous smirk rising across his cheeks. who was he to say no? “don’t complain if you can’t walk tomorrow.”

regardless of his warning, he quickly obliges, snickering at how a strangled moan is forced out of you with each prod. luca is certainly aware of the racket you’re making, but noise complaints are his last concern when he gets a front row seat to your eyes rolling back into your skull. “jesus, you’re loud. gonna— shit, gonna squirt all over me babe?”

you can only nod in response, hands pathetically gripping strong biceps while his fingers move down to press the bulge on your tummy. before you can make another move he’s pulling you into a kiss, swallowing your sounds right as your impending orgasm washes over you. luca groans himself from the way your walls spasm, struggling to even pull out with your legs caging him in.

eventually he’s releasing all over your swollen cunt and stomach, groaning in satisfaction at his work while flopping down next to you. “hey y/n.”

“what, luca?”

“i think that’s one of the loudest i’ve ever got you. top three at least.”

you open one eye in disbelief, making eye contact with the same idiot who just fucked your insides up. “is everything a competition to you?”

“i’m just saying!”

if u want me to write more make sure to reblog/send asks and tell me if u enjoyed !!!!!

nkox 2023 - do not copy, translate, crosspost, etc.

[lafaiette]

I've seen some people ask for comparisons between Pen's Chinese and English lines, so I made a small compilation to show the biggest changes that most baffled me.

There is a kind Chinese player, Yu, who offered the fandom much of the info and insight contained in this post, and she was the first to shed light on these differences! Without her enthusiasm, I doubt people would have started investigating Pen's original lines ;_;

Under the read more because this is long!

Brief premise: the Chinese dialogues in the game are often less "harsh" than the English ones. For example, Qi can sound rude and condescending in English, while he's pretty polite, if not a bit aloof, in Chinese. Justice's lines in English rely on the typical "hey pardner" cowboy accent, while in Chinese he's very professional, almost overly so.

That said, the English writer who worked on Pen made it no mystery that he based his characterization of Pen on Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. There is even a line directly referencing the movie: "[...] when I was a boy I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large. Now that I'm grown I have five dozen eggs [...]"

As such, English Pen sounds much different from Chinese Pen. He's more patronizing and rude, and the writer added stuff that it's simply not present in the Chinese text. So while in English Pen can sound like a knucklehead obsessed only with muscles and training, surrounded by adoring women and fans when in Duvos, in Chinese he shows a different, almost more innocent side, as if he were a very tall and big child who has never had a day of legitimate and healthy fun in his life (and that's carried across in some of the English lines - that's why his English version is a bit contradicting sometimes).

Here are some examples:

One of his lines as a Good Friend is:

Here it's implied that Pen gives the Builder a hard time not only to push them to improve themselves... but also because he likes doing it, referencing his friendship mission where he admits he doesn't like teaching people anything, he just wants to fight them.

Meanwhile, the Chinese version says:

I keep calling you a weakling just to urge you and encourage you to exercise hard and break through your limits. If you won't have me to protect you in the future, you will have to become an eagle for me!

Here "eagle" is a reference to the way Pen calls the Builder in Chinese: 小弱鸡 "little weakling/little chicken" - and the latter is a rude way to call someone in Chinese, especially if they are a man and the "chicken" character (鸡) is repeated twice (but 鸡 by itself is also slang for "female prostitute"... so if you want to read it that way, Pen can call the Builder "my little slut" when in a relationship. HEH.)

In any case the tone in this line of dialogue is much different from the one in English, and Pen sounds genuinely enthusiastic.

Another example:

At the start of the game, Pen asks the Builder to craft a Sword and Shield for Burgess, who apparently misplaced his own. It turns out Burgess hid them under his bed, so when the Builder tries to give the weapons they crafted to Pen, he will tell them to keep them.

As usual, the English version is mocking and patronizing ("Hah! That'd be rich!"). In the Chinese version, Pen first compliments the desert:

In this case, take it back and use it for yourself! Use it to explore the desert and fight those monsters - what a thrill! The desert is very dangerous, but it is also full of charm.

Then there is the line about Logan and his band:

Hey! Maybe you can still find traces of Logan's gang! If you subdue them, you will gain both fame and fortune! [Okay, see you next time] [not shown here]

Now, some romance stuff : >

This is the description for the Robo-Love Couch. In English it says:

Meanwhile the Chinese description:

Referred to as the "Love Sand Machine", Peng Hu specially built a loving sofa for you, pieced together from the remains of robot monsters in the ruins.

He specially built a loving sofa for the Builder. It seems like a silly detail, but wording is important!

And yes, Pen's full name is Peng Hu, 彭虎. Peng is his family name, Hu his birth name. Hu 虎 means "tiger", and now you can understand why Grace suspected him to be Tiger the spy. But that would have been too easy!

Peng 彭 is a common Chinese surname. Its original meaning is believed to be "sound of war drums" (sad implication), but it's also used as an adjective to mean "big". So Pen's full name can mean "big tiger" :D

Back to the couch! Lines are different during the date in Paradise Lost, too.

Come on, little weakling, come and sit next to me. Let's give this trophy a "kiss of victory"! Do you do this with everyone you date? Wait, it seems I'm regretting it a bit... Happiness comes too suddenly...... (Kiss Peng Hu)

In the English version, the Builder can ask "How many of these thrones have you built...?", implying that Pen has had so many lovers he can craft this couch in a matter of few seconds. But in Chinese, the Builder's question is much different, it's more like: "Damn, are you always so over the top when dating someone??"

One of the biggest differences is in this set of lines:

Okay.

Meanwhile, in Chinese:

Today's experience made me realize that love has used a deadly locking technique on both of our hearts. Let me no longer doubt the feelings between us. This love is true love! Now, I am even more unwilling to take my eyes away from you! Haha!

I MEAN.

Also, in Chinese Pen never mentions the infamous 12 girlfriends when the Builder and Grace question him in jail. Yu confirmed that throughout the game Pen doesn't brag about his love life or his popularity with women, probably also due to the negative way Chinese culture sees this kind of "bragging".

Not only Pen and many other characters are younger in Chinese Sandrock (Pen's age ranges from 25 to 27, while he's confirmed to be 31 in the English localization), but he's depicted as being not very experienced in relationships in general. He basically only knows how to fight, punch people, and destroy stuff. Anything else - having friends, being with someone who truly loves him and whom he truly loves, having a normal life - are something he never experienced before. He did date (see his final letter later), but he's not described being the Casanova of Duvos like he is in the English version. In fact, it seems people only liked him due to his body and status, and a remnant of this piece of characterization is left in the English text when he says:

Surely, you understand… I am quite the prize. I can’t take myself off the market just to become arm candy for you to show off at your little buildy guild awards or whatever it is! No, what I desire… is true love…

Furthermore,

In Chinese, he says during the Masterclass friendship mission: "To be honest, I never thought I'd be able to make friends, let alone with someone of your stature/body size! But here we are, with a sick relationship!"

In English: "You know, Skinny, I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before. Furthermore, I always promised myself I’d never be friends with anyone who didn’t have an awesome cape, but… you made me break that promise."

"I never thought I'd be able to make friends" is different from "I’ve never had someone I really considered a friend before." In the first line, the focus is on Pen ("I don't know how to make friends; I'm not good at it; it's not for me; how do you do it?"), in the second it's on other people ("I've been surrounded by people all my life, but I don't consider any of them to be a friend of mine; yeah, I call this one 'friend', but... they are not really really a friend")

The Chinese line is much sadder, and it shows how lonely Pen's life has been. One of his main characteristics, after all, is being "special", "the strongest", "different from everyone else"; but more often than not, being special and different also mean being "lonely". ("I must say it gets lonely at the top… What I wouldn't give for a truly talented opponent who could really keep me on my toes! Alas...")

And now, the grand finale :'>

A screenshot from Yu's playthrough, Pen's final line:

Farewell, Yu. This time it's for real. You're free.

The Protector, the bracelet Pen will leave for the Builder in the cave, is called "Guardian of Love" (爱的守卫者) in Chinese. Its description says:

A very delicate bracelet that protects the wearer's wrist. Wearing it gives the wearer a feeling of being emotionally confined. Perhaps this feeling is similar to what Peng Hu often said, "Marriage is a boring bondage".

His letter in Chinese is also sweeter and sadder:

最近在这所谓的阿塔拉最高监狱，我也多了点时间思考，没法带你一起来陪我，多少有些遗憾。罢了，这事也怪我。不管怎么说，你也算是我交往过的恋人里最让我上心的，也是为数不多分手之后我还继续挂念的。所以，我打算原谅你了。对——我原谅你了。我想我们也没有机会再在一起了，你也不过是做了你那个位置该做的事，没什么值得抱怨的。我应该一开始就努力把你“招安”了，让你跟我一起，才是最妥当的做法。当然我也没怨你，你确实很优秀。我还留了个最后的挑战给你。在某个遗迹里，有我最宝贵的几样东西，如果你能拿到，就归你了。运用我教给过你的一招半式，要去到那里应该很容易。我亲爱的小弱鸡，这是我最后一次这样叫你了，我相信你的能力。记住，不要怠慢了训练。我们，后会无期。

Dear [name], I've had a little more time to think lately in this so-called Atara Maximum Prison, and I'm more than a little sorry that I couldn't bring you along to accompany me. Well, it's my fault. Anyway, you are still the most beloved lover I have ever been with, and one of the few that I continue to miss even after a breakup. So, I'm going to forgive you. Yeah - I forgive you.I don't think there's a chance we'll ever be together again. You're just doing what you're supposed to do in your position, so there's nothing to complain about. I should have tried my best to recruit you from the beginning, and it would have been the best way to keep you with me. Of course I don't blame you, you're indeed excellent. I also left you a final challenge. In some ruins, there are a few of my most valuable things, and if you can get them, they're yours. It should be easy to get there, using the tricks I've taught you. My dear little weakling, this is the last time I'll call you that, I believe in your abilities. Remember, don't slack off on your training. We won't meet again. (but 后会无期 can also mean "meeting at an unspecified/unclear date")

And finally, if romanced, Pen will leave for the Builder 5 pieces of gold, 2 diamonds, and 1 Protector. 521 (and 520) are a cute way to say "I love you" in Chinese, because when read aloud they sound like "我爱你, Wo ai ni, "I love you". But in some cases, 521 also means "Yes, I will [marry you]" - and Pen does drop a diamond ring after his final battle (apparently he drops it only if you romanced him, but it's unclear yet. I'm pretty sure he didn't drop it during my Fang playthrough, while he did drop it when I romanced him, but I'll need to check that).

WELP, this is pretty much everything I got on this! If the kind Yu will tell us more or I find anything else, I'll update this post!

[contraryclock]

stupid ass Don Quixote ramblings

hi this is my first tumblr post but i really wanted a good place to put this

spoilers for all of current limbus company, including Murder on the warp Express, the Don Quixote book (( kinda )), and a musical (( i'll get there ))

please humor this deranged rant about a character i havent read the source book of

so basically ive had a theory since Don was even teased that she's less so based on book Don Quixote and moreso based on the Man of La Mancha musical which is. an insane thing to suggest but hear me out here (( ive since changed how i word my stance to the much more mild "it will most likely delve into the themes of both works and reference both" because suggesting they would discount the book entirely is TRUE insanity ))

her quote (( from teaser tweets that i cannot find anymore? they seem like they were deleted which sucks )) was "To reach the unreachable star!" or something which is notably not a quote from the original book ((as far as im aware at least?)), and suggests. a lot i think!

One of the most notable differences between Man of La Mancha and the original Don Quixote is their tone and attitude towards Quixote. In the original text, he's shown to be a fool who is ignorant to the vastly more interesting world around him, and prefers to instead sink deeper into his delusions of reality equating to chivalric literature. This makes sense as Don Quixote was written as a parody and mockery of the genre

La Mancha is, notably, much more forgiving on Quixote's character, showing that while still a fool, and his insanity often detrimental to those around him, he is still a good person at heart and that he truly wishes to pursue this justice he posits

I usually say it as "Don Quixote is about how reality is beautiful, and La Mancha is about how sometimes one should strive to make reality a little more fantastical" although i dont know if that. is the most accurate comparison. both Don Quixote and La Mancha have a lot of themes and stuff going on

one of the things that made me scream was learning about "Miguel" being written on don's LCB combat spritesheet instead of her listed name

which if you've seen or read a summary of la mancha is a huge alarm bell

In La Mancha, the whole thing is shown as a Play within a Play

Miguel de Cerventes is sent to prison, awaiting trial by the inquisition, and is tasked with defending himself in a mock trial with the other prisoners so they dont take his belongings. His defense is Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha! With the prisoners acting out the various roles he assigns them, and him acting as the leading man, Don Quixote himself!

that was most of the things that made me think "Oh, maybe it'll be La Mancha!" and then this happened

and i sort of lost my god damned mind

because like what if this is miguel... what if shes simultaneously playing out her life as don quixote as a her delusion, and as her dream, but also as a statement...

idk but this isnt JUST about Man of La Mancha bc i think this has a few implications for how don's canto is going to go

In both don quixote and la mancha, they send someone to cure quixote of his delusions

The final thing they try is setting up an act where a "Knight of Mirrors" duels with Quixote, which ends up working.

The Knight forces Quixote to see how he is perceived by others, to see the truth that he is no knight.

ignoring the stuff with vampires and mirrors for a second, i feel like this could be more mirror world shenanigans, where either the knight IS a mirror world don quixote, or is someone who will show her mirror worlds. Whatever that will imply!!! i dont know its exciting!!!!!

Her being absurdly old and powerful, plus bloodfiends having a whole familial adjacent hierarchy makes me think theres a LOT of bloodfiends out there that would want her back

I dunno!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im insane!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! i just wanted to get my thoughts out before her canto actually happened so i can say that i did indeed have an opinion on this

-limbus assets taken form Lunartique's asset google drive go look at it -text written by me and not proofread

ok thanks bye dont follow me byeee byeeeeee

[olderthannetfic]

You know what obnoxious thing I keep seeing in fandom I wish would stop? This absolute need some people seem to have for their ship to be Representation in some way. Shipping is just imagining scenarios between two characters! You don’t need it to be a Special reason or whatever? I have a ship that is popular and people make weird vague comments about how the fandom is racist because both of them are white and there are other ship options that have poc so the white ship being big is a reflection on how racist the fandom is but the thing is…

Look I’m going to be real with y’all the fandom is for the game Detroit: Become Human and let’s just say the two major black characters are basically stereotypes written by a neocon lib boomer in a story that itself is imho…let’s call it tone deaf and corny af rather than overtly racist but yeah. Black folks on twitter regularly mock this game for good reason. It is very much a boomer white man’s idea of the civil rights movement but with robots. The robots sing actual slave hymns. The main character is essentially a light-skinned Martin Luther King Jr (dubbed Markus Luthur King by blktwt lol) and the religious allegories of him as a savior figure are very on the nose. It is bad lol. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to explore the black characters but the fandom is full of young white people singing the praises of this writing while patting themselves on the back about it which is genuinely uncomfortable to be around. Just my 2 cents but the virtue signaling and insane policing around those two characters makes it unbearable to interact with their content it is deeply sanitized and you WILL get death threats if you attempt any nuance or are critical of the (kinda racist imo) way they were written in canon.

The worst part of this is that Markus has a popular ship with a character a lot of people read or interpret as a more soft or femme gay man and you know what zoomers hate? Femme gay men. So obviously this is made to be ‘problematic’ in some way because these people can’t just admit to being femmphobic/homophobic themselves.

Sometimes it’s easier to stick with the boring white characters in the background because they aren’t being closely guarded by stupid reactionary people who are used to flashing their favorite fictional poc characters as tokens of their own goodness and virtue.

--

The pinnacle of this game is that moment when the black lady lectures her son about why they need to run the robot underground railroad to Canada.

I watched some playthroughs. Unsurprisingly, I liked the buddy cops with the good development, not the cringey activism plot with too many foils and not enough development of any single relationship and not the the Women Care About Babies plot.

But if I were going to do something fannish with Markus, I'd write him having a fucked up relationship with his mentor's son post game—the surrogate son who thought the guy was great and the estranged son who knew he wasn't but who has also done a bunch of shitty stuff himself.

It's especially hilarious when tryhards think the problem is not enough people shipping Markus with North as if the slashers are going to be into 1. het and 2. yet another unnecessary traumatic sex stuff backstory for a lady.

Even worse, half the whining isn't even about that Nines fanon nonsense being more popular than Markus: it's about how Markus/Connor would be better than Hank/Connor because old people are ew.

Sorry, children, a lot of people are here to thirst for Clancy Brown and because they'll turn up for any Caves of Steel ripoff. Other Connor ships were never in the running.

[aeternallis]

High-Context Culture at Play and Kim's Mode of Communicating // a rant

So, something I notice once in awhile when I go through the tags on Ao3 for KPTS fics are commentary on the lack of communication in the show—specifically, how Kim doesn't communicate. Tags such as, "Kim communicates, it's a miracle", "OOC because they actually communicate", "Kim uses his words", "Healthy Communication, so it's OOC", etc etc.

This isn't meant to call anyone out and mind you, this isn't something I've only seen in the KPTS fandom; tags like these are also used in a lot of danmei fics I see, as well as the sheer variety of anime/manga fics I've read in my time.

And ngl, when I see those tags...my gut reaction is often to feel that they sound very much tongue-in-cheek and somewhat mocking. Not just to the character himself, but to the narrative itself. It's a bit uncomfortable at times, reading those kinds of tags, even if I know to myself that there's likely no malicious intent behind it.

For what it's worth, I won't apply bad faith arguments on works of art and creativity, and I'm certainly not looking to police fic on Ao3, yknow?

Having said that though and just because I have yet to see a post talking about this topic explicitly, I also feel that it's important to some degree to understand how people communicate in Thailand, and Asia in general.

Mind you, I’m no expert in Thai culture, lemme repeat that yet again. They have unspoken social rules that I myself wouldn't understand because I'm not Thai, nor do I speak Thai. Asia at large, though sharing a unique set of many similar values, is not a homologous region; each country has a rich tapestry of history and culture and very much different from one another.

Yet, as someone who grew up in an Asian household who shares many of said values, I often feel like—when it comes to East Asian/Southeast Asian fictional characters at large—there has always been an unconscious, almost knee-jerk habit I often see in fanfiction to reshape their style of communication to a more western context, if that makes sense. As someone who used to translate doujinshi and Pixiv 小説 for fun, it was always noticeable and a bit jarring, once I moved over to read my fanfic of choice, yknow.

This isn't inherently or purposefully malicious in any way, but it can feel very dismissive, even if it's unconsciously done.

Thailand and most if not all of SE Asia operate in a high-context culture. High-context culture means that when we communicate, it’s not always so much the words themselves that matter, but the context surrounding those words: body language, tone, eye contact, a person’s social status, etc etc. The words sometimes only convey part of the intent, but it doesn’t convey everything. In some situations, the words themselves can even mean the exact opposite of what they’re trying to convey.

It's why so many misunderstandings happen between international fans on platforms like X, because the nuance is often lost in Google Translate.

On the other end of that, we can use Tumblr as the example: since this is mostly an English-speaking website, for the most part, this hellsite operates on a low-context culture, but is easily ignited with outrage based on seemingly high-context traits. LOLOL

This type of communication is not always easily translated into the subtitles, nor is it remotely perfect in any way. It can be quite complex, and hell, even in the context of its own culture, misunderstandings can and do happen all the time. And, as we've seen from the recent popularity boom of East Asian media from the past two or three decades to the American and western audience at large, some of the most compelling drama can come from these sorts of human error.

Besides that, if I’m being perfectly honest, almost always (one of) the source(s) of fandom drama when it comes to character interpretation is due to the nuances of the high-context culture the story takes place in that can have the loudest enthusiasts arguing back and forth.

This is particularly true for characters like Kim Theerapanyakul, who are meant to be portrayed as mysterious and unreadable.

(Lan Wangji and Hyakuya Mika are also a few that comes to mind in my personal experience, uh huh)

To be quite frank, it's why I personally avoid getting into any nitty gritty discussion when it comes to characters like Kim and LWJ, because they mean so much to many different people, as well as simply for the fact that I do not know everyone's emotional tolerance when it comes to disagreements. Lol What I'm saying right now can be taken to be hard-hitting fandom policing, when I'm really trying hard not for it to sound like that, nor is it even my intent. I'm not telling anyone that they're wrong or that they've misinterpreted the characters, but what I am saying, is that people in fandoms, especially for the English-Only Speakers at large, need to be more consciously aware of their cultural biases.

And before I go on, mind you, it’s perfectly okay to have cultural biases—we all have them, myself included, that's just a fact of life. No one is exempt from this, if anyone is itching to point fingers.

I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to say that if one is engaging in media that's not from their cultural context, it's good to be more aware of the surrounding cultural norms and values of that said piece of media when you apply your own interpretation to it, and especially when you may not be the intended audience.

It’s why “your headcanons are not my headcanons” is, I will always believe, a very good rule to adhere to, especially when peeps disagree with popular headcanons, so fandoms can be more respectful and tolerant of each otherrrrrrr when disagreements inevitably crop upppppp, but anywayyyyyy~

I’ve met enough expats who’ve lived abroad in my current line of work to say that trying to understand the unspoken social rules, norms, values, etc. of the foreign country they choose to live in is most often one of their biggest sources of frustration. Alas.

And, as a side-note: high-context cultures are in no way superior to low-context cultures. Both modes of communication have their pros and cons, and molds society in various different ways.

But I digress! An example of the high-context culture at play is the break-up scene in front of Kim's apartment, which I've seen a number of fic authors portray as a genuine apology from Kim:

Which—in terms of what was spoken, Kim did say he was sorry.

But let’s think about the context of the apology: he said the words as he was walking away, before pulling his arm from Chay’s grasp. He looks back at Chay coldly, and overall, his behavior is dismissive; from his body language alone, he portrays a picture of aloofness and treats Chay as an annoyance.

What he says is an apology, yes—but it's an apology with no sincerity whatsoever. It's why Chay broke down as hard as he did, because it's not just Kim's lies that had him reeling, it was the fact that in the context of how Kim dismissed Chay during that scene, it also heavily implies that nothing between them had ever been sincere. Kim completely reverses the understanding that Chay had of their friend/relation-ship and cuts it off completely.

And although what I'm saying may come across as "Duh, that's freakin' obvious," I also want to add another point: Kim would know the implications of what this non-apology is. He would understand the context in which he'd said those words. Whether he chose to regret them or not later on is up for debate, but it's interesting to see whenever fic authors use this scene as an excuse that Kim genuinely thought he apologized, just because he said the words out loud.

Do you see what I mean? In that scene, the canon's context is what matters, but I've seen enough fic where that scene is turned on its head and fic!Kim thinks and excuses himself, portraying the scene to somehow mean that it's the words that matter. The nuance is thus lost, so in turn, the emotional weight of that scene is also disregarded.

This is what I mean when I say that there is an unconscious habit some fic authors have in changing the communication style that the show is set in.

Because the reality is, Kim didn't apologize. He knew he didn't, and Chay most certainly knew he didn't. What he was communicating in that scene was entirely different from what an actual apology entails.

Be that as it may, the audience knows that the non-apology doesn't negate what he and Chay went through together in the show. He may have been lying to Chay for the majority of the story in regards to his involvement in the mafia, but it doesn't mean that the love and adoration he feels for Chay through his actions didn't come through. Kim may not have said much to Chay besides singing for him a (stolen) refurbished version of his own song, but it doesn’t mean that his intent wasn’t conveyed. It's why Chay cried the way he did, in that in some way or another, the song Kim sang is a reminder of everything that happened between them did have truth to it.

Just because they communicate in the way one may not be used to or unfamiliar with (especially in the low-context culture that countries like the US, Canada, Australia, etc. operate in), doesn't mean that they're not communicating to one another.

Healthy communication doesn’t always have to just mean “straightforward meaning in the words.”

When tags like the ones I mentioned earlier in this rant inevitably crop up, especially when it comes to characters who are non-American/British, one can't help but feel that their canon mode of communication is being mocked and made to be seen as inferior.

In which case, TL;DR, when one writes tags like these about certain characters, I sincerely hope that their cultural biases are in the forefront of their mind, and they're aware and humble enough to admit that there are some things that they may not understand in terms of the cultural context. And due to the fact that they do not understand it, hopefully not mock it in response.

[epickiya722]

Okay, thinking back to my "What if that Soul Punching Technique was the technique from Sukuna that Yuji was meant to have" post (that you can read here, feel free) I realized that maybe there was another hint to that back in the Shibuya Arc.

Remember that Jogo and Sukuna scene everyone and their mama constantly makes memes about? The one where Sukuna and Jogo talk in that... vision... realm... whatever the place is?

Okay, that obviously was Jogo having died against Sukuna since he talks to Hanami and Dagon who also died before him and when Sukuna pops up I was like "sir, damn, he can't even die in peace without seeing the guy who killed him" and at the time I didn't even question how he even got there until now. What if that was the scene to hint that Sukuna had a soul technique that Yuji now possesses? Just before then Sukuna shows he can use fire and Jogo was shocked at that. What if that scene was showing us he had not one, but two other techniques?

Now, it's two things.

One, Jogo could just be hallucinating Sukuna in his death. But, two, given the context what if Sukuna actually used a technique in which he can reach into souls on Jogo here?

Hear me out!! Sukuna praised Jogo here, something he has done with other characters and I don't think Jogo would actually dream up Sukuna doing that. He probably would have thought about Sukuba mocking his death instead. No, instead he gets praise. And Sukuna has this habit of praising those he has killed/are beneficial to his plans (Megumi). So him praising Jogo isn't out of character for him.

Also, visual and tone wise! [I bring this up because sometimes the parallels can work as foreshadowing hints.]

When Sukuna confronts Jogo, it's white. A color that Sukuna is often seen in when he's not possessing Yuji. In that scene, the tone, even given what happens, it's more... hopeful in tone for Jogo's end as even though he lost to Sukuna he gets praise from the guy, Jogo didn't fear death and he mentions him, Hanami and Dagon being reborn. The scene is long, and a tearjerker but in a "it's fine for them, at least" way. The white of scene gives it a more lighthearted feel.

Now comparing that to when Yuji finally gets to Megumi, the scene has a dark/black background. Fitting as Megumi's technique is the shadows and Sukuna did sink his soul into an abyss. But also, opposite of Sukuna, Yuji wears a dark colored uniform. In this scene with Megumi, it's more sad, woeful, angsty. Megumi has lost hope and Yuji is speechless when he gets there. It's also last a couple of moments. It's short, abrupt. Barely leaves anyone time to realize what just happen and when we do it's like "Okay, that is terrible". The black makes the scene feel more gut-wrenching.

Maybe with these scenes being opposite of each other, the scene from Shibuya was to serve as a hint of Sukuna having that soul technique and now Yuji has it. It's a stretch, but it's something to me that the scenes mirror each other like this.

[lauramkaye]

PSA

If you mock someone for some harmless* thing that brings them joy, you are being an asshole.

*seeing something on social media that you don't enjoy is not harmful. It is your responsibility to use the tools available to you in order to curate your own online experience.

Cynicism, mockery, cruelty, apathy - these are corrosive, and they damage the people that use them just as much as the people they are used against. The more you try to chip away at someone else's joys, the more you damage your own ability to experience joy. It's a process of corruption.

So often, the things we are most inclined to mock and attack in others are reflections of the parts of ourselves that we are most ashamed of. The cruelest people are often the people that hate themselves the most, who fear themselves the most, and are desperate to direct attention on others to save themselves from being the targets of the same hatred that they so freely spread.

Just as it's easy to learn these patterns of behavior, you can also unlearn them. Do it in phases.

When you see something and want to say something about how cringe/embarrassing/whatever that thing is:

Think whatever you want, but don't post about it.

Once you've broken the habit of reflexively posting, practice thinking "I don't enjoy X, but that person does. That's okay, I don't have to do/enjoy X just because someone else does."

Next thought to practice: "I may not enjoy X, but that person does. Good for them to have something that they enjoy."

Next thought to practice: "It's nice to see positivity and excitement and creativity. Everyone deserves to have hobbies they love."

And then: "What is it about X that they like so much? They seem to be drawn to the bright colors/happy endings/emotional tone/pretty people."

And then: "You know, I think I might like Y for similar reasons that they like X. I prefer a neutral color palette and subtle textures while they seem to like very bright colors and bold textures, but we are both enjoying the aesthetics of the art. Well met, fellow art enjoyer. I'm happy each of us was able to find some art that fits our taste."

And then sometimes after a while: "You know what, I haven't thought about this in a long time, but one of my friends used to make fun of this hot pink sparkly notebook I had when I was in school. I really loved that notebook, it made me feel happy to use it, but after my friend said those things I threw it away, and then I started making fun of other people with similar ones so my friend would think I was cool. It's sad that something that made me happy once got turned into a weapon I used to make other people unhappy. I'm glad I don't do that anymore."

Then you get yourself another pink sparkly notebook. And you use it. And you let it make you happy. And a little sore place in your heart that's been festering heals.

[anneapocalypse]

I have really complex feelings about the idea (often implied or tacitly agreed to be true even when it's not stated outright) that realism in sex scenes (and specifically sex scenes in fanfiction because that's what I'm thinking about) is always preferable and desirable. That it's always better to be more realistic, and any kind of unrealistic or fictionalized portrayals of sex are inferior--or in some cases, worthy of contempt and an indication of the inexperience/immaturity/poor writing skills of the author.

I have mixed feelings about it because I do think there's a place for realism. There are things that add realism to sex scenes that I really enjoy. I enjoy watching certain characters communicate their desires and negotiate activities. In some scenarios I like seeing characters employ safer sex practices like barriers. I will always enjoy when an author takes the time to figure out a form of lubrication that's appropriate and believable in the setting! I can even enjoy when a character gets up to pee after sex before returning to bed to cuddle; it's a very human touch to the scene that can itself be comforting and enjoyable to read. I like it when people who have experience with certain types of sex create helpful guides to writing those things, offering details you might not think of or know about if you haven't had that type of sex. It gives authors more to work with! It's a tool. Realism is a tool, and one that can absolutely enrich scenes and make them more interesting and fun to read.

And at the same time, something really does rub me the wrong way when I see posts that express contempt for a realism gap in fanfiction and imply that anyone writing it that way must be a) stupid, b) inexperienced (while kind of implying that writing about sex when you haven't had sex is inherently a problem, which I object to fundamentally), and c) completely unaware that what they're writing isn't realistic, which kind of points back to A. It's less on the nose than it would have been like ten years ago, when a lot more people were willing to just come right out and mock "stupid girls writing stupid fanfic" (and all the assumptions that go along with that) but still... that tone lingers. I won't even get into some of the smug posts that used to circulate about anal sex that ended up coming across as "don't you know anal sex is GROSS" in a way that was kind of lowkey homophobic, intentionally or not. Nor am I going to get into the prevalence of queer people telling other queer people they're doing queerness Wrong (in fanfiction, in original writing, in life in general).

To bring a personal angle to this, I'm a nearly-40-year-old bisexual cis woman, married and monogamous, chronically ill, and with some lifelong undefined sensory issues that I don't have any kind of diagnosis for so I'll just call them that. For me personally, due mostly to sensory issues and some physiological quirks, sex can take a lot of energy. Sometimes it's just a lot of work! That doesn't mean I don't want it or enjoy it, or that my partner is failing in some way; I have an active and fun sex life with a very thoughtful and caring partner (and I am not looking for advice on this post, so let's not get sidetracked). There's just challenges! And sometimes I wish my own body made it easier!

So sometimes, when I'm writing smut which is definitionally for fun and primarily for me and my own enjoyment, I find myself caught between: do I want to make this character's experience of sex very realistic in a way that's relatable to me? or do I just want to indulge in the fantasy of sex being easy and low-effort?

At this very moment I'm having difficulty answering that question about some things! There's pros and cons to both, and I don't think either one is wrong. Because at the end of the day, my own enjoyment is the goal of this piece of fiction. It's self-indulgence either way. No matter what I write, these pixel people I'm writing about are not real and their sex scenes are still a fantasy. It's just a question of what kind of fantasy I want to indulge in.

There was a good post I saw recently about the fact that a lot of problematic tropes are problematic not inherently but by scale--in other words, because their prevalence reinforces ideas and narratives harmful to specific groups. And I will be the first to acknowledge that even in the realm of fanfiction--a sphere with relatively low impact on the culture at large--it can be frustrating to constantly run into the same tropes that we find unrelatable or just plain unenjoyable, whether it's rigid top/bottom roles or easy vaginal orgasms. I don't want to come across as like, scolding anyone for just being annoyed, or venting about that sort of thing. It's fine. Some people's forms of self-indulgence are irritating to me, and my self-indulgence is undoubtedly annoying to someone else. I also want to reiterate that talking about what is and isn't realistic in the context of fiction is fine and good and there's absolutely a place for it, and that I enjoy a lot of elements of realism in fiction. I just also want to leave room for fiction to be fantasy. I think that's okay. And everyone's gauge for just how much realism is enjoyable is going to be different. I think that's fine too.

[shelby-fangirl00]

Lie To Me-part one (oc x John Shelby x Tommy Shelby)

Hey y'all! I force myself to push this out but I have a lot of ideas for the story! This was originally a love triangle request. My internship is over BTW! I feel so motivated to get back to posting. Please leave comments on what you think of this!

Summary: Irene has been seeing John Shelby for a year now on and off. In John's absence, Irene begins to feel a pull towards Tommy.

Warnings: Language, no smut, talk of sex, fluff

Word Count: 3367

I groggily sat up to answer the light knocks on my door. It was definitely the early hours of the morning the sun wasn’t up yet. ‘Who the fuck is it?’ No answer.

I slowly lifted the covers and threw on the robe hanging off of the kitchen chair. The knocking became more insistent the longer I took. 

‘Christ, alright!’ I yelled as I opened the door to find one very cheeky Shelby grinning from ear to ear. 

‘You’re only…6 hours late tonight!’ I mocked at John, crossing my arms over my chest in defense. 

He rolled his eyes and threw his head back in laughter. ‘Can you forgive me?’ he tore his cap off and placed it over his chest, batting those big brown eyes at me. Trying to avoid his goofy (but also adorable) gestures, I whipped around, leaving the door open as an invitation for him to come in. 

John quickly shut the door, coming up behind me. His hands found their way to my hips and squeezed tightly. He craned his face into my neck, attacking me in small kisses. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…’ He whispered after each kiss, tickling my neck. His familiar scent filled my nose and I knew I was a goner. Why did he have to be so damn charming?

I smiled weakly. Forgiving him is too easy. We’d been seeing each other on and off for a year. Well, we aren’t together, but I’m definitely not pursuing others. John, on the other hand, is. Of course, it fucking hurts, but I would never admit that to him. I keep trying to tell myself that it’s just sex, even though sometimes, it feels deeper than that. But my freedom means more than this relationship with John. I know the price of being exclusive with John Shelby. I would never be fully free again. I don’t have any interest in being a wife either. My space and independence are sacred. 

I moved in next to the betting shop a year ago, still live here now. Almost instantly, John caught my eye. The first thing I noticed was his childish smile. His charisma was contagious. I was quite smitten when he showed interest in me. Aside from the sex, he’s been a great friend. 

‘Where were you this time?’ I turned around and took a step backwards. 

He frowned down at me, taking a step forward. ‘I just got the chance to sneak out of Tommy’s clutches. Had me and Arthur running around all of fucking Small Heath. You know how it goes with him, Irene…I really did try.’ He let his fingers intertwine in mine. 

‘I do know how it goes with your tyrant brother.’ I huffed out, resting my arms on his shoulders, a sign of defeat. He chuckled as his callused fingers found their way to the knot in my robe. In one motion, he loosened it and pushed the fabric slowly off my shoulders. As the robe softly hit the wooden floorboards, I covered my chest shyly, like he hadn’t seen every inch of me already. 

He laughed in that menacing tone. ‘Don’t hide from me now.’ 

He pushed my hands down, replacing them with his own. I couldn’t help but softly gasp in response. When he touched me, I couldn’t reject him even if I tried. To most people, John was an intimidating man. I’ve never found that to be true. I couldn’t be more at ease around him. I could say whatever I felt with no judgment (because he’s in no position to do so). I laughed and smiled more when he was around I feel the child within me being heard and nurtured whenever were together. And then he leaves, sometimes for weeks, with no word. Like he never existed, only in my head. Until he finally comes back again.

‘You’ll just have to make it up to me then.’ I giggled as his eyes traced the curve of my body. Instantly, something devilish flashed through them. In one swift motion, he bent down and threw me over his broad shoulder effortlessly, making me squeal. I playfully smacked his ass in protest. Almost instantly, his palm landed a much harder smack down to my ass. I couldn’t help but groan out in pleasure at the pain. 

‘You’ve done it now, Irene.’ 

 God, I needed this. I missed him constantly it was almost pathetic. The feeling of his strong arms wrapped protectively around me. The way his pouty lips molded over mine. Our bodies moved to the same rhythm. They knew each other so well at this point, but the bubbling excitement in my stomach never went away. 

He plopped my body onto the mattress and found his way between my legs quickly, kissing down my body, making me tremble. I relaxed back into the mattress. My hands fell into his golden-brown hair as he nibbled at the inside of my thighs. 

He looked up from between my legs, smiling deviously.

I was so lost in the sensations of his lips on my skin. I almost missed my front door swinging open. 

My eyes shot to the door to see Tommy standing in my doorway. What felt like in slow motion, I kicked John off of me and pulled the thin white sheet over my chest.

Tommy’s piercing eyes were on me the entire time. He assessed my disheveled state for a few seconds longer than seemed appropriate before turning his attention to John. What the fuck was that?

John now stood at the end of the bed, adjusting himself in his pants before studying my face and laughing again. ‘What’s wrong, love? Worried my brother snuck a peak?’ He slapped his cap back on his head. Gone again. 

I’m certain my face turned red. I was completely naked under this thin white sheet. I looked over John’s shoulder to see Tommy staring over at me again, no sign of embarrassment or uneasiness in his face, just the same cold expression he always wore. For him to stand there, silently, after busting open my door in the middle of the night. He invaded my fucking space and privacy. The only place that I used to escape, to find peace in this loud town. Who the fuck did he think he was?

I stood up, the only thing covering me was the long sheet. I was so overcome with fucking rage at his intrusion. I stomped right past John, walking straight up to Tommy. 

‘I don’t give a shit who you are, this is my home. I swear to Christ, Tommy if you do that again, I’ll fuckin shoot you! Now fuck off!’ I said coldly, pointing my tiny finger up into his face as I scolded him. I didn’t raise my voice, but I practically spat the words at him. 

His lips twitched and I knew he was holding back his anger. His eyes didn’t lie though. He was furious, too. That made me feel a smidge better. Before I started to coward back, I gave him one last shitty look before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door behind me. 

I could hear John muffling his own laugh at my outburst from outside the door. I couldn’t care less at this point. I finally got John back again, the only person I ever wanted to see. It all felt like too much at once. I went from total bliss to dread, embarrassment and anger. Angry for not having privacy with John. Angry at John for always leaving. Tears streamed down my face as I strained to hold back sobs coming from the back of my throat. 

 I could hear John sighing on the other side of the door before coming, strutting over to me at the sink. 

‘I’ll come back tomorrow night, cross my heart.’ John whispered to me in a way that helped sooth the sobs. He rubbed his hands over my arms, making me lean into his chest. I looked up and smiled lovingly, squeezing one of his biceps in my hand as a sign of affection. 

‘Please don’t promise things to me unless you can keep it, John. I-I…it’s not fair to me.’ I said weakly, letting my guard down. He used his thumbs to wipe away the stream of tears running down my cheeks. 

He flashed his teeth with a smile before leaning down to kiss me one last time. I pulled him closer by his coat, forcing him to stay just a few seconds longer. He happily grabbed the back of my head, leaning over me, controlling my mouth with his in a hasty kiss. For a quick second, I looked up from the kiss and into the hallway through the open door. My eyes landed on Tommy seemingly staring at the two of us. When I had caught him looking, his gaze averted to the ground. His hands rested in his pockets as he began to walk towards the door. The fuck is he staring at? Did he hear all of the pathetic shit I just said?

Tommy was way out of my league. He seemed untouchable. He is undoubtably the most beautiful person I have ever encountered. He was nice to look at, but he was so intimidating, that staring at him was mostly all I did. I had been around Tommy often in the past year. John would drag me out to bonfires or to the pub to drink with him and his family. I stole quick glances and prolonged stares when he wasn’t looking every now and then. I couldn’t help it. I am a woman with eyes for god’s sakes. 

But he’s also an ass. Extremely closed off. His walls were so high up that I could never tell what he was thinking. I was curious about him, at first. But I quickly understood that he is incapable of letting someone in, I’m sure of it. I steered clear of him for that reason alone. 

                                                                        -----

The next night, I waited up for hours. I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed. Every minute that passed in my waiting, I questioned myself over and over again. Why do I care so much if he doesn’t show? I don’t understand this constant validation I need from him. Deep down I know it’s about me. My own insecurities about needing to be wanted and needing to be desired. John quickly fell into the role. 

I slouched against the big sofa, letting my eyes fall shut. I listened to the embers in the fireplace crack. I snuggled in and tried to forget about the past couple of nights.

Then there was a knock at the door. My eyes shot open and all of the worries and insecurities seemed to fall off of my shoulders (pathetic). Thank God. I creeped up to the door, taking a deep breath before swinging it open.

‘Evening Irene.’ Tommy stood in the door way. I was suddenly very aware of what little clothes I had on. I was expecting John, so I was in nothing but a tight nightgown that didn’t cover much of anything. 

‘It’s late Tommy, what are you doing here again?’ He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days. His eyes were heavy but still so intense as he held my gaze. 

‘Can I come in? Just for a moment, I promise.’ His voice was low and raspy. What the hell is happening right now? I have never been alone with him before, especially trapped in my tiny flat, in the middle of the night. 

I thought about slamming the door in his face for a few seconds before his eyes practically moved the door open for me. I watched him walk inside, shedding his heavy coat, leaving him in his perfectly fitted black suit. His hair was a bit more disheveled than what I was used to. He seemed a bit more human alone like this with me. 

He sat down at the small kitchen table casually, taking out a cigarette and lighting it with a match from his pocket. I watched every movement of his hands as he did so. He had a way of owning any room he walked into. ‘He is stunning’ seemed to be the only thought running through my head. Finally breaking the silence, I sat down in the chair across from him, not bothering to offer him a drink. 

‘Right, so what is it?’ I asked him, placing my hands in my lap. 

‘I wanted to apologize.’ 

There was a pause. 

‘You sure of that?’ I laughed before leaning over the kitchen table and snagging the cigarette he was holding daintily between his fingers. As I did so, his eyes darted straight to my chest. I was practically spilling out of the thin lace covering my chest. A not so small tinge of excitement stirred in my stomach. I quickly moved back in the chair, taking a long drag.

‘I shouldn’t have barged in here the other night. I was pissed at John for leaving Arthur alone on the job and I just acted on instinct.’ That was more than you ever expected from him, sadly, because it wasn’t much. 

‘Tommy, you invaded my space. It may not matter to you, but this place is important to me. I value that I can be fully…undone here. I can’t be that way anywhere else. So, when you came in and saw me and John…it made me feel crazy. I understand he ran off on you, but Jesus, do you not know what me and John do when he’s here?’ I laughed.

He nodded his head slowly the entire time, his eyes never wavered. He took a few moments to take it in. 

‘I’m sorry I violated your privacy, Irene. Your anger was justified.’ He said, and to my shock, it sounded so sincere, it almost sounded like it pained him. 

I stood up quickly, handing him back the cigarette before answering. 

‘It’s water under the bridge then. Now, do you want whiskey?’ I said walking towards my kitchen sink, changing the subject quickly.

I could feel his eyes on the back of me as I went through the motions of grabbing two glasses and bringing the entire bottle to the table. 

‘It’s quite late for you, isn’t it?’ He chuckled out, but not declining.

I shrugged as I placed the bottle and glasses on the table and took the seat beside him instead of across from him now. He smiled sheepishly as he watched my movements and noticing my choice in seat.

‘I was already awake, so why not. Unless you have somewhere else to be at…2 in the morning?’ 

                                                                  ----------

It was now 4 a.m., and Tommy was still here. We had moved far past the point of awkwardness. We were chatting and joking like two old friends. At some point in the night, our seats had scooted only inches apart from each other, but neither of us seemed to notice or care. It was strange to say, but it just seemed natural like this. He asked me about my life before Small Heath. I asked him about his upbringing and growing up with siblings, since I had none. We also gossiped like two little girls about some of the people in town. He shared silly stories about John that made me laugh. I was having fun.

I could tell Tommy was comfortable too when he had shed a layer of protection. He was now only in a white button-up. The cuffs were rolled up his forearms, exposing skin I had never seen before. I tried not to stare. 

We were nearly ¾ of the way through with the bottle. I don’t know why he was still here entertaining me; this was supposed to be a quick conversation. But I didn’t mind…not at all really. 

‘Can I ask you something?’ He seemed to stiffen a bit. He fussed with his empty glass, tracing his fingers around the brim. 

‘Yes?’ I almost asked, scared of his shift in tone. I didn’t want the ease of this night to end just yet. 

‘Were you waiting up on John tonight when you came to the door?’ 

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Not at his question, but at the thought of John’s empty promises to me. 

I sighed before pouring both of us another drink. 

‘I know, I’m pathetic. Not delusional though. Just pathetic.’ I was alluding to the fact that I knew he was seeing other people outside of me, I wasn’t stupid. 

‘If you know…then why do you wait around still?’ 

‘I dunno I just…John is the only person who has made me feel…wanted since I moved to Small Heath. It’s only been him for the past year. When he’s here…its perfect. But when he isn’t, which is often, I just feel alone here sometimes is all and he helps.’ I tried to play it off as if this wasn’t a big deal to me. 

He was listening and studying me as I talked, his eyebrows scrunched up in question. 

‘Have you ever let someone else keep you company? It’s only fair to yourself, Irene. He’s my brother and a good man, but he’s young and still…figuring it all out.’ My stomach fluttered, more persistent this time at his words. Was he suggesting that I let him keep me company or was he just giving advice out to me? Either way, I was beaming on the inside with admiration for him in this moment. There was a prolonged moment of silence as we both studied each other. 

‘But what do I know, eh?’ He chuckled off as he downed his drink. I finally took a deep breath in as he stood up and began to roll down the sleeves of his shirt, preparing to leave. 

Dread filled my stomach. I didn’t want him to leave but I would never tell him that. It may have been all of the alcohol, but I felt a bit infatuated with my fuck buddy’s older and more mature brother. 

‘Leaving already?’ sounding a bit too desperate, I stood up with him. As I did so, his eyes slowly fell down all of the exposed skin in my nightgown, with no hesitation. His eyes lingered on my chest and my breath hitched, making my chest rise and fall heavily. He watched in amazement before returning to my face.

‘Is there a reason that I should stay?’ His voice was suddenly deep and sultry, a new tone that sent sparks through my core. Was this actually happening or was I just making assumptions? 

‘I suppose not.’ I chuckled and he slowly went for his jacket, not bothering to put it on, slinging it over his arm.

‘Thank you, Tommy. For keeping me company tonight. I’m glad you came.’ I smiled softly at him as he stood in front of the door, inches away from me. 

He gave me a small smile back. ‘My pleasure. If you ever need someone to drink with again, I’m always the next door over. Alright?’

I stepped even closer to him, reaching my hand out and squeezing his big hand in mine. The contact made my head fuzzy and warm. It was a simple gesture of affection. I wanted him to know I really did enjoy his company. 

With a tired smile, he leaned down and came face to face with me before turning and planting a soft kiss to my cheek. His lips touched my skin and I nearly gasped. My face turned the color of a damn tomato at his sweet gesture. 

‘Goodnight, love.’

Before I could even react, he opened the door and closed it shut behind him. I stood there alone, speechless at his last move. The whole night was unexpected. I would be a lying if I said I didn’t feel a pull towards him. Was it so bad if I wanted Tommy? It’s not like John is my boyfriend. For some reason, I felt dirty and like I did something wrong, even though I know I didn’t. Is it wrong to want both of them? 

Taglist: @lyarr24 @forgottenpeakywriter @casa-boiardi @tigernach575 @crabat-the-queen @adaydreamaway08 @trixie23 @sunset24t @star017 @oizyss88

[shiorihyuga]

A Soft Place

In a post-Rumbling world, where the threat of Titans no longer looms, Vanessa Sinclair finds herself living a quiet life, working at her family’s bakery in Wall Rose. Curvy and self-conscious, Vanessa has always faded into the background, overshadowed by her more outgoing friends. But everything changes when Captain Levi Ackerman, Humanity's Strongest Soldier, begins visiting the bakery regularly. What starts as a simple exchange of tea and pastries quickly evolves into something more. Levi, drawn to her quiet strength and beauty, takes Vanessa on a journey that forces her to confront her insecurities, while learning that sometimes, what lies beneath the surface is more than enough. {Levi x Plus Sized OC}

Chapter Twenty Six

The next few days were nothing short of covert operations for Robin and Emma. Armed with their newfound mission from Levi, they were determined to find out Vanessa’s ring size without tipping her off. However, the challenge was greater than they initially thought. Vanessa wasn’t someone who wore a lot of rings, which made getting her size a bit tricky. But that didn’t deter Robin and Emma. In fact, it only made them more creative.

One morning, as they prepped the bakery for another busy day, Robin shot a glance at Vanessa, who was kneading dough at the counter, completely unaware of the scheming going on behind her. Emma gave Robin a small nod, silently signaling that now was as good a time as any to put their plan into motion.

“So, Ness,” Robin began casually, her voice light and breezy as she wiped her hands on her apron. “We’ve been talking... and Emma and I were thinking about getting friendship rings.”

Vanessa, who was focused on shaping a loaf of bread, looked up, eyebrows raised. “Friendship rings? Isn’t that a little... I don’t know, high school?”

Emma immediately jumped in, playing her role perfectly. “Oh, come on! It’s cute. We can get matching gold bands, or maybe something with a small charm. Plus, you know, we’ve been best friends for so long. I think it’d be nice.”

Vanessa narrowed her eyes slightly, a playful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Friendship rings, huh? You two sure you’re not secretly dating?”

Robin let out a laugh, her tone playful. “As much as I love Emma, I think we’d kill each other if we were a couple.”

Emma shot Robin a mock glare. “Rude. But anyway, I thought we could get something simple, like those gold bands that are trendy right now. What’s your ring size, Ness? We can all get matching ones.”

Vanessa blinked, a little taken aback by the sudden question. “My ring size?” She paused, her brow furrowing. “I don’t really know. I don’t wear rings that often.”

Robin pretended to act casual, though inside she was holding her breath. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You don’t wear them much. But come on, Ness! We’ll go to the jeweler and find out. It’s no big deal, really.”

Vanessa looked between them, suspicion starting to flicker in her hazel eyes. “This seems awfully random,” she said slowly, eyeing them both. “You’re acting like this is just a casual thing, but...”

Emma leaned in, feigning innocence. “What? What do you mean? It is casual. Just thought it’d be cute, that’s all. No ulterior motives here, Ness.”

Vanessa narrowed her eyes further, her senses clearly tingling. “I don’t know. You two have been acting a little weird lately.”

“Weird?” Robin echoed, laughing nervously. “We’re just being normal! Come on, Ness. You know us. We’re just trying to be thoughtful.”

Vanessa folded her arms, looking more skeptical by the second. “Thoughtful about rings?”

Emma let out a long, exaggerated sigh and placed a hand on Vanessa’s shoulder. “Okay, okay. Maybe we’ve been a little excited, but honestly, it’s nothing major. You’re just so hard to shop for sometimes. We thought a ring would be something you’d actually keep, you know?”

Vanessa softened slightly at that, though her suspicion hadn’t completely dissipated. “I guess I’ve just been busy with work and all... It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around the idea of friendship rings. But... alright, fine. If it makes you happy, we can go check out the jeweler later.”

Robin and Emma exchanged a quick, victorious glance before turning back to Vanessa with bright smiles. “Great!” Robin said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. “We���ll go after work, then. And you can find out your ring size while we’re there.”

Vanessa squinted at them again, her mouth pulling into a half-smile. “You two are definitely up to something. But fine, we’ll do it your way.”

…

Later that day, as promised, Robin, Emma, and Vanessa found themselves in the local jewelry shop. Vanessa couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was going on, but for now, she played along, watching as Robin and Emma excitedly pointed out various rings and discussed different styles.

As they reached the counter, the jeweler—a kindly older man who clearly remembered Levi’s visit—greeted them warmly. “Good afternoon, ladies. How can I assist you today?”

Robin grinned widely. “We’d like to see some simple gold bands, maybe something with a small design. Oh, and our friend here needs her ring size measured.”

The jeweler nodded, motioning to Vanessa. “Of course. Step right up, miss, and I’ll measure your finger.”

Vanessa hesitated for a moment but eventually extended her hand. “This is all so weird,” she muttered, giving Robin and Emma a side-eye. “But okay.”

The jeweler carefully measured Vanessa’s ring size, noting it down before showing them a selection of bands. Vanessa barely paid attention to the rings; she was still watching Robin and Emma, trying to figure out their angle.

“Size seven,” the jeweler said finally, marking it down on a small card before handing it to Vanessa. “There you go, miss.”

“Thank you,” Vanessa said politely, tucking the card into her pocket. She turned to her friends, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, so you’ve got my size. Now what?”

Robin beamed, casually brushing off the suspicion in Vanessa’s voice. “Now we know, and we can surprise you later! That’s all, really.”

Vanessa studied them both, still feeling like she was missing something. But before she could press any further, Emma grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the display case, pointing out more rings.

"Look, Ness! These butterfly ones are cute!" Emma said, her voice almost too cheerful.

Vanessa let out a sigh, shaking her head. “You guys are ridiculous.” But despite her skepticism, she couldn’t help but laugh along with them.

…

Later that evening, after they’d returned from the jeweler, Vanessa couldn’t help but reflect on the strange day. She still couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was off, but Robin and Emma were good at deflecting her questions. For now, she let it go, assuming it was just one of their usual antics.

Meanwhile, back at Levi’s apartment, the scout captain was deep in thought. He knew Robin and Emma had succeeded in getting Vanessa’s ring size, and now he was mentally preparing himself for the next step—returning to the jeweler to secure the perfect ring.

Everything was falling into place, but as he sat in his quiet living room, Levi felt a familiar tension return. Proposing to Vanessa wasn’t a battle or a mission, but the stakes had never felt higher.

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a slow breath. He’d wait for the right moment. He’d make sure everything was perfect for her.

…

The next morning, Levi made his usual visit to the bakery. It had become routine for him—stopping by early to see Vanessa before the crowds picked up. Today, however, there was something slightly different in the air. As he walked toward The Sweet House, he carried a bouquet of fresh flowers for Vanessa, just like he always did. But today, his mind was preoccupied with more than just seeing her smile.

He stepped through the door, the familiar smell of freshly baked bread greeting him. The soft chime of the bell above the door announced his arrival, and immediately, he spotted Vanessa behind the counter, chatting with Robin and Emma as they organized the morning display. She caught his eye almost instantly, her face lighting up when she saw him, though there was a hint of suspicion in her gaze.

Levi walked over, setting the bouquet of flowers on the counter in front of Vanessa. She smiled up at him, but her brow was slightly furrowed. "Good morning, Captain," she greeted, her tone warm but tinged with curiosity. "These are beautiful, thank you."

He gave her a small nod, watching as she leaned in to smell the flowers. "Good morning," he replied, his voice as calm as ever, though inside, he was aware that something felt slightly off. Vanessa was sharp—she’d probably been picking up on the subtle changes in the air over the last few days. He needed to be careful.

As they exchanged a few words, Levi’s sharp eyes caught movement behind Vanessa—Robin and Emma. They were huddled together by the corner of the counter, whispering to each other in what they must have thought was a subtle manner. But to anyone paying attention, it was clear they were up to something.

Vanessa’s gaze flickered between them and Levi, narrowing slightly. "Okay," she said slowly, "what’s going on? You three have been acting... off lately."

Levi’s response was a stoic shrug. "Nothing’s going on."

But Vanessa didn’t look convinced. She turned her attention to Robin and Emma, who had suddenly gone quiet. "Really? You two have been weird since yesterday."

Robin plastered on her most innocent smile, though her eyes darted toward Levi for a split second. "Weird? No way. We’re just... talking about the new pastries we’re planning."

"Yep," Emma chimed in, nodding a bit too enthusiastically. "You know how we are. Always scheming about new recipes and stuff."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "Right. Sure."

Levi stood there quietly, observing the interaction. He knew Vanessa was perceptive, and the last thing he wanted was for her to figure out what was going on. Robin and Emma, however, weren’t making it easy—they were terrible at playing it cool.

As Vanessa turned to grab some cups for the tea she was making, Robin seized the opportunity. She nudged Emma, who gave a slight nod, and then, with a quick glance at Vanessa’s back, Robin slid a small piece of paper across the counter toward Levi.

Levi caught the motion out of the corner of his eye and, without breaking his calm exterior, subtly picked up the paper and slid it into his coat pocket.

"Thanks," he muttered under his breath, barely moving his lips as he did so.

Robin gave him a quick thumbs-up, while Emma did her best to look nonchalant, though she was clearly on edge, afraid they might get caught.

Vanessa turned back around just in time to see Emma and Robin acting strangely again. She let out a sigh, crossing her arms. "Okay, seriously. What’s going on? You’re all being suspicious, and I can tell something’s up."

Robin, always quick on her feet, laughed nervously. "Suspicious? Ness, you’re imagining things. We’re just... you know... trying not to mess up in front of Captain Levi. No pressure or anything!"

Emma nodded vigorously, playing along. "Exactly! You know how intimidating he can be. We’re just trying to keep it together."

Vanessa squinted at them, her instincts telling her that something more was at play, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. "Mmmhmm," she murmured, glancing at Levi. "Are you sure nothing weird is going on, Captain?"

Levi met her gaze, his expression perfectly blank, though there was a small flicker of amusement in his eyes. "I’m sure," he replied calmly.

Vanessa looked between the three of them again, but eventually, she let it go—though the suspicion was still there. She turned back to the flowers, plucking a single bloom from the bouquet and twirling it in her fingers. "Alright," she said with a soft sigh, "I guess I’ll just take your word for it... for now."

Robin and Emma exchanged relieved glances, clearly grateful that they hadn’t been caught. They quickly busied themselves with arranging pastries, doing their best to act normal, while Levi stayed near the counter, his eyes flickering toward Vanessa as she worked.

He felt the small piece of paper tucked safely in his pocket, Vanessa’s ring size written down in neat handwriting. Phase two of his plan was complete.

Now, it was only a matter of time.

…

Later, after Vanessa had stepped into the back room to prepare more dough, Levi stood by the counter, his arms crossed as he waited for her to return. Robin and Emma sidled over, eager to check in.

"Did you get it?" Robin whispered, her eyes wide with excitement.

Levi gave a curt nod. "Got it."

Emma exhaled in relief. "Good. I thought we were done for when she started asking questions. She’s way too sharp for her own good."

Robin grinned, clearly pleased with their success. "Now you can go ahead and get the ring. She’ll never know."

Levi shot them both a quick glance. "She almost figured it out."

Emma shrugged. "Well, almost isn’t figuring it out, right? You’re still in the clear."

Robin nodded in agreement, then added with a mischievous glint in her eye, "So, when’s the big moment? Have you figured out how you’re going to propose yet?"

Levi didn’t respond right away, his gaze drifting toward the back door where Vanessa had disappeared. "I’m working on it."

Robin leaned in, her voice lowering conspiratorially. "Whatever you do, Captain, just make it special. She deserves that."

Levi’s gaze softened slightly, though he didn’t show it on his face. "I know."

Emma clasped her hands together, beaming at him. "It’s going to be amazing. We’re so excited for her. You’re going to make her so happy!."

Levi gave them both a small nod, his mind already shifting toward the next steps in his plan. He had the ring size now, and soon, he would have the perfect ring for Vanessa.

But for now, he had to keep playing it cool. Vanessa was too smart to be fooled for long, and Levi knew that the element of surprise was something he had to protect carefully.

"Just keep quiet about it," Levi warned, his tone flat but firm.

Robin and Emma saluted him playfully. "Mum’s the word, Captain!"

As Vanessa returned from the back room, none the wiser, Levi straightened up, already planning his next move. Everything was falling into place, and with each passing day, the moment he would propose to her came closer.

All that was left was to make sure she never saw it coming.

He stood by the bakery counter, watching as Vanessa gently arranged fresh croissants in the display case. The morning sun filtered through the windows, casting a soft glow on her hair, making her look even more radiant. His heart felt full just watching her work—something so simple yet so peaceful. She had no idea what he was up to, which made his quiet, deliberate movements all the more satisfying.

Vanessa glanced up from her work, her eyes meeting his with a warm smile. She had noticed how distracted he seemed today, more than usual. Before she could ask what was on his mind, Levi stepped closer and, in a rare show of public affection, leaned in to press a swift kiss on her forehead.

Vanessa blinked in surprise, her cheeks instantly flushing pink. "Where are you off to this early?" she asked, slightly teasing but curious. "You don’t usually leave this soon."

Levi’s lips twitched into a barely noticeable smirk as he straightened. "I’ve got a meeting with the scouts. Don’t wait up."

Vanessa eyed him for a moment, still suspicious but too flustered by the kiss to ask more questions. "Alright, Captain," she said, soft and amused, but a touch of curiosity lingered in her tone. She went back to her task, glancing up at him once more as he left the bakery.

Levi turned on his heel and exited the shop, the cool morning air greeting him as he stepped outside. His heart was steady, but a flicker of nervous energy danced in his chest. He wasn’t headed for HQ—not today. Today, his destination was more personal.

…

As Levi approached the jeweler’s shop, the bell above the door jingled softly, just as it had the last time. The same elderly jeweler was behind the counter, adjusting a pair of delicate spectacles perched on his nose as he worked on some intricate piece of jewelry.

The old man looked up as Levi entered, and a knowing smile crossed his face. "Captain Levi," he greeted warmly. "Back so soon?"

Levi stepped forward, slipping his hands into his coat pockets as he approached the glass counter. "I’ve got the ring size," he said, his voice steady. "Seven."

The jeweler’s smile widened. He could tell from Levi’s serious demeanor that this wasn’t just another purchase. This was something far more important. "A size seven, hmm?" he mused, pulling out a notepad to jot down the information. "You’ve clearly been planning this carefully."

Levi nodded, his eyes briefly scanning the rings displayed beneath the glass, but he already knew what he wanted. "I want a gold band," he began, his voice low but sure. "Something simple but beautiful. It needs to hold up. Vanessa works with her hands a lot, so nothing that’ll get in her way."

The jeweler nodded thoughtfully. "Of course. Practical but elegant. You want something she can wear every day without worrying about it."

Levi gave a small nod. "Exactly."

The jeweler motioned for Levi to follow him to a different section of the display. "Let’s look at some stones, shall we? You said simple, but we can still make it beautiful without it being too flashy."

Levi followed, his sharp eyes taking in the options the jeweler presented. Stones of various cuts and sizes lay before him, but he wasn’t looking for something extravagant. He wanted something meaningful—something that reflected Vanessa’s quiet grace and strength. After a moment, Levi’s gaze settled on a modest but stunning oval-cut diamond. It wasn’t large, but it had a brilliant clarity that made it seem to glow in the light.

"This one," Levi said, pointing at the stone. "It’s perfect."

The jeweler smiled as he gently picked up the stone. "Excellent choice, Captain. The oval cut is classic but understated, much like the woman you’re marrying, I presume."

Levi’s lips quirked slightly. "Something like that."

As the jeweler set the diamond aside for the setting, Levi continued, "I want butterflies engraved on the sides of the band."

"Butterflies?" the jeweler echoed, intrigued. "Ah, a meaningful detail. I’ll have to sketch a few designs for you to choose from, but that can certainly be done."

Levi nodded, and after a brief pause, he added one more detail. "I also want something engraved on the inside of the band. 'More than enough.'"

The jeweler looked up, his eyes softening as he took in Levi’s request. "More than enough," he repeated quietly, clearly moved by the sentiment. He could see now just how much thought had gone into this ring—how much love and care had been poured into every aspect of the design. "You truly love her, don’t you?"

Levi’s gaze remained steady, but there was a flicker of warmth behind his steel-gray eyes. "I do."

The jeweler gave a nod of approval. "I’ll make sure this ring is perfect, Captain. But it will take about three weeks to craft it with all the details you’ve requested."

"That’s fine," Levi replied, already thinking ahead to the proposal. "It gives me time to plan."

The jeweler jotted down the final notes on his pad before setting it aside. "I have to say, it’s refreshing to see a man so dedicated to making sure everything is just right for the woman he loves," he said with a smile. "When the ring is ready, I’ll send word."

Levi gave a curt nod of thanks, already feeling the weight of anticipation settle into his chest. This was the next step. Everything was falling into place.

"Appreciate it," Levi said, turning to leave the shop.

As the door chimed again and Levi stepped back into the bustling streets, he slipped his hands into his coat pockets, feeling the cool metal of the ring design paper against his fingertips. Three weeks wasn’t long, but it was enough time for him to prepare.

And prepare he would.

…

Back at the bakery, Vanessa couldn’t help but feel a little curious about why Levi had left so early. It wasn’t like him to rush off, especially when there wasn’t a pressing mission. She stood at the counter, her mind wandering as she absentmindedly kneaded dough, lost in thought.

Robin, who had been helping Vanessa prepare for the afternoon rush, leaned over and nudged her playfully. "You’re distracted," she teased. "Thinking about Captain Levi, huh?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes, though a small smile tugged at her lips. "He’s been acting a little weird lately, don’t you think? Leaving early, being... extra."

Emma, who was setting up the display case, chimed in, trying to keep her tone casual. "Weird? Nah. He’s probably just got scout stuff to handle. You know how serious he gets about his work."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes slightly, wiping her flour-dusted hands on her apron. "Maybe... but I don’t know. He seemed a little... preoccupied today."

Robin and Emma exchanged a brief glance, though they were careful to keep their expressions neutral. The last thing they needed was for Vanessa to catch on to what was really happening.

"Captain Levi’s always preoccupied," Robin said with a shrug. "It’s probably nothing."

Vanessa hummed thoughtfully but didn’t press further. She trusted Levi, but something in her gut told her that something was brewing—something she hadn’t quite figured out yet.

Meanwhile, Levi made his way back to HQ, the ring order secure, and his plan slowly but surely falling into place.

In three weeks, everything would change. And Levi was ready.

~

Masterlist

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[copias-girl]

Hey. I saw you deleted all the excitement/nonsense from the other day, wanted to check in on you. I realized that while I've been on this hellsite for 12 years and seen and experienced a great deal of my own anon drama, I forget how overwhelming & terrible it feels when it first happens to you.

I failed to notice that, in addition to being very new to this site, you're also only 18 (please note that this is not meant to sound condescending - tone is impossible to convey via text). I was a couple years older than that when I joined here, and I carried just as much excitement and energy into everything I posted and reblogged and quickly gained a reputation for myself. From what I've observed from your blog though, mine was decidedly...less fun & positive, so I got a LOT of anonymous messages telling me what they thought of me. I would spend a lot of time thinking about those anons and the terrible things they said to me, constructive or not, objective or not. It didn't matter how many support messages I got from friends or mutuals, or how much we mocked the anons or made light of the situation - I was angry, embarrassed, felt like nothing I did would fix it, and sometimes didn't want to log onto this site anymore, despite it being the only outlet I had to express myself in this way.

It is normal to focus on the small negative in spite of the overwhelming positive - healthy? No. But normal.

My point is: Please do not let this nonsense deter you from being you. Not everyone is going to like you, and that is totally fine. Not everyone is going to like how you post/reblog on your blog. Speaking solely for myself, I generally keep a more contained dashboard I can scroll through quickly at work, so I don't follow your blog, but I don't translate my personal feelings on how you blog into my personal opinion of you as an individual. Everyone blogs differently on this site, which is what keeps it interesting. I'm also not so chronically online to go out of my way to send you a 5-paragraph essay about consent or being hypersexual in a fandom for a gay Satanic band. Instead I'll send you a 8-paragraph essay trying to comfort you and to tell you not to despair, lmao.

I LOVE your enthusiasm about how you express yourself in your posts & reblogs, and it seems there's a shit ton of blogs around you that feel the same way & express themselves the exact same way. Don't lose that spark! Don't let them rain on your parade! [Insert another cliche phrase here]!

Take time if you need a break, but please understand you did nothing wrong. Everything said to you was someone's opinion they wanted to force on you to control how you behave because they themselves are terrified of the world around them and don't understand they cannot control others. Hopefully one day they'll realize how sheltered and, quite frankly, stupid they are. I did.

My advice: if you ever reopen anons and start getting those messages again, delete them and don't engage. Most of the time they're just looking for attention, to rile you up. Classic bullying tactics.

Or print out their messages and use them as firewood. Or toilet paper. Whatever works.

Lastly, you don't have to acknowledge this or publish this message if you don't want to. Genuinely, I just wanted to reach out and make sure you're okay and to attempt to longwindedly impart some advice from my own experiences over the decade.

You do you, dude. Fuck the haters.

Thank you so so much for this incredibly kind and comforting message ♥︎ I really appreciate it more than you could imagine, it even made me cry reading it. I feel like this message is a good closer for this situation, so I’m also going to use it as an opportunity to give a little PSA about how my blog will be operating from now on.

First of all, just thank you again. I’m honestly astonished because every single thing you mentioned is exactly how I feel. The hurt of it all despite getting so much support, the empty feeling of not wanting to go on tumblr anymore despite it being my only outlet. Tumblr was supposed to be my safe space, my escape, my home, and it really sucks because it honestly doesn’t feel like that anymore.

I think the thing that hurts the most is that literally no one reached out to me as a friend in the dms to tell me that I was bothering them. I’m not a mind reader, so if no one says anything then I assume I’m not bothering them. But I do pride myself on always being approachable, I’m ALWAYS open to people messaging me with their concerns.

It’s different when it’s some faceless anon who comes off as slightly passive aggressive. If someone would have just DMed me, I definitely would have put more thought into it and taken their suggestion. Since I haven’t been on tumblr long, I didn’t even know the difference between reblogging with a comment or reblogging with tags until literally just now during this whole situation.

I just feel like I’ve been serving spaghetti every night for dinner. 9 people say they absolutely LOVE it, but then I come to suddenly find out the 10th person doesn’t. But they never said anything all this time, so how was I supposed to know?

I’ve had two people block me who I thought were my friends. One who, during this situation, even said she’d always be there for me. Basically, she informed me that our mutual friend had been upset about my comments and apparently never said anything before this, so I reached out to that friend and apologized. She apparently got triggered by my apology, and they both blocked me. That hurt. A lot. And if I’m being honest I’ve been fighting so hard not to self harm during this time.

I feel like I’ve been treated like a malicious criminal over this, when in reality everyone should know damn well I’ve never done ANYTHING to deliberately make people feel bad.

And don’t worry, I definitely did not take the comment about my age to be condescending. In fact, I wish more people would have taken it into account. And the fact that I’ve only been on tumblr for 6 months, so I don’t really know much about it.

I have a life outside tumblr. I’m a student, and I’ve had to be a full-time caretaker to sick relatives who have now unfortunately passed away. I’m grieving. My father abandoned me and my mother, so I’ve had to take over doing all the things that he used to do.

I come on tumblr, I scream about everyone’s favourite satanic antipopes, I post some fics, and then I close the app and go about my life. I don’t research the history of tumblr and what’s deemed acceptable by certain groups of people. I’m a human. I’m a real teenage girl, with feelings. I’m able to be hurt, and triggered, and everything else. I know I’ve created a personality for myself on here, and I think people often forget that I’m a real girl.

I wish I could say I’m okay, but right now that spark definitely feels dampened into a sad little ember. Since this has happened, I’ve almost stopped eating entirely, and when I do eat, I immediately throw it right back up. My Mom took me out to eat and I threw up in public. This has honestly had my stomach in knots.

Today was the first day I actually didn’t feel nauseous. So hopefully time will heal this wound. I wouldn’t wish this on ANYONE, but I’m glad to see you got through it and made it out ok. I’m hoping for the same outcome for myself too.

Now for the PSA portion of this message (everyone please read):

Will I stop being unhinged? Hell no. But I will be moving any horny comments into the tags, as suggested by the people who had complaints. The absolute last thing I want to do is alienate people and make people uncomfortable. (I still have questions about reblogging with comments tho, for example, if I say something not horny should I still put that in the tags or is it ok to comment that?)

Secondly, my best friend suggested that I should just start taking my unhinged comments and making them into posts of their own, so I’ll probably do that too. I think I might tag them with some cheesy tag, probably a pun on nsfw (not sugar for work?) so that if you’d like to blacklist that tag, you can, and then your dash will be safe for scrolling at work or wherever. And you can just click ‘view post’ if you want to view it.

So, rest assured, the horny party will never stop! But since I’ll be putting my stuff in the tags, you probably won’t see it circulating as much as reblogged comments, so if you want to see me being unhinged, just come to my page and scroll through!

Also, I’ve gotten so many other supportive messages and I want to thank everyone for sending them in. I won’t be answering them, because I don’t want a lot of stuff about this situation on my blog. And this is going to be the last time I talk about this situation on my blog. But the supportive messages really do mean a lot to me, so thank you all ♥︎

I feel malaise, so I might still be absent for a little while, but I’ll try to get back in the saddle as soon as I can. I haven’t been in the best mindset to write, but I’m really going to try because posting fics and running this account genuinely make me happy.

Thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope to see you all again very soon

Love always,

Sugar <3

[minecraftbookshelf]

Mistakes Are Made Chapter One Dialogue Breakdown

This was hard to make it turns out. A combination of "how do i format this" and trying to comprehensively summarize the thought processes and decisions going on. I think this works though.

Honestly, this sort of thing would probably work a lot better as like, a live conversation but we work with what we've got XD

I won't be including every bit of dialogue from the chapter but it will be most of them.

Disclaimer that this isn't a "How To" or any kind of "you should do things this way" this is just an explanation of what I put into my writing, and dialogue specifically. Also that I write in limited first person most of the time, so in a way, all the narration can be considered dialogue and as examples of character voice.

This is also only the first part of a long story that is intended to a) be re-readable and b) involve a lot of discovery as the story progresses, so a lot of the decisions I made are based off of things that will come up/be revealed later in the series. I will be talking about those, sometimes with no helpful explanation, sorry XD

I'm using color coding to specify what parts I'm talking about at any given time, so hopefully that helps.

This is going to be a long, wordy post, its entire point is to be an insight into the intentionality and consideration that goes into writing dialogue for me, if this isn't something you're interested in, absolutely pass it by. It will also likely "take some of the magic out of it" for some people. But I like to think that it might also add a bit more magic to it for others. So here we go!

On with the show behind the scenes! [AO3 Link to the Chapter] if you want to follow along there with more context to the selections.

"Hello, Jimmy!" He manages to clamber out of the fountain without tripping and falling flat on his face at least. He splashes Katherine in the process, where she is hovering off to the side but he can't really be bothered to worry about that. All he can manage to do is stare at Sausage's smirking face. "Hello, Jimmy!" Katherine's greeting is much less mocking

Starting off with the very first dialogue of the chapter, which doesn't occur until a few paragraphs in and then proceeds to be the exact same line said by two different characters.

This is one of the times that I am heavily relying on the fact that I am writing fanfiction and these greetings are words that we hear the characters in question (Sausage and Katherine) say multiple times. So I don't go into much detail with dialogue tags, counting on the reader to fill that in themselves. Even if they/you aren't imagining the exact tones I had in mind its a fairly easy extrapolation that these are said in wildly different tones. The emphasis on Sausage's is to imply the more mocking/antagonistic tone, helped along by the mention of his expression, but can also just convey that its louder and more emotive (As Katherine is trying very hard to be OfficialTM in this chapter) Also describing her greeting as "less mocking" helps fill in the appropriate tone for Sausages retroactively.

"What is he doing here?" He jerks his chin at Sausage, who is still giggling like a child. He sees Jimmy looking and grins at him, all teeth. Behind the mask, Jimmy bares his own teeth and takes some comfort in the knowledge that he has more of them; and they are sharper.

This is the first instance of Jimmy's inhuman body language being used as an extension of the dialogue/conversation between the characters. The use of teeth as a threat being a hybrid trait.

Sausage's smile is also part of this, something that isn't actually said in this chapter but will be demonstrated later on is that, as the ruler of a kingdom with a heavy hybrid population, Sausage knows this and his own body language is chosen accordingly.

Sausage keeps giggling and Jimmy can barely hear it beneath the roar in his ears. He leans down to try and whisper into the faerie queen's ear. "I really need your alliance right now, Katherine." He hopes his desperation doesn't show in his voice. She gives him a reproving look that throws him right back to his brief time spent in a classroom. "I'm allied with everyone, Jimmy. You know that."

This is the first example of really incorporating distinct character voices into the dialogue. I'm a liberal user of italics and in this case I'm using them to indicate emphasis where the ccs tend to stress their words to encourage assigning that voice to the dialogue itself. These are also, if not direct quotes from canon, very similar to actual things the ccs and their cubitos have said so it isn't exactly what I would consider heavy lifting.

Jimmy at this point is still fully informal. He's surprised and he's talking privately to a friend.

This is also more natural dialogue from Katherine, whose exasperation with her friend is partly overcoming her attempts to be Formal Faerie Queen.

I'm trying to keep the early dialogue fairly simple and close to canon voices because that way I can transition slowly and naturally into slightly different voices that suit the atmosphere while also preserving their more casual voices as the way that they talk when they are more comfortable and in less official settings. Setting up the contexts for different manners of speech is a big thing in this chapter overall.

"He invaded the Swamp," Jimmy hisses, his ear-fins flaring, ignoring the shudder down his spine from her use of his Name, even in part. "He crossed our borders. Again. He's threatened war." He's no longer whispering by the end, standing to his full height, shoulders back, sword hand by his shoulder. "And according to him, you've threatened it right back!"

Another instance of emphasis on Jimmy's inhuman body language.

This bit is actually more about Katherine than Jimmy. It does show a bit of Jimmy's sensitivity to magic but more than that, it incorporates Katherine's willingness to invoke her own flavor of threats, even in casual conversation with friends.

This is the first real deviation from canon dialogue in the entire chapter. This is the blending point where I'm taking the characters voices and using them myself instead of just channeling the pre-existing ones. The emphasis for this was important to me to try and keep it Jimmy's voice saying the words.

The body language here is a physical representation of Jimmy's shift from more informal speech to a more tense and emotionally and politically fraught situation.It's also the transition of Jimmy taking this from a private conversation to a more public one, now in earshot of both Sausage and Katherine's guards and staff. He's beginning to speak more as The Codfather than Jimmy and his physical stance is the biggest indication of that.

This is Katherine's last "private conversation" line and is, again, indicative of her frustration with her friends and the situation they have put themselves and everyone else in. It's a fairly sharp statement, geared to indicate that she is not really on Jimmy's side here. ("all sides" = "no sides" and a part of Katherine knows that, even if she refuses to admit it out loud, mostly because it is a role she has trapped herself in and can't leave.)

Sausage recovers quickly and shakes out the fur lining of his coat. "Is it just me or does it smell fishy in here, now?" "Sausage," Katherine looks disapprovingly back over her shoulder. "That's rude." "Oh," Sausage blinks at them both, "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I didn't realize."

Jumping ahead a bit we're in the "polite conversation because political masks" phase of dialogue.

Sausage is Not Being Polite. This is his attempt at "polite rudeness" but he's not very subtle in general so its blatant enough for Katherine to call him out on it. It's also a continuation of Sausage speaking more informally in general. He has something of an upper hand in the situation, and an abundance of bravado, and that is reflected in the way he talks. (Sausage just also has a very distinct voice in general that is already leant towards melodrama which works very well for the au's setting as a whole)

His apology is also disingenuous. In retrospect I should have probably used some italics or some other indicator to help convey that. (I might go back and edit something in. I do that sometimes on AO3. Major edits get notes made at the chapter end but minor fixes happen a lot.) He makes the "apology" and that connects Jimmy to his original statement, even if it hadn't been blatantly obvious.

"Oh, this one is new!" Sausage immediately changes the subject, pointing at one of the skulls hanging on the wall of the hall. It's some kind of middling-sized land animal...a sheep maybe? with poppies filling the eye sockets and woven in a crown, there are delicate lines of gold painted across the surface of the bleached bone. Katherine beams, her irritation at the rudeness forgotten (or at least set aside, fae never truly forget breaches of etiquette) "It is! It's a gift from a childhood friend," she looks fondly upon the skull for a moment. "We've been reconnecting lately." Sausage nods sagely, "It is always good to spend time with your friends." "It is," Katherine's ears twitch and her wings flutter briefly before she resumes walking. "Which is why we are going to fix this."

This is a slightly better attempt from Sausage at maintaining political etiquette by complimenting the host. A distraction and a peace offering.

And this is the first mention of Scott in the chapter, in what I am now realizing (it was not intended that way but here we go) is a context that kind of foreshadows his role of peace offering. It also is an establishing line for Katherine and Scott's relationship, as well as a nod to their short-lived plushie business (my beloved) from canon.(And the adaptation of it that exists in the au, which will come up later in Katherine's backstory at the very least.)

Sausage is being ingratiating here. It's a kind of wink wink nudge nudge "we should be friends and you should do what I want" moment.

Katherine knows what he is doing. This is also an incorporation of Katherine's inhuman characteristics, though a bit more subtly, specifically because this is Jimmy's pov and he is neither familiar enough with her mannerisms to break down exactly what they mean the way his own are, or unfamiliar enough with them to register them as odd and worth commenting on.

And then we have the POV switch to Xornoth

The entirety of Xornoth's external, out-loud dialogue is one single line, but the internal dialogue is their narration of the situation at hand. Ft. "helpful" commentary from Exor.

Xornoth's voice is arguably the trickiest part of the entire chapter as it is the part with the least canon basis. Xornoth is a character I am functionally building from scratch, given that the majority of their canon appearances are arguably as much Exor as they are Xornoth. (at least in the context of this AU)

Xornoth's canon voice (on a purely literal level) is "Scott Smajor with a script and a voice changer" and, on the occasions they are on screen together, "someone else with a script and a voice changer", and then the single epilogue bit.

So I'm working with somewhat stilted, formal speech and a tendency for dramatic declarations.

For this first chapter there was actually a bit more effort put into characterizing Exor, as, despite it being in their pov, the majority of the Xornoth characterization is happening in Chapter Two. (which is also mostly from their pov)

Honestly, this is already really long, I'll probably do the dialogue in the second part of the chapter as a part two, but I do want to put a compilation of Exor's commentary down here to talk about.

I opted to make Exor's dialogue bold instead of italics both to distinguish it from Xornoth's own internal dialogue and to emphasize how unavoidable it is for Xornoth. It's not something they can truly ignore, its too loud in their head.

Meaningless frivolity.

Disparaging commentary on the priorities of the other emperors and Jimmy in particular, leaning into one that Xornoth themself is inclined to agree with.

Do not pretend such reluctance. I see the truth.

Denying Xornoth's knowledge of themself in favor of asserting their own.

You are still only a student. And you will be so long as you refuse to take what is rightfully ours.

Exor's goal is and always has been (as long as Xornoth as known them) world domination. This is his most blatant statement of it, coupled with a disparaging comment towards Xornoth's own authority.

Like a fish on a hook.

Dehumanization with a side of violent imagery.

They are going to hurt themselves, trying that hard to utilize what little intelligence they have.

General scorn towards the intelligence and competence of the other emperors.

If we pinned her wings to the wall like a butterfly and made her watch, that would phase her. If we gutted him like a fish he'd squeal so nicely.

Violence. Rather graphic, worded in a way to make Xornoth/The Reader paint a stronger visual image to accompany it. These are the ones that both Exor (in-story) and I (out of story) designed to have a stronger impact. For Exor its about sowing thoughts in Xornoth's mind and having them doubt themself, for me its about really conveying Exor's intentions.

Rip them all to pieces, give the farmer the fight she wants.

This is a half-step back into a more friendly-aligned bit. Pearl is Xornoth's friend. A war would make her happy! Pearl is not Xornoth's biggest weakness, but she is one and Exor takes as much advantage of that as he can.

Wheat fields burn so easily, all it would take is a single spark in the right place and all of Mythland would be in flames. Carefully, carefully, Xornoth sets their book down on the table beside them and places their hands in their lap. Katherine will stop allowing them to borrow her books if they start spontaneously combusting them. Hopefully she doesn't notice the slightly singed cover.

Arson yay!

With the previous comments designed to rile Xornoth up the invocation of fire is a deliberate reference on my part to Xornoth's powers (with the follow up in the next paragraph) and on Exor's part is a provocation towards losing control/making it harder to stay in control of their powers.

Why do you consistently choose to prove your incompetence.

Even gods that crave violence can be disappointed.

this was equal parts chosen to add to the overall comedy of that exact moment and as a final nod to the way that, while he spends a lot of time tearing down other people in Xornoth's head, he also puts a lot of time into tearing down Xornoth themself.

-

I'm going to leave it there for now, if just because of length. I can come back and make a part two for Xornoth and the other emperors during the second part of the chapter later.

[sweetmariihs2]

Recently I've been encountering a lot of "antis" and "haters" of Cedric on various apps, and I even made two posts talking about it because it's been very annoying. The STF fandom is already very small, we already have people who support C*dfia, so there is a wall between us and that part of the fandom (for good reason), which makes our group much smaller, and if every time that I go search about my hyperfocus and find people everywhere wanting to make fun of Cedric's fans "because they like popular characters and I don't because I'm smarter", I'm gonna go crazy

For context: Usually my hyperfocuses are my comfort place, if I'm having difficult moments I try to focus on them as much as possible, then I relax and feel better. Tumblr is the best place for this because it revolves around personal interests, and there are fandoms for everything. And with this terrible week I'm having, I'm coming here quite often, but it's been hell every now and then when I come in and there's someone annoying this part of the fandom. At the beginning (in January) there were none, and now there are (March, April), and it's not being nice. I'm used to being in some big fandoms who have antis, the problem is that here we didn't had those people some time ago, and I just want to relax in peace

I was having a horrible day (week) and I thought it was just another one of those people using the hashtag to bother others who are minding their stuff. As this happened several times and no one said anything about it, I decided to complain in the hope that it would reach these people, because it is already at an unbearable level. The first post I made was calmer, I spoke in a more friendly way and I thought that making that post would make the fandom a better place (it's small, everything that is posted here, the other members see), but well,

Some days ago I was scrolling through tumblr and found a post roasting Cedric for no reason, and like I said, spending a horrible day being overstimulated and going on Tumblr to relax and coming across those usual annoying comments (which I thought had decreased) was extremely frustrating.

So I didn't want to get involved in fights and didn't wanted to write a giant answer (bad decision, if I had written it all this wouldn't have happened), but I wanted to say what I think, so I made a post with simple sentences, but trying (failing) to say "if you're in a fandom, you have to understand that there are people who don't agree with you, and you have to respect that. For example, I don't like the characters you like, but I don't go around complaining about them" and I linked the old post I made responting to those people in a friendly way, you know what I'm talking about!

Well, not wanting to start a fight (but responding in the same rude tone I THOUGHT the post was using), I tried to be direct so as not to waste time writing too much, but it turned out that it was not possible to understand what I wanted to say without using context.

To make matters worse, the post had nothing to do with those annoying people, in fact it was just someone saying that they weren't attracted to Cedric, which is completely understandable because at first I thought he was ugly too (I changed my mind, but I understand where you're coming from).

To summarize: I didn't understand what the person really meant with that post and I misinterpreted it as someone mocking us and posting it on Cedric's hashtag again, I was having a really bad day and was trying to distract myself on Tumblr looking for Cedric stuff , there were a lot of noises and people shouting around me so I couldn't read properly (I'm autistic)

And I can read in English but sometimes the words get confused in my mind and I don't understand the meaning of what I'm reading. I believe it's because I was overstimulated at the time, but who knows, maybe my English sucks

So I wanted to apologize to you @slushimart , because after I reread it and paid attention to what you (and other people) werw saying and it had nothing to do with what I thought, I got very embarrassed and I deleted my reblog. Even though I did this, I saw that other people also saw what I did and I was still embarrassed because I'm friends with almost everyone who is more active in the STF fandom on Tumblr, and I looked like a stupid child who can't bear to see people on the internet saying that my fave is ugly, even though I got everything totally wrong

I'm really embarassed 😭 I considered not even making this apology post, but I couldn't stop thinking about it and I'm very ashamed about my misunderstanding and that post that made me look like an idiot, even more so because your post had nothing to do with what I thought it had. Gosh I'm so stupid I'm sorry (help)

I hope you're not mad at me, because we've known each other and interacted for a while now, I don't want to make enemies with people who share my interests and interact with my stuff and my friends sometimes

So I'm really sorry! Again! :(

@midnightrealness @aquicat